I have the pleasure of playing in a Star Wars game, where I'm playing the Captain of a Correllian Corvette.

I have the pleasure of playing in a Star Wars game, where I'm playing the Captain of a Correllian Corvette. This is Star Wars World, by Andrew Medeiros. I've done some hacking -- and am continuing to do so! -- but this post is really about what you can do with the Officer playbook.

Running a large space should would be impossible in standard RPGs, and the closest in AW is the hard holder. Which is pretty close, except these people are employees rather than just residents.

That is, the character is like 60 years old and wealthy; owns a flying castle with dozens of employees, starfighters, and hundreds of droids. If that's not wealth, I don't know what is.

The Family
Its him and his wife (also a PC), they've been in the ship for over 40 years. They have 5 kids, and have adopted another 10 over the years. They consider every spacer to be like family.

This isn't my ideal future, but it is nice to play. Its very different from my normal characters; I'm not driving the character like a stolen car, nor is there a mechanical striving for power. Instead, there's a quiet enjoyment of the intimacy and life.

The Ship
We stole a CC 40 years ago, when the trade federation started turning Corellia into a fascist shit show.We've been pirates ever sense, raiding from the insured rich and keeping ourselves in the black.

Outfitted to have starfighters, because that makes it more awesome. A crew of about three dozen, ten troopers, and a dozen fighter pilots. Call it 60 people onboard.

On Wealth
Not only do these characters own a space ship, not only do they have like 60 employees, but they also help their crew and kids setup new lives for themselves. One runs a restaurant, one was the administrator of cloud city, and one we just setup as a pirate after a big score.

So, its like a less douchtacular version of Downton Abbey, but also with hyperdrive and guns.

I realized something recently: I have come full circle, and can now unironically enjoy things.

I realized something recently: I have come full circle, and can now unironically enjoy things.

In particular, TFA. I enjoy enjoying it. 

The first time, I whelped and cheered along with the crowd. The second time, the crowd didn't -- and I was muted, but still did so.

Because I enjoy doing so. It brings me happiness.

This is my unironic Star Wars enjoyment thread.

Comments on how great Star Wars is are ideal ("Han was all "never tell me the odds" then hyperspace jumped ONTO A PLANET! wow!") informed criticism are OK ("how could they hyperspace jump right into a planet?"), shitting on is not ("Its so STUPID that they hyperspace jumped right onto a planet!"). 

I'll mod as necessary.

Concept art by Jeff Carlisle for a YT-1300 freight pusher, something that's the ship's cargo mandibles might be...

Originally shared by Khairul Hisham

Concept art by Jeff Carlisle for a YT-1300 freight pusher, something that's the ship's cargo mandibles might be designed to do. (This concept - albeit text only - is now canon in The Force Awakens Incredible Cross Section book, btw.) Jeff posted this on his FB page.

Title

Originally shared by Rylee Blade

Dear Interwebs

Dear Interwebs,

Please convince me to go to Dearmation. I play a bunch of indie games and Larps. I've never been to New Jersey, and am slightly anxious about new crowds. A bunch of people I know go to Dreamation.

Get me past this hump, interwebs. You're my only hope.

Force Awakens: Things I need to say.

Force Awakens: Things I need to say.
Spoiler space.
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Don't get me wrong with the below: I enjoyed it. It did for me what the first nuTrek movie did; let me watch something in a universe I care deeply about, with a lot of wizardry. And, like that movie, was lacking something that I can't quite put my finger on.

I've been away from a keyboard for the last few days, and want to write up a few things I felt during the movie. These are the things that took me out of it:
1. The stormtrooper armor looks off somehow. Too shiney, maybe? 
2. Phasma does nothing except bow to death threats and be bureaucratic. Come on.
3. The only thing Han ever did well, he claims, is to be a smuggler. But, he's shitty at it. He's a fantastic commando. Is he lying to Leia, or to us?
4. How LONG have chewie and Han been together, and just now Han  tries out the crossbow?
5. Chewie seemed MUCH more lively than ever before. More feelings and deeper thoughts.
6. The initial TIE fighter escape sequence shows us more about the location of guns on a star destroyer than six movies put together. Given ISD2's have like 50 heavy ion cannons and 72 tie fighters why didn't they launch those?
7. When a stormtrooper escapes with the plans to the death star, I mean with the prisoner, USE THE POWELL DOCTRINE (overwhelming force). Don't send a couple of tie fighters, send a squadron. Don't send 10 stormtroopers, send 4,000.
8. Where did the star destroyer go when our heroes finally left tatooine I mean this new desert planet, and how come Han and Chewie were here? In all the outer rim, they were right HERE?
9. Going to hyperspace while parked? Yeah, right.
10. Han was all "Isn't there always a mcguffin? Hey, new Han, where's the mcguffin on this thing?", and new Han was all "the mcguffin is right here, but ."
11. I didn't care one lick about the X-wing attack on the super death star. I never got emotionally invested in those characters. Oh, what, the fighter pilot is still alive? that's nice, I guess. I'd forgotten he existed, as the REAL PCs were bonding. This seemed like a video game (there's nothing wrong with video games).
12. Perhaps most glaring, I was not emotionally invested in the super death star. Nor the billions of lives silenced. And I should have been. 
12a, really, we can see the hyperspace torpedo things from EVERYWHERE AT ONCE?
13. R2, really? Why'd you wake up, buddy? What impetus was there for that? Did you know BB8 had the map, or did you just want a stretch?

Those things interrupted my viewing pleasure. I'm sure there is explanation for them all, and they can all be explained away. The point is not that these are or are not objectively wrong, it is that they struck me DURING THE MOVIE as weird and brought me out of the fiction.

I have this idea. It might be shit, but I've got an hour in an airport.

I have this idea. It might be shit, but I've got an hour in an airport.

A star wars game, using apocalypse world. That's been done, and really well, in star wars world.

But, here's where I am: being strong or deep or whatever isn't what really matters in star wars. That is, conventional aw stats are not what push plot.

Instead, it's the feels. It's your relationships. So, what about a game where:
1. There are large scale organizations, similar to, but different from, factions in urban shadows. Playbooks are NOT directly affiliated with these, but they have starting stats and define your place in the world. At game start, decide on these as a table, and these become the major organizations that matter. Examples include the empire, jabbas gang, rebel alliance, etc. Shoot for one that's mostly political, one military, one thief, and one the force.
2. Have bonds with PCs&npcs. When these get high enough, reset and raise bonds with an organisation with which they affiliate.
3. For all rolls, roll +bond.
4. Use a corruption mechanic, with corruption for each playbook based on treating people like objects. When you would take a corruption advance and have more corruption advances than bonds, retire as a threat.
5. Make a let it out style move ala urban shadows.
6. The only stats are bonds.

These ideas are loose; I'm not sure if this would bring it the gameplay I want, which is to encourage love and connection. That is, Luke doesn't blast the death star because it's his job or because he's the ace; he attacks the death star because of love.

All of this.

All of this.

Originally shared by Heinz Kreienbaum

This sums it up pretty good. Thanks, Dirk Timm
http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20151221/#.VnfKzm563HQ.facebook

This may be spoiler:

This may be spoiler:
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I counted not less than three video games in force awakens.
There's the xwing game, the first person shooter and, my favorite, the fallout style rpg with light sabers.

And those were just the ones that took me out if the movie: the ones I realized during the film.

I don't know if this is good or ill. I don't play a lot of video games, so it's weird to me that I saw these so obviously.

Was I the only one? What did I miss?

That was very enjoyable, in part due to dressing like a Jedi and my six year old nephew dressed as Vader.

That was very enjoyable, in part due to dressing like a Jedi and my six year old nephew dressed as Vader.

Probably the best in theatre star wars experience I've had.

This use intended to be spoiler free. Please let me know if I messed up.

My reaction towards anything even maybe about The Force Awakens is to scroll it off the screen, then let my brain...

My reaction towards anything even maybe about The Force Awakens is to scroll it off the screen, then let my brain decide if it was real or not.

Part of this is me: I am becoming hyper conscious of spoilers and how much I want an unspoiled experience.

Luckily, I will be offline most of tomorrow. And then with family.

This is very peculiar to notice, as even a week ago I would have claimed not to care.

Like, I just considered blocking Tim Franzke . Because I am crazy.

So, tomorrow, no G+ for me. Notifications only.

There's a new Princess Bride movie premiering soon, yeah?

Originally shared by The Maaurovingian

There's a new Princess Bride movie premiering soon, yeah?

Via Kristin Moran​
#TPB

#WhyINeedFeminism

#WhyINeedFeminism

I've been told about this, I'm sure, for weeks. I'm friends with some of the women who work on it. I am lucky enough to game with Misha B in two different pbp games.

And yet, I didn't really consider putting money at it until a dude recommended it. Because, apparently, misogyny is in my head.

That's why we need feminist games: unconscious attitudes. Gaming can change our attitudes and make us more aware.

Give this thing your money, but don't do it because I posted about it. Do it because it's going to be awesome.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/feminism-a-nano-game-anthology#/
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/feminism-a-nano-game-anthology

This post is spoiler free. This post is about love.

This post is spoiler free. This post is about love.

I have always loved Star Wars. And, sometimes, I realize why.

Its not about laser swords or exploding planets. That's all distraction.

No, my love of Star Wars is of a series where love triumphs; where treating people as people, rather than commodities, wins.

I could tell you there are 37,085 crew onboard an ISD-2, or that it is 1.6 kilometers long and carries 60 heavy turoblasers and 72 TIE starcraft. And those numbers illustrate something: those people aren't important. The system (the Empire) treats them as nothing more than disposable cogs, and they become so.

And, sure, its neat that there's always a bigger ship: The Tantive IV with its 11 engines is dwarfed by Vader's ISD, and Vader's ISD is dwarfed by the Death Star.

And, well, who flies to the Death Star? A bunch of professionals, and three kids -- Luke, Wedge and Biggs., These three come the closest to destroying it, because they trust and love each other. Gold Leader falls and dies early; he was following the rules and made himself a part of the system.

Systems, Star Wars teaches, chews up people.

Meanwhile, Wedge, Biggs, and Luke take a run at the Death Star. Not because its their job, not because they are forced to. They do it because they love each other, and will support each other. When Biggs falls and Wedge is out of position, Luke is alone.

For a moment, it looks like Luke will die. The Empire will win, the system will destroy more planets. Leia and Nadine will fall to the Death Star.

And in that moment, love shows its head again: Han and Chewie fly in at the last moment, and blast Vader's TIE. The unconditional love showed to them is returned, and they are redeemed.

Love not only triumphs, it redeems. That is why my love of Star Wars is so long lasting.

You guys, I am a dork

You guys, I am a dork

For reasons of an RPG where such things do not matter, I wanted to find the interior space of a Correllian Corvetter. This is Leia's starship in the opening of Star Wars.

My initial attempt was knowing silly: Length times width times depth, assuming the ship is a solid object. That's 150 meters by 45 meters, by 32 meters. Or 216,000 cubic meters.

But, you guys, we're in the golden age of models. Fantasy Flight has both Armada and X-wing, and both have a Correllian Corvette.

Because this is a $10 project and not a $60 project, I get the one from Armada. It arrived tonight.

The model is so small I have difficulty measuring it. It is just 55 mm long! I think its displacement is 2.5 mL, but I'm really not sure. The resolution on my tools is too small to have a really accurate measurement.

If both those two things are right, then Leia's ship has an interior space of approx 50,000 cubic meters. I can say with some reasonable degree of belief that it is between 40,000 and 60,000 cubic meters.

This has been your math nerdery for the day.

#PostYourFavoriteStarWarsCharacters

#PostYourFavoriteStarWarsCharacters

In a fiction-first Star Wars RPG, a Correllian Corvette is a major plot point.

In a fiction-first Star Wars RPG, a Correllian Corvette is a major plot point. It is owned by my PC and his PC wife, and they use it for piracy. Because corvettes are cool.

And because obsession is built in to my brain, I've been trying to figure out the interior space. I've read woookipedia about a million times (seriously, google now says "you have visited this page many times"), and I haven't yet figured out a good answer for the interior space.

And I want one. This isn't important to anything in-system, but my brain wants to know.

I've got a friend who plays both Armada and X-wing. He's about done with Armada, and has three corvettes.

If I know the length and displacement of the model, I can scale up. That should (if i can math, and math pretty hard) give me the displacement of the CC, based on its length.

The naive way to do this sounds impressively wrong: find the ratio between length and displacement in the model, and multiple that by the length of the CC.

That sounds wrong, as displacement scales with the cube of length of the model.

Time to math up the right way to do this. Hooray math!

Today on the street, I saw a dude using his girlfriend's dress to clean his glasses. Her dress, his glasses.

Today on the street, I saw a dude using his girlfriend's dress to clean his glasses. Her dress, his glasses.

As we passed, I pulled out a microfiber cloth. I always have these in my pocket., and have dozens thanks to Dianne Harris.

I hand it to him, and keep walking. He's surprised and happy and, at her insistence, asks if I need it back. The "Its yours" is met rather well.

So, morale of the story? Buy microfiber glasses cleaners, and many times many of them. Always useful.

Thins?

Thins?

It is amazing how the effects of acetaminophen are consistently downplayed, while the risks with ibuprofen are...

It is amazing how the effects of acetaminophen are consistently downplayed, while the risks with ibuprofen are consistently exaggerated.

That's some good marketing, and it kills a lot of people. Especially kids.

I am apparently hacking together Star Wars World, Worlds in Peril, and now bits of Urban Shadows.

I am apparently hacking together Star Wars World, Worlds in Peril, and now bits of Urban Shadows. Is there something wrong with me?

In Star Wars world last night: The Guardian was nearly seduced by the dark side.

In Star Wars world last night: The Guardian was nearly seduced by the dark side. She was having a force vision where she thought her friend the Sentinel was a Sith apprentice, and the mirage only faded after she severed the Sentinel's arm and leg.

I got to say: She knows what you've done. They will punish you. Strike her down and there will be no witnesses. You will remain victorious.

I was a little proud of that.

Today's cocktail to fake functionality: 2 ibuprofen, 1 pseudoephed, 1 mucinex DM.

Today's cocktail to fake functionality: 2 ibuprofen, 1 pseudoephed, 1 mucinex DM.
Last night's cocktail to allow sleep: 3 ibuprofen, 2 bennadryl, 1 mucinex DM.

I think of the first as DayQuill that actually works, and the second as NyQuill that won't kill you.

Yo, is this racist?

Yo, is this racist?
http://www.amazon.com/Chia-Obama-Handmade-Decorative-Determined/dp/B001PKU28E