Dr. MID-Nite

" The monsters win again.... "

Ok...I'm not sure there's as many people as you thinking proclaiming "all cops are bad". What's bad is the entire system which policing is a part of. Our current socio economic system is flawed and until we fix that....not much is going to change.

Yes. Again....I have a general idea of what I want to happen, but I want their operational level tactics to make some kind of military sense.

Well...their objective is to conquer the entirety of our dimension.....starting with our planet.

Maybe folks are wising up after all? Maybe....? Please?

I'm running an invasion by Istvatha V'han. I know what I want their overall goal to be and even some of their immediate secondary goals, but I'm having a bit of trouble figure out how they are going to execute this invasion on an operational level. Are they just going to wipe out the military, occupy population centers, or what? I can't see resources being a big issue for them. My initial thoughts is that they're going to hit major population centers as a show of force, but probably not occupy them per se. Military targets would probably be mostly air bases. One thing I plan is that they're hitting the world's super prisons to try and recruit all the paranormals for the Imperial Legions. They'll also strike at any known PRIMUS or UNTIL bases as their tech level is closer to what the invaders are probably using. Any other thoughts?

My take is that Taipan on a personal level is still very powerful. Few villains have 12 SPD and he's almost untouchable if he wants to be. Omega level villains are stated to 'be able to take on entire hero teams" and Taipan is certainly capable of doing that (assuming none of them have mental powers).

This will blow over and we'll shove the issue under the rug until the next incident. I have little hope of any real change...certainly not in my lifetime. The socio economic system in place is just too entrenched at this point. America's issues are far FAR beyond police brutality and we all know it, but admitting those problems would be admitting that there's a problem at the very core of American society and it's clear enough that people aren't ready for that reality yet. It's sad really...

Keldorn for the win.

I've done all of the above with few issue. The way to make it work is to do your best to not make it feel arbitrary. Make sure there are strong story reasons for each scenario....and make sure players can still affect things. That is the point of the game after all. I had the "friend betrayed them" scenario and even though I initially wasn't planning on it, the players did such a good job talking to the former ally that he eventually reformed.

Shinichi Sekizawa, screenwriter for many of the classic Japanese monster films, born on this date (June 2nd) in 1921.

I wrote this on my FB page after somebody asked me my thoughts on the riots. I didn't even need to mention Trump.... SPOILER ALERT: This is a potentially socio-political post regarding the recent riots. If this offends you....well...you've been warned. This is also a very long post. I am a student of history. As such, it is inevitable that I place events like this in such a context and compare them to past events. By doing so we put them in a perspective that makes it easier to explain what is going on. 1) The riots aren't about another police murder. That was just the spark that set off the massive powder keg. That "keg" is the society that we've built. A society of exploitation, income disparity, and social injustice that has been around practically since the country's inception. How did we get there? Well.... 2) America doesn't fix problems; it hides them. America has at virtually all times in its history either denied problems or ignored them. It's practically a second job. We never even resolved the lingering issues from the Civil War for pity's sake. We won the military conflict, but we never solved the social issues that caused the war to begin with. We reconstructed the South physically when what we needed to do was reconstruct it socially. By not doing so we have perpetuated the inherent bigotry which still reigns over the nation. America is like a person with a deep knife wound which we've covered with a band aid. America goes....see...problem solved. The problem is the wound is still there...festering. If the wound starts to seep....we slap another band aid on it. We never treat the infection. Well...why haven't we fixed this yet? Well.... 3) America has evolved into a country not willing to make sacrifices. At this point, fixing our many problems (bigotry,vast income disparity, corrupt government, unviable political structures) would require a degree of sacrifice that most Americans aren't willing to make. Minorites don't want to...they're already suffering. White Americans don't want to...they're safely insulated against the worst abuses. The 1% certainly don't as they benefit from the current status quo. 4) " Well...violence isn't the right response." Indeed? Let's start with....the American Revolution. " Well....that's different. " Is it though? Apply some of the arguments against the riots into that context. " Well, those colonists are just making things worse...vandalizing property and such. I mean...if they'd just be patient and work with the system...things would.....eventually....get better. Really...they're just a bunch of criminals. They should be shot. " 5) The riots are happening because peaceful protests aren't working. The "Establishment" loves peaceful protests. They get to sit back and carry on business as usual. White Americans love them because there's no risk (also no reward...but hey...they don't need anything). " But...they really are just hurting their own communities...." Their "communities" are a social construct created by the society that continually oppresses them. They're not as attached to them as you might think. 6) The riots aren't about the act itself. Riots are a "lashing out". They're a way to make people see the pain they're feeling. They're born out of emotion and frustration. " Well...I still don't condone breaking the law. " 7) When that society treats you like animals on a continual basis, you feel less inclined to obey those laws. Again...the Revolution example...guess those upstart colonists should have just buckled down and worked with the system, eh? " So...you bring up the Revolution a lot. Do we need another one? " In a word...yes. American society needs to change or it will no longer be viable as a country. The changes needed are massive and to be honest...I have my doubts that they can be achieved without some sort of conflict. The political/social structures holding us back are just too entrenched to be removed by passive means. " Well....I don't like the sound of that. Any other way? " 9) Sure, but it may not be much better. Most significant change in America comes from catastrophe. That's why things never change after a mass shooting or a random minority murder. Too small scale...they don't affect enough people. Things that did create massive social change affected the entire country at once (The Great Depression). The riots right now are in medium scale. They could be a catalyst for change if they got worse, but I doubt that will happen. Instead, things will settle down until the next crisis. It's what we do. " You talk an awful lot about change. What changes do you mean? " 10) For starters... a) Bridging the social/economic gap in the country. b) The end of the two party political system. c) Money out of politics. Period. d) Focus on quality education for all. e) The end of absurd spending by the military/industrial complex. f) Owning up to our nation's failures unanimously and publicly and making sincere and legitimate attempts to fix them. The storming of the Bastille and the riots of St. Petersburg both led to significant social change. Our situation definitely parallels that of France and Russia before their respective revolutions in many ways. We need to decide how we want this to go down. We have a lot of history to draw from. Let's try to learn from it. Nuff said.

I plan to vote. My main gripe is that voting just doesn't seem to matter anymore. We're hand fed candidates that the 1% deem acceptable and then expected to be happy that we've gotten the "honor" to be part of the process. If it isn't plain by now how our current political system isn't working...I don't know what else to tell you.

In fairness, we're pretty young as a country. How many civil wars occurred in England, France and others over the years?

But the alternatives do nothing. And if the country is so screwed up that the thought of gun regulations threatens civil war....then maybe we ought to reexamine ourselves as a country. I've always said that America is the king of ignoring social problems. We sweep them under a rug and pretend that we've "taken care of them". America likes band aids that make them feel like they've accomplished something while in reality they've just hidden the problem. America has a knife wound and has had it for a very long time. We don't treat it or stitch it up or use antibiotics. If it starts to seep blood or otherwise be noticeably irritating, America slaps another band aid on it so that...once again...the problem is hidden. We've done that virtually our entire history. We haven't even solved the lingering problems from the Civil War for pity's sake. The point of my rant is that at some point we have to start treating these wounds...however painful and/or rancid they've become or we'll never heal. We've gotten to a point where any real positive social change will require some degree of sacrifice/pain. A consequence of us ignoring EVERYTHING for so long. I tire of our excuse to not fix anything being "it could be worse". That honestly is "appeasement" thinking and it didn't work back in the day either. Yes...it could be worse, but it could also be better....a LOT better. Let's go for that.

Why...because "Merica? I just mentioned Japan's gun laws...so regulation works. We just have to commit to it...and there lies the problem. We need to start making choices as to what kind of society we want to be.

The point is that firearms are too ready available for any uneducated scrub with low impulse control to acquire. It really doesn't matter if guns are an "inefficient" way to kill people. If some loon shoots me a half a dozen times for some perceived slight, I'm probably going to die. I'm not asking for an instant solution. I'm asking for some kind of damn progress. We should honestly use the same gun laws Japan does. You have to go through a lot of training to be allowed to own one along with having to physically show how and where it will be kept and provide a suitable reason why you need to own one. And they check up on you even after you've gotten the gun. And of course assault weapons are out of the question...as well they should be.

Not my intention...so apologies. I guess I just don't see the point of arguing severity of punishment when my contention is that as a country we don't punish at all. ""shrugs" Don't mind me though...I've gotten disgusted enough with the current state of affairs that most of my 'live and let live" vibes are gone.

Tolerating the intolerant doesn't make them more tolerant. It only lets intolerance spread faster. They're counting on the opinion above. It lets them thrive worry free as the rest of us won't "reduce ourselves to their level" until their numbers increase to the point where they're the majority. We have to start taking some kind of stand against all these extremist groups. Our passivity (which has really been going on since the end of the Civil War) has stunted our societal progress.

Both Baldur's Gate and the Icewind Dale games are superb....along with Planescape: Torment. Yes...they are dated, but they are still amazing games. Baldur's Gate 2 is a top 10 PC game of all time in my book.

I'm truly disgusted that Trump continues to basically be immune all political factors. He literally does and says anything and gets away with it. The fact that he is close to another 4 years in the White House is beyond mind boggling to me. He's had enough gaffes to destroy the careers of a hundred politicians and.....nothing happens. And white supremacy is in again....great. They've done such a great job of revisionist history that we now have debates over confederate flags. I am literally at my last straw. There is no good news on the horizon…..and never has it felt more powerless to be an average citizen in America. Sigh...….

Well...in theory...it does all of that.

I'm trying to simulate a character who can psychokinetically increase the mass of others. I thought about TK, but it seems clumsy and I'd need a very high STR on it to make it effective. I'm also thinking maybe Transform...if that's a legal use for that power. Thoughts here?

Akira Takarada, male lead of the original 1954 Godzilla (among many other films) born on this date in 1934.

Yes. My choice of words is perhaps a little too arbitrary. I'll be more thoughtful going forward. You do bring up the cause of my frustration though. I've been pushing for some progressive ideas my entire life and have seen instead mostly the opposite happen….which just enrages me.