The Weapon

Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel Above the mantlepiece there is a pair of dueling pistols. They have been there without moving for as long as anyone can remember. They are secured so that any attempt to remove them would make noise and their removal and replacement would be detectable. Any time they are examined they appear to have been recently fired, but they never move and the material securing them is never damaged or disturbed. If someone examines them without someone being shot first someone will be found shortly afterwards who was shot before the pistols were examined, twice and possibly with a gun of that calibre.

Re: Who was WWII's most important leader? http://www.ww2f.com/what-if/11752-operation-sealion-possible-outcome-2.html Suggests it was a pipedream from the start. The German navy just didn't have the equipment or the will to transport more than 8,000 men (to take a country of what 50 million?). The barges proposed sunk in anything above sea state 2. Wake from a destroyer is 2.5 and most days the channel can turn on considerably more. So theoriecticaly the whole plan could be destroyed by a single destroy without firing shot. This is my favourite part. "Ignoring for the time being the air battle, we will look at the mechanism proposed for getting 9 divisions across the Channel. This was the responsibility of the Kriegsmarine. The plan was: Block the west end of the Channel with U-Boats (operating in shallow, confined waters and required to stop, with 100% effectiveness, fast moving warships rather than slow moving merchantmen). Block the east end of the Channel with mines and 14 torpedo boats (with 20 enemy destroyers immediately to face). The main surface fleet of the Kriegsmarine was to "Break out into the Atlantic and draw the Home Fleet into following it." Even if this exercise in wishful thinking worked perfectly, there was a problem. The RN had, based within the limits proposed, 3 light cruisers and 17 destroyers. However, the Kriegsmarine had thought of this, and decided that the barges would be adequately protected if the soldiers on the barges (traveling at night) "Fired at unidentified ships". " Hmm, you're in a barge in the middle of the channel, where death by hypothermia is usually about than half an hour away once you go swimming. You know the RN is about and has destroyers, cruisers and even battlewagons that can take a 5" shot without worrying. Are you going to open up on an unidentified ship with your AT gun? That you've never fired on a rocking boat before?

Re: Who was WWII's most important leader?

Re: Jedi Ghosts and fade-to-deaths? Then that scene in RotJ is just a really bad family reunion?

Re: Kill the Dude with the Thing How do you know if you don't know the question?

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... And lose the "sexy librarian" look?

Re: Kill the Dude with the Thing Because then you can kill the thing. That's what we're trying to do right? Kill the thing?

Re: Who was WWII's most important leader?

Re: Who was WWII's most important leader? Yeah but even restricting the pool to suck-ups big enough to please Hitler it should still be possible to find someone more competent than Goering. Even without quite the capacity to get more resources from Hitler that means a more effective Luftwaffe.

Re: Who was WWII's most important leader? What sort of chaos would ensue? Probably a lot less than did ensue. Firstly the Politbureau swiftly tries and executes, well someone they didn't like anyway. They then organise the war effort pretty much as they did but without having to worry about what Stalin thinks. There's some struggle to become top dog, but it's probably over quickly and doesn't distract the average Soviet soldier from his job (particularly as he doesn't hear about it). Concessions are made to greater freedom and some victims of Stalin's "mistakes" are rehabilitated earlier. Everyone in charge knows they're dead if Hitler takes over.

Re: Who was WWII's most important leader? And the great thing about a dead Goering POD is that it's really easy to arrange. Someone gets a lucky shot in (ground fire probably, that's the really good pilots died) during WWI and Goering is just another name on the "dead guys who could really fly" list.

Re: [Worst Ever...] Reasons to be a superhero Because when the american people find out how badly dad and I ripped off the Pentagon the only way to stop me being lynched is to have saved the world a few times. I need a drink.

Re: Code vs Killing, in your group?

Re: Cost of Elven Silver The British royal family used to have aluminium table settings instead of silver. They probably still have them but they're not used on formal occasions any more I guess. I would base the cost increase on who you want to be able to afford it. If you want every man and his dog to be able to use this then make raw materials 1 1/2 to 2 times as valuable as good steel. This would increase costs by say 25% to 100%. If you want to make it that only nobles get to carry it say 5 - 20 times as expensive. Or make it 100 times as expensive and only royalty and the biggest lords use it. Note also that light weight isn't a big advantage for weapons, you want to be able to put some inertia in. For armour though it's fantastic. Something that's half the weight for the same protection means either a) you can fight longer without fatigue or you can pile twice as much on. If it's lighter than water then that's just cream to people who go strange places to do dangerous things.

Re: Thinking by Posting: Post Apocalypse Seattle? Well it didn't used to be a drawbridge...

Re: Thinking by Posting: Post Apocalypse Seattle? Or people simply recognise how valuable staying awake can be in PA Seattle. The goddess' other name is "Cafeina" and her acolytes are detailed in the example adventure "Search for the Melita" in Authentic Thaumaturgy by Isaac Bonewits. At one stage one of the followers of the "Way of sweetness and light" is punished by a prohibition on milk and sugar for a week. Others follow the Left-out path.

Re: [Worst Ever...] Reasons to be a superhero It was this or stay home with the wives at night, so I became SUPERMORMON. The man with the world's easiest name to make fun of.

Re: Help Me Populate A Creepy Hotel Steven Duke, famous horror writer always comes here to compose the outline for his novels. Not the whole novel, just the outline. Every one of his books is dedicated to a hotel guest that disappeared or died mysteriously. Nothing bad ever happens to him in the hotel, regardless of whether he sleeps in normally dangerous rooms or does things that always preface bad things to others (e.g. orders room service after midnight when everyone else who does that gets _changed_). He buys drinks and food for guests and bribes the hotel staff to get information on some guests. Regulars know that giving this information is a sure sign you're going to die or disappear. Even his interest seems to be a bad omen. When asked what his connection is to the bad things he claims "I'm just an observer.".

Re: The Everquest Taunt

Re: Jedi Ghosts and fade-to-deaths? I never said there was. However many Senators opposed what was happening on Naboo, and they all had some capacity to send security forces. None of them could send anything like an army, but get 30 or 40 Senators to send some token force and you've got something that can put up resistence. The Jedi Council have been told that an actual invasion is happening by one of their most trusted subordinates, surely they can pull 30 Jedi (out of 2-3 thousand IIRC) off duties for a while. Viola, force that can take on, heck take out, the droid army. Problem solved. The Jedi had littel idea what "bringing balance to the force meant". We do because Luke did it by going psycho under the influence of Darth Sideous and then coming back. He dealt with his anger rather than simply suppressing it. That didn't restrict the number of Jedi, it just made them more capable of handling stress without going darkside. I doubt that Dooku had any idea that the Anakin or anything like he was coming. Nor do I see what he could have done to make such a complex choice more likely decades later.

Re: Jedi Ghosts and fade-to-deaths?

Re: Jedi Ghosts and fade-to-deaths? Sure they were running an organization, but it was one where agents pretty much acted on their own initiative for months on end. They knew that Anakin was something vital to their whole religion and philosophy, but there's no evidence that they considered what he meant for more than a day. They had years between the events of I and the outbreak of war, an outbreak their actions caused. Sure it was Obi-Wan's job to deal with his immature behavior, but he was showing signs of bad judgement that should have been noticed by anyone paying attention. Is it too much to ask that the Chosen One actually be observed by those he was chosen for?

Re: Jedi Ghosts and fade-to-deaths? But Anakin wasn't dangerous because he was trained, he was dangerous because he was the most powerful natural force user in the galaxy at the time (possibly surpassed by his son later on). If the Sith get a hold of him they've got the most powerful apprentice they could possibly have. Given that the Sith had a powerful intelligence network and knew where Anakin came from what's to stop them picking him off the street when he goes back to Tattonie? Not training Anakin is the coward's way out and the Council weren't even able to stick to that. They don't say what there plan is for Anakin absent training and so they have no better alternative to present to Qui Gon. Nothing the Council did in the prequels seemed to work. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan took action that was effective mainly because they didn't check in with the council before doing it. When Obi-Wan did check in the Council sent much of the Jedi order to get slaughtered saving two Jedis and an important senator. The senator was important because she was stopping the civil war. So what happens? The Council activates the army the Senator said (correctly) would start one. No doubt about it, they're clueless. Admittedly that's probably because Darth Sidious is messing with their heads. Still they were watching when Queen Amidala said "The Republic no longer functions.". She was clearly right, yet years later (after 4 attempts to achieve minimal justice over the invasion of Naboo) they still back the Republic unquestionably. Not even Obi-Wan said "Hey wait a minute, why are we being loyal to something that no longer stands for what we believe in.".

Re: Jedi Ghosts and fade-to-deaths? Yes because Qui Gon's decision to train Anakin Skywalker, and Obi Wan's decision to honour Qui Gon's decision, despite the Jedi Council forbidding it worked out so well for the Republic. It might have if the council had actually helped out with his training. Then again perhaps not, after all Yoda trained Doku. But at least Qui Gon was trying to do something about someone perhaps going to be the most powerful being in the galaxy. What were the council going to do, just leave him out there for the Sith to pick up? I mean we know the Sith know about him or soon will. So what's the plan for keeping him safe? Well nothing really. What's the plan for stopping the Sith turning him? Again, nothing really. Even when they make a decision they allow a comparatively junior Jedi effectively overrule it. So they get the worst of both world's, Anakin is trained enough to be dangerous and given a reason to distrust the Jedi council. There was fear in that council room, but it was the council's not Anakin's that was the problem.

Re: Quote of the Week from my gaming group... You know up until that last clause that sentence was a bad Dexter episode.