Christmas Update

   I'm presently enjoying a quiet Christmas here at home watching John Wick 3. The first wave of the Dice of Death & Dismemberment (DoD&D) Kickstarter arrived a while back as did the Triple Hex Dice. The original base set the DoD&D had two torso dice and no arm die. I informed the seller and they said they'd correct matters. I thought they would send out the missing die and I would send back the extra torso die. Instead, they sent me two arm dice, a head and a leg die. Now I have two basic sets of DoD&D along with a complete set of stretch goal dice. The second wave is due to be sent out in February.

  The Triple Hex dice sets cover the entire RPG dice range. The d100 Hex Die is just a d100. It came with two identical sets of dice disks along with extra washers. The other two Hex Dice sets have interchangeable dice disks. What dice disks you put inside the frame depends on what die you want to roll. Both of them also came with extra dice disks and washers.

  I've finalized my Orbidice order. I went with a Forge Engine Steampunk RPG set with an Orbitray dice tower. The GoDice pre-production has happened. Some issues were discovered and need to be ironed out before mass production can begin. That being said, progress is being made. The Free Man Game, based on The Prisoner British TV series, is being printed and should be mailed out soon.

  I ran a Chi-squared test on my d4 and d6 Hexacubes. Both passed easily. I won't bore you with a complete layout of the data. At some point, I'll likely test the other dice and see how well they perform. From what James tells me, the d10 and d12 have the least amount of redundancy but both should still perform better than a standard d10 and d12.

  It's one week until New Year's Day. I have New Year's Eve and New Year's Day off. I'm hoping to spend that time playing boardgames with my friends over at Glenn's house but I haven't heard anything yet.

  I'm still working closing shifts at work. Hopefully, they'll hire more people and I'll go back to earlier shifts. All the standing I do at work is hard on my legs. I sometimes get pains behind my right knee. I've been filling out the pension documents the union has been sending me. I'm not sure if I can get my pension now or not. It says that I can receive my pension at either 60, 62 or 65 depending on the plan. I'll have to call the pension office and get some questions answered before I can proceed.

Health Info Among other Things

   My endocrinologist has added Farxiga (Dapagliflozin 5mg) to my diabetes medications. I have to lower my insulin intake from 26 to 16 units. There is the possibility that the Farxiga and Trulicity regiment can get me off of the insulin. I've edited the MyIHR site and my eMedtag flash drives to reflect these changes.

  On 10-23-19 at 3:41 am, I backed the Hexacube Kickstarter. On 11-6-21 at 12:11 pm my order finally arrived. For the record, that's 745 days, 8 hours and 30 minutes. The dice turned out fine and I'm happy with my order. While the pandemic was largely to blame for the order arriving so late, other factors were at work as well. James contacted several different dice manufacturers to create the dice and while they were happy to take his money, they were reluctant to manufacture the dice to the proper specifications. The dice samples they turned out were below standards. James wanted to create dice that were less biased that conventional RPG dice. Some said that they couldn't make the needed molds. How hard is it to make a chamfered cube shaped mold? Could it be that they couldn't get the relative sizes of the square and hexagonal faces set correctly? If you want more info regarding how Hexacubes function, use the link provided above.

  I've downloaded the .PDF version of Dungeon Bitches and a tentative timetable has been set for the release of the print version as well as the .PDF supplements. The GoDice people have received their chips and can start the pre-production of 1,200 smart dice. This will allow them to optimize their production methods and detect and fix any risks and problems before full scale mass production commences. If all goes well, the GoDice could start shipping by Jan. 22nd.

  I have to mail in my pension papers to the union and get that process initiated. There's still one question I have so I have to contact the union and get some answers.

At Long Last

  After about two years of delays due to Covid-19, manufacturing problems etc., my Hexacube dice order is finally on its way to me. I have a tracking number so I'll know how close the order is to arriving. Estimates have it arriving Nov. 4th. My Intel card game is also slated to arrive on the 4th.

  The .PDF version of the main Dungeon Bitches rulebook was released on Halloween. It can be purchased from DriveThruRPG.com. The print version of the main book and the .PDFs of the supplements will eventually be made available from the same seller. I'm getting copies of those items as part of the Kickstarter.

  It looks like the Spiral Dice Kickstarter is making headway. From what the seller says, his dice order should've arrived from Europe on Oct. 25th. He'll be locking in the buyers' addresses soon and the dice should be on their way to us about a month after that. The Spiral Dice Hacker's Guide and the Sapio Core Rules were created to make use of the dice. The Hacker's Guide isn't yet available but the Core Rules can be purchased from the site. Sapio: Zombies is also being created as a part of this Kickstarter. The Hacker's Guide, Core Rules and Sapio: Zombies are included in this Kickstarter. I've downloaded a dice rolling app on my smartphone and added a set of digital Spiral Dice to it. Paying for the app allows me to create other digital dice bags to add to the ones that come with the app. I've added Fudge dice, averaging dice, alignment dice and Asylum marbles to the app along with the Spiral Dice.

  The Gwar concert at the Rave is fast approaching. Four days later, I officially turn 60. Ten years ago, my health started to decline. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. A cancerous polyp was found in my ascending colon resulting in its removal. I lost my right testicle to cancer. I had to undergo chemo for both cancers. My right hip socket deteriorated and partially collapsed. In order to get the hip replacement surgery, I had to get my a1c below 7.2. While I was working on that, my gall bladder got infected and had to be removed.

  My hip is now replaced but my legs still get sore if I stand for long periods of time. Right now, my health has stabilized somewhat. My a1c has been around 7.0. I'm free of cancer. My last visit to my nephrologist went well. Let's hope things don't take a turn for the worst. 

Personal Shit

   The Hexacubes are in America. The ship docked in Los Angeles a few days ago. At present, US Customs has to clear the shipment so it can be sent to the warehouse to be checked for damage. After that, it will be sent to James for distribution to the backers. It's taken nearly 2 years, but the end in finally in sight.

  The GoDice Kickstarter has been delayed due to a lack of semi-conductors. Hopefully, this will be resolved soon. I've backed the Dice of Death and Dismemberment Kickstarter. The project is already fully funded and two additional stretch goal dice (Which Finger Did You Lose? and Arrow critical dice) have been unlocked. At $11,800, the Vorpal die gets unlocked. They're planning on having dice bags as add-ons. The dUltimate Kickstarter hasn't started yet. The Kickstarter pre-launch page is here.

  I've seen Black Widow in the theater and The Suicide Squad and Snyder cut of Justice League on HBOMax. Other than that, not much has been going on. Looks like it will be another nothing summer. Gen Con's not until September but I can't go this year. The Ren Faire won't be possible either. I'm hoping to get back to gaming soon. Life's been way too boring lately.

More Updates

   The second 4Oceans mask frames order arrived as scheduled. I won the eBay auction and got another set of grey alternate handicap acolytes, all 8 investigators and the Brown Jenkins mini for only $25.71 including shipping. Considering what some of these minis are selling for individually, I made out quite well. I still want to get the Dreamlands Surface and Underground sets plus some plastic standard gates.

  My Covid-19 vaccination record card has netted me an extra $100.00 on my next paycheck. I scanned said card and uploaded copies of the file to both of my eMedTag flash drives and the MyIHR website. The original card has been locked away in my Sentry Safe box for safe keeping. This card may be needed in the future. I've ordered a Moderna Covid-19 vaccination charm from American Medical ID for my medic alert bracelet.

  My federal refund still hasn't arrived. This delay is driving me up the wall. I need that money to pay down my Aurora bill. The money in my Health Savings Account is slowly growing. Now that my paychecks are getting bigger, I don't have to pull money from it to pay bills.

  The Hexacube dice have gone into mass production. The wooden cases will now have magnetic clasp holding the lid closed which is an upgrade from the original buckle latch. There should be a major update soon.

  

My Game Steward Cthulhu Wars Orders Finalized

   I've placed my last Cthulhu Wars order with The Game Steward tonight. If everything goes as planned, they should start shipping sometime in October. I've been slowly adding to this order for over a year now. Here's the list of everything I've ordered.

  Order 1: 9-11 player neoprene Earth map

  Order 2: Bubastis Faction expansion

  Order 3: Daemon Sultan Faction expansion

  Order 4: Elder Shoggoth expansion, Giant Blind Albino Penguins expansion, Something About Cats box

  Order 5: Tcho-Tcho tribes spellbooks expansion

  Order 6: 6-8 player Earth map, Classic Acolytes and High Priest for Daemon Sultan

  Order 7: Neutral Unit Identifiers for Daemon Sultan, Neutral Unit Identifiers for Bubastis, Neutral Unit Identifiers for the other factions

  Order 8: Daemon Sultan Battle Dice, Gold Cat Battle Dice, 200 Battle Dice set for remaining factions

  Not including shipping, the total cost is $472.85. When all this arrives, I'll have 11 playable factions each with their own set of battle dice and neutral unit identifiers. There will be an extra set of battle dice plus the original 20 dice that came with the base game should anyone's combat dice pool go over 20 dice. Order 4 is entirely composed of neutral units adding to the neutral units I already have. Order 5 adds to the Tcho-Tcho faction with additional spell books. The Bubastis faction doesn't have classic acolytes and is the only faction that doesn't have a high priest.

  I already have the alternate faction acolytes for the 9 factions I currently possess along with 9 alternate grey acolytes for handicapping. There currently aren't any alternate grey acolytes for Daemon Sultan and Bubastis but I have the Unnameable set of 6 grey classic acolytes and a high priest that can be used in that respect. All the factions will have 4 plastic brain cylinders and a dark demon at their disposal. All the factions, except Bubastis, can recruit high priests. Bubastis can't recruit a high priest. If I decide to modify the rules a bit, the grey high priest can then be recruited by Bubastis.

  My Hexacube Kickstarter order is progressing. The latest pictures of the dice look promising. Hopefully, mass production will be starting soon and the wooden boxes meant for the ancient gold dice will have magnetic latches now. I still have to pay for the red pearlescent hexacube set w/ red hexacube red bag.