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BoneDaddy

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  5. I have a dream. (and MAN was it wierd!)

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    I had slain my enemy. Killed him, not murdered - he had it coming. He was a villain, a monster among men, and my revenge was overdue. My revenge was not a dish served cold, however. I cooked substantial portion of him into a meatloaf and ate him. This is unsettling as dreams go. The worst part: He was delicious. Best meatloaf I ever had.

  11. Creepy Pics.

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: Creepy Pics.

     

    Nice!

     

     

    The artist misses a few conventions of little kid art, but still, a very effective medium for a creepy little tale. At that age, suns are still monochromatic and in the corner, and eyes are almost never hollow. The "m" birds aren't quite deliberate enough for a beginning artist. Kids don't kern their handwriting that well. Penny-ante stuff that knocks verisimilitude, but still I liked it!

     

  18. Archery shields?

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Archery shields?

     

    I suppose an archer could devise a wearable rig to make the central hand-grip fit onto a hard sleeve of some sort, so the shield could be worn on one arm without cutting off circulation or flopping about while still being able to be held in the hand of the other arm. Alternatively, maybe archer's bucklers would have a different handle somehow to make that a quicker trade.

     

    Cap's aspis shield is held in the left hand or the right, albeit with a bracelet in addition to the handle for the left. A buckler for an archer would need to be a weird forearm guard for most of its life.

  19. Archery shields?

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: Archery shields?

     

    (Arise my thready minion! Rise from the dead to stalk the night!) Thread Necromancy is never pretty, but it happens.

     

    So I've run into this buckler and bow issue, and it's only an issue because I'm picky. Games are for fun, and verisimilitude and wizardry shouldn't stand too close to one another, but here I am anyway.

     

    You can't shoot a bow with a buckler on your bow-holding-arm, I believe, because it may get in the way of the arrow and the bow-string. That puts it on the arrow drawing arm, which is also the dominant hand.

     

    So? So you don't carry your shield on your dominant arm in melee combat. In fact, a buckler is typically carried in the fist instead of hung on the forearm. Outside of fantasy gaming it just isn't the way to use the darn things. The round hoplite shield, the aspis, and the targe were all a good bit larger than the buckler, which was about the size of a personal pizza. It looks kind of odd on a forearm. If I was an archer I'd wear it cheerfully, since it's better than blocking an arrow with my naked arm, but in melee blocking with that on your arm will earn you a hook-hand if you're lucky.

     

    Bucklers in use:

     

     

     

     

    But, to change from ranged combat to melee would also mean changing from a small shield lashed to a forearm to a small shield held in the fist of the other arm. Probably the same action cost as drawing a weapon? Of course, you're trying to draw another weapon at the same time with the arm the buckler is strapped to. Skill levels in quick-draw. Suddenly it makes sense.

  20. What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

     

    I just finished "Boneshaker" by Cherie Priest, the first book in the "Clockwork Century" series.

     

    This book takes place in an alternate Seattle set in the 1880's...roughly 16 years after a subterranean bank robber released the Blight, a gas that turns people into very aggressive zombies. This resulted in downtown Seattle being walled up and virtually abandoned. The bank robber's teenaged son decides to enter the hellish center of the city, looking for clues that will redeem his father. Hours later, the boy's mother discovers where he has gone and pursues him. I don't want to say anything more specific, for fear of spoiling the enjoyment of future readers.

     

    This book has lots of steampunk elements. The author does a nice job of depicting the suffocating atmosphere and the desperate plight of those who remain within the walls of downtown Seattle. The characters are fully realized and the action is believable/satisfying. As I was nearing the end, I was eagerly turning the pages to see what would happen next.

     

    I recommend it. I will definitely buy the novella "Clementine" and (assuming I like reading Clementine) the novel "Dreadnought".

    Ditto. The other two books in this series are Dreadnought and Ganymede. I'm about half-way through Ganymede right now. These are fun stuff, with decently three-dimensional characters, many of whom happen to be female. Good stuff all around.

  25. The "Nice Happy" Thread

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: The "Nice Happy" Thread

     

    Today in the car I put on Fragile, by Yes, which I picked up off iTunes last night.

     

    Ben, my 12 year-old:

    "Wow! What is this? Why haven't I heard this before? You should play this more often!"

     

    This is a part of Fatherhood I've been waiting for. The Sharing Of The Good Music.

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