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Basil

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Posts posted by Basil

  4. NGD Scenes from a Hat

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat

     

    NT: Subtle signs you've been snowed in much too long.

     

    Multiple dreams, all night long, about driving around, in a convertible, in tropical lands, in a "Magnum PI" style tropical shirt.

    (Actually happened to me last night. Six times! Well, the :ugly: shirt was only once.)

  6. urban fantasy hero posts

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: urban fantasy hero posts

     

    Will there be anything along the lines of the Lord Darcy stories? That is' date=' a world that seems much like ours, but with magic replacing (largely but not necessarily completely) technology?[/quote']

    No, there are no settings like that in the book. All the settings mix magic and tech to some degree.

     

    Though I agree the Lord Darcy stories are much fun. ;)

    That's what I thought, given various descriptions, but I was hoping for Lord Darcy-ish setting info.

     

    I'll be sure to get it anyway. ;)

  8. Adventure Seed: Dinos in the Mists

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: Adventure Seed: Dinos in the Mists

     

    the world in question is a terran standard world with a slight sulfur taint to the atmosphere. its full of swamps and shallow seas.

    what life thats native to the world tends to be big and hungry.

     

    That "sulfur taint" is, of course, hydrogen sulfide. Which is a bit heavier than air, and tends to pool in low places.

     

    If you made the raptors and T-rexes either dependent on, or very sensitive to, HS, you could give the PCs an edge. OTOH, if they're less sensitive to HS, that gives them an edge over the PCs.

     

    Just something occurred to my diseased mind. :eg:

     

     

    My diseased mind is another fine product, and unregistered non-trademark, of Basil's Twisted Imagination, Unincorporated.

  9. urban fantasy hero posts

    in Fantasy Hero

    Posted

    Re: urban fantasy hero posts

     

    OK I feel stupid now. Lord Darcy isn't ringing a bell and I know it should...

     

    Author Randell Garrett. Lead character is Lord Darcy, the Chief Criminal Investigator for the Duke of Normandy (who is the younger brother of the King of England, and France, Holy Roman Emperor, etc.). Alternate timeline where (A) Richard I didn't die until much later and (B) the laws of magic were worked out in the 13th century (I think). Set in the 1960's for the most part (all the stories were set in times contemporary with the times they were written in the Real World). Steam engines are known and used (railroads and ships, mostly), but electricity is mostly an enigma. Gunpowder is used; a revolver plays a significant role in one story.

     

    However, much of what is done by technology in the real world is doen by magic in Lord Darcy's world. For instance, keyed locks work by magic; the matching of wards and pins/tumblers is by magic, not the shape of the parts.

     

    The stories are mysteries, and it shows Mr. Garrett's excellence as an author that the mysteries are solved by deduction and detection, not by a deus ex machina use of magic. Magic has rules, it has limitations, and those rules fit together logically and reasonably; due to the limitations, actual detective work is needed to solve the puzzles the stories present.

     

    Marvelous stories! I recommend them most highly. :D

  10. I need a function!

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: I need a function!

     

    Up next : The Skelter

     

    This peculiar device is much prized by evil masterminds who like to have a backup escape plan.

     

    It's carved from a dragon's femur, into a curved shape. When the trigger word is spoken, it grows into a full-sized playground slide. As well, the person holding the Skelter finds himself sitting at the top of the slide. He need merely "push off" and slide down; on the way down he fades from view.

     

    Simultaneously, he "fades in" at another location. This location can be either a place concentrated on just before, and during, the slide, or a place previously "locked in". If the current owner has not "locked in" a location, the location most recently "locked in" is where the user lands up.

     

    After use, the Skelter changes back to a simple, shaped bone, and disappears, having been teleported to an unknown, new location. It is invariably found fairly quickly, and always by an evil genius. Though it's a "one shot" excape device, more than one mastermind owes his life to the Skelter.

     

    "One of the best things I ever got a hold of," says the infamous Dr. Infamous, "I still hope I can find it again. After all, no-one has ever claimed you only get to use it once in your life!"

     

    Dr. Infamous is another fine product of Basil's Twisted Imagination, Unincorporated. All rights reserved.

     

     

     

     

    NEXT: The Helter

     

    You should have seen that coming.

  13. Newly-found raptor

    in Pulp Hero

    Posted

    Re: Newly-found raptor

     

    Considering how evil the weather is around the cape and Patagonia in general' date=' that's one heck of a migration route. By boat from Australia, float around Antarctica rather than walk across it and then try and get caught in the currents passing through the channel, hoping to reach land on the other side? Wouldn't want to do that in a wooden canoe.:eek:[/quote']

     

    Canoe? Raft!

     

    :eek::eg::help::eg: :drowning smilie we don't have: :eg:

  16. A Question From a Math Challenged Individual

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: A Question From a Math Challenged Individual

     

    The reason credit cards do that is because they are also divided into blocks.

     

    The first four digits tell you what kind of card (Visa, Mastercard, etc). The second four are a bank owner code. The last eight are the ID number. As an example, I have a VISA that starts with 4808 - you will never see any other type of card in existence but a VISA start with 4808. The first 8 digits are not random by any means, they are assigned; just like the first five of an SSN.

     

    They are "twice as many as needed" because they want to avoid overlap, it's because half the CC Number is simply an identifier of who issued the card. Just like the first 5 of an SSN are simply regional identifiers, the last four digits are the actual persons ID.

     

    OK, I must have been misinformed or misunderstood something I read some time back (can't remember where). I had thought all the digits were the "account number" per se.

     

    According to here and here, the first six numbers identify the issuer, the last digit is a "check" digit, and the rest are the account number per se. (note that this site says something else).

  17. NGD Scenes from a Hat

    in Non-Gaming Discussion

    Posted

    Re: NGD Scenes from a Hat

     

    NT: Silent Night' date=' Holy Night . . . wait a minute, this Christmas Eve isn't silent at all! Why is it so noisy?[/quote']

    Because you're in a Dark Champions scenario, and you gotta have gun-shots, howling sirens, and screaming crime victims (at the very least) in every Dark Champions scenario. Contractually required.

     

     

     

    NT: What else do you have to have in a Dark Champions scenario?

  18. The Littlest Fireman

    in Champions

    Posted

    Re: The Littlest Fireman

     

    Excellent! Terrific idea and background.

     

    As for the second seed; I'd be tempted to sit the idiot down and explain the difference between soul, spirit, and "psychic remnant." And then smack him and tell him to butt out. :yes:

  19. A Question From a Math Challenged Individual

    in Star Hero

    Posted

    Re: A Question From a Math Challenged Individual

     

    50 * (6.7 * 10^9) = 3.35 * 10^11

     

    That's a minimum of 12 digits. However, that runs a very, very high risk of mis-identification, mis-filing, etc., due to transposition of a digit, etc.

     

    The current USA SSN has 9 digits, giving a theoretical max of one billion numbers. Which avoids the above problem, but not really well enough.

     

    Common credit cards have 16 digits, about twice as many as "needed," which thoroughly avoids the problem.

     

    Which raises the question, how much will the "ID" number you have in mind be used? The more widely used, the more you need to avoid inadvertent "overlap". I'd suggest 1.5 -2 times as many digits as really needed, if the ID number will be used as much as credit cards are now. You would also want to get rid of any "planet/area/etc." system, as that would make guessing someone's ID number easier.

     

    OTOH, if it will be used more like current USA SSN's, the ideas of ghost-angel and Spence would be fine.

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