Andrew R Gross

I made a new Instructable post.  It's a chess set I made for Jack for Hannukah. Instructable link: "Tabletop-to-vertical Convertible Chessboard" Tabletop / Vertical Convertible Chessboard

EDIT: I wrote this a few weeks ago and didn't notice that I never published it.  I'm publishing it now because I intend to give more DnD updates and need to provide context. The last I mentioned of our heroes, they'd sailed off after stealing a cache of weapons from some bad guys to sell to other bad guys in order to advance in the criminal underworld.  They stopped over on Dreadwood Isle along the way, since everyone had something they needed to do there.  Honton, the captain, needed to hire additional hands.  Sincey, the monk, had agreed to capture a wanted outlaw of the empire named Beyrin Teth in exchange for a relic of his order.  Lucious, the muscle, was set on finding the infamous warlord who'd maligned his reputation.  He'd heard that Dreadwood was ruled by a despot that paid tribute to his quarry. We met Lady Yin and Jim Lee, our two new players.  We've actually been playing with them for a few months now, but this campaign was established...

Previously,  I described how an attempt to execute a powerful shape-shifter was derailed when they transformed into Alden's dead wife and then switched bodies with him during the ensuing confusion. The finale wasn't very literary, but it was entertaining for those of us present.  We carefully planned where each of us would be.  We had to consider distance to water, who was standing next to whom, and many other details.  We arranged a code phrase and a physical feat for each person to use to demonstrate their identity.  Eventually, we put our complicated plan into effect.  It was Lazlo who delivered the fatal blow, lifting the curse which Grimdark had placed upon him.  Corelis remains cursed.

I started playing D&D about a year ago.  For those unaware, Dungeons and Dragons is a popular role-playing game in which players embark on medieval fantasy adventures.  More information can be found here .   This is not to be confused with S&M, which is Sado-Masochism: a different kind of role-playing in which participants consensualy give and receive abuse for sexual gratification.  I mention this because I learned after nearly a year of mentioning my hobby that my mother had been somewhat confused on this point.  It's a bit of an awkward misunderstanding, but it firmly demonstrates her level of tolerance to anyone who might ever challenge her. I play weekly with Julie and six other friends.  When done correctly, it provides a great ongoing story.  This will be the first of many occasional blog posts to share our most entertaining episodes. Our core party consisted of Alden, a jeweler and hedge-wizard on a midlife crisis; Maraduay...