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Convention Chronicles #1
Hi all, DM Basho here. I wrote a fun, simple encounter to get my teen players back into Tomb of Annihilation after Christmas. Here’s a short module you can drop into any campaign. Background: The Big Bad crushes a glitching artefact, and it yeets the whole party into a comic convention — where their Holy Avenger is suddenly made of foam, and their Fireball is "a burst of glitter and dry ice." I cleaned the whole thing up into a free 34-page module: Convention Chronicles #1 — The Realm of the False Heroes, which transforms classic fantasy gameplay with an unexpected con adventure. The core twist: foam physics make weapons harmless, while spells turn into playful special effects, creating a humorous and memorable gameplay environment. * HP is swapped for Hype: victory depends on winning over the crowd with creativity rather than combat, making player engagement central. * To [...]
Harvest Bales, Late Summer Mist
Painted from an evening walk through Suffolk. The almost-pink mist and long shadows, combined with the sweep of the field to the epic sky above, created a true and warm sense of space and clarity. Prints and full landscape portfolio: https://www.saatchiart.com/en-gb/bashomatsuo
The Iron Church – Why Do People Quit Fitness Training?
The Four Goals That Run Every Training Programme — And The Adaptive Engine That Serves Them When a new disciple opens Iron Church, we don't ask them to pick a "split." We ask them what they actually want. There are six options on the screen, but four real adaptations underneath. The New UI for the Iron Church "Aesthetics" is simply hypertrophy with a specific visual slant. "Just get me training" is a default for the undecided. But the four truly meaningful goals, established as distinct physiological processes by sport-science literature, are: Get Stronger Build Muscle Lose Weight Feel Healthier Each one trains a different system. Each one has a different evidence base. Each one demands a different discipline, a different volume profile, and an entirely different relationship to fatigue. The most common reason lifters stall isn't a lack of effort—it's training for one adaptation while expecting another. A powerlifting [...]
Announcing my new book: Trials & Tea Ceremonies: Misadventures in Far Away Places.
A love story disguised as a travel memoir. Or perhaps, the other way around. Selected as one of LoveReading’s "Indie Books We Love" If you love books that transport you to another world, Trials & Tea Ceremonies is your next obsession. Basho and Cesca didn't just quit the corporate rat race; they ran from it. Trading spreadsheets for backpacks, they set off on a journey to find the answer to the question that wouldn't go away: "Is this it?" But this wasn't a postcard holiday. From the neon chaos of Tokyo to the silence of the Himalayas, we were testing not just the world, but us. The real thread was our marriage, laid raw on the road and healing in unexpected ways—from tense silences in third-class trains to quietly holding hands under the Bodhi Tree. A profound and unflinchingly funny memoir about leaving everything behind... only to find that [...]
The Storm King’s Thunder and the Dragon’s Bane
There follows the campaign we have played all through the 2020 lockdown. It has helped us all resist the mental anguish of the COVID virus, recover from the infection itself and be a beacon of bright enjoyment for all. Truly the great value of this magical game cannot be overstated when played with attentive and imaginative children. So, I present the chronicle of my son, my daughter and my wife playing their first campaign after the starter set, Storm King's Thunder!
What is Daoism/Taoism?
Before we start I should add a caveat to this article: I am a philosopher and a Daoist. As such, I suppose, I am open to accusations of bias and a lack of objectivity. This is unavoidable. However, if one [...]
Beijing and the Great Wall – Our final days in China
"So," said Cesca loudly and clearly, just as I was drinking from a water bottle, "What's all this about China and Tiananmen Square?" I almost did a spit take. "Quiet!" I said and I looked around, wiping water running [...]
Basho rewrites: Rime of the Frostmaiden – Destruction’s Light.
**Caution this post contains spoilers for Destruction's Light!** When I was a child, I had no one to play Dungeons & Dragons with. Now, I am 45 and play with my own children. Yes - I built my [...]
Basho’s bonus modules: Rime of the Frostmaiden – an Adventure with Pirates
When I was a child, I had no one to play Dungeons & Dragons with. Now, I am 45 and play with my own children. Yes - I built my own players! Our players: the piplins! [...]
Yaks for tea and Tibetan Temples. Living the high life in Shangri-la
"You have to imagine," said the man in broken English, "that this..." he gestured his hands at the view in front of us, "big lake... flood wide and deep... great water!" He broke into a wide toothy smile.
“Countryside walk” – Digital Watercolour
"Countryside walk" by Basho Painted in Rebelle 3.
The Hidden Context in some Great Movies
I love the cinema and movies. I also make films myself. What stared as a simple passion for the action and adventure in films has become a life long urge to understand what the filmmaker, [...]
Varanasi – City of the Hindus
Many Indian cities are a jumble, a mix of the ancient and modern, but nowhere I have ever been compares in this regard to Varanasi. I come from a country, and from a city, which [...]
Mount Wudang and the Meaning of Life
In China, Daoist temples atop mountains are so numerous that there must be something about these high places that answers a longing for cliff edges and being above the clouds. A simplistic analysis of this, one using that most ignoble [...]
Basho rewrites: Rime of the Frostmaiden – Sunblight
**Caution this post contains spoilers for Sunblight!** When I was a child, I had no one to play Dungeons & Dragons with. Now, I am 46 and play with my own children. Yes - I built my own [...]
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist | Dungeons & Dragons
**Caution this post contains spoilers for WDH!** My players (9-year-old children, my wife and her 70+-year-old mother) just completed Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, and there follows my write up of the adventure. The piplins! [...]
The Iron Church – Why Do People Quit Fitness Training?
And what the science — and AI — say about how to stop them. I would leave work after a long, hard day in the city and simply have no energy to attend my GoJu Ryu Karate training. I’d [...]
The Alam Clock Lesson
Early in my leadership career, I had a junior member of staff who was late to work. Nothing unusual about that, you may think, for are we not all occasionally late into the office? Most of us commute and moreover [...]
The Iron Church: Why Most ‘AI’ Fitness Apps Are Just Marketing (And How I Built One That Actually Works)
7 AI Pipelines ? 5 AI Prompts, 2 Deterministic Engines. Discover the technical strategy behind building The Iron Church—an AI fitness trainer defined by periodisation science, multi-prompt architecture, and serious consideration of your real equipment. This article is the [...]
OMEGA Speedmaster Professional “Moonwatch” review
THE SPEEDMASTER PROFESSIONAL MOONWATCH. For well over half a century, the OMEGA Speedmaster has witnessed events that have tested the limits of physical endurance and human courage, including the first manned lunar landing in July of 1969 and every one of NASA’s piloted missions since March of 1965.
Children of the Red Rose
**Caution this post contains spoilers for Children of the Red Rose!** When I was a child, I had no one to play Dungeons and Dragons with, it being the 80’s and the game not being popular here in the [...]
Critical Praise for “Trials & Tea Ceremonies”
A hilarious and heartfelt journey for anyone who has ever wondered: "Is this it?" What happens when the life you've built no longer feels like your own? That's exactly what Basho and his wife Cesca felt. So, they walked [...]
Kyoto, Nara, Himeji, green tea and finding inner peace
I have written before about travellers wanting a point to it all, to travelling. In part this is perhaps seen as them wanting to justify the vast cost of travel; to have a point for spending all that money, [...]
The day I met the Buddha, and killed him
Delhi. Many people say they have “done” Delhi, but in all honesty they haven’t. They have perhaps done the tourist parts of New Delhi, or maybe spent some time in an Ashram there – which amounts [...]
“Morgan” – Digital Watercolour
"Morgan" by Basho Painted in Rebelle 3.
A Wild Sheep Chase
**Caution this post contains spoilers for The Wild Sheep Chase!** When I was a child, I had no one to play Dungeons and Dragons with, it being the 80’s and the game not being popular here in the United [...]
You’re the Pretender – a Tier 1 tribute
A loving tribute to 5 years of Tier 1 Military Simulations events. They say that it is only when you lose something that you realise the value it had. That emotional wrench requires a loss of access. Not that [...]
Varanasi City of Gods – Special Edition
How does it make one feel to be in one of the most “holy” cities in the world?
Tier 1 Military Simulation – Operation BLADERUNNER
My first ever commissioned film was released today and stands as a landmark for Basho films. I have learned more [...]
Our Pilgrimage to Gandhi
**UPDATE – LOTS OF NEW IMAGES!* Welcome back to the travel blogging. Our amazing, 12 month, around the world journey [...]
TM M3 Super 90 CQB Mod Guide
The M3 Super 90 from TM is one of the best non AEGs on the market. It uses the now [...]
Weakened Ghoulbane Walkthrough
**Please note that this entry is my diary of my quest for the Ghoulbane** **CONTAINS SPOILERS!** **Current version: 2.0 - [...]
AIRSOFT HAS BEEN SAVED!
Amazing news! The forums are a'buzz with the news that the ABA led by minimiman have had their request for [...]
SCAR Review
The boys from Snatch review the Classic Army SCAR. - Why are we reviewing the SCAR Turkish? What’s wrong [...]
Christopher Ward C60 TRIDENT PRO 600 Review
Introduction There is nothing like buying, owning and enjoying watches for inducing consumerist fervour [...]
Every Waking Moment by Goran Powell – Book Review
I first came across Goju Ryu and the DKK style while sat in, the now defunct, Borders in [...]
Travel Blogging Kit List
A writers guide to what to take!
Kolkata (Calcutta) – the black hole of India
There are two questions I am most asked about travelling the world. The first is, “What was [...]
Announcing: buddhabooks.co.uk is now open
Dear all, Announcing the opening of a new Basho website! www.buddhabooks.co.uk I have been writing reviews of books on this [...]
Killing for Pleasure?
This post is a break from the normal schedule. It is a corollary to the “Philosophy Bites?” post a few [...]
E Prime, truth and Plato
A collection of posts regarding E Prime and my part in the discussions (I am Basho)
China: Li River to Shangri-La
At one point in our journey I actually advocated to Cesca that we skip China. That she didn’t listen, and [...]
Mount Wudang and the Meaning of Life
In China, Daoist temples atop mountains are so numerous that there must be something about these high places that answers [...]
Dell Alienware M11x Review: Portable Gaming Heaven?
When I was considering taking a year off, I started looking around for a computer that I could take with [...]
Basho’s new watch, the choice…
Introduction Watches. Why do some people take them far too seriously, spending unknown amounts of cash on seemingly over [...]
50 Shades of Uluru
Come see the ever changing colours of Uluru in all its unbelievably rich and mesmerising splendor at sunset. Followed by the next morning as the sun rises and the colours grow as the sun bathes the rock faces in light.
New Basho Artwork
Dear all, A couple of weeks, Cesca and I went to a very strange cafe. It was a cafe where [...]