Some of you may be asking, “Where, oh where, has GoCorral gone? Where is the weekly update of his blog? There hasn’t even been a picture of his toenails to tell us he’s still alive!”

Well, I am still alive, I’ve just been rather busy with school these last few days.

Among my many responsibilities I have had:
1. A massive final project on homologous genes to the C. elegans myosin gene, unc-54, that is rapidly approaching 50 pages in length.
2. A final paper on intron retention being the first sign of speciation.
3. Scheduling and preparing my thesis proposal presentation.
4. Grading essays for the basic biology class I am teaching this semester.
5. All the usual stuff I have to do.

I’m keeping a good handle on #1 and #5. #4 is a slow truck that keeps on going.

Due to all the other stuff I’ve been doing #2 did not turn out as good as I would’ve liked. I loved the thesis of that paper, but I wish I’d used more time to find additional supporting evidence and described the supporting evidence in a better fashion.

#3 is the most exciting one! My thesis proposal presentation happened on Friday and was probably the most important moment in my career up to this point.

I got super nervous before giving the presentation and made a few mistakes in the preparation and delivery, but it still went quite well.

Every presentation should have at least one picture of a confused panda.
Every presentation should have at least one picture of a confused panda.

I passed the proposal which means I can continue on with my project! Woohoo! I do have to update my abstract to reflect my definite research goals which were outlined in the meeting.

That’s what I’ve been up to. There’s still more to do! I predict I’ll be done with most of it by the end of next week. After that, regular blog updates will resume.

-GoCorral

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I’m Isaac

Welcome to the GoCorral website! I’m Isaac Shaker and this is a place for me to write about D&D and occasionally other topics. I host a podcast called Setting the Stage that interviews different DMs about their campaigns. I’m currently focused on completing the Cimmeria campaign setting and turning it into a book.

Setting the Stage Podcast

86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen) Setting the Stage, Campaigns for D&D and Other RPGs

I interviewed Daniel, my cohost of the Tabletop Community Spotlight! Daniel created his own setting called Ithasen with an in-progress wuxia TTRPG system called Metanoia to go along with it. Ithasen has a spiritual force known as Ren that pervades the world. Ren is a magical manifestation of the user's, or Rennim's, will upon the universe. Rennim that cultivate their will grow stronger and capable of more amazing feats as the concentrate their power and force of personality.Within Ithasen there are seven lineages of people that decide what type of Ren they can use. Anamor use conversion Ren. Elkyr use flux Ren. Janim use elasticity Ren. Nyl use influence Ren. Okoi use recurrence Ren. Haqol use harmony Ren. Finally, Daruner use use coalescent ren. The two races lineages that drive unique politics in Ithasen are the Daruner and the Haqol.Daruner children absorb the Ren talents of both their parents, becoming a perfect blend of Daruner and another lineage parent. Through this mixing, a Daruner family could potentially include all other lineages within itself. This power has placed Daruner as the nobility of Ithasen.Haqol's power of harmony allows them to amplify the Ren powers of others. This puts Haqol in a vulnerable position as unscrupulous people will do anything to incorporate Haqol lineage into their bloodline. Haqol have experienced something akin to a genocide as their lineage has been consistently absorbed by other lineages and diluted over the centuries.There's a whole lot more than that so strap in!Daniel has a fully setup GitHub Wiki for information on Metanoia and Ithasen that you can explore.There's a Metanoid Discord server you can join to discuss the rules and setting with other fans.The occasional musing on TTRPGs can be found on Daniel's blog, Tabletop Discourse.GoCorral YouTube Channel for watching the Tabletop Community Spotlight.Vote in the CRIT Awards! Voting is open until August 23rd.Check out the Setting the Stage website!Want to be on the show? Fill out this survey.Join our Discord!Support Setting the Stage on Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
  1. 86 – Wuxia Adventures in RPGS (Daniel and Metanoia/Ithasen)
  2. 85 – Medical Doctor D&D (Justin and Oops! All Healers!)
  3. 84 – Horseback Riding D&D Camp (Michael and SaddleSnaps)
  4. 83 – Call of Cthulhu's Garden (Hem and The Sprouting)
  5. 82 – Tarot Ghosts (George and Fears & Fortunes)