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Spence

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  1. Like
    Spence reacted to Duke Bushido in Just some random Traveller Hero thoughts   
    So many things I want to say, and only the accursed medium of miniature touchscreen with which to say them....     :😢
     
    I have only the past couple of nights begun to read Mongoose Traveller, and my findings thus far are akin to Scott's.  However, I more firmly disagreed with Mongoose's 'negligible mass" computers.  I had always assumed that a lot of the mass of the computer in Classic Traveller was the miles of wiring  and thousands of sensors and whatever electronics made things work via the computer, such as opening the airlock from the bridge, detecting a pressure change on deck 6, etc.
     
    It wasn't until so many third party materials included deckplans that there would be a  large chunk of area marked 'computer' that I spent even a moment thinking otherwise, and decided "well, that's not going to fly" and ignored it, instead declaring that box to be the main computer station, etc.
     
    When regarding computers the way I did,  the Mongoose change is little more than saying "that tonnage is now considered to be part of the Hull /infrastructure, so it is not _that_ big a deal, and computer money now refers to the cost od computer-specific bits like processors, etc.  The part I don't care for about the Mongoose change is that it makes the computer nearly invulnerable to minor damage, but still allows it to be completely destroyed: you miss some interesting opportunities to introduce malfunctioning grav plates, no-longer-automated doors, and life-support issues as obstacles for players fighting a running battle.
     
    Miller is ambivalent about the setting because he didn't write it.  Most of it was Joe Fugate and his playgroup who became DGP who became the driving force of additional supplements and background material for Traveller.  Miller himself doesn't use it any more than I do... Well, probably even less than I do, honestly.
     
    I had similar problems,with the hyper-developed universe that Scott did: it's like when people say "we are going to take a vacation and go 'explore' Manhattan."  I have bad news.  Someone already did that.  You are welcome to fight the throngs of people on the roads or the sidewalks if you like, and see if any of the streetsigns have interesting names....
     
    It got so bad that Miller had to decree that one particular small area was off-limits, and was for the players to build out as they wanted.  I mean, what was the point if having build rules for sectors ans systems and worlds if someone else had gone ahead and filled all that out for even the stars _beyond_ the heavens?!
     
    Hard to make that cartography cash (or even be a Scout!) When every gas station in the Imperium has a map?  What trade routes can you open when there are already megacorps bleeding the system dry?
     
    Worse yet, a lot of what came along eventually made the early published adventures impossible to place anywhere in the universe except that off-limits area reserved for your own special creations.
     
    It was nuts.
     
    Truth be told, I think that is why the entire focus of MegaTraveller was "Rebellion!  Tear down the Imperium!"  Notice That it was followed by New Era, the focus of which was explore, make contact, open trade routes, etc?  It was almost like trying to recapture the appeal of the early days of Classic Traveller.
     
    It failed, because you were rediscovering populated worlds, many of which had formed little empires with a few neighbors, and of course: somebody already lives here; we know about the imperium; we have the same tech you do-  well honestly, you couldn't just bomb everyone back to the stone age.  You weren't discovering new things; you were just finding out if the old maps were still good.
     
    They tried to resolve that by adding Virus, which was to have eaten all the data of the Encyclopedia Galactica, but seriously-   from _everywhere_?  From worlds and systems that Virus never reached?   
     
    It was fun(ish), but it did not recapture that original feel _at all_..
     
     How have I been successful with playing Traveller on HERO rules?
     
    I took a page from Miller' book: if your background suggests that you _should_ know a little bit about something (an Army colonel _should_ know something about beureaucratics), you take the higher of a characteristic roll or 11 or less.
     
    If your background suggests that you wouldn't know about it, then you take the lower of a characteristic roll or 8 or less.
     
    Characters are created literally as traveller characters: roll up characteristics. Either as traveller stats and convert, or- if you are feeling a bit more generous or are in a hurry- Primary Characteristica (remember I play 2e) are 2d6 plus 5.  If you are feeling more genrous than that, roll 3d6.
     
    Figured characteristics are... Well, _figured_.
     
    Pick a career and get cracking.  Mods to characteristics are applied directly.  Winning a skill grants that skill at 11-.  (Skills are broad in this game).  Win it again, add 1.  Originally I added 2, but HERO character progression is much more generous, allowing characters to simply buy up their skill levels with experience.
     
    Aging Crises are applied directly as well.
     
    Most importantly for character creation- and I cannot stress this enough in terms of making it feel like Traveller-  F\%#: "points balance" for character creation, at least at this point.  Keep track of your actual cost, of course, because someone there will likely have played HERO, and will scream like they are being tortured if the points don't match. (if there are other game groups in the area, encourage him to find one).
     
    Cascade skills: character selects a skill or small skill group (handguns or energy rifles, for example) which he will now have at his base OCV, (or appropriate characteristic roll, or 11-, depending on what skill or group we are discussing) and he will select one particular firearm (or subskill) with which he will gain a skill level.  Each time he rolls the same result, he can up that skill level, or pick a different weapon / subskill to get a plus one skill level.
     
    If he happens, somehow, to get ten points worth of plus one skill levels, he can opt to swap the various levels for a 10-pt plus one with the group.  With skills, this is what most players do.  With weapons skills, it is almost _never_ done.  Once they have a plus 3 in something, they don't want to get a plus one in ten other weapons at the cost of dropping those extra bonuses with that one weapon.
     
     
    Seriously though, when each character is done with his career and his mustering out and getting his skills, etc, get their points total and deduct it from the campaign limit for building the characters.
     
    That is what they have left to spend or bank at their pleasure.
     
    Social standing is a specific new Primary Characteristic.  If you are a noble (SS 15 or higher), it is initially treated as a Perk, and as it increases, the Perk becomes more expensive, and things such as "influence," "wealth," various noble powers, land grants, etc are added, and certain social skills are awarded.  All nobles will receive "conversation' and "high society" skills. High society skill is now based on the Social Standing Charactetistic.
     
    During gernation, _no_ characteristic may be increased more than 2 points or over 15 using the "balance" points. Social Standing may not be increased at all with balance points.
     
    Other than that, use them as you woukd to make a champions character- flesh out your Character with skills, equipment, perks, skill levels,etc.
     
    Because it is fun to play a scoundrel or a bastard child. The Noble perk may be purchased by characters who have lower social standings than 15, just be able to explain your disgrace.  Ha!
     
    No, I absolutely do _not_ use HERO rules for space combat.  I just don't hate myself that much.   We used to use rhe original traveller rules, but as time went on, the players gravitated toward the simplified rules as presented in both Traveller Basic and The Traveller Book; these systems use range bands akin to personal combat and feature simplified movement.  Not mt favorite, but it is not the HERO rules, so,,,..
     
     
    I have always wanted to use the Starfleet Battles game for ship combat, but I am the only one at the table  familiar with it (I was once well-known for the Klingon Butthook maneuver).
     
     
    There is so much more, but I have had all of this accursed touchscreen I can handle.
  2. Like
    Spence reacted to Cancer in General Sports Thread   
    To add more context: Wales is going to the World Cup for the first time in more than 60 years.
     
    AND they are in the same group as Iran, England, and the US.
     
    Not sure I want to think about that group in Qatar.  Three of the four teams could all get arrested and then decapitated for having a post-match beer party there....
  3. Like
    Spence reacted to Pattern Ghost in Weird Retro Question: Black Mamba   
    A light brick with that attack seems more like some kind of constrictor than elapid.
  4. Like
    Spence reacted to Joe Walsh in Traveller HERO conversion to 6th edition   
    I received my Traveller HERO books yesterday and I'm over the moon! 😁
  5. Like
    Spence reacted to BigJackBrass in Traveller HERO conversion to 6th edition   
    Touchdown in the UK! That’s pretty quick shipping and the books look wonderful.
     

  6. Haha
    Spence reacted to Bazza in What Is the Worst Movie You've Ever Seen?   
    No. When this thread goes dormant again, I’m going to ask L Marcus to post to it again so it will be a triple. No need to thank me, or curse L Marcus. It is he least we can do.
  7. Like
    Spence reacted to HeroGM in Military Factory   
    Someone suggested this on Twitter/YouTube. It's a site where you can look up Tanks/Aircraft/Naval Ships/Weapons etc by Era as well as by weapon I believe. Probably usable for Western and Pulp Hero along with Deark Champions. It boasts 5,500 entries.
     
    https://www.militaryfactory.com/
  8. Thanks
    Spence reacted to sinanju in What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...   
    I'm currently reading Hero (Girl in the Box # 31), by Robert J. Crane. I'm re-reading the whole series, at least until June 2nd, when book # 50 is released on Amazon. It's superhero fiction--of a sort. With rare exceptions, most metahumans don't wear costumes of any sort, and a lot of them (the younger ones, anyhow) regularly use guns. In fact, when the series starts, although metahumans have always been around, almost nobody knows that they exist. That doesn't last, and eventually their existence is public knowledge, and dealing with meta criminals (now that they're not restrained even slightly by the necessity to stay out of the public eye) is a big part of the ongoing story.
     
    The main protagonist is Sienna Nealon, an 18 year-old shut-in when the series starts. She's never left her house since she was five years old. Her mother educates her, and trains her in combat every day, and when she deems it necessary, punishes her by locking her in a steel box (the titular box of the series title) for hours or days. She wakes up one day when she hears strangers breaking into the house, where she's remained alone for several days after her mother went to work and didn't come back. That rude awakening is only the start, as she discovers the wider world, and the world of metahumans, and tries to figure out her place in it (and what happened to her mother). She finds herself thrust into frequent conflicts, and all that training--plus firearms training by her new allies--comes in handy.
     
    This is a violent, often bloody series. Lots of characters die. Heroes, villains, bystanders. Sometimes in large numbers. Sienna (and other characters, but mostly Sienna) really gets put through the wringer physically, mentally and emotionally. She has major triumphs--and crushing defeats, and while each book stands alone, they're also all part of ongoing multi-book plot arcs. It's a very pulp-style series
     
    I would say more, but most of what I could tell you would be spoilers--it's a fifty book series so far, so there's a lot of backstory and background info that was only revealed gradually. I bought the first book a couple of years ago, when I was trying out various superhero series on Kindle Unlimited. I liked it, so I bought the next one, and the next one. And eventually caught up, and now I have to wait for each new book to be published. Fortunately, the author is a MACHINE. He publishes four of these a year...in addition to several other series he also writes (or collaborates on).
  9. Like
    Spence got a reaction from Old Man in Non-gaming references for your games   
    Another really great series is the Howdunit series of writers guides.
    They are basically writers guides in multiple disciplines. 
     
    Here are the titles I have.
    Malicious Intent : A Writer's Guide to How Murderers, Robbers, Rapists and Other Criminals Think (The Howdunit) Mactire, Sean P.
    Police Procedural: A Writer's Guide to the Police and How They Work (Howdunit) Bintliff, Russell
    Armed and Dangerous: A Writer's Guide to Weapons (Howdunit Series) Newton, Michael
    Body Trauma: A Writer's Guide to Wounds and Injuries (Howdunit Series) Page, David W.
    Scene of the Crime: A Writer's Guide to Crime Scene Investigation (Howdunit Series) Wingate, Anne
    Police Procedure & Investigation: A Guide for Writers (Howdunit) Lofland, Lee
    Cause of Death : A Writer's Guide to Death, Murder and Forensic Medicine (Howdunit Series) Wilson, Keith D.
    Deadly Doses: A Writer's Guide to Poisons (Howdunit Series) Stevens, Serita Deborah
    Howdunit Forensics, Lyle, D P
    Book of Poisons: A Guide for Writers (Howdunit Series) Stevens, Serita and Bannon, Anne
     
    I mostly run investigative style games so these were fantastic resources to give things a gloss of believablity. 
     
     
     
  10. Like
    Spence reacted to unclevlad in General Sports Thread   
    I don't see it that way.  In part, because I think you're wrong:  they DO have the potential to use UEFA.  UEFA is a club championship;  FIFA is principally the national teams.
     
     
    The major loss is the World Cup...but how much of a loss is that, in a non-WC year?
     
    I can't comment that much about the engine, as I've never been even slightly interested in playing any of these.  BUT:  some factors to consider:
    --consistency of play, year to year
    --keeping the broad accessibility by NOT making the hardware requirements too onerous.
     
    I don't think this will hurt EA at all.  Quite the opposite, in fact, I think it'll boost sales in the US and Europe.  In the US, they lose the Women's World Cup...but the overall interest is much lower, and what percentage of eSports purchases are made by women?  But I'd trade MLS for the US mens' WC *any day*.  In Europe, they can work with every major league.  There's probably heavy overlap...if you're a fan of Chelsea, you're likely a fan of England in the Cup.  But you're a fan of Chelsea every year.
  11. Like
    Spence reacted to Christopher R Taylor in Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase Three and BEYOOOOONND   
    Yeah I would love to see them rescue Carol Danvers' reputation and persona, make her less an awful, unlikable person and show more of her doing great stuff for people and showing some humanity once in a while.  Not stealing some dude's bike because he hit on her, for example.
     
    And tons of stuff they could do with Asgard, if they took it seriously as a sci/fantasy setting.]
     
    I would personally avoid at all costs any remotest idea of doing "stuff that happened during the blip" and pretend it never happened, personally.  All it does is create serious continuity and moral conflicts.
  12. Like
    Spence reacted to Ternaugh in What Have You Watched Recently?   
    It's a well to which many have gone, some more successfully than others. Probably my favorite adaptation of the ancient astronauts concept was Stargate: SG-1.
     
    Prometheus: Prequel to Alien, this one has an expedition funded by the Weyland Corporation searching to discover a race of engineers, who were depicted in a bunch of ancient art from around Earth, along with a constellation of stars that were too far away to see without a telescope. The explorers find an ancient structure on a moon, and proceed to break just about every safety protocol while investigating, helped along by the unknown mission of their android, David. Solid cast, all "Acting Appropriately Stupid"* to allow the horror to develop. Not quite as good for me as either Alien or Aliens, it's still a decent watch. (Amazon Prime)
     
    The Pentaverate: Mike Myers plays a number of characters in this Netflix series about a "nice" secret society, and the polite Canadian reporter investigating them. There are many fun cameos, including during each episode's title sequence. Overall, fairly funny, though it does earn its TV-MA rating. (Netflix)
     
    Short Circuit: Nostalgia watch about a military robot that becomes sentient after a jolt of lightning zaps it. A fun watch. (Amazon Prime)
     
     
    *A rule in the RPG, It Came from the Late, Late, Late Show, for enforcing genre tropes in bad movies, like checking out a noise in a basement with a broken light after hearing a report on the radio that there's a homicidal maniac killing people in their homes.
  13. Like
    Spence reacted to Steve in Western Hero 6th edition   
    I think a Western Hero/Champions/Dark Champions crossover book of characters is a wonderful idea.
     
    Publish it and take my money, please.
  14. Haha
    Spence reacted to BoloOfEarth in What Have You Watched Recently?   
    As a gamemaster, I often have to help players spend accumulated XP.  I frequently find myself saying "You have 2 XP left - do you want to save them, or spend them on a ceramic dalmatian?"
  15. Thanks
    Spence got a reaction from Cancer in General Sports Thread   
    If generally I have be aware of the CWC for several years, but never spent much time on it because none of the teams I follow ever made it past the zone championship.  I was never a big follower of other country professional league.  I may watch some EPL or Bund.  But I don't follow it.
     
    I personally think this WC will be a failure attendance'wise.  From the articles I have seen, the current ticket and ticket package sales are far behind any previous WC.  To the point the stadiums will be partially empty without a concerted local effort to fill the gaps.  The only person I know that seriously looked into it decided not to because his wife and daughter would not be able sit in the same section of the stadium because women were restricted to a woman's section.  Plus the stadium is dry, though you can drink in your hotel.  While they may have changed some of the restrictions and not judging anything as good or bad, Qatar is not a "western" nation and its ways are not what someone from the US, Canada or Mexico would see as "normal".
     
    I personally have spent far too much time in the region, including Qatar.  And it is far too easy to do something that violates the law without realizing it is even a law. 
     
    While I am not a seer, I am fairly sure the attendance will not be what they hope for.
  16. Like
    Spence got a reaction from tkdguy in Just some random Traveller Hero thoughts   
    Not more socially focused with more melodrama.  Rather, having more social interaction within the adventure.  The best games IMO are in the 50/50 range.  It didn't change the types of adventures I ran, instead it changes (for the better IMO) the way the players play out the encounters.
     
    There is a difference, a big one, between the adding more social interactions into a action adventure and ditching the adventure entirely to pursue a melodramatic romance.  There are RPGs out there for playing out the social infighting on who has the most fashionable attire at the ball.  But that is not the intent or purpose of an action adventure game like D&D or Champions. 
     
    And because it hit my "button" and is not directed at you personally......
     
    I have also found a decided lack of care for people who cry railroad.  Have there been bad examples? Sure, but the vast majority are not.  Instead it is petulant blubbering by idiots that agreed to one thing and then discovered the GM expected them to own up to their part. 
     
    I still remember they whinny little a$${bleep} that ran around bad mouthing people until he got himself kicked out.  The GM built a adventure that was a pretty straight forward "rescue the princess" plot.  And the "railroading" was because the players were supposed to rescue the princess. 
     
    To every person who was traumatized because the GM didn't bend over to their every whim. 
     
    If the game doesn't interest you, then don't waste everyones time, don't play. 
     
    If you cannot find any games that you like and "everyone" always "railroads" you, the issue may be you and not the game or the GM.
  17. Like
    Spence got a reaction from Ninja-Bear in Just some random Traveller Hero thoughts   
    A couple of threads that were talking about Traveller hero made me think back to the old games a traveler that I used to really enjoy and the new games that frankly just aren’t as fun. When I played the old games the universe was an unknown, exploration was the big thing and even a small starship could have an impact. In the new traveler, not really new but super developed, the unknown is not really a thing it feels more like playing in a Star Trek Star Wars setting rather than a frontier setting. I think the issue is that technology is far too available and travel between the stars is far too easy. So I started thinking about what exactly changed and I decided to go back and try to figure out exactly what the differences were. First I opened up my PDF copies of Traveller in this case it was Mongoose Traveller and the starship rules and set up seemed off. So I went back and looked at my classic little black book and that is where I noticed a big difference in starships.
     
    The first thing I notice right off the bat is computers. In Mongoose Traveller a ships computer as a tech level rating and cost but no basic size or mass because they are thought to be distributed throughout the ship rather than being one device. The available programs are still somewhat limited (I believe to simplify play) and they chose speak off of using rating. Those programs are much more versatile than the old ones. Now Classic Traveller presents the computers differently. Instead of simply having a price and a rating, the classic traveler computer not only has a cost but it occupies space defined by tonnage as well as a program capacity. For instance a Model One computer takes 1 ton and can run a capacity of 2 in programs and with a stowage of 4.  A model for computer takes 4 tons and can run a capacity of 8 in programs with the stowage of 15. A hard point which is necessary to mount weapons as a requirement for 1 ton of computer space attached to each for fire control.
    Now for a computer to take tons of space/mass and only run one maybe two programs at a time seems very very dated. But in the 1970s when this game was written that would actually been a fairly small computer considering it was being used to run programs for traveling between the stars.
    That got me thinking, one of the issues with the science fiction campaign and exploring the universe is if your star drive can let you go literally anywhere, with the big issue being how long it takes. Then it becomes very difficult for a GM to not only build that universe but stay one step ahead of the players. In my mind that’s probably why so many games are run within established universes. If the Empire already exists then it’s easier for the players to have to interact within that Empire. But at the same time it makes it much harder to introduce unexpected changes. In an established universe first contact is not really a thing instead you get “yet another first contact”. 
    In the past I had read a really great book by an author named John Morressey called “A Law for the Stars” which was part of his Del Whitby series. The unique thing about that series was that the jump field a starship used destroyed advanced electronics. Mechanically based computing devices and tube driven electronics and large electronic components such as resistors, capacitors, coils and so on were fine. But any of the more advanced electronics were basically hashed. That meant starships were required to be built as low-tech as possible with only the jump coils being considered high-tech. But even they were built using “low-tech” components. This comes to mind because a computer occupying 1 ton of space/mass on a starship could easily be low-tech, and with the programs being single-purpose simple ones such as jump, maneuver, predict and so on. You could easily see this kind of constraint existing in the early traveler universe, or a version thereof.
     
    Another thing will be how we map the universe. How do we make it so that it’s explorable and yet constrained to make the GM’s life easier? While still being exciting? What if instead of a starship simply being able to jump in any direction based on how much it’s jump drive can reach, or just having a warp engine that zips off in the direction? What if we use jump points? Let us say that like the old Starfire universe a star system would have a limited number of jump/warp points that allow starship to travel between two locations. Each jump point would connect to another jump point in another star system and a starship could enter one end and jump to the other. Then let us say that different jump points have different sizes and capacities that regulate how large a ship can be and how fast the passage is. With all warp points being "pre-existing" a starship would either use "mapped" points to jump to known destinations or when a new warp point is discovered, make a blind jump to see what is there.  Explorers would map new systems and locate new Warp Points.
     
    With that in mind you could take the classic travel ship construction and carry it right across with the concept that is starship would use its jump drive to initiate a pre-existing warp point and thus travel between the stars. Bigger and better jump drives would allow larger ships to enter the war point or smaller ships with higher jump drives to travel faster. But the cargoes of those vessels would have to be basically low-tech. Because a modern laptop PC or a modern military computing suite would not survive the jump. That would mean humanity would spread slowly. A colony would have to make do with technology that does not use a chip or any of the other high technologies such as solid-state hard drives or even old-fashioned hard drives. Magnetic tape would probably be considered high-tech on board an operational starship.
     
    Now I would not want to rewrite or convert this to the Hero System since I don’t really see the need to convert the already super simple Classic Traveller starship system.  I’ve never liked the idea of trying to build up ships, vehicles, buildings and so on in Hero. It’s not that we can’t it’s just kind of pointless. I look at a ship just like I look at a tavern or an inn. It is a location for the player characters to do stuff in. Not a thing whose own movement and actions are super important. I really don’t feel the need to move counters around on a map of starships or other ships to play out a battle, except for something to allow a player or players to keep the situation in mind so their PCs can make decisions and do cool stuff. I actually prefer a “map” that consists of a center point where the PCs ship is, surrounded by rings where you place markers indicating targets or items around the ship. The rings would represent applicable range bands based on what the system is. If the PCs maneuver the ship the “targets” would rotate around to indicate their relative location from the PCs ship. I got that idea from a guy who built it for the Slipstream Savage Worlds setting and I like to use it for many of my space-based games. Now the thing that’s important is a good deck plan so the PCs have an idea of where they are at and what they’re trying to do.
     
    Just some rambling thoughts triggered by some of the Traveller Hero discussions
  18. Haha
    Spence reacted to Old Man in A Thread For Random RPG Musings   
    I prefer the term "vintage", thankyouverymuch.
  19. Haha
    Spence reacted to Duke Bushido in A Thread For Random RPG Musings   
    Have I gotten so old that what I thought was "just the way it has akways bewn' is now something to be 'rediscovered?!'
     
    Man, this -sucks-!
     
     
     
  20. Thanks
    Spence reacted to Old Man in A Thread For Random RPG Musings   
    I note that the original Fantasy Hero was 160 pages long and didn't feel cut down or abbreviated in any way.  It even includes conversion notes and sample adventures.  I still consider it the best version of FH in many ways.
     
    Unpopular opinion: Rules length is important, but not nearly as important as predefining powers.  Three months ago I had a Star Hero campaign end before it started, because it took literally weeks to stat out all the gear our characters were carrying.  And I've been playing Hero for over three decades--a new player doesn't stand a chance.  The rules for powers still need to be there, obviously, to explain what effects magic and tech have.  But more critical is to have predefined equipment and spell lists so players can start playing.
  21. Haha
    Spence reacted to Duke Bushido in A Thread For Random RPG Musings   
    My wife is currently sitting behind me charting (she's a home healthcare nurse).  When she works (I have recently discovered, as she didn't used to work from home) she has the unbelievably irritating habit of _loudly_ playing books on tape  (Yea; I like them, too, but not at death metal concert volumes, and our taste in books is criminally polar).
     
    Making it far, far worse is that, for whatever reason, she prefers books that are read by a speaker with a british accent.  I know that like any other nation, there is more than one accent.  I don't know how many british accents there are, but I know it's more than two simply because I am aware of the one that "sounds rather pleasant" and the one that is "get this man to a speech therapist and seriously, check his teeth and upper pallet for horrible deformities" severe speech impediment, and I have heard several other speakers sound "british, but neither  especially pleasant nor obviously impaired" (John Cleese is a great example of this: it's not the 'well that sounds cultured' or the 'those noises are an absolute war crime;' it is not unpleasant, and is still distinctly british), so I figure the total is "more than two."  They probably have names for the accents; I don't know, and it's not the point.
     
    The point is that my wife seems to be completely incapable of knowing that there are differences in these accents, and while one is pleasant and the other (or others) are inoffensive, there is one that, for humanitarian reasons, absolutely demands a mercy killing.  (it's the one with all the "oi" sounds and where "th" is pronounced "f."  Actually, damned near _everything_ is pronounced 'f' on the rare occasion that it isn't just omitted from the word completely).
     
    It boggles my mind that she really cannot hear the difference in these accents.
     
    At any rate, she's currently listening to a murder mystery (scratch that: she is damned near _always_ listening to a murder mystery.  I have tried to explain to here that other genres exist, but.... ).  The reader is clearly extremely comfortable switching accents to represent different character (and, unfortunately, is also completely comfortable with multiple voice-cracking falsettos for female characters).
     
    The short version is that I have never before heard anyone with the "bad accent" say "Madame Tousard's" before (forgive the highly-likely spelling errors) before.
     
    I am now trying to work up a likely reason that the fantasy campaign-- if corona ever ends-- needs an injection of the NPC "Madame Two-Swords."
     
     
     
  22. Like
    Spence reacted to unclevlad in General Sports Thread   
    Far, far, far, far, FAR too much money committed to do that.  WC rights are sold everywhere.
    Plus, every other group's schedule has that period blocked out;  ain't no way the major leagues will even consider playing, and obviously the national teams are...playing in it.  The NHL had a bit of a mess when it decided to skip the Winter Olympics;  the World Cup would be far worse.
     
    Yeah, the Sounders qualified for the Club WC.  But according to wikipedia, there's no date set.  Found this, which is relatively recent.  The English isn't very good but the gist is, there's no planned date.  At least one major stumbling block is that Europe already has a major scheduling issue, what with UEFA and the Champions League, on top of the regular league play.  Article also points out that the pandemic has led to some pretty massive losses, as well as losses of sponsorships.
    https://pledgetimes.com/the-new-version-of-the-club-world-cup-between-2023-and-2024/
  23. Thanks
    Spence got a reaction from fdw3773 in If Champions never existed, what superhero RPG would you have played (or be playing today)?   
    Started Supers with V&V. 
     
    Then Champs 1e entered our neck of the world we quickly changed over. 
     
    Played a little DC Heroes and really tried to play M&M but it's power/combat resolution system never clicked for me.
     
    So if Champs never existed it would probably be V&V.  Early edition V&V.
     
     
  24. Like
    Spence reacted to Cancer in General Sports Thread   
    Sounders crush Pumas in Seattle 3-0 (after having held serve in Mexico City with a 2-2 draw last week), becoming the first US team to win the CONCACAF Champions League.
     
    Seattle history recap
     
    EDIT: some highlights on this page
  25. Like
    Spence reacted to Ninja-Bear in What Have You Watched Recently?   
    @Spence, you make some good points. My bigger point is that D&D does have to have the boring, I roll and either hit or miss. I just use Hero’ sfx and mechanics rule. Hero I believe is the first game to come up with sfx separate from mechanics but that doesn’t mean it can’t be imported to other games. (Iirc we were describing near hits (miss by one on AC) in the D&D game as scraping off the armor or shield. And I think (since we weren’t looting every one) great damage rolls were breaking a shield to breaking a weapon.
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