Matt Frisbee

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From the Saturday Night Skeleton Crew Follies -- The Setup: AD&D system with first level characters, four players (Barry, Chuck, Don & I), GM's name is Josh. The Hook: Church of St. Cutberth is offering 10 gp bounty for each ochre colored cloak we can bring in (which are worn by worshipers of a cult of evil). Me: What's so evil about somebody worshiping a demon of darkness? Live and let live I say. (says the chaotic neutral half-orc barbarian) Josh: The church will pay a bounty of 10 gold pieces for each of these cloaks the cultists wear. Me: 10 gold for each [urine - expletive deleted] colored rag? I'm in. Can I make them myself? Barry: Now there's a racket worthy of a bard. Don: Yeah, but only an orc half-breed would actually want to make them. Chuck: There's no need for that, we'll just get a bolt of colored cloth from the fabric store. Me: Fabric store? This is the fantasy middle ages! Go [urinate] on a sheep and get the loomist to weave it. I'd let her in for a cut of the action. Barry: Nine Hells, skip the craft projects already! Let's go to the source and trade for them! Me: Now there's a plan. They give us the cloaks, we cash in and split it with them 50-50, we get paid without having to bloody our steel, they get a sudden boost to their war chest -- everybody makes out! Josh: They are not just going to give you their cloaks, guys. Me: Say what? Hell, I'd strip naked for 5 gold! Josh: The cloaks are symbols of their faith, they won't deal for them. Barry: I'll bet with a good enough roll on my diplomacy feat I could get them to go for it. (says the bard) I could tell them to do it or I'll let the half-orc strip naked for them. Me: I'd need a proper amount of libation, first. Don: Well, then [forget] that -- as much grog as he guzzles, there'd be no profit in it. (the elf mage) Me: Just because I don't drink my ale from a wuss thimble like you pansy elves do... Chuck: A flagon is not a proper drinking vessel! And besides, I paid for it! Me: Oh, that's right -- I forgot to thank you for it. (BELCH) Josh (in tears -- of laughter or frustration, he never did say): Okay, BREAK damnit, while I can still breathe! I [deperately] need a cigarette. Yeah, a good time was had by all, and we actually started doing the stuff Josh intended us to do after the break. And people wonder why I almost never get to play... Matt "Problem-player" Frisbee

Re: Answers & Questions

Re: Dark Champions the Anime Series Just because I can't let this thread die, Just got done watching the untranslated episodes 17 & 18 on youtube.com -- it's looking like we'll have a full-fledged gang war between Hotel Moscow and some blokes from the Yakuza. Oh yeah, baby! I'm so looking forward to seeing "Fry Face" bare her organization's claws. But what does Revvy and the Schwartzenegger clone have in common and why do they hate each other so much? And does Rock finally have a love interest (besides Revvy)? And does this thing between Benny and Greenback Jane have a chance? Matt "Baka-Gaijin-Otaku" Frisbee

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log Um...somebody nudge Oroborous. I think he's asleep on the keyboard... Matt "Been-there-done-that-and-got-the-little-cubic-dents-in-my-forehead-to-prove-it" Frisbee

Re: Firing Into Melee, a rules quandary Yeah, I've run into this one before. This is one of those situations when the old GM has to just step in and toss the old rules aside for the tried and true measuring stick -- "What Makes Sense?" To my mind, it boils down to how reckless the firing character is being when he or she makes the attack. If he or she goes in with guns blazing, I generally make collateral damage more likely than the character who gets into a braced firing position and takes an action or two to aim while waiting for an obvious opening. Perhaps I'm being too simplistic about it, but then, I'm one of those GM's that rewards roleplaying and hand-waives the rules at times to keep a combat rolling smoothly. I'm also willing to forgo a to-hit roll if a player's character is obviously making the effort to do it right. Call me crazy, but (my) players respond to that sort of treatment positively. Good luck with your rules question, though. Matt "Still-faking-it-after-all-these-years" Frisbee P.S. If it were me in the hypothetical situation, I'd forgo the firearms, toss a concussion grenade into the fray and cap the bad guy while he's stunned. Of course, anyone running with my character already knows to bulk up on the armor because I'm likely to do that sort of thing...

Re: Post-Holocaust Starting Point Level? My gut is going with the flow here -- with powers like that, I'd say 150 points is a great level, though I would go with 100 base points and up to 50 from disadvantages. The reasoning here is that it's already the end of the world, what could possibly be worse? This would let your characters have the necessary down sides to having superhuman abilities without having to pile them on. Matt "Even-when-I-agree-I-have-to-buck-the-trend" Frisbee

Re: The team that everyone forgot. Just for fun -- the Fabulous Frisbee FemForce! Hellcat Black Cat Electra Dazzler Tigra Shadow Cat Oh, the possibilities. Matt "Drooling-old-school-Marvel-fanboy" Frisbee

Re: Defenders of Lakeport Campaign Setting And for those of you with black & white printers only, here's a black & white map of Lakeport! Enjoy. Matt "Ever-the-flexible-creator" Frisbee P.S. If someone has Adobe and could convert the word document into a .pdf, please feel free! And thanks!

After many delays and gnashing of teeth over software issues, I finally have put together my classic Champions campaign city. Enjoy! Matt "Still-crazy-for-Fourth-Edition" Frisbee

Re: Aliens watching our television I thought the Futurama episode where the aliens force our heroes to act out an episode of an earth television show from Fry's time was a hoot. Of course, don't forget the forgettable ST:TNG episode Casino Royale where an alien race mistakes a cheap gangster novel for a blueprint of humanity's Xanadu... Matt "Wish-I-could-forget-that-one" Frisbee

Re: The Future of Small Arms It's odd that this thread has cropped up, considering I was just watching a History Channel show about the developments of ammunition technology, including the Metalstorm system of electronically firing caseless ammuntion. Here are a few trends I can see being developed. 1) Dally Guns (from Logan's Run) -- selective fire weaponry that mixes and matches the ammunition to the need. Non-lethal rounds, lethal loads, explosive rounds, etc. mixed and matched in the same weapon, selectively available. (The Metalstorm people are already working on that one.) 2) Smart Guns -- that is, firearms which are keyed to a specific person and won't work for anyone else. Current technology incorporates a ID chip in the gun and a ring the firer wears, but it is still experimental. If everyone is required to have an implanted ID chip, though, your gun could truly be your one and only. (Which would make your life hell if someone hacked your gun!) 3) Smart Ammo -- which means self-guiding multi-purpose rounds. With the manditory ID chip thing, a bullet could really have your name on it. On the flip side, it could also prevent someone from accidentally shooting a friendly if the gun's computer chip figures out that the flight of bullet will endanger them. 4) Advanced Non-Lethal Ammo -- maybe with a boost of nanotech, the tangler gun could become reality. However, I think it more likely that advanced material will produce completely non-lethal rounds that can still incapacitate. 5) Environmentally friendly materials -- advances in biodegradable plastics will make the gun and its ammunition earth friendly, though may complicate potential murder investigations. 6) Home micro-manufacturing -- with the advances in materials, and the continued expansion of information on the Internet, people will be able to design and build weapons in their own homes, using advanced plastics. Ammo might be another story, though. 7) Caseless ammunition -- soon the day will come where ammunition won't need a casing nor primer to be fired. Ammo will be sold in disposable bioplastic magazines and all weapons will fire either by laser ignition or by electronic control. 8) Advanced ballistics electronics -- computers in the weapons will log each shot, recording the sight picture of each with a micro camera for future reference in court cases. Also, the computer will make minute changes to barrel angle and deflection to compensate for conditions (downloaded from dedicated weather monitoring sites on the internet) to improve aim. Just a few ideas. Matt "Guns-guns-guns!" Frisbee

Re: SJG's Traveller Deck Plans - dang wrong scale! My two cents' worth: As long as everybody is conforming to the same standard, who's to say that it isn't 6" outside and 6" inside? You're the GM, go with what's easiest and tell your players that's how it's going to be. If they don't like it, they can always play somewhere else. Matt "Outta-pennies-now" Frisbee

Re: Answers & Questions Q: (Election Day 2008 +1) So exactly how do we inagurate a dead rabbit? A: I'm not sure why I need it, but he was such a great salesman, I just couldn't say no.

Re: Answers & Questions Q: "Think you used enough dynamite, there, Butch?" -- from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. A: It's not a perfect relationship, but the sex is pretty good.

Re: Dark Champions the Anime Series Having just finished episode 16 (which is episode 4 of the Second Barrage) of Black Lagoon, I gotta have this one. Period. Somebody wake up Geneon and get them cracking on an American release, and I'll owe you a big one. The "Hanzel & Gretl" story arc was so disturbingly nasty, I'm just all warm and fuzzy inside... Matt "You-watch-it-but-I-live-it" Frisbee

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log Dice Death -- Proving that Fate is a Fickle Mistress. Great writeup of the session and congrats on another successful mission! Matt "Putting-away-the-Dark-Champions-pom-poms-now" Frisbee

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log Sorry that you had to hear the news here, my friend, but that's the way it works sometimes. Hopefully, things will fall into place in the near future. Matt "Kinda-bummed" Frisbee

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log Hey Barry, I could probably arrange a short story arc and fit it in between Thanksgiving and New Year's, the way my schedule is shaping up. I'll talk with you on Saturday about it, if you like. Figure out who'll be in it and when we can play, and I'll start brainstorming. Matt "Ever-the-versatile-GM" Frisbee

Re: Dark Champions the Anime Series Having just watched the first ten episodes of Black Lagoon on YouTube.com, all I can say is this series rocks. Any GM of the cyberpunk or modern action genre can get all kinds of ideas for an aquatic nomad / pirate campaign. My only issue is a proper time frame for the series. The feel is late 70's to early 80's, but the technology is too modern. Oh well, it's anime -- things like that happen. Matt "Wondering-if-I-can-find-specs-on-a-PT-boat" Frisbee

Re: Answers & Questions Q: Want to hear my latest collection of poetry? A: Sure, it's not physically possible. But it never stopped me from trying!

This is one of those "just curious" questions because I'm having problems getting my head around the math. Imagine a machine capable of teleporting someone else interstellar distances with the ability to scan out many parsecs for habitable worlds. Now, if I remember the rules correctly, it would a Megascale upgrade to do this. (I could be wrong, I'm still getting the handle on 5th Ed.) So, if an AU (Astronomical Unit) is 150 million km, and there are about 206,265 AU in 1 parsec (according to the Google calculator), how many doublings would it take to get a megascale hex 1 parsec across? To those with the mighty math brains, thanks! Matt "FRED-and-math-challenged" Frisbee

Re: How do your Star Heroes get around? My last space campaign, Trinary, was strictly an STL setting. Ships were rated in tenths of an AU per hour for speed (strictly for GM convenience rather than hard science). I imagined that the ships were using some sort of reactionless drive system, even though humanity had migrated to the triple star system using simple reaction drives (nuclear piles vaporizing Oort Cloud objects for reaction mass) and really good cryo-suspension chambers (and really good, really reliable AI systems to run the ships while taking the millennial coast between stars). I wanted fuel use to be an issue in the game, since the characters were running their own ship and economics, so that was a function of mass and maximum speed. I'm still thinking about running a SF campaign that doesn't have starships (like Stargate SG-1 used to be in the early seasons) where transit platforms get you between worlds (like the systems used in the Iria anime series). Of course, that also means a really big bureaucracy and a relatively powerful corporation (or consortium) in control of interstellar travel... Hmmm....that does have some possibilities, if taken from a cyberpunk angle... Matt "Wheels-are-turning-up-there-because-I-can-hear-one-of-them-losing-a-bearing" Frisbee

Re: Weekend Warriors -- Campaign Log As always, an excellent write-up for a serious role-play session. Glad to hear your group is still fighting the good fight, but things are going to get very complicated when all of these budding relationships have to suffer the stress of the vigilante lifestyle... Matt "Plot-complications-anyone?" Frisbee

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log It happens, dude. But don't feel down, come play in the Cyberpunk game! Otherwise, I'll see you around Shattered Sun. Matt "Enjoying-detailing-Heroica" Frisbee

Re: Knightshift Stories -- Campaign Log Hey gang, I'm not exactly sure how to say this, but with my commitment to running both a Cyberpunk 2020 campaign and a 1st Ed. AD&D campaign, plus playing in one of two Hackmaster campaigns Barry is running, I don't think there will be any more Knightshift Stories in the foreseeable future. Thanks to WimpyBrick, Longbow and Rhonda Savage for playing in the campaign; and thanks to everyone who's been stopping by to read the write-ups. Your support has been greatly appreciated. Matt "Doing-what-I-can-to-keep-a-friend's-business-afloat" Frisbee