Duke Bushido

It's an unpopular opinion, but I hope to outlive ever having to hear it, period.

Yeah- Replaceabke batteries is one of a very long list of reasons I will use this phone until it is absolutely incompatible with cellular and internet service, period. Is it old? Well, so far as I have been able to tell, it was the first phone with USB-C (again: dont know that as an absolute fact) It was "3-G ready." You know: for the day when providers made the change to 3-G. It has a removable battery, all parts are serviceable, and it has an IR blaster, so when I walk into a bar and a certain news channel is blaring hate and fear all over my socializing, I can fix that. Same thing for NASCAR. Actually, thise last two are great reasons to keep it even when it won't connect anymore.....

Yes and no. Repair shop called; said parts wouldnt be in before next Friday, so I picked up. Can't do much, as it was foinf into the shop because it won't charge. My daughter has the same phone, so we have worked out a deal where we swap batteries so I have the phone for emergency use.

Necromance if we want to.,,, We can bring dead threads to life.... Threads arent dead- when they'e twenty years dead- Well that's my favorite kind....

Bad news for those of,you who like to read absurdly long posts; great news for those of you who do not! Phone is going into the shop tomorrow; don't know how long,it will be there. Last,time,was about three weeks, and I have no reason to assume that this time won't be the same. I have not fallen out of love with you people; I am just offline. Enjoy it fully!

I am with Doc D (which, honestly, is not unusual in most things): you are setting up a bleak, must-lose-and-endure-anyway campaign, and as a thought exercise, it can be a lot of fun. As a gaming experience, though, it's kind of depressing. Most choices will be centered on minimizing attrition by horrible means, and victory conditions are "continuing to inflict the horrors of the world on as many people as possible for as long as possible," even while knowing that the survivors probably won't stay alive anyway. It's hard to get stoked for. However, the last couple of decades have seen a shift in society that makes me crave societal collapse through global peasant uprising, wherein the richest world controllers and other cash sinkholes are stung up by the ankles and beaten like stainless steel pinatas, followed by a mass exodus from business, reliance on anything,that costs money they will,never have, etc- People start ripping up pavement and planting food. Society is for the middle,and,upper class, and built,on the backs,of,the day-to-day grunt. What happens globally,when they have all had enough of supporting the non-contributors, and simply stop? Besides, they have better odds of living through this one.

Right. The problem,is the ensuing discussion about what is _most_ correct; asking "how to" is like taking the NCLEX all over again: Every answer is correct, but which is _most_ correct? For my money, it's the simplest. I have an appreciation for elegance. Thus, in this case, I would probably use Change Environment or, if using it defensively, to with Doc's Barrier suggestion. However, I in actuality do neither, because about the time 4e hit shelves, I snagged a copy of Fantasy HERO (the original; not the 4e one), and _immediately_ cribbed the Create rules into the Champiins rules. For me, that is the most elegant solution for creating something. Apparently after publishing 6e, Steve decided it was, too, and tossed a variant of them into one of the APGS.

Not in a few years, since in recent years, the crush to get gaming time means some of the background details that seemed,oh-so-importsnt once became a bit less so, but back in the day-- I would hit up bookstores in late February, when calendars were as cheap as they would ever get, and buy a handful. The trick to "add flavor" was more than just renaming the months. First roll a d6 to see how many months were going to be added or removed (up to three either way), then hit the remaining (well, all the months) with a D6 to see how many days would be added or subtracted (again: up to 3 either way). Then decide what unique environmental or celestial phenomenon marked the start of the year, and then scatter a few holidays here and there. Then decide how the seasons broke across the calendar, and finally- _last thing_ rename the months and the days of the week (which often resulted in more or less than 7 days in a week; a d4 or a d6 is helpful here). Pro tip: a 7-day week is _much_ easier, as the calendars are built that way anyway). I also found that if I went through and numbered each day of the year, not only did I know how long a year was, but I was able to create multiple calendars for the same world, as one might find in other lands, etc. Culture X starts their year d100 days after this calendar; design their calendar accordingly and number the days of the year _in accordance to your original calendar (dirst day us day 100, etc), and you have "travellers knowledge" for well-travelled characters: convert from the home calendar to the local one, know the regional holidays, etc. And in Traveller itself, we just adooted "Metric Time," known more colloquially as "Ship's Time" or "Service Time" and way out in the wilderness as "Scout's Time." As Traveller stipulates that Regina has a day and a year identical to earth (close enough), and there is need for ships to be able to easily coordinate even as the meet a thousand light years away, Ship's Time is based on days of 10 hours, divided into 100 minutes, divided into 100 seconds (weirdly, this has very little effect on the length of a second). These days are slotted into ten-day weeks, which are spread across the 1p months. An 11th month, called "Festival" exists and is composed of the few remaining days of Regina's year (alternatively, change the length if Regina' year) which is essentially treated as a massive holiday across the Empire, with lots of celebrating, street fairs, and on certain worlds, voting for certain officials and policies.

Gotta say, I _love_ the whole "Monkey's Paw" vibe going on in there. When will the seller display a lovely figurine to his next customer, opening "ah, you have an eye for detail, Sir. This one is 'Tormented Eddie...." Outstanding, Sir!

Thank you. Sir! It is as glorious as I hoped it would be.

Pretty sure those woods are crawling with zombies...

Ah. Like Roddenberries for a space opera game, without the hat tip.

Holy cats do I love your seasonal avatar, LL! Got a link to the larger image? I wanna see more!

Dude, you _gotta!_ This is my all-time favorite thread, and I only play for fun; I never want to win, because I am _horrible_ at the "find an image" part! (To be fair, I am equally-horrible at judging, because I have so much fun seeing everyone's personal interpretation of the same image). You gotta do it!

Enoch stepped out of the wall- slowly, carefully. The aging machinery behind him had been making unpleasant noises since the Eldenwise had started them up, but as their labor increased, so, too, did the protest of the great metal beasts. Some hummed and hissed menacingly while others creaked or chirped or simply screamed a shrill, endless cry. Toward the end, before the room had turned inside out, the metal beasts had begun to rattle and clatter and breathe smoke- so much worse than the dust they coughed when the Eldenwise awakened them; great black clouds of it, filled with scents Enoch had never before experienced. "This," he reasoned, "must be what the air is like without the filter." Unconsciously, he adjusted his filtration mask and the hoses that projected from it, the hoses that increased the surface area of the filters and which collected untainted water from the air itself. Then the room turned inside out. "Almost! Be ready!" Yelled one of the Eldenwise. "It will be ready soon!" Enoch began to question himself for the first time since the quest had begun. He hafted his axe partly in habit and partly to reassure himself. He, like all the other candidates, had been trained from birth, strengthened, and taught the ways of war and personal combat by the Eldenwise, the oldest members of the tribes, who kept alive in themselves many secrets of the past. He had heard tales that the Eldenwise had advised the tribal chiefs since before his grandfather's grandfather's grandfather had been born, and untold years before that. Always, in all tribes, the Eldenwise were the same: studious, critical, cautious, scholarly. And every year did they come together to select the cleverest child and the strongest, fastest child from each tribe, and it was a great honor to have one of one's own children selected. These children would be trained the rest of the lives: the brightest children would learn the mysteries of the past and other knowledge long-since dead, dead perhaps even before the Burning that poisoned the air and boiled the seas and resulted in the desert lands in which Enoch was raised. These children would go on to become the next of the Eldenwise as their tutors aged and died. The warriors had a different lot. When they were ready- when the Eldenwise had declared them to be at the peak of their training and reflexes and the various elixirs had grown their bodies to be as durable and strong as possible, they were drawn together, and these banded brothers were ordered to fight one another, to the death. The Eldenwise watched; always they watched and judged and scored and after days of sequestered discussion, they would determine if the survivor had been worthy. "There remains only a chance for two," they have always claimed, "and that which survives tells us of a mighty warrior, beyond all human ability, and as great as the tallest of the black ruins in the valley below. Only that warrior may pass, escorted by the brightest of the Tenderwise. Each the other will serve, and each the other will protect to the best of their abilities." Then they would pass judgement. Enoch wondered how horrible it must be to turn and fight and ultimately slay men who were raised with you from childhood- men who were closer than clan: men who were your closest brothers. Enoch shuddered as he wondered what it must be like, in a world with far-too-few people already, to have done this soul-crushing thing..., and then to be found unworthy.... The unworthy were allowed to return to their tribes, but so far as he knew, none ever had ever done so. "Who could?" He wondered aloud, softly. Those who had gone before always seemed to orefer a self-exile out into the Sands, and perhaps to the Great Glass Sea beyond that. "No distractions!" Screamed one of the Eldenwise. "The time is here! Stay alert!" Enoch stared dead ahead, the small form of the chosen Tenderwise just visible in his peripheral vision. The Tender's eyes were beyond wide open, a look of absolute incredulity bursting through his features. Enoch suspected his own face would look the same, if only he understood what was going on. He had seen these strange metal forms in the ruins all his life, and had no idea that they were slumbering beasts. The air in front of him simmered and glowed for a moment, and the strange metal creatures began to howl and vibrate in agony. "We've not much tolerance, and less time! It has to be now!" Screeched and Eldenwise. "I know!" another screamed over the cacophony. "But the power is weak! We are _trying_!" Enoch stared again at the air in front him, not knowing what to expect. He thought again about what it must be like. He counted himself blessed that he had not been found unworthy. After countless years, the Eldenwise has found a warrior they believed to be worthy: a giant of a man, possessed of unparalleled strength and stamina, able to wield his axe almost faster than the eye could follow. His axe. He loved his axe. He had been trained to love his weapon, and the ruins were scrounged for metal again and again, until the forges produced a weapon that Enoch felt was perfect for his combat style, and large and durable enough to counter blows easily-- an important distinction, as he was now charged forever with protecting the Tinderwise who was selected to travel with him. The air shimmered again, and for a brief instant, he believed he saw something that was not there, but even as it caught his attention, it disappeared. Suddenly it was back- a spot of color in his world of rust and dust and char-- and it began to grow. Color. An amazing expanse of it: green and blue and a crisp clear horizon unmuted by the all pervasive poisons of the dust. He stilled his wonder and focused, tensing for the leap. He gestured to the harness pack he was wearing and the Tinder obediently climbed into it and strapped himself to the giant. Enoch himself went over everything he had been taught until he could repeat it: one evil man split the world from its Destiny. There was another path where that man was stopped by a great warrior and a brilliant Elden- no; that was certainly what he was, but that was not the word they had used... A "Scientist." A great and mighty warrior and a brilliant scientist, and a team of men and women of incredible, magic-like power. Enoch must find this team, join them, bond with them, and when the time comes that a great evil threatens to turn the destiny of the world toward the Great Burning, he must enlist their aid and risk his life to prevent it at all costs. This is why he stepped into the scene that appeared like a magic globe in the center of the room, even as the immobile roaring metal beasts themseves began to burn and die and as he heard at least two of the Eldenwise scream in agony-- he could not afford to look back, lest the chance be lost forever to the last of men. "Now!" One of the Eldenwise demanded. "It must be now!" Enoch leaped into the alien scene that filled the center of the room and at once was surrounded by darkness. He reached forwars with his free hand and felt a purchase- stone! A ledge of some sort. He pulled himself forward even as his mind told,him that 'up' and 'down' were no longer relevant. After painful effort, light shown through the lenses or his filtration mask, and he felt upon his shoulder the caress of the coolest beeeze he had ever known. He paused and carefully turned his head to tale stock of the situation. His head and shoulder protruded from some massive barrier of shaped stone, like those found in the ruins, but shot through with color- red with hints of gold and white and grey. He shut down his fear, ignore his confusion, and braced himself for the exertion of pulling his weapon hand through. Enoch stepped out of the wall- slowly, carefully....

Yeah- some of us need more rime than a working day allows, I'm afraid. 😕

So what the heck does Mercedes Lackey (or whatever it is) write? Or that abominible Dead and [insert something here] series my wife's best friend is so enamoured with? (Okay, fine; I do not object if you dump that into a new genre of "near porn" and keep on rocking). Oe Harry Turtledove's amazing 'Case of the Toxic Spell Dump'? Those were unpleasantly Fantasy to me (except for Spell Dump. That was _awesome_.

Agreed; that is one of the things I am saying: they are completely unnecessary to build a sword or a goblin or a magic spell, and the do not change the system at all: any superhero can take these same builds. They are "necessary" ib as much as they are rhe camoflague being dumped onto a superhero game to make it look like something else.

Careful with that, Sir. Was it a year or so ago I got well-run across the coals for saying that as much as I detest it, D and D-- owing, I am sure, mostly to it'a complete lack of logic or reason-- excels at making magic feel like magic in a way that HERO just can't do with it's brick-by-brick Lego-style approach to building "powers." I mean spells. Sorry.

Man, I really did not intend to stir this pot again. I just remembered that I owed CG some rep and spent some time hunting up the post! Well, done is done; I suppose. Great. Now I wanna go bust up some orcs in the Hundred Acre Wood. Thanks. Without any attempt to cast aspersions on any person or any idea, I feel pretty certain that the correct definition and examples of "classic fantasy" is going to vary significantly from one human being to another. I had to explain this to myself when bookstores started putting Sci-Fi and fantasy in the same section. As someone who generally does not care for fantasy, this was painful and insulting at the time. I got better.

I blame the fans. The game didn't bill itself as build the game you want. The game billed itself as build a superhero. Shortly afterward, the game creators offered a tweaked version of the rules and said "build yourself a spy according to these rules." Fans said "this is exactly like the superhero rules!" but it wasn't. Very, very similar, at least in key high-profile bits of the system, but not the same. Then the original rules were tweaked again and they went back to "build youself a superhero." Then those rules were tweaked and,altered here and there and we fot "build yourself a superhero," and more variants and twesking of the superhero rules and spy rules lead to "build yourself a sorcerer" and "build yourself a cold war operative" and "build yourself an intergalactic adventurer" and even "build youself a mech." And each one of those rules sets was _different_ in fundamental-for-their-intended-purposes ways, while retaining a lot of key similarities to the rules set that inspired the tweaks. Unfortunately, they were similiar where the system is the most obvious, which lead to a lot of claims of "it's the exact same game!" Sometimes, this was hyperbole by folks who noticed the similarities; sometimes it was sincere from folks who sae the obvious similarities and too few of the differences. One thing lead to another, and we have the world's biggest set of "build yourself a superhero" while we run around proclaiming "build anything you want!" While each subsequent edition has gotten more and more complex, and has, in its own way, tried to invent a balance that has never once existed within the rules, very little has been done to move it away from superheroes fundamentally; there have just been a thousand options dumped on top. For example: weapons familiarity, strength minimum, martial Arts, magic schools, incantations, gestures, spell components- Absolutely _none_ of these are necessary to build "6d6 magic missile" or 3d6 HKA battle axe." They are just a bunch of points-sucks (for "balance") and options laid on top of Optic Blast and WolverClone and called "fantasy stuff...." You _can_ make fantasy, and you dont have to squint super-hard, but you do have to pretend a lot of options are absolutely necessary, and ignore that you are using a system that, no matter how hard it has tried, to this day is optimized to make superheroes.

It was three years, Chris, but I finslly got it.

For what it's worth- and I think Chris Goodwin might remember this- I have a spell that grants night vision that requires taking an ember from a fire and pushing it into your eye. That eye has _only_ night vision until it is healed. Glad I could help, Sir (presumed; apologies if I am in error). Yeah; I am pretty sure it isnt too far removed from what you would see if your proctologist stood you in front of a mirror....

Jamaican roasted goat, or it's just somebody's mediocre barbecue.