UNBRIDLED TRUTH

Somewhat of a time-crunched week for me, but I did fit in five workouts, so there's that. Monday Type: Pass/Fail Pull Ups - 1 set of 13 (pass) Bridges - 1 set of 20 (pass) Push Ups - 1 set of 30 (pass) Bonus: none This was a case of "doing something resembling a workout is better than doing nothing at all". Nothing more needs to be said about it. Tuesday Type: As Fast As Possible 3 sets of: 21/15/9 Lunges (each side) 21/15/9 Handstand Push Ups 21/15/9 Straight Leg Raises Tim

Writing my take on The Rise of Skywalker was tricky because of needing to reconcile the events of The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi while still providing a complete and sensible Star Wars movie. I should have much more freedom now that I can ignore Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi to sketch out my own version of it. As before, my intention is to say what I would have done to provide a satisfying and coherent plot with sensible progression and character development while respec

This was a solid week, getting back up to five workouts and having satisfying performances for them. It is always possible to have done more, but I'm pleased with what I did accomplish. Monday Type: Pass/Fail Uneven Pull Ups - 2 sets of 6, each side (pass) Stand-to-stand Bridges, one wall touch on the way up - 2 sets of 6 (pass) Archer Push Ups - 2 sets of 17, each side (pass) Bonus: 4 sets of 3 chest-tap push ups I'm still noticing an odd amount of torso rotation with my un

Premise An ancient dragon has been destroying the towns built around its volcano lair during the volcano’s nightly eruptions, so the party is tasked to defeat it. Good The first idea for expanding the adventure, that the party discovers they can’t actually kill the dragon until they deal with a hidden power source advancing it towards godhood, is nice. The retreat condition for the efreeti is welcome. The sidebar for portraying the colossi gives them some interesting flavor.

Premise A divination ritual reveals that an imprisoned dracolich has learned from its past defeats and is close to gaining the power to become a real threat, so the party is sent to fight through the prison’s guards in order to reach and destroy the dracolich. Good I appreciate that two of the encounters begin with attempts at parley. The Silence reviving its angel minions when bloodied is a nice touch. Salvageable I’d get rid of the damage immunity on the Silence’s coldfire

Premise The party ventures into the Abyss to hunt down Doresain, the Ghoul King. Good Getting to face a demigod is a cool premise. I’d like more context than just whipping it up out of nowhere, but as far as Giant Space Flea from Nowhere targets go, the ghoul progenitor is a fine choice. Expanding the adventure to continue on to facing the Demon Prince of the Undead is a sensible and thoroughly awesome idea. For all that I’m not often a fan of boxed text, the text in this ad

Premise A pair of titans are using their semicentennial meeting to release a lost primordial being, so divine messengers beseech the party to intervene. Good The setting of a cloud temple flying about half a mile above a snowy mountain range is cool. Doubling down on the flying temple motif by using areas of perpetual wind for the walls and ceilings is a nice touch, though the lack of guidance on whether it’s possible to fall out is a letdown. Including a way to fall out of a

I don't know what I did with myself this week, in exercising or most other contexts. It seemed to pass in a blur of relief from resolving a few matters I was dealing with through October, so I suppose I should just be thankful for having done whatever I did and move forward from there. Sunday Type: Pass/Fail Uneven Pull Ups - 2 sets of 6, each side (pass) Stand-to-stand Bridges, one wall touch on the way up - 2 sets of 6 (pass) Archer Push Ups - 2 sets of 17, each side (pass

Premise A mad death knight seeks vengeance on a god who betrayed him in life, and the party is brought in to confront him. Good The premise is pretty awesome. It needs some support to bring up the backstory in actual play, but it’s certainly a winner on paper. In a longer campaign, I think it’d be brilliant for the death knight to have been an ally or patron to the party in life to ramp up the drama. Dealing with the consequences of a rogue dragon escaping through a river o

Premise A flameskull calling itself the Bright Lord of Everburning Fire is trying to tap into the magic binding a being of primordial fire to become a demigod. Good Area 1 is the only area in the entire book to have no creatures, only traps. It’s a much-appreciated breath of fresh air, even with the contrived antimagic effect. I could pick on the flame jet traps for lacking diverse countermeasures, but I like that presentation. It’s reminiscent of the old school approach of