Ian Mackinder

Re: Time Travel Wish List? Yair, but there is no sense in making it EASY for the GM! You (well, OK, I) don't just passively march into obvious traps because "that is what the GM wants". Make the @#$%^ work for it!

Re: Time Travel Wish List? To say nothing of maybe discovering the hard way that you were the CAUSE of such events. Which is why I also go with observing such events from a great distance, NOT visiting in person. Especially in any RPG. To paraphrase, "the perversity of the GM tends towards a maximum". If the GM allows you to visit a place/time that is both interesting and dangerous, this is never a good thing.

Re: Tramp Steamers crew. No problem. I am flattered. ********** Spence's rundown on the organization of bigger ships seems very thorough. There was one additional position used on the largest passengers liners worth mentioning, if just for completeness. 'Staff Captain', which was invented by the German shipping lines - and adopted, I think, by Cunard-White Star at least for a time. He was basically subordinate to "the" Captain and in charge of everything pertaining to the passengers. So, why not just have the Chief Purser handle this stuff? First off, consider the special demands of this position on the "big" liners of the 1920s-1930s - lots of passengers to contend with, and many of them VERY rich/influential (and all too willing toi let others know it!). Secondly, I strongly suspect a certain subtle deception was inherent here - there would always be passengers who would much rather take their complaints / concerns to "the Captain" rather than a mere Chief Purser. Thirdly, it enabled the "real" Captain to concentrate on such mundane matters as running the ship, rather than constantly dealing with the passengers. Fourthly, it was an intermediate step towards command of the large liners - becoming the Captain of one of these usually required an iniitial stint as Staff Captain, to prove you had the PR and general social skills to deal with the big job.

Re: Tramp Steamers crew. Based on my own (limited) knowledge: (1) Tramp freighters try to minimize manpower as much as is practical (and that they can legally get away with). More crew means more expense, and profit is a priority here. (2) A ship's pverall "situation" (as in ownership, registry, condition, activities, etc.) also bears on crew carried. A British or US flagged ship routinely visiting major ports would probably try to be as "legal" as possible as a matter of course. A disreputable ship in a particularly godforsaken corner of the world may well be more ... casual as regards assigned crew. (3) Required crew: Captain - natch! 1sr, 2nd, 3rd, etc. Mate (or Officers on naval craft or large ships) - The basic chain of command. Probably no more than 4 at most, certainly one for each watch. Often, the 1st Mate / Officer would be required to have a Master's Certificate, so he could take over command from the Captain in the event of the latter being incapacitated. Radioman - At this time, this still tended to be a very specialized field. Larger ships would probably have at least one for each Watch. Bosun - Kind of like a senior NCO. In charge of the lower rank crew and a trusted "advisor" to the upper ranks. Cook - Often doubled as the ship's Medic if no Doctor was carried. Doctor - Unlikely on smaller ships. Working on tramp freighters was not exactly considered the pinnacle of one's medical career. Chief Engineer - Self-explanatory. Note that it is very unlikely that he would be qualified to take command on the Bridge in emergencies. Deckhands, Messmen, Stewards (if any passengers), Engineers and (if the ship is coal-fired) Stokers. Barracks-style quarters for each, but the specialities were usually separated from each other. (4) Figure three watches (/ shifts) per day in most cases. Certain individuals do not stand specific watches, because they are basically "on call" - the Captain, Radioman (if just one). Bosun, Cook, Doctor, Chief Engineer. Hope this is of some help.

Re: Elementary, My Dear Watson Something I would like to add is that I think Holmes's skill with the Violin should be somewhat higher. I do recall from the stories that he was most accomplished with that instrument - when in the right mood.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... From a Serenity RPG session a while ago. The party is ambushed at a mining camp. With bullets flying all around, my Character sensibly decides to take cover. Unfortunately, the only cover within reach is a vegetable patch. My Character fires from there a few times, the other side returns fire a whole bunch of times, doing exceptionally nasty things to my cover. Which inspires the following comment to the Referee: "So, let me get this straight. I am now hiding in COLESLAW. Any bonuses for that?"

Re: Stegosaur at Angkor Wat?

Re: Stegosaur at Angkor Wat? COULD be. Maybe. Could also be a crude representation of something completely different with previously separate elements of the background incorporated. Theory of mine. Consider the interesting universality of the "Dragon" myth - lots of cultures all over the world have legends/traditions relating to dragons, great serpents and so forth. Dinosaurs as a scientifically-identified group have existed for only a couple of centuries at best. I suggest that dino fossils have been repeatedly found by humans throughout history (and pre-history), and this forms a major basis for numerous "Dragon" legends. I know that traditional Chinese medicine has, for centuries, included ground-up fossils as an ingredient - usually known as "Dragon Bones". With this in mind, it is not so hard to believe that a particularly bright individual in ancient times could have found a relatively intact fossil skeleton, and make a fair stab at reconstructing what the beast looked like.

Re: Space 1999 aka Space 2099

Re: The Secret History of America. Sounds very cool. The 'National Treasure' movies (both of which I enjoyed) immediately come to mind as another possible source of inspiration. Much depends on the Players you can get involved - watch out for anyone with pronounced powergamer tendencies, needless to say. On the whole multi-generational thing, I have had one interesting thought. I don't know the system you refer to, but assume that there is some kind of means by which Characters can develop their skills 'n' stats. My thought is basically this. Allow Players the option of using accrued Experience Points for "current" Characters - or putting said XPs aside to be used for a future Character.

Re: Tell us about your Pulp game! Clearly, your GM has never watched 'Firefly''. Or, maybe, he just has (or had?) a trusting faith in the basic niceness of Player-Characters.

Re: Return To Doctor Han's Island (advice needed) My suggested addition to the group (or as a helpful NPC?). He is not a martial arts movie type as such - but he IS an ex-SEAL with several interesting friends, a ready wit and a very real knack for finding trouble. Furthermore, the time period (early-mid 1980s) fits exactly, amd even the locale seems appropriate. Plus, the notion of him being stuck in the middle of all this, trying to make sense of it all, is delightful. My nomination is Thomas Magnum (as played by Tom Selleck).

Re: Tell us about your Pulp game! Ditto.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... Kind of like not having time for a particular letter of the alphabet. Medication and certain therapies can deal with this problem.

Re: Latest info regarding Tunguska

Re: Tell us about your Pulp game!

Re: Character: Quadriplegic Kung Fu Master! Oh. My. Ghodd. I'm sort of in two minds about this notion. On the one hand, one truly has to wonder about the sick, twisted mentality that would devise something like this. ON THE OTHER HAND, I can vividly picture this as the basis for a particularly wild Martial Arts movie or RP campaign. Probably with Jackie Chan as the hapless wheelbarrow-pusher.

Re: Tell us about you Pulp game! I am currently in a most enjoyable Pulp Hero game, set in NYC "sometime" in the 1930s. Our group are middle-grade members of the Adventurer's Club, an organization of ...well, you have probably guessed it. Nice address just off Fifth Avenue, full range of facilities (including a huge library), loads of potentially useful allies and connections - and some very formidable folks that run the Club. Our small and diverse group has proven useful to have around, so the Club often employs us as a kind of emergency response force. Party members include an ex-gangster, a hard-boiled detective, an Irish padre, a soldier / pilot (Great War veteran), a lady librarian (from the British Library - Black Ops Branch), a doctor and a salty Aussie sea captain (me). Thus far, we have fought assorted thugs and hoodlums, voodoo cultists in the Caribbean, Tong in Chinatown, cannibals in Borneo, things in the sewers, and the inevitable Nazis. We have also burglarized a secret library in the Vatican, blown up a Nazi research base (MOSTLY accidental, but no regrets either), bumped heads with various secret societies, and generally had a good time. Currently, it looks like we may be lining up for a confrontation with some G-Men. The FBI has been called in to investigate security leaks from the AC's library (SERIOUS stuff, trust me), and their attitude towards clubmembers in general has gone from bad to worse. Apparently, J Edgar Hoover really doesn't like we Adventurers, and is just spoiling for an excuse to shut the Club down for good. Interesting times, as they say.

Re: Empire State Building Recall reading someplace that the ESB's upper tower was originally designed as a passenger terminal for airships. However, they only ever tried to dock an airship there once - the air currents around the building were so bad that the idea was given up for good as just too dangerous. Also recall hearing once that there was a strong rivalry between the owner/builders of the ESB and the Chrysler building. Each wanted their building to be taller, and kept revising / extending the original designs. In the end, the ESB's people pulled a fast one, tricked the Chrysler people into thinking the ESB had topped out. Then, when the Chrysler building started being completed, the ESB was extended yet again. Don't know how accurate / true this one is. Could be a basis for a card game or RPG scenario, anyhow.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... There is this page on my website. Some of the stuff on it has already been mentioned here, but a lot hasn't. I particularly recommened 'The Death Of Captain Cancer' - I was there and can swear to the absolute truthfulness of the entire story. http://members.ozemail.com.au/~iandl57/Page27.html

Re: Latest info regarding Tunguska Very true. Many of whom would arguably have a basic grasp of the differance between North and South. Probably East and West as well. I can accept that the alleged path taken by the object MIGHT be wrong. In fact, I will even concur that this is very likely. But, to my mind, there is still an element of doubt - we don't know for certain that this data IS wrong. Dismissing these alleged course changes out of hand, simply because they don't fit in the overall picture, troubles me.

Re: Latest info regarding Tunguska Yair, I can buy those conditions causing a comet's trajectory to jog around significantly. But in this case, we are talking about what SEEMS like two very radical course changes in rapid succession - 70+ degrees the first time and then maybe 120+ degrees the second. Try as I might, this just seems more than can be reasonably explained by this hypothesis, expecially considering the speed and momentum the thing would have had in the first place. Another possibility, I suppose, is that the object began breaking up at high altitude, and these differing observations about trajectory actually relate to various chunks flying off in different directions - just prior to impact and/or detonation of the largest portion. Still like the nuclear-powered extraterrestrial space probe hypothesis best ;-)

Re: Latest info regarding Tunguska Interesting news. The Tunguska Event does seem to have become less mysterious in recent times. There is one aspect that still gives me cause to wonder. My understanding is that one of the Russian scientists who first examined the site also plotted the object's trajectory prior to the explosion, based on various eye-witness accounts. SUPPOSEDLY, the object came in over Siberia on a course roughly due North. It appeared to suddenly switch course to approximately East-North-East for a couple of hundred miles, apparently towards Lake Baikal. It then switched course to approximately West-North-West for about the same distance before impacting / blowing up. This was one reason why the "nuclear-powered spaceship" hypothesis seemed to have some validity - it is mighty strange behaviour for a meteor, if correct. If correct. It could be that some eyewitness accounts were mistaken, inaccurste, garbled or falsified. Maybe. ***** Then again, there is the other suggestion that Tunguska was the result of Nicola Tesla testing his brand-new broadcast power station at Wardenclyffe (I think), and inadvertently creating a superweapon scary enough to make him quit that project and totally abandon his research.

Re: [PA Hero] Limited Nuclear War Not So Good I stand corrected on the river name. Type in haste, repent at leisure, so to speak. As for the rest, I did not say that a billion people would go on the move, I hypothesized that there would be fewer, given that a large percentage would probably not survive the initial hostilities (or, maybe, DO survive but opt to stay put no matter what). I also pointed out that portions of India may well survive the initial exchange in good order. Perhaps quite large portions. However, the influx of refugees afterwards and attendant panic could well overwhelm these regions. Overall, the refugee problem COULD snowball, especially given the shaky state of most neighbouring countries. Yeah, there are a whole bunch of "coulds" there, I agree. But this is a worst case scenario - nuclear wars (and their aftermath) tend to follow that line. It doesn't necessarily require that the whole of the Indian subcontinent be significantly poisoned by fall-out either. But I expect that there would be plenty of low-level stuff to go around, however, and that a LOT of people would be doing their damnedest to get away from it. As for the "Volkerwanderung" comment. well, barbarian invasion domino efects that span the whole of Eurasia may not be the case, but there is evidence to suggest that this sort of thing has happened on a much more modest scale at various times and places in history. The book 'Catastrophe' by David Keys has some very interesting theories about this due to a chain of events circa 535 AD. As regards the global climate, I am less alarmist. Effects would be perhaps comparable to that from a couple of major volcanic events. Not good, but not necessarily apocalyptic either. But the humanitarian crisis would more than make up for this.

Re: [PA Hero] Limited Nuclear War Not So Good Consider also another result from a "limited" nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan. As I see it, there would be a domino effect akin to History's so-called "barbarian migrations" of Central Asia (tribe A suffers calamity and invades westwards, displacing tribe B who also heads west to get away from A, and thus displaces tribe C, and so on) - except on a colossal scale. Fact is that India's and Pakistan's mutual dislike has always been deep-seated to the point of outright scary. So what happens if they go nuclear? For a start, use of the word "limited" is rather misleading here. Such a conflict would only be limited in the sense that the combatants would be (mostly) concentrating on each other. India outguns Pakistan in every possible category - area, economy, military strength and so on - and Pakistan's military would be all too aware of this. Therefore, I would expect Pakistan to use everything it has right from the start. Use it or lose it, as they say. Initial result: Much of Pakistan is glassed over, remember it isn't that big a country to start with. Depending on how much of their nukes are launched, India can probably expect to take heavy hits but survive, more or less. At least, to start with, anyhow. What is next? Fall-out would spread. My understanding is that, given the prevailing winds, most of the fall-out from Pakistan's destruction would, ironically, end up back in India. This is when it starts to get exceptionally nasty. There are a billion-plus people living in India and Pakistan combined. Assume that at least half of this survives the initial exchange (probably a much lower proportion in Pakistan, but still). Fall-out, fear of same and disruption of services would turn many of these survivors into refugees. Areas in India that seem to initially handle things well could find themselves overwhelmed by the aftermath, and soon be providing additional refugees. Where next? In this event, we probably can write off Bangladesh. It is a tiny and horrendously crowded country that is basically surrounded by India on three sides. Between fall-out, contaminated water fron the Ganges (on the delta of which Bangladesh is located) and the likely influx of refugees from India, it does not bode well. Which means more refugees. So, where next for all these people. Any adjacent country, probably. This means Iran, Afghanistan, Tadjikhistan, China / Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Burma and Sri Lanka. Most of these nations are comparitively small. Most have more than enough worries to deal with under the best of circumstances. Which means it will be a horrific mess whatever else happens. Expect a lot of refugee boats. Ocean currents will push a lot of them westwards towards the Middle East, but it is likely that many will try for south-east Asia and/or northern Australia. Further problems. North-west Australia is very inhospitable, and everywhere else is crowded with people, so further ugliness can be expected. One special consideration is China's role in this hypothetical exchange. Historically and culturally, China and India have never gotten on well. Also, presumably on the basis of "...My enemy's enemy is my friend...", China is now quite friendly with Pakistan. So that could complicate things even more. I don't believe that China would necessarily jump in on Pakistan's side, but the possibility is something that India would need to consider - or that China could move to take advantage of a weakened India afterwards.