Scott Ruggels

Not familiar with 6th Edition rules, as I am a 4th Edition guy, but these seem quite reasonable. A couple of gun nut concerns. Powder activated weapons carry their own oxidizer inside the cartridge, and work in a vacuum decently enough. The problem would be in environments with flammable atmospheres. Cartridges are usually air and water tight, and last about a century give or take depending on the quality of the packaging and the cartridge itself. I cannot think of a planetary atmosphere that would neutralize the self contained chemical reaction. Powder cartridges are initiated by stored mechanical energy (springs), causing the primer to detonate. Elementary, I know, but It comes out to Energy requirements. There are limited electrical detonated military ordinance but that is for specialized applications, usually Naval. There was a commercial hunting rifle offered by Remington that used electrically detonated ammunition. It was a commercial failure. Batteries and firearms are a poor match due to a lot of variables regarding declining charges, outside temperatures, corrosive chemicals inside them and fragility. This is why “smart guns” are a non-starter. Yes, sighting systems often require batteries, especially those using exotic spectra, but those are mostly for specific mission requirements, and even then, pleas from soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq to their families to send them batteries, was noted. Back to your weapons. Good designs. But these are Rail rather than coil guns? Rail Guns “push” the projectile along rails ( which apparently wear with use) , and Coil guns “pull” the projectile through the gun like a maglev. I would think the coil principle would serve better as the size and quality of the projectile would be less critical than using the Rail principle. There is some discussion between the accuracy of each method, with Navy experiments favoring the accuracy of the Rail principle. I would suggest that magazines contain the fuel for the piece, as well as ammunition, as they can be balanced to the ammo requirements and simplify maintenance of the weapon itself, and allow for long term storage of the weapons. Having its own internal power generation obviates the battery problem, and as long as the weapon can maintain a capacitor to initiate the reaction It can be stored but ready as soon a the user slaps a magazine in. So, how much do the various weapons cost ( for heroic games)

Developing superpowers In statistically significant portion of the population would be bad. Western nations would lose their philosophical underpinnings with regards to equality, and would either go totalitarian, or dissolve. Less developed nations would factionalize into might makes right situations. The unpowered would hide, and the labor market would become unstable. Civilization would collapse, or regress into feudalism. Rule by Kryptonian level thugs or powered sociopaths would become the norm.

Yes, usually instigated by the current editors, and they have their go to, for established DC Characters, which is sexual stunt casting, which generates a ton of Buzz, and allows the "Fan Baiting" marketing strategy to work, without an expenditure of company finds, nby letting YouTube and the news outlets to spread the controversy. This has not translated to sales, though, and the circulation continues to contract It's worse. They got rid of DiDio to avoid another New 52, but even without him, they were so bereft of ideas, they went with it anyway. THe sober old men of Julie Schwarz's day are long gone, replaced by poorly paid college kids given a stepping stone to their Hollywood dreams.

The Pandemic eliminated the local game stores, save one, maybe, but I haven't been able to get over there. However I do plan to run "Champions Begins", for one of the Discord Servers I am on, and probably another as I had a request. I will do my best, even though Superheroes aren't my first choice for Hero System. I will report on how it went later.

Just finished Binging Cyberpunk: Edgerunners on Netflix. It's not often you watch an Anime made from a property you have worked on. Well it was more based on Cyberpunk 2077, as it was produced by CD Projekt Red, and the story was written by a Pole, but my former Boss' name was on the first title card "Based on the world created by Mike Pondsmith. The story was a very straight Cyberpunk story, with a team consisting of three Solos, two Net runners, a Tech and a Nomad. One of those Solos, David Martinez is a prep school drop out who recently lost his mother to random gang violence and needs to find a job quick. He meets up with an attractive petty thief, who leads him into the world of the Edge runners, and the attendant money. The animation was by Studio Trigger, of Japan, and was quite well done, with backgrounds that were based on locations in Night City from the game. If you like Cyberpunk stories, this works well and has that echo of film noir plots that A lot of cyberpunk stories have. Recommended. [EDIT] and if you are worried about a typical Netflix Cliff Hanger for next season, don't be. This comes to a decisive End, as a one and done.

Stick with the Iroquois confederacy, as it was a mostly stable society, and you already know it. Most historical Matriarchies were more Matrilineal than matrifocal. Land inheritance in The Himalayas was through the women, who would then take on husbands to work the land.

One of the points of interest, and just off the edge of the map, would be the Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC). This is a device to colliding and measuring High energy particles, and sometimes using those high energy particles for medical experiments. My Late Room mate, Marc, worked there, in the fabrication department as he was a machinist, and he tols stories of the place. There is a Photo on line of the Backstop that is to keep Portola Valley from becoming a target, and these high energy particles have left a sizeable crater in the metal Backstop )Lead, I thin, about a foot thick_ The Accelerator runs under 280 in a supernaturally straight line, as it's a mile long and propped up at each end to account for the curvature of the earth. It's a perfect place for a Superhero origin to take place. https://www6.slac.stanford.edu/

My old stomping grounds. Living and working there.... Well having a tunnel to the Port of Oakland will reduce traffic on the 880, and 680. The higher tech areas will make my old home town even more insufferable.

If they are introducing a character , then it's appropriate to show the origin. Also the MCU has done it better, in general. the DCEU had rehashed more often. Their movies though have not been consistent.

I think you are the only one. I would love it, if we cou8ld jst assume that the origin happened in another film, and use the time, instead to match the Hero up with one of their villains. and after a few films then either the villains team up, or something happens and the heroes team up. I am tired of seeing Thomas and Martha Wayne dropping to the pavement... again.

Life it too short for a bad game. Admit to being anti-social or better, admit to being an introvert. Tell your husband that the GM creeps you out, and that it's fine if he wants to play, but you don't like 5e, and you definitely don't like being railroaded. This game feels bad, and remind him of the Wednesday game. Failing that, have the character become reckless, and try the impossible. If the character dies, Immediately pick up your things, tell your husband that you will pick him up at the end of the game and leave quickly. If the GM Bends the rules to keep you alive, then you have evidence of railroading, and you have a reason to leave, as well. In any case you are going to have to be firm. Loving, but firm.

That was a fun read.

She always struck me as a pillar of restraint. She was the conscience of her nation. My Canadian relatives were very impressed with her, and my Grandmother on my mother's side was a big fan. I was sad up[on hearing the news. Charles, though strikes me as a bit of a greenie, and may nudge the U.K.'s energy policy in a worse direction.

Finally caught the first season of Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal on what’s left of Adult Swim’s Roku channel. Dinosaur and a caveman team up to survive in a prehistoric world. Very well animated, with a lot of clever animator tricks. No dialogue what do ever, and a bit less abstract than Samurai Jack, but often with the same pauses before frenetic action. The stories feel like early pulp adventures with time periods mixed up, but there are rules. Just enjoy watching “Spear” the Neanderthal, and Fang the Femsle Tyrannosaur as they interact with each other and the world around them. Unfortunately, since I do not have a cable or HBOMax subscription, anything after the fifth episode, I am locked out of.

Well the first thing is research. You will have to read and immerse yourself in the source material. If based on short, or pulp fiction, you will have to infer a lot of missing background from the clues presented. From that you are going to have to put the economy together and concretize the various factions. Material from published game books is much easier as the authors are often also GMs. I like to homebrew, still, but that is perhaps a bit more work than someone with a wife, a job, and kids can really do much of anymore. Think about it when jogging or walking to the store (put the phone away). And ask yourself questions, and then answer them, sometimes in character of some campaign notable.

Good Question. Remember Amber Diceless is now an old game.

Posted without comment. https://vanishingtower.blogspot.com/2021/02/my-verdict-on-runningplaying-champions.html?m=1

Reports are coming in that DC Comics has been request by Discovery Warner to prepare Character Bibles for their flagship characters. This is usually done by brand managers, in preparation for outside companies to produce licensed content. After the internal Audit from last month, it looks like Warners is going to shutter internal comics production, and license the characters to other companies.

The Boys is climbing the charts. And I am seeing a lot of Breaking Bad memes lately

Watched The Rings of Power on Amazon Prime. I am not that familiar with Tolkien other than the excellent Peter Jackson movies, so I am not wedded to the lore. It was passable but a bit slow. I am getting tired of the current girl power focus, and the diverse casting just kept reminding me it’s 2022, rather than a “Timeless Tale”. The visuals borrowed heavily from Maxfield Parish which isn’t bad, but the costuming was rather uneven. The Dwarves were fun, but the Elves came across like college students and faculty. The tone came across as all ages, but in a more antiseptic way than the Jackson movies did. It’s not terrible, but I like House of the Dragon better.

I could add one. We already see it in theme parks, and that is entertainment robots. But unlike theme park ones that are installations, these could be location independent, and location adaptive. Children’s birthday party? Company shows up with a show in a box and opens it in the back yard. Open the box in a hospital play room, or a park. They go through their scripted routine, then climb back into the box at the end.

Nope. Nothing more this year. Booster is going back to the Assembly Building. https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/03/world/nasa-artemis-1-saturday-launch-scn/index.html

Nope...Not Today: https://www.space.com/artemis-1-launch-scrub-hydrogen-leak They will try again,. Monday.

If it’s a one shot, you don’t need the city. But for a campaign, you need it. Also the details spawn campaign Ideas.

If you do a city, try to proceed like Hudson City, with a colorful Rand McNalley sort of map, with all the streets freeways and important locations.