SSgt Baloo

Re: Evil War isn't going to wage itself, ya know!

Re: Evil I didn't join to enrich myself, but to serve my country, learn a trade, and have an income (I joined in 1980, during a lesser recession). You've never heard the chorus of You're in the Army Now? You're in the Army, now! You're not behind the plow. You'll never get rich, You Son-of-a-bitch, You're in the army now! In other words, I didn't join the military so I could kill, loot and pillage. Also, what I did in the military wasn't my own idea, but whatever the chain of command sent down. A soldier acts as the physical manifestation of his country's will as directed by the officers appointed over him, should push come to shove as it sometimes does.

Re: Creepy Pics. The origin of the saying?

Re: Evil Stated better than I could without pondering the matter for considerably longer than I did. Somebody rep this guy for me, huh?

Re: Evil I think what he's saying is that people with a different religion from the one with angels would view them as evil, regardless of their appearance.

Re: Evil The soldier in the field is not enacting his own plans for his own enrichment, but those of his nation, as given to him through his chain of command. Would you argue that war is not evil? It's just that sometimes it presents a lesser evil than the alternative (and sometimes it just seems to).

Re: What Have You Watched Recently? Grimm and the season opener of Once Upon a Time.

Re: A Thread for Random Videos

Re: A Thread for Random Videos Tastes vary. Link to example: Moxie

Re: [New Product] Champions Complete I had too much experience waiting for vaporware back in the day to want to see DOJ suffer the ravages of too much advance hype and too little product to show for it.

Re: Attractiveness - Comeliness Vs. Striking Appearance Unlike chess, an RPG is not a cool, emotionless game with little emotional investment beyond the desire to win and avoid losing. RPGs are unlike a lot of games, in that it directly engages the players emotionally. This means that when the GM does something clumsily, it does not simply injure the PC but, because of the emotional weight invested in the character, the player himself is vulnerable to unintended side effects the NPCs should not. Take care when pushing your players' buttons, as you may be unintentionally pushing theirs in the process. As a person with mental issues, I can relate to the possibility that some of the reason players don't like to be told how their players feel outside of Mind Control is that GMs can be pretty clumsy (and lazy) when waging "social combat" against the players. Sometimes the situations might be upsetting to the player for reasons he can't quite explain until he's had time to think them over. This does not sound like "fun enhancement" to me, but lazy GM-ing in that the GM has no respect for the fact that other folks have different curbs that they trip over from yours, and don't appreciate when you throw such a curb in their path even though you might be completely unaware that this is what just happened. GMs and players should have respect for one another that exceeds their respect for the rules so they can find acceptable workarounds for problems like this rahter than just saying "the rules make it so so shut up and play!"

Re: The cranky thread They do, but there are many who's only exposure to literature is watching the movie based (loosely) on the book. You should view this as an opportunity to let them know about the written form, just in case they're interested.

Re: A Thread for Random Videos Oh. And this: http://youtu.be/0e2ZsFBoZoY ETA: I watched the whole thing and recognized every show or commercial fragment in it.

Re: A Thread for Random Videos Probably for the same reason I do. BTW, congratulations! You actually found one I've never heard of. Why yes, I do have square eyes. How did you guess?

Re: Clothes only TK

Re: Foods for those that just don't care anymore My fave traditional chile recipe (meat and chiles, all other ingredients optional) starts with (a suitable quantity of) ground beef and canned, diced green Ortega chiles, canned tomato sauce, canned tomato paste, Mexican-styled canned stewed tomatoes* and a cooking container suitable for stovetop and oven. Brown the meat, add the other ingredients and then bake it covered at 200 degrees for an hour or so. Check on it periodically. Good either as a thick stew (add a roux of flour mixed with butter or oil until it's a stiff paste - a piece the size of a hazelnut to the size of a walnut is necessary for the 4 quart amounts I used to cook, but YMMV, People also traditionally add cornmeal to thicken the gravy. If you're from Texas**, and anyone is watching, you serve beans on the side, to be added by the guests per their tastes. Everyone else either adds beans or not, depending upon what it would be used for; bean-less for chili dogs, chili burgers and other hand foods, beans for everything else. I like to use onion, garlic, basil and oregano to season with, but use what you like. *One can of each. If you need more use more in similar quantities, keeping in mind that your own tastes should dictate what you want more or less of. **Uncertain veracity. It was told to me by a Texan.

Re: Attractiveness - Comeliness Vs. Striking Appearance I always sprinkle a few color elements around to obscure occasions like the spy example above. The heroes occasionally chat with their friendly/annoying neighbor in the elevator, meet the kids in their neighborhood/where they patrol, encounter celebrities by sheer coincidence, etc. Very few of these should ever be the result of nefarious workings, unless you are intentionally stoking the fires of your players' paranoia (in which case, carry on). If your players are accustomed to these light bits that give them a window on the world they occupy and some of the bit players in it, when you really do need Doctor Unsanitary to disguise himself as Little Timmy to charm Lassie into giving away all her secrets ("Woof! Woof!) you can, but I wouldn't overuse it.

Re: Fantasy Race Bloat? Sounds like fun. I wish I lived closer.

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares Scooby-Doo and the Cabin in the Woods

Re: Fantasy Race Bloat?

Re: Fantasy Race Bloat? I think The Main Man has a point. It really depends upon the setting. If I'm running a modern spies game set on contemporary Earth, anyone comes up to me and wants to play a Drow will get his face laughed in. How many elves has 007 run into? Ever. On the other hand, if I'm doing modern fantasy (or everyone thinks 007 is getting stale so suddenly: MAGIC!!!*), and weird stuff is happening everywhere, then who knows, so long as it doesn't break the setting? * or, if you prefer, SCIENCE!!!

Re: Silver Age Champions playtest begins!

Re: Genre-crossover nightmares Two idiot friends die and go to hell in: Damn and Damner

Re: Silver Age Champions playtest begins! I always wanted to document games by drawing the session as a comic, but that sort of art isn't my area of expertise.

Re: Fantasy Race Bloat? You do, with races in your fantasy worlds, like I did with superhero origins in my supers campaigns. If it could be edited to fit the setting and won't upset game balance, almost any concept will be allowed in.