Achtung! Cthulhu Bundle from Bundle of Holding. This is current version using Modipheu's 2d20 house system. I bought some Achtung! Cthulhu when it was initially released, I think for CoC and Savage Worlds. Cthulhu + more guns in general doesn't seem more interesting than the base 1920's/1930's settings.

$15 Tier

Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 Player and GM Guides
Vive La Résistance - 84-page supplement
A!C 2d20 GM Screen + Toolkit

$31 Tier

Adds

Shadows of Atlantis - 230-page campaign
The Serpent & the Sands - 288-page supplement + campaign
Forest of Fear - 220-page adventure (campaign?)

Operation Vanguard - adventure
Assault on the Fuhrer Train - adventure prequel to Forest of Fear
The Makhonjwa Egg - adventure

Gaming Tiles
Secret War Documents - forms
Plotting Cthulhu Dossier - GM advice


Actually seems like a good bundle. Essentially core rules plus adventures and campaigns. I'm not really into extra supplements as they turn games into "what's the cool new power I can have?". Maybe I will buy this.

2025-10-14: I remember reading a couple of the first adventures and being not impressed so I guess I'll pass.

Sat Sep 20 2025

Sleep 0030 to 0230, 0915 to 1200 (4-3/4 hours)

• Gaming at Dave and Sophia’s. CSr was sick and Corina busy so C3 didn’t come. Sophia was also late playing badminton. It was mostly Dave S and I. Dave W took a nap and we occupied Jonathan though he mostly watched videos and rolled dice.
• Dinner at Gourmet House.
• MW5. Since CSr was out Dave S hosted with his company (there is no shared campaign like with Gloomhaven where anyone who played in the last session has access to the latest save file and can host the next session — I guess that means save files are kept local to each player). Another three or four missions and I used a Centurion. We did a two-part contract and in this case you don’t get to repair between missions but you can switch out Mechs. In any case we were down to three Mechs in a defense mission, Dave S and I got our Mechs destroyed and it was up to Dave W to take on the final bad guy and he managed to win.

Sun Sep 21 2025

Sleep 0445 to 1345 (9 hours)

• One thing I’ve noticed is that Tubi is a bit sneaky. If you’ve paused for a while then resume playback it’ll soon go to ad break. Don’t really blame them since if you’ve gone away then returned and started watching again you are more likely to sit through the ads.

Mon Sep 22 2025

Sleep 0730 to 1315 (5-3/4 hours)

• Worked on the HOA operating budget spreadsheet and sent it out for board review before Thursday’s meeting.

Tue Sep 23 2025

Sleep 0145 to 0945 (8 hours)

• I think I figured out my old Ooma Telo device. After a power outage it has rapid blinking yellow light and won’t connect. I tried unplugging and replugging Ethernet and power but doesn’t help. If I unplug both for a day and then plug back in that seems to work.
• But I guess in any case I should start changing my contact number to my iPhone. Because eventually the Ooma will die and I don’t want to buy a new one and keep paying $7 a month for a service rarely used.

Wed Sep 24 2025

Sleep 0345 to 0600 (2-1/4 hours)

• C3+S Dinner. We got delivery from Totoro Ramen. Cjr is going an overnight camping trip on Friday. CSr is still a bit sick.

Thu Sep 25 2025

Sleep 0400 to 1100 (7 hours)

• HOA Meeting. We got operating budget approved though took some convincing of our president Roger B. No matter the budget or special assessment he wants to reduce the financial burden a little which does add up over the years to a fairly good $100k+ over budget in the last six years. This time the budget committee convinced him to let it be $865 per month dues, about 7-1/2 percent increase.

Fri Sep 26 2025

Sleep 0215 to 0300, 1600 to 1930 (4-1/4 hours)

• We played MW5 with CSr hosting. DW came online, when I said we were playing MW5 he said something about game rotation and I said I didn’t care and then he logged off. I don’t feel bad about it. I really wanted to play MW5 and tonight did not feel like catering to passive-aggressive behavior.

Month of Darkness 2025 Bundle from Humble Bundle is at least the third time they've done this theme bundle.

$5 Level

Although a good amount of adventures most are free. Retail is $13 for the two paid adventures. Retail prices are from DriveThruRPG or Renegade Game Studios, sometimes one is a lot cheaper than the other (usually it's DTRPG) for no apparent reason. Also RGS store doesn't have all the PDFs; or more likely the search function doesn't find them since this bundle is redeemed on the RGS store.

Hunter the Reckoning 5E: His Last Trick (2023, $9) - adventure
Vampire the Masquerade 5E: A Taste of the Moon (2023, $4) - adventure
VtM 5E: Auld Sanguine (2021) - free adventure
VtM 5E: Midnight Kiss (2022) - free adventure
VtM 5E: Love Bites (2023) - free adventure
VtM 5E: Reins of Power - free adventure
Werewolf the Apocalypse 5E: The Deepest Wounds (2023) - free adventure
WtA 5E: The Isle of Splintered Dreams (2024) - free adventure
WtA 5E Primer (2024)
Free WtA Bonus Content
Free HtR Bonus Content
Free VtM Bonus Content

$15 Level

This level adds 15 items, mostly adventures, at $129 retail so it's $142 retail for $15.

VtM 5E: Revelations of the Dark Mother (2024, $5) - 128-page supplement
VtM 5E: Wine-Dark Waters (2025, $9) - adventure
VtM 5E: Forbidden Religions (2021, $9) - 96-page supplement
VtM 5E: Children of the Blood (2021, $9) - 112-page supplement
VtM 5E: Trails of Ash and Bone (2021, $12) - 196-page supplement
WtA 5E: Crude Earth (2025, $9) - adventure
WtA 5E: Rotten Home (2025, $9) - adventure
WtA 5E: Red Tundra (2024, $4) - adventure
WtA 5E: Reclamation (2023, $9) - adventure
VtM 5E: Under the Skin (2025, $9) - adventure
HtR 5E: Life Imitates Art (2025, $9) - adventure
HtR 5E: Monster Hunting 101 (2025, $9) - adventure
HtR 5E: Cold Case (2023, $9) - adventure
VtM 5E: The Primogen's Gambit (2023, $9) - adventure
VtM 5E: Last Dance at Renauld's (2023, $9) - adventure

$25 Level

Adds another 30 items and by this point I decided I'm not buying the bundle. I remembered these are all redeemed on the RGS store and I like the DTRPG downloader app since it re-downloads when a file is updated.

Also don't think I want to get into World of Darkness 5th Edition. I did buy a VtA 5E bundle which included HtR core rules. This current bundle is a big commitment.

Another month of Netflix (ad-tier) starts today. I guess let's keep it to Netflix-only content since other stuff I can watch elsewhere.

Bon Appétit, Your Majesty (2025) - Korean romantic drama. "A modern-day chef travels back in time and meets a tyrant king. Can her cooking win his heart?" Starring Lim Yoon-a. This is a new series.

Let's talk about CHU (2024) - Taiwanese 8-episode romantic/sexy drama. "In this raunchy romance drama, a vlogger and her family navigate crises in their sex lives."

Oh My Ghost (2018) - Thai version of the 2015 Korean romantic drama which I saw recently. "When a skilled but timid chef is possessed by a sassy spirit, her newfound confidence catches the eye of her longtime crush, a culinary hotshot."

My Holo Love (2020) Korean romantic drama of 12 episodes. "Unexpected love finds a lonely woman when she forms a connection with a humanlike hologram who looks exactly like his prickly creator."

Also maybe another few episodes of Vagabond (2019).

2025-10-23: I ended up watching…

Let’s Talk About Chu (2024)
Captivating the King (2024)
Oh My Ghost (2018)
Ski Into Love (2025)
Splinter Cell: Deathwatch (2025)
Genie, Make a Wish (2025)
Kpop Demon Hunters (2025)
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (2024)
Crash Course in Romance (2023)
Once Upon a Crime (2023)
My Runway (2016)
I Am the Secret in Your Heart (2024)

Started slow as I was finishing up a Viki show but then I went into high gear the latter half of the month.

Fidelity has a retirement planning tool. You can connect your other retirement accounts (and other non-retirement accounts). Then retirement year, when you will collect social security benefits (and what amount), estimated monthly expenses (mandatory and optional).

In a "Significantly below average market" (90%+ of models I hit this mark or better) I should be fine and my portfolio will be about even to age 100. I can't tell it that my mortgage will be paid off by this year but then again I'm not sure how much healthcare costs are taken into account as that is quite expensive.

"Below average market" (75% of models) I slowly increase to double by age 100.

"Average market" (50% of models) it increases greatly to almost 6x my current portfolio by age 100.

This assumes I "retire" at 60 so I can withdraw from 401(k) and Roth IRA and start collecting social security at minimum age 62.

Minimum Retirement Age

Social Security: 62 (30% less benefits)
https://www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/planner/agereduction.html

Roth 401(k): 59.5 (Required Minimum Distributions at 70.5)
https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/101314/what-are-roth-401k-withdrawal-rules.asp

Roth IRA: 59.5 (No minimum distribution, no taxes)
https://www.schwab.com/ira/roth-ira/withdrawal-rules

Deadlands Dark Ages Kickstarter is set in 877 Britain with Arthur, Morgana, Mordred, and Merlin and the Four Horsemen though as newly born horrors. This sentence turned it off for me: "Merlin distributes magic-infused six-shooters pilfered from the Weird West to his champions in the Dark Ages—special tools for special defenders." I'm not against Weird Dark Ages but would rather not have Weird West Dark Ages.

Anyway the $200 everything pledge has:

• Dark Ages Core Rulebook - 244 pages hardcover in their standard "digest-plus size" format.
• Dark Ages Graphic Novel (Merlin's Champions) - 96 page hardcover
• Dark Ages Accessories Box - Action Cards, Bennies, Status Tokens, Pawns (standup), GM Screen, Poster Map, 3D Terrain
• Dark Ages Cursed Village - more terrain, enough for a village
• Savage Worlds Player's Book (with Exclusive Cover!) - same Player's Book but with a Dark Ages cover
• Dark Ages Premium Conviction Dice (Set of Six Metal d6's)
• Excalibur Foil Stamped Item Card

This seems to be more realistic Arthurian (+ Weird Deadlands stuff) than romantic Arthurian. I think I'd rather play Pendragon.

Sat Sep 06 2025

Sleep 0330 to 0730, 1600 to 1800 (6 hours)

• Gloomhaven (no CSr). We did an artifact adventure and got a cool ring of shield 4. As good as a tower shield without the negatives and only takes a misc item slot. We revealed a new class which has a bear that does all his fighting and has cards that helps summons so pairs well with CSr’s summoner.

Sun Sep 07 2025

Sleep 0345 to 0945 (6 hours)

• NFL week 1. 49ers barely win at Seattle.

Mon Sep 08 2025

Sleep 2230 to 0845, 1200 to 1300 (11-1/4 hours)

• Spent the day doing my notes for tomorrow’s budget meeting.

Tue Sep 09 2025

Sleep 0430 to 0730, 1300 to 1530 (5-1/2 hours)

• HOA Budget Committee meeting. We went through the budget but not the reserve study. Lots of questions I need to research for follow up meeting next week Thursday.

Wed Sep 10 2025

Sleep 0400 to 1100 (7 hours)

• After reporting a really good quarter Oracle stocks jumped about $100.
• C3+S Dinner. Leftovers: chicken burrito, steamed buns, French fries.

Thu Sep 11 2025

Sleep 0400 to 1200 (8 hours)

• Helping unit 108 find out if they can rent the place. Mom came over yesterday and today. CC&Rs say 18 units max can be rentals but our management company keeps track of that. Finally talked to our manager who when she got back to office checked and currently we’re at 16 units so should be ok.
• BTW Davis-Stirling Civil Code § 4740 says that owners have to report renter to HOA.

Fri Sep 12 2025

Sleep 0600 to 0830, 1130 to 1500, 45m nap (6-3/4 hours)

• Woke up early to move the car because we’re power washing garage.
• Since Wednesday Oracle stock down about 40 to $292.
• DDO with CSr and DW. We did The Underlane Assignment at R6 and died 6 times.

Bundle of Holding is doing five bundles for a bunch of Rifts RPG stuff as Rifts World Books Week. Four are repeats while Rift Worlds 2 is new.

Rifts Core Mega ($42)
Rift Worlds 1 ($32)
Rift Worlds 2 ($30)
Rift Worlds Land and Sea ($32)
Rifts Coalition Wars ($36)

The claim is that this would be the core rules and all 36 world books published to date. I guess this implies there are other books and checking in RPGGeek there are a lot of other books (and there is a nice Rifts publication list someone compiled).

I guess $172 is a good price. But this just seems like way too much stuff and the only reason I'd consider this bundle is because there is a good Savage Rifts conversion to play Rifts with Savage Worlds rules.

Apple's September event for iPhone and Apple Watch.

AirPods Pro 3

• better noise cancellation
• Live Translation: automatically translates incoming audio, when you speak your iPhone shows text translation
• redesigned shape, five tip sizes
• IP57 sweat and water resistance
• heart rate sensing during workout
• workout tracking without Apple Watch
• 8 hours with Active Noise Cancellation
• 10 hours as a hearing aid

Apple Watch Series 11

• 2x more scratch resistant
• 5G cellular modem
• detect hypertension
• Sleep Score
• 24 hours battery life
• $400

Apple Watch SE3

• S10 chip
• always-on display
• gestures
• wrist temperature sensing
• sleep apnea notifications and sleep score
• 18 hour battery life
• fast charging
• $250

Apple Watch Ultra 3

• brighter display, wider viewing angle
• satellite connectivity
• emergency SOS free for 2 years
• 42 hours battery life
• $800

iPhone 17

• 6.3" display, ProMotion (up to 120Hz refresh rate), alway-on display at 1 Hz, 3000 nits peak outdoor brightness
• Ceramic Shield 2 - 3x better scratch resistance
• A19 Apple Silicon - 6-core CPU (2 performance, 4 efficiency), 5-core GPU, 20% faster than A18
• All day battery life
• 48MP Fusion Ultra-wide camera (24MP default for everyday photos) + 12MP telephoto (2x optical)/macro camera
• Center Stage front camera, square sensor, 18MP
• $800 for 256 GB storage (iPhone 16e is $600)

iPhone Air

• 5.6mm, 6.5" display (same stats as iPhone 17), Ceramic Shield 2, Titanium body (80% recycled)
• A19 Pro - 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU
• N1 wireless chip, C1X modem
• 48MP Fusion camera combined with 12MP 2x Telephoto camera (only one camera)
• 18MP Center Stage front camera
• Dual Capture video (records front and rear camera at same time)
• eSim-only
• All-day battery
• Accessories: low-profile MagSafe battery, translucent case, bumper case, Crossbody Strap
• $1000 for 256 GB storage

iPhone 17 Pro

• Vapor chamber for better heat dissipation.
• Aluminum unibody, 20x greater thermal dissipation than Titanium.
• A19 Pro with 6-core CPU (2 performance/4 efficiency), 6-core GPU
• 39 hours video playback
• 18MP Center Stage front camera
• Three 48MP rear cameras (ultra-wide, telephoto, main camera)
• Telephoto: 12MP with 8x zoom, 40x digital zoom
• Video: ProRes RAW capture for professional filming
• Genlock for video synchronization when using multiple cameras
• 6.3" 256 GB storage for $100, 6.9" 256 GB storage for $1200 (Pro Max up to 2TB storage)

iPhone Air looks pretty cool though I don't think I'm spending that much on a phone if I'm still buying iPads.

Costliest: iPhone 17 Pro Max (6.9"), 2TB is $2k + tax, no AppleCare. More than MBP M4 Pro.
Cheapest: iPhone 16e (6.1"), 128GB is $600.

Cheapest iPad: iPad (A16) (Wi-Fi), $128GB is $350.
- Can use my existing Apple Pencil. Probably not existing Smart Folio.

Sat Aug 30 2025

Sleep 0500 to 1200, 45m nap (7-3/4 hours)

• DDO during three-day weekend. We did Lords of Dust chain to get to Eveningstar then Impossible Demands in King’s Forest.
• CSr, Dave S and I all have MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries. Dave W seems reluctant. It’s hard to tell if it’s he doesn’t want to spend any money (it’s $12 on sale), or doesn’t like GOG (it’s now on sale on Steam), or doesn’t want to play the game at all. Also he didn’t bring up any objections when we were talking about it or when I bought it and talked about it (and I wouldn’t have minded him saying he didn’t want to play it after I bought it). So hard to tell with him when something is a hard no until he starts complaining weeks or months later.

Sun Aug 31 2025

Sleep 0345 to 0815 (4-1/2 hours)

• Visiting parents today and tomorrow. Steak dinner, won ton soup the next day.
• CSr helped mom buy a new computer from Costco, one that can run Windows 11. It has a 512 GB SSD and she doesn’t use that much hard drive space though maybe he can move the 2 TB HDD to the new computer. Not sure when it’ll be delivered.

Mon Sep 01 2025

Sleep 0500 to 1130 (6-1/2 hours)

• Drove back home. Listened to some Miley Cyrus though less memorable songs than I remember. Then switched to Melissa Etheridge’s Yes I Am and lots of bangers there — I love that album.

Tue Sep 02 2025

Sleep 0345 to 1000, 1030 to 1215 (8 hours)

• Divine Right X: The Omega Expansion KS. You can get Divine Right 2P (reprint with corrections as part of the KS), Divine Right X (boxed set expansion as big as the main game), Battle of Shrieker’s Scrub (a standalone 1h war game in the Divine Right universe), Divine Right neoprene map. $250 + $15 shipping in USA. I am very tempted but have until Sep 20 to decide.

Wed Sep 03 2025

Sleep 0445 to 1245 (8 hours)

• Received ATO Annual 2023 - La Bataille de Kulm.

Thu Sep 04 2025

Sleep 0600 to 1215 (6-1/4 hours)

• When I was at my parents last I used my MBP monitor and realized it does look nice and a bit less eye straining. Maybe this year I’ll buy an Apple Studio Display, at $1600 (+ tax) a bit expensive but monitors last years. It’s a 27” so as big as my current main display.

Fri Sep 05 2025

Sleep 0200 to 1000 (8 hours)

• Frak. I hate that Apple Numbers allows me a lot of Undos but then no Redos — sometimes you can Redo and others times not. I use Undos if I deleted data I want back — I go undo then copy the data then redo back to current state and paste data. This time I undid a bunch of stuff it won’t let me redo so now I’ll have to fix it as I come across the old data. This is probably because it’s an iCloud document.
• Deadlands: Dark Ages KS launching in a few days. From the blurb it seems like King Arthur + Mythos. Right now not sure if I'll buy it.

Reading this Geekflare article on 7 Best Self-Hosted Wiki Solutions for Small to Enterprise and they listed Outline, a Node.js wiki. This is more of a commercial solution though their software is open sourced and the Community Edition is free.

Outline

• blog/podcast (none) - doesn't seem to have it built-in nor any integration
• search (medium) - keyword or phrase, or matching (they have AI search for paid version; though results don't show context
• diagrams (none) - diagrams.net you just paste in the URL but I guess then it's a diagram saved externally.
• version history and diff (some) - there is version history but not sure there's diff

I guess Outline's differentiator is that they integrate to a lot of commercial solutions. But even then the list of integrations is not remarkable. I used their online documentation to find answers for my wiki criteria but their documentation looks nice yet has not that much info.

So in summary not a wiki that fits my needs.

• Divine Right X: The Omega Expansion and more!

Last year Pungo Games, the non-wargaming division of Worthington Games, republished Divine Right in a nice format with better components and bigger 5/8" counters. I don't think the rules or gameplay are different than previous editions.

This year they're doing a Kickstarter for a major expansion. If you get everything at the $250 (+$15 USA shipping) level:

• Divine Right 2P - reprint of last year's game with rules and counter corrections
• Divine Right neoprene game map - although the game already comes with a mounted map it's in 8 sections so I can see why one big neoprene map would be nice
• Battles of Divine Right: Shrieker's Scrub - a standalone $25 1-hour tactical war game on one hard mounted map board and 64 counters
• Divine Right X: The Omega Expansion - the big new thing is a boxed expansion of advanced rules rather than the Scarlet Empire expansion mentioned in the first KS. 300-page rulebook and guide, 200+ cards, 2 counter sheets plus other stuff. I guess this rulebook would replace the original rulebook and would have made it Divine Right 2E if that's the path they had wanted to go.

Worthington Game I trust enough as a publisher — if this had been a company that's only done the previous Divine Right KS I'd be hesitant. Still it's a lot of money for a game that I've played once with my friends back in college. A game that's set in its own universe too and yet not a generic fantasy game — it's a very specific setting.

Kickstarter ends Sep 20. I guess we'll see if something else pops up that I'd rather buy.

2025-09-17: Decided not to buy this. Once I realized the $250 buy it all is just the 4 individual item prices added together it made me rethink and once I once started thinking about it again I decided it's not nostalgic enough for me to buy and then leave in my games closet unplayed.