Agemegos

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept?

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? No more have I. But fortunately no-one has yet suggested it. The question is "Does fostering a fictional racial hatred based on obvious or inobvious evils eventually foster a possiblity for that racially based hatred to leak into the real world? And should we, as a self aware group, consider the consequences of our actions in such a setting to take care that they do not, in point of fact, spill into the real world?" Does it happen? I don't know, but maybe. Should we consider the consequences of our actions and take care? I think that's a no-brainer: yes. Should the nanny-state legislate? Hell no!

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? Perhaps. But practice increases facility even with complex skills.

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? Your assertion, although confident and no doubt sincere, does not settle my apprehensions.

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? Indeed. But if we rehearse judging characters' deserts on the basis of their race (and especially if we reinforce that activity with enjoyment) we may cultivate that habit of thought. The danger is not that we might harm some migdilar. The danger is that we might make ourselves more inclined to rely on racially-based heuristics. If one practices mental arithmetic, in time it comes naturally. If one rehearses grievances, one becomes more inclined to anger. If one rehearses sad, defeatist, and self-disparaging scripts one tends to become depressed. I fear that something similar might be true of making moral judgements on the basis of race. Practice it every Saturday night and reward it with fun, and in time it will shape your character. I am well aware that we can all (or nearly all) distinguish the events of games from reality. But I don't think that that is conclusive. I believe that the human fascination with stories is a cognitive facility with which we are equipped for the purpose of learning: learning from other's experiences, and also learning about others' attitudes even in fiction. And it is now beyond doubt that many of these cognitive facilities operate below the level of consciousness. Be that as it may, I think that there is a very strong case that social and cultural norms are transmitted by means of stories. It is far from plain that fiction, even when it know to be such, can have no effect on attitudes and behaviour. I don't think that anyone has expressed concern for the wrongs suffered by fictional characters. Your refutation of such concern is therefore not decisive, nor indeed even germane.

Re: Lack of Power coverage Well, my copy of FREd only arrived in the mail the day before yesterday, and I'm not entirely across the improvements wrought by the (very welcome) introduction of Social Disadvantages. But I think that 'Distinctive features' still needs some work. It mashes together conspicuousness, recognisability, and subjection to social prejudice. I always feel uncomfortable when a charcer gets disad points for the fact that he or she wears a uniform when at work.

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? The road to censoring games is paved with arguments that games can promote bad behaviour. The road to lynching Cyst and me is paved with arguments that we are like the NAZIs. Both intentions may be good. But both destinations are Hell. Let's all be careful about what paths we are paving.

Re: My 'Star Hero' arrived It is. And I, rather less remarkably, you. Indeed not. What has happened on University campuses?

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept?

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? I also remembered the part where you likened him to a NAZI, the part where you proudly associated yourself with the US armed forces, and what the US armed forces fought for in connection with NAZIs. And I remembered the part where you pushed an unjustifiable accusation of censorship, and implied that Cyst was attacking game publishers' First Amendment rights. You do agree that denying people their First Amendment rights is something that ought to be prevented? [edited to add] I don't mean to imply here any disparagement of what the US Armed forces did against NAZIism. On the contrary, I agree that US efforts against German, Japanese, Italism and French fascism were proper and heroic. I just wish that people in general would be a little slower to liken people to NAZIs for cheap rhetorical purposes. The NAZIs killed, tortured, and enslaved millions of innocent people. Asking gamers and game publishers to act responsibly in view of a possible danger is not in the same boat by any means. It was necessary to kill and die to stop the NAZIs. It is not necessary to kill and die to stop people like Cyst and me. We are not killing, torturing, or enslaving anyone. We are only expressing a concern that we have, and asking people to think about it and act circumspectly.

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept?

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? I don't know what Cyst calls it, but to me it looks like a reasonable and civil plea for roleplayers to act responsibly in consultation with their own consciences. I can't see how anyone could reasonably construe it as an argument that the authorities should impose censorship. And you are suggesting that Cyst13 ought not to say that people should take responsibility for what they publish and play? That they ought not to consider the possibility that their games might affect their mental habits? And since it is obviously alright for you to say that Cyst ought not to say that sort of thing, why is it not alright for Cyst to say that people ought not to publish or play dangerous RPGs? Why is what you are doing not censorship? By all means tell us if you think that evil races in fantasy are not racist, or that playing racist games presents no danger of making us racist. Argue, if you wish, that it isn't the players' or the publishers' fault if the games that they publish and play do make them racist. Hell, it's a free 'Net, so you can go on telling Cyst not to express his opinion because it promotes censorship: if you want. But saying "Don't say what you think: people should be allowed to say what they think" does come across as a paradox. "Sow a thought, reap a deed; "Sow a deed, reap a habit; "Sow a habit, reap a character; "Sow a character, reap a destiny." If you play a racist game and that makes you racist (it might not), so that you commit a racist offence (not all racists do), that is indeed your fault. Perhaps, therefore, it is a good idea not to play a racist game. I'm not suggesting that we ought to empower the authorities to censor RPGs. I'm just asking that we all think about this, consult our consciences, and act with prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude: when we are publishing games and designing adventures, just as we ought in everything else we do. The right of freedom of speech provides that no expression of a view can be a crime. Which is not to say that no expression of a view can be morally wrong. Pointing out that an act is morally wrong, and asking one's fellow-citizens to abstain from that act is not the same as coercing abstention.

G'day A lively sense of expectation has made the weeks seem very long, but the copy of Star Hero (and the two discounted copies of FREd) that I ordered from http://www.scifigenre.com on the second of May have at last arrived. Total cost US$113.25 (including shipping) = about A$155 = 53.30 Big Macs. And I don't even eat Big Macs. That's certainly good buying considering that FREd alone sells for about A$90 in these benighted parts. And considering that 53.3 Big Macs is probably a lethal dose. So I've looked through Star Hero and been very impressed, particularly by its analysis and description of genre conventions. Tell me: 1. What other sourcebooks in the HERO line are up to this standard? 2. What other sourcebooks in the HERO would you suggest to a person such as myself who is interested mostly in Heroic rather than superheroic campaigns? 3. Is there a computer app available for OSX or UNIX that automates the Star Hero generator and that contains or will accept a catalogue of real nearby starts (such as Gliese or HYG). Regards, Brett Evill

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? This opinion is among the matter of Freudian psychology, and was once very influential in informing social policy. In the Seventies it was accepted unquestioningly that one ought to 'vent' anger to avoid the alternatives of either exploding or of 'turning the anger inward' into depression. But this theory has become controversial since, as it turns out to be without evidentiary support. There is a growing body of opinion that 'venting' anger rehearses anger, and leads to more angry behaviour. To become less angry, it is better to employ the techniques of cognitive therapy (also of Stoicism, Christ, St Paul, and the Buddha) to refute the reasoning that leads to anger and cultivate a calm mind. You can read more about this in the popular works of Martin Seligman, such as Authentic Happiness. Yes. But I question that rehearsing murderous rage is a good way.

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept?

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept?

Re: Frozen Feet: Entangle? Another problem with using an entangle is that that would prevent the target from throwing punches, which this power ought not to do. Try a linked Suppress (Running) and Drain (Dexterity).

Re: Generic Star Hero Galactic Map AlHazred is not the only one.

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? I don't. I just make the stereotypes as inaccurate and misleading in games as they are in reality. Which turns out to make the games more interesting and entertaining, in my not-so-limited experience.

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? I am not sure that this is quite decisive. People can certainly distinguish between drills and exercises on one hand and real operation and emergencies on the other. Nevertheless the things they rehearse in the drills and exercises alters what they do in the operations and emergencies. I'm not saying that playing a few villains is going to instantly corrupt every player, or that all GMs ought to be put on FBI watch lists at once. Nevertheless it is hard to prevent what we do or think a lot from becoming a habit, physical or mental. And I have lately been amazed to witness the power of changing people's mental habits (in treatment of depression with cognitive-behavioural therapy).

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? Can you cite any evidence for that? I believe that, as a counter-example, cognitive-behavioural therapy can change a person's mind. (And that, be it noted, consists mostly of willing changing the thoughts that one rehearses. It is after witnessing the power of CBT that I have become so concerned about the thoughts that we rehearse in RPGs.)

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept?

Re: Is "evil race" an intrinsically rascist concept? Is there any such thing? The human appetite for stories (accounts of connected events with some sort of point to them) is so universal and powerful that we never bother to reflect on what a strange thing it is. Humans love stories so much that the US spends more making fiction than on health care. Bizarre! I have my own theory about why we love stories so much, but being without evidentiary support it is not worth setting out here in international publication. But it doesn't really matter why we have this voracious appetite: either evolution or God or one of thethousands of other gods gave it to us for a reason, and it doesn't matter (for the purposes of this discussion) which or what the reason was. The human craving to explore chains of consequence through stories it too powerful to fool around with in safety. It is with minds as with computers: [racist] garbage in [racist] garbage out. Spend a few hours every Saturday night rehearsing making judgements on racist grounds and the one thing you can be sure it won't do is make you less likely to use that dubious skill. "Men learn to be lyrists by playing the lyre", and Christ wasn't being stup[id when he went on with all that stuff about sinning in one's mind. Let's keep our heroes heroic and out villains vile, okay? Wallowing in a mire in which the vile is heroic and the heroic vile won't be good for us.

Re: Character Transformations I had an energy-projecting power-suit character called 'Colonel Carnage' built on (IIRC) 100+150, who accumulated about 25 experience points before I replaced him with a brick-based-on-ECV called 'Black Lotus'. Some time later a GM setting up a very-high-powered short campaign invited me to re-build Carnage on that campaign's build: 250+200. The Army bought Lt-colonel Colby a new battle suit. One with hardened flash defence and doubly-hardened power defence, damage reduction, a force field, and bigger guns.

Re: How to buy? I think that it is a disadvantage that the character needs a staff to begin with, not an advantage that he can conceal his staff. If he just bought the multipower outright he would be able to make the attacks with his hands and feet. That is the baseline you ought to compare with. This is an obvious focus that is accessible in combat and inaccessible out of combat. Treat it as OAF if your campaign is heavily combat-focussed, halfway between OAF and OIF if you have a fair preponderance of non-combat sequences in which characters might normally have trouble if they carried obvious focusses. (As TheEmerged suggests.) And by the way: I don't like to seem fussy, but this thread is very badly titled. Aim in future for thread titles that are specific and memorable, so that people who read them in the list of posts have an idea of what subject is being discussed, and that people who come back to the forum after a few days can remember which thread they were interested in. "How to buy?" could be any thread about a power build. It could also be a query about where it is best to obtain HERO System materials. "Shrinking quarterstaff" or "Concealable focus" would have been a better title for this thread.