#desert high temp

[fishrpg]

2025-01-05: Desert (Hot) Encounter Map Tactical Elements

Tactical elements are things that creatures in the encounter map can interact with and stack the odds in their favor. Generally they are most useful in combat situations, but creative individuals can find uses for them outside of combat. Hopefully these elements provide a reason to use the environment in a more intentional and experiential way. Every tactical element is influenced in part by a d6 that is rolled at the same time.

Desert (Hot) Tactical Elements (d20)

Salvageable part from a broken cart (1d6: 1-3, a single wheel; 4, axle dripping with grease; 5, ten feet of chain; 6, yoke)

Boulders (1d6, scattered around the map). Each boulder takes up a 10 foot square and provides full cover or high ground.

Natural stone arch (1d6 x 10 feet long and 10 feet wide). Easily traversed and provides high ground for people atop it. If there is a chasm or similar gap, the arch can be placed in a way to bridge the gap instead of being positioned where the die fell.

Dune (1d6 + 3 squares, arranged in a contiguous crescent shape). Provides 3/4 cover.

Dry Brush (1d6+2 squares clumped together). If exposed to a spark or flame, it catches fire instantly and burns for 1 minute. Flames spread to adjacent brush on Initiative 0.

Ley Line Focus (1d6 + 2 squares arranged in a straight line). Anyone standing in this area while casting a spell has advantage on both attack and damage rolls. Concentration is not affected.

Tar pit (1d6 squares, contiguous). Movement speed is reduced to 5 in these squares.

Precarious rock pillars (1d6, each one scattered at different points from the map though the first one is always as close as possible to where the die fell). Dealing any amount of damage (AC 17) to the stone at the top of the pillar will cause the stone to fall into an adjacent space and the stone functions as though it were a hill giant's attack.

Tumbleweeds (1d6 squares, scattered across the map). Dry, crinkly, and able to be rolled.

Lithophones (1d6 squares, scattered across the map). When struck with a stick or a fist, it produces a sound like a xylophone.

Hiding Spot (can hold up to 1d6 squares of creatures, though only the square with the entrance is visible).

Stone wall (1d6 x 2 squares in a line). Crumbling wall provides 1/2 cover.

Hungry herd animals (1d6+2). Cows, horses, or another creature appropriate to the environment are wandering here.

Mostly-dead trees (1d6+2, clumped together). These are 15-feet tall and barely clinging to life in the harsh environment.

Cactus patch (1d6 squares, clumped together). Anyone pushed into these squares takes 1d4 piercing damage.

Lightning stones (1d6, scattered). These ferrous rocks intercept lightning damage that is targeted at a creature in a space adjacent to the stone. Any damage that the creature would receive is diverted harmlessly into the ground.

Swarming insect nest (1d6 squares, clumped together). Dealing any damage to the nest (DC 10) releases a swarm of insects that emerge from the nest at Initiative 0.

Makeshift sled (can hold 1d6 X 50 pounds). It's something smooth and flat that can help transport stuff over sandy/snowy soils.

Drainage basin (1d6, each a 10x10 square and scattered). Natural depressions of hard packed earth retain puddles of dirty water.

Odiferous things (1d6 squares, scattered). Something with a strong smell (unpleasant or otherwise) is here and the overpowering scent can mask smells. Any checks that rely on smell automatically fail within 10 feet of one of these things.

[serpentface]

Here's a heavily improved Imperial Wardin map, with a focus on climate and geography (uses the Koppen Climate Classification). This is an attempt to infuse pre-existing lore too established to retcon with a degree of realism, but there's only so much I can do.

The majority of the climate falls under the hot mediterranean and semi-arid classification, with small pockets of warm mediterranean and arid climes. The entire region experiences a rainshadow effect from the eastern Blackmane Mountain range, which blocks northeasterly winds from the eastern ocean and starkly divides the Sub-Viper landmass between its humid east and dry west.

Most of the interior is grassland, savannah, and scrub. Savannah heavily coincides with a history of human occupation and controlled burns, and is mostly based around oak. Grassland, scrub, and semi-desert dominates the semi-arid regions. Small pockets of high desert and salt flats occur in the arid zones.

A forest originally spanned much of the north, consisting of predominantly oak. This was gradually eliminated due to multiple factors- a warming climate, low intensity human intervention (hunter-gatherers and pastoralists clearing land with controlled burns), and high intensity exploitation (deforestation for timber). Additional woodlands found along the major riverways have been wholly eliminated by logging within the past several centuries.

The largest remaining span of woodland occurs within and north of the Highlands, and in the sparsely populated northeast, where a major and mostly intact oak forest stretches to the Blackmane mountains. A smaller pocket of woodland occurs in the volcanic highlands of Lobera. Other pockets remain, but are isolated and insignificant on the map.

Most of the geography is flat, divided by a range of hills that are the heavily eroded remains of an ancient mountain range. The highest peaks of this range comprise the contemporary Highlands, which have the highest elevations and coldest climate in the region. This is the only territory that regularly receives snowfall, and is the source of several major rivers. The rest of the range is too low to drastically affect the climate, save for the Red Hills east of the Cholemdi basin, whose rain shadow effect (heavily compounded by the basin's low elevation) renders this valley the hottest and driest part of the region. This range once formed a land bridge across the Viper into Finnerich (though this was prior to anatomically modern humans Existing) with its only remnants being smatterings of islands.

The province Lobera holds a small range of volcanic highlands, composed of a network of mostly dead volcanic craters. The volcano Odatoche is the only active site in the region, though has been dormant for centuries and has not had a major eruption in millenia. The other major geological feature is the Sons of Creation, which is the fabled site of God’s self-sacrifice from which the world was made. This is the eroded range of a very large impact crater, consisting of two impact rings (visible as a circular formation of hills) a ring lake, and an elevated center.

The most fertile land is found in Ephennos, owing to the presence of the Black River and its highly fertile delta (which contains the only major semi-permanent marshes outside of Highland river valleys). This is the second largest river in the region, being a confluence of two major river systems out of the Highlands (the Urbin/Erubin and Troibad/Nedachemi rivers). Erubinnos has the largest river, the Kannethod, which originates in the Blackmane mountains.

Agriculture around some of the other river systems is mostly or entirely dependent on their post-rainy season flooding. The most prominent is the Yellowtail river (flows south past Erub). In the very distant past, this was the longest river in the region, and carved out the Cholemdi basin and reached the sea. In the contemporary, it dries out long before even approaching the sea (though occasionally still floods the basin in abnormally rainy years). The Brilla river system out of the Red Hills (flows to Wardin) reaches the sea year-round, but has been known to run dry in exceptionally severe drought, and irrigation along its length depends on its flooding.

There are very few significant lakes in the region (small lakes are unmarked). The biggest is the volcanic crater lake Aganagarre in Lobera, the Yellowtail lake north of Erub, and the ring lake within the Sons of Creation.

[roylustang]

Everyday I wake up in the desert and it’s like in the upper 40s outside and every time I think “oh it’s going to be so cold” and then I go outside and it literally isnt (unless it’s cloudy….but it’s the desert so usually it isn’t)

[shushmal]

okay but a like post-series fic i want that's like: steve harrington being the only man left in hawkins fighting monsters

and not like a 'everyone died, last man standing' way but just. they beat it back, the story ends, nice little tie-up and neatly concluded, eleven loses her powers because their world is completely cut from the other. and life goes on. eddie (yes, eddie lives au don't fight me) goes off with his band, robin-nancy-jargyle off to separate cities for college. the kids go to high school, graduate high school, and scatter across the country. joyce and hop buy a beach house far-far-far away from goddamn hawkins indiana.

steve though. steve stays. he does it too without comment, takes all their calls telling him all these amazing things. the years pass. the calls are fewer and far between. he's mostly in contact with only dustin and robin. except robin's out of country doing some crazy temp job in some remote country, she never catches him at home right now so just leaves him messages. and it takes a couple of weeks for dustin to realize he hasn't gotten steve on the phone.

frantically he calls around "have you heard from steve???" except the most people talk to steve anymore is like phone calls during holidays and holy shit what could have happened??

and what if it's back?

cue everyone who can in that moment, rushing back. eddie hopping on a flight from fucking london direct to indianapolis somehow, heart in his throat. he manages to meet hopper in the airport and they pick up max and dustin at the bus station.

they get to hawkins that is even more different that what they left. a smaller town, a town that shuts down completely when the sun sets. it's creepy and deserted.

except for the fucking upside down monsters of course.

and they're in their stupid little rental in front of this demogorgon and they're screaming but then the thing just goes splat on the concrete and steve fucking harrington is blinking owlishly at them.

"Oh, hey guys!" he calls jogging up to the driver's side window. "Wow, what brought you back down this way? You should have told me, I would have told you about the curfew!"

turns out steve just forgot to pay his phone bill that month, didn't even realize he was missing calls and he's been fighting monsters the entire time because actually they WEREN'T cut off from the upside down at all and he's just been casually fighting monsters for the remaining hawkins residence—the whole town knows now and steve's the guy you call when you have a monster problem

sidebar: WAYNE still lives in hawkins, and he and steve are best friends, eddie munson you are gonna LOSE YOUR MIND

[ardentguilt]

@plaguedocboi

Looked up a few more dangerous Aussie places both water, caves and other places so here’s a selection for perusal should you be interested.

Delta varient cave mount field national park Tasmania -Australia’s deepest cave. Yes it’s named after the covid varient.

Links to previous record holder Niggly Cave and Growling Swallet cave

Nullarbor caves - huge cave system under the desert

Tank cave - mount gambier. Massive underground network of flooded passages around 7010 metres long. At least 1 death

K’gari/fraser island - dingoes on land, feeding ground for young great white sharks, at least 2 species of dangerously toxic jellyfish and deadly riptides with no warning signs of lifeguards. I think it’s the largest sand island too.

Gunnamatta beach - dangerous riptides and large swells ~113 rescues a year

Mount Augustus Western Australia - warnings not to climb between November and February after a series of deaths where climbers literally cooked to death in the Aussie summer heat

Munga-thirri Simpson desert national park - takes on average 4 days to cross by vehicle. Extreme temperatures and winds kick up dust storms. Temperatures are so dangerous the whole area is off limits between 1st December and 15th March during which temps can reach 50+°C

Cahills crossing - a water crossing in the Northern Territory that is considered the most dangerous crossing in Australia due to its high water flow and the abundance of large saltwater crocodiles which have been known to attack people attempting to cross. Generally closed during the wet season as the water volume is far to dangerous the dry season allows for more opportunities to cross. Crossing at the wrong time can overturn vehicles and deaths have been recorded here.

Wittenoom Western Australia - a former mining town build to cater to a large Crocidolite mine. Crocidolite is what we know more commonly as Blue Asbestos and the fibres of this varient are very tiny making it widely considered the most dangerous asbestos varient and was found to be responsible for the most deaths and illnesses relating to asbestos exposure.

The contaminated zone is 50,000 hectares and is the largest contaminated zone in the southern hemisphere.

Mining for asbestos here began around the 1930’s and Wittenoom was established around 1950 to cater to the miners and their families.

The mine was later shut down in 1966 after rising awareness of the toxicity of asbestos though residents still remained.

In 2006 the official status of the town was removed and in 2007 it was removed from official maps and road signs. Again residents still remained. In 2013 the towns closure was finalised though again residents remained and refused to leave.

2015 had 6 residents remaining, 4 remained in 2017, 3 in 2018, 2 in 2021 and as of September 2022 nobody remained.

Even now a century after the closure this area is still massively contaminated and access is forbidden.

I….actually have a mineral specimen of Crocidolite with a bit of Tremolite (white asbestos) from this site but I keep it in a completely sealed display box well out of reach which I NEVER open. Short of finding someone selling off a piece from an old collection you can’t get specimens from this site anymore because nobody’s allowed anywhere near the place.

[party-gilmore]

the way people are like “oh but such and such is a dry heat” when complaining about high temps from one part of the world to another except it’s like

Ardeth visiting in London in winter being all grumpy and Jonathan just like “…but desert nights are fucking freezing though” and Ardeth just like “yes but this is WET cold why is it a WET cold???!?”

[girlactionfigure]

🟡 Friday - ISRAEL REALTIME - Connecting to Israel in Realtime

Rosh Chodesh Sivan, have a good new month!

Erev Shabbat - Parshat Bamidbar - Numbers 1:1 - In the Sinai Desert, G‑d says to conduct a census of the twelve tribes of Israel.

🌡 HEAT WARNING.. high temperatures today and tomorrow, returning to normal summer temps Sunday.  Hydrate, check your elderly.  And there have already been several baby and toddler deaths from left-in-car overheating, be extra careful!

🔸DEAL.. Hamas leader Sinwar to mediators: "Hamas will not disarm”. (WSJ)

.. Qatar has threatened senior Hamas officials to be expelled from Doha if they oppose the deal.

.. Qatari Foreign Ministry: "Hamas has not yet responded to the proposal for a ceasefire; they are still studying the proposal and the efforts of the mediating countries continue.”  (Yes this is opposite from previous reports.)

▪️INFILTRATION FROM JORDAN.. overnight near Tirat Zvi.  Town alert squads activated, IDF searching area.

▪️HEZBOLLAH FIRED ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILES.. at Israeli jets over south Lebanon.  This is the first time they have fired at jets, but have previously shot down Israeli high flying observation drones.

▪️NETANYAHU TO SPEAK TO U.S. CONGRESS.. on July 24.

▪️US SEC STATE BLINKEN TO ISRAEL.. early in the coming week.

▪️ISRAEL ORDERS MORE F-35’s.. Israel signs a contract with the US to purchase 25 F-35 fighter jets for $3 billion.

▪️KIRYAT SHMONA SHOPPING MALL HIT.. by Hezbollah suicide drone.  Significant damage, no injuries.  (( As a precision weapon, someone want to comment about shooting at military vs civilian sites?  Israel is literally dropping leaflets warning civilians, Hezbollah is targeting civilians. ))

▪️MEDIA FEEDING THE ENEMY ENERGY.. The Lebanese Al Mayadeen channel quotes from the editorial of the Haaretz newspaper this morning:  “The countdown has begun and it is only a matter of time to the final collapse of Israel. A Lebanon war will push Israel into the abyss with a lack of international legitimacy and an exhausted army.”  This is from an Israeli newspaper during a war!

▪️HOUSING.. High Court decision on a long running case on who pays differences in some indexed payments on fixed price new apartments, the contractor, the State, or the buyer which was agreed between the contractors and State to be divided among the 3 - the court rules buyers aren’t party to the agreement and therefore can’t be charged.  Savings of NIS 8,000 per 1,000,000 of home price for buyers are expected. (Calcalist)

▪️MORE POLITICAL POLLING.. this time from right wing Ch. 14..

Likud - 25

National Unity - 17

Israel our Home - 14

Yesh Atid - 13

Shas - 10

Otzma Yehudit - 9

Labor - 9

United Torah Judaism - 8

Ra’am - 6

Religious Zionism - 5

Hadash-Ta’al - 4

Balad - below minimum at 3%

Meretz - below minimum at 2.2%

National Right - below minimum at 1.7%

Trends of note:  Labor significantly up with new leader, Israel our Home trending up.

⭕ HAMAS ROCKETS at Magen and Ein HaBsor near Gaza.

⭕ HEZBOLLAH ROCKETS at Beit Hillel, Ma'ayan Baruch, HaGoshrim, Zarit in the north.

SPECIAL REPORTS

❗️ON INFILTRATION from Gaza attack:

.. The tunnel shaft through which the terrorists reached 200 meters from the border is a shaft that is connected to a tunnel that has been known to Israel for 10 years, since Operation Protective Edge, and has not been destroyed.

.. When the terrorists reached the first fence, the old fence, they passed through an opening in the fence that remained breached and unprepared.  And while IDF forces are using it for entry to Gaza, not even a gate added.

❗️EMERGENCY PLANNING

Links to prepare for greater conflict.  Note many of the links work on in Israel, to view from outside use a VPN (special app or program that lets you appear somewhere else on the internet).

.. Preparing your home for an emergency.  https://www.oref.org.il/12490-15902-en/Pakar.aspx

.. Supplies and Equipment for Emergencies.  https://www.oref.org.il/12490-15903-en/pakar.aspx

.. Help Prep your Neighborhood and Family Elderly.  https://www.oref.org.il/12550-20999-en/pakar.aspx

.. Know the Emergency numbers

Police 100 emergency, 110 non-urgent situation

Ambulance 101

Medics 1221

Fire 102

Electric Company 103

Home Front Command 104

City Hotline 106

Senior Citizen Hotline *8840

Social Services Hotline 118

Cyber (hack) Hotline 119

[discordiansamba]

The town of Plaht City is peaceful.

Sure, it can be a little weird sometimes- but most of it Hunk doesn't even notice. The only reason he knows about half of the weird sightings and odd things going on out in the desert is because his friends and devoted loyal customers, Pidge and Matt are always eager to talk about the subject.

Hunk's not really interested. He's just content to run his bakery, the Lion's Den. It's a two man operation at the moment- it's just him and his part timer, a slightly odd college student named Romelle. He makes it work, but it's clear that he could probably use some extra help. Unfortunately for him, he's also kind of picky when it comes to his employees. It took him like, two months after he'd first opened to even hire Romelle.

At least he's built up a loyal customer base! It doesn't hurt that Plaht City's oddball mayor, Coran Smythe is apparently a huge fan of his danishes, a fact which he tells everyone at every chance he gets. His niece Allura and her nephew Lotor come in basically every day, the former stopping by after picking up the latter from school. There's Pidge and Matt, of course, but he already mentioned them. And Lance is always hanging around, but that's a given because he's pretty sure his best friend is addicted to the ungodly sweet coffee concoction that is on the menu entirely because of him.

So things are going pretty great, all told!

Still, when a customer shows up five minutes before closing, part of Hunk can't help but heave an irritated sigh. He doesn't mind, necessarily- but there's no way to tell if this last minute customer is the type who'll linger or not. At least he's kind of cute, in a vaguely mysterious way. It's the combination of his dark hair and pale skin, plus the leather jacket and biker gloves that does it.

His eyes are like nothing he's seen before. He didn't even know people could have purple eyes.

He takes a moment to consider the menu- his eyes lingering extra long on the prices. He finally settles on a black coffee and one of the day old cookies that Hunk sells for half price. He pulls out a crumpled five dollar bill, and it suddenly sort of hits him that this might be all the money this guy even has.

He asks if there's a good place to camp out around here. Hunk points him in the direction of the campground his uncle runs. Turns out he's new in town. He says his name is Keith, asks if there's any place around here that's looking for temp workers that doesn't mind if they don't have a full high school education.

He's not sure what prompts him to do so, but Hunk asks him if he'd like to work here. Keith blinks, stares at him for a long few seconds- and then slowly shrugs. Sure, but he doesn't know much about baked goods.

The Lion's Den has a new employee the following morning.

[skelevision]

heyyy 🎨 :-) i need to draw

polled my friends in the server too but i also wanna poll here.....

doodles for reference (some of these are really old) and some info on each under the cut........... (sorry if theyre underdeveloped or sound like a 16 yr old made them i have like 100-200 ocs and many of them Are from when i was a teen. not that my ocs are better now though LMAO)

auri: cloned pilot who relies heavily on the support system in his mech for emotional and mental stability (doesnt work). short description but i love this guy i could rant about him for hours (i wont, embarrassing)

calin: stole his mech (starstrider) and deserted in his teens. does whatever now trying to get by. he's uncomfortable outside of starstrider most of the time but when he's not stressed he doesn't mind being outside of it, so long as his harmonizer can still connect. he likes seeing new things. i gave him a big comfy coat thats as hot or cool as he needs it to be because thats my dream. he's in the magic world i have actually

EVE: lab grown pilot who is usually connected to giant genetically identical meat mech ADAM. therin isnt here but hes a biomechanic and hes trying to befriend EVE. i did make them A While Before i watched evangelion if anyones wondering

morgan/knife: idk these guys started as spiderverse ocs but then i remembered i dont rly care about spiderman. theyre on earth after an alien corpse drifted into orbit and the research trips to and from it brought all kinds of freaky diseases to earth and caused something like an apocalypse (altho it also kickstarted space travel). knife was a prototype soldier who escaped the lab in his preteens and met morgan on the road. theyve been travelling together for 8+ years idk knife pair-bonded with morgan so make of that wjhat you will

leo/jinx: work at private anomaly control company. that doodle is really bad. leo has a deal with a faustian anomaly for power and jinx (who i kinda wanna rename) basically just weakly shocks anything he touches. and they kiss. badly ‼️

nettle: (the doodle is from when these were ocs in the sims theyre like. a lot different now) host to parasitic anomalous plant. hes nervous all the time. adoptive brother of end and dating alora. his dad got a government job in the anomaly control sector after nettle was parasitized as a child and taken into govt custody

alora: shes very normal actually. supportive parents and loving household. no special abilities, joined wanting to help people, eventually becomes disillusioned to the reality of anomaly control, especially as a government agency

end: self-proclaimed demon of the void. can eradicate up to about 3 square feet of matter at a time. they dont get along well with people but hit it off with most animals immediately, except dogs. nettle's dad basically adopted them after they met

the homosword (other guy not pictured): ancient weapon with a kind of sentient computer in it (i really gotta redesign the sword i dont rly like it anymore). other dude is a type of human that can both endure very high temps and can get really hot with emotions (to the point of possibly burning to death when something like grief or rage is experienced), lives in what is essentially a country-sized junkyard pretty much constantly on fire with his nomadic people (avoiding the Great Firestorm). finds the sword and uhammmmmm ... adventure (and gay love.......)

daisy: anomalous humanoid creature. hes carnivorous and used by an organized crime group to dispose of bodies. not very well taken care of. he might end up as a side character but i like him a lot. older oc, new doodle so u can see him

[hidingupmysleeve]

Arizona Trip 🌵☀️ February 17-23, 2024

I’m a bit late on recapping this trip, but I wanted to document it as it was just so good. Kate @colorado-wildflowers and I planned a trip to Phoenix, AZ to escape the winter blues.

Day 1: We met up with Alex @flowers-justbecause who I had never met before. She was awesome and little did I know how supportive (literally and figuratively) she’d be. We hiked Picketpost Mountain in Superior, AZ. This hike is rated difficult and boy… was it. It wasn’t marked well and there was high elevation which I’ve dealt with pleanty of times before, but I was not prepared for the rock scrambling that ensued. Kate caught some gnarly pictures of Alex and I scaling the mountain and seeing it from her prospective was wild to me (pic #8). There was a point in the climb that I almost was in tears (a first for me), but with the help of Alex and Kate, I was able to move past that. Alex even let me use her shoe as a “rock peg” during some of the climb, and I had just met her! Overall it was such a fun day and I felt badass afterward.

Day 2: We did an awesome hike at Lost Dutchman State Park. This park was so cool with numerous rock formations. This was on Presidents’ Day, and there were many people here. This hike even had a baby waterfall, but due to the temps of the desert, we could barely see it. This hike just had a lot of variety and I loved the loop as we were able to trek downhill afterward. Much needed after the day prior’s tough hike. Afterward, I picked up a coffee mug and magnet at the gift shop. We then got vegan chorizo tacos and relaxed in the hot tub at a spa across the street from our airbnb. Our air bnb host comped us free day passes to the spa due to their condo’s tub being out of service.

Day 3: We went to Saguaro Lake and did paddle boarding! The lake was beautiful. Kate even saw a wild desert pig. I couldn’t get over being in 70s and sunshine in the middle of February. I was truly basking in all its glory. After paddle boarding, we went and saw the most gorgeous sunset at “Hole in the Rock”. Definitely a touristy area, but beautiful and worth doing, nonetheless.

Day 4: We met up with Alex again and did a small hike at White Tank Mountain Regional Park. This place was fully paved and just so well maintained. Kate and Alex did a sunrise hike at Camelback Mountain, so an “easier” hike was perfect. The views did not disappoint. We also saw a bunch of petroglyphs! After that, we had such a wholesome/cute Taylor Swift Eras tour movie night. Alex brought her bracelet-making kits, and we made friendship bracelets. I made a bracelet that said “glorious sunrise” from one of my favorite songs of hers, Happiness.

Day 5: Our last day consisted of a hike at South Mountain, which is a park 10 minutes from our airbnb! It was the perfect way to end our trip. There were some cool caves (Dead Man’s pass) and amazing views of Phoenix. We then went to the Desert Botanical Garden. I’ve never seen so many cool-looking cactus before. Speaking of which, I got hand-made cactus in their gift shop and added it to my bookshelf. I love picking up cool trinkets on my trips. I found the perfect place for it on my bookshelf.

This trip was seriously everything I wanted it to be and more. Kate did such a fabulous job planning it (she is the desert queen) and I had such a fun time spending the week with her in the sunshine blasting Bright Eyes and Taylor Swift with the windows down. Oh, it was a wonderful splash.

[12timetraveler]

Tips and Tricks for Tombstone Redemption con

I thought I'd post this now. I'll try to reblog it when we get closer to the event.

So I live in a desert mountain town. Very dry, hot summers. Just slightly cooler than Tombstone. Tombstone is high elevation so the weather there is more mild than places like Phoenix. Average temps usually in the 90s F (about 32 to 37 C). So still quite hot, but in my opinion a more bearable heat than some.

So here are some tips and tricks I've come up with just from my experiences wearing historical/Cosplay during a dry desert heat, as well as a few things I've found while researching the location a bit.

Altitude sickness. Tombstone has a high elevation. 4,500 ft above sealevel. If you are not from a high elevation, arrive a day or two early to adjust to the altitude so you're not sick during the event. Bring some migraine/pain pills and do some research on other elevation sickness symptoms to prepare

WATER. Drink so much water. Seriously I cannot stress enough how much water you need to drink

Chapstick. There's no humidity in desert places. Your lips will chap. Bring chapstick. Bring extra chapsticks.

Sunscreen. Should go without saying but really don't forget it, and apply often.

UV parasol. If you're going to be in cosplay this especially can be useful. There are some beautiful UV parasols on Amazon that would look great with many cosplays, and they can really help with being out in the sun. This has saved me at many a Ren Fair or Scottish Festival.

Fans. I go to a local Asian market before an event like this and buy like 5 fans for $8. They're cheap af and will not last the whole event, but that's why you buy a bunch. They can really help. Because it's a dry heat, the fans actually do help (as opposed to humid heats where the motion of waving the fan can actually make you hotter).

Hats. It's a cowboy event. Even if you only buy a cheap hat, it will help. Cowboy hats are designed to keep the sun off your face. It's worth the investment and you'll look cool.

WATER

WATER

WATER

Okay I think that's all I can think of. If anyone else has any tips for beating the heat at an event like this feel free to add them.

[fishrpg]

2025-01-04: Desert (Hot) Encounter Map Hazards

Several of the items on this list might be reasonably included on other tables, but in general this table is for items that are generally stationary and will primarily cause adverse effects/damage to antagonize players. Unless otherwise specified, the hazard is located where the d12 falls on the map. Future revisions of this table will probably move some of these items to the setting description and modifiers table.

Hot Desert Hazards (d12)

Unstable terrain. If this 10 foot square area is traversed, make a DC 18 DEX save or move 10ft in random direction (or less if blocked by an object).

Chasm. A chasm approximately 10ft wide runs through this point and bisects some or all of the encounter area.

Rubble. Things hidden in the sand make this area into difficult terrain. The affected area is a square whose sides are 20 feet.

Dust Devil. 5ft wide and moves 20ft toward the nearest creature on initiative 0. CON save (DC 12) for anyone in its path or adjacent to avoid being blinded for 1 turn.

Pit. Whether it is a natural pit, an exposed cistern, or something else, this pit is 10 feet wide and 20 feet deep.

Sharp Terrain. The ground here is littered with sharp stones that function as natural caltrops. The affected area is 6 continuous squares.

Glare. Anyone not wearing protective gear has disadvantage on rolls that rely on sight while within this area.

Mirage. Shimmering reflections give -2 penalty for ranged attacks (including spells) to hit; damage is unaffected.

Dry. Fire burns hotter and faster here; add 1 Fire damage for each die of damage it does normally, and its light range is extended by 10 feet.

Exposure. For anyone not wearing proper protective clothing, take 1d2 damage on initiative 0. The damage type is Radiant during the day and Cold at night

Sandstorm. An ongoing sandstorm covers the whole map. Any rolls relying on sight or hearing are made at disadvantage.

Oncoming Storm. A storm will arrive after 2 rounds. 60% chance for sandstorm, 30% chance of lightning storm, 10% chance precipitation

[jenniferrails]

💃🎃 Bellydance Practice and Halloween Ideas 🎃💃

Hello everybody! Still kinda debating what I’m gonna dress up for Halloween, but at the moment I’m leaning towards a desert gypsy or fortune teller with a tip jar, lol! Or, should I think outside the box? Any thoughts? 🎭

Today was a hot one, 100F, and it’s gonna be that way through the weekend. Kinda late in the season for this, but it looks like by Monday temps will be in the high 80s and lows in the 60s.

So, this just occurred to me…Oktoberfest has since passed, but is there an equivalent festival for wine lovers? If there is, let me know, would love to hear about it. 🍷🍇

Today I had a solid day of bellydance practice, and it felt really good! My goal for next year is to enter a competition, so I need all the practice I can get. Really focused on the basics, because they are the fundamentals to the art of the dance.

Anyway hope you all are having a wonderful evening, love and peace to all! 💜

[kariachi]

Stepped away from Erinaen isotherms because dear god to I hate adjusting isotherms to get the basic numbers for the eventual Osmosian ones set up. To give a bit of an idea as to the temp scales we're looking at for these planets- the highest and lowest projected averages before actually doing any proper temperature mapping (which will raise and lower shit).

Ha'n: Estimated Average Highest- 83 F; Estimated Average Lowest- 17 F

Eri: Estimated Average Highest- 79 F; Estimated Average Lowest- 3 F

Osmos V: Estimated Average Highest- 94 F; Estimated Average Lowest- 26 F

To give an idea of how these numbers can change from this point, since I already have my temp mapping done for Ha'n-

Estimated Average Highest- 83 F

Actual Average Highest- 103 F

Estimated Average Lowest- 17 F

Actual Average Lowest- 10 F

Add to this that the biggest jump in highs seems to come in desert regions, which Osmos V... just is, really.

Everyone thinks Osmos V doesn't take many tourists for cultural or political reasons, they just got tired to trying to clean up the melted remains.

[pagerunner]

It's the first of October which is more officially fall than the official start of fall, and even the desert is getting into the spirit with a day in the 80s and dropping down to the 60s overnight. I've been making a temperature blanket this year (and surprisingly keeping up with it!?) and it's made me so mindful of how an individual day becomes a season, becomes a year. The crumpled up blanket in the photo is both where we are (or were about 2 weeks ago anyway) the heat still dictating when it was bearable to go outside, and the beginning of the year when I wasted an abundance of cool days, something I swear I will not do this year.

Here's the thing laid flat, up to September (the blanks are month markers). Temp range is in ten degree intervals from 30s-110s (aka all of fucking July). Inner color is the daily low, middle is the weather, outer is the high.

As with any project there are a few things I'd do differently, but overall, I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out!

[nancypullen]

The Ides of January

I'm supposed to start work tomorrow. A new start, a new job, hopefully the turning point in this lonely slog that has been our move to Maryland. I'm nervous, the way you are before the first day of school - not dreading it, knowing everything will be fine, but butterflies in my stomach over all of the unknowns. Will everyone be nice? Will I do/say something stupid on my first day? I know that I'm perfectly capable of doing this job, but I'm probably a bit rusty. Am I too old to do this? I'm no spring chicken. I spent all morning beating myself up mentally and then the universe took pity on me and sent... *s*n*o*w*. This was a peek out the back door around lunch time.

It's been steadily snowing ever since. It's 8:20 pm now and it's a marshmallow world out there (extra points if you can hear Dean Martin singing that). So, aside from the calming effect of watching those beautiful flakes drift down and make the world beautiful, my first day on the job might be a snow day! If you've known me for any amount of time, you understand how excited I get about snow days. It started when we moved from Alaska to Tennessee. I'd never heard of snow days. Our only rule in North Pole was when temps were colder than -65 (yes, 65 degrees below zero) school was optional. Our first winter in Tennessee saw a couple of snows, they didn't amount to much. After the first snow I woke the boys up for school, fed them breakfast, got them bundled up, and drove to the school. When we drove up the place looked deserted and I wondered if there'd been a bomb threat or something crazy. As I pulled up to the school I saw the director of the before/after school daycare program standing outside waving me off. I rolled my window down and asked what had happened and she looked at me like I was a lunatic and said, "It SNOWED, go home!" That was how I learned about snow days. To say we were delighted is an understatement. Unafraid of the weather, we went right to the grocery store for some snacks and then stopped at Blockbuster (yes, I'm that old) for games and a movie. My little guys weren't impressed with the dusting of snow, not enough to sled on or build a fort, but we felt like we had the run of the town that day. Once that happened we became weather hawks, just waiting for a hint of flurries or an icy patch on the road that might cancel school. We embraced all of the southern superstitions - flushing ice cubes, going to bed with our jammies on inside out, putting a spoon under a pillow, and of course, doing a snow dance. Even after my kids grew up and away, while I was still with the school district no one wished harder for snow days. Is it possible that I've just gotten my first Maryland snow day? I couldn't be more tickled. The assistant director emailed me this afternoon and said that closing for weather is a possibility and that he'd let me know in the morning. Guess who's flushing ice cubes and sleeping with her jammies inside out? I'm not alone in my joy over the snow. My sweet grandgirl heard that snow was on the way and put on her snow pants and went to the backyard to hunt snowflakes.

Her daddy snapped that through a window. I wonder if she caught any? She has a birthday in just 23 days. She'll be SIX. How did that happen? She's loving kindergarten, reading like a champ, and still on track to win an Oscar someday. Here's another snap I love, just browsing in the library.

Ball gown, warm pants underneath, high heels...I need to remember to tell her that this made me think of Belle in the Beast's library.

Okay, that's from the book shop in her village - same idea.

And this photo cracked me up. Her parents purchased a new vehicle, and you know how time consuming that is - even if you walk up with a bag of cash it seems to take forever. She waited patiently in full snow queen regalia. She loves that gold sequined "shawl" that I haven't told her was a holiday table runner.

Lest you think she only identifies as a princess, rest assured that she spends the bulk of her play time as special agent Carmen Sandiego.

She asked Santa for that outfit and he delivered. She loves it. She's solving crimes and catching bad guys while looking fabulous. Anyywayyyyy, I've drifted (see what I did there?) from snow days to costume changes. I suppose I should go upstairs and pick out a first day at work outfit just in case my ice cubes and jammies don't do the trick. I think I'll just close my eyes and reach into the closet. Nothing looks good anyway. I'll be tidy and I'll wear comfy shoes. I've got a lunch box and new water bottle, just like a kindergartner. I usually buy water by the case and guzzle it. After reading about all of the microplastics I'm drinking I decided to just get a Brita bottle with a filter and fill it with tap water. Of course I put a sticker on it so no one mistakes it for their bottle.

Annnnd I just realized that he looks like he's raising middle fingers. Oh no. He's not, I swear he's not. He's got his index and pinky fingers raised which can mean a couple of things. It's sign language for I love you, or it means he's rocking out at a concert. Good grief, why didn't I just put a flower sicker on it, or write my name in Sharpie? Maybe I could draw mittens on him. Now I'm nervous again. Pray for a snow day, y'all. I'm not ready. On that note, I'll bid you goodnight. Here's hoping that this new venture provides me with friendly interactions, interesting conversations, work that keeps me busy, plenty of blogging material, and let's not forget that tasty paycheck. It's all good, right? Right. Wherever you are I hope that you're toasty and warm. Stay safe, stay well. XOXO, Nancy