#cm4

Desk of Ladyada - I2S DACs, Claude API, and Compute Module Backpack 🤖🎒🥧 https://youtu.be/XihMNhTyUlg

CM4 — Earthshaker! is a straight-up classic, one of the best modules for basic D&D and probably the best of the modules supporting high level play. You can see why on the cover: giant robot! Truly, massively giant — it is 1,280 feet tall, taller than the Empire State Building. And it is running amok. And the only way to stop it is to traverse it’s interior, a massive, moving, mechanical dungeon, before it flattens another village. Zeb Cook delivers on this one, man.

There are politics and schemes and a whole domain detailed in the adventure, but the heart and soul of the thing is the giant automaton. It’s one of the wildest dungeons ever created for any edition of D&D and it is damn strange that it doesn’t get more love. That’s probably because the robot is the product of ancient gnomish engineering. I suspect folks don’t like technologically inclined gnomes as much as I do (and even I have my limits — just wait till August’s posts).

My very favorite part of the module, though, is the final page. Assuming the players are triumphant in stopping the robot from destroying the country, what then? They either have a gigantic robot rusting in place in the middle of a field somewhere, or they have a truly epic pile of scrap metal. What do you DO with it? The last page offers some ideas, but the real joy of this adventure is see what the hapless players come up with. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, after all!

In Carlo’s Level 4 Pop’n Sweet Cafe story, we see him prepare a Meat Dish for MC.  The story specifies that lamb is the meat even though it doesn’t say anything else about it other than that it is “packed full of all those nutrients women go wild about.”  

The image looks like the dish features lamb shanks, so I found a nice recipe!  The vegetables listed in the link don’t seem to be crucial to the recipe so I’m sure you can substitute some for whatever you have.

INSTRUCTIONS

Sprinkle shanks with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook shanks until brown on all sides. Transfer shanks to plate. Add onions, carrots and garlic to pot and saute until golden brown. Stir in wine, tomatoes, chicken broth and beef broth. Season with rosemary and thyme. Return shanks to pot, pressing down to submerge. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover, and simmer until meat is tender. Remove cover from pot. Transfer shanks to platter, place in a warm oven. Boil juices in pot until thickened. Spoon over shanks.

-carolinescooking.com

The recipe recommends preparing mashed potatoes to soak up all the juices, which sounds like a great idea to pack in more female nutrients!!