Xavier Onassiss

So, one of our field hands is on vacation, and the guy filling in for him is... forgetful. Monday I found three wells oil with the gas vents shut, too much pressure built up, pumps gas locked, production was down or non-existent. And when I opened the vents, there was... drama. One of them had a barrel over the vent to keep its flare lit (which was out due to the vent being shut off), and it had been shut in for so long and built up so much gas pressure it blew off the barrel when I opened it. So the foreman tells me "check all the wells" because we don't know how many others have been left shut in like this. I split the list with one of our field hands (who knows WTF he's doing) and spent most of my workday yesterday driving around the *&^%$#@! oilfield checking for shut in gas vents. In the process I found a LOT of other problems which hadn't been reported, and I'll be following up on those today.... I suppose this could be thought of as "job security."

For the third business day running, the auto shop has announced that they need "one more day" to finish repairing my truck. I feel like I'm being trolled....

That sucks, knowing who it is, but not being able to go to his house and... uh, never mind. We've been having similar problems w/a "disgruntled former employee" vandalizing our equipment. I'm not sure which is worse. A hacker who knows your system or a well-equipped vandal in an oilfield. So far we haven't had any major leaks or spills, fortunately. And we've reported this ass-hat to the local police, but I think it may to be hard to catch him. We're talking about a large, unlit, rural area of operation, with multiple access routes.

These days, it's hard to rule out the possibility they're one and the same.

The cat's trying to steal my chicken soup.

Programming note: Dinner tasted waaay better when it was going DOWN! FFS, I haven't heaved like this since the 1st time I played Rifts....

You want a "cheque?" Heh, I'm a game designer, probably just as broke as anyone else here. But I'll include an homage to Lawnmower Boy in a future Terracide product; probably a really awesome NPC. One point I should clarify: Terracide isn't exactly a post-apocalyptic setting, but rather an apocalyptic one. Instead of putting the PCs in the aftermath of an apocalypse, Terracide takes place in an apocalypse which is still going on, and the PCs have many opportunities to influence its outcome, for good or ill. One way to run it is to start the campaign with Terra's destruction, with the PCs off-world in the colonies, and let them find out along with everyone else when the news arrives. Now, begin....

I may not have been clear on that; when I said "traditional" I was referring to SF RPG's rather than SF as a whole. Take a look at original SF RPGs (as opposed to those based on licensed properties) and you'll see a lot of the same tropes coming up repeatedly, and receiving similar treatment. Most of them seem to owe a lot to classic Traveller, Star Frontiers, or both. Traveller, in particular, is such a large, well developed iconic setting that it's hard to create an original SF RPG without borrowing something from it. I know, because I bloody well tried not to, even deliberately avoiding doing things "the Traveller way" whenever possible. Forget about it... that stuff just creeps in everywhere. I've looked at a lot of original SF RPGs in the space opera sub-genre: Shatterzone, Diaspora, Thousand Suns, Stars Without Number, Bulldogs, and yes, Fires of Heaven, just to name a few. I saw Traveller's influence in most of them, and shades of Star Frontiers in some of them as well. When I said "traditional" that's what I meant. Most SF RPG designers seem to gravitate towards a common set of assumptions for space opera. They're kind of generic, IMHO. IIRC, the author of Fires of Heaven once described the setting as "Traveller meets Star Trek" so make of that what you will. At this point, I've enjoyed both for many years, had my fill, and moved onward....

Most of the new cast members are unknown to me. Of course I remember Serkis' portrayal of Gollum, and Max von Sydow is pretty much a legend. "Pathetic Earthlings...." I saw John Boyega in Attack the Block a couple of months ago, and I was fairly impressed. I heard rumors he was on the short list earlier this year and I'm glad to see he made the cut.

Hmmm... I'm starting to wonder if Hero needs a system for designing weapons similar to those used for martial arts maneuvers.

Ternaugh: My condolences, and I will be sure to raise a glass. Collie: That's a real 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situation there. I'd seriously think about relocating.

When life gives me lemonade, I make sno-cones!

Since Hyper-Man mentioned it, I've occasionally done the "You Shall Not Pass!" thing with a wicked-big Presence Attack, and found it was quite effective. It's definitely a "GM's call" whether to allow it, but I'd see nothing wrong with buying some extra dice of Presence just for that purpose. Possibly through a focus if you need a big, intimidating weapon or a spell focus to back up your threat. Or if your character is just naturally imposing, maybe not.

I seldom do fart jokes; I much prefer bad puns. Either way, if you don't clear the room, you're doing it wrong.

Ah. The basis for the Alkirbierre warp drive, which propels starships via an intense field of spacetime kirbature.

Ohhh....KAY! I'll just check in again later and see if we've moved onward and upward to something slightly more erudite, like fart jokes.

First day was the absolute worst. Wet to dry wound dressings are a real pain! Awesome Gamer Girl turns out to be very good at this sort of thing, and she changed the would dressing for me. In spite of her talents, it was still... excruciating. But I gritted my teeth, toughed it out, and she did an excellent job. Felt a lot better afterwards. We repeated the procedure again this morning. I was scared witless, after yesterday, but the wound is healing up very well thanks to her, so replacing the dressing hardly hurt at all. I think the worst is over. I'm still feeling kinda weak, but what do I expect?

Seriously guys, it's like 4chan with better euphemisms, spelling and grammar in here.

Operation went well. Doc found an abscess, so he couldn't sew up the wound -- I'll have to put new dressings on it daily for a while. There's quite a bit of pain, but I can't tell yet if it's from the incision, or just from an excess of tape pulling on my chest hair!

Well, no surgery today. The cyst is worse than I thought, and the doctor said I'd need a general anesthetic during the removal. There might also be an abscess. (Ugh!) Had some chest x-rays today and when those come back we'll know. So it's off to the hospital Friday morning. Meanwhile, I've still got this stupid cyst....

As long as its just an itch, right? Keep an eye on that thing! I'm going into (outpatient) surgery this afternoon. I'll post again afterwards.

Ouch. You need a doc who understands RSI's. You might also need a different input device for your computer. Check out some ergonomic alternatives. Logitech and Kensington make some trackballs with halfway decent ergonomics. (Although Logitech's best one is discontinued. Clot-heads probably found out how much I liked it.... mumblegrumbletheyallhatemelifesuxblahblahblah)

Ugh. This is weird. So, long story short, I was in a car crash 18 years ago. Got hit on the driver's side by a youngster who ran a red light. Walked away with lots of bruises and a sore shoulder. Everything healed up after a few weeks, and you'd think that would be the end of it. But there was a small cyst, right in the center of my sternum, just under the skin. (A result of bruised cartilage between sternum and rib cage.) It just sat there doing nothing for 18 years, no pain, no symptoms, and I never considered it worth the trouble of removing. And a week ago, something went wrong. Now that tiny little cyst is the size of a friggin' grape, sore all the time, painful to touch, obviously full of fluid, and I spiked a fever friday night so it's probably infected, too. Went to the clinic last night hoping to get it lanced or something, but the doctor on call recommended having a surgeon remove the whole thing instead. And he prescribed some antibiotics. Until then, I'm stuck with this thing. So now I'm out the door to the pharmacy to pick up some drugs, which are going to help, but will also kill everything in my gut. (Can you say diarrhea?) And I'm waiting for a referral so I can get an appointment for a nice surgeon in a hospital an hour away to stab me in the chest. Bleah.

I edited my post to reflect that he's debating with a friend, not his GM. My bad. As for which guidelines he's using, what's the difference? A flat 2d6 ceiling on KA's makes no sense regardless.

Killing Attacks take many forms. Heavy Pistols are usually around 2d6. High powered rifles and HMG's are usually a bit more than that. Anti-tank weapons should be around 4d6, and Armor Piercing as well. The killing dice of nuclear weapons go well into the 20s. In short your GM friend is mistaken.