DShomshak

Another poster expressed interest in seeing the plans for Wetchley House, the base acquired by the PCs in my first playtest campaign for Ultimate Supermage. Fortunately, I still have them as files, so you don't have to look at scans from my crappy scanner. Well, except for the picture of the house.
 
This was a 4th ed campaign, so the plans are hex-mapped.
 
The house isn't big. I don't remember the exact book from which I adapted the plans, but there are scads of books out there such as Victorian House Plans, Classic House Plans, etc. Then I traced and spliced together bits of drawings of those houses, with a little freehanding to fill in the gaps, and made an illustration. I'll start with that:

Dean Shomshak

I cannot now recall where I heard this, but someone pushed numbers around and it seems that radiolysis of water (breaking water apart, generally into protons and hydoxyl ions, usually by gamma rays or X-rays, but other radiation can cause this to occur as well) and other substances at depth in the Earth can produce the sort of chemical disequilibrium that chemosynthetic bacteria would employ both as an energy source and as source for needed nutrients.  Protons and sulfate ions are the two big ones in the discussion I remember; we know of archaeans that get by on just those ions in terms of energy source. 
 
Radiolysis will go on in within Earth for a long, long time, with thorium-232 having a half-life of 14 Gyr.  The amount of water in the mantle isn't something I was able to find estimates for, but there is some.  Whether or not you could get life started in the deep interior is unknown, but once it invades that part (survivors of organisms that rode the subducted oceanic plates down) it could be there for keeps.  You won't make metazoans that way, but the idea that every planet might have a deep biosphere of at least this sort is worth thinking about.

Well, I am not drawing upon Roman Catholic theology.
 
 
Mmm... No. Since I don't think I can explain further without delivering a long, boring philosophy seminar. I shall simply acknowledge that much depends on definition of terms. I suspect we do not define our terms the same way.
 
There is certainly villainy in my campaign, that needs heroes to fight it. There is no supernatural force causing it or defining it.
 
Dean Shomshak

I'm aware of that, thank you. I still find the name... unpleasant.
 
Fortunately, I read Watership Down years before my father decided to make rabbits his side hustle. Meat for grocery stores, blood plasma and eyes for the UW School of Medicine, and brains for a company that, IIRC, used them to make a blood coagulant. One of my jobs was cleaning blood and membranes from the little bunny brains. But it means I can honestly include "Brain Washer" on my resume.
 
Dean Shomshak

Could be worse -- when someone asks me how I managed to pay for college, I can honestly tell that that I used to strip and grind for cash.
 
I was materials science and engineering -- spent summers working in a concrete research lab, stripping and grinding samples.  

The BBC yesterday aired a brief story about astronomers umaging the most distant galaxy yet seen. They're close to seeing the first stars, and expect the James Webb Space Telescope to do the job.
 
Dean Shomshak

Giants were opponents of the Gods in both Norse and Greek (the Titanomachy) mythologies, so those are places to look for inspiration.
 
In one setting I used, giants were an "elder race," slowly vanishing from the world, leaving behind ruins and cryptic monuments, and represented in the present by isolated individuals wielding strange powers that might be magic or technology, holding onto ancient fears, grudges, ambitions, or just habits, with tired monomaniacal zeal.

Well, I am not drawing upon Roman Catholic theology.
 
 
Mmm... No. Since I don't think I can explain further without delivering a long, boring philosophy seminar. I shall simply acknowledge that much depends on definition of terms. I suspect we do not define our terms the same way.
 
There is certainly villainy in my campaign, that needs heroes to fight it. There is no supernatural force causing it or defining it.
 
Dean Shomshak

Months back, ATC interviewed a law professor who suggested Giuliani's actions merited disbarment. I guess he called it.
 
Dean Shomshak
And apropos of nothing, after the years I spent working weekends in my father's rabbit slaughterhouse, the name "Bunny Ranch" fills me with terror and loathing.
 
Dean Shomshak

Months back, ATC interviewed a law professor who suggested Giuliani's actions merited disbarment. I guess he called it.
 
Dean Shomshak
And apropos of nothing, after the years I spent working weekends in my father's rabbit slaughterhouse, the name "Bunny Ranch" fills me with terror and loathing.
 
Dean Shomshak

Well, I am not drawing upon Roman Catholic theology.
 
 
Mmm... No. Since I don't think I can explain further without delivering a long, boring philosophy seminar. I shall simply acknowledge that much depends on definition of terms. I suspect we do not define our terms the same way.
 
There is certainly villainy in my campaign, that needs heroes to fight it. There is no supernatural force causing it or defining it.
 
Dean Shomshak

More news items you can use as events in your near-now game: medieval graves opened about 1400 years ago, for unknown reasons
 
What were they looking for then?  And ... what are they looking for now that led people to discover the old openings?

Orcs... a fantasy staple race now popularized almost anywhere.
 
I ran a game (past tense) where I decided that it made no sense for orcs to be so brutal, warlike, aggressive, unintelligent. A society of people like that simply would collapse without workers, farmers, or craftsmen.
 
So I created a world where orcs were a true society. There were three varieties: urban, savage, and nomadic. The urban orcs were like any other civilization: intelligent, organized, specialized in their tasks (traders, farmers, craftsmen, soldiers, leaders, artists, philosophers, witches, shamans, etc.) The savage orcs were like the orcs we know today: brutal, tribal, aggressive, somewhat isolated, highly prolific, and relatively primitive. The nomadic orcs were a bit of both: civilized, intelligent, organized, but cunning and somewhat militaristic, raised with a philosophy of domination, and to some extent, xenophobia. But they did get along reasonably well with others, despite their xenophobia. You could talk to them.
 
And within each subgroup you could find individuals who fell right into the stereotype and those would be far from the norm. Anything was possible.
 
So, you could meet all types of orcs, and you had to decide how you personally would want to react to one orc or another, not because they weren't orcs anymore, but because you now had a choice. It no longer was "black & white".
 
I liked the idea and it threw up a lot of interesting situations, like when the party was joined by a nomadic orc warrior detachment who encountered undead with the party. The orcs thought this was not acceptable and offered to join the PCs to destroy a common enemy. Not your typical orc interaction, but it was great for the story and the roleplay. Unfortunately I also had one player who could not tolerate the idea that orcs were not the "evil, ugly brutes" that he knew and loved to hate, so he almost immediately quit the game. To each their own, I say.
 
So, then I decided that it was actually orcs who had been here longer than humans. They had an ancient civilization with magical and mechanical wonders that were lost thousand of years ago due to some cataclysm. But the remains of their cities and fortresses were scattered throughout the lands like pockets of buried treasure, ripe for the looting by clever thieves and research by enterprising mages. If they could get past the prodigious magical and mechanically animated guardians. It made for an interesting contrast to see how low orcs had fallen in recent centuries when compared to their ancient predecessors, and it gave the orcs historical significance and a past they could be proud of.
 
It made for a very different game where players actually had to truly consider the orcs, and in some places, admire them, instead of just hating them by default.

Personally, I think there's a strong likelihood of significant armed insurrection -- bombings, massacres, Middle East-level semi-organized violence -- within 5 years. But not civil war, as such.
 
Dems won't try capturing the government by violence because Dems can get everything they want by normal political and electoral means. Polls show that even large numbers of Republican voters want what's on the current Democratic policy agenda.
 
Most Republicans are still sufficiently committed to the process of government (vide all the elections officials who did their jobs honestly in 2020 and certified the result) that they won't back an outright coup attempt or war.
 
The plutocratic far right is shrewd enough to get what it wants regardless of who runs the government.
 
That leaves the culture warriors who have boundless rage but no real institutional backing fro other segments of society, and entrepreneurs of violence who think they might be able to ride the chaos into power. Some of whom would no doubt turn to Russia, China or other geostrategic rivals of the US, acting as mercenaries against their own country.
 
Such an insurrection could not overthrow the US government. But it could cripple the US for years, creating a power vacuum that Russia and China could fill, not to the benefit of the rest of the world.
 
I would of course prefer to avoid such a conflict. I hope that the blood-and-guts screaming from the farthest right is just hot air; that if the Capitol insurrection showed the depth of their rage, it also showed the depth of their incompetence at political violence. It's a good sign that the DOJ seems to be elevating domestic right-wing terrorism as a concern.
 
And the population of Angry White People is dropping, which is part of what makes them so angry. In 10-20 years, it's over.Repuvlicans might gain a few decades through voter suppression and gerrymandering, but that's it. And if  the insurrection actually happens, they lose everything.
 
Dean Shomshak

At risk of tooting my own horn, I recommend my "Worldbuilding: Social Design and Social Forces" thread, which I just bumped back up to the top of the page. You might find it useful for fleshing out the "deep structure" of how your setting functions.
 
If you want every city to have something colorful and distinctive (and I wouldn't say that's necessary for *every* city; concentrate your efforts on the places you intend the adventures to happen in), I'll repeat my usual recommendation of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities. It's quite a short...  prose poem? At any rate, Fantasy from an author who won the Nobel Prize for literature.
 
Dean Shomshak

Yeah that was in the original Strike Force, I thought that was a clever device, but I've never thought it was necessary.    Its comics.  If Franklin Richards can be a toddler for 25 years, then the world can be more or less static without needing to explain why Reed's inventions never changed the world.  Comic books are about the illusion of change: IN THIS ISSUE, NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME!

Many prostitutes are essentially enslaved (they cannot leave their pimp or madame, they receive little pay for what they do -- some slaves did get a stipend -- they are compelled to undertake labor, they are treated as property, etc).  It is actually legal in the US Constitution to enslave people while in prison, forcing labor out of them for no pay (breaking rocks down at the penitentiary).  Slavery is more common and present today than most people realize.
 
It was almost ubiquitous in the past, in nearly every culture through human history.  Back when you had to draw water from the river, chop wood to build a fire, start a fire with two rocks, so you could smelt ore to make a pot to boil the water and cook some food, labor saving devices = slaves.
 
I wrote about the way slavery works in my Field Guide, because most modern players (especially younger ones) don't really understand slavery or its history, so a clear statement on it was needed, I felt.  Enslaving people who have done terrible things to force them to work off their debt to society is one thing, indenturing people to do free work in exchange for learning a trade is another, taking prisoners from a conquered nation to work as slaves yet another, and just raiding another people to make them slaves yet another kind.  Each has its own moral character and significance which just condemning slavery entirely whole cloth does not adequately address.
 
This is probably a bit deeper than most players want to get into the concept, but GMs who are doing worldbuilding need to consider this kind of thing.
 
And let's face it, freeing slaves from bad guys is a really great adventure concept.

Picking missions happens for a large ensemble of missions.  Sometimes it has as much to do with technological developments that make for a suddenly greater opportunity to gain information; sometimes simple orbital geometry weighs against missions to the outer Solar System with the gravitational slingshot opportunities varying (e.g., it might be you launch in 2030 and get there in 2038; or you could wait to launch until 2032 and still get there in 2038).  And sometimes it's political in ways I only barely perceive.  It wouldn't surprise me if additional missions to the Jupiter system are being delayed while the Juno mission is still in operation -- its recent close pass of Ganymede gave better-than-ever-before data on that moon, and you want to digest that, and other data to come in the ongoing mission, before deciding what instrument package to load up and send.

You could make a case for more study of any other world in the Solar System, from Mercury out to the Kuiper Belt, even much-studied bodies such as the Moon and Mars. I don't envy the budget-strapped planners who must pick and choose. I personally favor Uranus and Neptune because they've only been visited once, decades ago, when we didn't even know what questions to ask. But Venus is important too. It's similar to Earth in mass and composition, but radically different in rotation, not to mention lacking a moon and receiving about 50% more sunlight. (I think the scientist who called it "functionally identical" to Earth is stretching things a bit.) Even if our interest is focused on finding life on other worlds, which of Venus' initial differences resulted in its current condition? And if it can be shown that Venus once had a potentially life-supporting environment, why, that's three planets in one solar system. It bodes well for the prospects of life in other solar systems.
 
Oh, and a mission to Enceladus. Gotta go to Enceladus to investigate its subsurface ocean!
 
Dean Shomshak

I ask only that if anyone copies the essay anywhere other people can see it, that you name it as my work and ask other people to do the same. As long as no one else tries taking credit, share it around!
 
Dean Shomshak

As my great grand used to say "Stupid is a Capital Crime"

As with DrunkOnDuty: In my current campaign, slavery is something the bad guys do. It's one of the things that makes them bad guys.
 
Now, a sociological purist would not have this. As far as I can tell, every human culture institutes slavery once it reaches a certain size and complexity. If you are creating cultures of humans, therefor, there should be slaves. Labor-saving machines might eventually make *some* forms of slavery redundant... but not all. In the real world today, various forms of slavery remain endemic in many cultures, even though it is supposed to be illegal. Even in the US, individuals get prosecuted for trying to enslave other people (domestic labor, for instance), so the appeal of the concept has not vanished completely.
 
But this is Fantasy, so sociological purity is not absolutely required. You don't need to include slavery, any more than you need to include daily scenes of disease and famine, if that's not what your story is about.
 
ADDENDUM: If anyone does want to make slavery a part of their setting, I recommend the Encyclopedia Britannica article on slavery as a brief guide to the many forms it can take. The most common form seems to be domestic labor; and the slave is a "prestige good," owned not so much for the value of the labor as just to show that you have the wealth and status to own another person. Sex slavery is also very common, which brings in whole new levels of ick that, vide Archer, I would be reluctant to bring into a game.
 
Dean Shomshak

-CHAT Logs, 6/15/21-
 
Mom made this cape: So, 'Bigpikture' you're a former member of GENOCIDE? Srsly? How messed up with hate are you?
BigPikture: You're the one who chose me out a bunch of bad guys to interview, sidekick.
Mom made this cape: More because my mentor made trying to understand certain criminal mindsets a part of my training. I thought you were reformed,  But now I learn the only reason you're not still a member is because the organization is dead. You still hate mutants? Srysly? in 2021?
BigPikture: The problem is still the same, and with Genocide gone, accelerating. 
Mom made this cape: Oh no, more flying people. How will mankind survive? Jelly much?
BigPikture:  Geez kid, how old are you?
Mom made this cape: Old enough to know a Nazi.
BigPikture: Says the vigilante in training who will one day bypass laws 'for the greater good'. 
Mom made this cape: Man, if I didn't have to put up with you in order to get an extension on my patrol time, I'd exit this chat now. Fine, if it's not jealousy that fuels the hate, then what is it?
BigPikture: I'm trying to save mankind, and believe it or not, future generations of mutants too.
Mom made this cape: .... wth? How is killing mutants SAVING them?
BigPikture: How much do you know about Evolution, Genetics?
Mom made this cape: Enough to know it's natural, and inevitable.
BigPikture: Is it natural to have a species fracture at an accelerated rate? The answer is 'no', should it be so random an inconsistent ? Again, no.
Mom made this cape: It's adaptive is all...
BigPikture:  Adapting to WHAT? Tell me, what strange evolutionary need has two brothers, both mutants: one gets gills, the other sets things on fire with his mind? Where is the consistency? 
Mom made this cape:  Scientists are looking into that.
BigPikture: Yes, we are. You think we didn't have scientists in Genocide? We did look into it. What we saw was not normal mutation! It was not typical evolution. It was a genetic apocalypse brewing ready to kill billions.
Mom made this cape: You're full of #$$#. Maybe not all mutants pass on the same powers, but a lot of times its similar when it passes down at all.
BigPikture: Not as often as you would think, and believe me, we had more time to study such than 90% of folks out there. Sure, sometimes the genetics hold, and eventually some will lock down. How much do you know about human nature? Sociology, Power Dynamics?
Mom made this cape: Obviously still a student, but if this is a 'mutants are inherently driven to crime' argument, you can go #$## yourself.
BigPikture: Actually, there does seemed to be heightened aggression among mutants according to certain studies into their brain chemistry. Yes, not everyone agrees. I'd show you the study but it would be over your head. But no, let's focus on the fracturing lines, then human nature. Let's say some powers breed true. Homo homo Sapiens become a minority. Some will say it's time for Homo Divergent will rise, no big deal. But Homo Divergent is a catch all, what you'll really end up with is Home Divergent Fortis, Homo Divergent Solaris, and everyone's favorite, Homo Divergent Psychicae! You won't have 'the next step in evolution', you'll have dozens of steps, many of them mis-steps, but essentially different species! And as soon as they start competing and fearing others not in their particular evolutionary track, they'll turn on each other.
Mom made this cape:  That's crazy. They're in the same boat. They need each other.
BigPikture: Do they? Maybe the idea of a hundred people with the ability to take down a bridge with a single punch doesn't frighten you. How about mind control? Telepaths. Don't think they wouldn't click together, band together and think they were better than the OTHER Mutants divergent lines.
Mom made this cape: This is conjecture.
BigPikture: PSI.
(A pause)
BigPikture: Ah, you have heard of them, either that or you're googling fast as you can. They're supremacists as well as a criminal organization, and they don't think for one moment they'd see a standard 'brick' as an equal. They'd eventually rationalize, enslave the others. And not just them, how about Home Divergent Velox? You know, Speedsters. Everyone else would be so annoyingly slow. The only ones they could relate too would be is each other. They wouldn't see other genetic adaptations, they'd see them just like they often see you or me: tortoises acting as speedbumps on their highway.
Mom made this cape:  You don't know that's how it will go down.
BigPikture: Right, and people would never war or enslave over SKIN Color either, or Cultures, or whatever. Wake up, MMTC , Powers are ten times more reason to form rival  tribes, and tribes do not play well with each other for the same resources. GENOCIDE Kept those numbers thin, like culling rabbits that would other wise pick things clean, only on a scale beyond just devouring nature. 
Mom made this cape:  We can BE better. And fear of what might be doesn't excuse the hate. And you still don't make sense. Why just mutants? Why not the guys who had lab accidents, or aliens who visit Earth? or mystical sorts?
BigPikture: Ah, the real question. Some guy gets flight and super strength from putting Kelvarite in a blender, why isn't he a target but the mutant with super strength and flight is? Come on, Cape. You know this. Lab accidents are not as likely to carry on mutation in their genomes. Some might, but it's not nearly as great a threat. Aliens? We already have folks watching them, and the Earth Authorities and heros DO fight them, otherwise we'd be invaded a dozen times over. It's not Genocide that's hypocritical, it's supers like you who pat yourselves on the back for stopping the latest threat from outside our solar system, while shutting your eyes to the threat from our biological systems run wrong. Mystics? They appear to have their own rules that have nothing to do with genotype. Honestly, we didn't have time for the 'whataboutism' of pissants who tried to equate the few dozen lab accidents, aliens, or mythic things that might breed true compared to the hundreds of mutants that eventually would. 
Mom made this cape:  You've got an excuse for everything. If Genocide rises again, I, and others, will stop you. We'll fight for our mutant friends. Hell, we'll fight for the mutant strangers!
BigPikture: Oh god, you actually think we haven't adapted with the times already? Oh kid you have no idea how the mission carries on. Genocide is gone, but we've learned how it works now. And you can't stop what the movement to save humanity has become with a punch.
Mom made this cape:  Genocide is dead.
BigPikture: Not dead. Just evolved. You'll thank us one day, when you see for yourself we were right, if you live long enough. Later, Cape.
 
-END OF CHAT-