Monsterhearts 2

Monsterhearts 2

My god. Someday, I would like to have a smidgen of Avery's abilities, including
-- game design (obvious)
-- writing clarity (omg)
-- loving attention to the emotions and needs of other people (as evidenced by writing)
-- ability to craft a metaphor

I actually read through this like a novel. The diction is beautifully well chosen, the sentences never more complicated than they need to be. The cautionary signs, both for possible system hackers and for players and MCs, are phrased just so.

Delightful. And fraught.

Larp Day, Summer 2017

Larp Day, Summer 2017

We had an inagural Larp Day, which we hope to make a quarterly event. At any time, we had ten people or less, which was great.

We got to play:
-- Ghost Court. Judge Judy, but for ghosts.

-- Unheroes. We had a really fantastic run of this, where we were absolutely the cause of all problems. In Unheroes, you play as former superheroes who, to save the world, had to completely erase super powers. We decided this was caused by a virus and we never could quite eliminate it... without also eliminating most of humanity ... until we got rid of all powers and therefore, the virus.

-- The Forgotten. We played as a group of survivors in a war, right. We decided to make The War be in the US, with the Orange Pumpkin fighting The Resistance fighting the Christian Bigot. It was ... maybe a little close to home.

One thing that I'd never witnessed in The Forgotten that occurred this time ... Our Chef/Quartermaster had gradually increasing levels of control, towards the end deciding who would go out into danger and who woulds stay in safety. He hoarded food, used deprivation as punishment, favored his family, etc.

When my character point this out, he didn't let me eat and sent me out to risk my life for food and supplies for the group. When I complained, someone else yelled at me about not upsetting the way things work.

That is, a hierarchy and status quo emerged and anyone who questioned it was punished. During the debrief, I asked and it was intentional by the player. Other folks noticed it a little, or not at all.

This was glorious. That is all.

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins 2nd Edition by James Iles

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins 2nd Edition by James Iles

... is tremendously good.

I spent some time this morning reading through the playbooks. Can't claim to understand everything yet, but the scope of moves, the world-building inherent in playbook (and family) selection, and the naming harm boxes differently for each playbook all struck me as really top notch.

Predictably, my space pirates and pbta traveller experiments are colliding in a hopefully delightful way.

Predictably, my space pirates and pbta traveller experiments are colliding in a hopefully delightful way.

As much as I adore the random character creation of traveller, I want a play experience that is more directed than that. That is, I want the conversation to be more narrow in focus.

Desire: a tramp freighter with a dozen or so crew. Ultimately, I want the crew to decide who is the Captain. I'll use hard moves and crap for the crew's loyalties to shift, both to other PCs and to NPCs.

I'm developing what I'd suggested a few days ago, where I'll start by asking who is the Captain by proclamation of the crew. Then I'll ask why: controlling violence, keeping folks fed, legitimacy, or dealing with emotional needs. That'll map to playbooks (and I'd love to see which ones you think that is).

Do a thing for security, and for living for chaos. These also map to specific playbooks.

Lastly, ask who is another person to crew adore. That person gets the same list of playbooks as the Cap, without the one the Cap choose, of course.

If more than 4 PCs, then a group of other possibilities, namely Driver, Skinner, Angel, Savvyhead.

I'll need to do a bit of modification to each playbook. In particular, I want the same NPCs to be listed for the Cap and the XO -- these are both describing the crew, and it automatically builds a PC-NPC-PC triangle, though hopefully one that doesn't cause terror.

And make the descriptive tags on the playbooks sound like they belong on a tramp freighter. Maybe even have a thing about terms of service and ending rank. Maybe. It'd be a serious nod to Traveller.

I'm considering having the stats map directly to stats for the ship, but I'm still wondering about that.

I think this could wind up with something more than mildly playable, but, as I am relearning in recent weeks, that depends so so heavily on the table.

I once saw a prompt for Apocalypse World that went like this ...

I once saw a prompt for Apocalypse World that went like this ...
MC: OK, whose in charge?
Player 1: Me!
MC: Great. Is it because you've got the baddest gang (Chopper), run a small town (Hardholder), or have a cult (Hocus?)
Player 1: Uh.... gang?
MC: Great. Here's the chopper. Whose Player 1's XO?
Player 2: Me!
MC: Great, here's the gunlugger. Who wants to ruin player 1's position?
Player 3: Me!
MC: Great, here's the battlebabe.

This is not how I normally set things up, but I wonder ...

MC: OK, whose the Captain?
Player 1: Me!
MC: Great. Is it because you know when to bring violence (chopper), bring an end to material want (Maestro), or can see into the aether (Hocus)?
Player 1: Uh... Dude, I run a restaurant on a spaceship. Gimme!
MC: Great, here's the Maestro. Who maintains security?
Player 2: Me!
MC: Fantastic. Here's the gunlugger. Who ...

etc. Setup everyone's roles on a spaceship and use that to hand out character sheets.

What happens if I do that?

Hard to be a merchant Captain with a ship:

Hard to be a merchant Captain with a ship:

Merchant Senior Captain Haruto Shin C97C59 Age 42
6 terms Cr80,000

Skills: Broadsword-3, Jack-o-T-2, Laser Carbine-3, Pilot-1, Steward-1

Benefits: 6,000/yr Retirement Pay, Broadsword, Free Trader (new with a 40 year mortgage)

Service History:
Number of resets 323
Rolled attributes: 8A9B49


That's 323 attempts! Still, highest ranking merchant Captain there is. And why does a merchant Cap need all that broadsword and laser carbine? What sort of ship are you running?

".... You likely won’t get Trump to stop being terrible. But you can look in the mirror and be better. ... "

".... You likely won’t get Trump to stop being terrible. But you can look in the mirror and be better. ... "

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Originally shared by ****
https://medium.com/@callmethey/to-the-cis-person-angrily-sharing-news-of-the-trump-transgender-military-ban-441862263bd8

On moderation

On moderation

Socrates describes a virtue as the mean between two vices.

This is what we may call a moderate. This is what folk are alluding to when they describe themselves as politically moderate, though most people who do so lack the cultural or historical competency to know this is to what they refer. As this notion of "moderate" changes and becomes more conservative, it's that the overton window is changing and become, well, evil.

So, I'm taking back the word. When I am virtuous, I am by definition a moderate.

Here are some positions of mine that I view as incredibly moderate, and the opposite ends:
Moderate position: Health Care For All!
Vice: Health care only for the rich!
Vice: Health care in exchange for work!

Moderate position: All citizens over 18 can vote! Once per election!
Vice: Children, resident aliens, undocumented aliens can all vote. multiple times.
Vice: Only white white men can vote.

Moderate position: Anybody can join the military!
Vice: Who needs a military?
Vice: Only white christian men can join the military.

Moderate position: Trump has taken extra-legal steps that are at least problematic.
Vice: Trump is in violation of the constitution and should be removed from 1600 Penn immediately and without due process.
Vice: MAGA

See? In every possible position, the one I hold as true is the mean between two vices.

What are some others?

A week or so ago, I asked:

A week or so ago, I asked:
What is necessary and appropriate to hack apocalypse world into a game wherein the characters are friends, and go on adventures together?

Vincent Baker was the first to respond, with his usual minimal style:
1. Shared xp.
2. Collaboration moves, not seduce & manipulate and help or interfere.
3. GM prep that doesn't create pc-npc-pc triangles.

Jason D'Angelo took this and ran with it. Which was useful to me, as I'd not had the brainjuice to really understand what Vincent was saying. I've had a weird week, and Jason is doing this really fantastic read-through of Apocalypse World. I highly recommend it.

Yesterday, I started writing and thinking. These are notes, but here's what I'm thinking.

1. Shared xp
-- Dungeon World does something really similar to this with the end-of-session questions. I think I'll incorporate that, and change Hx to not revolve -- so more like bonds. Possibly also spendable like Debts from US or Camaraderie from The Watch, but then I need a mechanic to gain more. I'll table that for a second.

2. Collaboration moves, not seduce & manipulate and help or interfere.
Here's a move:
When you escalate a problem to the Captain that's within her domain, roll +Hx. She knows just how to solve it, and on a 10+, you choose 3. On a 7-9, Cap chooses 2. On a 6-, Cap chooses 1:
-- Your Hx + 1 with the Captain.
-- Cap Hx + 1 with you.
-- The Cap gets personally involved.
-- You learn about the underlying issues the Cap solves. Mark xp.

This also builds into the system a couple of notions: 1. There's a status quo of whose in charge, 2. Whoever is in charge can actually solve problem, 3. When you bring a problem to that PC, you risk losing some degree of being the protagonist in your own story.

End of session questions will absolutely include XP if you switched who is the Cap.

3. GM prep that doesn't create pc-npc-pc triangles.
Instead, NPCs if left alone will have a deteriorating situation (possibly personally, possibly they'll do something horrible), that exists due to a fundamental scarcity. If the PCs solve that fundamental scarcity for the NPC, they are no longer a threat. They may even be an ally, but are for sure not a threat.

GM prep then creates tense situations that, if the PCs do nothing, will deteriorate.

I've got more -- like linking modified versions of the playbooks to fundamental scarcities -- but that's enough for now. I'd love to hear comments and thoughts and criticism before moving on too far.

On Moral Difficulty

On Moral Difficulty

tl-dr; Who and what and when we surround ourselves with is as important to moral action as our habits.

It is easy to believe that our habits and motivations are what matters most to our moral actions, and while habits matter, this is of comparatively little importance next to the situations we are in. Instead, the attitude of those we are around, the situations we are in, and if we feel the pressure of time matter to how we act. To act correctly, we must find ourselves around the right people, in the right situations, and without pressure of time. Therefore, avoiding individuals who lead us into harmful action, situations we cannot handle, and running late are morally relevant.

Knowing in advance if a situation will be morally dangerous is nigh-impossible, requiring a superhuman degree of prediction and self-knowledge. Instead, when we found ourselves in situations where we will respond immorally, it is best to simply leave the situation. If a bore at a party will lead one to improper behavior, finding someone else to talk to may be the most ethical action. If strong drink leads one to poor behavior, then avoid strong drink. Far from excusing poor action, instead we look towards the decisions an individual made that lead to those actions even if those actions do not appear blameworthy.

Often, we cannot avoid situations in which we will act sub-par. Not all relationships are voluntary, neither are all situations, and certainly we do not control the clock. We are only responsible for how we act to the degree that we could have done otherwise; if we are stuck in a position where we could not possibly act morally, then we cannot be held responsible for our actions. That being said, if we could leave the situation, excuse the ill-mannered guest, or control our lives such that we do not run late and choose not to? Then we are responsible for the poor behaviors that arise as a result.

Instead, we should build our habit of right action. We should use the times when it is easy to act as we see as virtuous to build up the habit for those times and instances when it is not. By learning our likely behaviors, we can learn what situations we will act correctly and which ones we may not. By practice, we can increase the difficulty of situations we expose ourselves to such that we can handle those more difficult situations. That is; we gotta level up.

Moral action is easy when it is habituated, making it automatic is easy situations and easy in morally difficult situations. When we find ourselves in situations that are morally difficult, we should strive for a level of consciousness such that we can either act correctly in the situation, or avoid harm by exiting. While this is not always possible (let me tell you about this boss i had once ... ), we are not responsible for unforeseen or unavoidable lapses that we could not prepare for. While full knowledge of our potential actions is impossible, we can watch our actions to determine if they are the sort of actions our chosen exemplars would take; if not, we should either amend our action or, if possible, simply exit the morally dangerous situation.

On Virtue

On Virtue

tl-dr ; Utilitarianism is perhaps correct in a certain narrow definition, but human beings need moral exemplars to emulate. DT is a terrible person who must be opposed.

What is right action? I have no idea.

Ultimately, I hold that right action is doing the most good for the greatest number, human beings are not the sort of creature that are good at deducing this in the moment. We must make virtue a habit, and learn from exemplars. When we do not have exemplar, or do not strive to become better and overcome our biases, negative consequences such as the election of DT occur. A failing society is the responsibility of all of it's members, especially those who would claim to be virtuous.

We are not good at deducing good from ill in the moment. In any particular moment, we are a mass of chemicals that alter our perceptions. These chemicals can make right action more difficult, perhaps even impossible. Sometimes, the best we are capable of is to simply leave a situation. Even when the mainstay of our needs are met and we are the best ourselves we can be, we still cannot see the repercussions of most of our actions. Our best foresight is limited to a few decades, and usually merely moments. We are simply not the sort of creature who can ethically practice utilitarianism.

We must practice virtue, and a few methods work for me: study, learning from exemplars, and embracing difficult situations. Study gives a groundwork, and I find it essentially to have underpinnings to know right from wrong. Exemplars come and go from my life, as I either level up or lose virtue. The least productive time in my career was when I had no exemplars, and it ended terribly. I've learned to always have at least one exemplar, and have strived to be one for others. By embracing difficult situations, we gradually increase the habit of virtue, making it easier to succeed in morally difficult situations, and simple to do so in daily ones. In this since, virtue requires skill and the time to learn to be virtuous.

We were all lucky that for eight years, we had a moral exemplar as President of the United States. DT is a terrible scourge, representing a malevolent combination of a lack of virtue, and a lack of understanding that virtue even exists. This beast has had the time to learn how to be virtuous, and has chosen not to. This beast has been given every opportunity, and has used them for foul ends. But what is worse than DT is those who voted for the beast, who either ignore the lack of virtue, do not see it, or embrace it. Since the election, these have started to come out of the wordwook and to act in more and more harmful ways. This represents a shameful failure of our society to direct individuals towards virtue. While the lack of virtue in one rich beast is his own fault, the embracing of this lack by millions is a societal lack.

We must continue to oppose DT. The supporters thereof have proven they will not, and leaving it for the rest of us to do so. The habit of virtue lead to Marches on Washington to oppose the beast, millions of dollars given to the ACLU and other charities, and continued pressure on our elected representatives. At the same time, a certain narrow band of Americans continue to support DT in the face of overwhelming evidence of immoral and illegal behavior.

In order to do the most good, we have to create a habit of virtue. As we do so, we study, emulate exemplars and allow others to emulate and learn from us while increasing the moral difficulty of situations we can handle. With the election of DT, it has become much more difficult to be good, both because the beast must be continuously opposed and due to the increased difficulty of everyday interacts with supporters of the beast. Opposition must be continual, legal, and the sort of actions we would want others to emulate.

What is necessary and appropriate to hack apocalypse world into a game wherein the characters are friends, and go on...

What is necessary and appropriate to hack apocalypse world into a game wherein the characters are friends, and go on adventures together?

Extra points for it being in FUTURE AWESOME SPACE.

Trump supports can die in a fire.

The Table

The Table

Remind me to never, ever try to run AW for six people again. Especially not if I'm at one end of the table. Dang do I need to be in the middle of everyone.

And dang players matter. So. much.

What in the world has been the point of these surveys?

What in the world has been the point of these surveys?

Over the last few days, I've had a series of surveys regarding games and finances. So has Tony Lower-Basch, though his were more structured.

This has been part of an ongoing conversation. Lower-Basch posited that the strength of belief in zero-sum games was sufficiently strong that positive-sum games would be rejected out of hand. I thought the opposite.

In one survey, I turned Carcassone into a game where everyone can win. The comments regarding that game varied from "stupid", "boring", to "good for children". Meanwhile, Lower-Basch (Err... Tony) created games in which there is a clear victory path, using a variety of framing stories (more on that later). While these framing stories had an effect, at no point were the games described as poor. Instead, participants (that's you guys) rejected the game when it was at odds with their understanding of the frame.

When changing the frame, entirely different answers were elicited. Frames regarding games were viewed as solveable one-winner procedures, while frames posited as finances were viewed as moral quandaries. Fascinatingly enough, a game phrased as "beat your friends at having fun" elicited entirely different responses than "compete in a war", despite having the exact same underlying structure.

Only one game fully dislodged the notion of zero-sum single-winner event games, a frame regarding commerce and happiness of consumption of peaches. The frame was designed to strongly imply everyone got the good end of the deal, and participants rejected both the winner/loser dichotomy as well as this being a game.

Overall, I noticed two strong effects: games as single-winner events, and the power of framing. While the power of framing was predictable, I was surprised at the strength of the belief of single-winner games.

Thanks for participating everyone. Love to hear questions. I think it's been obvious that this has been for some reason, and I do hope this isn't seen as malevolent by anyone. If you have questions regarding the findings, lemme know. This isn't exactly peer-reviewed science, either.

One More

One More

At a farmers market, I buy peaches from Gary. I spend $10 on peaches. Gary spends $1 on taxes and booth rental, and it cost Gary $4 to grow & haul the peaches.

I bring my peaches to a party. Melissa has her first peach. She absolutely adores the peach, getting peach goo all over her face. We tells her friends, who buy more of Gary's peaches. Whenever she does, she relives the happy moment with a smile. I hear the story a few times.

Who wins the transaction? And, please, why?

Traveler

Traveler

Let's talk about starships.

The classic traveler PC ship is the Free Trader. This is a 200t ship, with 3-5 crew (the table!), capable of carrying 75t of cargo, and a few passengers. It's slow, capable only of jump 1, maybe has armor (?), by default no weapons, and the cargo and passengers are sufficient to keep the crew alive. It also comes with a 40 year mortgage.

Tell me why this is awesome, some stories you've had in this ship. Or maybe some other ships. All that jazz.

Randall, get out of my head!

Randall, get out of my head!

Today, our wifi stopped working. Trying turning it off and back on again, and maybe a couple other things.

https://xkcd.com/
https://xkcd.com/

Sir Victor Brown here survived four terms in the Scouts. He's pretty great to be left alone in a ship.

Sir Victor Brown here survived four terms in the Scouts. He's pretty great to be left alone in a ship.

And oh look, the Scouts gave him a ship when he left. Isn't that nice.

I imagine there's a 40 year mortgage? And that the 70 thousand credits he has are irrelevant compared to the mortgage?


Scout Sir Victor Brown A4683B Age 34
4 terms Cr70,000

Skills: Air/Raft-1, Electronics-1, Jack-o-T-1, Mechanical-1, Navigation-2, Pilot-1

Benefits: Scout Ship

Service History:
Attempted to enlist in Scouts.
Enlistment accepted.
Voluntarily reenlisted for second term.
Voluntarily reenlisted for third term.
Voluntarily reenlisted for fourth term.
Chose not to reenlist after fourth term.

Join in on the fun. Help Rob sell out:

Join in on the fun. Help Rob sell out:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/robertbohl/misspent-youth-rpg-sell-out-with-me

Originally shared by Robert Bohl

Help me out

Misspent Youth is on TableTop again! Episode 2 is up! Please, share widely, and upvote my comment plugging the Kickstarter. YouTube links are the number 1 the Kickstarter gets steam.

#NakedMarketing!

(More-substantive update coming later, honest.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npEcCw0SX0w&lc=z13nz1n4rsy1t1vpm04chls4sm2ohjzy0p40k

:: opens double share, reads five pages:::

:: opens double share, reads five pages:::

Nope, never happened.

I'll continue to imagine our quartet works together, instead of falling apart.

What does this move say about how a world works?

What does this move say about how a world works?

Pension: When you seek to collect your pension in a civilized area, roll + Quick. On a 10+, you get what’s yours. On a 7-9, you are offered a gig instead. On a 6-, you get stiffed or offered rehab.

And, if you roll low, what do you do about it?

The Player Of Games

The Player Of Games
Author: Ian Banks

Rating: 5 of 5.
My rating schema is essentially based on how many other things I ignore to continue reading it. I ignored lunch, phone-carcassone, and most TV. That's pretty good!

Once again, Banks does a tremendously good job of mirroring the larger conflict in a smaller one. His characters are ... meh, but it's not really about them. This protagonist I can empathize with tremendously more than the asshole from Consider Phlebas.

More, please.

Imagine: You can distribute dollar dollar bills in a society.

Imagine: You can distribute dollar dollar bills in a society.

Under $10 is poverty: desperation, despair, and deprivation. For each dollar, life is a little less miserable.
Between $10 and $100 is asymptotically increasing satisfaction. For each dollar, life is a little happier. That is, the dollar bills between 10 and 20 count for a lot more than 90 to 100.
Over $100, no change in satisfaction. For each dollar, there's no change in human satisfaction.

That is: The first $10 offset misery. Between ten and hundred, increasing satisfaction -- and the ten to twenty is a lot more satisfaction than the 90 to 100. And over 100, there's lifestyle changes, sure, but no changes in how happy a person is.

How do you arrange things? And please, why?

So ...

So ...

Can't pass repeal and replace, eh?

Going to try just repeal, eh?

Where what that means in the budget rules is something like: remove medicaid expansion, remove subsidies, remove individual mandate, and keep the pre-existing clause?

I've a feeling that won't happen, either.

Well, this took forever.

Well, this took forever.

Fantima here quickly rose through the ranks, getting her Captaincy in her fourth term -- being one of the youngest Captains.

She served for another three terms as the Captain of a merchant vessel before retirement. She's good at essentially everything -- except fighting, near as I can tell.

Her stats are fine (what's the one at 1? Is that Endurance? Crap.)

She can go basically anywhere she wants if she doesn't mind being frozen, and with 80k in the bank can afford a bit more anyway.

Merchant Captain Fatima Díaz 781A98 Age 46
7 terms Cr80,000

Skills: Cudgel-1, Electronics-1, Gunnery-1, Jack-o-T-1, Navigation-1, Shotgun-2, Steward-2, Streetwise-1, Tracked Vehicle-1, Vacc Suit-2

Benefits: 8,000/yr Retirement Pay, Cudgel, Low Passage, Low Passage, Low Passage, Low Passage

Service History:
Attempted to enlist in Merchants.
Enlistment accepted.
Commissioned during first term of service as 4th Officer.
Promoted to 3rd Officer.
Voluntarily reenlisted for second term.
Promoted to 2nd Officer.
Voluntarily reenlisted for third term.
Promoted to 1st Officer.
Voluntarily reenlisted for fourth term.
Promoted to Captain.
Voluntarily reenlisted for fifth term.
Voluntarily reenlisted for sixth term.
Voluntarily reenlisted for seventh term.
Mandatory retirement after seventh term.

Swab The Decks: When you do a mundane tasks for the betterment of crew or ship, such as making coffee, changing...

Swab The Decks: When you do a mundane tasks for the betterment of crew or ship, such as making coffee, changing scrubbers, porting cargo, swabbing decks: choose 2:
-- You do it, and have time left to fix another mess, if you want.
-- You do it efficiently and professionally, and have time leftover for leisure.
-- You do it, and your good work is noticed.
-- You do it, and you learn something new and interesting about the ship or crew.
-- You do it, with time left to study. You gain a playbook starting item, move, specific crap, or stat increase (max +2).

Design intent:
1. To allow for low-level drama and easy ways to fill in how PCs spend time onboard.
2. A catchup mechanism, as some PCs will have minimal careers and lifepath when compared to others.
3. No randomness. This is entirely reward.

Does this hit those goals? What else does this do?

It says something delightful that the Doctor Who stuff I've seen the last day or so is either:

It says something delightful that the Doctor Who stuff I've seen the last day or so is either:
a) Entirely Positive.
b) Making fun of men who are pissed about a woman being The Doctor.

Circle Curation FTW. I've seen absolutely nothing where someone is actually pissed about it.

Imagine: Carcassone, with a rule switch: If, when points are added up at the end, you have more than 100 points, you...

Imagine: Carcassone, with a rule switch: If, when points are added up at the end, you have more than 100 points, you win. Anyone with more than 100 points wins.

Edit: The board stops at 101. There are no points counted after victory.

Which is your strategy and, hopefully, tell us why?

Lifepath pbta game

Lifepath pbta game

Which is preferred:
1. Roll stats in order, roll +Stat to join term of service
2. Stats undefined, roll +nothing to join, result defines stat.

Which, ya think?

Traveller

Traveller

Anybody know why all ranks past the first are officers?

There's no Sergeants, petty officers, specialists, etc. Show up and boom, you're an officer. Or you aren't.

Anybody know?

Consider Phlebas

Consider Phlebas

Author: Ian M. Banks

The Good
The Culture: I want to go to there. Failing that, to read more about it.
The mirror image: The War is mirrored by the novel, which is pretty well done. What we see of the war is pretty great: The Culture withdrawing and preparing. It's clear in the first few pages how this war must end.
The appendices: I've loved such things since Dune.

The Bad
The protagonist: What. An. Ass.
Trains: I suppose trains make sense to use to protect big whigs on a planet, but I wasn't inspired by it.

The Ugly
female: don't refer to women this way.
the eaters: That's a digression I could have done without.

Player of Games is next on the list, which I think I will enjoy more.

I finally got a Navy Captain!

I finally got a Navy Captain!

Baron Victor Abe here does some hands-on shit with his vacc suit and spear.
Have spear, will travel.

He's only got 8k/year in retirement, but 45k in the bank. I'm going to guess poverty conditions are 1k/month, so Abe is OK for a little while but should really work on getting more income.

He doesn't have a ship, and I see very few skills actually about how to run a spaceship. I think he was in security / blowing shit up most of his life, and got the promotion to Captain without ever commanding a navy ship.



Navy Captain Baron Victor Abe 6315EC Age 46
7 terms Cr45,000

Skills: Engineering-1, Fwd Obsvr-2, Gunnery-1, Jack-o-T-1, Shotgun-1, Spear-3, Vacc Suit-3

Benefits: 8,000/yr Retirement Pay, High Passage, Spear

Service History:
Attempted to enlist in Navy.
Enlistment accepted.
Voluntarily reenlisted for second term.
Voluntarily reenlisted for third term.
Commissioned during third term of service as Ensign.
Promoted to Lieutenant.
Voluntarily reenlisted for fourth term.
Promoted to Lt Cmdr.
Voluntarily reenlisted for fifth term.
Promoted to Commander.
Voluntarily reenlisted for sixth term.
Voluntarily reenlisted for seventh term.
Promoted to Captain.
Mandatory retirement after seventh term.

Occasionally, I'll think I've said something actually insightful about an RPG or made some cool thing.

Occasionally, I'll think I've said something actually insightful about an RPG or made some cool thing.

And then, pretty soon, I talk myself into believing it's just dunning-kruger.

In decreasing order of confidence:
-- I am not a shitty person
-- I am not a shitty player of games
-- I am not a shitty MC of AW-style games
-- I have some oddball and pretty interesting game design bits

All that being said, I do wonder if any and all hacking of AW I've ever done just makes it worse. This is a thing I do not have an answer to.

Please mark your preference.

Traveller, pbta.

Traveller, pbta.

Help me with this thing. There's an alpha release of pbta traveller, but it doesn't hit what i want.

Here's what i want: the lifepath system.

Here's what I'm thinking:
1. First, determine stats. The AW standard is Cool, Hard, Sharp, Hot, Weird, right?
-- Traveller doesn't so much have the weird, so let's reskin this to Space. ok?
-- Being Hot doesn't so much matter as does your social standing, so let's change that to Soc.

For now, that gives us: Cool, Hard, Sharp, Soc, Space.

I don't love that three things start with "S", so space becomes Void. That'll work for now.

2. How do we get stats? Standard pbta is an array or point buy, but this is traveller. Instead, for each stat: roll 2d6 plus nothing. On a 6-, you've got a minus 1. on a 7-9, 0. 10-11, 1. 12+, 2.

3. After you've got stats, we need to figure out which branch of service you join. Choose which one you want, and we'll roll an affiliated stat. Maybe:
Marines: Cool
Army: Hard
Navy: Sharp
Merchant: Social
Scout: Void

Join Up
When you seek to join a branch of service, roll the affiliated stat. On a 12+, you join and get a promotion!. on a 10-11, you get into the service you wish. On a 7-9, you are refused service and have to join the service with your worst stat. on a 6-, you die.

During your term of service, you may pick up moves!
Roll with the affiliated stat and on a 10+, gain a move from your playbook. On a 7-9, you do not gain a move and will suffer a minus 1 to your next join Up roll. On a 6-, you are denied re-entry and cannot serve again.

You can choose to reenlist as many times as you want. Roll Join Up, but with the number of times you've served (max +3).

Mustering out. Woot!
When you must out, roll for benefits a number of times equal to the terms you served. Roll with your ending rank. On a 15+, choose from the ship list. On a 12+, choose a piece of equipment from any non-ship list. On a 10+, use the high, medium, or low list. On a 7-9, just the medium or low lists. On a 6-, just the low list.

Ship List - Free Trader, Far Trader, Scout Ship
Fantastic: Traveler's Aid Society, Rocket Launcher, 50k, Stat + 2, new move, etc.
High List: High Passage, , Laser Gun, 25k, Stat + 1, etc.
Medium List: Medium Passage, Auto Pistol, 10k, etc
Low List: Low Passage, Cutlass, 5k, etc

This is, of course, because of this:
http://devilghost.com/software/travellercharacter/
http://devilghost.com/software/travellercharacter/

A question.

A question.

If I call a banana a chom chom, and someone else interprets the word chom chom as a fighting word, have I uttered a fighting word? Have I been divisive?

Similarly, if I refer to, say, Mother Teresa as a sadist, is that a fighting word? Is it divisive?

If I refer to Manson as a rapist racist, is that fighting words? Is it divisive?

What if I use the phrase rapist racist to refer to Trump?

That is, and I'm not currently sure, can words that have specific truth values (ie, they either refer to events in the world or they fail to do so) be considered divisive? What in the world do facts divide? And, finally, does it make sense to raise fists/knives/guns/bomber jets/aircraft carriers over a dispute over facts?

I think I have answers, but am really interested in other view points.

In the convocation of Malqort, the Caliphate of Azithan, known to it's neighbors as the Necromancer Kingdom

In the convocation of Malqort, the Caliphate of Azithan, known to it's neighbors as the Necromancer Kingdom

You are a priest, a holder of Lifeless and leader of the Faithful. You receive prayers from Faithful, and those prayers mend and hold together your Lifeless. The major prayer services are a few hours a week, more like four hours a week than forty. When your Faithful pass, they may willingly choose to become a Lifeless. When you pass, you may become a honored Spirit.

By law and custom, you must provide sufficient to your followers that they be able to live without additional work. That is, you've got to give them a minimum basic income.

Some questions! I'd like to know your thoughts on the following:
1. What do you give your followers?

2. How do you compete with other priests for your followers?

3. Some basic structures include: roads, protected tenements, temples, and farms. What other structures do you produce?

4. Each of these is associated with a basic economic activity: road construction, city building, praying, farming. What other basic economic activities do your Lifeless do?

5. Other priests are your competition, sure, but also your comrades, allies, and colleagues. What binds you together to prevent bloodshed and maintain something like a democracy?

Trying to get:

Trying to get:
a) A Navy Captain, or b) A Merchants Captain. Maybe even with a Free Trader.

Can't get either. The code isn't a language I quite recognize.

Somebody wanna look at the code and figure out the likelihood of getting to Navy Captain, and/or Merchant Captain?

Sophomore Share

Sophomore Share

My second year at the Academy, we discovered something that would change our lives forever.

With the money Pip and I had made during freshman year, the four of us got an apartment together. A nice four bedroom, with one set aside as a shared office.

At the end of our freshman year, we did a summer in space. We took out a ship a little larger than the Lois, and did a single run. Pip was worried he was going to fail out, since he'd been getting low scores on the written tests. But, well, the summer in space counted for as much as anything else. We all got a turn as officer of the watch, and I had my hands full with the ship's systems.

After the summer in space, maybe 10% of the class was gone. And Pip and I were called into Headmaster Giggone's office, who had heard about our trading program. I thought we were going to be expelled. Instead, we were invited to a special hands-on course with Professor Graves, our old shipmate from the Lois. If we joined it, this would be our only class for the year.

Of course we said yes. There were no tests, so Pip would be OK afterall.

When we got to class, we realized Bev and Brill were also there. They always loved not to tell us everything. The class had someone rated as Spec One in each discipline: astrogation, ship handling, power, propulsion, environmental, chef, steward, bursar, cargo routing, cargo handling, systems.

Bev was the astrogator, of course. Brill represented environmental. Pip was routing, and I was one of very few systems nuts at the academy.

The exercise was to develop a system that would tie in all ship’s systems, automate all databases, and essentially reduce shipboard dependencies on crew. This would let a single watchstander to ensure every system was nomimal. With shipboard pads, you could now track every shipboard system from anywhere onboard. The only thing you couldn't do was fly the ship during transitions.

Professor Graves would receive a large share of any profits, as would the Academy. Each cadet would also receive a share; any licensing would benefit all of us.

By the end of first semester, we had our systems. Second semester, the Academy told us this wasn't a joke- they had a junker and wanted us to load up the systems on it. Wowzer.

We spent the next semester doing just that. We ran into a lot of problems, but eventually the dozen of us solved those problems.

At the end of that semester, our summer cruise seemed obvious. Along with Graves, we got onboard the ship and took it for a test run. We didn't die, and made some improvements.

I heard about other projects that year, too: improved soft suits, transition closer to a gravity well, even an improved solar sail. There were others, I'm sure. Apparently the Academy didn't just turn out new officers -- it was also a hotbed of research and development.

I still use Diaspora to think about spaceships:

I still use Diaspora to think about spaceships:
Lois McKendrick, T2
V-shift 3
Trade 4
Beam, Torp, EW 0
Hull/Data/Heat 3
Stunts: Civilian (3 bp), Interface Vehicle -- ship's boat (1 bp), slipstream (1 bp), Full Kitchen (1), Full Gym (1)
Aspects: Cargo Hauler, fraternal love, best food in the sector, trust lois, Huuuuge

As opposed to:
Iris, T3
V-shift 5
Trade 5
Beam, Torp, EW 0
Hull/Data/Heat 3
Stunts: Civilian (3 bp), slipstream (1 bp), Skeleton Crew (1 bp), Cheap (2 bp), kitchen and treadmill (1 bp), Plentiful rooms (1 bp)
Aspects: Passenger Liner, Dirty but good bones, transparent walls, galley kitchen, luxurious finishing

That explains it, for sure. Somebody increased tech levels, and the Iris is downright easy to keep in the black. The Lois is much harder.

I'm interpreting V-shift to be a combination of size, efficiency, and distance to transition, rather than continual G force acceleration per say. The higher V-shift for the Iris means, in part, that she can transition much quicker than the Lois.

I'm looking forward to Diaspora 2nd edition.

Can we talk about marvel movies?

Can we talk about marvel movies?

This is going to yuck some yum, so if you don't want to read negative things about these movies then maybe skip this post. I'm not looking for anyone to defend these movies -- the box office has done that. This'll also contain spoilers.

On a plane, I watched a couple.

Namely, Dr Strange and Avengers: Ultron. Being the sort of nerd I am, I knew the plot for each and the comic book characters they are based on, at least a smidge.

My principle problem is the same with both of these: glorification of the destruction of, usually, NYC. In Ultron, we've even got Tony smashing Hulk into a skyscraper, and we see people fleeing. Those people don't survive, and this is ignored by the narrative. In Dr Strange, this is usually done in the "mirror dimension", allow for consequence free destruction of cities. Until the end, of course, and that is mitigated by Strange reversing time and sacrificing himself -- which is almost exactly the same ending as when Stark takes a nuke into asgard.

But, this isn't about rehashed plots.

I really disliked the glorification, fascination, and fetishistic destruction of major cities. I remember 9/11, and I lived in OKC when the bombing occurred. I was three miles away. These are major events in my life, done by madmen best erased from the historical narrative, not by super heroes.

The juxtaposition of similar imagery to those events with the idealization of the men (and it's always men, black widow doesn't destroy cities) is, at best, intentionally moronic and, at worst, a desecration. And is probably a simple alignment of hollywood movies with the military industrial complex, ensuring that we continue to see war as valuable and keep fresh the memory of these attacks on the US.

I want to revise some things in my proto-setting of the Caliphate of Azithan, the Necromancer Kingdom, the...

I want to revise some things in my proto-setting of the Caliphate of Azithan, the Necromancer Kingdom, the Conocation of Malqort.

A couple of major revisions:
-- Getting rid of the ten year lifespan. So long as there are sufficient prayers, the Lifeless can stick around.

-- While Priests can hold onto more lifeless, more than just priests can hold and control lifeless. Maybe I can hold onto one, Brian Ashford onto ten, and a trained priest a hundred. And the original Prophet? Essentially unlimited. Lifeless can be transferred.

-- The best Lifeless come from those who willingly give themselves at the end of their life to being a Lifeless.

-- Lifeless can be embedded with strictures and rules on their use. A lifeless cannot be made to violate these structures.

-- Each Priest / house of Priests or something shows the competency of their group with crossed Xs. Different substitutes for X's show different competencies: crossbones indicate sheer number, swords combat effectiveness, scythes, hammers, etc. The more X's the more the priest / group of priests is claiming they have specialty in.

-- Yes, still something like the tenements and designed cities, but less emphasis. Build these to attract people and their prayers, to help you build more Lifeless.

-- Absolutely there remains a minimum basic income, distributed by those who control Lifeless to those whose prayers support the lifeless.

I just returned from Amsterdam.

I just returned from Amsterdam.

We spent 8 days onboard the Viking River Cruise's Longship Lofn, followed by 3 nights in Amsterdam.

Ask me anything. I don't promise to answer.

Is this good?

Is this good?
http://devilghost.com/software/travellercharacter/

How I spent my summer vacation.

How I spent my summer vacation.