DShomshak

Huh. Sounds like it could be adapted inoi a pretty fair fantasy novel, the way Paula Volsky adapted the French Revolution in Illusion. Though I thought that book was a little too on the nose; Mexican politics would likely be less familiar to most readers. It would certainly be less familiar to me! Dean Shomshak

Yesterday, All Things Considered talked to an actual Capitol Police officer and asked why there was not more attempt to arrest the Capitol invaders. The officer replied that their first duty is to protect the members of Congress. So, they tried to get the people who threatened Congress out of the Capotol as quickly as possible. Trying to make arrests would have been slower, and increased the danger. Okay, that's fair. And given that so many of the people involved left social media trails a mile wide, possibly not a serious impediment to eventual arrest and prosecution.

So as to how vigorously to investigate and prosecute the people who organized and participated in the Capitol Insurrection... My concern is that the FBI and other agencies won't push too hard or attempt too thorough a sweep because of "Weaver Fever," the decades-long policy of treating right-wing anti-government extremists with kid gloves lest they be riled into committing worse acts, as the Ruby Ridge incident helped provoke the Oklahoma City bombing. I think that policy is wrong. Instead, I offer the advice given in the PoiSci textbook People, Power, and Politics, by

Yesterday's episode of The Daily (the NYTimes radio show) featured the reporters who've followed the Trumpist "Stop the Steal" movement since the election. They say people were talking about storming the Capitol weeks ago, setting up carpools so people could bring their guns without being blocked by airlines, posting images of the carpools on social media saying "Here we are, armed, on our way to attack the government," etc. There would seem to be quite an adequate trail for the FBI. OTOH they also explained some of the timidity of the Washington, DC and Capitol Police preparation.

Aw shucks, I'm blushin'. Credit where it's due: Tyrannon and the Vandaleurs were originally created by Allen Varney in Mystic Masters, for... Third edition? Newton's comment about standing on the shoulders of giants applies here. HERO author Scott Bennie occasionally posts in these forums. I consider him my sifu in writing character descriptions, for supplements such as Villauny Unbound and the 4th ed VIPER book. Teen hero games can be a lot of fun, though mine wasn't for HERO System. My "Scion High" campaign was for the SCION game by White Wolf, of modern

Washington State Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers, hitherto a complete Trump loyalist, has withdrawn her intent to object. So that's something, at least. Dean Shomshak

Hey, someone used Dr. Teneber in their campaign! Happy author woohoo! The Doctor of the Dead isn't just a villain I created for Arcane Adversaries. He's my PC from a "dark supernatural" campaign inspired by the "Midnight Sons" line of titles Marvel did for a while. Doc turned out to be far and away the "darkest" PC. Okay, he ended up crashing the campaign, but I had a lot of fun with him. Dean Shomshak

And as I posted before, how or why did the Dems fail to work their magic fraud down the ballot to produce a Blue Wave in Congress and state houses? The Conspiracy is always omnipotent where it needs to be, but childishly idiotic where it needs to be. Dean Shomshak

I should add that I think there's zero chance of Trump staying prisident. Republicans don't have the votes in Congress to block certification of the electors. If Trump tries ordering martial law, his toadies at the Pentagon may go along but the generals will say no. Armed insurrection by the Proud Boys and such ilk might happen, but they've actually been more timid than I expected. As a few people here have suggested, many of them seem to be LARPing insurrection with no taste for the real thing. So they aren't going to overthrow the government. But Iit doesn't tak outright civil wa

On KUOW yesterday, former Washington State Republican Chairman (and former but no longer Republican) Chris Vance shocked the interviewer by calling Trump "fascist," and likewise the Republicans who support his challenge to the election. Not "authoritarian tendencies." Not even "proto-fascist," anymore. Vance went there. He said that nothing in The Phone Call actually surprised him, but it was so blatant an attempt to throw out the rule of law that he thinks "fascist" is now justified. As for whether this would be a turning point that made any more Republicans finally turn against T

My local newspaper's editorial today actually called this "subversion" and "a coup attempt." And while the editorial board has never had much good to say about the Trump administration, this is by far the strongest condemnation I've ever seen from them. In a way, I can see the Republicans' point. Just as all the "Obama is Kenyan/Muslim/Socialist" rhetoric was code for "Obama is BLACK, but we can't say that out loud," all the frittering about signature matching and drop boxes is code for "Millions of votes were cast by people we don't consider Real Americans." Which is true. I mean,

OP's question seems to assume hat summoned entities are an "otrdinary" problem that mundane authorities believe they can handle on their own. They don't just wait helplessly for some wandering hero/murder hobo to resolve the problem for them. Or at least they can try. (PCs get involved when the situation concerns them personally, the mundane authorities have failed or ar blocked/insufficient in some way... or if the PCs *are* part of the mundane authorities, such as the lord of the city's "special problems" squad.) A lot depends on the feasibility of detecting who did the summoning

It should be obvious, but... Read up on real jungle and savannah cultures. You will get better ideas than anything we can suggest. I'm rather fond of Gassire's Lute, a a West African "epic" (actually quite brief), about the fall of the city-state Wagadu and how a son of the ruling family becomes his people's first bard. Here's a bit of the introduction: Four times Wagadu rose. A great city, gleaming in the light of day. Four times Wagadu fell, And disappeared from human sight. Once through vanity. Once through dishonesty. Once through greed

I'm sure it doesn't help that a large proportion of US doctors and nurses are immigrant brown people with funny names and funny accents. As social scientists such as Arlene Hochschild have found, "team loyalty" is tremendously important to Americans in small communities, and Trump has made it a choice between trust in him or trust in people who are Not Like Us. For many people, it's no contest. Especially when you add Americans' longstanding suspicion of experts and intellectuals. <shrug> I too am finding it harder to muster much sympathy. Let the Darwinnowing play itself out

A snarky person might suggest that no few religious believers portray their gods as megalomaniac tyrants, and seem to like them that way. Possibly because no few people seem to like mortal leaders who are megalomaniac tyrants, too. 😈 Though since (IIRC) Xarriel recreated the Ashraalians after annihilating them, it's fair to suppose he adjusted them to make them extra-reverent and compliant to his rule. Dean Shomshak