Learning in Freedom

Welcome to Learning in Freedom, a blog all about the learning adventures (and mishaps) of the Allen family. My four children are unschooled, following their interests and passions every day and living the lives of their choosing. The purpose of this blog is to share our every day lives (and my not-so-humble opinons) with anyone interested in stopping by. We hope this will give a glimpse of how natural learning unfolds from day to day......

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Deep thought

Sierra looks like she's deep in thought here, but I think she was just taking a break from our game of Kick-the-can on 4th of July at Mary's house. Our friend Diana took this picture.

Jared helped me finish my D&D character yesterday...I'm officially a nerd (as if I wasn't before). He can hardly wait for our next get together!

My friend Mary (the other Mary that lives in OR, which I'll be speaking with at the upcoming conference in Albuquerque) just got back from Europe and posted some hilarious photos of signs. Her blog is Zenmomma's Garden.

7 Comments:

Anonymous said...: Welcome to the Nerd table!

Remember, always have your character bring these 5 important things when spellunking/dungeon delving:

-Chalk
-String (100')
-Hook
-Walking stick
-Bell

5 'useless' items that will save your character's life countless times if you can use them against a tricky Dungeon Master.

Chalk:

* Never lose your way. Mark areas you've gone in.

* Make arrows to trick 'intelligent' mobs into going into a trap; thinking they're following you.

* Mark the days.

* Outline covered traps against non-intelligent mobs.

String:

* Distract monsters with the bell on a string.

* Trip monsters with doubled up string.

* Pull open doors/tip over things from a safe distance.

* Use for underground fishing.

* Tie doors closed to confuse/stall mobs.

Hook

* Fish with (obviously)

* Snatch up small items in lower level rooms/caves.

* Dangle in the mobs path to snare and distract said mob.

* Attach a bell and make an attack on an 'invisible' mob like a Displacer beast to hear where it really is.

Walking stick

* Spare weapon.

* Break in pieces for various sizes of splints.

* Use as a fishing rod.

* Disarm a trap from a safe distance.

* 'knock' on a door with reach while hiding around a corner.

* Set inbetween walls of a tight corridor for a 'tripping' stick.

* Brace against floor at a charging mob, impailing (or at least intimidating) them.

* Mark the days on the stick (though near the 'handle' area so you don't confuse battle marks with day marks ;)

Bell

* Dangle down a corridor or hole to a lower level with string and 'ring' to confuse mob.

* Throw in the area of guard cats/dogs; oftentimes animals will be distracted enough to poke it and put their attention on the new sound.

* Hang on fishing line so you can hear the fish biting.

(Some DM's are really cruel and want you to starve to death, if you have every way of preventing that they can't help but let you catch something...though it may not be a fish! "Kraken!!")

* Set up an area with string and hook the bell near you for a simple 'alarm' perimiter.

***

I hope these have helped give you some more ideas of the things you can do. Never let a DM settle with a 'simple' campaign. Make it fun by challenging the DM with new ways for you to delve for treasure!

http://brezlon.blogspot.com; 1:52 AM
Ren Allen said...: Ooh, good ideas!! I'm not quite finished with my "items" list, so that will be helpful.

I did pick up some silk rope, could that be as useful as the string? I figured we could use it in many ways (like pulling someone out of a trap or climbing cliffs or something).

Hadn't thought of the other items. What do you think of Sunrods vs. a lantern?; 2:20 AM
Ren Allen said...: Oh yeah, and I'm a rogue halfling, so being sneaky will be my specialty of course.:)

My bigger "nerd" child is a WOW player too...any tips on whether or not it is possible to have any kind of life outside of WOW??? Ever??? I'm afraid to start playing it.......; 2:22 AM
Anonymous said...: Silk works better as it's lighter and you can always carry spares for cutting up. Cut a few lengths around your height, pulling it into knotted threads. It'll take longer than just having string though.

I've never had my characters use Sunrods before (I'm still a big 2nd Edition DMer though my players are converting me to 3rd Edition.)

Instead I make sure to purchase some Continual Light rocks in the big cities:

- Continual Light spell cast on a simple rock can last a few weeks and gives about the same light. More precious items like gems last much longer, perhaps a year or two before it eats the gem.(Or permanent depending on the DM I guess)

- You can use colored glass for different shimers.

- You can put it in a lantern to direct light or mute it without worry of it tipping and causing a fire.

- Having glowing rocks is expensive if you don't have a mage in the party to cast it but it's much cheaper (why carry oil when you can carry treasure?) and safer in the long run, especially in squirmishes where people are throwing off their bags (tipping oil) while dropping their torches to fight with weapons.

** If you can afford it get a couple Continual Darkness rocks too.

- If an enemy casts light in the area you can cancel it out by throwing one in the room.

- You can get an advantage to fighting mobs alone if you have blind fighting and they don't.

- Throw it down a hallway behind you (with caltrops if you have them!) to stall pursuers.

- If your party is fond of taking prisoners make sure to get two squares of leather (eye patch size) with the enchant and have it sewed into a blind fold so the prisoners can't see where you're taking them.

Btw, Halflings rule and all these tricks will flow so wonderfully when you play one since those little guys are so resourceful!

***

My Elven mage is quite cheap and has continual flame beads that he can place on top of his candles when he stays anywhere for more than a week.

It's showy and he doesn't have to waste his time buying new candles to replace ;)

***

As for WoW specifically...

If you play WoW you will never have a life outside of it for the first few months (or longer). It is extremely addicting and goes right up there with drugs imo.

However, with time you can learn to start disciplining yourself to play the game less and/or just play more efficiently.

I've got eating and playing down to an art and with most of my button-clicking alts I can just sit back and eat a pizza while directing the character with my mouse.

I have yet to master it in PvP fights though...

- You can grab food/go to the bathroom while in flight.

- After you finish a quest and hand in while vendoring you can go afk again to rest/stretch/fold laundry.

- Keep a water bottle beside you and some healthy snacks like dried fruit to eat/drink every time your character needs to take a few minutes to re-mana/health.

- Make sure the last thing you will schedule that night is to farm a reagent/herb/? solo, fish, or do some other boring task by yourself. After a half hour of this you'll want to log out. =P

Once you manage to learn how to discipline yourself with that addiction you'll probably have better luck fighting off any future (even non-game) addictions you may face. =D

Oh and...

If your older child loves WoW, plays it often, and still manages to do some chores (heh, even bathing and sleeping counts) then they deserve an allowance raise. It's -very- hard for a kid to break from the game over 'mundane' tasks.

I'm
Not
Kidding

0.0

If they have 60's and do raids, it's 3x worse as the whole guild can put a lot of pressure on the person to be a regular attendee.

I've watched many of my friends burn out from the game, some having to quit it all together because it's so addicting and they can't just play a couple hours a day lest they lose their jobs, lose respect from family, and so on.

However...

My main reason for loving it (even through all the bugs,heh) is that I can play with people from another country and even on the other side of the world.

I love the social aspect of it!

If you think you can tackle the addiction, go for it, at least you know what to expect beforehand.

Good luck!

http://brezlon.blogspot.com; 12:43 AM
Ren Allen said...: Brezlon said:
"If your older child loves WoW, plays it often, and still manages to do some chores (heh, even bathing and sleeping counts) then they deserve an allowance raise. It's -very- hard for a kid to break from the game over 'mundane' tasks."

Lucky for him, I choose to honor whatever he's interested in and he can play whenever and how much HE chooses.:)

I decided long ago that my children's lives were their own and to trust them and nourish their interests. I reserved the expansion pack that comes out in October..he's thrilled. I take him food occasionally, to make sure he doesn't starve (nah, he's really not THAT stuck).

He's very appreciative and sweet about it. He's also decided to join our D&D campaign and just created a character tonight. We'll be rescuing him from prison next week...to bring him in. Yay!

I know when he's ready, he'll venture out into other interests again. Until then, he's meeting folks from all around the world. How cool is that? Great education I say.; 12:57 AM
Anonymous said...: Oh and I should have elaborated on the rope a bit more...

Buy 2 ropes (standard 50' length)

-Keep one long for whatever you'll need. This is your "Normal Rope"

-Cut one at 30' and knot it every couple feet or so for pits specifically. "Pit Rope"

-With the extra cut two 5' lengths for tieing prisoners. "Prisoner Ropes"

- Save the last 10' length for cutting or stripping into thinner lines. "Extra Rope"

Melt/tie ends.

Volia!

*My Ranger/Mage often uses ropes in his battles and has Animate Rope as his most used/stacked spell.

Recently in a desert fight he was going to ambush a supply caravan with some others (to help stop a war, of course) and left ropes thredded throughout the sand in key areas for casting later in case of runners.

With ropes, or any items really, just 'watch' the surroundings and try to use them against the npc's in different ways. It certainly helps before the battle try to picture what your character could do if everything went wrong.

eg, If the DM mentions a waterfall, ask the DM what's below it or if there are any overhanging branches and such in case you need to escape that way or want to make sure the npc's won't use that to their advantage.

This cuts down on repetition and Called Shots which have a nasty habit of turning on you when you least expect it. >.<

It also helps improve your imagination as well as all others involved in the game. =)

http://brezlon.blogspot.com; 12:59 AM
Anonymous said...: "Lucky for him, I choose to honor whatever he's interested in and he can play whenever and how much HE chooses.:)"

That is very awesome of you and yes you are right that WoW will not be here forever.

I'm quite sure he's learning a lot in that game even though it seems like play. He -will- learn to multitask and definately learn much of human behavior because -many- types of people play WoW. It beats paying for psychology classes. ;)

Though there is one thing to watch out for...

I've had a few times already where I couldn't play WoW for a month or two because of moving (boy that was rough!) and noticed my reading comprehension/grammar/typing skills dropped dramatically.

Basically, I stood there one day and realized I felt "stupid" from all that playing even though I was typing and talking to people without using 1337/dudespeak typing.

It is because you must make your words as efficient as possible; typing out "Mob incoming our right. At Joe." is much easier than,

"Guys we've got another monster coming at us from Joe's right side; at the North of the instance. The mob is a melee and might hit the priest first since he's headed that way..."

I hope he's aware of that 'brain loss' and has found other interests on the side to help keep his brain challenged.

http://brezlon.blogspot.com; 1:14 AM

Learning in Freedom

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Sunday, August 20, 2006

Deep thought

7 Comments: