Ian Mackinder

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... So, uh, they were not actually trying to kill him, then?

Re: shadowcats vehicular insanity shop: Orel Ulyanovsk Class CVN

Re: What Non-Fiction Book have you just finished? 'The Mermaid Tree' by Robert Tilley. Historical work covering an obscure (but surprisingly interesting) period of Australia's history. Circa 1815 the British colonizxation effort was concentrated on the eastern coast, mainly around Sydney. The western half of the continent was still (technically) claimed by the Dutch but, apart from several shipwrecks and the occasional brief landing, otherwise left alone. Knowledge about the northern and western coasts (to say nothing of the interior!) was minimal, if not zero. The French were eager to put the Napoleonic Wars behind them, and launched a series of expeditions to explore the Australian coast and the Pacific region (consideration of establishing a penal colony of their own). The British were alarmed enough by this that they launched several expeditions of their own. All very interesting stuff. Some quite grandiose plans put forward, none of which ever came to anything. Interesting personalities, notable failures, dramas and all the other things one might expect. A small but significant part played by a ship called HMS Beagle. Oh, and the title refers to a tree on the north coast, where crewmembers of HMC Mermaid inscribed the ship's name.

Re: shadowcats vehicular insanity shop: Orel Ulyanovsk Class CVN Pretty sure the angled flight deck was a British development. Think the steam catapult was originally one of theirs as well.

Re: league of extraordinary PULP HEROs

Re: shadowcats vehicular insanity shop: Orel Ulyanovsk Class CVN True. Up to a point. Whilst the CVN flight deck is the product of approximately 80 years of continuous development in naval aviation, it is not the last word in that field. It is one particular design that has evolved for one particular area of requiirements. Furthermore, there is a huge gap between physically replicating the design (presumably using spy-plane photos and articles clipped from magazines) and getting it to work. In particular, it is about the people operating said item - that takes years of training, even when there is a significant backlog of experience to draw from. The SU operated several hybrid criuiser-carriers (notably, the 'Movska' and 'Kiev' classes), so they had some grounding in naval aviation, but this would be a BIG move up from that level. As regards military technology, the Soviets were never slouches at innovation and problem-solving; it was usually quality-control that messed them up. On that basis, I would expect them to bring their own perspective to bear on this design. In other words, it might kinda look like a Nimitz knock-off, but I expect that, if it had ever been commissioned, the SU would have used it very very differently. NOT, for example, to stomp Yank CVNs - that is what their subs and long-range aircraft were for. The apparent "ski-jump" in the bow is interesting. Royal Navy carriers had something like this for launching Harriers, but they didn't include catapults (as far as I know). This seems to be a combination of both ski-jump and catapult. Wonder if this was a compromise design (uncertainty whether their catapults were powerful enough?) or if there was another reason?

Re: shadowcats vehicular insanity shop: Orel Ulyanovsk Class CVN Thoughts about the alleged horrors of Soviet-era military rations somehow come to mind. Otherwise, impressive. Never knew that the SU had ever considered anything like this. Interesting to note that, other differances aside, the flight deck looks VERY similar in general shape and design to the US's CVNs.

Re: Small Stuff My guess (and I THINK it is in the HERO rules "someplace") is that someone can drag approximately twice what they can lift. Sounds about right.

Re: Small Stuff

Re: Bedouin tribesmen Nice going. And H-o-l-y-y-y-y-y Crap! Obviously, the pom-pom is not the sort of thing one could haul around on camelback for raiding, it is more of a defensive weapon (set up to cover chokepoints, or to defend encampments). When the other side has only smallarms, this could a real problem for them.

Re: Bedouin tribesmen

Re: Bedouin tribesmen Yeah. Also, unless these tribesmen are regularly supplied from one particular source, then their weaponry would probably be VERY mixed - whatever can be carried on camelback and goes Bang or Boom, basically. Reliability and accuracy similarly varied, natch. One guy might have a fairly contemporary rifle, while his buddy carries a big-bore muzzle-loader maybe seventy years old. Much also depends on the flavour of your campaign. Would these trbesmen make a massed frontal cavalry charge at first sight? Or make a series of smash 'n' grab raids? Or (the smart option) do some sniping'n'snooping first, thus getting the measure of the opposition? Most probably a combination of all of these, I would guess.

Re: Kung Fu Animals Drop Bears would seem like a good basis for ninja/assassin types.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group...

Re: "Agents of ILM" campaign idea: Help me flesh it out?

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Ohhhkay. This may not be the most sicko ( / twisted / depraved / yucky / etc.) thing to happen in any RPG that I ever heard of, but it is probably in the Top 20. Hmmm. Now THAT would be an interesting topic.

Re: "Agents of ILM" campaign idea: Help me flesh it out? Interesting idea. I GOTTA wonder how the Mythbusters would fit in here. Probably extremely well, all things considered. After all, Jamie Hindemann co-owns a business (M5 Industries) that does special effects for TV and the movies.

Re: Character: Dr. Frasier Crane

Re: Character: Dr. Frasier Crane Yep, gotta watch those threads. They will resurrect on any excuse. Given a little further thought to Frasier's STR and CON. MAYBE, they are both fairly normal as long as he is within his "comfort zone". For instance, when in a suitably snobby situation, his wimpish tendencies seem to mostly vanish. On the other hand, when outside of this zone (engaged in an unfamiliar activity, or situations that trigger one or more of his Psych Lims, or just stuck in some kind of 'blue-collar' environment, for instance), his wimpishness comes out in full force. Alternatively, maybe treat this problem kind of like in 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?'. Specifically, that scene when Roger is handcuffed to the PI: "You could have gotten out of thoise handcuffs at any time?????" "No. Only When It Was Funny." Also thinking, maybe Eddie (his father's dog) should be represented as a (very) low-level Hunted or Monitored for Frasier.

Re: Character: Dr. Frasier Crane Liked the show, think the write-up is pretty good. I also tend to think his STR and CON should be lower. Possibly his STR becomes relatively normal under certain circumstances (No Conscious Control or some such thing perhaps?). I can recall various times when he has been consistently ... wimpy, yet there have also been occasions when this has definitely not been the case. I also think his EGO should be lower. Plenty of times he has clearly struggled to suppress his own natural inclinations and Psych Lims (to interfere, be snobby, etc.) but failed dismally.

Re: Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow I enjoyed the movie. OK, not the greatest movie ever, but it was entertaining AND had a vague senblance of a storyline and likable characters - which is all I ask for. Never felt that seeing it was a total waste of my time or money. Easy to please, maybe.

Re: Rocket launching aircraft carriers How about combining the rocket launcher with a BIG aircraft carrier - as in Project Habakkuk ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Habakkuk .)

Re: Time Travel Wish List?

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... OUTstanding!

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... OH, yeah. I want one too.