BigJackBrass

Re: Freeze Frame: Polar Photographic Archive

Did you say a "chilling sense of scale and desolation"? What' date=' from a [i']polar[/i] photographic archive? Chilling you say?

I did put an apologetic cough in front of that remark, at least

The Scott Polar Research Institute has set up a wonderful site called Freeze Frame, putting many superb images from the history of polar exploration on-line for the first time. Excellent for period details and a *ahem* chilling sense of scale and desolation for your own games around the poles. No sign of the entrance to the hollow Earth but I'm assuming those will be posted later.

The frostbite pics are a bit grim, mind you.

Re: Dodging bullets. Really.

Must agree with other posters body armor cheaper' date=' more effective, less painful than this.[/quote']

Undeniably so, but the most important factor is that traditional body armour is simply not as cool

Re: Dodging bullets. Really.

Wouldn't it hurt rather a lot when the suit jolted you out of the way?

Presumably less than if it failed to do so

A pity it's been withdrawn, though. Mind you, now that the idea is out there I suppose this means that, as it isn't patented, then anyone can have a go at building it...

Sadly it would appear that they've not found Atlantis after all... at least according to the official story...

Re: Dodging bullets. Really.

It's an intriguing idea, presumably thought up by a masochist. Let's see, I'm being shot at... it's the perfect time to electrocute myself!

In the "coming soon" file we have this interesting patent note:

Bullet Time, anyone?

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

In point of fact it was Dark Continent (which I got a copy of from David Salisbury himself by trading him my personal hardcover copy of Pulp Hero) that inspired me to write up these rules.

Hmm, was that at GenCon 2005? If so then your personal hardcover is quite probably the one sitting on the shelf to my right... Dave very kindly agreed to pick one up for me, along with the secret decoder ring

Re: Yet Another HPA -- Into The Unknown: Expeditioneering Rules

I think it could even form the basis for a nice mini-campaign: say' date=' a 5-6 episode game where you have to go into the heart of Darkest Africa to find some lost civilization or something. The planning and survival of the expedition becomes a major aspect of the fun. [/quote']

The wonderful Dark Continent RPG from New Breed (the folks who run Fanboy 3 here in Manchester) is one of the very few games to touch on this aspect of exploration, let alone have it as a major feature of play; and as much as I like it I find that few people want to learn yet another system. An HPA on the subject will be very welcome indeed.

Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary

Woot!

 

I have finished writing the GWHB. Now it will just have to wait until my right arm's got the mobility and strength for lots of mousing so I can lay it out.

Aw, and here I was just about to suggest hunting a venomous mammal... in the hope that you might miss the unfortunate scale of the thing

Why doesn't nature make these things eight feet tall any more?

Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary

I'm tempted to send a party off in search of the Namibian Fog-Basking Beetle, although big game hunters might be a bit disappointed when they find it It does have one of the best names ever, though; and a reasonable level of acrobatics.

Re: Changing into a costume

One phase? I know it takes me a lot longer than 6 seconds to change clothes!

Velcro seams, mate. Top tip

Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary

Not really threatening or weird enough to base an adventure around' date=' I'd think.[/quote']

Fair enough.

 

So what about a rabid thylacine? On steroids?

 

With a gun?

Re: HPA In The Works: The Great White Hunter's Bestiary

And there was much rejoicing!

Hmm, how about a thylacine?

I'd also be interested in one of the "twists" for existing man-eaters (or reputed man-eaters) being an unusual degree of intelligence, as was attributed to the wolf Lobo by Ernest Thompson Seton. Bigger and stronger is one thing, but when those supposedly dumb animals suddenly seem to be out-thinking the PCs... that's much scarier.

Re: Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow

Personally' date=' I loved this movie. The only thing that really bothered me about it and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was the wholesale slaughter of zeppelins. "Oh, the humanity!"[/quote']

Re: Stronghold

Yes, I spotted it at Leisure Games recently, although I still have no idea why it took so long when all of the other Hero books seem to arrive quickly. Thanks for pointing it out, DT.

Re: Dark Champions vehicles in real life

Another vehicle in the news at the moment, also with a Dark Champions or Bond-esque flavour, is up for sale: Need a yacht with its own escape sub?

Of course it's not perfect: "...it does not, for example, have a gym and boasts only one helipad."

Re: Does anyone really roll 30D6?

I've always opted for lower power games, preferring to do more with less, but once in a while I'll happily roll as many D6s as the table will stand. After all, I used to play a lot of Tunnels & Trolls

And in exciting (for me) and marginally related news, a mere one year after moving house I finally found where I'd put three sets of my HERO Dice! Along with the one set I'd already located that means that I can certainly roll 24D6 if necessary

Re: Ape Name Needed

Hmm, haven't contributed to this thread for a few months...

So, with a nod to Charlton Heston, how about Dan Dirtyape?

Re: What Are You Listening To Right Now?

Brainiac's Daughter - The Dukes of Stratosphear (XTC's secret identities).

If your PCs are finding it too easy to eavesdrop and wiretap in your games then maybe you should go straight to the state of the art in encryption: Quantum Cryptography.

Re: 1970s-era Police Campaign

Anyone here from England to verify?

I'll just point you to the inevitable Wikipedia article

As it happens, I'm from England and work for the Police, but I try to leave that stuff back at headquarters

Re: Brass City Nocturne

Well, I certainly approve of the title

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

Partly because I'm using them as research material for an upcoming adventure and partly because I haven't read them for a while I'm working through the Jerry Cornelius stories and novels, primarily by Michael Moorcock with contributions from several other writers and artists. There isn't really a single comprehensive edition of the short stories, but you can piece them together in The Lives and Times of Jerry Cornelius (the more recent American version loses The Dodgem Decision but collects several additional stories) and The New Nature of the Catastrophe; The Cornelius Quartet and A Cornelius Calendar are the easy way to get the novels and novellas.

The older I get the more I get out of these stories, rooted in contemporary culture but universal enough to outlive their direct inspirations, be they the war in Vietnam or the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Hilarious, terrifying and brutally satirical. The experimental forms may not be as fresh as they were forty years ago but they still sparkle. Despite a couple of shelves groaning under the weight of my Moorcock books I notice that the man has no sympathy and continues to keep writing... A new Cornelius story appeared recently, as yet uncollected.

You can also read one of the Cornelius stories, The Spencer Inheritance, online.

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it...

How Much for Just the Planet?

Ah, haven't read that one in years. It has survived occasional enforced weeding of my book collection, though, so I really ought to revisit it soon.

I've just completed The Blue-Haired Bombshell by John Zakour, one of the increasingly predictable Zach Johnson P.I. series. The premise is fine - last P.I. on Earth, old-fashioned but has a snooty supercomputer wired into his brain - but after five books the continual appearance of powerful female characters (with the emphasis on "powerful" more than "character" as they're pretty much interchangeable) threatening the world with psionics and superpowers, defeated only by Zach, his smugly superior computer HARV and his telepathic secretary Carol... well, half of the pages seem to be devoted to justifying why someone doesn't just kill Zach first, then get on with their plan.

Light reading, then, not anywhere near as funny as it ought to be and yet still fairly enjoyable. The jokes seem a little more tired and rather less frequent than in the earlier books; and the titles have never surpassed that of the first in the series, The Plutonium Blonde. Start there if you have any interest, rather than the later books.

Before that I read Greg Farshtey's old Bloodshadows novel, Hell's Feast, fantasy noir detective thriller, with vampires. Every bit as cheesy as it sounds, on top of which it's gaming fiction. I enjoyed it immensely

Hmm, what to read next...?