Toe

I was on vacation and away from my computer when you did this - how did it go?

For a decent stretch, Chris Davis was one of the most feared hitters in baseball. And even in failure, he accomplished something incredible. (73) Chris Davis’s Streak Was a One in a Million Life Lesson | Baseball Bits - YouTube

Blue Jays acquiring closer Brad Hand from Nationals (sportsnet.ca) Washington gets the 16th ranked prospect in the Jays system, and Toronto gets the bullpen upgrade they've desperately needed all season long.

Oakland Athletics acquire Starling Marte from Miami Marlins for Jesus Luzardo (espn.com) Looks like the A's beat the Yankees to the punch.

Leafs signed Petr Mrazek, then the Hurricanes signed Frederik Andersen. That's kind of fun. The Leafs are now spending less on their goaltending, and I would not be surprised to see Andersen play well in Carolina.

I'm the other way around. I'm a sucker for horror movies set in a camp (Friday The 13th, The Burning, Madman, Sleepaway Camp, etc.), but I really hated the characters. They fell into the trope of late-80s slashers, where you make all the characters terrible so that the audience doesn't mind seeing them die. Even the two sisters were just horrible to each other for way too long. I still enjoyed the movie, and I really liked the first one (the Intruder-esque kill in the grocery store was a highlight), so I'll be watching the final part tonight for sure.

At this point, Washington Football Team has kind of grown on me as a team name.

Screw the Canadiens. They played the shitty low-event hockey that is just a total bummer to watch. I'm happy that a team that plays entertaining hockey won.

Yeah, I've seen some Pay To Play games that sounded intriguing, but I'm always afraid I'd join and then find out I don't gel with the rest of the group or the DM.

I loved the first two seasons of Discovery, but I definitely felt like the 3rd season was a bit of a slog. It just wasn't as fun. I still enjoyed some of the episodes, and seeing Doug Jones get to play Saru with none of the make-up (inside a holodeck) was pretty cool.

The Angels are a crazy team. They've gone out and signed free agents to put around Trout, and they've just found a way to sign the worst possible free agent in those moments. At least they have Trout, Otani, and Rendon (who's having a bad year, but was pretty good in 2020 so I think can bounce back). They just need to find SOMEONE who can pitch. I bet they could have signed Ryu for the same deal Toronto gave him.

It would be nice to get Rodriguez. I think Romano has really proven himself, but having a second arm you can really depend on to shut the door would be awesome. I'm kind of tired of the Tyler Chatwood experience at this point.

Report: Blue Jays acquire Dickerson, Cimber from Marlins for Panik, prospect - Sportsnet.ca Looks like the Jays are looking for anything that can help the bullpen out.

Oh yeah, the Death House right at the start is already incredibly lethal - and that's just the beginning!

I've wanted to be a player in a Curse Of Strahd game since the book came out. It looks so fun!

Didn't mean to double post - whoops!

Last night's game was another life-or-death struggle. During our last session, our party had used almost everything at our disposal to survive, so we were moving very gingerly. We manage to work our way around a trap, but unfortunately stumble into a room where a Mindflayer was waiting for us to enter. We all knew this was bad news, and it got worse when our Barbarian was dominated and forced to drag our Ranger into the room as we attempted to flee. It was a tough fight. I was stunned and our Ranger was making death saves while the Barbarian (freed by a desperate attack on the Mindflayer by me) couldn't reach the enemy and the Cleric was doing her best to keep us alive while not exposing herself to the enemy. The Ranger's turn comes up. Death save. I say into the mic - "A natural 20 would be awesome right now". And what happens. Natural. Fucking. 20. So our dying Ranger comes to life and fires his bow. Another NAT 20. But this doesn't kill the Mindflayer. No - it's his magical swarm of penguins that deal the killing blow, saving us from having our brains eaten. Two sessions in a row of amazing, deadly encounters that we were able to just barely survive. I love this game.

I usually play a cleric and spend my gold on stockpiling diamonds instead of magic items. In the campaign I'm currently in, our Barbarian got this awesome chain that kind of works like Scorpion's "get over here!", so he can just drag enemies to him and pummel them.

Imagine what that would look like to anyone who watched. It would have been incredible!

Last night's D&D session was crazy. My party was in deep trouble - we got into an encounter that was probably too challenging for us at the moment, but we were stuck in. The Ranger was making death saves, the Cleric was pinned down away from us, our Barbarian was being mind-controlled, and I (a Vengeance Paladin) was low on health and spell slots. I decide to go for a hail mary. The previous turn, I had marked the BBEG with Vow Of Enmity. On my turn, I used Misty Step to go around his minions and his MECHANICAL DRAGON?! and attack him directly - but this was just the set-up. We survived one more round with the Barbarian shaking off the mind control and the Cleric taking a hit to save the Ranger. Everyone was now on less than 10 HP except me. The BBEG turns to me and attacks, leaving me with 5 HP but still alive. And now it was my turn to take my shot. I used my last level 1 spell slot to cast Thunderous Smite and attacked. Even with advantage, my first strike missed. Damn. Roll for a second strike... and I hit! YES! I decide to also burn my last 2nd level spell slot to use Divine Smite, and end up doing over 40 points to the BBEG. But the damage wasn't what I was going for. When you hit someone with Thunderous Smite, they need to make a save or be pushed back 10 feet and knocked prone. By using Misty Step, I had made sure that the BBEG had his back to a lava flow that was powering his underground forge. So the DM rolls and fails... but the BBEG has advantage on Strength saves, so rolls again. And he FAILED! The evil King falls backwards into the lava, melting away. Having my last-ditch effort actually work was so satisfying - although I may have also destroyed the control for the Mechanical Dragon in the process. Sorry!

I'd hit up Kijiji or Facebook Marketplace, unless you have some decent used game stores in the area.

The end of Critical Role campaign 2 was a 7 hour long stream. I thoroughly enjoyed it though, and I really hope they bring back those characters for a few one shots like they've done for the previous campaign.

I love that rebrand for Edmonton. The only CFL game I saw in person was Edmonton VS. Saskatchewan at The Brick Field, and Salt N' Pepa were the half-time show.

How is he "playable"? Is he a Doctor you can hire?

Acuna Jr is a human cheat code in this game, just like Trout. If I played every game of the season, I would smash the home run record with either of those guys.