Dr Xander Gerrymander

BDaB #010: Ride Report 1, Point-Buy vs Random Chargen, Smoking in Bars

For our tenth episode, our drinks of the evening are a pairing of George Dickel Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey and the “Local Logger” Lager from Everybody’s Brewing. In our bike segment, Just Jacob gives a post-ride report on a recent trip he took through eastern Washington, following it up with a talk about emergency bike maintenance and safety tips. The Game Talk topic is the divisive subject of tabletop RPG character creation methods, specifically the conflict between Point-Buy and Random Roll systems. Finally, during our Bar Talk we share our feelings on Smoking in bars, including discussion of the continual banning of it in bars nationwide.

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BDaB #009: Recumbents, Electrics, Co-Op Games, Eulogy for the Tugboat

We’re thrilled to have a very special guest with us this week: Linsel Greene, the former bartender of the legendary Tugboat Brewery, Portland’s oldest independent nano-brewery, which unfortunately closed down for good last year. We start off with a talk about recumbent and electrics bikes, which a lot of local bicycle mavens love to hate for some reason. In our nerd chat segment, we discuss various types of co-op board games, and our experiences playing them. Finally, we close our episode with a deeply heartfelt eulogy for the Tugboat Brewery, which we all miss dearly. It was a beloved icon of Old Portland, and we were all pretty devastated by its loss.

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BDaB Character Jam 05: Adventure Maximus!

We’re back with another Character Jam! This time we pulled NPC’s copy of Adventure Maximus off the shelf for a run through its initial character creation process. It’s a super-cute visually-driven RPG designed for kids, with some really cool ideas equally hilarious and clever. This might be our shortest one yet, but that’s just because Adventure Maximus focuses on such a quick set up to play. Enjoy!

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BDaB #008: Touring, Gaming as Social Therapy, and Karaoke Bars

Xander’s back, hooray! Our drink of the evening is one of NPC’s old time favorites, the **Royal Crown Royal**, which is nothing more than [Crown Royal whiskey](https://www.crownroyal.com/canadian-whisky/) mixed with [Royal Crown Cola](https://www.drpeppersnapplegroup.com/brands/rc-cola), over ice. We kick off our topics with a discussion about the joys of Touring on motorcycles and bicycles, including tips for the road and how to pack the necessities. In our second segment, we talk about the concept of the Gaming Group as a major social hub, and then unexpectedly drift into a conversation about using role-playing as a form of self-therapy. We wrap up with a chat about our favorite times at Karaoke bars in the Portland area. And we even recorded a new Character Jam bonus episode afterward, so stay tuned for that to come later!

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