This primer will teach you how to build living, breathing worlds for your players to explore; how to host game and manage game sessions; and how to create powerful experiences of adventure that your players will talk about for years to come. Learn the secret to becoming a judge, an adversary, a worldbuilder, and a storyteller and become an arbiter of worlds! “Every Macris campaign starts with a rich, open world; the edge of a massive map; and the ability to find adventure in any direction. After playing in a dozen of his campaigns, I can assure you that Macris is the best prepared, most thorough GM on the prime material plane. He balances “deadly adversary” and “the party’s greatest supporter” perfectly. I’ve been lucky to contribute to some renowned video game worlds, and to discus world design with some of the most accomplished writers alive. And I’m honestly not sure there’s been someone more thorough at and passionate for world building than Macris since ... maybe Tolkien? (Okay, maybe G.R.R. Martin, but he’s not as organized or efficient.) It takes organization, creativity, and careful technique to build a massive world efficiently and deliver it effectively, and Macris can show you how he does it.” - Dr. Michael Capps, award-winning videogame executive, writer, designer (*Gears of War*, *Fortnite*, *Unreal Tournament, Unreal Championship*) “Armed with decades of experience as both a player and a designer, Macris cuts to the marrow with razor sharp insights in an unapologetic and often painfully insightful analysis of every imaginable facet of being a Game Master. From implication of play inherent in a game’s design, to world building, to the often delicate nature of unspoken social contracts inherent in the hobby, the guidance found in Arbiter of Worlds is a much-needed breath of fresh air to veterans of the hobby and a forged-in-the-fire bootcamp for those taking their first steps behind the screen.” - James M. Spahn, Ennie and Origins Award Winning RPG designer “A superb read. He makes his points the way you would expect a Harvard-trained lawyer to do. If you read this book, you are going to come out knowing real things you did not know before that will help you run games at the table…” - Courtney Campbell, Hack & Slash

    Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: The Omnivore's Dilemma, in Defense of Food, the Botany of Desire, Food Rules, a Place of My Own, Second Nature. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals is a nonfiction book by Michael Pollan published in 2006, in which Pollan asks the seemingly straightforward question of what we should have for dinner. As omnivores - the most unselective eaters - we humans are faced with a wide variety of food choices, resulting in a dilemma. To find out about those choices, Pollan follows each of the food chains that sustain usindustrial food, organic food, and food we forage ourselves from the source to a final meal, and in the process writes an account of the American way of eating. Pollan begins with an exploration of the food-production system from which the vast majority of American meals are derived. This industrial food chain is largely based on corn, whether it is eaten directly, fed to livestock, or processed into chemicals such as glucose, often in the form of high-fructose corn syrup, and ethanol. Pollan discusses how the corn plant came to dominate the American diet through a combination of biological, cultural, and political factors. He visits George Naylor's corn farm in Iowa to learn more about those factors. The role of petroleum in the cultivation and transportation of the American food supply is also discussed. A fast food meal is used to illustrate the end result of the industrial food chain. The following chapter delves into the principles of organic farming and their various implementations in modern America. Pollan shows that, while organic food has grown in popularity, its producers have adopted many of the methods of industrial agriculture, losing sight of th...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=931450

    With easy-to-follow instructions on canning, drying, and pickling, you’ll enjoy your backyard bounty all winter long. Also available in this series: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, The Backyard Homestead Book of Building Projects, The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals, and The Backyard Homestead Book of Kitchen Know-How.

    The site is a terraced paradise on a hillside in Vermont that would otherwise be overlooked by conventional farmers as unworthy farmland. Falk's wide array of fruit trees, rice paddies(relatively unheard of in the Northeast), ducks, nuts, and earth-inspired buildings is a hopeful image for the future of regenerative agriculture and modern homesteading.The book covers nearly every strategy Falk and his team have been testing at the Whole Systems Research Farm over the past decade, as well as experiments from other sites Falk has designed through his off-farm consulting business. The book includes detailed information on earthworks; gravity-fed water systems; species composition; the site-design process; site management; fuelwood hedge production and processing; human health and nutrient-dense production strategies; rapid topsoil formation and remineralization; agroforestry/silvopasture/grazing; ecosystem services, especially regarding flood mitigation; fertility management; human labor and social-systems aspects; tools/equipment/appropriate technology; and much more, complete with gorgeous photography and detailed design drawings."The Resilient Homestead" is more than just a book of tricks and techniques for regenerative site development, but offers actual working results in living within complex farm-ecosystems based on research from the "great thinkers" in permaculture, and presents a viable home-scale model for an intentional food-producing ecosystem in cold climates, and beyond. Inspiring to would-be homesteaders everywhere, but especially for those who find themselves with "unlikely" farming land, Falk is an inspiration in what can be done by imitating natural systems, and making the most of what we have by re-imagining what's possible. A gorgeous case study for the homestead of the future.

    You'll see how to survey your home to determine your current household energy efficiency and use, and evaluate where solar power would best benefit you. You'll also calculate what the return on your investment will be before you make any decisions. Once you've decided on a project, you'll see whether it's best to hire a contractor or do it yourself. We leave no stone unturned--you'll also discover how to:Choose and install your best solar system Handle small to large solar projects Heat and cool your house with solar energy Install exterior solar lighting Handle swimming pool, water heater, or ventilation solar projects Create greenhouses or solar rooms Build, buy, or sell a solar home Finance your solar investments Take advantage of tax rebates and incentives associated with solar power Avoid the worst solar mistakes Featuring ten of the easiest and cheapest do-it-yourself solar projects, Solar Power For Dummies is the fun and easy way to meet your energy needs with this clean power source!

    Written and compiled by Holly Becker, founder of the hugely popular design blog Decor8, and Joanna Copestick, acclaimed lifestyle writer, this intensive home dcor program combines beautiful inspiration with nuts-and-bolts how-to for stunning results. More than 500 gorgeous color photographs provide motivation while line illustrations, checklists, shortcuts, and floor plans make it easy to get started. For those looking to make the most of their home and create stylish interiors, Decorate is the start-to-finish resource to keep on the bookshelf for years to come.

    The best-selling reference focuses on the basic materials and methods used in building construction. Emphasizing common construction systems such as light wood frames, masonry bearing walls, steel frames, and reinforced concrete, the new edition includes new coverage of green design and energy-efficient construction energies, and is based on the International Building Code(r).

    If you need to fit homesteading into a few hours each weekend and would like to have fun while doing it, these projects will be right up your alley, whether you live on a forty-acre farm, a postage-stamp lawn in suburbia, or a high rise. The May volume includes the following projects: * Plant your summer garden * Decipher nutrition * Choose the right mulch for each plant * Make homesteading easy with teamwork The second edition has been revised and expanded to match the paperback, with extra photos and feedback from weekend homesteaders just like you, plus permaculture-related avenues for the more advanced homesteader to explore.

    Instead you'll be able to absorb the most important content and begin applying it immediately after just one day!

    The Stout System of mulch gardening will allow you to throw away your weeding tools, pesticides, and fertilizers, and will conserve and replenish the soil to make plants thrive. (6 X 9, 226 pages, illustrations)

    This trend toward a more natural lifestyle has become something of a crusade for Annie Berthold-Bond, author of Better Basics for the Home. After developing hypersensitivity to even very low concentrations of chemicals, Berthold-Bond was forced to rid her life of as many toxins as possible. "It wasn't until I had to be away from chemicals that I began to realize how many we lived with. The extent of the contamination is startling--from hair spray and floor wax to dandelion killers and plastic shower curtains and other products that line our hardware stores and supermarket shelves." This book represents the culmination of her search for a more sustainable lifestyle. Taking her cue from an earlier time, Berthold-Bond, former editor in chief of Green Alternatives for Health and Environment, offers more than 800 simple and practical alternatives to common household toxins, covering everything from skin care to gardening. And the good news is that adopting her suggestions and formulas isn't hard at all. "Mixing up face creams or wood stain isn't much different than cleaning the windows with vinegar, soap, and water instead of using Brand Name X, or making a cake with flour, eggs and milk instead of buying a mix," see asserts. "With a few simple staples we can clean our houses, wash our hair, rid the dog's bed of fleas, and do many other things as well." If you have your doubts, here is her formula for metal polish: 3 teaspoons salt, 1 tablespoon flour, and enough white distilled vinegar to make a paste. Scoop the paste onto a clean sponge, and polish the metal clean. Rinse with hot water and buff dry. Sure, these days it's literally impossible to lead a life that is completely toxin-free. But you can significantly reduce your exposure, and picking up a copy Better Basics for the Home is a great way to get started.

    I was feeling so elated that I told the moon I had a special request. I explained that this life had been so full of pain for me that I didn't think I could do it all again. So I asked her if in my next life she could make sure that I found the plant medicine as soon as possible. Her reply floored me. She typed, 'Gerry, that's a request about next time, but it's the same one you used last time.'" Plant medicine? The moon typing? It probably seems incomprehensible. Gerard Armond Powell was a rags-to-riches success story—a member of the 1 percent—but also an extremely unhappy person with multiple addictions. On a fast track to destroying every relationship that ever mattered to him and considering suicide, he was looking for a miracle, a way out. He found it in the form of plant medicine and a shaman who introduced him to the truth of his life, and laid the groundwork for a psycho-spiritual journey that would lead him to reconnect with his soul, heal his addictions, and, finally, achieve a lasting sense of peace and happiness. This experience changed Powell, and convinced him to share the universal truths he learned with as many people as he could, which he does at the acclaimed Rythmia Life Advancement Center in Costa Rica, and now with readers in Sh*t the Moon Said. This mesmerizing story gives readers a blueprint to chart their own course to happiness. The first step is to learn who they really are and the possibilities of what they can still become. Second, they have to achieve a reconnection with their souls. And third, they must heal their hearts. Sh*t the Moon Said provides us with an irreverent way of highlighting our shared unconscious wisdom and its life-changing potential. Powell's candid tale and unlikely journey will help inspire readers to know themselves better, and to find the path to their own greatest redemption.

    This is the one, the only, Old Farmer’s Almanac! Recognized for generations by its familiar yellow cover, the Almanac for 2014 promises to be "useful, with a pleasant degree of humor," fulfilling once again (for the 222nd time) the mission set forth in 1792 by its founder, Robert B. Thomas. In addition to its 80 percent–accurate weather, this year’s signature mix of wit and wisdom, tips and advice, forecasts and fun includes . . . • an astronomy quiz to test your Sky-Q • anglers’ six favorite fish and secrets to hooking them • vegetables and other perennial edibles to grow • the time in our lives: where it goes, ways to make the most of it, and more • the whole truth about whole grains • how to get bitten by a pet (if you’re not careful) • rings around Earth (think Saturn) that might influence our weather • health tips for each zodiac sign • envelope and napkin jottings that changed the world • plus: Moon phases and other celestial sightings, tides, historic trivia, gardening tables, best days, and too much more to mention! Added value this year: • 80 full-color pages • full-color winter and summer weather maps • updated Reference section

    A best-selling, fully illustrated, and comprehensive book, this large-format volume has been required reading for every angler for the past two decades. Included here are instructions for tackle selection; casting and presentation; flies and their specific uses; successful techniques on stream, pond, or ocean; and the select tackle, flies, and methods for pursuing every major gamefish in fresh and salt water, from bass to bonefish, tarpon to trout.

    This book looks to change this problem and reduce both the time and effort required to clean and maintain your house. We have compiled a list of tricks, tips, and household hacks that will save you time, energy, and even money. Some of these tips you may have heard or seen before, but others will surprise and amaze you. Some of these tips will streamline your cleaning techniques and improve your efficiency. Other tips will allow you to clean with natural, homemade cleaning ingredients, which will save you money. Other tips will make you say " WOW! Why didn't I think of that?!.This book is intended for cleaners of all ages and skill levels. From single household owners to families filled with children, this book will help you clean and maintain your household. These tips were collected from tried and tested methods from Grandparents, Moms, Dads, and different clever people who all had one goal: to clean as fast as possible.(added by Top Books Worth Reading)