#WSCA

[theresattrpgforthat]

(there's some short weird ttrpgs too!)

you need to play more short weird games on itch you need to play more short weird games on itch you need to play more short weird games on itch is it working you need to play more short weird games on itch it's good for you

[musette22]

MINNIEEE OH MY GOD WHAT IS THIS??

https://twitter.com/hourlyseb/status/1707494306213142732?t=hpdm-w-V9-gxAwh0H-wsCA&s=19

UUUHHHH holy shit???? WHAT is this and why is it weirdly hot??????

He's literally spitting blood 😭 Okaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy 😳😳😳Listen, I've always said he was a vampire and now we have proof!!

[theresattrpgforthat]

I asked abaut a dating rpg but of you know of an easier game to hak than KoB i woud love recomendasions for that to Im kinda new to haking so I woud lovde tips on games easy to change

THEME: Hackable Games (Dating Sims).

Alright friend, I said I’d address both parts of your question, and this is me answering both parts of your question. In my previous rec post, we talked about ways you could take dating sim games that are already out there and how you could combine them with Kids on Bikes. I also talked about the Kids on Bikes system, and the kinds of things I think it expects from people who are playing it.

So, now that we’re talking about games that are easy to hack, let’s talk about some options. I've got two different approaches here: taking romance games and tweaking them, and using some beginner-friendly SRDs.

Caltrop Core, by TitanomachyRPG.

Ever wondered how to make your own TTRPG? Welcome to v1.2 of Caltrop Core, an introductory game design system using the humble and sharp d4!

Caltrop Core is a system designed for folks that are new to game design. It’s meant to be an extremely simple system reference document (or SRD) that guides you through the basics of the game you want to play. Your resolution will involve rolling a number of d4s and looking for the highest one; as the designer you’ll have to decide what is worth rolling for and whether your characters will be spending resources (tokens) to improve their chances of rolling or whether they’ll use a predetermined set of stats. The range of games that have been made with this system are very broad, from games about underwater cephalopods, to games about taxis in space, to games about doing your best to win your sapphic love.

What’s So Cool About _? By Jared Sinclair.

The original game of What’s So Cool About Outer Space? is no longer available on Itch.io, but Litza Bronwyn’s guide on how to make a WSCA game is still there. WSCA is a very simple system, asking each player to make up a few things about their character, and then detailing how to resolve something that is risky. What success and failure look like will usually be determined by the table as a group, and the player will roll 2d6, adding +1 to the total based off of things that exist on your character sheet or other questions that make sense in the genre that you’re playing.

The GM advice is also pretty basic, encouraging the Game Master to continually introduce new things that are happening, and dealing some key elements of the genre that you’re trying to emulate. There’s also the expectation that as you play, the game will grow; you’ll come up with new rules to make sense of specific situations or challenges that make sense for the kind of game you are playing. This is another beginner-friendly approach to game design, starting you off with a few basic tools and encouraging you to fiddle with them until you have a game that makes sense for your table.

If you want to see what kinds of games people have made in this genre, I recommend checking out the What Is So Cool About Jam!

Dating Sim, by Tyler Crumrine.

Dating.sim is a light-hearted romance roleplaying game inspired by the TV show The Dating Game as well as the “dating simulator” video game genre. Dating simulators are narrative-heavy games where players can date one of multiple eligible characters via choose-your-own-adventure-style conversations. Make the right choices and a character might like you more, make the wrong choices and they might like you less. Dating.sim recreates this structure through competitive roleplaying, with players improvising multiple-choice options for one player to select over the course of a date.

With more of a competitive, game-show style of play, if you pick up Dating Sim, you’re not so much hacking a game as you are creating a setting to put into the game. The art for the game points to a multitude of genres, so you would just want to start the game by asking the table about the universe this dating game show is happening in, and what kinds of contestants would be on it. This suggestion is more in line with the previous week’s posts, but sometimes trying out these kinds of games will help you figure out what kinds rules make sense for the game your playing; are your dates competitions? Are they mysteries? Or are they something else?

Thirsty Sword Lesbians, by Evil Hat.

Thirsty Sword Lesbians is considered genre-agnostic, with some suggested settings inside the game, but plenty of room to create or borrow a setting of your own. Hacking this game could be anything from creating your own custom setting but running it rules as written all the way to creating your own movies and character playbooks to fit the feeling of a dating simulator.

In general, PbtA games can provide great engines for interpersonal drama, which means that it often lends itself to allowing players to take things down a romantic path. Pasión de las Pasiones is another romantic PbtA game, this time originally focused around Spanish telenovelas, but I’ve seen people hack it for other genres as well.

However, keep in mind that the more concentrated a game is around a specific type of media or theme, the more work you’ll likely have to do in order to make it work for the theme you’re aiming for. In terms of PbtA games, this is especially true.

Boyfriend Dungeon Unofficial TTRPG, by CaptainKrail.

Make a character, fight through Dunj's, Craft items, Wield friends, level up by increasing your relasionships and fall in love in this Tabletop adaptation.

This TTRPG is an adaptation of the Powered By the Apocalypse system, using 2D6 to resolve conflict.

Because this game is specifically inspired by a dating-sim style game that involves impressing potential partners through learning about them, this game might be worth looking at, although many of the character options are focused around combat. I like the fact that part of the progression in this game is discovering more about the back-stories of the date-able companions, indicating that you are growing when you’ve built enough trust with someone to unveil more about their personal story.

Some Other Things To Think About

So I’ve watched a pretty in-depth explanation of how games like Tokimeki Memorial work, and I’ve also played Monster Prom. Both of these games reward multiple plays, because you’re expected to learn more and more about each romance-able character with every time that you play. If you wanted to replicate that in a tabletop roleplaying game, I think the closest mechanics that work for that kind of game are mystery games, especially games that have characters slowly accumulate clues that they can use to answer a bigger question.

The two biggest games that I can think of that are mystery-related are Brindlewood Bay and the GUMSHOE system.

Brindlewood Bay is a game about elderly ladies solving eldritch mysteries, but it’s also been hacked a number of times to represent mystery-solving in various settings. If each “mystery” was focused around a single date-able character, and the theorize roll was transformed into a roll that is actually you asking them out, you might have an interesting loop there.

GUMSHOE is an investigative roleplaying system that is designed to feed the players different clues throughout the course of play, but leaves the interpretation up to the players, giving them a series of investigative abilities that help them uncover extra information. You could re-structure this to make the clues elements of a character’s backstory, with the abilities of each character tied to ways that they can set their crushes at ease, slowly unlocking information that informs them about what kind of date their crush would like to go on.

A big caveat I have with both of these games is that I don’t think they’re necessarily easier to hack, especially if you haven’t played either of them. If you want to turn games like these into a fleshed-out dating simulator, my recommendation would be to pick up the game, run it RAW for a little bit, and think about what you like or don’t like about the game. If you want to make a quick hack, this kind of process probably isn’t for you.

[equalseleventhirds]

good morning look at my gaaaaaaame. this is the tragic hero webbed site isn't it. dont u love those guys.

hey what's up i wrote a game sorta

well i hacked what's so cool about outer space, bcos i am very fond of that style of game

i need to do adventure suggestions at the end but i do have fully playtestable materials for "what's so tragic about being a hero?" a fairly simple ttrpg about being a tragic hero, in the style of greek tragedies. u kno.

free for reading n playtest n stuff for anyone interested, just like, gimme ur thoughts n stuff.

[don-lichterman]

WSCA Weekly World News Report: Top U.S. & World Headlines, Mathew Perry, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, ADAS Market Growth and Projections for 2030, Green Relief Health, AQUA Heart, Sports Highlights, NFL Game Highlights, No safe place’ for Palestinians in Gaza, More…

ADAS Market Growth and Projections for 2030

OCT 30, 2023✴︎ WSCA NEWS

OCT 30, 2023✴︎ AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY, BUSINESS, WSCA NEWS

OCT 30, 2023✴︎ EDUCATION, WSCA NEWS

✴︎

WSCA WEEKLY WORLD NEWS REPORT: TOP U.S. & WORLD HEADLINES, MATHEW PERRY, ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT, ADAS MARKET GROWTH AND PROJECTIONS FOR 2030, GREEN RELIEF HEALTH, AQUA HEART, SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS, NFL GAME HIGHLIGHTS, NO SAFE PLACE’ FOR PALESTINIANS IN GAZA, MORE…

✴︎

GUARDIAN ESSENTIAL POLL: MOST VOTERS DON’T BELIEVE AUSTRALI…

✴︎

AQUA HEART LEADS THE WAY

NEXT

October 30, 2023

October 30, 2023

October 30, 2023

WSCA Weekly World News Report: Top U.S. & World Headlines, Mathew Perry, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, ADAS Market Growth and Projections for 2030, Green Relief Health, AQUA Heart, Sports Highlights, NFL Game Highlights, No safe place’ for Palestinians in Gaza, More…

ADAS Market Growth and Projections for 2030

Guardian Essential poll: most voters don’t believe Australi…

Fewer than one in three voters believe Australia is on track to meet the Albanese government’s target of net zero emissions by 2050, according to the Guardian Essential poll. The latest poll of 1,149 voters also found that half of Australians support nuclear energy. Although renewables remain popular, their local impact and transmission infrastructure are…

AQUA Heart leads the way

AQUA Heart – Restoring Rhythm AQUA Heart – Restoring Rhythm AQUA Heart – Award winning technology Study shows first-line ablation therapy’s significant benefits for Atrial Fibrillation. AQUA Heart’s PVI innovation offers transformation in AF treatment This research underscores the potential of first-line ablation therapy as a game-changer in AF treatment,” — Dr. Holger Friedrich SANTA…

October 30, 2023

October 30, 2023

October 30, 2023

October 30, 2023

October 30, 2023

October 30, 2023

WSCA Weekly World News Report: Top U.S. & World Headlines, Mathew Perry, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, ADAS Market Growth and Projections for 2030, Green Relief Health, AQUA Heart, Sports Highlights, NFL Game Highlights, No safe place’ for Palestinians in Gaza, More…

ADAS Market Growth and Projections for 2030

Guardian Essential poll: most voters don’t believe Australi…

Fewer than one in three voters believe Australia is on track to meet the Albanese government’s target of net zero emissions by 2050, according to the Guardian Essential poll. The latest poll of 1,149 voters also found that half of Australians support nuclear energy. Although renewables remain popular, their local impact and transmission infrastructure are…

AQUA Heart leads the way

AQUA Heart – Restoring Rhythm AQUA Heart – Restoring Rhythm AQUA Heart – Award winning technology Study shows first-line ablation therapy’s significant benefits for Atrial Fibrillation. AQUA Heart’s PVI innovation offers transformation in AF treatment This research underscores the potential of first-line ablation therapy as a game-changer in AF treatment,” — Dr. Holger Friedrich SANTA…

The Rise of Fuel Cell-Powered UAVs

Fuel cell UAV market to reach $4,472.92 million in 2031 WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, UNITED STATES, October 30, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — The concept of fuel cell UAVs is typically attributed to the transportation options that use a propulsion technology, which does not produce internal combustion engine exhaust or other carbon emissions when it operates. It is primarily…

Green Relief Health Launches New Membership Program for Aes…

Dr. Lauren Nawrocki Green Relief Health Launches New Membership Program for Aesthetic Services in Baltimore Aesthetics is not just about enhancing one’s external beauty; it’s a journey towards rediscovering and embracing one’s inner confidence and vitality.” — Dr. Lauren Nawrocki BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, UNITED STATES, October 30, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — Green Relief Health, a premier medical…

AgencyBloc Announces Expanded 2024 Annual BlocBuilder Confe…

The fifth annual BlocBuilder conference will be hosted in Atlanta, Georgia, bringing together customers of the platform and industry experts. The event started as a single day AgencyBloc user meetup with a handful of clients and is now a growing industry-relevant event with hundreds of attendees annually.” — Erica Kiefer, Chief Growth Officer at AgencyBloc…

[global-newz]

IIT Madras hosts water security and climate adaptation conference

The objective of this conference by IIT Madras is to exchange knowledge and practical know-how on the relationship between water security and adaptation to climate change.

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is hosting a Water Security and Climate Adaptation (WSCA) conference from October 4 to 7, 2023 with a focus on Adaptation and Mitigation through Sustainable Development.

The conference is being coordinated by the Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre (ABCD Centre) in the Institute. The focus is on highlighting the importance of sustainability in water-related problems and emphasising its need to scientists, engineers, policymakers, and industries.

The overarching objective of this conference is to exchange knowledge and practical know-how on the relationship between water security and adaptation to climate change with best practice implementation.

This is to advance research strategies in this domain that will further take the nation forward to meet the goals for sustainable development in efficient water resources management.

The mission of the DAAD Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre is to address the challenges of ‘Water Security and Climate Adaptation’ through training, teaching, and research. This will facilitate transfer and link science with policy and the private sector to enable sustainable solutions for climate adaptation.

Addressing the inaugural session on October 4, Chief Guest Professor T. Balasubramanian, Former Director and Dean, Annamalai University, highlighted the need for close interaction with cross-disciplinary professionals in water, health, and policymakers to achieve stress-free water availability in the coming decades”

Further, Professor T Balasubramanian stressed the need to spread awareness of avoiding polluting water.

Conference Chair Professor S A Sannasiraj, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, said the focus of the conference theme is the strategy of Adaptation and Mitigation through Sustainable Development to address future water security. It is particularly significant because of the global trends striving to achieve self-sufficiency and sustainability in all regards.

The key focus area of WSCA 2023 is ‘Adaptation and Mitigation through Sustainable Development’. It is particularly significant due to the global trends striving to achieve self-sufficiency and sustainability in all regards.

India hosted the G20 summit 2023 in early September in New Delhi with its theme on ‘Lifestyle for the Environment’, with its associated, environmentally sustainable, and responsible choices, both at the level of individual lifestyles as well as national development. This will lead to globally transformative actions resulting in a cleaner, greener, and blue future.

Speaking earlier, Professor Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT Madras, highlighted the role of IIT Madras in addressing water scarcity and, in particular, lowering the zero liquid waste disposal within the IIT campus that leads to less maintenance costs.

Further, conference chairs, Professor S A Sannasiraj and Professor Ligy Philip stressed the need for collaborative efforts among different institutions to learn and adapt new climate-resilient technologies to secure stress-free water for future generations. A panel discussion during the conference highlights this aspect.

Michaela K¼chler, Consul General German, Chennai, expressed blanket support to all Indo-German collaboration in addressing the water starving issues.

Dr Katja Lasch, Director, DAAD Regional Office New Delhi/ DWIH New Delhi, said that DAAD, Germany, has a liberal policy in funding science and engineering addressing the problems related to the deficit of water.

The Global Water and Climate Adaptation Centre — Aachen, Bangkok, Chennai, Dresden (ABCD-Centre) addresses the pressing issue of adaptation by humanity to the consequences of climate change with a special focus on water.

As a joint effort between leading scientific institutions, it enables a global dialogue, the transfer of research results into practice, and the education of future environmental leaders.

Speaking about the conference, coordinator Professor SA Sannasiraj, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, said, “The objectives will be achieved through the notable academic platform for scientific, technical and policy-oriented discourses and discussions. The ABCD partners have an extraordinarily strong and large network, including the Centre for International Postgraduate Studies of Environmental Management (CIPSEM) and the United Nations University.”

Conference coordinator Professor Ligy Philip, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras, added, “The conference will also contribute to joint activities of several DAAD Global Centres for Climate and Environment as well as Global Centres for Health and Pandemics, by including relevant keynote addresses by leading experts from these Global Centres.”

This conference will render a specific focus on the novel technologies for climate change adaptation, and best practices to achieve the said goals, with a distinctive focus on governance and policy, which aids in the implementation of the above-arbitrated technologies and practices in real field conditions.

The following are the focus areas of the conference:

A. Novel Technologies for Climate Change Adaptation:

a. Water Treatment

b. Wastewater Treatment

c. Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse

d. Coastal Water Body and Infrastructure Protection

e. Waste Management and Resource Recovery

f. Reimagining the Traditional Knowledge

B. Best Practices:

a. Nature-Based Water Excess Management

b. Sustainable and Equitable Deficit Management

c. Risk Evaluation, Mapping, and Building Resilience

d. Water-Energy-Food Nexus

e. Adaptive Planning, Design, and Implementation of Water Infrastructure

C. Governance and Policy:

a. Financing Climate Resilient Water Infrastructure

b. Inclusive and Participatory Adaptation and mitigation Measures

c. Institutional Structures and Capacity Building

d. Examples of Good Governance

e. Socio-Economic Hydrology

f. Blue Economy

g. Transboundary and Conflict negotiation and agreements

[sgowtham]

Nestled in the festivities of the 2023 US Cross Country Ski National Championships was the annual Women Ski Coach Meet-Up hosted by the Women Ski Coaches Association (WSCA). All female coaches and staff were invited for a fun ski, and many of theses TBAs made time amidst their very busy schedule for at least a portion of this meet-up. (at Houghton, Michigan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnLB1N_uYNQ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[shana-silver-fox]

Floor art at WSCAtlanta

Michegan?

[dancemomsliveblogtrash]

You just had to be there

[espresso-lovers]

Poster for Russian Aeropress Championship

[equalseleventhirds]

ok well i did do this only in response to one person but u kno what, i worked hard on this list, so rbing in case the night crowd needs longform fantasy ttrpg recs. u kno.

Hey, do you have any recs for long form, more serious ttrpg systems for fantasy settings? I feel like I hear a lot about short/definitively-lengthed systems, but I've been yearning for a DnD-esque system without all the baggage of equip loads and complicated Challenge Ratings and other rules-y baggage I don't super care about.

do i! do i ever!

serious & long-form systems do on the whole tend to be crunchier than shorter systems (not always, but generally); nevertheless, i've picked out a........ handful......... ok there's Several, i did try to control and limit myself but u kno.......... games......... anyway, here are some that are considerably less crunchy than d&d but still lend themselves to long fantasy campaigns.

uh. under the cut for. oh god it's so long. it's so long. tried my best to explain them, u see. (which is also why it took me so long to reply lol, sry abt that)

godeater (& godeater 2.0): play in a broken, post-apocalyptic fantasy world, where dead and dying gods warp the land, and you raid their bodies for divine magic to help support humanity. 2d10-based, get weird & funky with it! i admit a small preference for version 1.0, which gave u some loose examples but left much of the worldbuilding and even character building up to u to create; 2.0 has some extra books that go with it that i haven't much looked into yet, but seem to give more solid lore to work with, if u would like that.

when the guilds pay in copper, crime pays in gold: alchemical guilds pay shit wages to use people for magical experiments. go do crimes on 'em with your own magic. d6 base, assign dice to stats to make ur own dice pool; fairly light rules and in fact very little in the way of instruction or hard lore on the gm's side, so better played with an experienced gm who's good at making their own stuff, but certainly campaign material for the right gm!

third empire - violence + beauty: the world sucks, and has sucked for a while, through two oppressive empires and into a third one. you play adventurers who are trying to carve out a little goodness, a little justice, a little vengeance, in the world. y'know. lasers & feelings based, but expanded beyond the original (which also comes with it if u get it!) into more lore, more character choices, very collaborative worldbuilding, downtime mechanics, etc etc.

ruby radiance 6e: streamlined dungeoneering built to let ppl play the way actual play podcasts sound, essentially. d20 pool system, based on trophy mechanics but v much adjusted. lots of choices to make during character creation & leveling, but much much less to keep track of during the playing part. u get it.

wizard pals: all of you are wizards, going on adventures and trying to accomplish your goals in a fantasy world. d12-based, fairly lighthearted (can lean silly but u could use it for more serious if not super grimdark adventures), much worldbuilding left up to the gm, but very simple rules, so.

grimblade rpg: (speaking of grim lol,) action & adventure in a grim fantasy world; things like character creation and rewards (and magic) fully imply a fantasy world, but worldbuilding is left up to the gm, altho there are many tables to roll on to give some help. uses d4, 6, 8, and 10; all rolls are contested rolls, with dice picked based on how serious the gm feels this roll is.

shattered aether: post-apocalyptic science fantasy, you roam around a fucked up magic world and protect ppl from various dangers. 2d6 based, based on the lumen system so fairly combat-forward in a very high-action very cool asskicking way. for some reason the font chosen for this book is murder on my eyes, but if u can get past that (or just zoom in lots and read a bit at a time) it's straightforward, simple, and fun!

familiars of terra: this one may be a little too crunchy, but i love it a lot and rly the most crunch is in character creation and tracking experience, actual gameplay is (imo) pretty easy. post-post-apocalyptic fantasy world, some science fantasy elements depending on where you choose to focus, bcos there are absolute PAGES of lore on this extremely cool and enormous world; you and your party go around with your soul-bonded animal friends to spread hope and healing and also do cool shit. y'know. card-based, again it is probably more crunchy than ur looking for but less abt tracking what you can do during things and more abt tracking experience in order to level up stats, so.

1400 quest: ok that last one was crunchy, this one's very uncrunchy. pick a handful of things and get going! clearly inspired by d&d, but very very streamlined, so things that were pages of mechanics are like, one or two sentences. gm's side of it is like, a handful of rollable tables and then do whatever, so prolly for the more experienced gm. d6 based, but you may have occasion to use other dice. also if you like this one there's others by the same author focusing on other things (1400 mage, sneak, etc), or you can check out others in the 24XX type of games, which started out sci fi but has since been expanded to a bunch of other stuff. u kno.

beast dream: pokemon-inspired game where you make friends with magical beasts and go on magical adventures! d6-based, forged in the dark, so there is a little crunch wrt deciding on position etc and stuff like stress, but the author rly wanted to focus in on letting u adventure and have fun without getting bogged down in numbers and i think that shows, stuff like load and reputation aren't so much a thing.

cognatons: play as sentient, magic-filled automatons doing whatever fantasy adventures your robot heart desires. d4-based, caltrop core, so you get a fairly simple & defined set of actions; less to keep track of, easy to follow.

dethrone the divine: you're gonna overthrow the gods, and also take their places. you're already either divine, semi-divine, or magically powerful in other ways, and you adventure with the goal of gathering power and followers so you can take the place of the shitty gods in power. d6-based, pretty straightforward system, makes characters v cool and powerful, which is always fun.

perilous: do you love dungeon crawls bcos i love dungeon crawls... streamlined and easy to understand fantasy dungeoneer adventures in this one! d20-based, leans towards tags instead of complicated numerical skill stuff to keep track of. go to dungeons, fight monsters, get treasure. simple n good. (adds in some metaplot, like who sent you, how will this affect the people living here, whatever, but rly strong with the very old core of d&d-style 'go do a dungeon' kinda thing, if that's what u like.)

high magic lowlives: ok my latest obsession bcos i'm currently planning a big ol campaign for friends in this one. there are classic adventurers in this world, out there cleaning out monster nests or whatever, but they're usually in the employ of the immortal aristocracy. you? you make your money by stealing from and humiliating the immortal aristocracy, because you're a lowlife. it's a dangerous gig, but isn't it better than going into student debt at wizard school? melds high fantasy aesthetics with like, magical twitch streaming aesthetics. fun as hell. uses all the dice and also sometimes tarot cards (mostly just for character creation, u kno). easy to understand rules, i'm having a great time.

ellipses rpg: setting-agnostic system (make ur own setting!) with simple, streamlined rules and an emphasis on improvisation. d20 based, rly just some very basic foundation and then a lot of encouragement to make things up and do what's fun. so like, loosey goosey & not super structured if you want structure, but could be fun!

unbound: setting-agnostic system but with much more formal structure, got structure around how to collaboratively worldbuild your setting and everything. obvs this means some crunch, but it's still not super crunchy, nice and straightforward rly. lotta character options but not so complex and math-heavy, u kno. card-based system. designed actually for a series of short campaigns in a linked world, tho, so if ur not up for exploring new characters a lot, may not be for you.

[theresattrpgforthat]

I just found this blog and i love it!!! I have a few different questions so to make organizing easier im gonna ask one here and send the others separately so I apologize for the abundance of asks im about to send :D what are some of your favorite past jams or bundles?

THEME: Game Jams and Game Bundles.

Thank you so much! I will probably space out these answers so that other folks have a chance to get their questions answered first. But this one is a pretty fun one to start with.

I’m a sucker for charity bundles, to be sure. My first bundle was the Itch Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, which was back in 2020. I filtered through all 50 pages and sorted all of the ttrpgs into folders - this was the start of my Itch organization. It also introduced me to quite a few games that showed me the amazing breadth of tabletop games, including Subway Runners, Visigoths vs Mall Goths, Troika, and i’m sorry did you say street magic. An additional recommendation I have from this bundle is Transmission Burst v.1 and Transmission Burst v.2, collections of evocative mini games by UFO Press.

One really impressive bundle was The Bundle for Ukraine, which had a staggering amount of tabletop games in it, including Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Apocalypse Frame, Lutong Banwa, and The Great Soul Train Robbery. I want to give a specific shout out to Bright & Terrible (Atlantean Exiles from a kingdom that fell), as well as Recipe on Kmiydish Paper, a solo gaming experience that fleshes out a world through a single recipe.

If you have bought a lot of charity bundles, I also recommend checking out Bundle Browser, which is a website that helps you sift through games by bundle and tag. I find it super helpful when I'm not sure I have a copy of a game, and clicking on the game brings you to its game page!

Now, let's talk about game jams. The Emotional Mecha Jam was a game jam in the beginning of 2019 that explore the depth of emotions that exist in the mecha genre. This jam inspired works such as A Long Night in the Mech Bay, All My Exes are in Mechsuits, and Breakup on Re-Entry. You should absolutely check this jam out.

In 2021, there was a jam called Applied Hope: The Solarpunk and Utopias Jam. I’ve talked about this jam recently, and it’s very very good. I love the theory and conversations sparked in this jam - the goal was to dream of possible worlds - not perfect ones, but ones that were brighter, worlds that could are meant to increase our capacity for joy. I’ve talked about a number of games here before, including subconscious_Routine, Waxworm, and After the World Drowned. I’m also intrigued by Scraps, which won the award for Best Solarpunk DIY game.

The BIPOC Vamp Jam was also a lot of fun! It was a jam that ran in 2021 and asked Black, Indigenous and Creators of Colour to submit their vampire games, in an effort to look at vampires through a different lens. I’ve talked about Vamp Camp and Bloodbeam Badlands before, but I’m also stoked about The Vamp is Dust, (a hack of The Witch is Dead), as well as Project: Day Breaker (Vampires in space!).

Some of my favourite jams are jams that are focused on a specific system. The What’s So Cool About Jam is one of those. It is a super simple system, and the jam is what introduced me to the WSCA ruleset, which is pretty light-weight system that can be translated to a lot of settings. I’ve personally been interested in What is So Cool About Sky Pirates, as well as What’s So Scary About Dinosaurs?.

Titanomachy also has a solid history of good game jams, as evidence by their first and second Caltrop Core jams. Caltrop Core has gotten some pretty big attention, because it’s so easy to hack! This can be seen in in HexFall, which is also by Lex, as well as SW//NG by @farmergadda (emotional superheroes), and Last Hope (dark magical girls). I’m also interested in The Dreaded & The Deep (nautical horror) and The Dying of the Light (a city struggling in the darkness).

[the-groundhog-chronicle]

Flipped

Upstairs bathroom. Done. Finally. I gotta say, it’s been a process. What started with a two-week demolition in October of 2018 finally wrapped up with the hanging of a shower curtain in mid May of 2020. I poured weekend after weekend and night after night into this thing for months into more than a year and a half as basically every square inch of the room minus the floor got redone. You know, back when I was teaching kindergarten I’d update my class every Monday for months with the progress I’d made the weekend before. It got to the point where I remember one of my kids throwing up her hands and announcing, “When are you finally going to finish this bathroom remodel?!” It turns out the answer was “About the time you go to 2nd grade.” The breakdown:

Biggest change? The tub installation. We gotta have a tub for soaking babies, and my wife had always wanted one of the clawfoot variety. Fun story; I secretly arranged with the plumber to get the thing installed while Gracie was out of town for a few days at the February 2019 WSCA Conference. But before that I even went as far as to request a fake e-mail from the same plumber confirming a March installation date and let Gracie read it over my shoulder so she’d be totally misdirected- a move that would earn me my Master’s degree in Wife Surprising from Ball So Hard University.

Over the course of the remodel I’ve learned more than a little about tiling. That wall behind the tub represents my first ever attempt at tiling. It took something like four or five hundred tiles and about a month to finish, which felt like a slow process until I jumped...

... into the shower. I’d anticipated my second ever attempt at tiling would go significantly faster than the first, but booooy was I wrong. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; “glacial”. The pace of the shower project was glacial.

The picture frame wainscoting was pretty fun, I guess, but in my opinion it’s outdone by one of my favorite details in the room, and one that I can’t claim as my own work;

In the late 13th century Pope Boniface VIII wanted to bring in an artist to create a number of paintings for St. Peter’s. As the story goes, the pope sent his courier to all of the greatest artists of the time and requested they each submit a work indicative of their skill from which the pope would then make his hire. When the courier arrived at Giotto di Bondone and told him of the pope’s errand, Giotto quickly drew- freehand- just a circle. A perfect circle. When the courier wasn’t sure if Giotta wasn’t just messing with him, the artist assured him that the circle was all the pope would need. He was right. Giotto got the job. So... where am I going with this? Gracie’s dad’s an incredible craftsman. How good? I say look no further than the door and window trim in the room. A couple other rooms in the house- the originals- feature the same exact trim, but all of the additions made to our home over the decades since were finished with different trim. To me, Todd’s ability to spot on replicate 80-year-old trim you simply can’t buy anywhere anymore is as fair a representation of his abilities as any. They’re Giotto’s perfect circle.

Todd also built that sweet sliding closet door. I just put glass in it.

For me, the vanity revision might have been the funnest part of the entire remodel, and between pallet wood and salvaged hardware the price was right, too.

Check that. Making that pipe shelf and toilet paper holder were the funnest part. I got a little impulsive and overspent on 1/2″ black steel pipe and now I’ve got tons laying around. Last fall Gracie went to this craft fair and sold something like $300 in gnomes she made out of striped socks stuffed with corn and more or less rubbed her success in my face for ever doubting the marketability of said gnomes. This year I’m making pipe shelves from my surplus black steel and one-upping her. Write it down.

Though we were advised against it... *cough* Todd *cough* I’m so glad we exposed the chimney running through the corner of the room. Something about old brick...

And there were other details I’ve either forgotten or not pictured. Painting that pattern on the closet floor. Homemade closet shelving. Patching a hole in the ceiling the old school way with plaster and lath. The list goes on, but it’s finally done now.

So... What’s next? Well, no time to rest on my laurels. It’s onto the mudroom/laundry room. Can’t wait.

Until next time,

-Ian

[don-lichterman]

WSCA Weekly World News Report: Israel-Hamas War: First aid trucks enter Gaza, Bailing Out the Creditors, Preview: West Brom vs. QPR – prediction, team news, lineups & Sultry Alert! Disha Patani sets internet abuzz, More…

Iranian teenage girl ‘brain dead’ after alleged encounter w…

Hezbollah alone will decide whether Lebanon − already on th

Gaza desperately awaits humanitarian aid as Israel prepares…

OCT 22, 2023✴︎ WSCA NEWS

OCT 22, 2023✴︎ WORLD, WSCA NEWS

OCT 22, 2023✴︎ CLIMATE, WSCA NEWS

✴︎

WSCA WEEKLY WORLD NEWS REPORT: ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR: FIRST AID TRUCKS ENTER GAZA, BAILING OUT THE CREDITORS, PREVIEW: WEST BROM VS. QPR – PREDICTION, TEAM NEWS, LINEUPS & SULTRY ALERT! DISHA PATANI SETS INTERNET ABUZZ, MORE…

✴︎

ENERGY GIANT DTEK IMPORTS ALMOST 40,000 METRIC TONS OF COAL…

✴︎

BAILING OUT THE CREDITORS

NEXT

October 22, 2023

October 22, 2023

October 22, 2023

WSCA Weekly World News Report: Israel-Hamas War: First aid trucks enter Gaza, Bailing Out the Creditors, Preview: West Brom vs. QPR – prediction, team news, lineups & Sultry Alert! Disha Patani sets internet abuzz, More…

Iranian teenage girl ‘brain dead’ after alleged encounter w… Hezbollah alone will decide whether Lebanon − already on th Gaza desperately awaits humanitarian aid as Israel prepares…

Energy giant DTEK imports almost 40,000 metric tons of coal…

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, has imported over 38,000 metric tons of coal from Poland, Ildar Saleyev, the company’s general director, said on Oct. 20. In total, the company plans to import 210,000 metric tons of coal for the winter to ensure the stable operation of its thermal power plants. While “Ukrainian coal is…

Bailing Out the Creditors

Although the ostensible purpose of an EFF is to “implement deep and sustained structural reforms”, what the IMF IMFInternational Monetary Fund Along with the World Bank, the IMF was founded on the day the Bretton Woods Agreements were signed. Its first mission was to support the new system of standard exchange rates. When the Bretton…

October 22, 2023

October 22, 2023

October 22, 2023

October 22, 2023

October 22, 2023

October 22, 2023

WSCA Weekly World News Report: Israel-Hamas War: First aid trucks enter Gaza, Bailing Out the Creditors, Preview: West Brom vs. QPR – prediction, team news, lineups & Sultry Alert! Disha Patani sets internet abuzz, More…

Iranian teenage girl ‘brain dead’ after alleged encounter w… Hezbollah alone will decide whether Lebanon − already on th Gaza desperately awaits humanitarian aid as Israel prepares…

Energy giant DTEK imports almost 40,000 metric tons of coal…

DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, has imported over 38,000 metric tons of coal from Poland, Ildar Saleyev, the company’s general director, said on Oct. 20. In total, the company plans to import 210,000 metric tons of coal for the winter to ensure the stable operation of its thermal power plants. While “Ukrainian coal is…

Bailing Out the Creditors

Although the ostensible purpose of an EFF is to “implement deep and sustained structural reforms”, what the IMF IMFInternational Monetary Fund Along with the World Bank, the IMF was founded on the day the Bretton Woods Agreements were signed. Its first mission was to support the new system of standard exchange rates. When the Bretton…

SmartContact streams patient compliments to nurses and reki…

SmartContact Gratitude Report Burnout — defined as compassion fatigue, cynicism, and feelings of inadequacy — has reached alarming levels among nurses. Nurse burnout is at dangerous levels. It is time to help them recover by sharing a large number of patient compliments.” — Julie Danker, MSW, CXO, Auscura BURR RIDGE, IL, UNITED STATES, October 22,…

Preview: West Brom vs. QPR – prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s Championship clash between West Bromwich Albion and Queens Park Rangers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups. Now finding themselves four points adrift in the bottom three of the Championship table, Queens Park Rangers will aim to end a run of four consecutive league defeats on Tuesday when they travel to…

DANO Network Unveils New Linear TV Channel, Expanding Its P…

The free streaming tv platform created by filmmakers. Old school TV DANO Network is a leading digital entertainment provider, offering a range of content from movies, series, and now, Linear TV and music videos. LOS ANGELES, CA, USA, October 20, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — In response to growing customer demand for traditional, scheduled programming, DANO Network…

[unhasoo]

One of my professors was a life coach, she told us to write down our dreams and post them where we see them at least three times a day. "Live near the water, have a song I sing play on the radio." Both these dreams came true within a year when I moved to Boston -2blocks from the Charles River and joined a band- recording an EP that was played on #wfnx, #wmfo, #NPR, #wmwm, #wsca. Now, I live in the state with the longest coastline- 800+ miles, on an island, surrounded by water. I'm acting and singing in a film called "Water" with #triptychjourneythroughcancer by Jennifer Faust, a horror short film I star in "The Party's Over" by Bryan Aguirre is headed to screen its world premiere at motor city nightmares at the end of April, had a chance to serve as one of the panelists at USC SCAPE's event Inspirasian 7.0, appeared in a photo with state senator Mark Leno on the front page of a daily newspaper for an event I was invited to sing at with SF Chinese Culture Center organized by Tamiko Wang and Janis Hom, and our director Chang Chelsea of our web series #HellaStrangers sent me a bw film promo pic, keep an eye out for that on Instagram and fb and we will announce our west coast premiere this week, too. The first step was the one I held in my heart for years but didn't come true until I wrote it down and made it visible, touchable, it was the step that put me on my life's adventure, and it was the step she knew I could not afford to skip. #🎶#firststeps (at NIMBY)

[thecommsjsu]

Attention Commrades, I’m pleased to announce that SJSU will be the local host for WSCA's Annual Conference!

Western States Communication Association's Annual Conference will take place February 16 to February 19 here in the Bay Area.  This is a great opportunity to learn more about our Communication Studies field and about potential graduate school programs.   You can volunteer to help us host the conference and get the conference fee waived.  If you are interested in volunteering, or for any additional information, please contact Dr. Felipe Gómez (felipe.gomez@sjsu.edu).

http://www.westcomm.org/page/Convention2018