Halfway To Bringing Sexy Back

I did it! As of the 24th of this month, I’ve made it to my first goal of loosing 30lbs and a month ahead of schedule no less! I can’t tell you how happy I am to have made it this far. I am the lightest I’ve been in 12-15 years! Ironically enough, I met my goal on the anniversary of my fathers passing, who was the inspiration for me to finally do it. Thanks Dad!

I’m half way to my goal of loosing 60lbs, and while the first 30lbs seemed relatively “easy”, I know the next leg of my journey will be much tougher. But unlike many times in the past, I am up for the challenge this time. I’m in a good state of mind and I am determined more then ever to finally be at a healthy weight, if for no other reason then to hopefully live a long life with my kids, family and friends.

I have lost several inches too, which really is the true measuring stick on how you look and feel in your clothes. I really need to get new clothes. As it is if I don’t have my belt cinched up good, my pants will just fall to the floor (I know… good visual…). But that’s a good problem to have.

I’m putting off buying new clothes for a few more weeks. Since I met my goal a month early, I’ve increased it to loose another 5 lbs before my trip to California. This will give me even more incentive to stay on track, and keep me from having to buy new clothes more often. That gives me ~5 weeks to loose 5 lbs. Very doable.

[UPDATE: I’ve increased my goal yet again to get to 220 by the end of Oct, as I’ve already hit the 227 mark with 4 weeks left.]

Same shirt... same person... different body 6 months apart.

A lot of people have been asking me what I did to loose the weight, so I decided to post it here in hopes that it might help/inspire others to do what I did. The bottom line with any diet/exercise routine is to do what works for you. There’s no magic to loosing weight. What worked for me may not work for you. The hard part is finding what DOES work for you. That’s more then half the battle. It really is. Having said that, here is what I’ve done and hopefully it will work for you too.

Cut Down Portions: It’s a fact that the majority of American’s eat much more then we need to at each meal. This was tough for me, because I really enjoying eating. To help me with this I started buying Lean Cuisine meals at the store to eat for dinner and sometimes lunches. They are lower in calories (less then 300 per meal) and portions are just right. Any meals like this will work (NutriSystem, Weight Watchers, Smart Ones, Healthy Choice, etc…) The key here is finding stuff that you enjoy eating so that you will stick with it.

No Fast Food: Another really tough one for me. I lived on fast food for far too long. When I get hungry I like instant satisfaction, and fast food delivers that promise. The Lean Cuisine meals are a good compromise for me. 6 minutes from the time my stomach says, “Hey! Feed me!” I can have a meal prepared that tastes pretty good and fills me up. I will on occasion have a 6” sub from Subway. Where in the past I could easily down a 12” sandwich and still be hungry for more.

No Fried Foods: This kind of goes hand and hand with fast food. It’s a lot easier to avoid fatty fried foods when you don’t frequent the fast food joints. And don’t be suckered into the trend of manufacturers putting “No Trans Fat” all over their products. Yes, I know it’s a shocker, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for you.

No Eating After 7pm: Another big one for me. I was a perpetual late night snacker. Worse is that usually when I did snack late at night, you can bet your bottom dollar that it wasn’t a healthy snack either. A double whammy! Adjust this time for your sleep schedule. Obviously if you go to bed at 8pm, you should cut yourself off at around 5pm instead. If and when I do get that sweet tooth craving after my 7pm cutoff time, I reach in the fridge and have me an ice cold can of Pibb Zero. It satisfies my sweet tooth and fills me up without adding any calories.

Drink Lots of Water: If you’re not taking in enough water throughout the day, your body will store it up for you. Aren’t you lucky? Our bodies are biological machines that are built for survival. If you don’t feed it what it needs on a regular basis it will go into conservation mode, which for us means more weight in the form of water storage. To combat this I started buying 20oz bottles of water in bulk and started drinking 3 a day.

Monitor Salt Intake: Again, goes along with water intake. Salt helps your body retain water, so you need to watch/control your sodium intake as well. I don’t know the exact number it should be, but just reduce whatever you are doing by 50%, that’s a good starting point. Also, potassium is very good in helping the body maintain a good water/sodium balance and most people don’t intake near enough potassium. Good sources are fresh uncooked fruit (bananas, raisins, apricots, cantaloupe, and nectarines) and fresh uncooked veggies (carrots, celery, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and squash).

Eat 3-5 Meals A Day: Another bad habit of mine was skipping breakfast, then by the time lunch time rolled around I was starving (at least my stomach told my head that) and then in turn I would overeat. I know, it’s hard to make time to eat that often, but when I say meals, I don’t necessarily mean full meals. Eat your normal 3 meals a day with a good snack in between. This serves two purposes. It keeps fuel in your body to keep the “fire” going, forcing you to burn calories instead of going into conservation mode in between meals. Secondly, it keeps you from having those “starving” fits which cause you to overeat. I buy cups of yogurt, cups of applesauce, fruit and veggies to fill this need for me.

Exercise: I know, it’s a dirty word, but its an important part of the equation for loosing weight and keeping it off. No one likes to do it, certainly not me, but it’s a necessary evil. Sure you can loose weight without it, but for every person who has a diet success story, I’ll show you ten that put the weight back on eventually, or just failed altogether. You don’t have to go crazy and be a workout fiend to have success. In fact I would encourage you to start small and work your way into, especially if you have gone a long time without exercising. You actually can do your body more harm then good with exercise if your not careful when you first start out. And I do mean serious harm, as in deadly harm. You see over time your body builds up plaque in your arteries and if go too hard too fast, this plaque and break up and cause blood clots, stokes, and heart attacks. So please be careful. The key here is to get your heart rate up 20 minutes a day, whether is by walking, jogging, riding a bike, dancing, roller blading, or whatever. Doesn’t matter. Just get your heart rate up to a reasonable level for 20 minutes each day. If I can do it, I know you can too.

Eventually, if anyone is interested, I’ll post my actually workout routine so you can see what I’m doing. But the bottom here is find some form of exercise that you enjoy doing, or better yet, hate the least, and do it.

Set Goals, Chart Progress: Its important to set goals, but even more important is to set realistic goals. If your goal is to look like Brad Pit or Angelina Jolie, then you are doomed from the start. Set your ultimate target weight, and then go back and set milestone or short term goals in between. That way you can feel like you are making progress and feel good about yourself until you do reach your final goal. “Experts” will tell you to not weigh yourself everyday. I do. It works for me. It keeps me motivated and honest. Then I keep a running chart of my progress. This gives me a visual confirmation that even though I may have bad days or slow weeks, I can look at my long term progression and see that I am making progress. Again, may not work for you, but it works for me.

Mental Attitude: This is by far the most import ingredient for loosing weight. If you don’t have a positive state of mind going in, you will fail. I’ve started down this path many, many times. The difference this time for me was not giving myself an excuse to quit. Before I used to try to work my diet/exercise program around my lifestyle. Now I work my lifestyle around it. I look at working out like I do for work. When you have a job you just get up and go do it. Same with working out. If I have to run errands, I come home, workout, and then go do my errands. Not the other way around.

That’s it! That’s how I’m doing it. It seems like a lot when you put it down on paper, but really it isn’t. And even if you just did a handful of these, and only did that, over time you will see and feel a difference. You didn’t get fat overnight. It happened over time of bad eating habits and lack of exercise. You can reverse this process by just changing a few things that you do each day.

For what its worth, I hope this inspires others to finally get their mind in a good place, and go do it. Do it for yourself. Do it for your health. Do it so you can stick around in this crazy world so you can enjoy more time with your friends and family. I know that if I can do it, anyone can!

~Michael

Aletha’s 19th B-Day Dinner

So my youngest daughter Aletha turns 19 today. Happy Birthday Aletha! Yeah, I know. It’s also the anniversary for that tragic event that took place in New York City just 6 years ago. I remember that day clearly. There was a birthday celebration planned for Aletha that week for her 13th B-day, but it got canceled due to 9/11. I felt bad for her, but it just didn’t seem right to celebrate anything after so many innocent lives were taken so tragically. But that’s behind us now. It’s time to celebrate life.

We typically go out to dinner for the girls’ b-day, particularly once they got a little older, so I told Aletha to pick a place and we would go. She was having a hard time deciding between the Rainforest Café and the Magic Time Machine. She finally settled on Magic Time Machine so off we went. Amanda was away at college, so sadly she wasn’t able to attend, but we didn’t let that stop us from having some fun.

I had never been there before, so Aletha filled me on what to expect. It basically a themed restaurant where all the waiters and waitresses dress up as movie stars or fictional characters, much like the restaurant John Travolta and Uma Thurman attended in the movie Pulp Fiction.

It’s a Monday night, so when we got there it was a little dead, but that turned out to be pretty good thing as it gave us a lot of photo opportunities with the “celebrities”. The first celeb look-a-like we run into is Joe Dirt. I love that movie, and the guy playing Joe Dirt had the part nailed down pretty good, complete with Joe Dirt accent and “Dang!” lingo.

Me and Joe Dirt, Dang!

As we are seated we’re informed that Alice in Wonderland would be our waitress for the evening. At first I was a little disappointed, hoping for maybe Napoleon Dynamite or Jessica Simpson, but as it turns out Alice was the best one there. And, as an added unexpected bonus, I knew her!

Amanda, Micky (Alice), Kayla & me in Ireland this year.

At first I just couldn’t place her. I spent the better part of the evening trying to figure out where I knew her from. Finally I said, “Hey I know you!” She had the cutest little comeback. In her perfect little Alice voice she says, “Of course you know me silly! I’m Alice in Wonderland!” That got a chuckle out of me.

Aletha and I with our waitress Alice in Wonderland (Micky).

Turns out she’s a friend of Amanda’s from college (Micky). In fact we had spent some time together back in March when we all went to Ireland. She didn’t recognize me at first either, mostly because I’ve lost 25lbs since the last time she saw me. She was so cute, and did a fantastic job playing Alice, staying in character the whole time.

Well it was time to order food and drinks, Aletha and I were starving, so Alice suggested we get the “Magic Potion” drink. So Aletha ordered the Red potion and I the Blue. For food we started out with Stuffed Mushrooms (yum, yum, yum), then Aletha got the Herb Chicken and I ordered the Blackened Catfish.

Hot Fudge Sunday, Yum!

Usually in themed restaurants like this the food is an afterthought, so I wasn’t expecting much, but surprisingly the portions were very large and quite tasty. We particularly enjoyed the warm bread and honey butter they served with our main course. For desert, Aletha ordered the Fudge Sunday. Chocolate! Now we’re talking my language! She let me have a bite, and it was super yummy as expected.

I had to get a picture with Wonder Woman for my friend Mary. She's a huge fan!

To wrap up the evening Aletha had her portrait rendered by a cartoon artist that was in the lobby area. The atmosphere was cozy and the “actors” did a good job playing their parts. I particularly enjoyed it when they would escort people to the bathroom, making off-handed comments along the way. Joe Dirt and Jack Sparrow were keen at that. Over all it was a fun experience, and we shall have to return someday in our own costumes!

More pictures here.


~Michael

Fantasy Smackdown 2007 Part II

So a few weeks back I introduced you to a fantasy board game I like to play called Warhammer Quest. It fulfills the geeky little kid side of my brain that calls out to me, screaming for attention, like a spoiled little brat kicking and crying on the ground demanding a piece of candy. So I thought I would follow up that post with the conclusion of the adventure. A couple weeks ago John, Mike and I got back together to try and finish up the adventure.

Mike decided to add some paint to Thorgrim and created a new model to represent Garin the Bold (and the married).

The party was tasked with the quest to return an ancient dwarven crown…

"Between the Dwarf hold of Karak Izor and the Dwarf Sea Fortress of Barak Varr lies a small realm, a border principality known as Heldegrad. Normally allied to the cause of the Dwarfs, the rulers of this small state have been thrown into turmoil by the discovery of the ancient and long-lost tomb of their ancestor-Kings, renowned to contain the true crown of the realm. This labyrinthine burial ground lies near Karak Izor, and the king demands that the crown of his forefathers is returned to him by the Dwarfs or he will shut down all the trade routes from Barak Varr to Karak Izor. Not wishing to plunge the longstanding allies into bloodshed, and acknowledging the king’s right to the ancient crown, the Dwarf Lord of Karak Izor has allowed the your party to descend into the long forgotten tunnels in search of the ancient relic… "

Upon entering the dwarven tomb the party soon discovers a heavily bound chest that was locked and secured to the floor by massive iron chains. With raised eyebrows, the party concludes that likely their booty lies within. But without a way to open it, they venture deeper into the dark, dank tomb in hopes of discovering a key to its intricate lock.

The party finally makes it to the Tomb Chamber (Objective Room).

After dispatching seemingly endless hordes of undead and legions foes tainted and possessed by chaos, the stalwart party finally makes it to the tomb chamber of the ancient dwarven king.

Putting shoulder to door, Sigurd breaks the seal to the long forgotten tomb, as a rush of bitter cold air rushes past. Pushing the heavy iron bound door aside, the party cautiously steps into the ancient chamber, only to beset upon by a host of undead guardians.

Finally, with the undead put to rest, the party retrieves an old iron key from around the inhabitants neck (along with some sweet, sweet loot), and fights its way back to the chest they found early on in their campaign.

Using the key they found in the Tomb Chamber, the party unlocks the heavy chest, and much to their relief, find the ancient dwarven crown they had be in search for. Adding it to their already bountiful booty horde, they hastily exit the tomb and begin their journey back to the dwarven town of Karak Izor.

I forgot to take an overview picture of the dungeon, so I layed out the areas the party explored here.

Upon reaching Karak Izor, the heroes of the realm are welcomed back with much fanfare, returning the crown to its rightful owner. With a hearty handshake, the dwarven king thanks them and throws a huge banquette in their honor.

The End

More pictures here.

~Michael

Memories of a Lone Wolf

I really miss my Dad. The Lone Wolf, as he often described himself after the passing of my Mother nearly 20 years ago, was a big part of my life in so many ways. I miss my dear Mother too, but I’ve had some 18 odd years to absorb that cruel blow life dealt me. But Dad, his passing is still fresh in my mind, and not to mention I’ve got 37 years of memories to reflect back on. Fond memories.

My favorite picture of my Dad.

The girls and I, and when I say girls I mean my two daughters, our dog Reba and our cat Daisy, recently made a trip back home to Tennessee to place my dad’s headstone next to my Mother’s and spread his ashes on her grave as he had requested before he passed on.

The essence of my Dad; English style hat, shirt with front pockets, cigarettes, glasses, cell phone, and his favorite cue stick with wolves on it.

My Dad passed away on September 24th of last year, but it has taken this long to get his headstone from the military/government. We could have spread his ashes right away, but we thought it would be more appropriate to do it when his headstone could be placed. Little did we know it was going to take 8 months to get it.

My Father served in the Army as a paratrooper (82nd Airborne) during the Korean War, so we were told that he was eligible for a military style headstone “free” of charge from Uncle Sam. The family agreed that would be a nice touch, so we had the funeral home draw up all the papers and put the wheels in motion.

Sadly, when we finally received it, it wasn’t the one we ordered. It was supposed to be a bronze plate fastened to a granite slab. I have some uncles that served during WWII (one died in action) that have the bronze plate and it looks really, really nice. We wanted Dad to have that one too. The plain granite one is okay too, but when you’re expecting one thing and get another it’s disappointing.

Worse yet, it was engraved crooked. Yup, that’s right, crooked. After all this time, after my father’s service to our country, and that’s the best you can do? It’s not terrible, in fact you might not even notice it at first (I did), it’s just a let down in a long series of let downs. They should be ashamed of themselves. How can they let something like this leave the shop? Don’t people have any pride in their work anymore? This isn’t bodywork on a clunker. This is something that is very personal and emotional for families that they will have to look upon for many, many years. Shameful.

Mom and Dad finally together again after 18 years.

At any rate, that Saturday, our immediate family got together at our family graveyard, and those who wanted to, spread my father’s ashes on my mother’s grave. After that I read a Native American poem and a few scriptures from the bible, and then we all held hands in a moment of silence.

My father wasn’t a very religious man. He never went to church, and to my knowledge, never read the bible, but he did believe in God. He was a good man with morale integrity and honor, and that’s good enough for me. He was particularly proud of his American Indian heritage (as am I). My Father’s Mother was half Cherokee Indian, which is why I read the poem.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the mornings hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there, I did not die

After the readings, shedding of tears, and group hugs, we had one last stop to make. Some people may find this odd, but if you knew my Father then it would make perfect since. My youngest daughter Aletha had the idea to spread some of my Father’s ashes at the local McDonald’s.

You see, my Father LOVED, I mean loved, McDonald’s coffee. When my Mother was alive, they would often drive to McDonald’s just for the coffee. And every time (which was more times then there are calories in a Double Quarter Pounder meal) my Father drove across the county, he would stop, have a smoke, and fill up on Micky D coffee. And every place we stopped knew him by name. My Father had that kind of impact on people.

So we found a small rose bush that was centered on the lawn in front of the McDonald’s in the small town of Pikeville, TN that my parents grew up in, and Aletha placed his ashes there. I’m sure we broke all kinds of city/county/state ordinances, but we didn’t care. I thought it was a very sweet gesture on her part, and I’m sure my Dad would have gotten a kick out of it.

It felt good to finally put Dad to rest, and really helped put some closure on a very emotional time in our lives. The last few years have been particularly rough for me. I’ve lost two very special people in my life to cancer. My Father had leukemia, and my sister Debbie passed of ovarian cancer.

My sister Debbie and Dad in New Orleans not too long before she passed.

I can’t even imagine how hard it was on my Dad. No parent wants to see their children pass on, no matter how old they are. And my pour niece, she lost her mother and father nearly a year apart, and in her early 20’s she still has a lifetime to live.

The images of seeing my sister take her last dieing breath still haunt me to this day. It’s a feeling that you really can’t put to words, and one that I hope to never experience again. It’s had a profound effect on me, and changed my outlook on life permanently.

If there is one thing that I learned from all of this is, and that is to love your family. Hug your kids and tell them that you love them everyday. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone, call your parents and tell them that you love and appreciate them, because there might not be a tomorrow.

More pictures here.

~Michael

New Addition To The Family

I’ve wanted to get Reba, my third child, a playmate for some time now. She’s very playful and can just play for hours if you have the energy to keep up with her. Problem is, I just don’t have the energy to keep up with her play needs. I contemplated about getting another dog, but two dogs in an apartment would be a little cramped.

So the next best thing would be a cat, I thought. Cats are low maintenance and can be very playful. Sounded good on paper, but every time Reba sees a cat she wants to eat… err play hide and go seek in her mouth with them, so that could pose a problem.

Wait! I got it! Kitten. She wouldn’t eat a kitten (so I thought), and then they could grow up together and get used to one another. Man I’m a super genius!

So me and the girls set off to find a kitten for Reba to ea… play with. This was back in Jan/Feb time frame, and unbeknownst to me it wasn’t kitten season yet. We would stop by the SPCA now and then to check and see if any came in, but each time we either was too early or missed the last batch of kittens, so eventually we just gave up. Plus it was getting risky making that many frequent trips to the SPCA. With all those puppies also needing a home, who knew how many I would bring home.

Then, back in early July, my daughter Aletha and her friends found a kitten near the freeway hiding under a car. Knowing that I was in the market she called me, and Amanda and I went to have a gander. By this time the thought of getting a kitten had lost my interest, and I was secretly hoping it would be a flee infested feral mongrel so I wouldn’t have to bring it home. Foiled again!

Daisy ~8 Weeks old.

She was just adorable, and very loving. I was very surprised considering where she was found. Although she was pretty frail, with very little meat on her tiny frame, her fur was soft as an angora sweater. We named her Daisy.

Reba and Daisy's first meeting. Feel the love!

So we took her home for the Reba test. And much as I expected, Reba tried to eat her. Reba would just stare intently at Daisy, drooling and licking her lips. I had never seen Reba act like that before, and it was rather scary. Funny thing was, Daisy wasn’t the least bit scared of Reba. She might as well have been a giant throw pillow as far as she was concerned.

Amanda displays Daisy's single white toe.

Well after about a week or so, Reba finally got used to Daisy and now they are the best of buds. They chase each other around the house, and Daisy loves playing with Reba’s tail. She also loves to torment Reba when she’s in her cage. Sometimes they sleep together and Daisy will curl up between Reba’s legs. Ok, everybody at once… “Awwwww!”

Reba and Daisy napping during a recent road trip.

I’m glad things worked out. In the early stages it was a bit touch and go. Especially the first day when Reba tried to swallow Daisy’s head… while it was still attached. Daisy is growing fast, and she is just a little terror around the house. And much like Reba, is full of nonstop energy. They were made for each other. Can I get another… “Awwwww!”

Daisy now, aprox 16 weeks old.

You can see the rest of the pictures here.

~Michael

Bad Business

So it’s been a rather depressing week here at TI Corporate HQ, for me at least. They announced Tuesday that they will be shutting down the entire DLP manufacturing test area (DMA/T), leaving 75+ people out of work, and transferring another 130+ people to other facilities. Why? They are moving the test operations overseas to Taiwan and Malaysia (no surprise there). More on that later.

While the loss of 75 people doesn’t seem like a lot for a big corporation like Texas Instruments, it’s yet another cruel example of corporate greed. Thankfully my job won’t be effected (at least not short term), since I’m on the R&D side of the fence. But it still hits me hard seeing people, especially my friends, loose their jobs. Worse, loosing their jobs, too foreign countries.

This is a growing and alarming trend that corporations are going these days. Yes, I understand that it’s a business, and a company is in business to make money, but that wasn’t the case here. Our division has been very profitable the last few years. No, the real reason was greed. They saw an opportunity to increase profits, and they went for it. Kudos to them and the upper management that will reap huge profits from this move. On paper, it makes perfect sense. Why not? They’re not the ones loosing their jobs.

The problem lies in the future. You see while moves like this may help companies in the short term, you can’t keep sending jobs out of the country and not expect it to negatively affect our economy. You keep laying off people, and forcing them into retirement or to take lower paying jobs, and no one will be able to buy your products. Certainly not $1500 TV’s.

As a country, we already import twice the amount of products we export. We import produce, dry foods, beef, oil, electronics, and automobiles to name but a few. All of which we are fully able to produce for ourselves. You factor in the hundred’s of thousands (maybe even millions) of jobs being outsourced to other countries (and more everyday), and the amount of illegal immigrants flooding into our country, and you got a recipe for disaster. And don’t get me started on how our country gives away millions and millions of dollars a year of free education to foreigners, when our own children are being turned away.

Pretty soon our only commodity to the world will be Entertainment. In a country where you have the likes of Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Michael Vick and Paris Hilton, making millions of dollars and getting away with murder (literally), it makes me sick to my stomach.

Middle class will soon be a thing of the past. I don’t care how you try to spin it… its simply bad business.

~Michael

Fantasy Smackdown 2007

Warhammer Quest… oh how I love thee. Let me count the ways…

I have mentioned a time or two that my local gaming group (3 counts as a group right?), Mike Churchill, John Beaty and I, have recently started playing Warhammer Quest. In fact we will be getting together tomorrow night to finish up an adventure we started last week, so I thought this would a good time to introduce the world of WQ to those of you who haven’t yet experienced this fine game.

I first got introduced to WQ back when I lived in Austin, roughly 8 years ago. My friend Luiz Gaipo invited me to play in a game he was running for Taj, Bill Ard and his wife. I knew nothing about the game, but I’m always up for trying new games, especially in the fantasy realm.

I played an Ogre, Bill played a Troll Slayer (dwarf), Angela played a Pitfighter, and Taj played the Wizard. We only got to play a few game sessions, but it was a ton of fun, and every since then I had been eager to play again.

Sadly, the game is out-of-print, but you can still find copies of it on E-bay if you don’t mind shelling out a lot of clams. I recently picked up a copy, with all the expansions, for $230. Ouch!

The game is a mixture of role-playing and board game. How much of a mixture is purely up to the players/GM, the rules are very flexible. In the purest form, it’s a board game with aspects of role-playing. The game supports solo play up to 4 players (can have more, but 4 is ideal). In fact, you don’t even need a GM.

How the game works, each player first chooses a character, or in this case Warrior, to play. There are a dozen or so “official” Warrior archetypes to choose from. Then you randomly select an Adventure from a list of 30 pre-generated adventures. Once that is out of the way, you randomly select 12 dungeon tile cards and add in the Adventure Objective Room card that was previously chosen. These cards represent the dungeon you must enter and explore to complete the adventure.

Sigurd Jarlsson the King’s Champion (Barbarian), Tanthalas (Elf) both played by John B., and Thorgrim Brokenshield (Dwarf), Garin the Bold (Wizard) both played by Mike C.

At the start of the game, the players place their Warriors on the first tile of the dungeon. Only tiles that they have explored are revealed. The rest are kept secret until such time. Each time the Warriors discover a Room tile a random encounter is generated. Once the bad guys have been dispatched, a random Treasure Card is generated as loot. The players can then decide who gets it, or they can alternate. The loot can be anything from gold, armor, weapons or magical items.

As the Warriors explore the dungeon they collect these treasures to help them complete the adventure. In addition, each time they slay a beast they get experience points in the form of gold. At the end of the adventure, they can exchange their gold for advancement their character a level, purchase better armor, weapons, horses, or a vast number of other things.

The game advances in phases and turns. Each turn is broken down into 4 phases.

* Power Phase
* Warrior Phase
* Monster Phase
* Exploration Phase

During the Power Phase the Wizard of the party rolls a D6. The amount rolled is how many spell points he has available to spend that turn (not counting Reserve Spell points). Any unused points are wasted. If the Wizard happens to roll a 1 in the Power Phase, this also triggers an event, which could be anything from a deadly trap, a discovery of a new room, or another encounter with more bad guys.

Their first encounter, the party faces off against a horde of undead guarding a heavily bound chest.

Once the encounters are dealt with, and assuming the players are still alive, they can continue exploring. The goal here is to find the Objective Room so you can complete the Adventure.

An overview of the map so far. The Heroes managed to clear the room, but we ran out of time to finish the rest of the adventure.

If the Warriors are successful in completing their Objective, they can choose to go travel back to town (which can possibly generate more encounters and events) or start the next adventure.

There’s a lot more to the game than what I’ve outlined here, but this gives you a basic overview of how the game works. If anyone has any specific questions, feel free to ask.

The beauty of WQ is you can make it as random or planned as you want. The game I’m running for John and Mike is a mixture of both. I created the dungeon, the Room encounters, the Objective Room encounters and then let the dice randomly selected everything else.

As Mike, John and even Bill will attest to, it’s a very addictive game, and one that I highly recommend to those of you who enjoy these types of games. You can see the rest of the photos here. I'll post the rest of them next week once we complete the game.

Until next time…

~Michael