Joe Walsh

Also in the news: Kenya and Uganda passing what's probably the most anti-LGBTQ+ legislation ever:
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/24/uganda-lgbtq-bill-united-states-republican-anti-gay-connection/
 
 

I expect it is indeed complicated. But I think it's also necessary to sift out attitudes based on kind of gun and their utility (hunting, target shooting, personal defense, etc) and intensity of attitudes. Most forms of gun ownership, for most purposes, I can understand as rational. I understand hunting, or target shooting, or wanting a weapon if someone breaks into your home. I have greater difficulty understanding the desire to own weapons capable of killing lots of people in very short times, other than... somebody wants to kill lots of people in a very short time. And I can see gun ownership as a right that must be balanced with other rights of other people, just like every other right in society. A demand for an absolute and unlimited right to lethal force makes me think something else is going on, and I want study on who holds such views and why.
 
Dean Shomshak

I use it, but not when introducing new players to the system.
 
A scratch sheet is used for keeping track of END.
 
No house rules.

During a lockdown impulse I bought a copy of Brindlewood Bay.
I’ve never played it (my gaming group is full of competitive rules junkies) but it looks fascinating.
It seems to be Murder, She Wrote with Lovecraftian undertones, where the players create the solution. Wild!
 
I was looking at the company website and it seems I have a pre-release copy of the game which is only 40 pages. 
The game now available online is 168 pages! 

A long time ago, I ran long-term, very popular campaigns that were essentially soap operas. One was set mostly in and around a pseudo-medieval tavern; the second was set mostly in and around a megacorp owner's mansion. While both campaigns were nominally based off of specific RPG rulesets (AD&D 1e for the first, Classic Traveller for the second), both evolved into rules-light story games because that's the direction the groups ended up going in. Sure, there were occasional story-driven missions that were very much like the usual adventures you'd expect in their respective games, but most of the playtime was consumed with pure soap opera stuff with dual loyalties, secret lives, evil twins, dramatic deaths, skullduggery, betrayals, and the like.
 
I always wanted to pick up a copy of SPI's Dallas RPG and see how they decided to approach the genre.
 
 

I'm a licensed gun owner and have enjoyed using firearms at the range since I was a kid. Where and when I grew up, most families had at least one firearm, and many of the people I knew enjoyed sport shooting of one sort or another. I sure do.
 
And still it shocks me to see how for many it's evolved from being a hobby or sport to what appears to be a core identity. One result of which seems to be that many of the folks who understand best what weapons of war do are using every means at their disposal to keep such weapons in the civilian world. I just can't square that in my mind.
 
Is it the industry propaganda? Walther makes great products, but I get emails from them all the time telling me things like "It's your duty to be prepared" (with their latest product being just what I need in order to do my "duty," of course). Is it stuff like that, from gun manufacturers and their mouthpieces at the NRA?
 
How did we end up here?
 

I'm a licensed gun owner and have enjoyed using firearms at the range since I was a kid. Where and when I grew up, most families had at least one firearm, and many of the people I knew enjoyed sport shooting of one sort or another. I sure do.
 
And still it shocks me to see how for many it's evolved from being a hobby or sport to what appears to be a core identity. One result of which seems to be that many of the folks who understand best what weapons of war do are using every means at their disposal to keep such weapons in the civilian world. I just can't square that in my mind.
 
Is it the industry propaganda? Walther makes great products, but I get emails from them all the time telling me things like "It's your duty to be prepared" (with their latest product being just what I need in order to do my "duty," of course). Is it stuff like that, from gun manufacturers and their mouthpieces at the NRA?
 
How did we end up here?
 

The entire "assault rifle" debate is a red herring designed to give 2a types an out by letting them turn the debate into a semantic argument and blow off the opposition because they "don't know what they're talking about".  It's a trap.  Just don't use the term and focus on firearm features like detachable magazines, semiautomatic fire, sound suppression, and folding/telescoping parts that enhance concealability.  Or you could ask them what their solution is for all the dead kids.

He isn't lying.
 
The health insurance provisions are not limited to minors. They refer to the definitions in the prohibitions for care of minor sections as to what constitute "gender clinical interventions," but say nothing about being limited to health insurance coverage for minors.

I've read vague rumors of a "toxic work environment" among the MCU VFX teams, but no specifics.
 
Quantumania had a squarely average (for the MCU) opening weekend, beating out Far From Home, the other Ant-Men, Cap I & II, Strange I, Iron Man I, and GotG I.  I suppose it could still turn out to be a flop by Hollywood standards but I wish I could flop to a half billion dollar worldwide gross.  It is falling short of Love & Thunder and WF, fwiw.

I wasn't aware of her either, but it appears she's been with Marvel Studios for quite a while, through a lot of successes and some failures:
 
 
(Oops, Ninja'd by Ternaugh! )

SARS-CoV-2 infection weakens immune-cell response to vaccination

Gaslight: Horror and Heroics in the Victorian Era….keywords nailed. Shameless plug. 

Actually there are some rules for this.  The optional guarding areas and ignoring opponents and interposing are in book 2 in 6th edition.   Something similar was in the ultimate martial artist for 5th edition, and I think the 4th edition Ninja Hero book also had them.
 
Guarding does not actually prevent someone from going past you, but if they do they are at ½ DCV.   Interposing is basically taking a penalty to DCV that becomes a bonus to OCV is the person attacking attacks what you are defending.  Both of them use a held action. 
 
While these do not prevent someone going past you they do put anyone who tries at a big disadvantage.  The penalties for doing this should be obvious so anyone trying to get past someone who is guarding an area is going to know they are at ½ DCV.  If you are guarding an area and the opponent moves up to attack you instead of ignoring you they are at full DCV.  Knowing that ignoring you is likely to get them hurt or killed will often be as effective as actually preventing them from moving.  A group of experienced combatants used to working together can probably get around you, but that is often the case in real life. 

I don't know how many versions of the game I may be mixing here, but aren't there sweep and multiple move bys and grab one guy, slam another, and martial throws?
 
There's a lot of ways for a sufficiently superior hero to hold many lesser foes at bay!
 
And once you've done a dramatic one, Roll that PRE Attack!

I am late to this but it has been a good read. I played football in high school as probably did most of you, I did not play on either offense or defense I kicked field goals. I was 5'3" tall and weighed 97 lbs. Under 40 yds. I was lethal, one field goal try was from the 32, the snap was botched, the holder fumbled it then flipped it back to me. I ran with it and at the 2 yd. line I thought I had a touchdown when I got grabbed, then lifted and flung over a shoulder and began an unpleasant trip back up the field. WE had crossed the 15 when the ref finally blew the play dead, there was a long argument about whether I had been tackled, the tackler said my knees never hit the ground so no tackle, the ref ruled a grab was a tackle.

I actually don't see that as a problem so much as a feature.  It shows someone experienced in combat, watching their opponent, learning openings, seeing patterns they can exploit etc.  A higher speed in combat doesn't just mean "I hit more" it means greater flexibility and more opportunities to take advantage of combat tactics.

Federal government to drastically restrict your ability to receive text messages

Ivermectin advocate dies from horrifying side effects — and followers report 'severe' symptoms

My cousin and her wife popped up on Sunday to see Mum which was nice.

Meanwhile, Minnesota is a beacon of hope
 
Minnesota governor signs executive order protecting rights to gender affirming care

eta: https://itch.io/b/1753/ttrpgs-for-trans-rights-in-florida
(A TTRPG bundle for charity)

Or maybe throwing basketballs is not a combat activity.  How well would you or I do?  They are good enough to suck up some penalties for moving up the Time Chart.  I am thinking that skill is less OCV and more "Basketball Skills".