New Year’s Eve

The year is packing its things tonight.

Not rushing. Just moving deliberately, deciding what to keep and what can be left folded at the back of the drawer. Roanoke seems aware of this. The valley feels held, like it knows a threshold is being crossed even if nothing dramatic marks the moment.

The mountains remain where they are. That helps. It always does.

New Year’s Eve here is not loud unless you go looking for it. Mostly it is lights in windows, distant sounds, the low hum of people finishing one chapter and setting another gently on the table. The cold keeps things honest. Breath visible. Hands in pockets. Thoughts slowing down enough to be examined.

This year had its share of weight. Some days heavy, some days surprisingly light. There were small victories that did not announce themselves, and losses that lingered quietly, asking to be carried a little longer. None of it feels wasted. It all taught something, even if the lesson is still forming.

Outside, the night settles into the valley. Trains pass through, unconcerned with calendars. The star keeps glowing, steady as ever, reminding everyone that continuity matters as much as change.

The new year does not arrive with instructions. It never does. It shows up like a trailhead without a map, familiar and uncertain at the same time. Step forward. Adjust as needed. Pay attention.

So here is a simple wish, written where the mountains can overhear it.

May the coming year bring enough quiet to hear yourself think.
Enough warmth to soften the hard days.
Enough mystery to stay curious.
Enough steadiness to keep going.

Happy New Year, Roanoke.
Happy New Year to whoever is reading this, wherever you are standing tonight.

The lights are on. The path is there. That feels like a good way to begin.

Development slowing. Getting indecisive.

https://svonberg.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/hero6eSupersV45.html

This latest version (v45) is designed to act as a complete “zero-paper” digital assistant for running Hero System 6E sessions on a mobile device.
Here is exactly what this version offers:
1. Absolute Design Consistency
Every character in the roster—whether a Player Hero (Scott, Will, Trism), a standard NPC (Agent, Alien, Cop, Titan, Thug), or a Custom NPC you create—now uses the exact same high-performance 6-tab interface. This removes the “mental friction” of looking at different layouts for different units.
2. Standardized 6-Tab Character Sheets
Each unit possesses:
* 📊 Stats: Interactive characteristic grid. Tapping “DEX” or “INT” rolls a check and calculates the success margin.
* ⚡ Combat: Functional attack buttons (e.g., Bear Punch or Gravity Gun) and repaired Stunned/Aborted toggles.
* 🎯 Skills: The full Everyman 8- suite (Climbing, Stealth, Deduction, etc.) plus professional skills, all one-tap rollable.
* 📂 Bio: Fully restored, multi-paragraph narrative dossiers (Origins, Personality, Tactics).
* 📝 Audit: Line-item “point receipts” showing exactly how the point totals (175, 400, or 404) were calculated.
* 📓 Log: A secure, persistent text area for session-specific notes.
3. Reactive Vitals & Recovery Engine
* Dynamic Trackers: STUN, BODY, and END have dedicated + and – buttons for real-time tracking.
* Smart Recovery [❤]: Tapping the heart button adds the character’s specific REC stat to their current Stun and End, while automatically capping them at their starting maximums.
4. Advanced GM Tactical Hub
The GM tab acts as a high-speed rules reference and calculator:
* Repaired Hit Location: Rolls 3d6 and tells you exactly which body part was hit, the Stun Multiplier (x2-x5), the Body Multiplier, and the OCV Penalty to target that area.
* To-Hit Calculator: Input Attacker OCV and Target DCV to see the exact target number needed on 3d6.
* Mental Combat Engine: Automated OMCV vs. DMCV target calculation.
* Presence Attack Tool: Base PRE + Situational Dice vs. a built-in results table (Hesitation, Surrender, etc.).
* Throwing Math: Conversions for STR vs. Object Mass (kg) to find max throwing distance.
5. Marginal Success Feedback
To speed up play, every roll in the app provides instant mathematical feedback:
* Instead of just saying “Success,” the banner says “SUCCESS by 4” or “FAILED by 2.” This allows the GM to immediately describe the quality of the action without doing mental subtraction.
6. Technical Reliability & Persistence
* VIPER Fix: Standardized Agent vitals to the correct 20 Stun / 10 Body / 20 End.
* Mobile-First Design: Emoji icons are locked at 22px for high touch accuracy.
* Data Persistence: Character notes and custom-created NPCs are saved to your browser’s local storage so they are still there if you refresh the page.

Proof of concept for html5 hero system 6e campaign aid

https://svonberg.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/hero6eSupersV20.html

Hero Campaign Manager (v20) – User Manual

1. Getting Started

This application is a Single Page Application (SPA) contained entirely within one HTML file. It requires no internet connection, no server, and no installation.

How to Install
* Save the File: Save the code block from the previous message as Hero_Campaign_Manager.html.
* Open: Double-click the file on your computer, or open it on your smartphone/tablet.
* Mobile Tip: On iPhone/Android, you can use “Add to Home Screen” in your browser options to turn it into a dedicated app icon.

2. Navigation
The interface is divided into two main navigation bars:
* Top Roster Bar: This is your “Character Select.”
   * Scott, Minimax (Will), Trism: The Player Characters (PCs).
   * Agent, Alien, Cop, Titan, Thug: The Non-Player Characters (NPCs).
   * 🛠 GM: The Game Master’s control center.
   * Tip: The bar scrolls horizontally if you have many characters.
* Bottom Menu Bar: This changes based on who you have selected. It controls the specific “Tabs” for that character (e.g., Stats, Powers, Combat, Bio).

3. Character Sheet Features
Every character (PC and NPC) shares these interactive features:
A. Vital Statistics (Interactive)
At the top of every sheet are the STUN, BODY, and END trackers.
* Taking Damage: Tap the [-] button to lower the stat.
* Healing: Tap the [+] button to raise it.
* Note: These numbers reset if you refresh the page.
B. Status Toggles
Below the vitals are buttons for Stunned, Aborted, and Flashed.
* Tap to toggle them Red/Active.
* This is a visual reminder only; it does not mechanically stop you from rolling dice.
C. Click-to-Roll Skills
In the Stats or Rolls tab:
* Tap any button like [Stealth 14-] or [Perception 12-].
* The Result Banner: A banner will appear at the top of the screen showing:
   * The total rolled on 3d6.
   * Success or Failure.
   * The “Margin of Success” (e.g., “Made it by 3”).
D. Click-to-Roll Powers
In the Powers or Combat tab:
* Attacks (like “Gravity Gun” or “Bear Punch”) are clickable buttons.
* Tapping them rolls the damage automatically (Normal or Killing).
* The result (Body/Stun) appears in the banner at the top.
E. The “Recover” Button (❤)
Located in the bottom right of the PC navigation bar.
* Tap Once: Instantly adds your REC score to your current STUN and END.
* Visual Feedback: The Stun/End boxes will flash green to confirm the recovery.
F. Notes (Auto-Save)
The Notes tab contains a text area.
* Anything you type here is saved to your browser’s Local Storage.
* If you close the browser and come back later, your notes will still be there.

4. GM Tools (The 🛠 Tab)
The GM tab is designed to help run the game flow.
A. The Speed Chart (Tracker)
* Segment Counter: Tap the large number at the top to advance the turn (1 to 12).
* Visual Grid: As you advance the segment, the corresponding column in the Speed Chart highlights Purple.
* Who Acts? Anyone with an “X” in the highlighted column has a Phase.
B. Dice Rollers (Calculators)
* Hit Location: Rolls 3d6 and tells you the location (e.g., “13: Vitals”) and the damage multipliers.
* Reaction Roll: Randomly determines NPC attitude (Hostile to Helpful).
* Damage Rollers: Enter the number of dice (e.g., 10) and tap “Roll”. It calculates Total Body and Total Stun automatically.
* Knockback (KB): Enter the Body damage taken. Tap “Calc KB” to subtract 2d6 and see how many meters the target flies.
C. Reference Tables
Static charts for quick lookups during play:
* Modifiers: Range, Darkness, Cover penalties.
* Falling Damage: How much damage you take for falling X meters.
* Object Body/Def: How hard it is to break a wall or door.
* Maneuvers: OCV/DCV modifiers for Dodge, Block, Grab, etc.

5. Editing & Customizing
Since this is a single HTML file, you can edit it with any text editor (Notepad, VS Code).
* To Change Stats: Search for id=”scott-stun-val” and change the number inside the tag (e.g., <h3>45</h3>).
* To Add Skills: Copy an existing <div class=”roll-btn” …> line and change the name and the target number in the onclick function (e.g., rollSkillCheck(14, ‘scott’)).
* To Add Characters: Copy an entire char-wrapper div and rename the ID (e.g., id=”char-newguy”). You must also add a button to the top roster-bar.

6. Troubleshooting
* “My notes disappeared!”: Notes are saved to the specific browser you are using. If you open the file in Chrome, write notes, and then open it in Safari, the notes won’t transfer. Clearing your browser cache/cookies will delete the notes.
* “The layout looks weird”: Ensure you are viewing it on a screen with a width of at least 320px (standard smartphone). It works best in portrait mode on mobile or a narrow window on desktop.

Re:small (used for minimax original bio)

https://scottobear.livejournal.com/131805.html

This LiveJournal post, titled “Small,” was written by user scottobear and published on October 6, 2000. It is a piece of flash fiction or a short story that deals with themes of childhood illness, mortality, and the psychological mechanisms used to cope with trauma.

Here is an analysis of the post:

1. Narrative and Plot Summary
The story follows a ten-year-old boy who appears much younger (“small as five”) due to a debilitating illness, implied to be cancer (references to hair loss, “special food,” doctors, needles, and a “bad thing” seeking him). The boy develops a fixation on the concept of being “small.” To him, smallness equates to safety, invisibility, and the ability to slip away unnoticed.
The narrative concludes with the boy returning to the beach alone. While his parents cannot find him and likely mourn his death (“They seemed sad”), the boy’s perspective frames his disappearance as a triumph. He has successfully become so small—like a pebble—that “the bad thing” can no longer find him.

2. Themes and Symbolism
* The “Bad Thing”: The story personifies the boy’s illness or impending death as a predator (“the bad thing”) that is hunting him. By reframing death as a game of hide-and-seek, the boy retains a sense of agency in a situation where he has none.
* Smallness as Safety: The central metaphor is the safety of being small. In a world of scary “big” things (doctors, needles, the disease), the boy retreats into the idea that being microscopic renders him invulnerable. “You cannot be a small boy and be far away” and “You are smaller if you don’t scream” suggest a retreat into himself to survive the pain.
* The Pebble: The pebble represents the ultimate goal of the boy’s transformation. It is hard, enduring, and indistinguishable from thousands of others. By wishing to become a pebble, he wishes to become part of the eternal landscape of the sea, effectively immortal and beyond pain.

3. Tone and Perspective
The story is written in a third-person limited perspective, staying close to the boy’s internal logic. This creates a heartbreaking contrast between the innocent, magical thinking of the child and the harsh reality the reader understands.
* Euphemism: The boy never uses words like “cancer” or “dying.” Instead, he focuses on “special food,” “doctors’ place,” and “the bad thing.” This emphasizes his youth and his attempt to cognitively distance himself from the trauma.
* Bittersweet Ending: The ending is ambiguous and spiritual. While physically the boy has likely passed away (drowned or succumbed to illness on the beach), the narrative voice insists on his survival in a metaphysical sense. He hasn’t been “caught”; he has escaped.

4. Context and Author’s Intent
In the comments section of the post, the author (scottobear) provides crucial context for the piece:
> “Thanks. an old piece, posted due to certain folks passing due to cancer, and a lj’er mentioning her desire to shrink.”
>
This confirms that the story was a response to real-world grief and a specific conversation within the LiveJournal community about the desire to disappear or “shrink” away from life’s hardships.

5. Community Reception
The comments on the post reflect the emotional weight of the story. Readers described it as “amazing,” noted that it made them feel “lonely,” and praised the “Lilliputian” perspective. It highlights the tight-knit, supportive nature of the blogging community in the early 2000s, where creative writing was often used to process collective grief.

Futzing around with a
Clean html5 hero system character catalog / gm aid proof of concept

https://svonberg.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/hero6eSupersV6.html

Roanoke does not have a specific cryptid or monster you can point at.

If it did, someone would have put it on a bumper sticker by now.

Instead, we have mountains that lean in like they are listening. Tinker Mountain squints down at the city as if trying to remember why it came into the room. Mill Mountain wears a star the way some people wear a tuxedo, not because it explains anything, but because it looks sharp.

Nothing official haunts these woods. No Goatmen or Giant frog-critters. No festivals to celebrate Mothman or the Woodbooger. Just trees doing tree things and occasionally reminding you they were here first, exhaling the isoprene that colors the air, making it the blue ridge. 

Roanoke’s mythology is subtle. It prefers suggestion over spectacle. It lives in the way fog gathers in the valley like the city is being gently tucked in. In the way trails curve just enough that you are never quite sure what is around the bend, even if you have walked them a hundred times.

This is a place where directions are philosophical exercises. Turn where the old place used to be. Go past the building that caught fire once. If you hit the Starbucks you have gone too far, unless you have not, in which case maybe you are exactly where you need to be.

At night, the city hums softly, like it is thinking. Trains clear their throats. The highway sighs. Owls call out. The mountains hold still and let the valley do the talking. That is when Roanoke feels most itself, not empty, not full, just aware.

If there is something watching from the woods, it is not here to scare anyone. It is here to observe. To note how we keep building and rebuilding, naming and renaming, forgetting and remembering, all on land that does not seem particularly impressed.

You feel it on a quiet weekday hike when the trail belongs only to you and a few very judgmental squirrels. You feel it standing in line for coffee, wondering how many versions of yourself have stood in roughly this same spot over the years, thinking roughly the same thoughts.

Roanoke does not need a monster. It already has a personality.

It is the kind that asks questions without waiting for answers. The kind that suggests you slow down, look around, and accept that some things are better felt than explained.

The star lights up on schedule. The mountains stay put. The city carries on, cheerful and strange and mostly convinced it knows what it is doing.

And somewhere between the fog and the foothills, Roanoke smiles to itself, pleased to remain slightly mysterious.

Staying In and Spending Codes

Today stayed folded in on itself in a good way.

We stayed in and goofed around, which feels like an accomplishment when the world keeps hinting that productivity should involve pants and plans. Nintendo Switch gift codes became tiny digital treasure maps. Click redeem. Confirm. Wait. Download. Repeat. Cozy games slid into the console like new books onto a bedside stack. Games where nothing explodes unless it is a campfire and even then politely. Games that hum instead of shout. Little pixel worlds patiently waiting for us to arrive and do nothing of great importance.

This morning the gang broke the seal and went out for bagels from Donnie D’s. The day officially began sometime after that.

The rest of the hours were spent in that soft blur where time forgets to announce itself. Controllers passed back and forth. Screens glowed. We laughed at small things and generally chit-chatted. Outside continued without us and seemed fine about it.

There is talk of supper from Frank’s later. A hopeful maybe. One of those gentle promises you do not want to stare at too hard. If my luck holds, there will be comfort food and no dishes that require deep emotional commitment.

If not, that is fine too. Today already did what it needed to do. Stayed quiet. Stayed kind. Let us stay in.

#roanokeva , #quietday #switchgames

Boxing Day arrived with company!

Our friend showed up today, right as Yuletide was loosening its grip. One more bag by the door. One more coat finding a place to land. The house adjusted without comment, as if it had been expecting this all along.

We stayed in. Outside could wait. Roanoke settled into its quiet rhythm, the valley doing its own Boxing Day breathing. The mountains stayed put. The roads stayed light. None of it felt urgent enough to interrupt the inside of the house.

Conversation filled the spaces between things. Food appeared in low-effort ways. Someone laughed from the kitchen. Someone else wandered off to look out a window for a while. The day unfolded without instructions.

Boxes still leaned where they had been left. Wrapping paper kept pretending it might be useful again. A gift still needed batteries and still did not get them.

Boxing Day is good at this. Making room. Letting the noise fade without taking the warmth with it.

A friend here for a week or so. A quiet house learning a new shape.

That was enough.

#boxingday #roanokeva #housefull #quietmagic #winterpause

Amy S – printer Filament

Stocking-
Candy!
More candy
Jr mints, York patties, oreos, butter cookies

Kevin
Columbo late seasons
Pearl toys

Chris and Larry
Mothman, yeti, werewolf and Bigfoot toys
Glow filament – blue
Ti-83 plus graphing calculator
Greenhouse top for 3d printer
Pens
Project battery
Time for timer tshirt


Allison
3d printer
Filament
Desk
Markers
Alpaca pin
Bigfoot stickers
Sd card reader & card
USB thumbdrive
Snowflake stringer- ornaments
Adabox 22 w/mini keyboard
Crow t-shirts orange and purple
Twisted cryptids and 2 expansions
Killer Croc figure
King Shark figure
Govee floor lamp
Bigfoot sippycup

Amy r – Alpaca figure

Katie – couples coupons for cooking

Christmas always shows up whether we are ready or not.

It slides in quietly some years, loudly in others, but it always arrives carrying the same question. What do we give, and what do we wish for the people around us.

This year feels like one of those long uphill winters. The kind where everyone seems a little more tired, a little more guarded, and a little more unsure of what comes next. And yet, here we are again. Lights in windows. Wrapping paper half torn. Coffee gone cold because someone stopped mid sip to laugh at something small.

I keep thinking about good people this season.

Not perfect people. Not loud people. Just good ones.

The ones who keep showing up even when no one is watching. The ones who help without posting about it. The ones who listen more than they speak. The ones who carry quiet burdens and still make room for others.

Those people deserve good things.

They deserve mornings that feel lighter. News that lands gently instead of hard. Unexpected kindness that finds them when they are not looking for it. They deserve rest without guilt and joy without explanation.

Christmas, at its best, reminds us that hope does not need to be complicated. Sometimes it looks like a simple sled ride across cold mountains. Sometimes it looks like color cutting through winter gray. Sometimes it is just the decision to wish well for someone else without needing anything back.

So this is my Christmas wish.

May good things find good people this year.

May effort be met with appreciation. May patience be rewarded with peace. May the kindness you put into the world circle back to you in ways you do not expect but deeply need.

If you are carrying a lot right now, I hope Christmas gives you permission to set it down for a moment. If you are celebrating, I hope it feels full and real and shared. And if you are somewhere in between, that strange quiet middle, I hope you know that counts too.

Christmas does not ask us to be perfect. It just asks us to be present.

Here is to warmth, to color in the cold, and to believing that good people still matter.

Merry Christmas.

#doodle #Christmas #santamagic #digitalmarkers #roanokeva

I still have yet to wrap presents that are going to be unwrapped tomorrow.

That sentence alone feels like a confession. Not a scandalous one, just the quiet kind you admit to yourself while staring at a roll of wrapping paper that has not moved in three days. The gifts are bought. They are hidden well enough. They are absolutely, undeniably not wrapped.

There is something oddly fitting about it. All season long we talk about preparation, planning, doing things ahead of time. Advent calendars count down the days. Lists get checked twice. Meanwhile, I am counting hours and telling myself there is still plenty of time, even though tomorrow is already leaning over my shoulder.

Wrapping presents has always felt less like a task and more like a moment. It requires stopping. Sitting down. Paying attention. Folding paper that never quite lines up and taping corners that pretend to cooperate. Maybe that is why it gets delayed. It demands presence, and presence is harder to schedule than a quick online order.

Tomorrow, the paper will be torn away in seconds. Tape will give up immediately. Bows will be tossed aside without a second thought. All that effort, gone in a flash. And yet, that fleeting moment is the point. The wrapping is not for efficiency. It is for anticipation.

So yes, the presents are still bare this morning. The scissors are still in the drawer. The tape is still on the shelf. But there is comfort in knowing that even last minute care still counts as care. Tomorrow will come whether the gifts are wrapped or not. I will get it done, probably later than planned, probably with crooked edges and too much tape.

And that is fine. Some traditions are perfectly imperfect, especially the ones finished just in time.

#doodle #procrastination #presents #wrapping #roanokeva

I have learned that I arrive places a little sideways.

Pisces on the front door. I don’t come in loud. I come in listening. Feeling the temperature of a room before I speak. Letting people project things onto me that I didn’t pack, and then gently setting them back down later. I’ve always known that solitude is not loneliness for me. It’s maintenance.

Money and value live in Aries. Which explains a lot. I need to feel like I earned my footing myself, even if it took longer or came in fits and starts. Independence isn’t a slogan. It’s a nervous system requirement. I don’t like being rushed, but I hate being boxed in more.

My words move like Taurus. Slow. Measured. I circle what I want to say before I say it. I repeat routes, phrases, ideas. Familiar roads matter. Familiar sounds matter. When I speak, it’s because I mean it, not because I need to fill the space.

Home has always been Gemini. Conversation. Books. Radios on in the background. Multiple threads running at once. Even silence feels like it’s thinking about something. Roots weren’t a single thing, but a handful of overlapping voices, all shaping how I learned to listen inward.

Joy lives in Cancer. Which means creativity comes from memory. From protecting small things. From holding something fragile and saying, this matters. I make things the way you make a meal for someone you love. Carefully. Personally. Sometimes quietly, hoping it lands.

Work needs Leo heat. I have to care. I have to feel some pride in what I do, or my energy goes dim. Recognition isn’t about applause, it’s about being seen as myself, not a stand-in. When daily life has a spark, I thrive. When it doesn’t, I feel it in my bones.

Partnerships are Virgo territory. I notice everything. I try to be useful. I’m better at showing up than sweeping gestures. I love through attention. The lesson, over and over, is learning when to stop fixing and let things breathe.

The deep stuff wears Libra. Even in transformation, I want balance. Even in endings, I want fairness. Shared resources, shared pain, shared healing, all of it wants conversation, not conquest. I believe in meeting darkness without tipping the scales.

Meaning is Scorpio. No shortcuts. No surface answers. I want the real thing, even if it costs something. Beliefs aren’t decorative. They’re forged. I’ve always been drawn to what’s hidden, not because it’s dark, but because it’s honest.

Public life stretches toward Sagittarius. Teaching without preaching. Pointing toward the horizon. I’m at my best when I’m allowed to be curious out loud, to say, look at this, isn’t it strange and beautiful. Legacy feels less like status and more like leaving a trail someone else might follow.

Friends and futures sit in Capricorn. I don’t collect people. I commit to them. Community is built, not stumbled into. Long-term plans matter. So does showing up, year after year, even when it’s quiet.

And underneath it all, Aquarius hums in the twelfth house. The private mind. The late-night thoughts. The sense that I’m tuned into something wider than myself, even when I don’t have words for it yet. Solitude brings ideas. Stillness brings clarity. Change starts quietly here.

When I look at the whole thing together, it feels less like fate and more like weather. A pattern of noticing. Of staying. Of watching the world carefully and responding with care.

Which, honestly, feels about right.

Reviewing my astrological chart today.

I was born under an arrangement of lights that prefers the edges of rooms.

This morning I learned again that the Sun is tucked away in Aquarius, behind the curtain, in the twelfth house where things murmur instead of announce themselves. That feels right. I have never been good at standing in the center. I have always preferred the side wall, where the paint bubbles slightly and the clock ticks louder than it should.

The Moon, sits in Taurus and spends its time in the third house, counting ordinary things. This explains the comfort I take in small, repeatable observations. The same birds returning to the feeder. The same patch of damp ground that never quite dries. Words written daily, not because anything happened, but because the day itself did.

Pisces rises. That, too, makes sense. People often look at me as if I am already halfway into a dream they had once but cannot remember clearly. Venus apparently lives there as well, softening the edges, lending an kind of accidental kindness to my manner. I have noticed animals trust me quickly. People sometimes do too, and then say more than they meant to.

Mars and Neptune are together somewhere deep and dark, in Scorpio, peering into the long corridors of belief and hidden history. This explains my habit of lifting old stones, not to move them, but just to see what has been living underneath. I rarely bring anything back. Knowing is usually enough.

There is a quiet seriousness in the chart about value and survival, a Saturn lesson that unfolds slowly. I have felt that lesson all my life, like learning how to carry something fragile without being told what it is.

None of this feels predictive. It feels archival. Like discovering a weather report from the day you were born and realizing it never really stopped.

Outside, the light is thin and wintery. The ground holds yesterday’s cold. Somewhere nearby, something small is leaving tracks I won’t see until later, if at all. I write this down anyway.