The Land of Ko

I've been working on a campaign setting for a while now, and I've only just started really fleshing it out.  The following is a brief description of the "Land of Ko", an interesting and largely unexplored land:

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The land of Ko is a very large continent. It is so large, in fact, that is has yet to be fully explored. The North of the discovered continent is composed largely of seaside, dotted with small villages and the occasional port city. Sea trading occurs between port cities, the tiny archipelago that lies northward of the mainland, and the delta region to the far east of the continent. The Northern cities gradually give way to the plainslands to the south. The plains are best described as gently rolling, grassy, and wide. There a numerous villages found in the plains, as well as many halfling encampments.

To the south the plains give way to foot hills, and eventually to a large mountain range. The dwarves make these mountains their home. At the eastern edge of the range, where to mountains meet the forest, there is a beautiful city nestled, home of the Eladrin. The city is not visible during the day, except for through a large archway found at the edge of the city's footprint. The area past the large mountain range is largely unexplored, due to the dangers of crossing the tall peaks.

To the east of the plains is the forest. The forest is a vibrant place, filled with creatures or all kinds. Elves act as stewards of the forest, living in small villages that blend into the trees. Deeper into the woods, towards the east, the forest turns to swamp. The swamp is a dark and murky place, dangerous both in it's topology and in the creatures that live there. Smelling strongly of decay, it is said that the victims of the swamp still haunt it's aphotic interior.

As one travels further east in the swamplands, it begins to give way to the delta region. The delta region is a lively place, with a very odd culture. There is much trading between the cities located in the north, the archipelago, and various other islands. As such, the make up of the region is a mish-mash of cultures and races. If there is anything a person could ever want to find, they could find it in the delta.

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This is just a very rough sketch to get a feel for the land as it is so far.  There will definitely be more work to be done with it, especially naming all the places.  I'm looking forward to seeing where this setting goes, and how players will react to it.  

Happy gaming!

Delicious 4 Bean Chili

Chili is awesome. It's delicious, simple, and cheap. It is also very warming, which is great in the cold winter months. The best part about chili is its simplicity, however.  If you have a crockpot you can just set it up before the session, turn it on when everyone gets there and just let it cook until everyone's stomachs start growling.  This recipe is also vegetarian friendly, which is definitely a plus.

Ingredients:
1 can corn
1 can red beans
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans (dark or light, it doesn't matter)
1 can pinto beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
1 large sweet potato

note: all cans should be ~15 oz, except for the tomato paste, which should be 8 oz

Garlic powder
Chili powder
Curry powder
Ground Ginger

Equipment:
Can opener
spatula or a spoon
Large spoon for stirring
Crockpot

Directions:
1. Open all the cans and empty them into the crockpot.  You can strain the cans before putting them into pot, but I recommend just dumping it in there juices and all.  You will probably need to use a spatula or spoon to get the tomato paste out of the can.
2. Turn the crockpot on.
3. Peel and dice the sweet potato.  Add to chili once prepared.
4. While stirring, add the Garlic powder, Chili powder, and the Curry powder.
5. Let sit until the chili is nice and warm.

Once ready, serve and enjoy!  Feeds a party of 8, with more to spare!

note: When making this recipe, I found that the sweet potato needed somewhere between five to six hours on high to cook all the way.  If you start your game at 1pm, then the chili would be ready between 6 or 7pm.  Be aware of when your party may want to eat.  It's far easier to keep the chili warm than to change the laws of physics.

Possible alterations:
Diced jalepenos are a great addition, and gives it a nice kick.  Use them sparingly, however.  Add too many and you'll need lots of milk for people to get through your chili.  This incarnation of the recipe is vegetarian friendly, but meat can definitely be added to make more filling than it already is.  Just brown some ground turkey or beef and add it to the chili.

Consider serving with sweet potato fries, yellow corn chips, or corn bread.

Egg Salad Sandwiches, FTW

Sandwiches aren't good all the time, but they have their merits and can be a nice change of pace.  Egg salad is very filling, and it pairs well with soup.  It also helps that, so long as the salad is prepared ahead of time, it's a quick meal as well as inexpensive.

Ingredients:
12 hard boiled eggs
~1 cup Mayonnaise
~2 tbsp honey mustard
~2 tbsp spicy mustard

Equipment:
1 mixing bowl (glass or metal is best)
1 spoon for mixing
1 egg slicer (optional)
measuring spoons
measuring cups

Directions:
1.  Remove the shells from the eggs
2.  Coarsely dice the eggs and place in the mixing bowl
3.  Add the mayonnaise and the two mustards
4.  Mix well
5.  Store

Now you're prepared to serve up the sandwiches at a moments notice!

Possible alterations:
Adding some salt and pepper to the salad can add a little bit of flavour, if it needs it.  Relish or chopped celery also adds some good texture to the mix.  As for the sandwiches, a little bit of lettuce and a slice of cheese is a great addition.  Serving it with soup has  many added benefits, such as making the meal more filling and giving time for the sandwiches to be put together.  I recommend New England style clam chowder.

A note on hard-boiled eggs:  
Either putting the eggs in to boiling water or placing them in water and then bringing the water to a boil works fine.  Putting the eggs into boiling water is supposed to make them easier to peel, at the cost of over cooking them.  Bringing them to a boil makes the eggs tastier, but at the cost of making them more difficult to peel.  You can also place them into boiling water for roughly 30 seconds and then transfer them to cool water which is then brought up to a boil.  This takes a more complex set-up, but does make for a good middle ground.  In the end, all that matters is that the eggs are hard-boiled, so do whatever floats your boat!

Feel free to experiment, and Happy Gaming!

The Good Meal, Defined

Generally speaking, anything filling and tasty can qualify as a good meal. It doesn't matter how long it takes to get to the table, and the price might not be an object.  Thanksgiving takes ages to prepare and certainly isn't cheap, but I think we can all agree that it makes for a good meal.

The definition of a good meal changes around the table, however. It is not just lots of delicious food placed on a plate.  It is any meal that will facilitates longer, more enjoyable sessions. This means having meals that are both tasty and filling (from now on referred to as "good"), involve a short amount of perceived time from kitchen to person ("fast"), and not break the bank ("cheap").

That's right, one looks for all the points of the golden triangle around the table: Good, Fast, and Cheap. Usually one can only ever have two points of the triangle at once: You can have something good and fast, but it'll cost you. You can get something fast and cheap, but it won't be good. You can get something good and cheap, but it's going to take a while before it's ready.

Food, however, seems to be able to cheat this rule.  By doing as much prep work as possible before hand, one can keep the cooking time down while keeping the price low. If done properly, the end result will be good. This way, the party gets to experience the whole triangle while only one or two people has to pay for the extra time. A good example would be the sandwiches from Arkhosian Tombs and Grilled Cheese sandwiches.

If you sauté the onions, green peppers, and mushrooms before hand, then putting it all together becomes loads quicker. If you toast the sandwiches instead of grilling them, the cook time is reduced even further, because many sandwiches can be cooked at once.

This idea of keeping the time down on cooking can be vitally important to keeping the game going. If too much time is spent on preparing and eating dinner, the momentum of the game gets used up and it can become very difficult to get everyone back around the table. I've seen many sessions end because everybody wandered off while dinner was being prepared.

Some people will try to solve this problem by only doing sandwiches or other quick meals that can be prepared in seconds and eaten around the table. While this may work to solve the problem of people wandering away while dinner is being prepared, I would not recommend it as a solution for two reasons. Firstly, while sandwiches can be very tasty and very quick, anything that can be made in seconds using just meat and cheese isn't going to be very filling. Secondly, dinner also gives the players (and the DM) the opportunity to get up and stretch their legs, use the rest room, or get some fresh air without interrupting the session. This helps people fight off the fatigue and mental tiredness that comes from a long session, allowing them to come back to the table refreshed and ready to have more fun, which is really the whole point.

So remember, sometimes a group may be lagging or not enjoying themselves. Usually a break is all it takes to get everyone back to full capacity, and dinner is a great way to allow for that break. Keeping it quick and simple is very important because the forward motion of the game can dissipate if a short break turns into an extended rest.  While it seems hard to capture all the points of the triangle, it only takes planning and preparation to pull off a good meal.

Bon Appetit and Happy gaming!

Happy New Year!

Things have been very quiet around here this past year, but all that is going to change! It's a new year, and I've got lots of ideas kicking around that I'm looking forward to writing about. The format for posts is going to change, hopefully to something that is going to be easier to read and better for getting down to the cooking. The short stories followed by a recipe is wonderful, but it was just too much to keep up with. Besides, if someone is looking for a recipe, they shouldn't need to read an entire short story to get to it! The less time needed reading recipes, the more time left for cooking.

This doesn't mean that there isn't going to be any short stories, however! While they won't be as frequent, I intend to keep writing them and posting them every few weeks. I've also got some ideas floating around that I think will make things both smoother and more exciting around the table.

The update schedule will be to post something a week, for a grand total of 52 posts for the year 2011. This posts will include ideas for improving RP, short stories, as well as recipes.

Best wishes in the new year, and stay safe!