DShomshak

Likewise. When I began my first Champions campaign back in college, I didn't have sourcebooks and didn't think I needed them: I knew the Marvel and DC Universes, and figured I could write my own villains, NPC heroes, and organizations based on that inspiration. (And did, and by and large it workedout really well.) Of course I had a HYDRA homage, though (not wanting to go snakey with VIPER) I called it Terror, Incorporated -- not knowing the CU (such as it was back then) had a villain team of that name. But 4e VIPER showed I could do so much more with my International Semi-Fascist Evil Agent Group than I had been. I still rate it one of the best Champions supplements. Dean Shomshak

Figured that out. Dean Shomshak

Not as "out there" as you might think! Converting letters to numbers is part of gematria, an important part of kabbalism. 10-15-5 just approaches it a little differently. Dean Shomshak

The Devil's Advocates are intrinsically unstable, since members have motives (and Psych Lims) pulling them in different directions. Some of them are also pretty fragile beneath their magical defenses. So my guess would be that the line up has changed a lot over the decades as members die or go off to do other things, and Demonologist recruits new members. Demonologist himself is still around: He's smart, slippery, and relies on ritual magic that is less dependent on high mana. (He is also the writer's pet. 😉) As ostinsibly more powerful mystic villains such as Dark Seraph and Shadow Destroyer have faded or died, he's in many ways the last man standing -- the "gray eminence" of mystic villainy. If ambient magic has faded, he knows even better how to use it. (There were a few times when the world thought he was dead, such as the year in which Dark Seraph seemed to have killed him and took over the Devil's Advocates. He had of course snookered Dark Seraph. See the next paragraph for what he did on his return.) The first couple decades after 2020, he tried to engineer a resurgence of mana in between attempts to end the reign of technology. Some of these schemes actually contributed to magic's decline as Demonologist cannibalized artifacts and beings of power: as for instance his attemmpt to use the Crowns of Krim to power a mana-restoration spell. That was the end of the Crowns of Krim: the wearers dead, and the artifacts de-powered (apart from being indestructible) with a thousand-year recharge. In 2050, Big D is trying to channel magic in from other planes or create artifacts that can prevent further loss of magic. His methods are... unpleasant. Variant option: Demonologist is the Archmage. He takes it seriously: No invader from beyond is going to conquer the Earth. But he's still a villain -- the last mystic villain who can cast powerful spells virtually at will, though still far less powerful than Takofanes or Shadow Destroyer were. Heroes do not want to face him head-on. Fortunately, his schemes for restoring magic still require long preparation that give heroes chances to foil them. Sub-variant: Demonologist was extraordinarily pissed when he tried using the Archmage's power to repeat the Walpurgisnacht Working of 1938... and figured out why he couldn't. See, the mystic origin of the Superheroic Age was a two-step process. The Working had the results it did because Earth's mana was already supercharged and deeply unstable from the murder of the then-Archmage in 1908, by the Circle of the Scarlet Moon! As long as someone holds the Archmage's mantle, Earth's ambient magic is stabilized and far less likely to flow in strange channels such as turning toxic waste exposure into origin events. Demonologist himself is now the blockage to the return of super-magery and a Dark Renaissance -- but he can't bear to give up the power. As for the others, Golem is most likely dead. At least, Upton Frogge is dead. The Golem might still exist as a spirit moving from statue to statue. Possibly he can only animate his host statues for short periods, and not often, but he may well outlive all the other members. (I'll stick to the 5e/6e membership for this.) Gyre pursued the lure of ultimate knowledge into the Upper Planes and perhaps beyond. If she returns, it is not as anything still human. Kapilasa is dead, or transformed into a spirit with obligations to Shiva and subject to the Ban. Tartarus is dead, or at least he suffered mortal death. He still exists as a minor demon lord finding his place in the Descending Hierarchy. Vilsimbra force her way back into the Onyx Kingdom and is busy there. As for potential new members? There could be a Sylvestri and/or a Vandaleur in the 2050 team. For instance, Cornelius Liefeld would give the Devil's Advocates a powerful alchemist. A Vandaleur member might not even have been born yet in 2020. "Legacy" versions of mystic villains are another possibility, such as an Astralle II, Chatoyant II or Cairngorm II. Or for another alchmist option, Harpy II: Edwina Baldwin's daughter was adopted by Zarrindokht after Harpy's death. She's grown up now and come to Earth from Faerie to seek revenge, or something. She's not as powerful a brick as her mother was, but she has alchemical gimmicks to compensate. And, no doubt, some villains who have no connection to any contemporary characters. Dean Shomshak

Did anyone see the transit of Mercury? I missed it. (Though I might not have been able to see it anyway, here on the West Coast -- and IIRC the morning was cloudy.) Dean Shomshak

So you noticed that. When I wrote that, I wondered if I was too heavy-handed in planting the clue that Bethany and Pamela were Archmage candidates from birth. Then I wondered if maybe I was too subtle. (Or if maybe Herodom just doesn't have the habit I saw on White Wolf boards of parsing and over-interpreting every sentence of a text.) Anyway, well done. Of all mystic organizations, the Circle of the Scarlet Moon and the Trismegistus Council would be affected the least by the decline of magic -- because they grew in a time of low magic and developed their methods accordingly. The Trismegistans might suffer more by embracing heroic super-mages, but it's still largely a group of scholars. The two groups just go back to their long, slow war of maneuver, using ritual magic and whatever social advantage they can leverage from it. Dean Shomshak

How Internet Trolls And Online Extremists Are 'Hijacking ... www.npr.org/2019/11/12/778502116 Andrew Marantz is the author of the new book "Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, And The Hijacking Of The American Conversation." Andrew Marantz, welcome to FRESH AIR. Your book is... I hope this attempt to copy and paste a link works. If not, Google Fresh Air Antisocial Marantz. Summary: NPR program Fresh Air interviews New Yorker reporter Andrew Marantz about his new book Antisocial: Internet Extremists, echno-Utopians and the Hijacking of the American Conversation. Marantz spent a year closely observing the alt-right and seeing how they, to use their own words, "memed Donald Trump into the White House." He describes the ease with which white supremacists use social media to manipulate mass media. Case study: the "Is Hillary Sick?" story. A group comes up with the speculation that Hillary Clinton has Parkinson's based on, what, how she blinks in a snippet of video? They retweet it back and forth. Twitter dutifully reports this as trending, even though it's all within a small echo chamber. This brings it to the notice of Breitbart or the Drudge Report, which spreads the story. So Fox News picks it up. So everybody picks it up -- and even if a "mainstream" media outlet concludes there's nothing there, the story nevertheless gets repeated. Presto: A thousand people plant an idea in hundreds of millions of minds. Marantz particularly takes Mark Zuckerberg to task for his refusal to take any responsibility for how Facebook is exploited, though Zuckerberg is emblematic of a wider attitude. He notes that when Zuckerberg talks about the importance of free speech, don't censor anyone for any reason, he keeps his arguments completely abstract and divorced from real events and the real choices they bring. (Anyone seriously interested in these issues should read "Areopagitica," by John Milton -- yes, that John Milton. He wrote his argument at a time when Europe's wars of religion still raged. Books were genuinely dangerous, and it took a lot of courage to accept that danger. But Milton also argued that books could be criminal and destructive just as people were -- and like human criminals, they should be suppressed once their criminality was proved beyond a reasonable doubt. I think this standard can apply when people use social media to whip up murderous mobs, as has happened in India and Myanmar.) One interesting point Marantz reports: The people he studied don't back Trump so much anymore. They figure he's given them as much as he will. Instead a lot of them back Tulsi Gabbard, as the most radical candidate who isn't Trump. They particularly like her extreme anti-war stance: Perhaps oddly, a lot of the alt-righters Marantz studied came to their positions through extreme pacifism, or at least an anti-war isolationism. It's an interesting talk, and I recommend it. Dean Shomshak

Yeah -- Thanks, Simon, it is indeed frustrating as hell but it is indeed a point to remember. (My late father was an investigative reporter. I know the constraints sometimes became frustrating for him... but when the story did run, he rather enjoyed telling outraged politicians, business owners and assorted criminals to go ahead and sue and see what happens. They rarely did, and the Tacoma News Tribune employed him for a great many years.) Dean Shomshak dean Shomshak

Yeah -- Thanks, Simon, it is indeed frustrating as hell but it is indeed a point to remember. (My late father was an investigative reporter. I know the constraints sometimes became frustrating for him... but when the story did run, he rather enjoyed telling outraged politicians, business owners and assorted criminals to go ahead and sue and see what happens. They rarely did, and the Tacoma News Tribune employed him for a great many years.) Dean Shomshak dean Shomshak

While the Senate is constitutionally obliged to try the president on the articles of impeachment sent by the House, a constitutional law expert interviewed by All Things Considered said McConnell could run the trial pretty much as he pleases, and neither House nor Senate Democrats can do a thing about it. For instance, he could refuse to allow any witnesses, testimony or evidence of any kind, and just call a vote right away. It could all be over in five minutes. Blatantly, transparently political and spitting on the very idea of the rule of law, but he and Trump would have won. And if Dems then take White House, House and Senate in 2020, I would not be able to fault them for, well, anything they did in retaliation. It is to be hoped the GOP Senators will at least pretend to hold a real trial. Dean Shomshak

A lawyer friend of mine pointed this out regarding a state Supreme Court candidate who said she wanted the job to be an advocate for minorities and the poor against corporate power. It is in fact possible that in a dispute between a large, rich corporation and a "little guy" that the corporation may be in the right. (He also pointed out -- I shall try to recollect his words as closely as I can -- that this candidate "Literally does not understand the job she's applying for. A judge is not supposed to be an advocate. A judge is who you advocate to.") Dean Shomshak

For the decline of supertech, I would suggest there's less "OMG! It doesn't work anymore!" and more, "This is harder than we thought, and it's amazing this unstable technology worked as long as it did." Example: In 2032, the computer scientist Dr. Joon Bon-Wha proves mathematically that the Zerstoiten Algorithm (basis of all "strong" AI for decades, copied as the name says from Dr. Destroyer) is intrinsically unstable. There's a conflict between the self-modifying aspect needed for generalized learning and decision-making, and the absolute directives that assure loyalty and adherence to particular goals. Eventually the simulated neural net degenerates and goes mad before collapsing completely. Dr. Joon theorizes that Dr. Destroyer and other super-scioentists kept their AIs going as long as they did through dodges such as having a specialized "weak" AI monitoring and adjusting the "strong" AI, but even that would fail eventually. IN 2050, therefore, there is lots of specialized AI that's really good at well-defined tasks such as reading X-rays or driving cars. But genuine free-willed electronic personalities are rarely built. Some countries even outlaw there construction, on grounds that it's inhumane to create an intelligence that must inevitably go mad and destroy itself. Some computer scientists are experimenting, however, with other program architectures -- particularly variations that leave out the "hard wired" directives. But many people are nervous about creating electronic intelligences that will be completely free-willed. Researchers counter that every human infant is an experiment in uncontrolled intelligence. What does it matter if a mind is in silicon or meat? Some researchers prefer to speak of "Artifician Personhood" rather than "Artificial Intelligence." Dean Shomshak

If I may be pardoned for tooting my own horn, you can find game stats for a superpower-granting machine in Shared Origins: The Dynatron, written by Yours Truly. You can buy it through the Hero Store or DriveThruRPG. (Assuming you actually do want a game writeup. Steriaca is right: For many games it's perfectly OK to leave "origin machines" and such ilk as plot devices.) Dean Shomshak

If I may be pardoned for tooting my own horn, you can find game stats for a superpower-granting machine in Shared Origins: The Dynatron, written by Yours Truly. You can buy it through the Hero Store or DriveThruRPG. (Assuming you actually do want a game writeup. Steriaca is right: For many games it's perfectly OK to leave "origin machines" and such ilk as plot devices.) Dean Shomshak

Speaking of heroes' relating to the authorities, here's the Campaign Chronicle I mentioned of when the players and characters both mucked up and I, the GM, scrambled to keep up with them. At this time my frined Jeff wrote the chronicle. A word of explanation: This was 4th edition, with characters originally written on 250 points. To fit in all the Powers people wanted for their super-mages, most characters had ctivation Rolls and hefty Side Effects. That doesn't explain all the events that turned the scenario into a train wreck... In this, the police are not happy to see the PCs, but I'm sure you'll agree they had reason. (Warning: This is blow by blow, so very long. I won't be offended if no one reads it.) ------------ LIEBESTOD Yes, it's campaign update time again. As you will see when you read on, we do it to ourselves again -- and I though our *last* adventure was a comedy of errors! Since then, things have been quiet for a bit since our little hoo-doo in Montana last time, so we are catching up with our lives... Ian Malcolm has blown himself out of existance again (or at least to another plane), but we are confident he will eventually reappear. Actually, Corey just couldn't make it at the last second, so we expect Ian to reappear start of next adventure. Victor has been thinking about the bilocational house we mentioned we live in. It has occured to him that many exotic spell components he needs are readily available in Babylon and at a good price given the exchange rate. He decides he will need to head over to our place and shmooze a bit, in hopes of being allowed over to Babylon to do some quick shopping. Redeemer has been trying to do research on the Cult of the Doomsday Clock and how to find and return Father O’Herlihey's soul. He is also continuing his research on trying to overcome his inability to father an heir to be the next Champion of Light. This is unlikely to prove fruitful, as he is operating on a false assumption: that he is alive and thus capable of fathering children. His research on both fronts is hampered by his inability to readily locate the Library of Babylon, which he can only reach about 1 in 3 times he tries. He will do better at navigating Babylon's shifting streets when he buys up his Area Knowledge. Jezeray has been continuing her research on lycanthropy hoping to find a cure for Andrew's condition, as well as running her little fortune-telling business. She has also been trying to talk Andrew into moving into Wetchley House with her. He hasn't yet agreed to, but is starting to lean that way. The adventure proper opens with Jezeray sleeping over at Andrew's house. She is having a dream about being sucked into a bottle, when she is awakened by Andrew's thrashing. He is also having a nightmare and is talking in his sleep. His aura is flickering between himself and Black Fang, and he is speaking alternatingly in both voices. Black Fang is taunting Andrew, claiming he can satisfy Jezeray better than Andrew can. Andrew is denying it, but in that panicked way that suggests he really believes it. After he wakes up, they just snuggle up togther until they fall asleep again. In the morning she heads back to Wetchley House. Victor comes over later that morning and Jezeray shows him around the house (he especially likes the Garden Floor, where he harvests several semi-rare herbs he can use in his alchemy). She then takes him out on a guided tour of Babylon. He shops for spell components on the way and gathers some dirt from Babylon so he can make his own EDM teleport potions to get here on his own in the future. They also swing by the Library of Babylon. When they get back, they find Redeemer watching a news broadcast on TV. There is a hostage situation not far away in Tacoma's Hilltop area. It seems that Francine Jarovich (and her daughter Amber) is being held hostage by her shotgun toting husband, who has already shot the mailman, and is about ready to kill his "cheatin' wife". Although there is nothing magical about this, Redeemer decides he is going to get involved anyway, and we decide we had better follow. We fly in invisibly, thanks to Redeemer. Just in case, Victor uses a lotion to make his skin malleable, and sculpts himself a temporary new face -- his current body is also hunted by the police. Jezeray is pleased when Redeemer suggests he sees no need for Zontar and that she should stay herself. The house is surrounded by cops who are trying to negotiate with the husand, who is in an upstairs bedroom with the hostages. Hovering outside the broken window, we decide that Victor will cast a Matter Barrier around the wife and daughter while Redeemer simultaneously gives the husband a Mental Illusion of getting shot in the face with a shotgun (poetic justice). It works, sort of... Redeemer's Illusion is real enough to knock the husband out before he can fire, but Victor blows his roll and we end up in a side effect entagle, and plunge out of the sky. The SWAT team runs up and starts beating on us. Luckily, the entangle protects us and we are still invisible. Redeemer teleports us out of the entangle back into the air. Just before we fly off, Jezeray notices that the house is permeated by a malevolent evil aura. We stop to investigate. Redeemer can detect no magic at work in the house, but does notice that one of the cops is viciously beating on the unconsious husband with his truncheon. Redeemer scans him and determines he is being mentally influenced somehow. Other cops pull "officer Smith" off before we have to intervene. We fly to the side and land. Victor blusters his way into the crowd of cops as the man is being wheeled out on a stretcher, claiming to be a doctor. In his white lab coat and safety glasses, he does somewhat look the part, and the cops and paramedics buy it long enough for Victor to do some magical healing. The blue glow around the victim sets them off however, and Victor is pulled away. Redeemer then walks up in full bishop's regalia -- and the cops all groan. *Him* they recognize. He is firmly told to bugger off, their paranormal interference is not appreciated with the Tacoma Police. He and Victor leave, cloak themselves, and join Jezeray, who has been hanging near the house in her "unnoticeable" state, checking out the aura in more detail. She determines that the house itself seems to be somehow possessed. Back home, Artifex finally pops into Wetchley House to check on us. He is back from the War of Infinity (both sides have declared themselves the winner and fighting has ceased). He finds the house empty except for a terrified dog whose collar identifies him as "Sam". After scanning to make sure it is not a transformed Andrew, he leaves it alone, though Sam snaps at him (like Redeemer, he is disliked by animals, in his case because his Art nature conflicts with their Nature nature - if that makes sense). Terence tells Artifex where we are and what we are up to, so he cloaks himself and comes to join us. Once he arrives he fills us in about the War being over etc., etc. We are amused at his new costume; having gotten over his somber phase, he is now in something resembling an iridesent toga. Getting down to busIness, he and Jezeray both retrocog. the house in their own respective fashions. Jezeray blows her rolls and briefly believes that this is the work of Mephistopheles, but soons figures out that she is wrong. Artifex's retrocognition takes the form of talking to the house. It is a nice if somewhat complaint-prone structure. It certainly does not seem evil itself. It mentions a new resident who moved in three days ago. Under further questioning, it admits the new person isn't flesh and blood. The house also is not certain exactly where the new person is, except somewhere inside. Victor uses his "Reagent Kit" (a magic detect that gets more detailed the more extra time is used, based on alchemical experimentation). After 5 minutes he has determines that the house was occupied 3 days ago by an astral being -- some sort of atavism, and that it gets stronger the more harm it causes. We speculate that if they get stronger by causing pain, then joy and happiness may make them weaker. Redeemer decides we need to learn more by confronting the creature and decides to enter the house. He decides to set up a poor-man's Mind Link with Jezeray (i.e. Mental Illusions on Jezeray of her hearing in her head whatever Redeemer wants to say to her), so we will be able to track his progress in the house. Victor gives him a potion and tells him to drink it in an emergency, but does not tell him what it is. Artifex decides to go in with Redeemer while Jezeray and Victor remain outside. Incidentally, while we've been invisible, the police have finished all their work at the house for now and have cordoned it off with that yellow "police line -- do not cross" tape. It is now late in the evening. Redeemer and Artifex enter the house. Once they leave the front of the house and the windows that look out on Jezeray and Victor, Line-of-sight for the Mental Illusion is broken (something we didn't think of). Redeemer decides to press on anyway, not realizing that Jezeray does not know. You see, mental powers continue to affect the victim even after being shut down, at least until an EGO roll is made. Hence Jezeray continues to hear a repetion of Redeemer's last thought - "I'm in the living room now, everything is still o.k.". Redeemer and Artifex get to the center of the house, and Redeemer issues a challange to the atavism of the "come and get me" variety. Without waiting for an attack he then chugs the potion Victor gave him, still not knowing what it is! Oh, and what was it, you ask? Well, remember when we speculated that happy emotions would weaken the thing? Yes, in an effort to help that effect, Victor has given Redeemer a Love Potion!!! About the same time Artifex tries to create a merriment-based PRE attack by launching into an impromptue song-and-dance rendition of "Come on get Happy!". Hearing the commotion, Jezeray and Victor rush into the house and start laughing at Artifex. As soon as Redeemer sees Jezeray, however, he falls madly in love with her! He realizes that between his magic and her psychic powers, their child would be the most powerful Champion of Light ever! He instant changes into "continental" garb and starts putting the make on Jezeray. Artifex and Victor whisper to her not to reject him, his pain would then feed the atavism. In fact, with her Mental Awareness, she just then spots a mental effect aimed at Redeemer. She decides that if the atavism is in contact with him, she needs to encourage his love as much as possible. She grits her teeth and throws herself into Redeemer's arms, professing her love for him. Just to add insult to injury, Artifex has produced a camcorder and is filming the whole scene for posterity (and possibly blackmail). The atavism's suggestions to Redeemer are subtle and work at twisting his love into a demented sort of obsession. He teleports her and him into the bedroom and then begins drainign her life force, to make her more like him (even though he doesn't admit he is dead). She is unable to break his undead-strength grab. Artifex and Victor track them down. Victor sees an empty bedroom but Artifex see's through the "nobody here" illusion Redeemer has cast and tells Victor what Redeemer is doing to Jezeray. Redeemer adds the Choking Tentacles to the Life Drain he is using and Jezeray passes out. Artifex cast an illusion on Jezeray of being a decaying corpse, but the illusion also includes (vs. Detect Magic) that the spell is transformative magic rather than an Image spell. Redeemer see's through the visual part of the illusion but not the type-of-magic part and so believes that Artifex has just tried to transform Jezeray into a decaying corpse. Victor meanwhile finally manages to see through the "nobody here" illusion, but doesn't see through Artifex's illusion on Jezeray - so he sees a decayign corpse and thinks Redeemer has killed Jezeray by sucking all her life out!! Victor cast a hyper-gravity pocket on Jezeray hoping to make Redeemer drop her. When Artifex adds a downward TK pull to it, he does - in fact, she goes right through the floor and partially into the crawlspace below, taking enough damage to ensure she won't wake up soon. The illusion of her being a corpse is dropped now so Victor see's she is really alive and casts a Matter Barrier over her for protection. About now, Redeemer makes an EGO roll to break the atavisms effect on him, but he is still in love with Jezeray and hence is horrified by what he has tried to do to her. The atavism takes a new tack, trying to suggest "Yes, you've hurt her horribly, you don't deserve to live, why don't you just end it all". Redeemer however decides he must have vengeance on Artifex for trying to transform Jezeray into a corpse, but then decides she is still in danger from him and must be saved first. As Redeemer grabs Jezeray the bedsheets suddenly fly off the bed and entangle Artifex (this is the atavism's poltergeist abilities at work). Redeemer tries to teleport him and her out of the house, but the Matter Barrier around Jezeray is hardened, so she is left behind much to Redeemer's surprise. Victor drops the Matter Barrier around Jezeray and feeds her a Healing Potion. It isn't enough to wake her up, but she will recover soon. Redeemer blasts through the bedroom window, move-by grabs Jezeray and begins flying down the hallway toward the front door with her at high speed. Artifex is still tangled up, so Victor casts an Expand Matter at Jezeray (Growth with no mass increase). Sudden;y she is much bigger then the hallway - she and it take considerable damage as they grind to a stop. Redeemer, who somehow kept his grip on her, teleports them outside. Victor and Artifex follow. Having seen Victor heal Jezeray, redeemer decides he is maybe not one of the bad guys and asks him to do it again (she is pretty badly hurt at this point). Victor gives her one Healing Potion, enough that she will recover in awhile. Before Redeemer can resume hostilities with Artifex, Terence suddenly thinks to use a PRE attack via the Mind Link to inform Redeemer he is dead, and make him believe it. As usual, he promptly collapses into a pile of bones from which state he will not recover until he restores his disbelief in his death. We take the opportunity to cure him of the effect of the Love Potion. Also, Jezeray is shrunk back to normal and further healed. Based on what we have seen, Terence recognizes the atavism as a House Haunter: once they possess a house they can affect the material world in certain ways (like making mental suggestions and poltergiest effects), but only within the confines of the house they have occupied. One other problem is that attacking it is not easy -- it is nearly undetectable except by Mental Awarness when it attacks (and even that is only a non-targeting PER roll!) and its location is literally wherever its attention is at any given second, so it moves instantly. Moreover, if we hurt it too much it will just abandon the house and haunt somewhere else later. Once out of the house, it will be purely astral and we will have no good way to fight it. After mush discussion we come up with a plan. Artifex will spell-hack Redeemer's Wall of Solid Darkness into a Wall of Mental Defense, which we will trap the creature within so it cannot flee the battle. Redeemer will then stay outside the battle to keep the wall up. Artifex -- who has no Ego or affects desoid attacks -- will become phantasmal and attack either with spells or with the alchemical rockets and grenades that Victor equips him with. He will also have his STR boosted by a potion in case the critter can attack him physically in his phantasmal state. Jezeray will channel Zontar, who will use his EGO-attack spells against the critter, but will also be boosted by a SPD Aid potion of Victor’s to increase his rate of fire. Victor has 2 rockets that affect desolid he wil use. Once those are gone, he will make himself useful however he can, or will try to make himself a target so the rest of us stay up longer. Having set everything up and chugged our potions in advance, we reenter the house. Once inside, Artifex casts a spell that causes a miasma of despair within the room we are in. This lures the atavism out, which tries to suggest to Artifex that he should just end it all as he is a worthless loser, but since he expects it and isn't despairing the way it thinks he is, it has no effect. Artifex makes his PER roll and takes a shot at the atavism, bit misses. Victor shoots where Artifex did but also misses. Zontar, who is using his Cerulean Spray (1 hex area EGO-attack) hits. Since he is currently boosted to SPD 6, he goes next and hits again. Artifex hits it with a rocket when it tries to mentally attack him again, and Zontar maybe hits; we aren't sure. Victor misses again. Out of rockets, he instead pulls out a different rocket while cackling out loud about how this will easily blow it away. It buys it, and tries to attack him next phase by throwing a TV at him with its poltergeist powers. Zontar, however, had been holding his higher DEX and remembers what they told him about it: "It literally is wherever its attention is at any given moment". He realizes that if it is moving the TV, then that's where its attention is! Just as it throws it, Zontar hurls a more powerful but non-area effect Cerulean Spear at the TV set; it hits and the atavism is dispersed, though its essence is still contained in the Mental Defense bubble. In theory, at least, the atavism could reassemble itself and wake up eventually. Dispersing it more would help, but we don't know how much would be required to ensure it never recovered. Jezeray knows that ghosts can eat any atavism they can choke down their throats, so tries to call in her ghost friends to feast on the leftover essence -- it won't taste good, but it is "nutritious" to ghosts so they would probably eat it if she asked. However, when she starts scanning for her ghost friends, she can only find about half of them; the others are not to be found. Moreover, while many fixed location ghosts are also missing, most of the missing are of the rarer free roaming variety. Jezeray instead lures in a number of small atavism (which also eat other atavisms) to chow down. What little is left we disperse as best we can, and are satisfied the House Haunter won't ever be back. Artifex scans the city for magic that might be affecting the local ghosts and homes in on a signature. When we find it, it is a bowl sitting on the ground behind some shrubs beside a building. Written around the rim is "Able was I ere I saw Elba" and the inside of the bowl has a maze pattern. The center of the bowl is a hole. When we pick the bowl up we discover that the hole attaches to a bottle buried under the ground. This is a ghost trap -- the bowl acts as a lure to draw the ghost in; once over the hole, it is sucked into the bottle, which is a variation on a Solomon's Bottle. This trap in fact has already captured a ghost. Jezeray contacts the mind of a panicked woman inside. She free's the ghost with the intent of then questioning her, but the panicked ghost just flies off screaming in terror. Artifex scans and finds at least a dozen more such traps within the city. This is where we called it a night. Next session will obviously begin with our investigation of the ghost traps and an attempt to track down who is capturing ghosts and why. Ironically, Dean tells us that this problem is what we were supposed to really be dealing with this session - the House Haunter was only supposed to draw us in to discovering the absence of ghosts. Our comedy of errors made that into the entire adventure however. Perhaps even more ironically, his original plot called for the Imp of the Perverse to show up and mess with our attempts to deal with the House Haunter. He threw that idea out about the time Redeemer chugged the Love Potion -- who needs the Imp of the Perverse to mess us up, we do it to ourselves quite nicely... ------------------- Dean Shomshak

That's more or less what the former Evangelical lobbyist said in the program. How can someone claim to love God when they show such contempt for His creation? He actually described this realization as a conversion moment. Dean Shomshak

One small bit of hope from today's All Things Considered: At least some young Evangelicals are breaking from their parents' hostility to environmentalism and adopting "Creation Care" as both religious and political approach. There was also a rather jolly story about how Moore County, Texas is coping with demographic shift from all the migrants and refugees moving in to work at the beef slaughterhouse. Of course you have the people who are upset at walking into a store and finding everyone, including the staff, speaking Spanish. But... Without the immigrants, the slaughterhouse closes. As a local judge put it, people are learning tolerance from necessity. He compares changing attitudes to gaining weight: You put on a few pounds and don't think about it, then a few more, and one day you find your clothes, or social habits, don't fit anymore. So you change them, hardly even noticing how they've changed. Dean Shomshak

Indeed. Republicans used to claim they supported Free Trade. Now they back a president who starts protectionist trade wars. They used to claim they were the party of vigorious national defense, especially confronting Communism. Trump says he's best buds with Kim Jong-Un and neo-Soviet Vladimir Putin. And forget about spreading freedom, Trump cozies up to all sorts of despots. Traditional family values? They've embraced a serial womanizer and sexual predator. (Maybe if the family is the Mafia.) In a way, I would thank Trump for showing what the Republican Party *really* stands for, behind the dog whistles and obfuscation: Hierarchy. One group of people very definitely ruling, and everyone else very definitely being ruled. White privilege over people of color, corporate power over labor and consumers, helping the rich get richer while the poor get crumbs, assuring Evangelicals of cultural dominance in the face of LGBT+ advances. Dean Shomshak

<Nod> Very true! In prepping for "Keystone Konjurors," I *deliberately asked* for players to give their PCs "plot breaker" mystical powers such as Telepathy, Retrocognition, EDM and Astral Form. What you can look back in time to see how something was done? You can go anywhere in the world, at will, invisibly and intangibly? You can vanish to another dimension when things get hairy? How can a GM possibly run excition scenarios under such conditions? Well, you do it by accepting that the PCs have these abilities -- and you build scenarios that not only *accept* these abilities, they *require* them. Like, yes, the PCs *will* look back in time and find the next plot coupon. Oh, and occasionally give them chances to be cool by using their powers to effortlessly solve problems that other people find impossible. (A good story technique to keep in mind for any Champions campaign. The PCs are super, so let them show it off!) Dean Shomshak

Hm. For an example of an actual Champions campaign, maybe the best place for me to start would be the list of adventures and with plot summaries I did after my first Supermage campaign. (It became called the Keystone Konjurors because so many adventures were derailed by Activation Rolls with hefty Side Effects -- this was 4th edition, so people took *lots* of Limitations to bring PCs in on 250 points -- or by hefty Psychological Limitations that were played to the hilt.) Many villains will be familiar to Herophiles, as this was the playtest campaign for writing The Ultimate Supermage. ------------- In case anyone is interested, here is the complete list of adventures from the Ultimate Supermage playtest campaign (AKA the Keystone Konjurors). This includes summaries of the last 10 adventures, even though Jeff has chronicled them at length. MAJOR PCS ARTIFEX: Obnoxiously cocky, disturbingly ruthless practitioner of the Great Art of Magic. JEZERAY/ZONTAR BOK: Young psychic who channels the spirit of a long-dead warrior-mage. IAN: Lunatic chaos mage with little control over his awesome and destructive powers. REDEEMER: Half-mad heir to a family legacy of white magic, in serious denial concerning his own death some years before. He is advised by his Uncle Terence, also dead and rightly blaming Redeemer for it. Redeemer later changed his pseudonym to Apostle, and still later to Wrath. TALBOT: Ian's true self, an incredibly brilliant theoretician of magic who became Ian after he Knew Too Much. VICTOR: Thousand-year-old, body-switching alchemist. (A few other PCs appeared briefly as players tried out characters, or played only a few sessions.) 1. A SERPENT IN THE BOSOM. The mysterious Mr. Smith gathers Our Heroes and sends them to the little town of Garland, WA where the Ouroboros cult is breeding half-human spawn of the Dragon. 2. COME TO ORDER. Bromion kidnaps a bunch of hapless humans from a New Age expo, and Our Heroes must rescue them. 3. THE RICH ONE. A series of deaths by transmutation leads to Dis, the powerful Plutonian spirit, and its loathesome human minion Mr. Jukes. Jukes becomes the first defeated enemy killed by Artifex. 4. TRICK OR TREAT: THE NEXT GENERATION. Our Heroes must penetrate layers of recursive hallucination before Tappan Arkwright III sacrifices them to the Kings of Edom. First time Artifex kills Tappan Arkwright III. (Note: In the previous Seattle Sentinels campaigns, every year I did a yearly "Trick of Treat" Halloween adventure. New campaign, so new name.) 5. REVENGE OF SIMON MAGUS. An ambush by demon-possessed teens and Matachin (one of the Sylvestri clan) leads to Simon Magus, who is possessing the body of a California teenager. Simon wants revenge for their foiling a plot which to them, hasn't happened yet...and the time-puzzles begin. 6. AZTLAN RISING. At first it seems that Jezeray's friend has merely been seduced by a ghost in her new home. Our Heroes soon find that beneath the house is the last temple of Aztlan, the bloody Empire of the Dragon from whence the Aztecs came -- but which was erased from history through a mighty spell. Our Heroes battle the Aztec god Xipe Totec, his monstrous minions, and (briefly) their comrade Redeemer before Mr. Smith sends them to fetch the parts of the spell which can unmake the temple and stop Xipe Totec from bringing Aztlan back. Along the way, they meet a golem created by Albertus Magnus and see their possible futures in a Hall of Mirrors in the palace of the Emperor of Babylon. Jezeray learns there may be a lover called Andrew in her future. 7. OTHER SIDE STORY. Lojan and Thyrsia, warrior-mages from opposing factions of an endless war on an extradimensional world, come to Earth because they've fallen in love. Both sides send mightier wizards and warriors to retrieve them. Our Heroes are caught in the middle. 8. TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT. Dis returns, controlled by Jukes' will, by possessing the unwary psychic Shirlee Teapot. Catching Dis proves easy. Getting rid of him does not. Eventually Our Heroes consult Sebastian Puddleby, the Wizard (a master of transformations, an old PC), who solves the problem by creating a new pocket dimension in the Astral Plane. Incidentally, Artifex also got seduced into a one-night stand by a disguised Perrenon Sylvestri, AKA Astralle. Oops. 9. ON THE EDGE. With a little unexplained help from the Dragon, Bromion captures the astral-travelling souls of dreaming villains and sends their enslaved bodies to attack Our Heroes. He meant this to distract them from his program of enslaving humanity through its dreams, but instead it led them to his base in the Astral Plane. 10. DREAMS THAT MONEY CAN BUY. Zeta Krafft unwittingly sold her soul to become a great artist. As a result, her sculptures became portals that let demons come to Earth. Our Heroes track the demons to their source and decide to save Zeta's soul by contacting a greater power: Palamabron, one of Artifex's patrons among the Sons of Los. But first they must reach him... 11. CROSSING THE VEIL. To reach Palamabron, Our Heroes must pass through psychodramas built from their minds by the Upper Astral Plane. The ever-shifting scenes stabilize into the Western town of Astral Springs and the nightmarish City of God. Artifex and Redeemer face twisted doubles of themselves, while Jezeray learns the confidence and the power to let her face down Thaumiel, the two-faced Lord of Good and Evil. Palamabron reveals the chink in Mephisto's apparently ironclad contract with Zeta Krafft: he and the demon Mulciber may have given Zeta Krafft her techniques, but great artistry depends on inspiration -- and that comes from him and Los. Zeta owes Mephisto nothing because what Mephisto promised was never his to give. It works, and Artifex gives Mephisto the finger. 12. THE COMING OF SKARN. The awesomely powerful and quite mad dimensional conqueror Skarn the Shaper is coming to Earth, drawn by a spell cast by the Hierophant. Our Heroes skirmish with minions of both Skarn and the Hierophant, bop (confusedly) through dimensions, including the Congeries, meet Skarn's daughter Brell, and finally save the world by challenging Skarn to a race through the dimensions. Artifex also gets the Forge Sutra, a powerful text of Art Magic, from the Hierophant. 13. IMPLOSION! The Imp of the Perverse has followed Our Heroes back to Earth. Soon the neighbors are acting funny. Apollyon (of the Devil's Advocates) changes from a violent, megalomaniac destroyer to a violent, megalomaniac altruist. And then the Imp zaps Artifex, Redeemer and Jezeray. Oy. In the end, though, Our Heroes manage to trap the Imp in a Solomon bottle and leave it in another dimension. Also, Jezeray gets a boyfriend: a shy, sensitive clerk called Andrew who works really hard to hold his temper -- because when he doesn't, he's dangerous. 14. THE HORROR FROM THE CRYPT. Tappan Arkwright is back, trying to liberate a powerful Edomite horror from its ancient crypt on Sakhalin Island. He succeeds, but Our Heroes manage to defeat the monster and cast it into the deeps of space. But how did Arkwright return from the dead? Artifex finds that Arkwright has no memory of dying in their last encounter. No matter; Artifex kills him again. 15. HELL RIDES IN. Hell Rider and some Wrath Demons attack and destroy Our Heroes' house, trying to kill them and steal the skull of Redeemer's Uncle Terence. Redeemer, Jezeray and Zontar capture Hell Rider, and discover he has NO SOUL AT ALL. Hell Rider doesn't know who took it or why, but he took this job from the Sylvestris in hopes that they could find it and put it back. 16. FEAST OF BLOOD. In another long story arc, Our Heroes go to the war in Bosnia. They find zombies, werewolf commandos, Mob Ruler atavisms and a massive plot by the Sylvestris and Ouroboros to resurrect Tiamat, a powerful avatar of the Dragon. They also meet Count Nemesis, an Edomite-powered hero (!) who has whatever power hurts you the most, and new PC Ian Malcolm. Artifex gives his life to slay Tiamat from the inside -- but during a visionary journey to Golgonooza in which he confronted the ultimate author of the plan, the Spectre of Urthona, Los let Artifex create a new version of himself to be activated after he died. 17. INTERLUDE: JUST ANOTHER MONSTER. On their way back to Tacoma, Redeemer, Zontar and Ian fight and destroy a giant, glowing Flumph that appears in Oslo for no reason that is ever adequately explained. 18. SPECTRE OF ART. Artifex is dead. Artifex is alive again. Artifex is wanted by the police for a series of robberies and murderous assaults -- only the other PCs know he was in Bosnia, or dead, the whole time. It turns out Artifex has a double, a version of him that lost the test of the Veil of the Temple and became a villain. While Our Heroes pursue this "Anarchitect" through Earth and Babylon, the cosmic entity Chroneval tries trapping them all in a deathly prison dimension. They finally confront Anarchitect in Babylon, stop him before he plunges the city-dimension into murderous anarchy, and bring him back to Earth just long enough to show the authorities that yes, Artifex really does have an evil twin. And then Chroneval sucks Anarchitect into his prison dimension. The PCs also get to take over Anarchitect's base, Wetchley House, to replace their destroyed house. 19. MADHOUSE! Our Heroes explore their bizarre new house. Andrew shows what he can do when he's angry. A magical blunder turns him into Black Fang; he is subdued with difficulty. 20. VEIL II: DARK MIRRORS. So where did Anarchitect come from? Our Heroes think the answer lies in the Veil, or beyond. Since Ian is with them and he's never crossed the Veil before, everyone has to go through new psychodramas. Artifex meets Anarchitect's rebel underground in the City of God, the Gothpunks, and finds a supposed "cosmic artifact," the Aenigma Temporis. This turns out to be a Chinese puzzle-box holding a fortune cookie that says "It is always later than you think." Redeemer confronts Thaumiel, who claims to be God, but who turns out to a little man behind a curtain. Jezeray and Ian have their own problems. Our Heroes also fight the Magus, a might-have-been version of Redeemer who serves Thaumiel. Once past the Veil, Palamabron explains that someone on or near Earth is doing things to Time. All sorts of might-have-beens are appearing. This is bad and someone had better stop it. 21. DIVIDED WE FALL! A treasure hunt through Central Asia and decaying dimensions for the Loom Sutra, a powerful text of temporal and dimensional magic. Our Heroes split up in disagreement when Artifex cold-bloodedly kills the Hierophant, who also seeks the Sutra, but end up together at the ancient monastery which held the scroll. And a good thing: qliphothic monsters have invaded. Our Heroes follow the monsters back through a Gate to a pocket dimension created using the Sutra. Faced with overwhelming odds from the monsters, they leap through another convenient Gate -- into the deathly dimension of the Pale Cathedral. Its inhabitants, the Harab Serapel, reveal that they manipulated the PCs into bringing them the Loom Sutra in hopes that it could give them and the Pale Cathedral further eons of existence. The PCs try to build a new dimension for the Harab Serapel, but Ian's chaos blows it up and throws them outside of Time. Before they re-enter Time, the others prevail on Artifex to reverse his murder of the Hierophant. 22. FIGHT AGAINST TIME. A demonic incursion draws Our Heroes to a meeting with the time-travelling Cult of the Doomsday Clock in Tulsa. The sorcerer-priest Father O'Herlihy foresees a demonic attack on his church, so he calls on the Champion of Light -- Redeemer -- for help. The PCs go, and fight a squad of demons led by the lord Shax and one of the Sylvestris. They also clash with some mysterious Men in Black who teleport using pocket-watches, and an even more mysterious Chronstable. Our Heroes trash the demons. Julian Sylvestri unwittingly gives Shax permission to kill him and take his soul. The church's wards are damaged, however, letting the MiBs enter and steal Father O'Herlihy's soul using a crystal spear. Then they vanish. Also: Ian first mentions Talbot. He says he's Talbot's imaginary friend. Apparently Talbot can do things by himself. Wut? 23. DAMNED IF YOU DO... A fight with a man who sold his soul to become a demon and take revenge on Artifex -- whom he blames for Anarchitect raping his girlfriend. Mephisto also kidnaps Jezeray's boyfriend Andrew to Hell. 24. HARROWING HELL. A quest into Pandemonium and several Hells to rescue Andrew before Mephisto can force or trick him into selling his soul -- as himself or as Black Fang. Our Heroes find that Hell really is as bad as they thought and barely escape from Pandemonium with their lives. While Redeemer tries to Gate them out, the Lords of Art snatch Artifex for their "War of Infinity," [the player had to leave early and couldn’t make it to a few sessions] disrupting the Gate and scattering the PCs through Hell. Ian persuades Minos, the Judge of Hell, to reunite them just so they (especially Ian) will leave. While caught in Baphomet's Hell of War, Jezeray loses her virginity to Black Fang and enjoys it. Oh dear. 25. IN THE SHADOW OF THE BOMB. Our meet Stalker, one of the original Seattle Sentinels, while investigating some peculiar deaths by radiation in New Mexico. The trail leads to the Astral Cyst of Trinity Village -- and Simon Magus, who is trying to open a gate through time using the power of the sleeping Avatar of the Infinite, a cosmically-empowered lunatic (and another character from the original Seattle Sentinels campaign). They thwart his attempt, which prompts Simon's revenge scheme back in adventure #5. 26. FALSE GODS. Reports of strange doings draw Our Heroes to a small town. They find that the Hierophant has taken over the town using a powerful Art spirit as a beachhead for the War of Infinity. While under the spirit's power, the townsfolk get to live in private dreamworlds...but if the dream turns bad, the nightmare can kill them. Victor the alchemist first appears. Our Heroes defeat the Hierophant. When they explain to the spirit how its "gift" has caused harm, it releases the town and the PCs help it go home. 27. LIEBESTOD. Artifex returns from the War of Infinity. Helping the police with a hostage situation (though the police don’t want it) leads to a meeting with a House Haunter atavism. It mind-controls Redeemer into trying to force himself on Jezeray. Our Heroes prove more of a threat to each other through their impetuosity than the House Haunter is through its malice. But they find that many local ghosts are missing. 28. THE PLOT CONGEALS. Continuing the investigation into the missing ghosts leads to Lola Queerduck: exorcist, ghost-eater and employee of the Doomsday Clock cultists. Our Heroes also suffer another encounter with the Imp of the Perverse, which Ian accidentally summoned. The Imp reverses the curse on Andrew: most of the time it's his mind in Black Fang's body, but when he gets angry Black Fang takes control, but in Andrew's body. Lola Queerduck dies in an ambush the Doomsday Clock cultists set for the heroes. 29. WHERE DOES THE TIME GO? Jezeray psychically tracks the kidnapped ghosts to the Astral Cyst of the Cult of the Doomsday Clock. Our heroes improvise a way there and get thoroughly trashed by the Cult before destroying the Doomsday Clock. They learn, however, that the Cult is a posthumous plan by Archimago to destroy the Universe. They also rescue the souls of Father O'Herlihy and Hell Rider. To save Hell Rider from his pact with Mephisto (which he now greatly regrets), they give him Father O'Herlihy's saintly soul, while Father O'Herlihy's takes Hell Rider's. 30. HARROWING HEAVEN. Redeemer's Uncle Terence has finally thought of a way to cure Andrew of his curse, but they must invade Heaven for the ingredient -- an apple from the Tree of Knowledge. Since none of Our Heroes can open Gates to Elysium, they start by going to Chinese Hell. The Yama-Kings test them and find them worthy, so they get passage to Chinese Heaven and the lab of Lao-Tzu. From there they go to the Heavenly Jerusalem and Albertus Magnus, patron saint of both science and sorcery, who obtains the apple for them and processes it into the cure -- a magic applesauce that will let Our Heroes enter Andrew's mind and help him confront the Black Fang personality. Jezeray realizes that instead of destroying Black Fang, Andrew must reconcile and merge with him, and she convinces them to go through with it. Everyone returns to their bodies -- and to a final surprise which ends the campaign proper. 31. BACHELOR PARTY. (One-shot special) When Jezeray and Andrew get married, the other Keystone Konjurors take Andrew on a wild bachelor party through Babylon. One of the toasters they receive as a gift turns out to be a trap sent by Simon Magus. Ian has resumed his true (?) personality as Talbot, the ultimate super-genius theoretician of magic. 32. THE RETURN OF SKARN. (One-shot special) Petty dimension lord Chasaash of Iselmere invades Tacoma (?!) with his monstrous minions. Our Heroes discover that Skarn "helped" Chasaash so he could more easily invade Iselmere. Chasaash gives up his invasion of Tacoma to swear vengeance on Skarn. ---------- Dean Shomshak

Bolo's given a good description of what a Champions campaign should look like: a blend of single character bits, short scenarios, and ongoing subplots that may blossom into main plots and climaxes of story arcs. I can still post a detailed example of how an adventure worked out in play, if you want. Would you prefer a thrilling, epic adventure in which the PCs had their final confrontation with a foe they'd clashed with a few times before? Or -- to show the sort of things that can happen at the gaming table -- a comedy of errors in which the PCs' bad judgment derailed the plot and left me, as GM, scrambling to catch up? Dean Shomshak

Indeed. I am sorry if this sounds snarky, but it's hard to play in a genre game if you have no experience of the source genre. Assuming you're familiar with the genre but are having trouble seeing how it looks translated to the gaming table... Aaron Allston's Strike Force gives a superb portrayal of what a good campaign looks like. I learned more about running a campaign from that book than anything else I ever read. And not just Champions. As games go, D&D is actually kind of freakish in its use of set-piece "dungeons" that are all mapped out, with every monster defined and placed waiting for the PCs to show up and kill them. For most games I've been in (not just Champions), the antagonists react to what the PCs do as much as the PCs react to the antagonists. Specific locations may be loosely mapped out for particular scenes (I just sketch them on notebook paper), but there's no need for a big "campaign map." Especially since I usually set Champions campaigns in real cities so the players already know the landmarks. Heck, we kept a chronicle of my "Keystone Konjurors" campaign. I'll dig it up and post the log of an actual adventure. Dean Shomshak

FUD? (I'm sure the phrase this abbreviates was used somewhere, but I'm not seeing it. Sorry for the interruption.) Dean Shomshak

I too have worried what Trump might try if he were impeached and removed, or simply lost in 2020. This is not something I would have worried about from any other president, or candidate, or any other politician at any level. For instance, I think he could mobilize at least a few hundred thousand fanatics into an armed insurgency -- maybe millions. I hope I'm wrong but... Even a small percentage of 320 million people is a lot of angry nutjobs. And a lot of people on the right seem to be very, very angry. Sure, the military would never back a Trump presidential coup, and the insurgency would be put down, but it would wreck the last illusions of Americans being one nation. As mentioned, Team Pence may be the best hope of avoiding real disaster. According to the NYTimes program The Daily, Pence very much wants to be president. Running with Trump was supposed to be a ploy to raise his profile; he didn't expect Trump to win. Trump, for his part, chose Pence for his deep connection to the Evangelical community. So Pence can tell one of the most important far-right constituencies to accept Trump's ouster and they'll probably be happy with Pence as a replacement. And yes, Pence makes me ill, too. But as governor, Pence showed he could be moved by public and corporate pressure. He also knows how government works and is not flipping insane. A few months of President Pence would be survivable, though I'm not sure I'd want him in office for four years. The other great hope is that Trump is a coward. He's never faced real danger or real consequence. For all his rage, he may not have the nerve to really fight back when the office is taken away. Again, I very much hope I'm wrong and worrying about nothing. But as the author of On Tyranny said, people who say, "It can't happen here!" are already halfway lost. The proper approach is, "It can happen here, but we will not allow it." Dean Shomshak

A while back, pondering American options in the Middle East, I suggested that if the US and allies kept playing whack-a-mole with terrorists and smacking down the occasional despot, something better might gradually emerge on its own. According to the episode of the radio program On the Media I heard a couple weeks ago, that was actually happening among the Kurds of NE Syria. Their attempt at creating a new state as a governing model for post Assad Syria has gone through several acronymic name changes but the informal name is Rojava: You can find more about it on Wikipedia under that name, though the leader warns not every source cited is trustworthy. rojava is trying to be democratic: Accusations of authoritarianism have been made, but in the Middle East this is the pot calling the kettle black. The Turkish government line is that it's a Marxist totalitarian hell that people can't get out of fast enough, but I would call that source unreliable. It is undeniable that the Kurdish political groups such as the YPG are spun off from the PKK, which undeniably commits terrorist acts against Turkey; but political terrorists have made the transition to respectable politician before. And Rojava isn't using weapons of mass destruction against its own people, so by grading on the Middle Eastern curve it's doing pretty well. Or was, before Trump pulled the rug out. Incidentally, Rojava's leaders claim their goal is not to create a Kurdish state. Rojava's population encompasses Kurds and Arabs as the largest ethnic groups, but also Assyrian Christians (multiple confessions), Turkmens, and smaller groups such as Circassians. But it's Kurdish enough to seem an existential threat to Turkey, who (I am told) for decades have had the official doctrine that Kurds do not exist: They are "Mountain Turks." That's one problem with nationalism: The "nations" on which states are supposed to be built often do not really exist. I could rant on this a bit more, but I have chores now. Dean Shomshak