I second the use of shellac. I’ve been using shellac on a maple cabinet project I’m working on right now.

Maple is a proper bitch to sand because it’s so hard. I wouldn’t recommend sanding higher than 180 at most of else you risk glazing the wood, which makes it hard for your finish to work. Also any alcohol finish is going to dry extremely quickly and be very finicky to work with… Particularly on a very large continuous surface like a desk. It’s not impossible, but absolutely, definitely, practice first. Figure out your brushes, your mixture, your technique all ahead of time. When you hit that desk there’s no turning back and it’s go time.

I tried over a dozen different oil and gel based stains for the project, and shellac was far and away the best looking, due to maple’s exceptionally tight grain, and high tendency to blotch.

Good luck! I really enjoy working with maple, but boy is it a challenging medium.

Home Improvement projects are finally progressing at a decent clip. I’ve been stuck under some hangups that have made progress slow. We’re looking into purchasing a new mountain bike for my daughter. I’m really excited to get out and do some singletrack with her and try some new things. It’s a super exciting opportunity for her and I! :)

That’s great! Good luck!

Trying to figure out how to stain the maple cabinets I built. It’s been harder than anticipated… But progress is progress. One step at a time and all that.

I am all for this. I absolutely cannot wait for it to be released!!! Super Mario RPG was absolutely one of my favorite games as a kid. I’ve been jonesing to pull in back out lately… This will be so much fun!

Holy god, I never thought I’d see someone else mention DCSS in the wild!! I used to play that a bunch about a year or so ago. Truth be told, I kind of miss it once in a while. Devilishly hard, but I did manage to break into Hell once. Even killed one of the pandemonium lords.

Shit… I might start playing again.

Agreed. Dude broke into a home and stole alcohol from a family in Vermont. Not interested in anything with this guy in it.

That’s wild to me! I didn’t register all that long ago, but you admins approved me app in minutes. Thanks for all your work, we appreciate it!!

Yeah, agree to this. Nice to be a part of a well tended community with some nice folks. Keep the engagement coming!

I played the crap out of borderlands… until one day I asked myself why… and… I never picked it up again. After that switch was flipped, the whole series just fell apart on me.

Same. I made a post to my local subreddit, and felt that hesitation creep in. I don’t get so much on Lemmy. Also, I had to laugh because it was immediately downvoted into oblivion.

You know, that’s a good point. Facebook may be littered with ads, but at least they are relevant to my lifestyle. My wife has purchased a fair few things she saw from Facebook ads. Reddit ads pretty much are universally uninteresting garbage.

Because he has admin rights and can literally control the narrative?

Yeah, that’s the thing… I think back to some of the communities I used to be a part of decades ago, and the size of them… I miss those communities. I’m ready to return to a smaller internet.

Lol, yes. I was typing while dealing with a kid. :)

I’ve been on that discord server a few times… Didn’t realize they actually got anything done. All the APs I watched were darn near dormant.

How’s conversation coming? I’ve heard great things about that AP, and might suggest it be the next one our group plays

I also did abp and free archetype for frozen flame. Worked out very well! Everyone liked it. :)

Oh man… PLEASE go for Frozen Flame. I ran the first half of book 2 of that campaign while my group was in between games. It’s perhaps one of the most coveted experiences I’ve had yet. I absolutely adore what we did in book 2, and from what I’ve read, book 1 is just as great. The AP is dripping with flavor, and really embraces its setting. I look forward to the day that I get to experience the whole thing!

I’ve done a whole bunch of 2e stuff. I’ve run a couple one shots, I’ve been running Age of Ashes for 2 groups for about 3 years, I’ve done some off-the-rails homebrew as a result of player choices in those games, and I’m playing in a 2e conversion of Strange Aeons at the moment.

If you’re looking to start a new 2e game, I very much recommend getting all of your players at the table together for session 0 to discuss group buy in and rough character themes. Once you have character themes, only THEN dive into mechanics. Unlike 1e, it’s much more difficult to build an objectively garbage character in 2e, which means the system is FAR MORE welcoming to building out an idea. 1e (in all of its glory) was so wrought with pitfalls, that if you tried to build from an idea, you had about a 80% chance you’d end that journey with a garbage character. 2e doesn’t do that. It’s lovely!

Thanks for the link! Didn’t know that was there. Subbed!

How far along are you with AoA? I’m just about to finish book 4 with my crew. I really haven’t been drinking the kool-aid with this AP. Book 5 looks decent, and 6 looks fantastic, but MAN it feels like they just forgot to tell the PCs what the actual plot is, throughout like… the entire story.