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New XP Award by Order of the Powers That Be!
A good Toastmaster should always have a speech in their back pocket. In order to encourage this, the Council of Elders (I.e. the Officers of the club) have decided that whenever a speaker drops out with less than 24 hours advanced notice, any person who fills in should receive a 10 XP bonus to reward them for that back pocket speech.
Further, since Table Topics similarly requires advanced preparation, there will also be a 10 XP bonus for someone who fills in as Table Topics Master with less that 24 hours advanced notice of the vacancy.
The name of this award is pending, but the offer is available immediately.
2023 San Diego Comic Con: Views from a First Timer
My first experience at Comic Con was good times. My wife recently started producing independent films and one of the perks of her being in the “industry” is we were able to attend Comic Con at no charge. As such, I didn’t feel the pressure that some other folks might have felt to participate in “Line Con 2023” because I didn’t have the same skin in the game. Still, I did make sure to rock my love for Spidey.
Saying the Main Hall is packed to the brim and overwhelming does not do it justice. I made it a point to methodically go row-by-row to see everything I could the one day I attended but despite seeing everything, I definitely did NOT see everything. There is something for everyone with sections dedicated to video games, artists, independent publishers, and big studios/publishers hoarding over the coveted space in the center. Artists Alley was cool but the paths were more narrow which made seeing the work challenging.
Outside of the main hall the Dragonball and Junji Ito installations were both fun for an anime lover like myself. As many of you know, the former guild master has a dark and twisted soul and Ito’s art always speaks to that particular side of me.
Continue reading “2023 San Diego Comic Con: Views from a First Timer” »
Nerdmasters: The Ultimate Edition (Raid)
Hello, fellow adventurers!
Gear up and join us on Wednesday, September 6 at 7pm PT, as we raid the Nerdmasters Toastmasters club for their last ever club meeting, entitled Nerdmasters: The Ultimate Edition, and bid them a fond farewell!
Sign up for the raid and get the Nerdmasters online meeting information here:
https://dungeonsandtoast.com/rsvpmaker/nerdmasters-farewell-2023-09-06/
Officer Training
So far, I only have records of three officers being trained: Loni, Angel, and myself. In order to earn the Distinguished Club Point, we need at least four officers trained. And, least you forget anyone can earn an easy 25 XP for attending officer training, whether you are an officer or not.
There will be another set of training sessions this Sat (Aug 5) from 11 AM to 1 PM PT. One of them (President) is being run by one of the most entertaining and educational trainers out there – Me. Good chance for some easy XP…
Photos and Video Warrens of the Harengon
Know What’s Happening
Before you get skinned alive to satisfy that Lich wannabe, Lucifera, before you cast another vote for the corrupt mayor Fluffy Bunny, and before you… well, who cares about Crunch… Get the scoop on what’s going on by seeing (if you haven’t already) the introduction to “Warrens of the Harengon”:
And Recruitment Master Lucas has graciously provided an overview of this year’s changes to campaign mechanics:
Dungeons & Toast Recognized by District 100
Yesterday, District 100 hosted the 2023 Hybrid Awards and Installation Celebration. Dungeons & Toast was recognized as one of only three clubs in the District to have achieved 10/10 goals within the Distinguished Club Program! Congratulations to the following members for being recognized for their contributions to the Club and District last year!
- Angel L: second place in Affinity Points (9)
- Hovey Y: Distinguished Toastmaster
- Cliff C: Division L Director
- Andrew B: Club President of the Year
- Beth G: Toastmaster of the Year
Great job, everyone, and we look forward to another productive year in 2023-2024!
Welcome, Captain of the Watch!
At last week’s meeting, the guild was polled about new options for the General Evaluator title. By an overwhelming margin, guild members chose to refer to this standard Toastmasters role as “Captain of the Watch.” Accordingly, Speech Evaluators will be referred to as “Watchmen,” making our list of customized roles as follows:
- Toastmaster: unmodified
- Ah Counter: Wizard of Ahs
- Grammarian: Cleric of Rhetoric
- Timer: Sorcerer of Time
- Scribe: custom role
- Topics Master: unmodified
- Speaker: unmodified
- General Evaluator: Captain of the Watch
- Speech Evaluator: Watchman
Of course, members are always free to modify the title of their meeting role on an individual basis, if doing so is part of a roleplayed version they would like to perform for that evening.
10 XP
Administration Lost Lair of the Manticore
XP Adjustments for Education Achievements
In an effort to provide better balance for this year’s TTRPG campaign, Warrens of the Harengon, the experience points granted by several educational achievements have been adjusted. Anyone having earned one or more of these achievements may see their character level impacted as a result of this change.
The following Education achievements have been impacted by this change:
Additionally, the leveling curve has been adjusted as follows:
- 0 XP
- 30 XP
- 90 XP
- 160 XP
- 230 XP
- 300 XP
- 370 XP
- 440 XP
- 510 XP
- 580 XP
- 650 XP
- 720 XP
How Can I Help?
As Questmaster (VPE) it is my primary goal to help you meet yours. There should be an email in each of your inboxes asking why you joined Dungeons and Toast and what you really hope to get out of it. Don’t worry if your honest answer isn’t what you think anyone else wants. I want to work with you to make sure you get what you want.
Please send me a complete and candid response, and we can make sure that Dungeons and Toast members are the most satisfied with their personal progress of all of the Toastmasters clubs.
Using Conflict Resolution Techniques to Design the Manticore Finale.
As last year’s VP Education, I encouraged people to stretch themselves and to give the speeches they wanted to, within the framework of Pathways.
I recently took my own advice, and gave a Persuasive Influence, Level 3 Conflict Resolution speech on using conflict resolution techniques to help me design the Manticore finale in a way that would satisfy people.
The speech went very well, and I rewrote it as a general purpose RPG blog entry, on my Dice Deliberations site. That article can be seen on my blog DiceDeliberations.com, excerpted below:
I recently had the opportunity to combine my job, a speech project, and my love of Role Playing Games into a single speech at Dungeons and Toast, my TTRPG-themed Toastmasters club.
The Toastmasters speech was from my Persuasive Influence path and was the “Conflict Resolution” project, where you learn about conflict resolution techniques, then apply them to a problem and talk about the results.
Conflict resolution, both as presented in the Toastmasters project, and in the types of work I do, does not mean addressing a hostile work environment or other conflicts of that nature. It has to do with helping intelligent, passionate groups of people to find a solution where there is no single right answer, and everything is a trade-off.
…
The header art for that article, and shown above, is “Betrayal” by Mario Nevado, and is used with his permission.