Scott Ruggels

Precisely this. The top paragraph sounds a lot like Gnome-body's objections to other species, and The final paragraph seems to be the reason WHY other people put them in. To tell entertaining tales (and give my war gaming players a different set of tactical capabilities.)

Hey Folks, I am looking for a 3 column template for 6e, but following the 4e 3 column format (i.e. Not including Background or quotes on the first page.). It should have the stats in the proper order, for 6e, and should in most cases, fit on one page with a small sans-serif font (like 4e). It would be nice to include the martial moves , and hit location information, but not necessary. I have tried the Derek Heimforth 3 column and the Compressed 3 column, but the stat orders were messed up and the compressed was missing the STR stat. Any help would be gratefully accepted, and there is no major rush for this, but i wanted something to display as a PDF Character sheet, that was reasonably complete to reference while playing on Table Top Simulator. Not a lot of negative (wasted) space on the sheet, and density is not a problem as long as it remains legible. Thank you in advance.

It’s not very possible. Human players can’t rid themselves of their humanity. Also the truly alien doesn’t work for player characters as non aligned goals will break up the party. But, games as entertainment, means a lot of the customs and tropes from fantasy and science fiction filter into the games. So, that means human in a monster suit, or heavy make-up. There was a thread in the Star Hero forum on The Truly Alien or something like that, where the initial poster wanted a game with truly alien aliens. In the discussion, it became apparent that in most cases the presence of the truly alien became a horror. The truly Alien is CREEPY!! At best, divergent goals make things a hassle, for the GM and the players. At worst is the alien leading to a TPK, or RL conflicts within the group due to IC/OOC miscommunication. So what that leaves us is basically actors in funny suits and make up. From Star Trek aliens on the low effort end to Hollywood CG characters, all boil down to actors portraying characters interacting with other actors and the audience. Most people experience with the non human are their pets. But the pets have similar gross motives as their human owners, food, shelter, affection, and breeding. The differences are in intelligence, and knowledge. But the races at this point are required to present the proper atmosphere to a fantasy or science fiction game. Not having them turns a fantasy into historical fiction with magic, and science fiction becomes a techno-thriller, not that there is anything wrong with that (see A Song of Ice & Fire, but even that had some non humans). The problem may be more of being a good “actor” in one’s role play rather than the non humans being alien. I don’t expect or put any expectations upon my player’s ability to act, just to put out some effort and be involved and active in the game. But In creating non humans, what I try to do is to give them different capabilities, subtly different goals or motivations, but not to give them odd mental frameworks that might make them creepy or hard for Joe Gamer to play. Goals should be able to be aligned and having them in a party of mostly humans should not cause a lot of friction nor derail the game. Putting on a funny suit, and heavy make up also keeps the players from getting entirely bored. So it’s a choice to have or have not include them in one’s game, but Intend to include them, like a spice that signifies a dish as foreign, even if it is made of the same meat and potatoes as local dishes.

I occasionally splurge, when a check comes in and order Uber Eats and order from some local restaurants, just to continue to give them my business, but otherwise, saving up for a replacement Gaming and 3D work PC.

Single, medically retired, and have "prepper instincts" (that us3ed to be called survivalism) I have a lot of dry food, and frozen meat. though I may have to go shopping on Tuesday for some "Variety foods". because of medical issues I cannot eat a lot of vegetables, so I sort of avoid them. I bought TP when it was on Sale and have enough for about 34 months still. Honestly there has been little to no change to my living situation before or after, as I live alone, but within a 5 minute walk from my mom who i check up on. Otherwise I stay at home and interact with people over the internet or on texting or phone calls. My sleep schedule has been getting weird, so I have been forcing myself to bed early so I get up early. Still able to make my clinic appointments so far, but the protocols lengthen my trip a little bit. (Masks and gloves each way)

There are several definitions: The oldest is "Not of our tribe". Later it's "supreme selfishness", either through narcissism, or sociopathy. The definitions vary slightly by time period and culture, but in general it boils down to those. This has been the definition of pre-modern morality for most of human history. Wrong race, wrong religion, wrong location, were all used to bring war upon those not of "out tribe", regardless of the real reasons. These are the reasons that are used up to the present day to motivate people to bring violence upon others. In the West we may frown upon this sort of things, but it defines the conflicts in the Middle East, and a Certain political party gaining power in Germany, and it's views of anyone not wearing their sports jersey sparked off a rather massive war in living memory. All it takes is for other people to be defined as "objects", and mentally that is very easy for a lot of humans on this planet. Even if it is a situation of peoples with opposed goals, this is simplified so that even the most brainless person can understand it on an instinctual level. I could be argued that modern applications of this trope have been so successful that generations have been heavily influenced to this day. I have walked away from firearm boards on the net, when they have a critical mass of folks that perpetuate the propaganda and myths about the Japanese from WW2, when today, Japan has been a steadfast ally of the U.S. ever since the end of the occupation in the early 1950's, and Japanese built weapons are of very high quality until the last 18 months (especially the last 4) of the war. So yeah, as off putting as it is, today the effects are still reverberating through the culture 75 years later. I can respect that. I can also think that the opposite comes across as too much of a modern, anachronistic, sensibility to really work in a land of ancient mystery and superstition. it's the Robots, or the orcs. You are just the Movie Director/ script writer. Setting the stage for your players to do their deeds, heroic or otherwise as they choose. You are just defining the situation and background. That may be the defining trope of high fantasy, though, Everything apparently descends from Ancient Myth and story, and Tolkien, just codified it. If it's not interesting, that's all fine & dandy, just as I walked away from the "modern" sensibility of 4 color, as that silver Age morality was not interesting to me any more. I am thinking that the modern "anti-racist" sensibility is a bit of an anachronism in Fantasy, much as universal literacy would be as well. Even with readily available magic, things would still be a bit under developed, unless you took the time to work it all out in the background, to the point of being a cosmopolitan society like ancient Rome, which wasn't very racist in comparison to what came after. Valid. But different strokes for different folks. Sometimes you just want to stretch your arms out, and win your own empire by the skill of your sword arm, and damn the opposition. sometimes you want to go on a long journey and see what other strange folks there are. But then for a game, you have to read the table. (Which is why I am prepping a near future SF game instead, because that's what the players wanted.)

Yes Duke, I was and am still a war gamer. I embraced technology and dived into FPS games and now play team based shooters like ARMA III, and Warthunder to get my plane and tank fix. That being said I still have a bit of the tabletop itch. You are correct that a number of (my) races were/ are just a rejiggering of stats and abilities to exploit some different tactical ideas and capabilities. The Jaggiri were built as a “boss fight”, for one Memorable large convention run from back in 1992 or so. They evolved to have a culture and a national outlook that grew from and supported that situation. Large therapods with an expansionist outlook and a meat centric, ranching based economy, dependent on numerous family farms. Extremely near sighted, they never developed missile weapons, other than some rudimentary artillery. The Jaggiri took the elven role of an ancient, long lived culture that sneered at mere men, and pursued their arts and culture. They were, however, because of their size and power, quite unsuitable as a player character race (though I had one player who managed it. ) The Lupines grew from a different genesis, and it was not entirely war game based. They started as a byproduct of an animation project: Anything dealing with animation, necessarily requires concentration and rumination, as one has to constantly imagine the subject in motion. Well that particular project settled down in my head, invited friends and family over, and finally bought furniture. As a landlord I wanted them to pay rent, so monetizing ideas based on a failed story seemed like a good idea. They aren’t incomprehensible aliens, as they had to be somewhat relatable to humans, but they had physical differences and cultural differences on what would be based on a canine perhaps. (Faster, senses with different emphasis, not as physically strong, but with more endurance than humans, ect. ) Because of the similarity to humans, mechanically, they became a much better choice as a player race. They aren’t particularly special, as a lot of systems and campaigns have various “beast men”, but they were mine, and they replaced elves as the “forest innocents” of that campaign, but with a more Neolithic slant ( that is until some of them discovered that civilization granted them safety and regular meals as long as they followed the rules, and a portion of them moved into human settlements). Generally in my games I tend not to let players play other than human, until they have met a few NPC members of that race so as to get an idea of how they work, then I let the players loose. You always have the best comments to springboard off of, Duke.

You mean “Tieflings”? The mirrors or Asemars.

The two most common elements in the Universe are Hydrogen and stupidity.

Current "Achtung Cthulhu campaign: Doctor at the door of his walk up, "So who's the patient? -" Player 1, "The one screaming in the back of the car! - " Pllayer 3, "THE EYEEEESSSS!"

FYI TTS is half off Steam, right now! Half off the 4 pack now as well!

Tabletop Simulator is half off on Steam right now! If you buy a 4 pack, that is half off, too, plus the group discount! Go get it now!

other than stepping backwards to the first couple of editions, no, it cannot.

I thought no you are correct.

It needs to be multiples of 4, for printing purposes, and for longer books they need to bound into groups of signatures and signatures are in multiple of 32 pages (i think).

Yes, and apparently a very low amount of crunch. We can at least address the first one.

I think Aragorn had his chest full... ...of arrows.

I think he's referring to the Video Game , Monsterhunte4r, the one with widly different monsters, and the Hero being assisted by Palicos (short cat people). here: https://monsterhunter.fandom.com/wiki/Game_List

I started in this hobby as a war gamer, so I am of the opposite viewpoint in some cases. Some people enjoy the brutal release. and mental exercise of a guilt free slaughter of a clever and wily opponent (see: First person shooters. See: Space Hulk). This is why I drifted away, unsatisfied, from 4 color adventures, and back to low fantasy.

1) What purpose do multiple races have in a rpg? Or alternatively, what should multiple races add to a game if they're done well? They serve two purposes in my games. The first is to be a base identity to be something "other" than human, to explore a role, or an idea in the game. This is also served by Aliens in an SF game. The second purpose is to be a source of conflict, This conflict can be different cultural goals at cross purposes, or irredeemable, savage, servants of evil (guilt free targets), and that depends on the background and type of campaign I am running. 2) Do you prefer multiple races at all in your rpgs? Depends on the campaign, but in most a couple/ three is fine. Too many and it feels like a "reskinned D&D 5e campaign, and "humans only" feels like a well known Fantasy TV series, which works in it's own way, especially since in both cases I tend to run things fairly low fantasy Heroic level campaigns. 3) What fantasy race pet peeves do you have? Why? The Tolkien Trifecta. it has become the "Default" for fantasy since the three little brown books were published by TSR in 1974. Now on the positive side. D&D and Pathfinder have broadened the selection and types of creatures people can play as Player Characters, but the Tolkien Trifecta is still paramount in those systems. Talislanta had no elves, but looking though those books, they had some that fit the bill, somewhat. Can't someone come up with something new, or at least play with them a little. I will admit to having games where the Tolkien Trifecta were present, but those were mostly "out of the book" adventures. Another Pet Peeve I have is playing the Non-human Race as a Human stereotype, or a Human in a funny suit. Examples would be the Hippie Elves, The Dwarvish "Soccer Hooligan", or the Hobbit Mafia B&E specialist. I do recognize that not everyone can role play, and still be an asset to the game, but I do expect folks to do a bit of reading about the campaign background and how those cultures worked. I also don't like it when the other "races" are played as joke characters. (messes up the grimdark of the campaign...Kidding just a little bit). 4) How many is too many? Too few? Between 3 and 5. Fewer than that begs the question of why hasn't one or the other just taken over and made the other extinct. More than 5 (with some exceptions), and the game feels like a costume party, as none of the races will acquire enough development for them to feel like a different culture and biology. 5) What do races represent in you games if anything? In my game? Depends on the race. The Jaggiri were a source of conflict as they were not defeatable one on one, and were a "Boss fight" against a party. Culturally they were supremacists, and looked at other races as either threats, or economic resources for their territorial expansion. But they could be out thought and out negotiated, and were amenable to diplomacy. They started in the game as a a demonic horror released upon an innocent land. And ended the game as slightly annoying, but decent to know. The Lupines are a stand in for any more primitive culture, except with some tweaks in their physical capabilities and a few broad general mental frameworks that make them, while comprehensible to Humans, different enough that their motivations often diverge from most humans. They do this without having to get into disagreeable situations with the current youth about "cultural appropriation". I roll my own races in games, and after a long history of reading Science Fiction, colonial era adventure stories, and History, the different races basically boil down to creatures from a specific or somewhat general environment that want to eat, breed, raise young, and pass on their culture to the next generation. I had a conversation with Animation Legend Ray Harryhausen once, at SDCC, and he told me, that a Monster was just an animal in conflict. What does it do when it's not angry, and how does it live? Think about that and you then have a more fully fleshed out monster. They also serve to scratch my world building itch, as they will have place names and settlements that are all their own. So Fantasy, or Alien. They signify that this place is "not of this earth", even if I swipe large sections of history.

Ender 3 pro as well. I found this Profile prints really good mi miniatures, but the print times are around 10-11 hours though for a 28mm mini:

Not much changes here since I moved in last year. Stick to myself, go out only to shop or walk a trail. (I am in a high risk group, so I go to the store masked and gloved, with eye shields. I'd go MOPP3, but that would scare people) The one disappointing thing is that I am finding I am cleaning the house far more often than I am fulfilling paid work art assignment. I am procrastinating far more. Very disappointing. For some reason just not "feeling" the energy to work, but My house is spotless, and and my books are all re-arraigned properly. I have also got a 3D printer and am noodling in Z-brush with the intent of making figurines, and miniatures at some point soon.

https://www.sfgate.com/living-in-sf/article/Coyotes-are-being-seen-on-the-empty-streets-15159105.php

TTS Stands for Tabletop Simulator. It was originally a Kickstarter project that successfully funded, and is now available for purchase on Steam. What it is is a Physics enabled, VR capable (but not necessary), simulation of a Gaming Table top for up to 8 individuals to play. It is $19.99 on Steam, and has a large amount of games implemented on it. It requires all participants to have a copy of the application, but is a one time purchase. One navigates their POV using WASD to move the camera around, and the Arrow Keys to re-orient one's camera. One uses their mouse to pick up, manipulate, and drop objects onto the table. Each participant picks a "color" which corresponds to their seat position at the table with the host, or GM being black. By Default the table comes with a chessboard and decks of cards and some other items. but users have made multiple Modules for it, for Card and dice games, Classic and current board games (such as Settlers of Catan. or Monopoly, though I think within the last month, Steam has removed some of the games at the copyright holder's request), and Tabletop RPGs, such as D&D 5th Edition, and now, Herosystem 6th edition (and fifth is currently being implemented). All of the modules are available on TTS's Steam Workshop as Downloadable Modules, most of which are free. The Herosystem Module was coded in Lua (the native programming language for TTS), by user Brennall, who is publishing not only YouTube tutorials on how to play, but has also published video play throughs on his 1935 London campaign, with some of his players having no experience with Herosystem picking it up fairly quickly using the module. Brennall's purpose in publishing the module was his attempt at bringing new players to Hero, and making it much easier to play. He, and the community over on the Herosystem Discord Server are very much interested and following along as Brennall posts his adventures and tutorials. The Module supplies a free HDE plugin for Hero Designer that will convert characters into JSON files that are read by the module and import the character into it's "combat controller", and also suppies areas at the player's seat to load PDF files for in app reading and reference. First: What are you having problems with? Basic camera Navigation? Manipulation? General complexity? Remember that TTS can be used in three levels. The first level , with the Herosystem mod loaded as a simple hex grid display, and Dice roller. The second it can be used to load characters, and prepared map images, and the third level can be used as a fully functional combat manager, with miniatures inside of fully 3D terrain with weather and lighting effects (which the 5e, and pathfinder guys seem to use to great effect as well), with a wide array of miniatures, scenery and terrain available for free, but will have to be pre-prepared and loaded for your scenarios. Like most computer assisted tasks these days, the time is spent in set up to make the actual play experience rather smooth and quick. So far, it seems that for TTS it's sublime to be a player, but a lot of work to be a GM. Second, have you looked at the video tutorials? These are what is posted right now. To get a new User's perspective on TTS, you may want to DM User Lensman here onthe forums, as he is the GM for the above mentioned Turakian Age campaign, and we are going through this together, figuring out how to make maps, and pre load things. I really hope this helps.

I will post some reports. It will also be using the TTS Hero Mod as the players are widely geographically separated. Lots of stuff to report.