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[Jennifer]

This episode doesn't come out for another week, but Joe tells me that he mentions steel-cut oatmeal during the show and I wanted to post the recipe for those that are interested while I have the time.

We make all our oatmeal on Sunday and then portion it out for the rest of the week. The below recipe is for gamer-sized portioning. Microwave in the morning and add fresh fruit if you like (frozen fruit turns mushy).

Steel-Cut Oatmeal
2 cups steel-cut oats
6 cups of water
3/4 cup of brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
skim milk

Add oats to water and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-25 minutes.
Once oatmeal has firmed, add brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Add milk to your preferred consistency (Joe prefers his more liquidy than I like mine).
Portion out into microwave-safe containers.

Because it has milk in it, you shouldn't put more than three-days' worth into the fridge. Put the rest in your freezer and then move them to the fridge on Wednesday night.

You can buy frozen berries (mixed or individually) but they can overpower the cinnamon and nutmeg (nutmeg is my secret recipe for everything). And use quality cinnamon, organic if you can afford it. You won't regret it. The taste is so much better. You can just smell it as it cooks. It'll make your mouth water.

I hope you enjoy.

[PatrickW]

Podcast comments...  from THE FUTURE!
 

[Joe]

She's cool like that.

[Gaerma]

Speaking of Nerd Rage, the episode abruptly ends ~10 minutes in. 

Cool things you may have missed: the last 45 minutes of the episode. 

[Joe]

Speaking of Nerd Rage, the episode abruptly ends ~10 minutes in. 

Cool things you may have missed: the last 45 minutes of the episode. 

Twas an error with your download. Did you get it through iTunes? Because I don't even have it showing up on my iTunes feed yet. I've listened to the show in its entirety streaming off the site so I know the file is there. Just double checked and it's still there.

You should delete the file you have and redownload.

[jonathan_landreth]

I also got the full episode last night from the website.

  I'm curious to what Luke means about getting around 2 heals a day for a Cleric. Is this for level 1 or down the road? What I love most about the 4e Cleric is that you're the best healer in the game, but the class is more than just the "heal bitch". Also, Matt, I want to know how you built your Cleric. Did you go down the path of being the melee or ranged cleric, or did you try to do both? I've seen Clerics that try to do everything the class has to offer and fail miserably. You end up just feeling subpar at everything. I'd put money down on that being Phil's mistake, based on how his buddies describe him.

[david]

Your assumption is correct. 

It's one of the base assumptions of 4e:  you excel at what you're good at. 

Don't try and spread it around.  I'm multi-classed into warlord right now on my Ranger.  If I weren't, my init bonus would be 11. 

Try and excel at two types of the subclass roles, and you're only doing yourself a disservice and will leave feeling frustrated.  This isn't 3.x, you can't do everything.

[Joe]

Try and excel at two types of the subclass roles, and you're only doing yourself a disservice and will leave feeling frustrated.  This isn't 3.x, you can't do anything outside a tightly defined archetype.

Fixed that for you.

[Matt]

I'm curious to what Luke means about getting around 2 heals a day for a Cleric. Is this for level 1 or down the road? What I love most about the 4e Cleric is that you're the best healer in the game, but the class is more than just the "heal bitch". Also, Matt, I want to know how you built your Cleric. Did you go down the path of being the melee or ranged cleric, or did you try to do both?

I am thinking that should have been two heals per encounter.  Healing Word 2/encounter is straight out of the PHB.

My 2nd lvl LFR cleric, Majorn Domage, has a high Wisdom and Strength, and that is about it.  Clerics don't need int, dex, con, or chr, right?  He does melee (+7 with Greatspear) and ranged (+8 with lance of faith).  Nothing world shattering, but his to-hits are pretty solid and he pumps out the healing.  Less boring by 2nd level, BTW.

[rumrokh]

That archetype comment is totally wrong. With creative multi-classing and power choices, you can build very original characters that are not based off of any archetype. Plus, the flavor is wide open. You just have to understand the limits of what any one character is capable and of what any group is capable.

A two-person group is going to benefit a lot more from "spread it around" than a five-person group. And once you have all of the combat roles covered, spreading things around doesn't hurt and can just as easily help.

Honestly, if you take the cleric discussion and boil it down to a discussion about archetypes, then you don't understand what it's about. Some cleric powers use wisdom, while others use strength. They accomplish basically the same mechanical task. Damage the enemy, buff your party, debuff your enemy. Flavor-wise, both wisdom clerics and strength clerics could be pretty well identical. And one wisdom cleric could be totally different from another. But you only have so many ability points to spend, so giving yourself so-so scores in everything and then trying to do everything will end up with, surprise, so-so results.

This isn't to reign in character creativity or more firmly implant archetypes, it's to keep classes from cherry picking the best of every world. It's actually mechanical protection AGAINST the superwarrior archetypes.

[Joe]

Insert quarter. Watch it go.

[rumrokh]

[david]

Try and excel at two types of the subclass roles, and you're only doing yourself a disservice and will leave feeling frustrated.  This isn't 3.x, you can't do anything outside a tightly defined archetype.

Fixed that for you.

That's kinda the point.  If you want a cleric who heals less and fights more, PLAY A PALADIN.  Or a fighter.  Or another class that does what you want, don't shoehorn something that doesn't fit. 

If you're against the archetype restriction, pick something, make it work for you and then call it whatever you want.

[lachlain]

If you want a cleric who heals less and fights more, PLAY A PALADIN.

Did you guys give this advice to Phil?

(My triumphant return to the forums!!!!! and I really have nothing to say or add.)

[keithcurtis]

What if you wanted to make someone who was trained as a pianist, but had to quit when his father died to get a job as a longshoreman? His best friend in the world showed him all kinds of bits of non-magical legerdemain, and he spent time on ship learning to sail, fight very well with his hands and heard many, many stories from distant lands. He has picked up bits of ten different languages, and a talent for mimicry. Oh, and he just discovered he's a werewolf.

D&D is a cool game for making D&D characters who live in a D&D world. Yes, the archetypes are narrow, because the expected action is narrow: fight stuff, get stuff, get better. That can be a fun game. I've done it enough as a GM, though I might not mind playing it occasionally.