RDU Neil

So, supposedly, depending on whatever retcon you want to follow, Thanos and the others from Titan ARE Eternals... they are offshoots of the original Eternals that were created by the Celestials. The Titanians and Uranians were colonies of Eternals who'd left Earth. So, essentially, that means that Thanos is of "earthly origins" as well... (which is the classic "In all the wide universe, everything still centers around the Earth" kind of thing, which I always hated, but whatever...) So if Marvel is headed into the cosmic realm for Phase 4 and beyond (indications are...) then Eternals and Thanos play a big deal there.

Well, with DC greenlighting the New Gods, I'm not surprised Marvel would go with the Jack Kirby knock-off of his own creative work. And for all my years of comic reading, I never really have grokked the Inhumans/Eternals connection and/or lack thereof. Something about the Kree running into the Eternals and that giving them the idea of experimenting and creating the Inhumans... gah.

"The Town" is my favorite Affleck film, but "Argo" is a close second.

So I got the notification that you reacted to my post, but when I get to the post, it shows me nothing. Seems endemic to the new setup. I'm assuming YOU can see that you liked my post, but I can't.

I do think this is just a programming thing. While I can't buy 10 resistant defenses and only harden 5 of it. I can buy 5 resistant defenses and harden it. Then but five MORE resistant defenses separately, and not harden it. I think the rule was to stop someone from paying for only 1 point of hardened defenses, but effectively hardening all the rest of their defenses bought separately. Since I play AP as simply subtracting body from the defenses, then this isn't a problem, because only the 1 pt would defend and the other resistant defenses would still be reduced. In the "halving your defenses" concept, it was a very cheap way to essentially stop AP fully, by only paying the bare minimum amount for hardened. I still think it is very easy to rule that, in my example... the first five points of defense are NOT cut in half, but the second five points are. etc.

I'm not seeing new ones. I got a notification of a reaction, click through to it, and I see nothing on that post. Has happened several times, and old posts that I know were liked, even recently, show nothing. (I'm going to like your post above. Let me know if you can see it.) At least it isn't just me, though. Thanks.

So, maybe I'm just confused, but since the updates to the site, I can no longer see any "likes" or "laughing" or "thanks" on any posts. I can still GIVE likes, and I get notified if someone reacts to a post, but I can't see any reactions on my posts. Is it just me, or do I have a weird setting now that I need to change? Thanks!

Precise Autofire I see as really good. You can only hit once, but spend rounds to get better chance to hit once. These are good, and basically ones I'm using, but nice to have some "official" versions. Thanks!

Several years ago, when my engagement became "Facebook official" I started getting ads for "Get your Ketubah Here!" in my feeds. I had no idea what that was. I looked it up. So... I learned about a cultural practice I never would have before, but I always wondered what part of online history made the algorithm think I was Jewish. (And it wasn't like one ad... it was a string of them, for weeks.) I'm sure they are better these days at profiling... but then I'm off most social media that, well, isn't this site.

I have seen it... but it took a long time, and the players had to learn that they were very powerful, and that they didn't get punished for holding back... nor did they get punished for cutting loose when the situation called for it. One thing I always try to emphasize with supers games is just that... the characters are super... and they should get the chance to feel that way. Maybe a group of heavily armed thugs were a challenge when first starting out... but later, the same situation is a piece of cake. Unlike D&D where all the creatures have to level up to the PCs... I love situations where experienced supers run up against thugs or lesser villains and just easily trounce them... because they should. The game aspect of 'every scenario has to level up to the PCs' concept... that isn't ROLE playing, IMO. Powerful heroes should get the chance to show how powerful they are... often by getting to hold-back and be confident and competent... but this requires the PLAYERS to feel that way, and not like everything is a "gotcha moment." Got to get rid of the GM vs. player mentality to let the PLAYERS feel confident and cool. And it is important to realize the mentality of players who DO NOT know what is going on in the GM's head, and some of them never really learn to trust. I had one long term player who's character was one of the big three, and on track to become an immortal, godlike, and he NEVER felt confident going into battle. Not the character, but the player, because he was so used to every other game being "screw the player" by the GM. One time, he said, "I always feel threatened. I wish we had some easy fights." I looked at him and said, "Just this evening, you took on a small army of 350 pt cyborg-killing machines. You one shotted several of them and literally out raced the rest, leaving them stranded behind and unable to stop you, practically ignoring them on the way to the big bad. Each one of those was a lesser supervillain, and you destroyed them!" "OH," he said, looking surprised. "But the way you described them... they were so scary!" Seriously. After that, I made it a point to explain exactly what kind of threat and really emphasize where the PCs were more powerful, less powerful, etc., for every adventure. It became abundantly clear that having a meta-conversation about the game and their perceptions of it was absolutely essential for them to feel comfortable in the world, and this lead to much more confident role playing as well. You have to address the PLAYER mentality... not the characters.

"I guess the guy is a war criminal now or something... whatever..." Classic.

Finished the final episode of Season 1 of "Counterpart" last night. New series on Starz, last episode aired yesterday. A very solid character drama / spy thriller / science fiction piece starring the inimitable JK Simmons. Highly recommended. Now for the long sad wait for Season 2.

I will check it out. Thanks!

Watched Coco on Friday night as well. Quite enjoyed it.

Absolutely. It has been a long time since I game regularly, every week, usually the GM... and only in the past three or four months have I begun doing it again. I got back into it after several years of none, or just a once-in-a-while thing. I love the experience of a good game, usually a one shot at a Con, etc., but I struggle with always having long, complex campaigns in my head that I want to play... but that is what stresses me out. Having this constant creative drive, but also pressure, to come up with the next adventure, write up everything that is going on, have the complex levels of NPCs and politics and relations and backgrounds all in place, etc. It is stressful, and hard to do as I'm older and have less energy and real life takes up more time. It is about being honest and just stepping back. I find that doing one-shots, different games, systems, just having fun with it really helps... and getting away from the long campaign stuff is best... but again, YMMV.

we did the same thing. Stripped to the waist, we each took markers, and went at it. We were all horribly mutilated after a just a few flurries. Most of the fights were "won" by the person who was able to take the cuts in less lethal areas, but delivered the first cuts to abdomen, throat, etc. There is a reason you pick up a chair and keep that maniac with a knife at bay, no matter how good you are at hand to hand.

Yep. If they go with #3... then I will likely be done with the Marvel movies. They need to continue their "world" effectively... and when needed... end the entire MCU. Then if they want to create another for the next generation of movie goers, have at them. IMO, I believe Feige thinks this way. He'll bring "his" MCU to a close... then Disney can trash the brand going forward if they want, but it will have been done right at least once. i.e. your #2 above. That's my hope, anyway.

Yeah, he has a relatively slim bibliography, compared to some in that generation. I wonder if he was "slow" in terms of keeping up with a monthly book? He has tended to be a cover artist more often than not, over the years. He's also not big into going to Conventions, which makes me like him even more, except that I'd really like to have him sign my Micronauts and let me fan-boy over him a little bit.

On a less visceral, but none-the-less important issue... https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/29/donald-trump-amazon-attack-twitter-jeff-bezos?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Opinion+US+-+collections+2018&utm_term=269501&subid=24646434&CMP=ema_opinion_us I hate it when I find myself agreeing with the beast, but sometimes his bile and ire and pointed in the right direction.

hah! That's certainly one way to look at it.

Here is a Michael Golden print from 2007, but it captures the '80s style I loved so much.

Michael Golden was the original artist on Micronauts, and his art had this uniquely organic curvature and design that was very cartoony from an objective perspective, but used the over exaggeration to convey amazing action and drama. Amazing artist. He also did the original 'Nam run and was the artist on the famous Avengers Annual #10 that introduced Rogue. One of my favorites of the '80s, next to Gene Day's run on Master of Kung-Fu.

Good to know! I used to use the old Strike Force supplement as an "alternate Earth" characters from my world would interact with, from time to time. Sounds like the added material would be really helpful if I was to revisit that. Thanks!

So, I've got the original Strike Force, but I was wondering what was new in the 6th ED version, besides updated character builds? Anything particular content added from the original? What is the art like? Thanks!

I did find a couple nice ones... thanks all for the links and info!