Spence

Re: Need Book Recommendations Just remember there seems to be no middle ground in the Trek novels. They are either really fun to read or really really really......REALLY bad.

Re: Need Book Recommendations Nope, you are right. I read a lot of scifi and they do tend to have a lot of the sex, violence or both. And thinking about it, I'll have to agree with the statement that fantasy seems to have a lot more kid friendly books.

Re: Need Book Recommendations Good one

Re: Need Book Recommendations I wasn't doubting you, I was just curious. I had never looked at his books as being aimed at a specific age. Of course I don't have kids and hardly ever give much thought to if something is appropriate or not. I do think it is great that he has taken the time to write scifi so that young people can read it. It seems to me that between the 80's and 90's, most scifi authors available in the US refused to write “clean” serious scifi, the only stuff you could find was so kiddyfied that even kids couldn’t stand it. Kind of like Anime. They either imported true pre-school/kiddie shows or took stories aimed at adults, edited and dubbed them for the “appropriate” audience (everyone knows animation is only for ages 12 and under, right [/sarcasm]). Now many Americans are firmly entrenched that Anime is just kid cartoons. Same with books. I think one of the reason I like Heinlein, Del Ray and the other 50-60’s authors who wrote “juveniles”, was because they told the scifi stories in a “serious” manner instead of being condescending. Just like the Harry Potter books have done for fantasy.

Re: [Review] Hudson City: The Urban Abyss Woot!!!! Woot!!!! Woot!!!!!

Re: Need Book Recommendations Which stories of his do you consider "young adult". I've read a lot of his books, but never felt he was "aiming" at any particular age group. He just seems to be able to write a story without needing the gratuitous sex crutch. Enjoyable reads though.

Re: Need Book Recommendations Ah yes, the great movie Wing Commander. That was a joke, the great part..... Basically the movie Wing Commander was a steaming pile when compared to the actual books just like Starship Troopers the movie was when compared to what Heinlein actually wrote. But both movies have their minions who think they were great.

Re: Need Book Recommendations That's who wrote them! I read them a while back. I lost them in a move and could never remember the author and full titles. You are right, they are good fun reads. I need to see if I can hunt them down again. For Heinlein anything on the juvenile list is young person safe. Later in life his style morphed and the books became more adult in theme so they could be a bit mature depending on the reader. Too bad about ST, it was one of the first of the power armor scifi books plus it was written with the understanding younger readers would probably pick it up. I have Armor and really enjoyed it, but it is a much more adult book, grittier and darker.

Re: Need Book Recommendations His Carson of Venus series is also good. And don't forget Tarzan.

Re: Need Book Recommendations I love both series but they are plot intensive and could be hard to follow, especially the politics. The first HH book is pretty linear, but after that thing get complicated. The Vor series is just complicated.

Re: Need Book Recommendations I'd be careful with Prachett myself. He uses a humor type that is pure love/hate. I had a teacher that thought they were great books and kept requiring them to be read. It almost made me a non-reader. Even today you can't really find anyone that is in the middle. There are a few other authors are like that but they tend to write more mature books. Mind you I'm not saying Prachett is bad, as the very large fan base will remind you just how many people do like them. Staekly's may be a bit mature for a younger child. By the way, what age are we talking?

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? Didn't mean to say you hadn't. Several of my friends who had never seen the series but did see the movie went back and rewatched the movie after completing the series. They all agreed they got twice as much out of the movie and noticed a lot of things that had just slid by because they didn't have a frame of reference. Especially the in-jokes. If you watch the movie after finishing the series is seems to be betterer

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? Now watch Serenity. It will make a lot more sense.

Re: Need Book Recommendations Some of Lin Carters Sword and Raygun series were good. The Callisto series and the Green Star series.

Re: Need Book Recommendations Poul Anderson - good call! What were some of the titles of Micheal McCollum's series?

Re: Need Book Recommendations Outstanding series. Great suggestion Very good catch. I am a Heilein fan and grew up reading his books, but his style changed in the later years. His juveniles are great reading. Also if you can find them try Lester Del Ray's and Andre Norton's early scifi, they fit as well.

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? Watching it as I am typing this. It is The Women of Ninja Warrior right now

Re: [Heresy] Do we need Killing Attacks? I know you don't like the KA mechanic, but try it with 0 STN possible. It changes the dynamic a bit. I think it is worth the change.

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? Another episode of Jumong....

Re: [Heresy] Do we need Killing Attacks? Ignored that one too

Re: [Heresy] Do we need Killing Attacks?

Re: [Heresy] Do we need Killing Attacks? Well actually it doesn't. One of the big things KA does is allow for a person to be able to take BDY damage and no STN. This is the gritty real world flavored thing that only KA does. There has been many many recorded occurances where a person takes an extemly damaging wound and doesn't realize they were even hurt. So far, and I must admit I have not read the entire thread indepth, all of the methods so far are to get average BDY/STN totals using regular damage. But none of them address the primary utility of KA, which is to be able to apply a set range of BDY with a very wide range of dependent stun from none to a high max which I consider a key must in Heroic games. But just an opinion since I don't really see Hero as broken at all.

Re: [Heresy] Do we need Killing Attacks? OK, I understand the point better now. It works for me as is. But I am always open to refinements. I just don't see a way to change things that would "make it better". But that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Re: [Heresy] Do we need Killing Attacks? Thinking about it. It really isn't a question about the mechanics at all. I mean it really isn't a question if KA is or isn't "broken". The question really is "is KA appropriate to the game and world you are running". With the way the hero system is designed nothing is fixed in place or required. If I don't like a certain power I can simply disallow it, and it is simply not missed.

Re: [Heresy] Do we need Killing Attacks? I don't think that KA as a mechanic or a rule has any problems at all. In some games I run it is allowed. In some it isn't. To me KA has the little Stop sign and I treat it accordingly. The ability for KA to deliver a high body with no stun makes it simulate real life damage where someone can take serious injury and not realize they were hit. Can KA be abused? Yes. But then so can practically anything else if munchkined too far. It is the GM's job to maintain campaign cohesion and balance. This means they must also regulate PC point spending limits. IMO, and it is just an opinion, any time an RPG (any RPG) has players get out of control in rampant munchkinism, it is because the GM has failed to set and enforce reasonable limits. I don't think KA is broken. I do think it must be carefully controlled.