SSgt Baloo

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? On different Momdays this week, I watched "Shy Guy". We also watched A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Here comes Santa Claus!

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares The Rocky and Bullwinkle Horror Picture Show

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares The Sound of Mutants a.k.a. ​X-Men: The Musical!

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares That Girl from U.N.C.L.E.

Re: The cranky thread I couldn't gripe about my computer eating a hard drive back in early autumn until I got it back from the shop. I guess this is post-griping, except I got the @#$% thing back yesterday and I'm still installing Sims3 expansion packs. Having lost one disk, I have to download it from Origin, which started this morning about 11:00 and is still less than halfway downloaded. At least I remembered to install Norton Antivirus before going back online.

Re: Foods for those that just don't care anymore

I just had an idea.* A typical bank in campaign city suddenly has a group of men dressed as gangsters appear right inside the building and rob the place. Their first guy in appears where the security guard can see him. The next right behind the guard while he's focused on guy one with predictable results (otherwise the PCs might not have to intervene). Before police can effectively respond, they gather their loot and, one-by-one, vanish where they stand, making a clean getaway. Never mind what happens when the good-guys get there, but rather, how would you model these guys? My first idea was that the leader of the group made teleportation/communication devices he could control remotely. His agents (the "Flash Mob") conceal these devices on their persons. The leader monitors their situation by secure radio (mind link to "x" many minds, IIF: earbud? Ordinary-seeming wristwatch?) and teleports them where they need to be in a specific order so each arrives on the scene ready to support the next. When the job is done his (at least, initially) untraceable teleporter technology whisks them back to the secret base so they can divvy the loot and get medical treatment. See? That Evil Doctor School payed off! How might you do such a group? * No, it isn't beginner's luck!

Re: And now, for your daily dose of cute... [ATTACH=CONFIG]44920[/ATTACH]

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? This rather depressing bit about the (intentionally) hidden effects of Social Darwinism: http://youtu.be/-eX5T68TQIo

Re: The cranky thread I think I read something about that on my Facebook page.

Re: A Thread for Random Videos I believe the guy must've heard the joke and thought it was a brilliant idea.

Re: A Thread for Random Videos I once met a guy who seriously believed that the Grand Canyon was just a big hole in the ground, perfectly suited as a garbage dump, because "it's so huge it would take forever to fill up." At first I thought he was high or crazy, but apparently he was just an stupid.

Re: Attractiveness - Comeliness Vs. Striking Appearance I really think the bone of contention lies in the two extremes: The GM insisting that the players do something boneheaded not because they're stupid but because the story "needs" to unfold this way and he has not stopped to consider the methods he is using to get the outcome he wants.* OR The players insist that their "Kender" with 5 PRE is brave enough to sneak up on a Demon in combat, and should not become terrified and flee, or at least realize he's been spotted and run for cover when the Demon realizes the fighter is shouting combat suggestions to someone behind him.* *or some similar situation.

Re: The cranky thread It sucks when a pet dies.

Re: Quote of the Week From My Life. Kansas: America's billiard table.

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? Mars Needs Moms (better than expected) and Hocus-Pocus.

Re: The cranky thread I'd say something witty, but at my current state of decrepitude, I am not in a position to throw stones!

Re: A DC Animated-style HeroMachine She looks like a dominatrix.

Re: Evil People will overtly agree to a lot of things they don't believe if their life is in the balance, Some will convert in the way Americans often select "Christian" as their faith, because "that's what all the cool kids are doing". Declaring loyalty to a religion and actually believing in it are two different things, especially in the face of pressure to join the group (especially if the pressure is "join or die!"). Note that even in the US, where people overwhelmingly identify as Christian, you see a lot of people claiming to be Christian while extolling "virtues" Jesus would not have approved. A forced conversion is unlikely to begin as a genuine change-of-heart and is more likely a desperation move to save one's life. You can't coerce faith, only compliance to an overt standard of behavior.

Re: A Thread for Random Videos The above song was popular when I was stationed in Germany in 1981-82. The following was an attempt by Hannah-Barbera to capitalize on the popularity of shows like All in the Family. http://youtu.be/_etnosqOFu4

Re: Fantasy Race Bloat? I believe what is at issue here is not how many races (however you define them) will 'fit' in your campaign before it breaks", but whether it's a problem for you when a player brings in a 'new' race that you don't already have in the campaign. As I've said before, this really isn't a problem if your setting includes (or allows) any prospective "new" race they propose to bring in, but what about the low-fantasy campaign where that sort of non-human just doesn't exist and non-humans are viewed with awe and fear because of their mysterious powers?

Re: Fantasy Race Bloat? Perhaps the problem isn't race bloat but people who insist on running character types that are inappropriate to the setting?

Re: 13 Things learned about supers gaming Click on the word: "blog" in the first sentence. I can't always tell the difference between dark blue (the link color) and black against a white background at first glance either.

Re: Creepy Pics. Found a reference at the Urban Dictionary entry for ->"blowing smoke up my [fundament]"<-

Re: Evil Convincing someone of the rightness of one's cause is rarely brought about by violent action -- it's called coercion, and most folks rightly resent it. The "angels" could be so powerful that no-one can resist them. Still, the only thing they can truly convince nonbelievers of is that they are extraordinarily powerful and cannot be openly opposed. The opposition will then break down into two or more factions, the main two of which constitute the capitulators; not so much "they must be right" as "We can't keep this up" and so they convert with varying degrees of conviction. As did many Jews during the Spanish Inquisition. The other significant group affected is the people who believe that their faith is true (overwhelming force does not negate many teachings, regardless of who claims to wield it). Many of these will continue in their old religion, only covertly, as happened with some of the Jews during the Spanish Inquisition. It depends upon the tenets of the religions in question, their basic assumptions, and the degree of not just belief, but a deeper understanding of one's own inner self and a better understanding of others' possible inner workings. If one's doctrines include not only the existence of supernatural beings that can be either good and evil, the one that comes to conquer your people isn't the good kind. If the good kind don't immediately come to your rescue, perhaps it is your fate to live in subjugation for a time. Make the best of it. Force alone can't dictate religious belief, it can only coerce unbelievers into learning the moves. People can be extraordinarily loyal to principles they hold dear in the face of opposition, or have you never heard of the concept of the martyr?