It's been a minute

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While I've still been active with elpher development, my phlog has

slipped off the radar a bit. And that's okay! Slow internet and all

that.

Besides elpher, much of my hobby programming projects have taken a bit

of a back seat over the last few months. Some of this is because of

work, which has been a bit more intense as we move back to the office;

but it's also due to the fickle winds that drive how I spend my free

time.

In place of programming, I've spent a chunk of time organising and

running TTRPG campaigns for my 7yo twins and, occasionally, their

cousins. This has been an absolute blast! I've had exactly zero

prior practical experience with this, or even with gaming in general.

This is despite spending a chunk of my adolescent childhood drooling

over rule books (can't remember the system, but not D&D) I found in

the library, since nobody I knew had any interest in playing. (Not

helped by the pretty strong "D&D is satan worship" meme which was

still floating around at the time.) But at some point about 6 months

ago it occurred to me that my daughters might be old enough to enjoy

such things, if I could find the right system. A bit of googling led

me to Hero Kids, an indie RPG that seemed to fit the bill, and that

had rules that were suitable both for first-time young players and

clueless parent GMs. It's been awesome!! Fast-forward a couple of

months, and I've spent countless hours designing maps for forest ninja

hideouts and finding ways to integrate dragon pets and chocolate coins

into tacky adventure stories.

Life is grand. :)