Reminds me of the story of the man who dies in a flood. He refuses help to escape from a truck, a boat and a helicopter saying that God will rescue him.
In heaven he asks God why He didn’t send help.
God answers He did, three times.
Does anyone else here know what a crampon is?
It’s a metal clip-like thing that rock climbers use to set into the rock face.
Just wanted to clear that up, in case someone thought it was a demented tampon, or something.
Careful what you say in the comments, Domino, I think Ursula latches onto ideas people mention in the comments, and next thing you know, Blackbeard’s Demented Tampons will invade Digger’s pack or something like that. 🙂
I thought crampons were metal spikes you put on your feet when you went hiking on ice. In fact, that’s what we called them when I hiked a glacier in Alaska… so I don’t get why Digger needs ’em for hiking around underground…
Well, usually there are spikes that let you dig into a sheer wall so you can climb, and you never know when you’re going to need to climb something. Also, they’re not going to be underground the whole time. They need to get to the dwarven ruins first.
Wombat32, I would have said that’s ridiculous. Blackbeard’s Demented tampons? Even Ursula wouldn’t… no wait, yep, she did. I’m not posting a link because I have some vestigial pretensions to keeping my comments here safe for work * but if anyone is curious follow the Echidna milk link I posted and look at the other products, fictional and otherwise, that Ursula has designed packaging for. And prepare you laugh ’till you cry.
*(albiet safe for the sort of place I work; one of the few advantages of prehistoric archaeology is you don’t have to deal with your customers on account of them generally being dead, so you can say whatever you like most of the time)
I understand completely, BR. I often tell people that the main reason I don’t work in the medical field is that I’d rather work on computers than people. On a computer, if you get frustrated or confused or just lost, you can turn it off and walk away for a while; not so with people.
Now if only the computers I work on didn’t have human owners to deal with, my job would be nearly perfect. (The usual dangers of possible sentience in machines notwithstanding, of course … )
Its like that boat joke…were the man is drowning, and people keep coming by to save him, and he keeps sending them away, sure his god will save him. Then he dies, and asks his god why the god didn’t save him. The god tells him, “What? All those people I sent weren’t enough?”
As a climbing instructor I would like to say that:
Crampons are used primarily on snow or ice.
You get semi flexible ones for walking and more rigid ones with more pronounced spikes for climbing.
They can be used on rock and other mediums but are generally avoided as they are heavy and tiring and do a lot of damage to the cliff face (or whatever). We don’t mind the damage on ice cos it doesn’t last long (though the rock underneath can still get scarred if the ice is thin).
That’s horrible that… Wait, spoilers for the Blackbeard page… That Ursula never got a Skeletor action figure! I never liked the show, except that the full-sized mascot was cute*, and even I had a Skeletor toy, albeit from a fast-food place. I do hope that Ursula was able to get one as an adult.
Also, Azazelbunny is, and for years has been, one of my favourite works of art primarily viewably online, if not my actual favourite. *cheeds for UrsulaV*
Climbing crampons can also be used for climbing huge trees, although many people frown upon that since trees, unlike rock (from a certain point of view), are living things.
* never trust my use of the words “cute” or “adorable”.
My fella put me on to this comic. He was laughing far too loudly, and too frequently, for me to not want to check it out. So far it has been thoroughly enjoyable.
When he got to this page, he read it aloud, and he sounded exactly as I imagine Digger would- except, y’know, like a human male from New Zealand, not a female wombat from… er, Wombatton or wherever.
In short- LOVE. And know I know who the creator of the “LUL WUT” pear is!
Crampons are sets of metal spikes that can be attached to boots. As Inlaid says, they’re mainly used for hard-packed snow or ice where boots just don’t have enough pressure to punch in and grip, but they tend to scar rock if it’s bare or the ice is too thin. The separate spikes mentioned above are usually (in my experience) called pitons, and are used to secure belaying ropes in ice sheets. Actually, I’m not sure how much they’re used these days: most people in my university’s mountaineering club tend to use ice screws or anchor plates instead. I think it’s because it’s easier to screw a bit of gear in than to bash it in with an ice axe (especially when one hand is occupied in stopping you falling off).
Eh, I dunno Digger, if you’re climbing mountains in a cold climate, are you really likely to run into snakes? And bear in mind that the more gear you carry, the quicker you’ll get tired.
Is it wrong that when DM’ing at a friends house, and noticing that their bodybuilder flatmate had left a set of weights around, I took ever played and forced then to jog on the spot with weights to get an idea of what a realistic Encumbrance load was? If they wanted their PC to carry more than they themselves could in real live, they had better have spent the points on increasing their PC’s strength.
Then again, I used Flight Simulator on my laptop (to hell with notes and the screens, laptop for everything! that way if the campaign goes off the rails you can look up other people campaigns for inspiration or just look up really evil monsters from the previous edition of the game to punish the party with: it got to the point i barely planed campaigns at all, i just gave the party a scenario and tried to keep up with the insanity from then on) to test a players assertion that someone with the default skill level for piloting could land a 747 with two engines out, so I may be an evil DM anyway.
Heh.
“The god will provide.”
“He *did* provide – in the form of actual, physical equipment you can be taking with you!”
I think she’s right! Her God DID provide her… 😉
Good philosophy.
Very literal in this case, too. lol
Reminds me of the story of the man who dies in a flood. He refuses help to escape from a truck, a boat and a helicopter saying that God will rescue him.
In heaven he asks God why He didn’t send help.
God answers He did, three times.
Does anyone else here know what a crampon is?
It’s a metal clip-like thing that rock climbers use to set into the rock face.
Just wanted to clear that up, in case someone thought it was a demented tampon, or something.
thanks for the giggles, RhiLeeReally. Demented tampon…lol
Long time reader, first time poster.
Careful what you say in the comments, Domino, I think Ursula latches onto ideas people mention in the comments, and next thing you know, Blackbeard’s Demented Tampons will invade Digger’s pack or something like that. 🙂
Sweet merciful crap….can’t wait to read about that
But…this’s, like, a year old. This whole journey’s probably pretty near done by now.
RE: Arospace
Great story. The gods really do work in practical ways, not big beams of shining light and magical trumpets, etc.
Hahaha, “Pre-packed kit for said terrain” Man, Womats are so freakin practical.
I thought crampons were metal spikes you put on your feet when you went hiking on ice. In fact, that’s what we called them when I hiked a glacier in Alaska… so I don’t get why Digger needs ’em for hiking around underground…
Well, usually there are spikes that let you dig into a sheer wall so you can climb, and you never know when you’re going to need to climb something. Also, they’re not going to be underground the whole time. They need to get to the dwarven ruins first.
Wombat32, I would have said that’s ridiculous. Blackbeard’s Demented tampons? Even Ursula wouldn’t… no wait, yep, she did. I’m not posting a link because I have some vestigial pretensions to keeping my comments here safe for work * but if anyone is curious follow the Echidna milk link I posted and look at the other products, fictional and otherwise, that Ursula has designed packaging for. And prepare you laugh ’till you cry.
*(albiet safe for the sort of place I work; one of the few advantages of prehistoric archaeology is you don’t have to deal with your customers on account of them generally being dead, so you can say whatever you like most of the time)
Never argue with a wombat on preparations for a journey.
I understand completely, BR. I often tell people that the main reason I don’t work in the medical field is that I’d rather work on computers than people. On a computer, if you get frustrated or confused or just lost, you can turn it off and walk away for a while; not so with people.
Now if only the computers I work on didn’t have human owners to deal with, my job would be nearly perfect. (The usual dangers of possible sentience in machines notwithstanding, of course … )
😉
Hey, I’d buy Blackbeard’s Rugged Tampons, for the same reason she invented ’em. And no, I’m not telling you. Go read it in her words; it’s funnier anyway. 😉
http://www.redwombatstudio.com/blog/wpg2?g2_itemId=250
@Jam: There’s still ice underground.
Its like that boat joke…were the man is drowning, and people keep coming by to save him, and he keeps sending them away, sure his god will save him. Then he dies, and asks his god why the god didn’t save him. The god tells him, “What? All those people I sent weren’t enough?”
As a climbing instructor I would like to say that:
Crampons are used primarily on snow or ice.
You get semi flexible ones for walking and more rigid ones with more pronounced spikes for climbing.
They can be used on rock and other mediums but are generally avoided as they are heavy and tiring and do a lot of damage to the cliff face (or whatever). We don’t mind the damage on ice cos it doesn’t last long (though the rock underneath can still get scarred if the ice is thin).
Hopefully that settles the debate.
That’s horrible that… Wait, spoilers for the Blackbeard page… That Ursula never got a Skeletor action figure! I never liked the show, except that the full-sized mascot was cute*, and even I had a Skeletor toy, albeit from a fast-food place. I do hope that Ursula was able to get one as an adult.
Also, Azazelbunny is, and for years has been, one of my favourite works of art primarily viewably online, if not my actual favourite. *cheeds for UrsulaV*
Climbing crampons can also be used for climbing huge trees, although many people frown upon that since trees, unlike rock (from a certain point of view), are living things.
* never trust my use of the words “cute” or “adorable”.
My fella put me on to this comic. He was laughing far too loudly, and too frequently, for me to not want to check it out. So far it has been thoroughly enjoyable.
When he got to this page, he read it aloud, and he sounded exactly as I imagine Digger would- except, y’know, like a human male from New Zealand, not a female wombat from… er, Wombatton or wherever.
In short- LOVE. And know I know who the creator of the “LUL WUT” pear is!
Crampons are sets of metal spikes that can be attached to boots. As Inlaid says, they’re mainly used for hard-packed snow or ice where boots just don’t have enough pressure to punch in and grip, but they tend to scar rock if it’s bare or the ice is too thin. The separate spikes mentioned above are usually (in my experience) called pitons, and are used to secure belaying ropes in ice sheets. Actually, I’m not sure how much they’re used these days: most people in my university’s mountaineering club tend to use ice screws or anchor plates instead. I think it’s because it’s easier to screw a bit of gear in than to bash it in with an ice axe (especially when one hand is occupied in stopping you falling off).
Eh, I dunno Digger, if you’re climbing mountains in a cold climate, are you really likely to run into snakes? And bear in mind that the more gear you carry, the quicker you’ll get tired.
Ah, WJS, but if your DM is lenient about the encumbrance rules, then go ahead and carry it all.
😉
Is it wrong that when DM’ing at a friends house, and noticing that their bodybuilder flatmate had left a set of weights around, I took ever played and forced then to jog on the spot with weights to get an idea of what a realistic Encumbrance load was? If they wanted their PC to carry more than they themselves could in real live, they had better have spent the points on increasing their PC’s strength.
Then again, I used Flight Simulator on my laptop (to hell with notes and the screens, laptop for everything! that way if the campaign goes off the rails you can look up other people campaigns for inspiration or just look up really evil monsters from the previous edition of the game to punish the party with: it got to the point i barely planed campaigns at all, i just gave the party a scenario and tried to keep up with the insanity from then on) to test a players assertion that someone with the default skill level for piloting could land a 747 with two engines out, so I may be an evil DM anyway.
Too bad you didn’t have a handy set of field plate for your players to don before jogging with the weights …
😉