DShomshak

From The Economist: The bad news is that climate change is forecast to reduce the area where current favored coffee spe ies can grosw. The good news is that there are losts of other species of coffee, with other favored climate ranges. Agronomists are hard at work studying them, with an eye to replacing/supplementing coffea arabica and coffea robusta, or crossbreeding to create a hardier plant. Your morning cuppa joe can be saved -- BY SCIENCE!

https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2024/01/23/can-scientists-save-your-morning-cup-of-coffee

Dean Shomshak

The largest crime a villain ever attempted in play in any of my Champions campaigns was Doctor Thame's attempt to destroy the universe. There's a hypothesis in physics called the "decay of the false vacuum": in brief, that space itself has an intrinsic level of energy, but this could be lower; and if something happened to convert even the tiniest speck of the universe to this lower energy state, the rest of the universe would nigh-instantaneously drop to this lower energy level as well. This would of course destroy all matter in the current universe, as there would be entirely new laws of physics. Or none, if the new energy state was in fact zero, meaning no matter or energy at all. Thane wanted to test the hypothesis by inducing such a phase shift. He was highly confident his dimensional force field would keep him alive for at least several seconds, long enough to observe the result of the experiment if it succeeded. No, he did not have someplace else to go afterward: He fully expected success to kill him, but at least he would know. Anything for Science!

The PCs of Avant Guard got their first clue what Doctor Thane was attempting when their precognitive leader, Doctor Future, made a routine look into the future and saw there wasn't one. So the universe was saved, apparently at cost of the life of Doctor Thane and Doctor Future. Both were time travelers, though, so either of them might reappear in the campaign.

(I admit, LL's plan for Xarriel does top Doctor Thane's.)

Dean Shomshak

I rewrote Nebula and Duress for one of my relatively recent Champions games. I made Nebula an Arcturan (alien race in our galaxy, notably advanced technology), who was transporting a criminal past Earth when a space-time kerflooey dragged in her spaceship and spit the criminal out of Earth. (The villain Nightfall, whose 5e character sheet I posted some time ago). Her chameleon implant was damaged in the kerflooey, so she managed human form but the colors were off. For my rewrite, I expanded her capabilities a bit -- including giving her some more Skills that would actually be useful for a cop.

My version of the Duress gauntlets created a pocket dimension about 100 meyters wide, a separate dimension for each prisoner. The pocket dimension has no light, air, or other matter, so unless prisoners has suitable Life Support they will of course start dying immediately -- but the field pervading the dimension makes death impossible. Prisoners experience dying in the vacuum of space, all alone in darkness, until other machines are used to pull them out. Nebula herself could not do this, a hedge against Arcturan cops being forced to release prisoners.

If the Proper Authorities deem a captive was not guilty of a crime, the memory of being in Duress is erased. Arcturans figure that if you don't remember the suffering, it didn't happen, so no real harm done. If the gauntlets that created each pocket universe are destroyed, well, oops, the prisoners can't be retrieved and suffer forever.

Dean Shomshak

So a couple right-wingers finally suffered consequences for climate change denial with malice aforethought, but I admit the details of the verdict and judgment seem... odd. At least as this story reports them.

Famed climate scientist wins million-dollar verdict against right-wing bloggers (msn.com)

Dean Shomshak

Explosive outrage would be my guess. But it's important to remember -- this would not be hypocritical, given the axioms of conservatism. As political scientist Corey Robin says on the video that Pattern Ghost posted, one of the fundamental assumptions of conservatism is inequality. People are *not* morally equal, and those of greater worth should rule over those of lesser worth. For an Evangelical, burning LGBTQ-inclusive books defends the righteous order ordained by God; burning Bibles defies that order. And suggesting equivalence between the two cases also constitutes such defiance.

It's pointless arguing with people about axioms.

ADDENDUM: Reading the article, I also noticed that Ms Gomez appears to have no freaking clue what job she's running for. Unless the office of Secretary of State is *very* different in Missouri than in Washington, I'm pretty sure they don't decide what goes in school libraries.

Dean Shomshak

I like Mr. Zahorulko's art very much. Excellent, clean style. Thank you for sharing.

Dean Shomshak

A bit of big-picture analysis of the state of the world and likely future. Necessarily superficial, of course, but I may look for that RAND Corporation paper that's cited.

Welcome to the “neomedieval era” (msn.com)

Dean Shomshak

13 hours ago, Duke Bushido said:

seriously though:

 

unless there is a meaning for catobleps with which I am not familiar (amd please enlighten me of that is the case), it is either "catoblepas" or "Katobleps."

 

I have occasionally seen it spelled without the second A, presumably as a compromise (or confusion) between the Greek and Latin spellings.

Anyway, it was the '90s. You had to misspell everything to be kewl. (And what do you expect from a group of raving nutter third-tier villains? (Though at ;east they drew the line at being the "Kriminal Alliance...")

Dean Shomshak

My old change-of-pace, pick-up or fill-in) campaign had the heroes of UNICoRN, the United Nations International Criminology Resource Network -- a small back office in the U. N. with a phone and lists of heroes who were willing to work for cheap and a chance to travel, sending heroes to Third World locations that didn't have heroes of their own. These tended to be less-than-serious heroes such as Insectomorph (who activated different powersets by eating bugs), American Ninja (red, white and blue night-suit), or the Mad Piper of Inverness (sonic powers from a high-tech bagpipe). Their opponents tended to similar character. At one point, several villains they defeated teamed up to seek revenge as CAToBLEPS: Criminal Alliance To Beat Law Enforcement Personnel Soundly.

In my current campaign... hm. there aren't many acronymic groups, though some put their names in all caps because they think it looks impressive. Notable example being the obligatory Hydra homage, CROWN ("Every man king by his own hand"). Agents sometimes try to think up cool acronyms. Heroes devise insulting ones such as Completely Ridiculous Organization of Wannabe Nazis.

Dean Shomshak

"Houston, America" could be Texas or Mississippi. "Memphis, United States" could be Tennessee, Texas, or Missouri. Indeed, it matters to specify the state. I assume Canada has some doubled or tripled names as well.

Dean Shomshak

3 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

 

Try having parents who grew up during the Great Depression. You can't get sympathy for squat.

True, dat. Though my mother tells stories about how her grandfather came from Norway as a teenager and crossed the country to Washington state, unattended, penniless and not speaking a word of English...

Though her great-aunt came from Norway, on her own, when only nine. That or starve, doncha know.

Yeah, during the pandemic I couldn't muster much sympathy for people who complained they couldn't go to a bar, a barbershop or the gym. History is a great supplier of perspective.

Dean Shomshak

14 hours ago, Lord Liaden said:

I've always tried to work some element of a villain's Secret Identity into my uses of them. One of the easiest ways I find to do this is for PCs to unknowingly consult the villain for their SID's expertise. For example, perhaps the above mentioned Black Paladin has been committing crimes related to artifacts, histories, or motifs from his past life as a knight. Heroes might seek the advice of Prof. Allen Walker of Millennium City University, an expert on medieval history and culture... who also happens to be the supervillain Basilisk. (Champions Villains Volume Three).

If Medieval art treasures are involved, the heroes might consult the art appraiser Jos Terhune, a.k.a. Tartarus of the Devil's Advocates (CV2). Or hey, bring Walker, Terhune, and Professor John Black together, none knowing who the others are! That should be good for a few laughs, as well as a brawl.

Dean Shomshak

I've thought that many published villains don't deserve the 15 points from Secret Identity, because they don't show any sign of trying to maintain a life outside their villain activities. In some cases, this would even be impossible. For instance, Radium (CV1, in Project Sunburst) has Secret ID even though he lives in a bright red containment suit that keeps him from killing everyone near him thorough radiation exposure. Yes, his pasty is hidden: Finding that he used to be a soldier named Jason Matthews takes a Skill Roll at -10. But his entry doesn't say why this information would matter OK, so his connection to the military Project: Sunburst matters. It's an enormous secret waiting to explode (heh) into a scandal that might ruin people who are still alive and in government. But that is a different kind of Social Complication.

Dean Shomshak

On 2/1/2024 at 11:27 AM, unclevlad said:

Have any of them forgotten how crazy he is?  Or the degree of irrationality his core supporters show so often?

 

Apparently so, or they didn't pay attention the first time around. Today's episode of "The Daily" says the NYT polls show Trump's approval among Black voters has risen from 8& in 2020 to 22% today. And at least some of them base this approval on the economy, then and now. As one interviewee says, Trump's a business man so he should know how to bring down inflation. Huh? Pardon, but business people are the ones who decide to raise prices. Saying a business person knows how to curb inflation is like saying a pimp would know how to curb out-of-wedlock pregnancy.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/02/podcasts/the-daily/south-carolina-primary.html?action=click&module=audio-series-bar&region=header&pgtype=Article

This is deeply disturbing, given the election will, most probably, be decided once again by tiny margins in a small number of battleground states. Trump can rely on his base; Biden must fear even small percentages of Democrats and independents defecting or just not voting, no matter how clueless the reasons.

Dean Shomshak

Did Donald Trump's policies really produce a great economy? And if he got back in the White House, would he do it again? Answer to the first? Well... sorta...? For some people? Answer to the second: Many CEOs think, Dear God no, this would be a disaster. But they are currently afraid to say so in public. From today's Today, Explained:

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9yc3MuYXJ0MTkuY29tL3RvZGF5LWV4cGxhaW5lZA/episode/NzRmOTVhYmMtNTZmNy0xMWVlLWEwMTktNGYyNDMyZTUwOTIw?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjwjeHMz4uEAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

Quote

As president, Donald Trump presided over a good — sometimes great — economy. But his proposals are unnerving business leaders this time around. The Washington Post’s Heather Long and Economist columnist Henry Tricks on the Tariff Man’s Tariff Plans.

(I also read the Economist articles on the subject. Another sizeable cohort of CEOs, however, not only think Trump's administration was hunky-dory, they want another one. Hey, they got tax cuts, deregulation, and a booming stock market, what else matters? The Economist editorial position is: A very great deal more, such as predictable policy, the rule of law, and all the things the US does to maintain global order. While they admit they overestimated the disruption of Trump's term, they still think a second term would be much worse for the US and the world.)

Dean Shomshak

A bit about the loony Taylor Swift/Superbowl conspiracy theories. The key point, I think: The Masters of MAGA monetize the outrage. Outrage gets attention, and attention is the coin of the Internet. Especially when you can then hit up the faithful for donations or sell them merch. As we have noted here before: A grift.

https://www.npr.org/2024/02/01/1228373511/heres-why-conspiracy-theories-about-taylor-swift-and-the-super-bowl-are-spreadin

Dean Shomshak

I will say, MAGA is so easily triggered, the Biden team should exploit this by copying Trump's own tactics: Keep tossing out shiny new outrages to chase, and so command the news cycle, pushing other subjects -- including their hero Trump -- off the front page. When they make everything a conspiracy tied to Biden, they implicitly declare that Biden is powerful, that he matters. While also reminding the non-insane portion of the electorate how crazy Trump and MAGA are.

Now, what would be some good new shiny outrages...? Hm. Maybe have the Press Secretary mention Joe Biden's favorite vegetable. But really, they just need to throw out lots of random information and let MAGA invent its own connections.

Dean Shomshak

Star Trek: Lower Decks, Season Two. Still funny, still managing more story and character in 22 minutes than most ST series manage in 45, Still remembering bits from TOS, TNG and other series that were well worth seeing again, and still poking fun at Star Trek tropes that were done just a few times too often.

Also, this show managed to tell more about Billips' home planet in one episode than TNG told about Betazed in seven seasons. That's writing. And I really, really want to see more of that planet and the skills Billips has because of that past.

Best scene, IMO, was Boimler and Rutherford defeating the Ferengi poachers through... the Power of Math! Boimler pwning the megalomaniac computer came a close second, though. He may be naive and inexperienced in some ways, but behind the humor he's growing into a pretty darn good officer. In fact, all the recurring characters are people I would like and respect IRL, which is quite an achievement for any show.

Dean Shomshak

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/29/1222539335/banned-books-high-school

A secret collection of banned books for students. In Texas, no surprise, though I expect it could be needed in at least a dozen other states.

At least it shows that books still matter.

Dean Shomshak

Well, no surprise that in 240 years a litigious people should have already considered the constitutionality of secession...

The problems of state-by-state dissolution of the Union are well described, but I think there's something to be said for limited forms of 'soft secession.' My favorite scheme would let individual counties declare themselves quasi-states on the South African "homeland" model -- nominal sovereignty while having no control over their defense or economy. These "Albistans" could be legally Straight White Christian only, since so much of MAGA grievance seems to be loss of acknowledged racial, sectarian and cultural hegemony. They can also do without those nanny-state features that offend their peoples' sense of heroic self-reliance, and the rest of us don't have to feel guilty if this results in starvation or plague. Corporations can also exploit them for non-union labor, if that's how the albistanis roll. (But be careful to draw up the charters of quasi-secession so companies can't use them as tax havens.) Most importantly, Albistanis lose any right to vote in national elections, leaving the rest of the US to chart a more progressive path.

Failing that, the easiest way to unzip the USA is through sale of territory to other countries. The US grew by buying tracts from other countries; it can shrink the same way. If Trump wins the Presidency again, it might be a good idea for urban governments to petition to be bought by, say, Canada. Trump might love to be the broker of "THE GREATEST REAL ESTATE DEAL IN HISTORY!!!!!" while bidding farewell to most of the people who voted against him. The rural, rump Unites States of Real America can then hold a constitutional convention to make him President for Life, or Emperor, or whatever. The USRA would lose maybe half its population and more than half its economy, but at least the righteous Real Americans would be rid of people like me. We'd be Canadian, and I for one would be glad of it.

As for blather of civil war: It doesn't seem impossible to me, but what's so mind-blowing is the lack of substantive issues on the MAGA side. Slavery gave the Confederate States abundant grounds for secession: It wasn't just a "peculiar institution," like, I don't know, Austtralians and Vegemite. It was integral to their economy and the wealth of its ruling class. Rational, in a deeply unpleasant way. But studies show MAGA isn't suffering economically (though many of them think they should be wealthier). They aren't being robbed to support the elites; rather, the liberal and urbanized states are subsidizing conservative and rural. Nobody is forcing MAGA to worship in particular ways; merely that they can't force their faith on others. The Constitution's setup means they are in no danger of being steamrollered politically. The grievances seem to be all cultural: the rest of us no longer accept their dominance. If it happens, it'll be a Seinfeld civil war, fought about nothing.

Dean Shomshak

That sounds hella cool.

Dean Shomshak

Well, the PCs in my urban D&D campaign encountered a magic sword with a will of its own, though it did not talk. Thousands of years old, forged by Elves for one of their ancient wars against Orcs, still devoted to the cause. Only, oops, Elves and Orcs are now equal citizens of the Plenary Empire (as are all sapient beings who are capable of obeying its laws). When the sword woke from centuries of sleep to find itself in a city with an orc minority, it overpowered the will of its owner and began a campaign of assassination intended to spark a race war.

The PCs dealt with the situation and freed the wielder from the sword's control. They have been assured by the Powers That Be that the powerful sword has been destroyed.

Dean Shomshak

Just now, Old Man said:

 

If we ditch the European requirement, central Asia is an outstanding source of inspiration.  I have a history of central Asia that reads exactly like a fantasy novel with intrigues, wars, dynasties, and entire civilizations that no Ur-Murrikan has ever heard of.    Largely because they were erased by the Mongols, and later the Russians.

Speaking of which, may I recommend the movie Nomad: the Warrior? Made in Kazakhstan, and skip the "Borat" jokes, it's a crackerjack Fantasy epic. With no magic as such, but there's prophecy, destiny, and battles both glorious and terrible. And never since the glory days of Hollywood westers, and maybe not even then, has a camera so loved horses.

On 1/20/2024 at 8:51 AM, Lord Liaden said:

 

I remember reading a sci-fi novel years ago -- don't remember the author, apologies -- dealing with an alternate Earth time-line in which the bubonic plague had been much more lethal in effect than in our world, cutting European population by nearly three-quarters. Western Europe never recovered, and by the mid-Twentieth Century was under the dominion of the Turks, except for Russia which had expanded its empire into significant parts of the New World. But European contact with the New World came centuries later than on our Earth, and did not dominate the aboriginal populations to remotely the same extent. In fact the Meso-American civilizations had evolved to become among the strongest and most advanced in the world.

I believe it's The Gate of Worlds by Robert Silverberg. (I also read it years back.) But the Wikipedia article lists several other novels using similar conceits.

The Gate of Worlds - Wikipedia

Dean Shomshak

I can only guess at the reasoning behind such design, but I'll try.

One thing you sometimes see in comics is the giga-villain who fights multiple teams of heroes at once. They come at him in waves, he bats them back, the next wave piles on and gets scattered in turn, etc. This is tricky to do in Champions, because a single team of, say, 5 heroes can dish out an awful lot of STUN in a Turn. Even giving the giga-villain high defenses and lots of Damage Reduction might not be enough -- and yet you still want it to mean something if a hero manages a Pushed, Haymakered, Called Shot to the head. So it's not a good idea to push the villain's defenses too impossibly high.

Ditto DCV. It's a boring adventure if the fight consists of whiff after whiff because nobody can hit Big Bad with any roll over a 5. Okay, so players might be able to devise a clever use of Powers to reduce Big Bad's DCV, but when you publish Big Bad you don't know who the PCs will be.

Or you use the STUN rules. Give Big Bad such overpowered attacks that any hero he hits is Knocked Out, or at least Stunned. That way, you don't have a dozen or more heroes launching 5+ attacks per Turn. You have the few who are conscious at any given moment, not all of whom will hit, while the others regain consciousness and take Recoveries.

So that's my guess. I still think it sucks. I think it's based on a comic-book trope that just doesn't translate to the gaming table. Don't have a fight with large numbers of NPC heroes. (Or if you do, have them engage in a separate fight off in the distance, which you as GM merely allude to now and then. No dice rolls, good God.)

Though as LL recounts -- some campaigns have run so long the PCs *can* fight even the most apparently overpowered published villains and win handily. That's why 6e versions include notes on adjusting character power up and down... one of few 6e innovations of which I approve.

Dean Shomshak