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Christina Payne has covered bootcamps, careers, and higher education for BestColleges since 2019. An experienced writer, Christina also works for a nonprofit organization in Seattle. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BA in histor...
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Does the tech industry interest you? Do you want to learn programming, graphic design, or artificial intelligence, but don't have the time for a four-year degree or a six-month coding bootcamp?
The good news is that there are some coding bootcamps out there that specialize in teaching important tech industry skills in a short amount of time. Many bootcamps also provide career services for students and alumni to help them find a new job or advance their current careers after graduation.
In the following sections, readers will discover the five fastest coding bootcamps to help students learn how to code in a matter of weeks. Readers will also learn how to pick the right coding bootcamp for them and find answers to frequently asked questions about fast coding bootcamps.
Prospective students should consider several factors when choosing a coding bootcamp, including time commitment, learning format, career goals, and previous coding experience. Readers should also look at which bootcamps offer a curriculum that meets their career goals and budget requirements.
Students who are highly motivated and excel at learning online or with limited guidance should consider a fast coding bootcamp. Fast coding bootcamps cover their curriculums at an accelerated speed, requiring students to continually process new concepts. However, these bootcamps provide a quick turnaround for students, allowing them to re-enter the workforce quickly.
Students with minimal experience in coding or who prefer a slower-paced learning environment should not consider a fast coding bootcamp. These students can explore other bootcamp options that feature longer learning sessions and a more in-depth curriculum.
Ultimately, readers must decide for themselves whether a fast coding bootcamp is the right choice for them based on their preferred learning style and curriculum needs.
Are Fast Bootcamps Good?
Much like accelerated degree programs, fast bootcamps help students learn the curriculum at a faster pace. These programs are ideal for students who can pick up skills quickly and learn new concepts with minimal help from instructors. Fast coding bootcamps also help students re-enter the job market more quickly.
However, fast bootcamps do not cover as much material as regular bootcamps. Students enrolled in more traditional bootcamps may also receive more individual attention from instructors and career counselors.
Get the Qualities You Want in a Bootcamp
We use icons to make browsing bootcamps easy for you. Use this breakdown to quickly identify program qualities you are looking for.
Accepts GI Bill®
Accepts the GI Bill® as funding for tuition.
Also Available In Person
This online bootcamp also offers in-person options.
Offers career services to help you land your dream job after graduation.
CIRR Member
This bootcamp is a current member of the Council on Integrity in Results Reporting. Learn more at cirr.org.
Evening & Weekend Options
Bootcamps are offered during convenient evening and weekend hours.
Job Guarantee
Employment is guaranteed as soon as you finish your bootcamp.
Tuition is refunded if you don't land a job within a given time frame after graduation. Visit the bootcamp website for terms and conditions.
No deposit is required to get started. Begin your bootcamp for $0.
The 5 Fastest Bootcamps
Readers should note that most providers offer multiple programs of varying durations. However, all of the following providers offer at least one short bootcamp that lasts fewer than four weeks.
Location: Remote, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C.
Programs Starting At: $3,950
Technical Disciplines: Data Analytics, Data Science, Digital Marketing, Software Engineering, UX/UI Design
Learning Format: Full-Time, Part-Time, Self-Paced
Duration: 1-12 weeks
Income Share Agreement
General Assembly offers several evening and one-week bootcamps, including front-end web development, JavaScript development, Python programming, and React development. Students gain hands-on experience with coding languages through a project-based curriculum. General Assembly graduates have found careers with companies like Adobe and Disney.
Nucamp
Location: Remote
Programs Starting At: $458
Technical Disciplines: Full-Stack Development, Mobile App Development, Web Development
Learning Format: Part-Time
Deferred Tuition Plan
Nucamp's part-time web development bootcamp offers instructor-led training with live weekly recaps of lessons. This hands-on program features a weekly project to teach core concepts and build students' professional portfolios. Students do not need any previous experience in coding languages.
SheCodes
Programs Starting At: $99
Technical Disciplines: Software Engineering
Learning Format: Full-Time, Part-Time
SheCodes provides online coding workshops for women. The basics coding workshop features three weeks of curriculum for coding beginners and covers topics in HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. SheCodes offers a project-based curriculum to help build professional portfolios.
Programs Starting At: $399/month
Technical Disciplines: Cybersecurity, Data Science, Data Engineering, Product Management
Learning Format: Self-Paced
Duration: 1-6 months
Udacity's digital project management bootcamp lasts one month and provides real-world projects from industry experts. Students also receive technical mentor support and career services like portfolio reviews and LinkedIn profile optimization. This program features a flexible learning plan to allow students to take classes at their own pace.
Programs Starting At: $84.99
Technical Disciplines: Data Science, Full-Stack Development, Web Development
Duration: 1 hour - 100 days
Udemy's SQL bootcamp for data science teaches students how to make data-driven decisions through SQL. Students in this bootcamp receive access to 1.5 hours of on-demand video instruction and get a certificate of completion upon graduation. This bootcamp requires students to know how to open a terminal/command line shell.
Bootcamp Ranking Guidelines
At BestColleges, we believe the best bootcamp is the one that fits your schedule, your learning needs, and your career aspirations. That's why we often present our recommendations in alphabetical order -- because the real best bootcamp is the bootcamp that's best for you.
The Bootcamp Team at BestColleges has collected data for over 150 bootcamps to help you find the best bootcamp.
At this time, our recommendation round-ups feature only immersive bootcamps designed to prepare students for job placement upon graduation.
To be included on our lists, bootcamps must meet the following criteria:
Must offer at least one bootcamp in the United States.
Must offer at least one bootcamp that is a minimum of 4 weeks long.
Must require at least 15 hours of work per week if the bootcamp is part time.
Must encourage at least 10 hours of work per week if the bootcamp is self-paced.
Pricing disclosure: The prices listed were collected from product websites in 2022. However, given the dynamic, fast-paced nature of the tech space, prices are subject to change throughout the year. To get the most up-to-date information about pricing, contact providers directly.
Methodology for Recommending Cheap Bootcamps:
The bootcamp must meet all of the general criteria listed above.
The bootcamp must cost less than $8,000 if it is offered full time, and less than $5,000 if it is offered part time. These numbers were chosen based on data collected by BestColleges in 2020 that determined the average cost of a coding bootcamp is $13,580.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Fastest Coding Bootcamps
Determining whether coding bootcamps are worth it depends on several factors, including your career goals, preferred learning style, and budget.
You should always research education requirements for their desired career before determining their educational pathway. Careers that do not require an advanced degree or previous experience in tech may be a good fit for a bootcamp education.
You should also consider bootcamps if they are self-motivated and excel in online learning environments. Bootcamps also offer more flexibility than traditional degree programs, often allowing you to continue working while you learn.
Do employers hire coding bootcamp graduates?
Yes, employers do hire bootcamp graduates, especially as bootcamps continue to grow in popularity. Bootcamps provide solid, hands-on learning experiences with opportunities to network and build professional portfolios. Coding bootcamps allow graduates to switch careers or advance current careers with new skills in tech.
In general, employers dislike the lack of regulation in the bootcamp industry. In recent years, bootcamps have experienced more regulation and oversight.
What are the most respected coding bootcamps?
Employers want more regulation in the bootcamp industry and generally prefer candidates from bootcamps with proven track records and student outcomes. Bootcamps that publish student outcomes offer data points such as graduation rates, hiring rates, and average salary rates for graduates.
You should always look for bootcamps with outcomes verified by a trusted third-party source such as the Council on Integrity in Results Reporting (CIRR). You should ask for additional information about data collection from bootcamps that self-publish results.
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Recently, Jason Zavoda used his Hall of the Mountain King blog to start an in-depth look at the characters in Dave Trampier's comic strip, Wormy. Since Tramp is a subject of study for me, I've revived my oft-abandoned blog to discuss some of his lesser-known art pieces.
A Brief Trampier Biography
TSR Games
In 1977, sometime around his 23nd birthday, David A. Trampier became one of the early artists working for TSR illustrating Dungeons & Dragons and other games. He created some of the most iconic illustrations in D&D. His influence is still felt in countless homages across the role playing industry.
Trampier's grizzled, bearded face and 6' 3" frame often appears in his own illustrations, such as the above piece of three successful adventurers from AD&D's Players Handbook. Even Trampier's monstrous manticore face feels like a self-portrait.
Around 1981 or so, Trampier's work disappeared from TSR games but his Wormy comic continued to appear in TSR Periodicals' Dragon magazine.
With co-designer Jason B. McAllister, Trampier self-published the fantasy "Monster Slugathon" board game Titan under the name Gorgonstar Publications in 1980. Tramp created all the artwork for the game box, board, components, rulebook and advertising. 1981's expansion Battlelands of Titan added new features to be incorporated into all future printings of the base game. The game eventually became a hit, one of the seminal fantasy board games of the 1980s.
Supposedly, TSR was given first crack at publishing the game but refused. In 1982, Avalon Hill published the game as part of their Bookcase Game series. Strangely, the box cover featured art by Avalon Hill's Kenneth Nishiuye. Nishiuye's purple painting of a titan, unicorn and dragon was functional and iconic but ran counter to Trampier's distinctive style seen on the game components. I'll discuss more about a possible Trampier Titan cover in the next post.
Titan remains a classic and was republished in numerous forms. Avalon Hill licensed the game to Hobby Japan who released a computer game version as Beast Lord in 1991 followed by a sequel in 1992. In 2008, Valley Games, Inc. created a high-quality reprint with an iPad edtion appearing three years later. A German edtion appeared in 2012. It is unknown if Trampier continues to profit from these reprints.
Tramp started worked for TSR Periodicals in 1977, illustrating Dragon and Little Wars magazines. Dragon started publishing his Wormy comic strip about a cigar-chomping, snooker-hustling, wargaming dragon and the strange being that inhabit his world. Much like Cerebus the Aardvark years later, Wormy began as something of a "funny animal" comic, a parody of gamers just as Cerebus parodied the Sword & Sorcery genre. Wormy's story matured over the years as Trampier's skills as artist and storyteller improved significantly, much like Dave Sim with Cerebus. Unlike Cerebus,* Wormy continued to be funny. It remained a parody of the very gamers flipping to the back of each new Dragon magazine to read the latest installment.
Sadly, Wormy's second storyline was abruptly truncated in 1988. A cryptic announcement informed us that Wormy would no longer appear in Dragon. Trampier's brother-in-law, game designer Tom Wham, had no contact with him since 1982. Trampier seemingly fell off the face of the Earth, leaving fans to wonder what happened to the artist who was an influence on so many.
In 2002, amid rumors of his death, it turned out he was working as a cab driver in Illinois. The Daily Egyptian, a Southern Illinois University newspaper, posted a short piece about the life of a cab driver in Carbondale named David Trampier. There was that grizzled, bearded face last seen peering out from behind a shield on the AD&D Dungeon Masters Screen. TSR insiders confirmed that this was the very same David Trampier.
For whatever reason, he wanted to be left alone and get away from art and the gaming industry. Attempts to contact him about his art were politely declined.
Rare Trampier Art
Over the next several posts, I will examine some of the lesser-known Trampier works. The illustrations from the Monster Manual and Deities & Demigods are all well-known. Jason Zavoda is doing an admiral job at exploring the art from Dragon magazine. I will share the rarer, published pieces I've discovered along with any pertinent information I know about them.
* I am quite a fan of Cerebus and read each and every issue (yes, even the prose with almost no illustrations, even when it seemed like he'd never get out of that bar). I admire Dave Sim's ability to self-publish and do what he wants with his creator's rights. Lord Julius remains one of the best interpretations of Groucho Marx I've ever seen (take that, M*A*S*H-era Alan Alda). I just wish Wormy had a chance to see a 6000 page storyline published, like Cerebus did. Who knows, It could've degenerated into a misogynistic diatribe with Wormy worshipping an amalgam of the Abrahamic religions at the end.
Posted by Tony at 10:03 PM
Labels: Avalon Hill, Dragon, Rare Dave Trampier Art, Titan, Trampier, TSR, Wormy
Jason Zavoda March 2, 2014 at 10:42 PM
Fantastic! I never even imagined that Titan was Trampier's work. I look forward to what you post next.
Tony March 3, 2014 at 3:29 PM
One neat aspect of Tramp's Titan is that every single game counter is unique. No two centaurs look alike; no two minotaurs look alike. Each unit is an individual. The units are only drawn in silhouette but that makes it easy to differentiate units from across the board (unlike the Valley Games version).
Even the legion markers are cool. They are like Trampier clip art.
Here is one of the counter sheets, complete with trolls that would easily fit in Wormy's world: http://boardgamegeek.com/image/394897/titan?size=original
Jay Murphy March 2, 2014 at 11:15 PM
bi-polar is what i'm thinking. treat kindly.
Tony March 4, 2014 at 12:53 AM
I only plan to examine Trampier's artwork, not speculate on the causes of his odd behavior. There are many possible reasons for the events that transpired in his life and I wish him the best, hoping he finds the strength to return to the field he is so skilled at.
grodog March 2, 2014 at 11:50 PM
The original Gorgonstar boxed set oozes Tramp, Jason. I'll take some pictures sometime if you're interested?
Allan.
(Unless of course you're already planning to cover that art, Tony?)
Tony March 3, 2014 at 12:28 PM
Unfortunately, I do not have the original Gorgonstar edition of Titan. I'd love to see some good scans of that printing, especially if there was some artwork not used in the Avalon Hill edition.
Zenopus Archives March 3, 2014 at 11:11 AM
Looking forward to this series.
rredmond March 3, 2014 at 4:11 PM
Really excellent Tony. thanks for sharing!
skeetyrbug March 4, 2014 at 1:01 PM
I have a large version of his green demon-face from Tomb of Horrors tattooed on my left arm. Turned out very well, and has always been my favorite piece of his.
It's always great to see more of the Tramp's amazing work brought to light. Thanks for sharing.
I feel obliged to point out that sadly, Dave Trampier passed away in march of this year.
From his Wikipedia entry:
In late 2013, several misfortunes struck Trampier. He suffered a mild stroke, he lost his job when the Yellow Taxi Company went out of business, and he discovered that he had cancer. Needing money, Trampier contacted Scott Thorne, the owner of Castle Perilous Games & Books, and offered to sell eight of his original pieces of artwork, including the original cover art for the 1979 Dungeon Master's Screen. Thorne bought the artwork, and tried to convince Trampier to have his Wormy comics republished. Trampier was suspicious of the offer, and wanted to ensure that TSR would not have any part of the publication; he seemed surprised by the news that TSR had been taken over by Wizards of the Coast almost 20 years previously. Thorne suggested that Troll Lord Games might be a good publisher to approach.
Trampier accepted an invitation to display some of his original artwork at Egypt Wars, a local games convention; it would be his first public connection to fantasy gaming since his disappearance 25 years before. Representatives of Troll Lord Games were also scheduled to be at the convention, and Thorne hoped Trampier might talk to them about a publishing deal. However, Trampier suddenly died on March 24, 2014, three weeks before the convention.
Tony October 25, 2014 at 6:19 PM
Yup, I broke the news here on this blog a few days after he passed away. It was a big shock, especially just after I started this retrospective of his rarer artworks.
http://crypticarchivist.blogspot.com/2014/03/david-trampier-passed-away-march-24-2014.html
Max April 18, 2015 at 10:20 AM
The Trampier "illustrations from...Deities & Demigods are all well-known." Are they? I don't spot any signed by him, though he's credited, and I haven't found any I'd immediately ID as Tramp.
Sorry to bug you about a year old post, but if you have a moment could you elaborate?
Tony April 18, 2015 at 11:22 AM
Sure thing. Trampier illustrated some of the American Indian and Central American mythos. Take another look at Hiawatha, Shakak, Snake-Man, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca and you'll recognize his distinct art style. I believe that the "totemic" images of Raven, Coyote, and Thunder Bird may also be his.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Amazonite considered a soothing stone that enhances creative expression and works on the throat chakra. It is called the "hope stone" because it inspires confidence and hope.
Dalmatian Jasper gets it name because it looks like the coat of a Dalmatian dog. This stone teaches that you can make a difference and that each experience is a lesson bringing you more knowledge.


text:
Tuesday Night Yoon-Suin: Session 7
[I promise this blog isn't going to become just actual play reports after 4 years of studiously avoiding them. I just have almost no time to devote to RPGs at the moment except the weekly session.]
Adventurers Present:
Marich, Level 2 Magic-User [played by David]
Anil, Level 1 Cleric of Manpac (eunuch) [played by Patrick]
Manjeet, Level 1 Fighter [played by Nathan]
Retainers: Binod, Nagendra I, Nagendra II, Fat Sanjam, Lokendra, Sinba
Marich, Anil and Manjeet began plotting ways to placate the wizardess/whore Jharanda, and also get their revenge on Marich II, who they suspected of stealing from them. Eventually Manjeet and Marich decided to write a message which they sent to Jharanda through the daughter of the owner of their lodgings, a girl called Tyree. In it, they promised to tell the wizardress about one of the clay creations of the archmage Gulvedra, which they had encountered hiding at the Old Watchtower in the South, as a quid pro quo for letting Anil off the hook for annoying her. As yet, they have not received a response.
Marich II was dealt with expediently: when the hirelings gathered together the next day he was exposed and humiliated in front of all of them, told to hand back the chain mail and weapons that had been bought for him, and removed from the PCs' employ. [DM's note: I was amazed that they didn't take him into the forest and beat him up or worse, which would have been far more in keeping with their escapades so far.] To replace him, and also Padma who had been slain, they hired a tall thin spearman called Lokendra, and a rather ugly teenage girl called Sinba, to fill out their ranks of underlings.
They then went to the Guild of Sages: Anil had decided that his god, Manpac, had preordained his previous encounter with the galeb duhr in the forest, and he wanted to know more about the galeb duhr and their origins. He agreed to provide a partial map of the first level of Sangmenzhang to the sage Man, in return for information on the galeb duhr. He learned that it was very unusual to see one in the forest, and that they usually inhabited the high mountains where men found it difficult to breathe. They wanted above all to merely survive - to exist in the face of adversity, like a mountain itself. Man speculated that the Yak Folk, the malevolent slavers of the peaks, would know more of them. The PCs left with curiosity piqued.
They decided to make their way to Sangmenzhang. On the way they encountered a group of pilgrims heading to the nearby Walung monastery; they later learned that the Walung were an order of meditative healers who practice the art of self-mummification to gain eternal (un)life.
They entered Sangmenzhang through their secretly-discovered back entrance, from which they had ejected the Feathered Men. Here, they set about constructing an elaborate set of barricades from bamboo, allowing them to use the Feathered Men's cave as a kind of base of operations in the old citadel. From there, they set about exploring the immediate chambers. Almost instantly they encountered a group of hideous, flesh devouring maggots, which nearly killed Manjeet, Sinba and one of the Nagendras by released burrowing worms into their bodies which had to be cut out with knives and much loss of blood; but in the maggot chamber they recovered 8 big clay pots containing 784 coins of blended silver and gold. While they were busy dragging their wounded and the money to their base, they were set upon by a giant cave locust which they cornered and stabbed to death.
They stayed in their base for a few days, licking their wounds, although the fights had taken Anil to Level 2, and he was now able to use the power of Manpac to aid with healing. While resting in the cave they were forced to drive off or kill four pandas which ate their mule, tied up in the bamboo groves below; they decided to try to sell the panda bones and skins in Silaish Vo next they were there. They also, at night, heard something big and humanoid moving through the forest; the next day they found big footprints and a path of broken canes of bamboo, but decided to press on deeper into Sangmenzhang instead.
They came across a small chamber with the door barred from the inside, which they hacked down with axes, to discover what had once apparently been a bed chamber. It was a mystery as to how it could be barred from the inside with nobody in it. They discovered an ancient book made out of slate hidden in the wall, covered in strange circular script, and decided to take it with them.
They also discovered a group of strange gibbon-men, who they quickly slew; exploring further, they discovered another chamber in which they found many branches and twigs and broken egg-shells: they surmised that this was the place where the Feathered Men had been rearing young, and they speculated that the gibbon-men may have smashed the eggs.
Pressing deeper, the party came to a narrow corridor with a door at the end. While decided whether to open it, they were set upon from the rear by strange creatures: shaped like large dogs, they were nearly invisible and perfectly transparent, with only a vague outline indicating their presence. Bunched up in the corridor as the party was, things looked bleak: these strange dog-things killed Binod, in the rear, and then tore out Fat Sanjam's bowels, filling the corridor with blood and faeces. Manjeet, at the front by the door, had no choice but to open it and try to escape that way - but discovered the chamber behind was already inhabited by two very large, very intimidating female humanoid creatures of indeterminate origin. Desperate, the PCs begged to be allowed to shelter from the dog-things, while their remaining hirelings kept the hounds at bay with spears. Eventually the two female creatures allowed them to enter the chamber and shut and bar the door.
The two creatures revealed themselves to be sisters, Quaggoths from the mountains, who had fled their clan and were hiding in Sangmenzhang. They explained that they had encountered the invisible dog-things before, and thought them demons who the ancient dwarves of Sangmenzhang had disturbed from the depths of the earth shortly before their downfall. Anil managed to strike up a relationship of a kind with these two Quaggoth sisters - mostly by abject begging - and they agreed an arrangement with the PCs, that they would cooperate to try to drive monsters from this area of the citadel and make it a more safe dwelling place for them.
Thoughts: A fun session, with plenty of derring-do, some secret doors, some retainer death, and pandas. Patrick also seemed genuinely chuffed about making level 2 and finally being able to cast Cleric spells. The final tense crescendo - a perfectly timed random encounter - just goes to show that it isn't always all about bathos.
Labels: actual play, yoon-suin
[No session last week, because of work-related business. Unperturbed, we picked up where we left off, with Eki Ulele dead, and Marich and Anil camping alone in the forest, hiding from bandits and giant bees.]
Manjeet, Level 1 Fighter [played by Nate]
Retainers: Padma, Binod, Nagendra I, Nagendra II, One-toothed Marich ("Marich II"), Fat Sanjam
On character death, I am usually very quick to bring a replacement in for the player concerned, as soon as their new character is rolled-up. So we had Manjeet, Eki Ulele's replacement, appear as if from nowhere. He is a human fighter and son of a tea plantation owner, and Nate rolled a ridiculously luck set of stats, with a 16, a couple of 13s, and only one score under 9. He also got 8 on his hit point roll. Manjeet was travelling through the mountains on the way from his family's plantation in Sughd, with the aim of delivering some papers to the Baburam family, a clan of minor oligarchs in Silaish Vo. He more-or-less immediately threw in his lot with Marich and Anil when they promised him gold and glory, as one would expect.
The three made it back to Silaish Vo unscathed and unmolested by bandits. It was pretty clear that return to Sangmenzhang was off the agenda for now, and revenge against Manesh and his bandit clan top of the 'to do' list. (Another benefit of character death in a game: it pisses the players off and adds that extra emotional bite.) After some rest at the Madrassah of Arcanea, where the PCs have their lodgings, they immediately began investigating Manesh's history, and were introduced to Jhalak Dorji, one of the Oligarch's factotums, who told them that Manesh was known to the authorities and wanted. He promised the PCs 500 gold pieces for Manesh dead, and 1000 for him alive. They immediately set about hiring goons to aid them in bringing him down.
This time they meant business, and not only recruited 6 underlings, but kitted them out with chain mail, shields, and various weapons, spending a sizeable wedge of their gold hoard to do so. These 6 were Padma (long beard, short bow), Binod (midget, dagger), Nadaraja I (red hair, javelins), Nadaraja II (no nose, spear), Sanjam (fat, spear), and Marich II (one tooth left, sabre). While in the market, however, they were stopped by a woman who had noticed their large expenditure. This was Tara Dev, a tax collector for the Oligarch, who told them that in future any amount of gold they gained for themselves would have to be taxed - at 50%. This was in return for the safety and comfort offered by the Oligarch to all those living in Silaish Vo.
They set off into the mountains, heading back to Manesh's cave under the waterfall. They hatched a plan to, essentially, lie in wait by the cave to ambush people coming and going. Eventually five bandits appeared with a mule and a cow, heading towards the cave - they were obviously returning from a raid. After a brief skirmish the bandits were all slain to a man, with minimal harm to the PCs and their motley crew. But one of the bandits managed to run into the forest and yell to alert those in the cave to intruders before he got an arrow through the gullet.
Manesh and 8 of his men sallied forth, and a lengthy battle ensued. But the players seem to have learned their lesson: combat is war, not sport. They had stacked the odds heavily in their favour by properly kitting out their underlings, and they used pretty smart tactics, with spear-wielding troops using their better reach over machete-wielding bandits, to take down Manesh and a few of his men; the rest fled. In return, only Padma was killed.
The PCs left Marich II to search the bodies of the slain bandits, while they searched the cave and discovered a sizeable treasure hoard, including two scrolls. One, Anil discovered, contained a prayer to ward against the undead. The other was magical, and Marich would have to wait to return to Silaish Vo to discover its properties. Triumphant, they headed back to the city.
On the way, burdened with treasure and slowed by their captured mule and cow, they entangled with some giant centipedes and also came across a strange boulder-man in the forest: a galeb duhr. He was not violent, and simply insisted on being alone, offering the view that, rather than kill bandits, one could simply wait for them to die. He revealed himself to be thousands of years old.
Back in Silaish Vo they left their cronies to their own devices while they went to get their reward, which Jhalak Dorji duly paid. This, along with the treasure trove they had recovered from the cave, was enough to push Marich up to Level 2. This was the first level-up of the campaign. He got 1 extra hit point for his trouble, and the kudos of being the only PC who is still alive from the start. At the Madressa of Arcaneum he managed to persuade friendly Sujan, one of the instructors, to look at his scroll - it turns out it is a charm offering protection from beast who can become men, and men who can become beasts.
Anil decided to hire a replacement for the slain hireling Padma. On discussion with Liangyu Hui, the desert troll tea-shop owner, he learned that the hireling Marich II had been spending gold in sizeable amounts at the nearby whorehouse. This, Anil immediately (probably correctly) surmised, was because Marich II had been left alone with the bandit corpses after the battle, and had pilfered their gold for himself. He summoned Marich and Manjeet to help, and went to the whorehouse to lay down the law.
The whorehouse is a pyramid structure, and is owned by a madam called Jharana. The PCs tried to get her to reveal where Marich II was, but she proved uncooperative, maintaining that she did not like to tell strangers information about clientele. Anil threatened her with his club and she became annoyed and asked them to leave, threatening them with powerful friends and emphasising things would turn out badly if he persisted. He ultimately left, with the idea of preaching against prostitution outside and scaring away all her clients until she cooperated, but Marich decided discretion was called for and slept him.
Manjeet then went to ask Liangyu Hui about Jharana, to ask how he might make good and apologise. Liangyu Hui told him that Jharana had many extremely important and powerful "friends" in the city, and that Anil's life was probably in danger now he had annoyed her. But he also revealed that Jharana is also a wizardress of some repute, and is always interested in new knowledge, magicks, strange artefacts and documents, and so on. Such a gift might ameliorate her.
Some thoughts on the session: it was nice to see Marich level up, and good to see the players get revenge on Manesh, who was after all responsible for some amount of heartache. The players are also learning a bit more about the setting now, interacting with some of the more important NPCs in Silaish Vo, and getting to know the lay of the land. They are also probably getting an understanding that generally, there is no such thing as "excessive force" in D&D and only fools fight fair.
They came up with some creative ideas, too. Marich used his only sleep spell in the first bandit encounter, and after that came up with the notion of using his mirror to reflect sunlight in the eyes of the enemy to distract them, which I ruled would reduce a bandit's effective AC to 10 and put them at -2 to hit for one round if he scored a successful hit. Anil's idea of preaching outside the brothel was also a nice attempt to work around a botched situation, after the players realised they'd probably bitten off more than they could chew with Jharana.
Finally, Patrick, Anil's player, has come up with the notion that his cleric continually prays to Manpac for guidance; whenever he does this, Patrick rolls an encounter dice he has, which is a d6 with a face on each side (smiley face, frown, sad face, indifferent face, etc.). He then uses the result to indicate what Manpac's view on the situation is, and acts accordingly. What started as a humorous idea now seems to have taken on a certain amount of meaning, and it is amusing to watch Patrick attribute fortunate turns of events to Manpac's guidance.
Posted by noisms at 05:43 1 comment:
Failure of Imagination
Like a lot of BBC Magazine articles, this one is only of the mildest interest and coherence, but I found a certain aspect of it intriguing because it's indicative of a tendency I've sometimes noticed for people to attribute works of highly imaginative fantasy and SF to the author's use of narcotics. Usually, as in the case of Lewis Carroll, this is based on no evidence other than, "Well, he must have been on drugs, because that book is really weird!"
I think that sort of assumption says more about the person making it than it does the author. If you lack a good imagination of your own, I suppose it is natural to assume that everybody is that way, and could only possibly create amazing works of imagination under the influence. It doesn't seem to occur to them that, yes, some people just are that creative.
Not that I'm against trying to be the next Philip K Dick if that's your thing. Just don't diminish the creative power of the human brain by pretending everything weird is down to artificial stimulation.
Labels: literature, rants
C*nt Riot
Cunt riot are a riot grrrl 3-piece, loosely affiliated with the feminist agitprop Slater-Koney collective; like most individuals connected with that body, they are also involved in various forms of semi-organised crime, including gun-running, "tax collection", and plain old-fashioned assassination. The three members are known only as Ayano, Voina, and Wei.
Ayano, Voina, Wei
Wei is Cunt Riot's bassist and, in their non-musical pursuits, its Nuclear Option: she shoots first and doesn't ask questions. She never met a problem she couldn't put a bullet through the face of.
It is some times speculated that Wei spent time soldiering for warlords in the former USSR and the the Wild West of China. This seems entirely based on the fact she likes Soviet and Red Chinese guns.
INT 8 REF 10 CL 9 TECH 7 BODY 7 EMP 7/5 ATT 8 LUCK 5 MA 7
Combat sense +6, Handgun +6, Rifle +5, SMG +4, Melee +5, Aikido +5, Endurance +3, Heavy Weapons +4, Awareness +5
Cyberwear:
Neural processor
-Kerenzikov Boost +1
-Smartgun link
Skinweave
Usual Equipment:
Stolvoboy St-2 10mm
CCMMC Qi-15 assault shotgun
CCMMC Jinhua M-9
Nylon helmet (SP14)
Light kevlar jacket (SP12)
Light kevlar pants (SP10)
Ayano is Cunt Riot's lead singer and guitarist. She also writes the words. In her spare time, she cracks bones, removes fingernails, and breaks teeth.
INT 9 REF 10 CL 10 TECH 6 BODY 7 EMP 4/3 ATT 5 LUCK 5 MA 6
Combat Sense +5, Handgun +3, Rifle +2, Melee +5, Judo +7, Tae Kwon Doe +7, Interrogate +6, Intimidate +6, Awareness +5
Cyberaudio
-Voice stress analyser
-Bug detector
-Wide band radio scanner
-Digital recording link
Sternmeyer P-35 11mm
Heavy kevlar jacket SP18
Voina doubles up on drums and illegal entry. She leaves the murder to the others.
Voina, some say, was a trained spy for the Mozambique state oil company. Others say she learned her trade in the employ of the Mumbai mafia.
INT 10 REF 8 CL 8 TECH 10 BODY 5 EMP 6/4 ATT 4 LUCK 7 MA 8
Hide/Evade +7, Shadow/Track +6, Pick Lock/Safecracking +7, Demolitions +4, Sambo +3, Resist Torture/Drugs +5, Stealth +8, Awareness +7
Cyberoptic
-Image enhancement
-Teleoptics
-Digital camera
-Ultraviolet vision
-Amplified hearing
-Radio link
-Homing tracer
-Sound editing
-Phone splice
-Level damper
Labels: current events, cyberpunk 2020
Further AFF/D&D Quick Battle Resolution System Thoughts
I did a little more thinking about the quick battle rules while I should have been working today. I think the system is chiefly lacking rules for three things:
1. Surprise
3. Skill of the general
So I propose the following additions:
Before the battle assuming both sides are marching, each side rolls a d6. On a roll of 1 or 2, that side is surprised. It suffers -2 to its first battle round roll, and -1 thereafter. If one side is static, it is only surprised on a 1. It is possible for both sides to be surprised, in which case the modifier may be disregarded.
The weather modifies battle rolls as follows:
Very hot and dry - if one side is static it is never surprised. If both sides are marching, each side is surprised only on a 1.
Rain or snow - the ordinary bonus for mounted troops does not apply.
Heavy rain or snow - the ordinary bonuses for mounted troops and archers do not apply.
Fog - if one side is static and the other is marching, the marching side is surprised on a 1-4. Either side may flee at any time and automatically evade pursuit.
Skill of the general
A particularly skilful general gives a +1 bonus.
Labels: mass battles, random ideas
Advanced Fighting Fantasy and D&D Quick Battle Rules Mashup
Got a mass battle in your D&D game and you don't fancy going through the rigmarole of using the War Machine or similar? Try re-skinning the Advanced Fighting Fantasy rules from Allansia. It works like this:
1. Work out the number of troops on each side. Anything with more than one attack counts as [number of troops x number of attacks], so 2 troops for a 2 attack monster, 3 troops for a 3 attack monster, etc.
2. Add the number of troops from both sides, divide by 100, and round down: this is the total amount of rounds in the battle.
3. Each side rolls 2d6 and adds the following modifiers:
+1 positioned on higher ground
+2 fortified (e.g. stakes, ditches, etc.)
+4 strongly fortified (e.g. constructed fortifications)
-1 outnumbered
-2 outnumbered more than 2:1
+1 better quality troops
+1 more than 10% missile troops
+1 each 25% of troops mounted
-1 mixed species army
-2 surprised or ambushed
+1 each previous battle round won
4. Highest score wins the round. The winner rolls [1d6 x difference between scores] and loses that many men from his side, 25% killed, 75% wounded. The loser just uses [difference between scores x 20] and loses that many men from his side, 50% killed, 50% wounded. The commander chooses where casualties are distributed.
5. Continue until all rounds are over, one side surrenders, or one side flees. If one side flees, the other may let them go and automatically capture all their wounded, or continue the fight, adding +2 bonus to the next combat round.
I may tweak this. For working out troop numbers, it might make more sense to base it on the number of hit dice rather than the number of attacks, perhaps incorporating the asterisk system from BECMI. You could also add on further sub-rules, forcing commanders to define some sort of "marching order" so the casualties get distributed for some units and not others, or perhaps allowing the commanders some way of selecting which of the enemy units lose men.
Gertrude the Grimy leads her army to try to lay siege to Bartholomew the Bastard's castle. Gertrude has 400 foot soldiers, 50 knights on horseback, and 100 archers. The knights have two attacks because of their magnificent war horses, so they count as 100. Total troops: 600.
Bartholomew the Bastard has 350 foot soldiers, 100 outriders on ordinary horses, and 75 crossbowmen mercenaries. Total troops: 525.
The total number of troops is 1125, so there will be 11 rounds.
Bartholomew has used his scouts well and knows Gertrude's line of approach: he prepares an ambush from higher ground. He also has higher quality troops and more than 10% of his troops have missile weapons. He has 2d6+1+1+1.
Gertrude's army is surprised, but they outnumber Bartholomew's, and 10% of her troops also have missile weapons. She has 2d6-2+1+1.
For round 1, Bartholomew rolls 3, giving a total of 6. Gertrude rolls 7, giving a total of 7. Bartholomew may have prepared an ambush, but clearly this does not perturb Gertrude's men; she rolls [1d6 x difference between scores] and gets a 5; she loses only 3 men wounded and 2 killed in the initial fight. Bartholomew uses [difference between scores x 20] and hence loses 20 of his men, 10 killed and 10 wounded. Clearly, both armies have used screens of skirmishers and Gertrude's make the best of the initial exchanges.
For round 2, Bartholomew rolls 8, giving a total of 11. Gertrude rolls 8, giving a total of 8. Now, clearly, the bulk of Bartholomew's army is swinging into action - maybe his crossbowmen are now letting fly: he rolls [1d6 x difference between scores] and gets 6 - he loses 18 men, 5 killed and 13 wounded. Gertrude's army, on the other hand, takes 60 casualties, 30 of whom are killed; perhaps Bartholomew's intelligent use of skirmishers has tricked Gertrude's men into over confidence.
And so on, for another 9 rounds.
Labels: advanced fighting fantasy, fighting fantasy, mass battles, random ideas
D&D, Star Trek, Christianity and Cricket all walk into a bar...
On the way home from work I've been listening to some old Make It So - A Star Trek Podcast episodes (from before the half-way point, when it became progressively shitter). The hosts, who are around my age, discuss how they loved Star Trek: TNG as kids growing up, gradually stopped watched during their late teenage years and so missed out on some of DS9 and all of Voyager, stopped watching Trek entirely, and then around their late 20s suddenly rediscovered TNG and fell in love with it all over again.
It got me thinking: I went through pretty much exactly the same experience with Trek and rediscovered it a couple of years ago at the age of about 28 when I was bored and decided to order a season of it on DVD. Suddenly my interest in it was rekindled (though, thankfully, not enough to get interested in Voyager or Enterprise).
And I also went through the same experience with role playing games. I stopped playing those around the age of 16 or 17, I think, and then got back into them at age 25 or so. It happened too with cricket - I was a good player for my local team, then went away to university and drifted away from the game, to come back to it later.
It mirrors what happens to a lot of people with church, as well, I think. They drift away once they hit late teenage-hood, and often come back to it in later life (though that hasn't happened to me so far).
So I wonder: is the tendency to lose interest in the things you enjoyed as an adolescent a universal feature of growing up - a necessary element of the process of becoming an adult - and, if so, is a rediscovery of the things you used to love also a necessary element of maturity and confidence in yourself as an adult? It seems that way.
Labels: random blatherings, star trek
Map Porn
I am going to be very busy with work for the next few weeks. Posting may become sporadic. Here, have some map porn, and click to enlarge:
Map of steam-boat routes around Dutch New Guinea, early 20th century
Map of the Khanate of Khiva, later 19th century
Labels: maps
On Bathos
I think what I appreciate most in D&D is bathos: perhaps the overwhelming narrative characteristic of the game, insofar as it has any such characteristics. Random encounter tables, rolling dice in the open, taking results as they come, and resolute avoidance of illusionism or pallete-shifting of any kind - all of these elements of 'old school' D&D play contribute to the development of the bathetic.
People who like "narrative" games and prefer things to make "dramatic sense" usually miss this.
An example of bathos from last night's game: Eki Ulele had just survived the most difficult and bloody encounter the party had yet had, in which 8 bandits and 2 hireling retainers had died and one of the PCs dying. He had been through, in many ways, his toughest moment. He had faced down the bandit leader and bluffed him into retreat, then survived a nerve-wracking chase through a pitch black forest, with no weapons or magic and only flasks of oil to aid him. He had led the opposition away from his wounded friends, buying them time to escape.
He survived all this, and if I was interested in trying to develop the "plot" of the campaign, as if it was a story, this would have been a defining episode for his character - the making of him. He would have gone on to better things, and grown as a person because of what happened to him at the bandit lair. Or perhaps he would have died bravely in one final showdown with the bandit leader, going out in a blaze of glory, remembered for ever more.
But the dice said otherwise: the next day he got an unlucky result and had a wilderness encounter; he got an unluckier result when it turned out to be giant bees; and an even unluckier result when he failed his surprise roll. He died a meaningless and ignoble death alone in the forest, stung to death by mindless insects. Bathos.
Yet this has its own narrative sense. Bathos and absurdity are proud and important traditions in drama and comedy. They may not be "emotionally satisfying", but they have their own value. The next time somebody makes out that you should fiddle or ignore dice rolls in the name of maintaining some sort of narrative consistency, remind them of this: "I prefer it bathetic, darling".
Labels: actual play, random blatherings, rpg theory
[I've mostly avoided Actual Plays in the past, but I've decided it would be nice to have a log of my ongoing Yoon-Suin campaign for posterity's sake, and this is as good a place to keep it as any. It's largely for my own benefit because I know Actual Plays are incredibly dull 99% of the time unless you were at the table. I've not kept it for the first 4 sessions, but will do so from now on.]
Marich, Level 1 Human Magic-User [played by David]
Anil, Level 1 Human Cleric (eunuch) [played by Patrick]
Eki Ulele, Level 1 Slug-man Magic-User [played by Nathan]
Retainers: Asha (spear-wielding ex-whore), Surya (sabre and short bow), Bam (sabre and short bow)
In the previous sessions, the adventurers Damodar, Marich and Eki Ulele had sought employment with Nepsydaz, a sage at the guild of sages, who had paid them 500 gold pieces each for bringing them the Old King, a mad eunuch roaming the forests to the South of Silaish Vo. This they had done, after employing some peasants to help them, seeking the aid of a monkey-faced Mountain Spirit, and tangling with Renaudip and Binod, two rival adventurers they eventually killed. They also discovered a clay automaton hiding in the Old Watchtower, who it is said was created by Gulvedra, an arch-mage who lives far to the South - and they also irked Ui Yi, Eki Ulele's father/mother, from whom they stole horses.
After this, they had begun to explore the ancient Dwarf citadel of Sangmenzhang, discovering a group of strange almost-humans they later learned were called Hohools. These they killed, and recovered some treasures, although they lost Damodar [Patrick's first PC] and their cleric henchman, Sanjam. In return they rescued a poor kidnapped eunuch named Anil [Patrick's next PC], a cleric of Manpac, god of mazes. Back in Silaish Vo they secreted their treasures in their lodgings at the Madrassa of Arcanea, after avoiding the Oligarch's tax men.
They returned to Sangmenzhang forthwith with new recruits, and tangled with some bandits on the way who they learned were led by a man named Manesh. In the citadel they encountered dwarf skeletons and discovered a vast underground lake filled with luminous jellyfish, which they traversed with a bamboo raft. Here, they fought with carnivorous lungfish and lost another of their retainers, the lowly Dev. Chased by a giant slug, they were then herded deeper into Sangmenzhang...
The session began with the players in a small room containing bones and rags and a large hole in the ceiling, which they established with the use of mirrors contained some sort of crustacean or insectoid being. Avoiding this hole, they left the room heading south, and discovered a long corridor with two rooms leading off it. The first of these was a circular pit-room decorated with murals that were mostly eroded by water damage, but seemed to depict dwarves in combat. The second, a little further along, was empty save for ancient bird bones covering the floor: in the ceiling was a long, narrow shaft leading up hundreds of feet to the outside world.
At the end of the corridor they discovered a cave which opened up onto the mountainside. This cave contained four Feathered Men: scrawny humans with wings for arms and beaks for mouths, who were apparently using this cave as a launch pad to the outside world. After a brief fight Eki Ulele was left unconscious but two of the Feathered Men were dead; one managed to fly free and make his escape, while another, injured, managed to climb down the mountainside from the cave mouth to safety in the tree-line. With Eki Ulele unable to continue the party returned to the shaft room, where they made camp for the night, barricading the door.
During the night their sleep was disturbed by more Feathered Men, who came looking for their missing fellows. They charged down the door and in a sharp exchange one of the Feathered Men was killed; the rest fled and the party re-barricaded the door. After a time it became clear the other Feathered Men were busy with some ruse outside; the party charged from the room to discover an effort to smoke them out. They fought a running battle back to the mountainside cave, where they killed six Feathered Men in total. But brave Surya's head was clubbed in by the enemy leader and he was slain. Marich and Anil mutilated the Feathered Man corpses and hung them from the mountainside as a warning to others.
With Eki Ulele eventually recovered, they pressed on, and discovered the treasure of the Feathered Men: 800 gold pieces in metallic urns. These urns, coated with poison, nearly killed the foolhardy Eki Ulele, and again the party was forced to retreat, climbing down the mountainside from the cave opening and working their way back to Sangmenzhang's entrance.
There, they discovered that their mule, Eko, who they had left outside, had been stolen. They immediately assumed Manesh's bandits were the culprits. After resting to lick their wounds they followed the trail of the stolen mule and after a day's travel discovered a secluded waterfall and river - Manesh's lair. Here, they ambushed a pair of wandering bandits and after killing one, tortured the other to reveal that Manesh's gang had 9 members.
Without further planning, they hatched a scheme to bring Manesh and his men out from their cave lair behind the waterfall. This involved pretending to be the members of the bandit patrol they had ambushed - a ruse which was almost immediately foiled when a password was demanded. The party taunted Manesh with the further torturing of their captive. Six bandits sallied from the cave and a vicious fight ensued. Anil was sorely wounded and rendered unconscious, while Bam and Asha were slain, and all the six bandits killed (with Eki Ulele slicing the throats of three who Marich had cast into magical sleep).
A standoff followed as Eki Ulele tried to distract Manesh the bandit chief and his two remaining men while Marich dragged Anil deep into the forest to safety. After some cat and mouse evasion in the dark, Eki Ulele too managed to make his escape, though in a different direction to Marich and Anil. Scattered and bloodied, the party rested in their separate locations, wondering how they might reunite.
The next day, Marich and Anil rested in an improvised bivouac. Eki Ulele, however, was set upon in the forest by giant bees and stung to death. And thus the session ended.
The Humble Sling
I've always thought slings are under-rated. If you ask me, there is something much more frightening about having a rock flung at you at supersonic speed than an arrow - something hideous and terrifying about the thought of a hefty chunk of stone hitting you FULL IN THE FACE and shattering teeth and bone.
From Charles C. Mann's 1491:
Although Andean troops carried bows, javelins, maces and clubs, their most fearsome weapon, the sling, was made out of cloth. A sling is a woven pouch attached to two strings. The slinger puts a stone or slug in the pouch, picks up the strings by the free ends, spins them around a few times, and releases one of the strings at the proper moment. Expert users could hurl a stone, the Spanish adventurer Alonso Enriquez de Guzman wrote, "with such force that it will kill a horse...I have seen a stone, thus hurled from a sling, break a sword in two pieces when it was held in a man's hand at a distance of thirty paces". (Experimenting with a five foot long, Andean-style sling and an egg-sized rock from my garden, I was able, according to my rough calculation, to throw the stone at more than one hundred miles per hour. My aim was terrible though.)
In a frightening innovation, the Inka heated stones in camp fires until they were red hot, wrapped them in pitch-soaked cotton, and hurled them at their targets. The cotton caught fire in mid-air. In a sudden onslaught the sky would rain burning missiles. During a counter attack in May 1536 an Inka army used these missiles to burn Spanish-occupied Qosqo to the ground. Unable to step outside, the conquistadors cowered in shelters beneath a relentless, weeks-long barrage of flaming stone...
I'm toying with bumping sling damage up to d6 for my games, or allowing two attacks at d4 damage to reflect the speed with which they can be fired.
They're also one of those weapons that no sensible adventurer should be without. The ideal D&D fighter, in my view, uses a hafted weapon - a spear or trident - and sling combination, probably also with a bola or net if the DM allows it, and a shield, of course. The spear or trident doubles up as a pokey-thing for poking stuff, which is one of the most crucial adventuring tasks. And the sling provides essentially infinite ranged attacks: if for some ungodly reason you can't find rocks to fire, you fling copper coins instead. If push comes to shove, you can also use it is a club by putting a big rock in the pouch and whipping your opponents.
Finally, there are records of troops in resistance movements in World War II using slings to fling molotov cocktails. No problems with flasks not breaking there, I think.
Labels: history, weapons
Dogs in Other Places
For those who don't know it, Dogs in the Vineyard is an RPG in which the players take on the roles of "God's Watchdogs", who roam from town to town in a sort-of Mormon Deseret dispensing justice, rooting out demonic influence, solving crimes, resolving conflicts, and generally sorting stuff out in whatever manner they see fit. The rules are tightly focused with that sort of game in mind, and they include a method for generating towns with the assumption that the players will be travelling from place to place episodically each session or so.
Like all rulesets that people call "tightly focused", Dogs really isn't all that tightly focused. It can be used, really, for any sort of game in which:
a) The players roam from location to location resolving conflicts
b) They are invested with the power and authority to do so
c) The way the conflicts are resolved is entirely open-ended
d) The conflicts are based around sin, corruption, decadence, and so on
Which means that, really, it would be almost criminally easy to rejig the system to run:
Dogs in the Grimdark Future: The players are inquisitors travelling around a subsector of the Imperium in the year 40,000, rooting out daemonic influence
Dogs in Canaan: The players are biblical judges in the Deuteronomic era, travelling from village to village, fighting against idolatory, oppressive kings, and the collapse of social order
Shire Reeves in the Vineyard: The players are sheriffs or shire-reeves responsible for keeping the peace in a shire in Anglo-Saxon England
Dogs in the West: The players are US Marshals in the American West - Clint Eastwood eat your heart out
Inu in the Budouen: The players are samurai charged by the local Daimyo with law and order for a frontier province
And so on and so forth.
Labels: dogs in the vineyard, random ideas
Dungeons & Discoveries
One D&D variant I'd like to run would be a campaign I call Salomon's House, after Sir Francis Bacon's college of sages in his book New Atlantis. This institution, in Bacon's mythical utopia of Bensalem, was set up to "to discern between divine miracles, works of nature, works of art, and impostures and illusions of all sorts" by discovering "the works of Creation, and the secrets of them".
Salomon's House in the original is supposed to be a place where scientific experiments are conducted - it is sort of a blueprint for the modern research university - but in my version it would be about sending adventurers forth into creation, to discover monsters, strange beings, divers creatures and magicks, wondrous places, and mysteries of the universe. Things of that nature. Basically, a guild of sages who send groups out into fantastical wildernesses, ruins, and other planes, to bring back whatever they can for sages to study and analyse.
This would require rejigging the XP system, I think: the aim is not to gather gold and advance that way, but to gather knowledge. So XP would be awarded for mapping new locations, finding new archives and bestiaries, capturing new creatures, bringing back the bodies of bizarre life forms, exploring new experiences, eating new foodstuffs, trying new drugs, shagging new alien races, or whatever. This could just map to gold for XP, ultimately (the sages pay money for all this information) but I also quite like the idea of people doing it for the sake of knowledge. A little like a mixture of the Fraternity of Order and the Society of Sensation in Planescape, but more cerebral than the latter and more chaotic than the former. Perhaps a forerunner of the empiricists, though more interested in cataloguing and enumerating than experimentation. So you might have a system of XP awards for the importance of the discovery and the risks associated with it.
Naturally, this would make extensive use of random generators, so the DM is partially in on the act of discovery too. It would also have different character classes, because most of the standard D&D ones don't fit. Handily, Bacon supplies us with different categories of sages working at Salomon's House who have ridiculously cool 17th century names:
Mystery-men
Dowry-men
Inoculators
Interpreters of nature
I don't know about you, but if I could play a character class called a "mystery-man" I would be all over it like a rash.
Labels: history, random ideas
On Wickedness
The two most recent books I have read are Antony Beevor's The Second World War, and Empire of the Summer Moon. These two books are radically different in scope, one covering the biggest and most intense conflict in human history, the other a series of tiny skirmishes fought over decades in a near-empty wilderness. And yet they have one thing in common: they make you aware, in no uncertain terms, of the absolutely extraordinary extent of "man's inhumanity to man".
In Beevor's book we read of SS men at Treblinka picking young children up by their ankles and swinging them down like mallets to dash their brains out on rocks, Red Army soldiers gang raping and murdering Russian women who were enslaved by Germans and who they had just "liberated" on their invasion of East Prussia, Japanese soldiers from different units abducting each other to cannibalise, Soviet officers who have done nothing wrong being summarily shot by their superiors to instil discipline into others, Allied bombers flattening Dresden just because it was the only city in Germany they hadn't flattened, the USAAF judging the success of its missions in Japan on how many innocent Japanese women and children it had burned to death, citizens of Leningrad abducting and killing their own neighbours' children to eat during the winter of 1941....and so on and so on.
In Gwynne's, we read of Comanche raiders gang raping and scalping pregnant women; slicing off rival tribe members' noses, arms and legs and then burning them alive; cutting off the bottoms of captives' feet and making them walk around for their own amusement; Texan militiamen shooting Cheyenne women and children who surrender to them and then mutilating their corpses in horrific ways; Texas rangers killing thousands of head of horses in cold blood to stop them falling into Comanche hands; Ute women bludgeoning helpless octogenarian Comanches to death with axes...and so on and so on.
It's enough to make one wonder: if this is the kind of thing human beings routinely do to one another in certain circumstances, what kind of stuff would orcs do? And let alone orcs - what would demons and devils do? What, indeed, does "evil" really even mean, given what we know about history?
This is the main reason why I lean increasingly towards humans as the key protagonists and antagonists in my campaign settings. Anything an orc can do, we can do better. And who needs a goblin when the thought of being tortured to death by a fellow human being is so much more plausible and disturbing?
Labels: history, random blatherings
Only the Good Die Young
One of my favourite NPCs died tonight. You know how it is as a DM. Most of the time the NPCs you create are there for a purpose and you play them as best you can, but not with any special interest or enthusiasm. But every so often one comes along who you happen to really enjoy playing - and usually it's by serendipity; somebody who for one reason or another you and the players develop something of an attachment for.
Dev was one of these. A retainer who the players hired to accompany them to the dungeon for the grand sum of 5 gold pieces a month, my initial notes for him on my random hireling table were "about 15 years old, short bow, skinny, 2hp". He was generated alongside a woman called Asha, whose notes were "retired whore, one-eyed, spear, 5hp". I immediately decided that Dev was in love with Asha, but didn't know how to express it, and that Asha allowed him to 'pleasure her' whenever she wanted it. I didn't expect them to last very long, but they actually stuck around through a few delves, and Dev managed to get a few kills with that short bow.
What I liked best about Dev was the idea I hit upon that the only word he knew how to say was "okay". He would say it in an eager-to-please fashion in response to anything anybody said to him. This never failed to amuse me, especially in situations where he was asked a question.
In any event, Dev died tonight. It was a pretty ignoble death: crossing a subterranean lake in the ancient dwarf citadel of Sangmenzhang on a bamboo raft the PCs had brought along, he was savaged by a carnivorous lungfish and fell overboard into a swarm of tiny stinging jellyfish. He never stood much of a chance in the front row with 2 hit points.
It was a pitiful end to a rather pitiful session: tonight was one of those nights for my players. They lost 2 retainers, and twice PCs came a flukey dice roll away from death. They were forced to flee by a swarm of cockroaches, attacked by dwarf skeletons, and chased by a giant slug which they had to shut behind a doorway which was their only apparent escape route back to the surface. All they got was about 1000 silver pieces from inside the bellies of a bunch of lungfish, and a couple of rings with semi-precious stones, for their efforts. Oh well. Nobody ever said dungeoneering was easy.
Labels: actual play, npcs
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We lost Mike on March 3, 1985....I shouldn't say we 'lost' him...rather he had to leave us. He is still one of us and is lovingly remembered often.
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Shelbourne striker Emily Whelan has been named under-17 Women's National League Player of the Year.
The 16-year-old, who made her senior international debut in the October friendly with Poland, was presented with the honour at the annual Continental Tyres Women's National League awards in Ballsbridge, Dublin on Friday night.
The Reds became the first winners of the under-17 league in October with a 2-0 win over Galway in the final, with Whelan and Ellie Ferguson on the scoresheet.
Whelan beat Galway's Shauna Brennan and Limerick's Aoife Horgan to the gong as the inaugural season of the underage league drew to a close.
Wexford Youths striker Rianna Jarrett was named senior Player of the Year, while UCD Waves keeper Erica Turner was named Young Player of the Year.


On today's show, I'm catching up with Tara-Leigh since she last visited The Happy Hour in 2016. One thing I hear from so many listeners is how they were encouraged to read their Bible after listening to Tara-Leigh on the show. Well, you're going to love this news, Tara-Leigh is launching a new podcast called The Bible Recap where she will take listeners chronologically through the Bible, and summarize and highlight the day's reading. And you guys, Tara-Leigh is about to celebrate 10 years of D-Group!
Tara-Leigh then opens up about the suffering and trauma she's been through in the last few years including emotional and physical wounds. She shares how God has been faithful and kind and stayed so near even when she withdrew. Tara-Leigh also talks about how she's heard God call her to lay down her dream of marriage, and how she has changed her perspective to actively pursue singleness – including her Nunnymoon!
Grove Collaborative – $30 Mrs. Meyer's Gift Set for free with $20 order!
What were Tara-Leigh's 5 things she prays before reading the Bible?


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Q: What is preventing two users from offering and earning bogus bounties? A practice I've seen is the following:

*

*Someone (person A) asks an elaborate question

*which doesn't get enough attention

*Person A sets a bounty

*several answers come but person A is always unsatisfied

*the answers are improved (...but person A is always unsatisfied)

*Some person (B or perhaps A') gives a relatively short answer

*Person A' gets the reward.

Interestingly: when you look at the profiles of A and A', it turns out that they exchange bounties..
How can / does Stack Overflow prevent this from happening?

A: There are no systems in place to track bounty patterns that I know of, let alone prevent or revert them, but patterns like this are often very blatant, enough that it should be sufficient to flag one of the offending posts to let us know.
If we haven't gotten to them ourselves already.
In severe cases this may lead to bounties that were already awarded being revoked. I say exceptional, because it requires enlisting the help of an employee (moderators can only refund bounties that are still pending), and it usually doesn't need to happen unless the bounties really are fraudulent (e.g. if one of the accounts being used to exchange or transfer the bounties turns out to be a sock puppet).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The Internet marketing version of social media suicide.
I heard an interesting phrase the other day while doing research for a new venture and it's been with me ever since. The term? "Social Media Mugging!" I don't remember where I heard it, probably should have written it down. The funny thing about it is I get so much of this stuff in the course of any one day, who would have known that such an apparently mundane phrase would stick and grow into, and take on a life all its own in the course of just a few days.
The phrase brings up some interesting images, doesn't it?
The most interesting thing about it is that it is right on the money in a large number of instances and for a surprising number of different social media platforms. Sadly, in an attempt to convert friends, followers, connections, and the like into dollars, many relationship building applications and platforms have been overrun by a phenomenon called "Social Media Mugging," something I also refer to as "linking up," particularly as it relates to Twitter.
A bit much? Perhaps, but just barely!
It is interesting how the landscapes of the various social media platforms have been reshaped, even corrupted in the view of many, in an attempt to convert followers to dollars. In fact, with the emergence of the various marketing groups on Facebook, it seems all but overrun by marketers, of late. The Facebook I joined, the one I connected with my high school friends on, has all but disappeared and many of my high school friends along with it. The height of irony? I was just contracted by a client to do a study on the feasibility of converting friends to clients for local business on Facebook. I have my own ideas about the outcome but the study intrigues me because it is symptomatic of the pathology now affecting much of social media…greed.
Greed! The word harkens back to the 1980s and Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen in the move Wall Street. Michael Douglas, to a board of directors and stockholders, claiming for one and all that "Greed is good! Greed is right!" Perhaps in a sense greed is good, but as the movie clearly illustrates, it is also corrupting, and ultimately counterproductive, even downright bad. Yet greed drives much of business and its corrupting influence is manifest throughout social media and what is now referred to as social media marketing.
Almost an oxymoron, isn't it? Social Media Marketing!
To resist the hall monitor urge in all of us, I have tried to look at this from both sides of the equation. You remember the hall monitors from middle school, junior high school for those of you old enough to remember junior high schools, and high schools?
The "I'm gonna report you" type of so-and-so everyone hated. You know what I mean, the hall monitor as the classic example of "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely?" We've all witnessed a bit of the syndrome here and there on the various relationship building sites like Twitter, Facebook, and some of the others. The typical response is to first verbally and publicly reprimand, a figurative b#t*hslap of sorts of you will, then they unfollow, and finally they block you, just so you know they disapprove in the most strenuous way possible your sinful ways.
It is more of the social media version of "I'm gonna tell" combined with a temper tantrum because you haven't conformed to their way of thinking, their idealized vision of a social media utopia in which everyone freely associates and no one seeks any sort of gain other than the fellowship of mankind, or womankind.
Social Media Nirvana, in other words!
Fortunately, there are a variety of different expressions for relationship building sites, all mixed into one big ball, like a microcosm of the world we live in; and yes, complete with hall monitor types, greed, self-serving and selfless behavior, and much, much more.
The fact is, social media is about as close to "all things to all people" as anything can get. The nice part about it? As Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, friendfeed or any of the rest change, evolve, are overrun by marketers or simply take a new shape, filling a new niche in the vast and ever changing world of social media, other platforms evolve and fill the void. Ironically, we speak of Twitter or Facebook as if they represent social media in total, when in fact they are only a part, albeit a large part, of a very diverse whole that includes video, social bookmarking, podcasts, applications for the applications, and a variety of other expressions and platforms.
With the emergence of Google's new Wave and Microsoft's Bing, who is to say where this will all end, clearly this is just beginning, particularly in light of the suggested Twave, a Twitter + Wave synthesis. Ultimately, social media is as much about business as it is about being social.
Right or wrong, that is the reality, a reality here to stay. That being the case, the fact remains "linking up" and "Social Media Mugging" are counterproductive, they do not work! I would suggest that as an income producing strategy, social media is not all many envisioned it to be, it does not convert well, at least initially.
Social media is about building a brand, relationships, connections, friends, followers, all the label we use to define the exchange of thoughts, ideas, and information between participants and not about conversions.
OK, real quick! Let's say you follow someone on Twitter or they follow you, happens all the time, right?
Or worse yet? You follow someone and they do not follow you back, which is their right, but they still cannot resist the opportunity to throw a link your way!
Now that is colossal nerve! You are not good enough for me to bother following you back but I'm gonna give you a shot anyway!
Yet it happens every day, all day. Those people go to the bottom of the heap…forever!
And the culmination:"Wanna buy something?
The ultimate result? Social media suicide….Cuz it ain't social media!
Social media marketing is in fact an oxymoron, the two do not fit. Social does not match up with marketing, the latter changes the dynamic of the former entirely. In a one to one relationship with the other, they are separate and distinct, one altering the other beyond recognition.
Social media marketing is what the old-timers, like yours truly, used to call image building and now is referred to as branding or building your brand.
If you attempt to "link up" too soon or too often, before an actual relationship, friendship, connection or following is built up, you will be unfollowed, blocked, or worse yet dismissed as irrelevant.
In an environment where authority and relevance are considered to be of crucial importance, to be tagged as irrelevant and/or simply dismissed as such is a fate far worse than death; and, it is in fact social media marketing death and that equals failure in Internet marketing.So, if you wish to commit social media suicide, the fastest way is through "Social Media Mugging" or "linking up" before connecting with, building upon, sharing ideas, thoughts, information…before becoming friends.
On a positive note, we have all been guilty of a certain amount of "linking up" from time to time and our true followers, friends, connections, and the like seem to tolerate it and even do a bit of it themselves, all but the hall monitors, that is.
It is in balance that all things are possible and it is through a balanced approach to this very new relationship building tool, in concert with other methods of marketing, that we can achieve success in online business in concert with one of its most powerful tools, social media.


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Q: How to achieve decentralized membership in Hyperledger Fabric 1.0 Currently in Hyperledger Fabric 1.0 there is a central membership service. I want a way to make it decentralized so that atlas 50% of the members have to agree for a new member to join the network. How can I achieve this?
The idea is basically put the membership logic in chain code and let member service fetch data from chain code at the time of enrollment. But how to enforce this, I mean how do we know that membership service is actually reading from blockchain and not cheating.

A: This is actually natively support by Hyperledger Fabric, and the behavior you describe is actually the default for channel membership changes.
Each channel begins life with a genesis block.  The contents of this genesis block define the channel members, as well as policies for which users from these organizations are authorized to perform different functions on the blockchain.  For instance, some users may be allowed to submit transactions, but not read the whole blockchain, while others could do both.
To change the channel membership, you submit a channel reconfiguration transaction.  This transaction specifies the new membership, and must include enough signatures to authorize this modification.  By default, this is signatures from the admins of a majority of the organizations.
The policy framework is actually quite powerful, and with a little knowledge, you can define even more powerful rules.  For instance, you could require that OrgA and 3/10 other organizations sign off to change membership.  Or, you could require that all but one Org agree to make any membership change, or an infinite number of other permutations.
Some links you might find helpful:
http://hyperledger-fabric.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configtxgen.html
http://hyperledger-fabric.readthedocs.io/en/latest/policies.html
http://hyperledger-fabric.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configtx.html
The documentation and tools around reconfiguration are a little lacking at the time of this writing.  The most useful place you can probably look is:
https://github.com/hyperledger/fabric/tree/release/examples/configtxupdate
There are two protobuf structures you must familiarize yourself with, the common.ConfigUpdate, and the common.Config.  Channels are created by submitting a signed config update to the ordering service, which generates a corresponding config embedded in the genesis block.
The policy which governs membership changes for a channel is specified as the mod_policy field of the Application group, which is a subgroup of the Channel group.  This field defaults to Admins, which refers to the policy definition Admins within the Application group.  By default, this policy is set to MAJORITY of the Admins policies for the organization groups defined under the Application group.
So, to modify this policy before creating your channel, you would decode the configtx to JSON using the configtxlator tool, make your modifications, and then encode it back using the configtxlator tool once again.  Submitting this new transaction will create the channel with the policy you specified.
If you wish to modify membership after the fact, the process is similar.  Retrieve the current channel configuration, decode and modify it, then use configtxlator to compute a config update structure which represents your change.  Gather signatures via peer channel signconfigtx then submit it to modify your channel's configuration.
This process is obviously all a bit manual at the moment, but in the future, common tasks should be automated by the SDKs and the tooling should improve as well.
Note: configtxlator is a REST service so that it can be accessed conveniently from inside your SDK application, independent of language.
As a quick addendum.  You asked how you can be sure that no one is 'cheating' and not really getting the required signatures.  This is also built into the system.  All changes to the channel configuration are validated not only by the ordering network, but by all peers in the system.  If a configuration arrives which cannot be validated, then all nodes in the network will notices, and will halt usage of that channel until corrective administrative action is taken.

A: For decentralised membership, that is not dependent on a centralized CA, take a look at Blockstack.


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Gmina Orchowo is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Słupca County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. Its seat is the village of Orchowo, which lies approximately  north-east of Słupca and  east of the regional capital Poznań.

The gmina covers an area of , and as of 2006 its total population is 3,892.

Villages
Gmina Orchowo contains the villages and settlements of Bielsko, Gałczynek, Głucha Puszcza, Kinno, Kosakowo, Linowiec, Mlecze, Myślątkowo, Orchówek, Orchowo, Osowiec, Ostrówek, Podbielsko, Podlesie, Rękawczyn, Rękawczynek, Różanna, Siedluchno, Skubarczewo, Słowikowo, Suszewo, Szydłowiec and Wólka Orchowska.

Neighbouring gminas
Gmina Orchowo is bordered by the gminas of Jeziora Wielkie, Kleczew, Mogilno, Powidz, Strzelno, Trzemeszno, Wilczyn and Witkowo.

References
Polish official population figures 2006

Orchowo
Słupca County

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


arqueros: Worthless qualifications, or worthless measures?
Worthless qualifications, or worthless measures?
Yesterday's announcement on the exclusion of the majority of vocational qualifications from performance tables made a big splash in the press. Examples of 'easy-to-achieve' qualifications leapt upon by university-educated journalists included a BTEC in fish husbandry and a Diploma in horse care. No mention of the fact that employers may value these qualifications or, that if you are a kid growing up in Newmarket or Lambourn, our two principal horse racing centres, then actually that Diploma in horse care might be a pretty fantastic qualification to have.
It's easy to write off 'non-academic qualifications' as easier to achieve. This instantly devalues all the effort students put in to achieve these qualifications in the first place. And of course, I do share concerns about not preparing the individual for the future. That kid from Newmarket may work in horse racing for a while, but circumstances may mean a change of job or career, so basic education does need to provide for essential numeracy and literacy.
But who is Alison Wolf or Michael Gove to say that the Diploma in Horse Care does not provide essential numeracy and literacy. They are making an assumption about all of these qualifications, that they do not develop these basic skills. But it's not the case. And there are plenty of students who follow the GCSE route and still leave school without these basic skills. The Government still hold up GCSEs as a gold standard, when employers frequently criticise the skills of those with 9 or 10 of these.
What we have moved to now is a model where schools are not measured on the achievement or the progress of their students. They are measured on their GCSE results, and preferably GCSE results in five subjects. All this model will achieve is that many more schools will get an unjustifiably bad reputation, or 'fail', when actually they may be developing well-rounded and confident individuals for the world beyond school, individuals who are able to apply the skills they have used in whatever job they are able to find.
It's not the qualifications that are the problem, it's the performance tables. Measures are important, but the only subjects that should be measured are maths and English – literacy and numeracy – and the rest should be down to the school and its strategy to deliver an education to its pupils. Education is about learning, not about meeting a target set by Government. Let schools educate, don't force them to jump through artificially created hoops.


How Athletes Can Maintain Their Balance?
There are different training aspects that have profound aspects on our progress, as well as level of competence. Overall fitness is an often mentioned factor, but there's one that's less frequently mentioned: Balance. For some sports, balance is essential and it is sometimes neglected. It's important for coaches to incorporate balance training sessions. By having enhanced balance, we should be able to obtain better forms. We will be able to stay more focused, by delivering both defensive and attack postures more effectively. There are different ways to improve balance, such as by having correct weight training. Better initial results can be achieved with proper focus on balance. With well developed training sessions, athletes could turn into well rounded professionals. It's important to know what kind of competition and sparring situation that can help improve the skill level. Athletes with better balance are often able to take advantage of the opponent's flaw, this applies in soccer, boxing, basketball and others. Even in team-based sports, there are often one-on-one struggle, as opponents struggle for the ball. In this case, athletes need to be in harmony with their style and body.
When attempting to gain better balance, it is important to focus on left dominant side first. Many people tend to favor their dominant side, such as their right hand side. People will become much more balanced, if they are able to perform well with their less dominant side. This will allow athletes to have more vigor and focus. If our less dominant side is stronger, our body and brain will be able to adjust, so better balance can be achieved. We may also include yoga in the daily stretching routine. Yoga emphasizes on having regular and focused breathing pattern, so we will be relaxed and can perform better. Whatever we do, it's important for us to try to maintain proper balance. This can be achieved if we have harmony and inner equilibrium. It can't be accomplished if we let one side of our body stays dominant than the other. Yoga is able to allow martial artists, soccer players and basketball players to improve their balance. By having proper balance, we should be able to increase balance in every stance. It should be easier to accomplish balance, if we have proper harmony on both sides of our body. This is something that we need to achieve whenever possible.
It is also a good idea to improve our balance by using proper mirror arrangement. We should pay attention to the mirror images of our form and movements. This is easier to accomplish if we have partner and he/she does the exact opposite of what we do. By doing this, we will need to focus more, so we are able to balance our movements. Many frown on balancing techniques, because they may seem to weaken our dominant side. In reality, balancing method is also about keeping our dominant side properly trained to ensure real balance so we will be able to perform better.


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Apartment Accommodation in Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch, NZ Apartments.
Christchurch Apartment Accommodation
Accommodation > New Zealand > Christchurch > Apartment
Unsorted Sort By Apartment Name
Lyttelton (3)
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Accommodation Listings (1-10 of 122)
Southern Comfort Motels
Apartment, Motel - Christchurch - Bealey Avenue
The Southern Comfort Motel is located in Christchurch, within walking distance of the Casino, and a good selection of restaurants, bars and shops within 50-metres of the motel. The motel offers comfortable rooms, a swimming pool and free parking.
We have accommodation to suit every traveller, and there is a choice of open-plan studio accommodation or larger apartments with separate living-dining areas and full kitchens. All units have Sky television and wireless internet access. We... More...
Austin Heights Scenic Bed & Breakfast
Apartment, Bed and Breakfast, Luxury Accommodation - Kaikoura
Austin Heights Quality Bed & Breakfast is situated on the Kaikoura Peninsula with a Panoramic view of the Kaikoura Seaward Mountains and the Pacific Ocean & Coastline. It is peaceful and private, and yet still central to all local attractions and marine life activities.
Homely , spacious apartments with a lovely decor, kitchenette, fridge, microwave, tea & fresh plunger coffee available, free WIFI, Upstairs Units open out onto a long balcony where you can relax and admire the beautiful... More...
The Summerhouse, Ideal Akaroa location.
Apartment - Akaroa
The Summerhouse, Ideal Akaroa location. Is located in Akaroa. This apartment features a private pool, a garden and free private parking. Composed of 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom, this apartment is equipped with a flat-screen TV. The accommodation is equipped with a kitchenette. A continental breakfast is available daily at the apartment. The nearest airport is Christchurch International Airport, 86 km from The Summerhouse, Ideal Akaroa location.. More...
Leinster Villa - Christchurch Holiday Homes
Apartment - Christchurch
Boasting garden views, Leinster Villa - Christchurch Holiday Homes features accommodation with a garden and a patio, around 2.9 km from Canterbury Museum. The air-conditioned accommodation is 2 km from Victoria Street, and guests benefit from complimentary WiFi and private parking available on site. The apartment has 3 bedrooms, a flat-screen TV with satellite channels, an equipped kitchen with a dishwasher and a microwave, a washing machine, and 1 bathroom with a shower. A barbecue and a sun... More...
Parlane Apartments - Christchurch Holiday Homes
Holiday Home - Christchurch
Set in Christchurch in the Canterbury region, Parlane Apartments - Christchurch Holiday Homes features a patio. The air-conditioned accommodation is less than 1 km from Rugby League Park, and guests benefit from private parking available on site and free WiFi. The holiday home has 6 bedrooms, a flat-screen TV, an equipped kitchen with a dishwasher and a microwave, a washing machine, and 2 bathrooms with a shower. A barbecue and a terrace are available for guests at the holiday home to use.... More...
Located in Christchurch in the Canterbury region, Unit 10 has a patio. The air-conditioned accommodation is 7 km from Sumner Beach, and guests benefit from complimentary WiFi and private parking available on site. The apartment features 1 bedroom, a flat-screen TV, an equipped kitchen with a dishwasher and a microwave, a washing machine, and 1 bathroom with a shower. A barbecue is available on site and windsurfing can be enjoyed within close proximity of the apartment. Christchurch Art Gallery... More...
Les Troupes Apartments
Apartment Hotel - Akaroa
Les Troupes Apartments offers self-contained accommodation, just 50 metres from Akaroa Main Wharf. Each apartment has fully equipped kitchen and laundry facilities, private balcony and satellite TV. All apartments at Les Troupes Apartments Akaroa includes electric blankets, ironing facilities and private bathroom with hairdryer. The upstairs lounge and dining area features a DVD player. Guests have access to a garden area with BBQ and outdoor seating. Some apartments include a private secure... More...
Gloucester & Christchurch apartment
Located within 200 metres of Christchurch Art Gallery and 200 metres of Canterbury Museum in the Christchurch City-Centre of Christchurch, Gloucester & Christchurch apartment provides accommodation with a kitchenette. All units feature air conditioning and a flat-screen TV. Popular points of interest near the apartment include Christchurch Arts Centre, Victoria Street and Hagley Park. The nearest airport is Christchurch International Airport, 10 km from Gloucester & Christchurch apartment. More...
Golden Sun Apartment
Set in Christchurch, 7 km from Rugby League Park, Golden Sun Apartment offers accommodation with a restaurant, free WiFi, a shared kitchen, and a shared lounge. Located 9 km from Victoria Street, the property provides a garden and free private parking. The apartment features 3 bedrooms, a flat-screen TV with cable channels, an equipped kitchen with a dishwasher and a microwave, a washing machine, and 1 bathroom with a hot tub. The apartment features a children's playground. Christchurch Art... More...
City Central New Townhouse
Set in Christchurch, 2.5 km from Christchurch Art Gallery and 2.7 km from Christchurch Arts Centre, City Central New Townhouse offers free WiFi and air conditioning. Boasting free private parking, the apartment is in an area where guests can engage in activities such as hiking, skiing and windsurfing. The apartment has 3 bedrooms, a flat-screen TV, an equipped kitchen with a dishwasher and a microwave, a washing machine, and 2 bathrooms with a shower. For added convenience, the property can... More...
Bealey Plaza Motel - Motel.
Located in the city of Christchurch, Bealey Plaza Motel offers rooms with air conditioning, 200 metres from Southern...
All Christchurch Accommodation
Christchurch Sightseeing Tour by Classic Double-Decker Bus - Hop-on Hop-off Tour - Christchurch. Starting from $35.00 per person.
These Hop on Hop Off 'Soaring Kiwi Tours' are the very best way to experience the 'magic' of Christchurch! With a mix...
All Christchurch NZ Activities


Western Bedding on Sale - Discount Prices!
Discover the wide-open wonder of the Southwest! Our Arizona bedroom set captures the thrilling beauty of a diverse region, from the Grand Canyon to the Gila River. Brilliant blue hues denote a clear, arid sky and provide a stunning contrast to the vivid, desert-sunset tones of red, orange, and yellow. A warm, Native American motif is accented with authentic turquoise stone conchos, brush and tassel fringe, and a decorative gimp. It's time to make a statement both beautiful and bold, so look westward—to Arizona!


Vybz Entertainment kicks off the end of year celebrations with their newest event, "Vybz Carnival" at Treehouse Bar, Canberra!
"Vybz Carnival", coming to Treehouse Bar on Friday 1st of December is an event not to be missed! With a Caribbean Carnival vibe, DJ Cliff and DJ Mick Dagger will be on the decks, delivering back to back Soca, Afrobeats, Dancehall and Reggae tracks, all night long!
Making use of Treehouse's Maple Bar, we have both General Admission and VIP Tickets available – Early Bird Tickets on sale NOW!


Dr. Cornwell founded Home Centered Care Institute in 2012 after receiving a large philanthropic gift to create a national education and research organization whose mission is to expand house call programs and the workforce nationally He has received extensive local and national media attention including features in the NY Times, TIME Magazine and PBS. Most recently Fast Company named him a 2017 top 100 Most Creative People in Business for bringing health care into the home. HomeCare Physicians was founded by Dr. Cornwell in 1997 and he has made over 32,000 house calls. His innovative care has received numerous awards including the first ever House Call Doctor of the Year, and the Pride in the Profession award given by the American Medical Association to four heroes in healthcare in America bringing pride to the medical profession. The American Geriatric Society presented Dr. Cornwell with the 2015 Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine award. He is the past-president of the American Academy of Home Care Medicine. Dr. Cornwell has mentored hundreds of medical students, residents, nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Selected the outstanding graduate of his class, Dr. Cornwell graduated with honors from the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical School. He did his family practice residency at Lutheran General Hospital. He is married to Leslie and has two wonderful children, Nathan and Angie.