Scott Ruggels

I do not like that particular hobby-lingo (i.e., "murderhobo") and the accompanying overall trend of overanalyzing Player Characters in tabletop roleplaying games that usually resulted in more harm than good. There's too much finger-wagging while geeks try to police (if not one-up) other geeks. This "movement" (and even that is somewhat of an imprecise label) has lead to the informal-yet-widely accepted shunning of certain character types that fail to fit within a surprisingly narrow band of criteria and an implication that bringing a bit of the THAY-A-TUH to the table automatically makes the collective experience better. There should be considerable latitude in permissible character archetypes. Look, if everyone is having fun playing peripatetic warriors and rogues who support themselves through acts of violence...why the need for an intervention? Or a scolding? As long as the players are cooperating and all concerned parties can differentiate between reality and fiction, who cares how people find their fun?
 

Earlier today I was watching a video comparing hex tiles and square tiles in board games. Since both types build landscapes with either hexes (ex. Archipelago) or squares (ex. Carcassonne), I got this idea:
 
1. Play the board games.
2. Take photos of the completed boards after the games.
3. Integrate the photos into your homebrew rpg campaign.

Nicely done.  Good visual explanation of armor. Not the first time I’ve seen that Mycenaean pipe armour. Must have been baking hot in the sun.  Or was indoor armor. 

Frederick Douglas University is fully accredited. It is also offering adult continuing education classes in law, boat handling and navigation, water safety, history, and marine engineering.   It’s Mascot, is a Blue Crab with a Navy White hat. 

Nicely done.  Good visual explanation of armor. Not the first time I’ve seen that Mycenaean pipe armour. Must have been baking hot in the sun.  Or was indoor armor. 

These may have appeared in ADQ.
 

I also recommend this book.

Aaron was a prolific creator.

The novel Braking Day had a sport involving teams from different hab-rings of a generation ship piloting customized EVA craft in a sort of obstacle derby race, although I think the "course" was a VR creation rather physical for safety reasons.  Running one of these little souped-up one-man worker bees into one another was an acceptable risk, but ploughing into a ring itself not so much.  Pretty much an STL long-hauler community's version of motocross, I guess.  The sport proper plays a very minor role in the plot so the specifics aren't made 100% clear.  There's also some less involved competition involving individual zero-gee maneuvering skills inside the ships themselves, since transiting between hab-rings is generally done by simply jumping after calculating a route with internal software running on your cybernetics (which are universal-from-childhood, to the point where few things operate manually any more - the POV characters struggle to understand how a hand-cranked plumbing cutoff valve works at one point, they're so used to interfacing with everything wirelessly).
 
Pretty great read for an author's debut (and so far only) scifi novel.

I keep thinking of that meme showing the fortune teller looking into a crystal ball and saying something like "I see a unpainted miniatures in your future." pause "That's a LOT of unpainted miniatures." I just swap out 'characters' for 'miniatures.'

Aaron was a prolific creator.

I don't know how many folks out there are familiar with SCP (Secure, Contain, Protect) fandom out there.  starting first as creepypasta on Reddit, it has grown into all sorts of activities.  Recently they released a near professional fan film called Overlord, and i feel this could be an inspiration for a horror based, or X-Files flavored Dark Champions game.  Take a look.
 
 

You possibly still can, as I dont thik Steve has finshed it.  THe wy he talked about it, his system could also be an overlay for other game systems.

Bingo.

For what it is worth,I liked the lethality.  It encouraged role play over gun play when things started going south.
 
 

What he told me, is that he ws working on a system that shared some procedures with Hero, but itself was not Hero. Them die rolls were different, but I didn't remember the specifics. He was talking about it with Myself, Bryce Nakagawa, and Steve Perrin (right before he died, which ws a surprise to all of us.) I am not hat much of a mechanics guy, until I am playing the game. It sounded interesting, though.

Playing in an imaginary world, you have a choice: either all-imaginary names (which requires a certain level of creativity and means you can't use certain evocative choices) or borrowing from the real world (which can have connotations you don't want). I'm generally fine with anachronistic or atopic names popping up in pure fantasy, but one particular thing I find jarring: Biblical names in a world that doesn't have Christianity or anything like it. To me names like Miriam or James or Jericho have a very specific connotation to specific Biblical characters and mythology which I find distracting. I don't struggle as much with old Celtic names, or with Latin names (which of course have been used, reused, and abused all over Europe anyway).

Coastal City does not have any public airports within its boundaries.  The city is serviced by Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, and Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.  Dulles is the primary international airport for the Washington, D.C. region, which Coastal City is on the edge of, while Reagan National is the primary domestic airport.
 
Coastal City Airport, located two miles beyond the city limits, is a general aviation airport.  Just outside the terminal is a mailbox and a place where pets can relieve themselves.  Inside is a pay phone, water fountain where one can fill a water bottle, restrooms, a vending area, the Runway 5 Café, and a first aid station.  A car rental agency and a gas station/convenience store are across the street from the airport.
 
Outside is Hawke Air, Inc., gas pumps for 100 Low Lead Avgas and Jet-A, T-hangars, restrooms, and the base for Medstar 4, the area medical helicopter.  Light aircraft, including a biplane and gliders occupy most of the apron area, but there are also ground vehicles with light bars.
 

Did Home Alone teach you nothing?  Those little monsters are dangerous, they come in packs, and these days half of them are armed better than your henchmen.

One High School seems to be a bit  light. How about 4 total?
 
Julius Robinson Public High School. This is the oldest High School in Coastal City, graduating it's first class in 1869. Originally named Central Coast High School, it was renamed after the death of Julius Robinson in 1935. Generally a Black Majority school, it has been fully integrated since the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Many trainee teachers from Frederick Douglas University try their hand with real students here. The school these days is weak on STEM Classes, but strong in English, and trade skills, and still has a 77% graduation rate. This is in spite of endless budget fights, and a weak tax base. Their Football team has taken the State Championships 4 times since 1925, and is always a formidable opponent. The School is located at 2750 10th St, near the "Western Star", a fully land locked star fort, topped with grass, that the Highschool occasionally uses as an athletic practice field. The Highschool Building was one of the original fort administration buildings, but was since expanded as needs arose. School hours are from 9:30 Am to 3:30PM, with Athletic facility open until 5PM.

General Lucien Truscott Military Prep. What is Virginia without a military school? This School, on the north edge of town, declares it is the birthplace of leaders. It is a Private Military academy that often feeds students to the higher Service academies, but also tends to  breed steely eyed business leaders and national level Politicians. Students can be identified by their Cadet Gray, or summer Khaki uniforms and Burgundy Berets. The Facilities are strong on STEM, education, but weak on Humanities, save Military History. The faculty consists mostly of current, and retired Military Officers from the U.S. Army, and Air Force. Their sports teams are formidable but subject to an "every other year" Curse. where in even numbered years they look like championship material, and odd number years, they crumble like a sand castle. Often they will provide marchers or color guard for various parades and official ceremonies. It is rumored that several Teen Heroes are associated with the school but of course, nothing is confirmed, and the staff has no comment.  The sprawling campus surrounds a parade ground. at 24 Union Street. School Hours are from 8:00am, until 2:00pm for classroom instruction, and until 5:30 for sports and field instruction.
 
New Horizons Magnet School (Formerly Abraham Lincoln High) The school was reformed into a Charter School in 1999, and the parents taken over many of the staffing positions. Being a member of New Horizons is a family commitment once the prospective student passes the entrance exam.  Parents volunteer to help teach, clean hallways and do clerical work. They do employ accredited teachers, but since the school does not recognize the teacher's union, they pay the teachers a higher salary to ignore the AFT, and follow the specialized curriculum the parents provide through the New Horizons Program. THe Curriculum is actually a modification of a very old curriculum, stressing the teaching of classical Greek, Latin, U.S. History, Orchestral Music,  and a very thorough math progression up through Calculus. With such a focus on academics, the school has withdrawn from it's former sports association, and no longer fields a football and Basketball teams. Principal Patricia Mae Wong, and Assistant Principal Don Nguyen make sure standards are kept high, and that operations run smoothly. Students from other schools tend to refer to it as "Nerd Horizons". Students from here always look a little tired or stressed.
 
Woodrow Wilson High School  See Above
 
Because children make the best hostages, Here are a list of other schools:
Middle Schools
 
Sojourner Truth Middle School 2671 8th St.
 
Neil Armstrong Middle School  3640 S. Cameron Ave
 
 Rappahannock Middle School  340 E. 2nd  St. (Near down town.)
 
Sacred Heart Elementary and Middle School associated with St. Christopher's Church.
 
Elementary Schools
 
There are 8 public elementary schools in Coastal City and tend to be names for the street they are on. Most are built to a similar "L" shaped plan, with the offices on the short leg, and 7 classrooms on the long leg, and a grass athletic field in the center. There are between 130, and 200 students, and 15 staff.
 

There will be more detail from the usual YouTube fans I post here, but for now, this is still an impressive achievement:
SpaceX successfully launches two rockets hours apart
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2023/12/28/Second-SpaceX-launch-set-for-tonight/8731703818335/