Tom

Renewable is one of the areas that seem to be many businesses biggest concerns right now. If that's the, infamous, wave of the future -- there's a lot of money to be made and Trump officially just had the US walk away from the table in one viewpoint. Also, in response to a comment upstreap, I also read that the official withdrawal process would last until after 2020 and not go into effect until the next presidential term. It's also possible that Trump could attempt to withdraw from the UN climate control body instead (which I believe I saw would also take us out of the Paris Accords) and that would only take a year.

If Oregon's carry laws are anything like Ohio's, I wouldn't. The legal twistings involved on 'when' it's legal to use lethal force in self-defense can be almost more paralyzing that actual fear. More practically, from what I'm reading into the situation, a solid background in unarmed self-defense would probably been more useful. A knife in close quarters is an ugly scenario. In a moving, small, crowded space, random bullets flying about are real low on my desired additions to the situation. (disclosures: I have a concealed carry permit, though I rarely carry outside of work related situations. Also, despite being grossly out of practice in the fancier techniques, I spent enough years practicing martial arts to be fairly confident in my grasp of the basics in an immediate stress situation)

Since the topic is reviews, here are a group published by the BBC. http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40091439

Shoulder holsters don't generally get in the way. I've worn one with a 9mm, but it was in the 'compact' category and I barely noticed it. Also, shoulder-rigs have 2 general configurations -- vertical and horizontal. There are also bandolier-style holsters for really large handguns and submachineguns/machinepistols can be used with a shoulder rig which is really nothing more than a strap from which the gun is suspended. (side thought on that last note: Check out the Heckler & Koch MP7A1 )or A2} as a field weapon for either Rigel or Algol http://www.heckler-koch.com/en/products/military/submachine-guns/mp7a1/mp7a1/overview.html) For holsters, you can check out the websites for Galco, Bianchi, and Safariland for references (among others)

Nice pacing on the fight and an excellent job of including both Ariana and Artic Fox.

It would reduce the odds of something going spectacularly wrong at least a little. That and cancel Trump's scheduled speech on Islam while in Saudi Arabia... (That'd be a tricky speech for any President, this one has a habit of going totally off script...)

Actually, this is the one thing that might push thr Republicans to move more quickly. IF, and I can't emphasize IF enough, Trump's scandals grow big enough to threaten Pence by extension, and IF the Republicans have sufficient fear of losing the House in 2018 they'll want to move fast enough to put Ryan in the Presidency. Yes, that scenario is DEEP into fantasy territory. But given the drug-addled fever dream quality of this administration's perpetual scandals, why not throw in some really crazy twists? You just have to reach harder to out-crazy the reality in play and the odds aren't probably much off from my winning the lottery.

If only this were a party. However, a group of GMs trying to see how crazy they could go writing a round-robin adventure story a paragraph at a time could be amusing. With or without alcohol.

This is starting to feel like a 'make your own adventure' book -- written by multiple people while drunk.

I'd assumed Valorous was working with someone, though I didn't particularly expect it to be the Gov't (and I should have, since I've been in some of your games). I'd like to have a long talk with Mayo (both in character and not).

And North Korea apparently launched another missile -- which demonstrated greater capabilities than previously observed... While China was hosting an international meeting in Beijing, the inaugural meeting of their 'Belt and Road Forum'... So, the Chinese (along with the Russians) were holding an international party to kick off their version of a new world trading order (since the US doesn't seem interested in that sort of thing anymore) and the North Korean test will quite likely be considered an embarrassment by the Chinese government. Throw in a global cyberattack, and I'm starting to feel like the news is being written by a Champions GM. (I'm also starting to feel like I'm not built on anywhere near enough points, but that's not unusual)

The surplus holster above is what I saw when I was still in the service (made by Bianchi, I think), and carrying a pistol tended to be dependent on 'job' and rank. I actually spent time as both Navy and Army (not that long a story, I was active Navy but screwed up on VEAP/GI Bill and joined the Army National Guard to help pay for college and ended up on active duty as part of Desert Shield/Storm). As military I've carried both the M9 and the M1911A1 (in the old leather flap holsters). I believe I read recently they're going to be transitioning to something by Sig Saur at some point in the future. As private security, that will vary by State and company. I work in a security field currently, and I've heard of one State which has no specific requirements (constitutional carry state, though I believe my company requires at least a bi-annual qualification if the State doesn't have it's own requirements). My State, Ohio, requires a 20 hour OPOTC certification which is both firearm type specific and requires an annual 4 hour requalification certification (initial certificate is actually good for 18 months). The State of Michigan only requires armed security to have a CPL (Michigan's concealed carry permit). Also, my understanding is that companies who provide armed security at Federal buildings require an additional certification. Issue will vary by company. Many companies only issue revolvers for liability reasons (they also tend to be less expensive in general and easier to teach). My company does not issue and requires employees to provide their own firearm (with some, State-based, exceptions). The specific, hard, requirements are barrel of at least 3 inches and no 'single-action' autoloaders (ie, the M1911A1). After that it is the branch management's discretion.

You should have gone yesterday, like I did...

Hmmm, thoughts to think.

I was thinking of an advanced class in how to leverage what abilities you have to survive the craziness that tends to come with hanging around heroes. Oh, and the suggestion to consider running if her boyfriend ever attracts the favorable attentions of a deity unless she really wants to take the relationship to the next level...

Given 'conventional wisdom's' track record recently, I wouldn't count Le Pen out until after the results are finalized. Assuming we don't have bigger problems to worry about before then.

Mentor sounds like the kind of character I deliberately don't write up. That way he can do whatever I need him to do without having to figure out how to justify it in terms of a sheet. On the downside, it means I have to remember everything I have him (or her) do for narrative consistency.

Ariana and Meghan could have such an interesting conversation...

I've been blaming Hermit for (helping to) goad me into writing and thinking in gaming terms again, too.

I think the word you want is 'phalanx' once you go into editor mode. On a less critical note, very nice job on the after-effect of breaking the spear...

The Keeper of the City Keys makes me think of a City Mage, which of course seems a bit odd for a Faerie team -- but if the Fire Witch can be an outsider, what's one more. The question I'm facing is whether to take the 'dream' line liteally and give him a focus on mental magics that work through dreams or figuratively to detroy dreams by playing influence games in the background to ruin livelyhoods and businesses (or even lead victims astray by setting them to pursue dreams of success that are doomed to fail).

I may be misremembering from an earlier version, but I thought hitting an adjacent hex (or your own hex) was considered automatic. Given the attack the SFX of the attack I'd rule the character didn't need to make an attack roll. Since the attack is AOE, he will be affected by his own attack unless he buys PI or HiM (though if it is an NND, I'd probably just buy the defense if it met concept). Side note on the AOE-Cone example for breath weapon, I normally just assumed the attack started in the adjacent hex which wouldn't put the the attacker in the AoE.

It certainly does, and there are people who believe exactly that. It doesn't make for a very pretty world if you value cooperation over competition and believe in things like 'universal' rights, but it still exists. It exists in the US in those who believe 'America First' and in a lesser form in the argument that State's rights should supersede the Federal government's authority. There are also people who believe differently and they're major drivers behind supranational organizations and international NGOs. Right now, the America First groups and various populist/nationalist groups are enjoying considerable success in the political realm. Obviously that's disappointing, and even bewildering, to those of us on the 'other' side. Maybe 'we' became complacent, maybe the 'they' just managed to get their second wind/feet back under them. It doesn't really matter, except to realize there is still more work to be done and the contest of ideas (and ideals) isn't over yet.

The logical extension of the belief in sovereign nations is that, of course, every nation has the right to develop and field whatever weapons it feels are necessary to defend it's sovereignty. It's a very Hobbesian viewpoint and, in my opinion, ruinously short-sighted. However, as I've mentioned earlier, I tend to be a globalist and I believe the whole can be more than the sum of its parts. There are plenty of other people who subscribe to various forms of nationalism or tribalism who firmly believe 'they' should be 'first' and everyone else can/should fend for themselves (or more darkly, should be exploited/subjugated for the benefit of the dominant group).

If you're looking for a low/non-lethal game (which tends to be fairly genre at the Gold/Silver/Bronze, and probably a good idea with kids in any event), staying away from KAs is probably a good idea. Changing 'normal' guns from KAs to RAs vs AVAD (rPD/rED) should make them plenty dangerous (since you'll only be applying appropriate resistant defense against the STUN) without littering the landscape with bleeding bodies. (Note: I use 'RA' {Ranged Attack} in place of 'Blast' to satisfy my own sense of the proper ordering of the universe)