And away we go!

Melee Clicky Macaw!  May we all have a Combat Clickfest Bird!




And a Mele Kalikimaka as well even!  ;)

This is some sort of solstice celebration?  ;)  The solstice was days ago, marked this year -- once every several centuries -- by a very close conjunction of two bright planets.  Given their symbolism (power and gluttony), and the predictability of the event, I'm rather surprised the astrologers didn't predict this past year's import, if not its events.  Or perhaps they did, and the media sensibly ignored them.

It's entirely possible Jareth just got the Oceanic Expansion of Wingspan with that kind of language.  :)

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 2):


A hauʻoli makahiki hou!  ...

In reply to Oly (msg # 5):

Happy Holidays to all!

Happy Holidays / Merry Christmas / Happy Hanukkah / Happy Kwanzaa, as appropriate.
Please accept the appropriate positive sentiments for anyone I didn't mention.

Happy Holidays!

Ho Ho Ho and a Ha Cha Cha

And as my ancestors (on the side I know) would have said, "God jul."

Couldn't drag in a yule log, though -- no place to burn it safely in a mobile home.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 10):

Work is starting to get heavy on the Covid patients, especially Criticallyill ones.
Please wear a mask and satanizesanitize your hands regularly.  (Otoh, if you can cut a deal with the powers of dark ess to stsy healthy, do that too.)

I wish I knew a non-violent, non-confrontational way to get the people I work with to wear masks.  At least one is a rabid Trumpie, and the only thing that'll convince him is dying of Covid-19, but the others are a less-rabid disbeliever and "I can't wear that thing all day."

Despite being in the orange zone of North Carolina, and under a city mandate for the business (my employer) to require everyone in the building to wear masks at all times except when actively eating or drinking, they won't enforce the requirement.  Since my own boss apparently doesn't consider it important enough to do something, I'm afraid to complain directly to the authorities...

Fortunately, I have a long history of ignoring viruses.  Unfortunately, that history has gotten genuinely long, so I'm not as confident of sending the virus packing as I would have been twenty or thirty years ago.

I'm waiting for the muffled *BOOM*, the pause, a slight cough, and then for McNealy's hair to start smoldering while he says, "See?  Nothing to worry about, everything is under control..."

In reply to Narrator (msg # 11):

I would prefer to strike a deal with the God of life rather than the Father of Liars, but to each their own. Fortunately, He has kept my family well so far.

I think we should all (in that group) chip in and get McNealy a t-shirt that reads: "Bomb Squad -- If you see me running, try to keep up."

You guys worry too much.  What's the worst that could happen...?
Trust me, you won't feel a thing.

I got third degree burns once.  Didn't feel a thing on the wounds for almost a month, at which point there was a dull ache and the new skin was very, very, very heat sensitive (even lukewarm water was painful).

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 17):

Happy New Year! See you all Monday

Happy New Year!

But honestly a small part of me is pretty sure the clock will roll over from Dec 31, 2020 11:59 pm to Dec 32, 2020 12:00 am tonight...

Sorry everybody in my group.  With being over worked, inflamed gums so I been in a lot of pain (painkiller only working sometimes) and big cracks appear in walls of the house over winter I did not notice we moved threads.  Will try to catch up and post.

In reply to Rosewood (msg # 20):

No problem@ hope your pain fades and gums heal.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 21):

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year everyone! It did roll over to 2021, but with recycling these days, maybe this isn't a new year but 1939 recycled...

I was away from the computer for New Years and my wife's birthday.  We did a "Spa at the House" day, with me giving my first (and potentially only) Mani/Pedi.  Not sure I'll be invited back, but it was at least...competent.  Balir and CO will be back at it tomorrow.

It's the thought that counts, as long as all digit's remain and are not overly cut up ;-)

My wife is a Christmas baby, so I do understand.

I bet the 'warm cloak' is a Snuggy.  Any moment now it'll start to hug and snuggle Emma right to death...

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

/dons pedant hat

Everybody should though.  They RSVP 2 months in advance.  ;)


(No seriously, the Spanish Inquisition always scheduled inquisitions two months in advance to give the subjects of the inquisition time to prepare their evidence.  Which is what makes the Spanish Inquisition skit so much funnier to me...)

Sounds like the Tax office...wait, so THAT is where we get out Taxation audits from!

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 28):

Death and taxes are the province of the Hadereum.

So, Plutocrat, you are...inevitable?

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 30):

Thanos he is not. Hades on the other hand...

I can't focus today, and not because of yesterday's terror attacks,  but because I got the second vaccine.

No problem, rest up, get over the vaccine, stretch out that back.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 32):

Ok better now.

Need someone other than the leprechaun to engage this guy in with Kalima

In reply to Narrator (msg # 33):

Well, really, nature druid with no skills in diplomacy and a bit of a thing against humans, who keep chasing her species for their pot of gold?

[Private to GM: Rolled 4 over HT...is this something I should use luck to pass?]
This message was last edited by the player at 11:34, Sat 09 Jan 2021.

In reply to Aoife (msg # 34):

For story purposes, the fail is important.
You cannot speak!


Btw,  been reading an interesting series of posts about polytheism; in the Roman worldview, all of the gods are venerated, and each has its job. For example, all funeral rites involve Hades...

https://acoup.blog/2019/10/25/...sm-part-i-knowledge/

Also, work has been insane, will try and catch up tomorrow.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:29, Tue 12 Jan 2021.

I figured you were already doing this to some degree just with the 'anachronism' of a professional clergy because "Cleric Template".

It is why Theology is by pantheon, not deity.

Work is always very busy the next couple weeks, after customers finish their holiday "quiet periods" and start working on changes again.  I expect to be around as normal, but the last couple days...not so much.  Will try to do a better job of managing it.

MWAhahahahahaha....

Have we lost or misplaced Mancini?

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 40):

Loooks like we might have. Current player is Josepht

We seem to be missing Marcus as well, played by dreadpiratepaul

Anyone know if these guys are ok?
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:23, Thu 14 Jan 2021.

i hope joe is ok...he's not in good health.

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 42):

I really hope he is well.

Hectic day, try and post tomorrow

In reply to Narrator (msg # 43):

Agreed. We lost witchycat last year. Just disappeared, hope she is well too. Always sad to loose people without knowing what happened to them.

FWIW, Romans had concrete -- took almost two thousand years to recreate their lost recipe with confidence and without the superstition; turns out volcanic sand is a key ingredient, but pig blood not so much -- but they used it for foundations, piers, bollards, and the like, not paving.

The classic Roman road was paved with quarried stone slabs (hence why you can still see the ruts from iron tired wagon wheels after centuries of disuse).  Only away from cities were cobbles used (slab paving was expensive in labor and material, but much more durable).

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 45):

aaand since we are talking about a rural road and not foundations, cobbles is about what we would expect, certainly not concrete. So I stand by my post!

Yes, they did have concrete then as a building product, but not something for building roads. They would have considered that in much the same way as we would consider building steel roads today...a prohibitive waste!
This message was last edited by the player at 11:01, Fri 15 Jan 2021.

In reply to Reanna Draegan (msg # 46):

A fair number of buildings in northport are made of concrete with a plaster finish that has marble dust in it. Hexagonal cobbles make up most of the roads.there is a lot of stuccoed brick also, and the rooves are tile or slate-no thatch.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 47):

Also, zgorgsth has left us again, (he made one post upon arrival with Teresa)and I have been writing him an exit. Personally,  I think he would be at the end of his patience with Gareth's shenanigans.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 48):

Perhaps, but in Gareths defence, the fireball would not have been thrown if Gareth saw the target had fallen! But he was not given the option, so I just went with it...but Gareths IQ is not THAT low!

In reply to Gareth (msg # 49):

There was still a chance that the fireball had flown through the hole created by his last one...

In reply to Narrator (msg # 50):

And pretty sure Ryojin got deployed, possibly  to DC

In reply to Narrator (msg # 51):

Nope, Javits Center. So I still got time to jump on here.

In reply to Ryojin (msg # 52):

Good to see your deployment is rpol friendly!

Chance of a fireball passing through the same hole as the previous one is pretty slim, though. It would have to be a critical failure, wouldn't it?

Not sure I understood the significance of the OOC #10?

In reply to Gareth (msg # 53):

Just that Gorgath's player was gone, and he should go.you just gave a good reason for him to go

In reply to Narrator (msg # 54):

Yeah, I thought it might be that. Pity. Now Gareth will be the bad guy...again.

He is actually a nice person when you get to know him! Just misunderstood...really!

In reply to Gareth (msg # 55):

Going to be out with the missus all weekend, try and catch up Monday

For the record, I did see the apology, but in my mind it was the words without the real meaning.  Definitely subject to interpretation without description of the non-verbal body language, etc.  Haveron perceives Gareth as pretty callous and insensitive, and so he's at it coming from that context.  I recognize the boss was writing out an exit.  Just playing Haveron in character.

In reply to Haveron Stormwal (msg # 57):

Ah, OK. Gareth's body language would have indicated the apology was sincere, but the culture and mannerisms he uses will still be those from 400 years ago, so how Haveron interprets that may be subject to conjecture. However, if he keeps assuming Gareth's apologies are never sincere, it will only be a matter of time before Gareth starts to consider giving apologies as a waste of time, since they are never accepted, however sincere.

In reply to Gareth (msg # 58):

This is one of the issues with having a Chaotic N÷utral character in the party.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 59):

or the issue with having someone from 400 years ago?

In reply to Gareth (msg # 60):

Some people from 400 years ago are often polite, just not you.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 61):

Well, yes, there is that. But it does add to the misunderstanding, beside the fact that he was raised with undead...

Wow.  Pixie gets one lucky shot, and all the haters are ready to run...

"All you bully rooks in your buskin boots, better run, better run..."

Outrun my bodkin?

Shape Air is a "Regular" spell, which means range of "touch" -- you move the air you can touch, either with your hands, or a Staff spelled object.  Even at maximum fatigue cost of 10, it's more like a high velocity fan than a weather alteration spell.  You want something like Clouds, Wind, or Storm (M194-195) to affect full size weather phenomena without killing levels of energy cost.

It's way more than that.  It does 1d per 2 energy in Knockback damage.  It also starts where you're starting it (end of hand, esng, staff, or at a distance -1 per hex away) and continues with a 1 yard wide, 5 yards x energy wind stream.  So at full blow (10 energy) that's a 50 yard corridor of air pushing everyone an average of 2 hexes per round for a full minute.

It really is "create wind".

It's good as an 'area denial' spell.  I've also seen it used with the Throw Spell to create "wind stream" grenades (to knock that villain off the top ledge that you can't reach).

[EDIT]
You are correct, it's not a weather alteration spell, but far more than "a strong fan"... unless were talking about those windstream fans they use for testing aerodynamics or indoor winggliding...
[/EDIT]
This message was last edited by the player at 19:55, Wed 20 Jan 2021.

"High velocity fan" -- like an electric ducted fan for a radio controlled model jet.  LOTS of fan power -- but still, a volume and velocity more like a very strong fan than something that will steer or dissipate storm clouds.

Umm, Syvanus?  Recover Energy does nothing at skill lower than 15.  Fit is usable only to recover FP expended on physical activity (not spells).  Pretty sure Breath Control is same as fit in this regard, just to be complete.

Are the storm clouds on the ground and small?  If no... then yeah, no.

It would be decent for clearing out something like Stench or Smoke, but that's about it.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 68):

Thanks, but it does take points which build slowly...  Fit however does work.

Sorry, missed this earlier, this restriction was removed in DFRPG because Kromm found tracking different FP expenditures to be fiddly*.  Not sure if Gwythaint put it back or not...

So basically all three ways of recovering FP (Recover Energy, Fit, Breath Control) work on all FP expenditures, they just do so separately and do not stack.  So the fastest, but easiest to stop is Recover Energy, the fiddliest is Breath Control (constant skill rolling), and the slowest but surest is Fit.

Also Recover Energy also recovers ER faster without the need for rest, which I find completely bunk all around, mumble grumble, cheaty Wizards and Clerics...


*   But yet he left Paut the way it was.  :|



Yeah, Fit just always works, no rolls, no reliance on Mana levels.

Using shape air to move stormclouds seveesl miles away is not effective.
Als, they are atmospheric, and part of anI Ching reading I did for the return voyage.

Say what now?

The way Magic has always explained Recover (Strength in 3e and prior, Energy in 4e) is that you can "rest faster" -- and you had to be resting, doing nothing more strenuous than walking slowly.  That's gone now?

No, that's all the same.... for FP.

Now, recover Energy always used to recover ER as well (this is not new), however most of us (you and I at least) figured Recover Energy was still under it's rules, that is it only works while resting (and I never let Recover Energy recover both simultaneously, Kromm however does).

In DFRPG however, Kromm (Sean Punch the GURPS Line Editor and author of DF and DFRPG) decided to correct that mistaken impression and explicitly has Recover Energy recover ER faster at all times, making ER the far better value than FP.  No Wizard, Cleric, or Bard should ever buy extra FP unless they've capped their ER.

The explanation behind this is, FP sets the "must rest" requirement not Recover Energy.  So if you can Recover FP without resting, then Recover Energy would work for it as well without you needing to rest.


This means Warriors with Heroic Reserves should recover them faster with Fit or Breath Control, but that's not spelled out since DFPRG doesn't have Heroic Reserves...  (and I've never thought to ask Gwythaint his ruling on it because I don't have any warriors with Heroic Reserves)

Okay, see, the first I recall even hearing about Energy Reserve was within the past year or so, right here.  It's not in Basic or Magic, as far as I recall, and those are the only books I have (well, and Low Tech, and 3-4 DF PDFs).

Energy Reserve came out in GURPS 4e Thaumatology.  It was riffing off the idea presented in GURPS 4e Magic pg 15 "FP for spellcasting only" by making the "Spellcasting Only FP" its own pool separate from FP.

ER is in DF 3 The Next Level on pg 39 where it gets a write up (same write up from Thaumotology), and it's mentioned in several DF books after that.  DF 5 Allies adds the "Drains Familiar" wrinkle to a Wizard's ER (they can at this point have 2 types of ER, Personal and Granted by Familiar).  The Familiar's ER is their FP, so it only recovers when the Familiar rests... which brings it full circle back to the Advantage's roots as FP.

So, to sum up, the many different Energy Pools a Wizard or Psi can have are:

FP, ER (Magic/Psi), ER (Familiar).  Then they can have up to 2 Power Items; 1 Power Item (Magic/Psi) and 1 Power Item (Endurance).

There is an optional advantage Extra Power Items (Type) [15 points] which adds one extra Power Item of a specific type.  However each Power Item is still treated as a separate Power item, even if they are of the same source.

Other Heroes have a similar energy pool maximums, just one less as they cannot have Familiars (depending on Gwythaint, frex Druids might have Familiars, Clerics might be able to get Divine Servitors that grant ER).

Power Items (Heroic) are the same as Power Items (Magic/Divine/Psi) except they require a 'Heroic' power source such as Heroic Archer, Weapon Master, or Trained By a Master.  The energy cannot used for all FP expenditures (so not for missed sleep, FP lose to forced marches, or non-combat Extra Effort), only FP for special Skills and Abilities (frex Flying Leap, Power Blow, Botte Segrete) and Extra Effort in combat.  The item must be a weapon, shield, or armor.

Endurance Items require a $1,000 ritual to attune the item to be an Endurance Item, the only requirement is that it be a worn or carried item.  The energy from an Endurance Item can only be used for exertion, Extra Effort, and mundane loss (frex missed sleep, starvation, forced march).

Multi "Source" Characters can have a Power item for each source.  So frex Ardenas who has Magery and Trained By a Master, could a "Wizard's" Power Item (staff, wand, fancy pointy hat, etc) and a Martial Artist's Power Item (hand wraps, 'kicking' boots, belt, monk's prayer beads, etc).  They cannot be the same item, so he couldn't have a swank staff that he uses for both.  They are charged and used separately and can only be used for their respective Professions.



Now this does mean some characters are kinda screwed.  For instance Stenet does not have Weapon Master, so he cannot have a Power Item (Heroic), which he needs, but could have a Power Item (Divine), which is useless to him (he has no Divine abilities that cost energy).  He'll definitely be getting a Power Item (Endurance) as soon as his swanky new armor is out of the shop.


Yeah... sorry this started out as a quick "ER is based on FP" post and morphed into "Power Items in case someone doesn't know about them" post.

Stenet is waiting on adjustments to the EHP's plate mail iirc. That $1000 ritual cost should include removal of the taint of the ehp.


Shit at work is getting heavy, may not get to post for a bit

You know, back in '86, when Man to Man (combat system only for GURPS 1e.) came out, I liked GURPS because it was a skill based, point buy, simulationist system that wasn't overly complicated.

That was about 200 sets of extra rules ago (Okay, I exaggerate.  A little.).

Now, we've got fourteen different rules for the same thing, spread out through several hundred dollars worth of books (most of which came out when I was perpetually broke).

Yes, I get the idea of letting a player play anything, that's the GURPS way of letting your players be awesome (it's a Powered by the Apocalypse phrase) -- but you can only take advantage of it if you have a seemingly unlimited book budget and the time to read and reread them all.

Going back to an older version isn't much of a solution -- even 3rd had the rules published in literally fifty supplements (world books etc.), and 2nd was too badly broken to be really satisfying.

The other major point-buy, skill-based system is even worse (HERO System); in order to build characters you're pretty well forced to learn how to create abilities -- a not-very-simple system of point calculation that goes around Robin Hood's barn to get to Nottingham (strongly resembles the Powers and following GURPS point cost calculation system; likely one was consciously or unconsciously copied from the other).

I'm getting just about ready to look for another game system with the flexibility of GURPS, but more along the complexity level of RISUS (core rules are six pages, including stick figure illustrations) -- and I think RISUS itself might be it, except that beyond the six-page core rules, all the good stuff is spread out over dozens of sources, most of which are on the web and therefore subject to vanishing without warning if you don't download them when you find them.

I need to find a not-silly RISUS campaign to play in for a while...

(Of course, there's also One Page RPG, Roll for Shoes, and a few others along the same ilk, but RISUS is a more complete game with stubs already built in to add things like a detailed magic system, detailed equipment, etc.)

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 78):

I actually like GURPs flexibility, and gladly forgomuch of the excessive silliness in multiple supplements. If it is not in Basic, Low/High/Ultratech, Mass Combat or Magic, I generally don't use it. Yes, that means none of my characters have ER, but I get along fine without it, and if I really need it, I will borrow it like I have done with Psychic Guidance. But these are my basic library, with pdfs of DF series, Martial arts, Interstellar wars (for the game I run) and Theumatology. Do we really need any more?

All hell broke loose last weekend and I have basically not been on much this week.  I think it's all finished now, and will get caught up later or over the weekend.  I did mention it would be rough, but was unprepared for the actual roughness.

Inversely, I will use rules from everywhere, but make lists for chargen and make sure the rules are available for everyone Playing.  When I run DF/DFRPG I use Templates and am pretty hardcore about it (despite being terrible at using Templates as a Player).

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 81):

I have not run a DF game yet, though have thought about it. I do appreciate Templates, but also like the flexibility of allowing players to do their own thing, in reason. Keeping in the spirit of the DF characters rather than the strict template. Kind of like I play...

Some more Co-GMing would be cool, keep things moving, a melting pot of ideas..

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 83):

Yeah, but Gwythaint sets a pretty high standard to meet! Not to mention differing ideas between GMs could create some confusion.

Where I've seen co-GMing work well was with game-geographic division of GM responsibilities.  The universe constants (how many moons does the world have, overall physical map, etc.) and house rules are agreed ahead of time by the GMs, then each takes on one region, continent, archipelago, etc. with its culture(s), ecology, etc.

This, of course, implies having too many players for one GM to handle, as well as significant barriers in place to make it "not too easy" for characters to travel from one GM's realm to the other(s).  Major oceans are good, when tech level is low enough (15th century ships and navigation took months to get across the Atlantic and a major storm would likely erase it from existence, for instance, but by the 18th century a ship could sail anywhere on Earth in that kind of time frame, and only seldom be lost due to storm), high, rugged mountain ranges also a possibility (they won't stop a small, powerful group, but they tend to limit caravans and individual travel).

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 85):

Sounds pretty hypothetical here. All groups mix easily...

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 86):

That hyper efficient group that bailed didn't mix very well.

Having a mild cardiac incident afew years ago made me think about giving someone a hsnd in co GMing, but I have so many stats scribbled on index cards and in notebooks on top of all of the statted NPCS....I have to think about how to do that.

Also, work is still charging at an insane pace.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:04, Sun 24 Jan 2021.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 87):
<rant>
Work has been at double to triple volume past few days, because some selfish bastards spent the holidays traveling and unmasked, getting their friends and family gravely ill.
I know most people are tired of pandemic precautions,  but I am really tired of people not having taken precautions.

</rant>

I Fully understand, we have idiots here (Arizona) that still think it's all a hoax. Others think their right to not wear a mask is more important than the people they infect. Pity we can't send them to someplace to dig graves for the hoax. And they don't have to wear a mask while doing it  either...

Yep.

Where I work, there's a city mandate for everyone to wear a mask when indoors in public.  All the time, anywhere other than your home.  Further, my employer has a clearly posted policy that all employees and contractors will wear masks while in the facility.

I'm the only technician (out of four) in my department who wears a mask, despite my repeated comments about masks and people who don't wear them.  About 20% of employees in my facility don't wear them.  My boss isn't consistent wearing one, and will not do anything about people failing to do so.

I can't afford to quit, but I guarantee you this: if I catch COVID-19, I'm going to sue my employer into the ground, if it's literally the last thing I do.

I'm lucky, my job transitioned to WFH, though they still hire people into the offices.  And when I was still in the office last year, our big boss is old, overweight, and has diabetes so so he was very hard core about mask wearing and Team Leads going around and sanitizing everything every couple of hours.  Now some people wore their masks wrong, but because the assistant manager did it (and couldn't be reprimanded or fired) there was no discussion about it 'officially', but unofficially our young TLs tried to educate everyone on their teams who didn't wear masks correctly how to do so.  Some departments were about better it than others, but we had a rough 95% proper mask wearing compliance.

Way better than the general public around here anyway.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 91):

It looks like I may notbe catching up this weekend, and I already know I will be mandated for asecond shift on Monday... I will try .

In reply to Narrator (msg # 92):

Have to say, different here. There is no point wearing masks when you are on a ship with the crew, because if one person has something, everyone will soon have it. But we all stayed healthy by isolating the ship, and wearing masks ashore. Government policy is applied religiously in our organisation, and the Government said to wear masks in public places, so...

But we used social distancing at work alongside, and shift to make it possible. But we were not hit anywhere near as bad as the US due to travel restrictions.

When you can, boss.  Life comes first.

I will admit I myself am not exemplary in terms of surface/object sanitization -- there's just so much touching in my job that it seems futile (I literally make my living handling tools from industrial plants and construction sites, all day, every day).  I've also got a very long habit base of trusting my own immune system -- to quote a Heinlein character, "If a bug bites me, the bug dies."

Balanced against that, I'm diabetic, out of shape, seven years post heart attack and triple bypass, and on multiple medications for blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar.  Plus, I'm past sixty (but not quite old enough to get my COVID shot, apparently).

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 94):

There seems to be a lot less object to person transfer than initially suspected, which is good, but please be safe.

Sorry, it's taken a few days to post... I've been trying to figure out how a young girl would respond to being noticed for her talents (YAY!), but also hating the people who are noticing and wanting to push them into all a pit of acid and then close the top over with stone (BOO!)...

The particularly hard part being I have never been a young girl.  ;)

In reply to Ulo (msg # 96):
that's showbiz!

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 97):

Is it that an elf noticed, or just the non-troll thing? I am sure Christine could have put a good word in for him...if Ulo was not so busy trying to kill her!

Fortunately, I'm very backed up on estimates -- meaning any tools I handle have been sitting in the shop long enough not to be a worry.  The time clock is another story, but the fingerprint reader won't work through a nitrile glove.  I'm at far greater risk from the number of people I'm around every day who simply refuse to wear a mask.  At work, at the grocery store, at the Sheetz where I buy my lunch and snacks every morning.  I swear, some of these folks take it as a personal challenge to avoid masking, despite signage everywhere reminding them it's required.

I was tired of stupid people before COVID-19 appeared...

Elf, surface dwellers... people who are explicitly part of the 'tribe' (the Guild) that murdered her family, friends, most of her clan...

Rushagorn would get a pass, except he's part of the Guild.  Who all must die.  Someday.  When they prove to Angrid exactly who they really are deep down inside (evil murder hobos) and are no longer allied with Ülo's new clan.

Then patience will come to an end and she'll be free to fight fire with fire, and acid, and lightning, and stone, and... cooking?  Communications?  Light and darkness?  Necromancy?  Okay, look, she's not really a combat focused Witch.  She's all about utility.  But like Bane says, "The fire rises".




Unfortunately crisis (pandemic counts) don't make people any smarter.  It just means the responsible people have to deal with the crisis and the stupids at the same time.

Yes, he is also hardly a troll fan, but offers grudging respect. He'd be willing to share a skill/spell in exchange with GM's blessing. I am not sure he has a whole lot she doesn't already have, but ignite Fire? Apportation?


[Private to GM: I won't offer breathe fire without your OK. But then trolls seems to not be too fond of fire...]

This pandemic has been a nightmare in my opinion.  Every family or workplace seems to have one group who refuse to wear masks for reasons of politics, religion, or mistrust of the government.  I support freedom and personal choice, but at a certain point of time I believe that pursuit turns into being selfish and callous.  We have all seen what you're describing.

In my opinion, many (or most) people are doing what they feel is right.  However, from personal experience I can tell you that some people also believe what they read on the internet.  We have close family who I love and respect.  In our opinion they have become misguided and bought in to the conspiracy theories.  Make no mistake.  Both sides of the political fence suffer from this, although it's probably fair to say the right has taken it off the deep end at the moment.

It's our job (my opinion) to see them as our family and friends first.  This country was built on compromise between people with vastly different belief systems.  The relationships will see us through the differences, as long as we continue to invest in each other.  People will come to their senses eventually, and stop putting the politics ahead of the important things.  I have faith that we can rise above this.

Sorry for the soap box, but I hear the frustration.  Surely some here are more conservative and probably feel the same, although they have been quiet.  I thought it might be helpful to try to focus on the long term.

What I don't get is what (beyond some slight increase in personal comfort) people think they're gaining by refusing to wear a mask.  It's like asking you to continue to wear clothes when it's 90F out.  Yes, you'd be more comfortable without (sunburn excepted), but we have a social agreement to maintain a level of modesty -- lower at the beach or pool, higher in the office or shop.

No, I don't like wearing a mask.  It makes my beard and mustache tickle my nose, it transfers skin oil to my glasses and safety over-glasses, it promotes acne by clogging pores.  But it's necessary for management of contagion.

The basic issue is ignorance.  Endemic ignorance.  We've let multiple consecutive generations join the real world without acquiring the most basic understanding of how science works (understanding that would give them confidence that CDC and Dr. Fauci are more likely to be right about COVID-19 prevention than Facebook, Reddit, or Parler).

Unfortunately, to cure ignorance would require some level of buy-in by children (and a higher level by their parents, to instill it in the kids).

in my opinion, the masks don't do shit. their purpose is political,fear, and devisive.
but then, anyone in the know, is under cassandra's curse.

Give it 10 years and the old people who refuse will have died, the middle aged people who believe in conspiracies will be out numbered by the kids who grew up in the midst of the pandemic.

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 104):

Dude, I work in a hospital.  The masks fucking work if worn properly. My exposure last March happened  when I wasn't masked. My sense of smell is still fucked. I have seen patients develop ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) before, often from sepsis from the flu, making their chest xrays look like a puddle of milk, but that took weeks, and covid does this shit in a matter of hours. I wear 2 masks at work, an N-95, with a scrub mask over it, goggles, face shield, headcover, plastic gown over a paper jacket and scrubs over my clothes....
....and I have antibodies and I had both doses of vaccine  this shit is fucking brutal, and the infection starts in your sinuses, and travels to your lungs and throughout your body.

A barrier between your mouth and nose and someone's cough or sneeze is exactly what you need to stay out of the ICU. The insurrectionist pooh-poohed masks, a n.v d if everyone had worn one for two weeks this thing would have ended before April last year.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:01, Tue 02 Feb 2021.

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 104):

South Korea demonstrates how very wrong you are ...  their death rate is in the low hundreds TOTAL  ours in in the Hundreds of Thousands. Masks and a bit of self disciplne can do wonders.

In reply to Oly (msg # 107):

And yes it got politicized and yes a lot of snooty liberals got insulting to anyone not masking, reinforcing the political divide in a way that only made things worse, conflating mask wearing and being maskless with outright assholery performed by vocal people on different sides of something that should never have been a debate.
Science and epidemiology are not leftist ideologies.
The divide should have been on branding and country of origin of ppe, and whether or not the free market should allow small vendors to fabricate themand how much to regulate the cottage industries, not whether to wear one.
If DT had come out with T or Maga branded masks, people would have bought them and worn them proudly abd we wouldn't be where we are.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 108):
masks,quarantines, and forced vaccines, sucks!
how  do  we enforce  them?
excecutive-fiat lux!

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 109):

Chickens, cows, and ducks!

Agreed.  But we Americans seems rather lacking in the self-discipline department these days.

In reply to Masugatan (msg # 111):

Yes Sir, they certainly do, And they do not understand that their freedom is NOT absolute, it ends as soon as it infringes on another citizens freedoms.

In reply to Oly (msg # 112):

Work has been at an insane pace

For me the worst part of that debacle was when the Democrats* were demanding everyone wear masks, social distance, and enforce lock downs, but running around not wearing masks when they thought they could get away with it†, opening hair salons for themselves, and eating out past curfew with their huge crowd of political friends.

It cast it into a very "rules for thee" light, which only further stiffened the resolve of the Anti-Mask crowd.


* I refuse to call that crowd 'liberal' anymore.  They've become so illiberal it sucks.
† And right now Biden's administration is going maskless on Federal property despite Biden just signing EO mandating everyone wear masks on Federal property.  sigh


Exactly.  Unfortunately politics got involved and we had Chief Troll versus the Illiberal Asshole Brigade and that will never be good.


PREACH!

You have no idea how much worse Britain has been about that aspect.  It's frankly downright insane what politicians have gotten away with over there (giving PPE grants to their business buddies, rubberstamping rights to make for their business buddies who aren't prepared to make PPE while blocking small companies that were prepared but just need the 'right to make' paperwork stamped, etc).  Granted, they have no free speech, so you can't even talk mean about politicians in the UK, which probably explains a lot of their political problems.


You have no idea how many letters my Mom sent to Trump begging him to make a MAGA brand mask she would wear.  She's 100% about wearing masks, she buys new "washable" masks every couple of weeks when they have pretty designs on them so she "doesn't have to wear the same ones all the time".  Woman, you go shopping twice a week, you have a box full of never been opened washable masks, you don't need new ones!  I just needed to get that out my system...

Luckily, the "insanity"† of Trump has come to a close, so at least we can all slide easily into a Wine Brunch Slumber and ignore Biden as his administration quietly continues a large number of Trump's policies (most of which were quietly, or loudly, continued from Obama before him, and Bush before Obama, etc)...


† I kinda think we needed a good dose of that insanity, to help wake some people up to some political realities.  If he'd been a more competent president while still remaining the Shitposter in Chief I'd have been a lot happier about the last four years.  But as it is I don't regret my vote for Jo Jorgensen (mostly because she lost, if she'd have won I might, might, have ended up regretting my vote).




There won't be enforced vaccinations so you can calm yer shorts man.  The people in charge will be more than happy to let the Anti-Vaxxers catch COVID and die, or survive and suffer the myriad of long term problems COVID has been leaving some people with.  I mean we already know they'll deliberately put old people in harms way so their donors can rake in cash (hello Cuomo!) and crash their local economies to ineffectually slow COVID (the one year anniversary of "two weeks to flatten the curve" just passed and moments after Biden's inauguration all the "lockdowns proven to not work" articles came out in a timely fashion), why would they care about the Anti-Vaxxers?  Biden isn't as much an Authoritarian as other Dems, so I strongly doubt we'll see Anti-Vaxxer Internment Camps or enforced vaccinations.

I'm waiting them out, one year and then I'll get one (my Mom is waiting two more months*, then she's going to get in line for one).  I want to give it time to make sure the vaccines don't have serious side effects (at least not worse than the COVID), and unlike Gwythaint, I am not in the danger zone 90% of everyday.  I work from home and almost never go out.  I have a small gaming group that meets once a week, and even if they all don't personally take it as seriously as I do, the few holdouts live with people that do take masking, social distancing, and quarantining seriously (or paranoically in one case) so they also have been taking it seriously for "the sake of their loved ones".

I think my group in Death Trap can now truly say.
Never bring a pixie into battle with you unless you want things to get surreal.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:57, Tue 09 Feb 2021.

Sorry for the disappearing act.  Work has been...insane.  Plus it's the HOA week (curse me for volunteering), and the storm took out 1/3 of my team since they have some combination of no heat / no power / no internet going on all at once.  I hope to get back on all my threads later today.

In reply to Balir Ironhide (msg # 116):

No problem at all. There has beena natural disaster, after all.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 117):

Gareth, are you familiar with the dread Gazebo?

In reply to Narrator (msg # 118):

A couple of natural disasters if you consider the cyclone in Fiji and the little cold everyone is worried about...

Well, Ok, the little cold that has killed a couple of million people. Hopefully that vaccine will reduce that to a minor hindrance soon.

The dread Gazebo? Can't say I am familiar with it.

Edit: I looked it up. Hilarious. Sound just like Gareth, only he does have Fire spells! Lot of them, in fact!
This message was last edited by the player at 22:32, Fri 19 Feb 2021.

In reply to Gareth (msg # 119):

The golrms were programmed to attack snything that damaged something in that room, even the wallpaper,  which wasn't hurting anyone.

I would think seeing a slorn riding one of the people would keep almost* anyone in line.


* Scaly loving freaks not included.

In reply to Ulo (msg # 121):

***ridden by***

I dunno boss, I think it's a far greater threat to know that if you screw up the Trolls will let the slorn ride you...

/bad Russian accent;  In Soviet Troll Warrens, slorn ride you!

Seems unusual for this game to be so quiet.  I hope everyone is well and healthy (at risk of backlash...).

I'm doing as well as can be expected.  Just waiting for stuff to happen in multiple threads.  Boss is probably swamped again as usual...

Things are going to poo ... quickly, I may be scarce for a bit... that will be several characters.

In reply to Oly (msg # 126):

Thanks for the heads up! Work has been hard to get past. Our icus are full, some of them are doubled up.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 127):

Gallivanting about with the Mrs, going to be scarce until Monday.

Sounds Good,  Have fun!

What are the sub-actions that lead one to conclude someone is "gallivanting"...?  :)

my grandma always used word like gallivant, ballyhoo ,corker, and squawk 'n bawl

In reply to Balir Ironhide (msg # 130):

Carousing , and extravagant spending

The oldest usage was in regards to young fashionable men ("a ladies man") who was said to 'gallant' if he was out courting.  To 'gallivant' thus came to mean "to go about ostensibly or discreetly with a member of the opposite sex".

It eventually morphed into our usage today, "to roam, or wander", but it still holds the "going out with a member of the opposite sex" as a secondary definition.  I expect this "opposite sex" part to shift to "romantic partner" shortly.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 133):

Either that, Jared, or it will become a dirty, politically incorrect word...and the word nazis will have people sued for using it because they get offended...

Just like I remember the days when a gay person was just happy...and coloured folk were negros or African Americans.  (no offence intended). Now I do not even know how to refer to people without someone taking offence...even though I never intended to offend anyone. I actually always treat people as equal, but the 'politically correct' still manage to be racist, so I am not sure they PC group have changed anything.

I stopped worrying about.  The people I hang out with are old school liberals, so they aren't overly concerned with offense, just are you, ya know, actually being a bigot?  The off colour joke here or there (be it racist, sexist, ageist*, etc) is nothing to be overly worried about.  As long as now one is actually getting feelings hurt, play on.


* We are some ageist mutherfuckers in our circle, since we're (mostly) all within a year of each other, the oldest is often referred to as grandpa, get's the "oldster jokes" thrown at him, and the young guy (he's about 8 years younger, as "the new kid" and get's all the "now listen here sonny" jokes thrown at him.





On a side rant I've just discovered how shitty the Paced Running rules are (Basic pg 354).  Like they are absolute garbage.  I need to sit down and dig into the long distance travel rules again, figure out how to make the Paced Running rules fit with Long Distance travel, and then figure out how to get them posted on the SJGames GURPS rules forum... (I've been banned, so it's makes it slightly difficult, I'll probably have a proxy post them)

There are two kinds of people in today's society.  Those who are tolerant enough they don't automatically get offended, and -- wait, wait, I'm not saying anything about race or religion, I'm just -- okay, fine, whatever.  Apparently, there is only one kind of people, and it says here they're all the same (looks around, shakes head).

I can sympathize on both sides, really.  There's a guy at work who's always cracking jokes (mostly jokes he gets off the internet, which apparently still has multiple bastions for this kind of thing) that are just a little off-color or subtly racist (Irish jokes, for instance), and when I call him on it, it suddenly becomes my fault.  This is in a workplace, remember, where one could technically be dismissed on the spot for a single off-color or racist comment.

I don't think it's a coincidence that he's a loud Trump supporter...

And I'm conflicted, because as the Lead for the department, I'm supposed to report each such incident to HR (bypassing my boss, despite his long-standing insistence that I never bypass him even when company policy contradicts that) -- which will, at the minimum, get me in hot water with my boss and make me the squealer in the department, while most likely having no real effect other than to require the entire department to take an online training course on workplace harassment.

And giving him a lesson "out behind the barn" won't fly -- that would be the point at which he decides it's okay to call the police for every little thing...

I wish I could afford to quit...

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 136):
lol that guy sounds like a sociopath

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 136):

But you could go to your boss, tell him it is clear violation of company rules etc. and ask him how he wants to handle it. After a couple of times, he may get the drift and have a chat with the fellow, who will undoubtedly squeal that his free speech is being abused.  I'd keep track of each time I talked to the boss and the gist of the complaint. Some thing like a Memorandum for Record, that you keep.

In reply to Oly (msg # 138):

Run it as a thread of emails, and if you get no traction, cc HR.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 139):

Yeah, emails can be nasty that way, when you add in a cc after a while to escalate things you get no traction for...

Especially when every email quotes the entirety of the emails that went before it, so you have a clear chain of evidence of prior emails and abuses.

The downside is that your bosses all the way up will no longer trust you and your termination for something is likely.

That's why I'm not angling for advancement in my job.  I hate office politics and our Ass Manager is a real... rule breaking hypocrite.  I'd eventually have to do or say something to HR.

I've spend the past ten years fighting against the Peter Principle -- I was invited to apply for an Assistant Manager position that long ago, before I even had full time and benefits.  The only reason I accepted the "invitation" to apply for Lead (three years ago?) was because I was told it was the only way to get any more pay increases (after ten years in the same position -- it took seven years just to get full time).

And the whole issue of being the shop squealer is why I haven't already turned the company in to the health department for completely failing to enforce the mask mandate, never mind company policy in that regard ("all employees and contractors will wear masks while in the facility").

Honestly, what I'd prefer is to just walk out at the end of a bad shift and never look back.  My boss's number one complaint is my productivity, but he doesn't fix stuff himself so doesn't understand how much longer it takes to get anything done when the guy at the next desk is always calling me over to help with his computer, or how to spell a word, or how he managed to order the wrong part again.  I've got about a year and a half before I can collect my Social Security, and I'm trying to figure if there's a way to live on that long enough to start generating an income from my photography.

Got no car payment, my phone is paid off and my partner's will be well before then, house (14x70 mobile home on a permanent setup) is free and clear and partner's car will pay off this year -- so that leaves just electric, cell phones, car insurance, house insurance, and internet (plus health insurance once I don't get it from work -- and I'll be on Medicare by then, so only have to pay for supplement policy).  I might have to get a part time job, but Starbuck's is always hiring and I can make a good capuccino without their fancy automatic machinery -- and Starbuck's is only thirteen miles away, instead of forty.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 144):

Can't stand politics myself.

On a different note, how did Dil manage to count just six when the GM said there were 11 (6+3+2+prisoner)?

Because I'm an insomniac and my brain saw "6" and then a bunch of words it decided not to read as being numbers.

Because usually when I do that it would have been written as "11, six in red, three in orange, etc..." thus the first numeral being a total, the spelled out numbers being a breakdown.  And my brain just didn't parse it correctly, it decided to be lazy and not read things properly.

I edited the post, thanks for the correction.

In reply to Dilandua (msg # 146):

Damn no sons of Sahud have curiosity?

In reply to Narrator (msg # 147):

Not the tree!

In reply to Narrator (msg # 147):

we both are curious, so that's why they volunteered, but since they're both agreed it's no threat, we chose not to show ourselves, but let the others know we have company close by.

Not as a disadvantage that will keep me from sleeping, no.

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 149):

Curiosity of -5 means you need to roll vs will at -1 to not close with them and check them out further!

4e did away with most of the "resist Disad with stat" rolls in favor of Self Control rolls.  Meaning high stat Characters still often fail.

At -5, Curious is a Self Control roll of 12.  So on a 12 or less, they resist.

Ported over from the "With Kalima" thread...

Benny is still resting at the bar after blowing 8 FP in one miracle.  By the time* you guys are done wrapping up du Fontaine, Benny ought to feeling pretty rejuvenated.



* Benny, like so many of my characters† has no way to recover lost FP quickly.  Someday I'll stop making that error and start building PCs who can get back into the fight faster.

† Out of 6 Characters, only three can regen FP faster than 1 per 10 minutes, Dilandua, Jednesa, and Ülo.  Jednesa and Dilandua via ye olde Martial Artist breath Control trick, and Ülo via Recover Energy (skill 15) or Steal Energy (1FP per minute, but requires either a willing or helpless victim).

Benny will eventually pick up a Prayer that will help him recover FP while praying (quiet Meditation) and Stenet really doesn't need a way, but he'll likely eventually pick up Fit anyway because it's stupidly useful.

Right now it's Jareth and Benny that will keep having "OMG I'm out of gas!" problems.  And I really haven't figured out how to solve Jareth's issue.  Yet.  (I also keep not thinking about it because it's not like it's a seriously crippling issue, he doesn't have a whole lot of useful spells or psi cult rituals to cast.)

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 152):

Thanks for the correction!

In reply to Narrator (msg # 154):

Is Aegis/Haveron/Balir/McNealy etc around?
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:57, Fri 12 Mar 2021.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 155):

Anyone with weirdness magnet want apet?

In reply to Rice porridge (msg # 156):

Thinking about it!

In reply to Saishi Jin (msg # 157):

Catching up on Monday

nobody can call me a murder hobo. i'm probably one of the most benevolent players.. lol

In reply to Leroy du Lac (msg # 159):

Callous and Bloodlust = "What the hell is this prisoner rubbish? Why are they still living?"

[Private to GM: Rolled 11, 4 under the self-control roll of 15 for this disad (Increased from 12 by reducing cost)]

http://www.easydamus.com/align...%20Chaotic%20Evil%20
Leroy is nuetral good, with chaotic tendencies.
*Disadvantages* (-50)
[-10]Code of Honor (Personal)*Always
      avenge an insult, regardless of the
      danger; your buddy’s foe is your own;
      never attack a fellow crewman or
      buddy except in a fair, open duel;
      honor your contracts, and always keep your word.*
      (combines pirate's code w/ Mercenary's professional code,
      and emphasis on personal honor)
[-5] Sense of Duty (Home & Family, Friendships, & Adventuring Companions)
[-5] Truthful
[-5] Overconfident
[-5] Obsession (Adventure,Fortune, & Fame)
[-5] Curious
[-5] Compulsive Carousing
[-5] Gluttony
[-5] Light Sleeper
-
*Quirks* [-5]
Proud
Free Spirit
Despises Blackguards, Scum, & Evil Monsters
Enjoys Fighting, & Ruthless In Combat
Claims His Great Grandmother Is a Limnad (Lake Naiad)

In reply to Anita Drake (msg # 160):

Oh, she is not evil. These folk did come out of their way to kill her, so she feels justified in ending the threat because she does not believe people change that much, that quickly. She thinks they will try again, but be better prepared next time. There is actually a pretty good chance she might be right, give the reaction of the guy with the shield the one time she did try to parley. These disads are just her way of dealing with evil...some try to change it, some try to remove it. Both have their place...

In reply to Anita Drake (msg # 162):

going to try and post tomorrow, onboarding a holy warrior to Mancini s group, going to be scarce next week

In reply to Narrator (msg # 163):

when tryi g to transport a bound prisoner, attaching a giant snake or turning them into something that will die before delivery is not a good idea.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 164):

Unless of course they have pissed us off and we no longer care about their welfare...

Ah, that old royal 'we'...

In reply to Benny Morales (msg # 166):

Sigh, the hazards of phone posting with three characters starting with "A', two of which are leprechauns. It was St Patricks day, after all...

He he.

It just adds to Rosewood's character and back story.

You cannot have a pixie around with out thing being a bit strange.

;)

In reply to Rosewood (msg # 168):

it was funny.


I will not be able to post for most of the next week.

please be kind to one another.

No, I meant, Aoife seems to be the only person who actively prefers to simply kill du Fontaine and you saying "... we no longer care about their welfare."

It was your use of the 'royal' we.

This was in reference to the IC post from Rosewood.

Aoife is not the only one...the Anaconda would gladly like lunch, and I am not sure that our multi-armed friend was keen on his continued existence either...

In reply to Aoife (msg # 171):

back from vacay, going to try and get as much of everything answered as I can.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 172):

Benny, a child leads you to the Hadereum
and is looking for some coin... you spot an agent of the Hadereum,  with apurple cloak...

In reply to Narrator (msg # 173):

a new character, a holy warrior of Hades namedTalan is supposed to be around here somewhere

Hello world

Pleased to meet you. I hope we can be mutually beneficial in achieving our goals.

This message was deleted by the player at 22:45, Tue 30 Mar 2021.

Huh, I wonder how many of our religious characters are Greco-Roman, versus the heathens?  I'll have to dredge the lists later and check that out (or list mine and hope everyone else jumps in).

Of mine, only one is Greco-Roman, the other five are all various flavors of 'heathen'.

Benny is a Divine Saint of Hermes/Mercury.

Jareth is areligious *cough*cultistofYOGSOTHOTH*cough*, though if pressed he'd admit to having once worshiped an ancient Elven god of knowledge and magic.

Jednesa is an Ogre and not being a shaman only vaguely pays lip-service to the Ogre faith, which is fine as her tribe's gods don't like being bothered.

Dilandua is Shadow Elf and an assassin who uses poisons and is not a devoted to the Spider Queen of the Shadow Elves.  Because that would be so cliched.  :|

Stenet is a Dwarf and has just revealed he's got the old school Dwarf shinto/shamanism going on.

Ülo is a Witch (Troll Druid/Wizard) and doesn't have much truck with the gods.  I'm actually not even sure the Trolls worship any gods, or what the social/religious power structure would be outside of the Matriarchy of Witches, it's never come up as far as I can tell... and I just realized she totally needs to slide a point into Theology (Druidic) just in case she's ever called upon to, you know, spiritually minister to her people.  I guess Trolls are probably just "hippy earth worshipers", which, huh, yeah, given their parties... huh.


Gwythaint, did you make one of the "color coded for our convenience" 'evil' races Hippy Cave Dwelling Earth Huggers?

I know you made the orcs and gobbos into Eastern European soccer-hooligans...

Well, let's see...

I (Ardenas) was raise Vejovist, but converted to Buddhism at the Rising Ki Academy.

Mario believes in the gods (who could avoid it, with all the abundant evidence of their reality?), was raised Triunist in the orphanage, but was never devout, and doesn't really think about religion much.

Aldous is a devout Triunist -- son of the housekeeper in Father Robards's rectory -- who still tithes and confesses.

Chou-Zhen, despite being the son of an Elder Thing, is a practitioner of the Sahudese folk religion, doesn't so much worship any particular being, but when appropriate propitiates various gods (and the occasional oni, if unavoidable).

Evelina and Elaina were raised Triunist in a primarily Cerean community, but "converted" to worship the Frog God in their teens.

In reply to Rice porridge (msg # 156):

I do.

In reply to Ales Konstantin (msg # 180):

drop a point ant it is yours!

hopefully, it's not an actual shoggoth...

Surely, if it were one of those, we'd have heard it piping by now.  It does seem to talk, at least as well as a trained raven or parrot, though.  First time breakfast has ever talked to me...

In reply to Chou-Zhen Mou (msg # 183):

there is a lot of points to be spent before you get a full on Chromatic Ooze, but hey, play your cards right...
This message was last edited by the player at 19:15, Sat 03 Apr 2021.

In reply to Rice porridge (msg # 184):

hard to kill holds pretty well against even HT-3 rolls...

We should just all be glad slorn don't also have Hard to Subdue... they might literally fight until they died at -HPx5.

Happy 60,000 posts.

This game has more posts than all my other games added together times three.  This game has surpassed the General RPoL forum and is rapidly catching up with the Community Chat.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 188):

really, really tryinot to split the party any further in the black tower.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 189):

How many are active in the party?

In reply to Gareth (msg # 190):

that remains the question; you, Berry and the Adept are about, Shroud got deployed, the Druids player is gone, and Haveron/Amelia has faded away it seems, and Gorgath quit.


<sigh>

In reply to Narrator (msg # 191):

Really? Gareth makes such a balanced leader...NOT.

In reply to Gareth (msg # 192):

spent lu ch on a work meeting and fighting with the post office (they swear something was delivered that was not) grumble grumble, going to post on Monday.

My experience is that when they do that, they probably put it in the wrong box.  We've had them, FedEx, and Amazon deliver to our neighbors here -- once a box of corals (which weren't in good shape 24 hours later).  We get stuff addressed to our neighbors in the USPS box all the time, too.

Thankfully in my 'hood (despite being right next to crime ally) we are all really good about hand delivering misdelivered packages.

Never have an issue with UPS or Fedex (except for Fedex when they used to throw small packages literally across the lawn at the door, but now that they have to take a photo of it's delivery state that's stopped), but USPS routinely delivers the wrong mail to people.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:18, Sat 10 Apr 2021.

Out here the Post Office is still better, although not as good as it used to be a year or so back. Federal Excuse and The Useless Parcel Service are expensive a much slower. The Useless Parcel Service also has a habit of dropping stuff off at the gate after dark ... then report it delivered.

In reply to Oly (msg # 196):

I have dealt with porch (lobby) pirates before, and the USPS volleying a package between two processing centers for a week...

In reply to Narrator (msg # 197):

I am sorry, I don't have the focus for this today. will try and catch up tomorrow

No Problems ... we have all had those days I am sure

Rest.  Spend some time with the wife.  Watch some old Loony Tunes (ideally with the wife).

See you later...

Leaving this out here for Gwythaint, but as per Kromm (Sean Punch Line Edittor for GURPS) Kiai is an Attack, however it's a "special" Attack so it's isn't penalized or bened exactly the same (Attack bonuses and penalties are DX bonuses and Penalties not HT bonuses or penalties*).


From http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=169081 (I bolded the most relevant section):




So while it does kinda fall into "House Rule" territory, it's also a Kromm Quote.



* And now I'm contemplating a Dragonman Martial Artist with Power Blow and Kiai and getting Kiai to be ST based...

penetrating voice and Rapier wit do the same job, except by yelling out things about the opponent's mama!

In reply to Narrator (msg # 202):

we are currently missing a few players, including the new one who was just onboarded into With Kalima. Haveron, whose player is in several threads has been absent for over a month, and I just Rmailed him.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 203):

Is it just my imagination, or does this happen every year around this time?

Remind me in a couple of weeks and I'll check the Old Threads and see if it's this time every year, or if it's more random.  But yeah, it feels like when we lose people it's never one here, one there, it's like five at a time.

Seems a little early for finals, late for Spring Break (that was in March, right? It's only been forty years for me).

I'm taking an entire week off starting the 3rd to remodel my office, I'm sure I can squeeze some quality archive diving in.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 207):

going through a lot right now, may be scarce for a few days

Got a busy weekend coming up myself.  Handle what needs handled, we'll see you when you're ready.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 209):

we are insanely short at work. this is getting ugly.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 210):

I guess it could be worse...spare a thought for the health professionals in India.

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 211):

and for those in Brazil.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 212):

True. We have not heard so much about them recently.

Also have not heard anything about COVID from China...they seem to control is suspiciously quickly, given it originated there.

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 213):

the chinese communists and global europa, are in cahoots to usher in their dystopian clown world.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:51, Tue 27 Apr 2021.

Well, I mean if we could board people up in their homes for weeks and toss them into the crematorium regardless of their status "living or dead" we'd get this plague under control PDQ too.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 215):

going to try and catch up tomorrow.  was dealing with taxes

In reply to Narrator (msg # 216):

going to be sparse for a few days.

I suddenly have an idea for a new orc barbarian...

https://c10.patreonusercontent...EV7tG4EdwutiCzS7c%3D

Artist:  mcnostril, aka Yann Ben Aluch

A member of a Gorillaz tribute band?  What does she play?

I'll get used to the sounds eventually -- brand new 3D printer making its first print behind me.  Stepper motors have a distinctive sound...
This message was last edited by the player at 23:43, Sat 08 May 2021.

Barbarian, not Bardbarian.  And she's clearly from a Goth tribe, not the Brithop tribes...

Though I also have an idea for an orc Bard based on this image (and the song) https://coub-anubis-a.akamaize...1579333258_image.jpg

So I could combine the two thoughts and build a Bardbarian drummer girl...  who dish out sick beats and beatdowns...

(Or not likely as building to cross purposes is damn hard.)

Ooph, and the heat added to the room.  Or do you have adequate cooling?

I haven't noticed a big heat issue yet -- my desktop computer runs BOINC tasks, keeps CPU at 100% for all 8 cores 24/7 when I'm not actively using it, and my office is still usually chill because my partner keeps it too warm in the room next to the thermostat -- and has *two* iMac and a huge Wacom tablet running 24/7 (no BOINC, but often Photoshop or some manga-purposed graphics program, often open even when the word processor is the primary task).  My darkroom (next room from my office) is more often than not near the bottom of the acceptable range for processing B&W without preheating everything (about 15C/60F).

It's really amazing the quality of the prints from a printer that cost me $165.  Not terrifically fast -- but (so far) smooth and accurate.  Got a set of cable clips printing right now, to corral the ribbon cable that feeds the display/control panel; likely next print will be a PCB cover for the underside of the display (to keep fingers off the PCB in case I need to reach under it for some reason) -- then before bed, I'll start printing a drawer that slides in between the display side frame member and Y-axis rail, so I can keep the basic tools (flush cutter, hex wrenches, putty knife, etc.) on the machine instead of in a separate drawer of the cart it sits on.

Ah so your place runs cold as it is.  I live with a little old lady who can't handle the temp dropping below 75, so with 3 compys running in my office/bedroom it tends to hit mid 80s in here (84F/29C on average during the day).  I just redecorated, removed all the heavy closed off wooden shelves, replaced them with open design plastic (sturdy though) so I'm hoping they'll shed heat faster (and allow far more air flow) so it should cool off rapidly in here once I shut down the work pcs every evening.

And it's actually decently cool in here right now (I'm off now on Sundays) so it might even be livable when I'm working and the mini-furnaces are turned on.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 222):

I should be catchiup tomorrow.

Has anyone else here backed Delvers To Grow, Douglas Cole's Kickstarter for low powered DFRPG (written by Kevin Smith, aka PKitty)?

https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...rpg-powered-by-gurps

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 224):

absolutely! also ramping up on OT at work, may become scarce

Copy that.

When you get back, was there a reason McNealy's last post was 'struck though'?

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 226):

oops thought I was going for small. i will fix

Kirpich?  Don't forget the skill penalty for burning HP in casting a spell.

In reply to Ardenas Barehand (msg # 228):

-1 per hp burned, if I am not mistaken, but he is well under anyway. But hopefully someone has an item I can borrow that will alleviate that...

In reply to Kirpich Rockson (msg # 229):



my daughter is in the hospital, going to be scarce

In reply to Narrator (msg # 230):

Oh, nasty. I pray it is nothing too serious?

In reply to Narrator (msg # 230):

Our prayers that it turns out to be not serious and she can go home.

In reply to Oly (msg # 232):

she is home, it was work related stress, anxiety and acute depression.  She is going to be fine.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 233):

also, will be onboarding a new character for Deathtrap

Good news then.  Hope she rests up and destresses some before getting back into it.

Sending some good vibes her way.

Hello everyone. The name is Nick. I will be joining your campaign shortly. Onboarding will take a while as I am not very familiar with the system and the setting is huge. I look forward to gaming with you all. :)

In reply to Rayner (msg # 237):
to help folks navigate, Nick is playing a junior half elven fighter magic user looking to join up with the feybloods in Deathtrap.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 238):

Nick, read through the threads New in Town, and Deathtrapto get a feel for the group you are going to join.

14th century?  Yrth is generally run as "currentish year", 4th ed Banestorm sets the official timeline at 2005.

GM, can we get a 'dateish' check on that?

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 240):

this isnt Yrth. I would definitely have subjected you to a banestorm by now. year is roughly 1388 as the triunists reccon.

the plague of 40 years ago was the black death of 1348.
yes, there have been incursions from elsewhere, and most humanoids were the humans in their point of origin.
Faerie is an interdimensional place, and part of how the trafimficing occured, as are some reality warping events from the other end of the bunny/squid dynamic

Okay, I could swear you had said the world was based on Yrth 'with changes'.


Good to know.

So, it's not Yrth, then what is this "fantasy medieval Earth"?

bizzaro yrth??

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 242):

I used Aral and Aralaise, but that is about it, aside from some basic concepts of travel by gate etc.
pseudo medeival/ trace early renaissance  is the tl- late tl3 with some tl4.
No megalos, the Aralaise empire was Merovingian more or less, the Roman derived empire became fractured by the eas tern Empire 900 years ago.

In my defense, one who isn't involved heavily in a reading-based occupation or sideline, or printing itself, might well be completely unaware of printing technology (especially if still based on engraved plates vs. movable type), especially for non-artistic applications.

Sahud as well.  But yeah, your Aralaise is a lot more cosmopolitan than Yrth.  Also all the other religions with gods that actually grant powers.  So I knew it wasn't "Yrth" per se, but I thought you'd based the world a lot more heavily on it.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 246):

about Sahudese- it is actualy the trade pidgin used in port cities, something like a tonal esperanto.
if I ever get around to having folks cross the ocean, there are something like 15 regional languages

In reply to Narrator (msg # 247):

I have wondered about a kind of cat burglar/ scout for those trading with trolls. Thoughts?

i have at least 3 other sahudese pcs, that are still in limbo. a celestial shugyosha, a genin, and a goshi...
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 11:52, Tue 25 May 2021.

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 248):

trading with trolls is nearly wrapped up, only one obstacle before the, ahem, winecellar troll warrens that Christine cleared out...

and then a quick excursion  (less hazards) to the Ropemakers guild, the hobgoblin enclave.

Yeah... I'm waiting to see how things play out with the Ogres... I'm half expecting to initiate a conflict there with them.

But we'll see how it all jumps.

In reply to Ulo (msg # 251):

<wheeze>"we gonna see bout dat"</wheeze>

In reply to Ogre boss (msg # 252):

Nick, you have an entrance to make in Deathtrap!

In reply to Narrator (msg # 253):

I may be scarce for a bit, live game tomorrow and then commissions Tuesday.

Whew!  That'll give me a chance to catch up.  Apparently my 3D printer upgrade (including some annoyance printing the parts) kept me so busy yesterday I didn't even read my web comics, never mind keep up here.  And now I've got ten minutes before I need to head out the door...

Interesting set of books the Kalimi Crew are now hunting down...

Yeah, no doubt.  I had to Google a couple of them, and it turns out they're not all along the lines of the first couple.  Almost like an Aralaise sociologist was studying Earth.

Or like the demons were hoping to create generalized unrest, if they could get those titles widely distributed and read.

They'd have to have them translated not only linguistically, but in all but one case, culturally.  I mean The Prince by Machiavelli would fit in fine in 'modern day' Northport, I'm sure the Hadereum would react the exact same way many religious scholars (but ironically not the Pope) did and condemn the work, possibly try to have it banned.  But it ouldn;t be an outrageous or alien thing, all the concepts are pretty grounded in terms Northportians could understand.  The history it outlines, well, hasn't occurred yet... and might not occur at all.  A decent historical scholar could pretty easily adapt the work to fit right into the history of Araliase and the Empire.

The others need serious adaption.  And I'm not sure the intrinsic value of Catcher in the Rye as a story to foment any unrest...  I guess it is kinda "anti-traditions".

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 258):

I was trying to assemble writings that might encourage a particular type of pamphleteering that could benefit the cause of hell, even if other parties had their own motives for printing them.

to wit, certain parties want unrest for their own reasons, and Hell wantsfree access to those that join the movement.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 259):

be tryi g to catch up Sunday

In reply to Narrator (msg # 260):

been working in areas without signal, cleaning up artwork now

Copy, we're mostly still all here.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 262):

sme threads are very hard to work on; the Black Tower has only 3 players and  and 5 drop outs; the player of 3 there has someone in Kalima, Beast, Alchemist... his father took gravely ill and he is his primary caregiver.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 263):

I am having trouble focusing on this right now.

Take care of what you need to, starting with yourself.  I'll still be here, pretty sure most or all of the long-timers will say the same.

Aye, us long-timers ain't going no where fast.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 266):

Ditto...we long-timers have been around for years, some more than others...we can wait!

In reply to Christine Bjorn (msg # 267):

thanks. wifi is shit where I am as it is. tomoishould have a little time

In reply to Narrator (msg # 268):

might be an add on... could go with Kalima instead of the dropout. half orc polearm specialist caravan guard...

Could also be an unnamed and as of yet unmentioned caravan guard in Rushagorn's employ in Trading with Trolls.  Give the new hire some options.

Gwythaint, have we lost Mancini?  I get the feeling you've been NPCing him a bit of late.

I'm asking before I start having Benny step up and fill in as party face.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 271):

Goran, Aegis, Mcnealy, Haveron/Amelia/Omar, Balir Ironhide...


also yrading with trolls works.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:26, Tue 22 June 2021.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 272):

One major player drop out? Sad...

[Private to GM: I take it they are not Aethulred?]

I do have someone who could step in for the trolls if you need another, though he is a thief, with a large henchman. Have too many with Kalima though.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:27, Sat 19 June 2021.

Ales/Mancini (Joe might not be well)

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 274):

Was worried about that. They have been around for a while.

Hey all.   Grohm here.    I'm reading through the Trolls thread, trying to get caught up. Looks like I'm getting tossed into the deep end to start out.  Looking forward to having some fun.

No problem! Waters fine, just keep your head up!

There seems to be some confusion on what a cubic yard of stone is.

One yard by one yard by one yard is a cubic yard; that's 27 cubic feet.  For most stones, a cubic foot weighs 200 lb or more (the easy conversion I remember is that a cubic foot of sea water is 62.4 lb, pure water about 2.5% less, and common stone runs between three and five times this) -- so a cubic yard of generic stone at specific gravity 3 will weigh about 4800 lb, and heavier stone than this is common.

For those who've worked concrete (commonly measured in cubic yards), a cubic yard of mix-your-own requires five to seven (100 lb.) sacks of Portland cement, plus sand, rock/gravel, and water to hydrate the cement, and winds up (after curing) weighing around 3 tons (6000 lb.) depending on the gravel composition.

You know what... when I did a quick google search I probably did put in 'cubic foot' instead of cubic yard.  I had to correct myself twice doing the calculations to make sure of the volume of stone being moved...

I blame chronic insomnia.  Nice catch.

[EDIT]
I found this site which offers a few types of stone, weight based on slab dimensions, I went with Granite being a 'medium weight' stone.

https://stoneyard.com/calculators/stone-slab-weight/
[EDIT]
This message was last edited by the player at 17:23, Sun 27 June 2021.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 279):

Delvers to Go. my new must have

I think I wait till the release copies are out.  I always stat getting confused which copy is which, end up deleting them all, and redownloading the release.

And I don't really have time right now to read the proof copies, I've got a Shadowrun 6e character to finish making and a Separatist Armada fleet to fine tune...

In reply to Narrator (msg # 280):

the templates are faster and much more flexible than DF15, which I do love, and I think even appealing to those who prefer something freeform in build.

Just from curiosity, Ulo -- why would you use Create Fire to light a pipe, instead of Ignite Fire, especially if you're scraping the bottom of the fatigue barrel?

Create Fire costs a minimum 2 fp for one hex radius (it's an area spell, though it can be narrowed down easily during casting) -- minus one for skill is still 1 fp cost.  And then it burns for one minute, regardless whether it's ignited anything else.  At skill 15, you can maintain it at no cost (other than footprint) for as long as you can stay awake, but it'll still cost that net 1 fp to cast.  At skill 15, you can cast the "match" level of Ignite Fire at no cost, and because it's not normally maintained (though it can be, if you need longer than one second to ignite something), footprint is less of a problem.

Because I wrote the wrong spell name in the Dice Roller.  I meant Ignite Fire which is why I labeled as 0FP.

Thanks!  I'll correct it.

In reply to Jareth Mooncalled (msg # 284):

is anyone able to check in on Joe?

In reply to Narrator (msg # 285):

I fear the worst, in that regard.

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 286):

oh no! I hope he recovers from whatever is ailing him.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 287):

Does sound ominous, will pray for him.

I've been trying to back track and see the story before I came into Trading with Trolls 2.  Is there some kind of index of which story threads lead to the next one?

BTW -  The story with Jareth Mooncalled, Mario Crowfoot, and the others is pretty good. I've enjoyed that one.

Sorry, there is no index, though I was once working on one.  I might be motivated to pick that torch back up...

But that's the first time that group has worked together.  However (as you noticed by the '2') the Trolls Saga has previous entries.  I'll try to track them all down for you tomorrow or so, it's really two stories intertwining, two different warrens of trolls (Ülo's and Agriboda's) and the different groups of Adventurers and how they deal with them in vastly different ways.


Thanks!  This plotline is easier for me to track down as I've saved all the threads my characters are in on my system, so unlike the Troll's tales above I didn't save the other threads that didn't involve Ülo.  And they go back to before I joined, but I read them and remember them, if not exactly what they were called.  But for Jareth, Jednessa, Ülo, Stenet, and my new guys Dilandua and Benny, I've saved all their threads.  And The Junior Crew all started together (kinda, Jocelyn, Mel, and Brodak are from Johan's group in the older Troll Sagas).

Like a 'good Western Marches' these groups split and join for the convenience of the delves, only the Junior House group has stayed together fairly well over the long haul.



Ülo is in the Trading with Trolls threads, but her previous tribe's threads are the Winecellar threads, and Angriboda's tribe was in threads even older, I think the "Re-entering the Undercity" and "Storming the Library", with Hitomi and Joahn's crew.

Man, Lulu has been missing for 7 years now (real time, like one month in game).  Will no one go searching for that poor lost little fairy?

she is closer than you think!

That has a lot to do with the point totals -- we were something of an experiment, at 125 cp starting, with most characters in Northport at 250 cp and the tavern group at 75 cp as the boss feels for the bottom of the stairs.  Tell you what, there's some challenge in making a viable wizard on 75 points and still staying mostly on template.  It's interesting enough to make a "rogue" on that kind of budget.

Well, that was interesting.  It wasn't all that certain for a short time whether Reanna would just shoot me instead of unlocking me first.

Sure is good to get those sky iron manacles off.  And the gag, of course.

In reply to Virgilio Hohlfeld (msg # 293):

She still has not decided about shooting you...

"(probably because I'm just following the Template and running out of points)"

So say we all.

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't been around, been dealing with a sick kitty and mental health issues of my own. I am "better" now and looking to get back into my stories with GMs permission.

In reply to Ales Konstantin (msg # 296):
Glad to know you're still with us

Hurrah.  Now step it up, we're trying to get this heavy sky iron (with part of breakfast riding inside as in a palanquin) back to the road so we can put it in the wagon.  ;)

In reply to Ales Konstantin (msg # 296):

glad you are feeling better! Welcome back!

In reply to Narrator (msg # 299):

and if we haven't already, could we all throw a dollar or two at the sjg kickstarter?

https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...s-2021-pdf-challenge
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:22, Sat 17 July 2021.

They need 300 more people each throwing 10$ in to crack the last two stretch goals, but I doubt it's happening at this point.  I could see the 3,000$ being met, but 300 more people?

But even if they aren't met, there's 3 books I'm getting that I wanted†, and 2 others I know I'll enjoy‡.


†  Action 8: Twists was worth the price of admission alone, then DF 22: Gates, and How To GURPS GM: High Powered Campaigns.  Kinda wish they'd hit the 35K$ mark for DF 23  Twists to unlock, but I have a feeling it's going to trod a lot of ground Action 8 will already lay out.

‡ 2 books by Matt Rigbsy who, while not always a need, is always a joy to read.  However  Renaissance Venice: Spies of Venice might be damned handy for some things and I can always mine DF Adventures 4: Two Page Dungeons for ideas.

While I completely agree with the desirability of the game makers making a buck so they can continue to make excellent games, I remember fondly the days when I could buy a game and expect to play for some considerable time without spending more money.

Games seem to have changed to a subscription model -- keep paying and paying and paying, else those who do will soon be playing a game you no longer have the rules for.

Not only does that mean those who expect to play the old way (drop $120 for four core books -- two volumes of Basic, Magic, and Low Tech, for instance -- and done) get left behind, like trying to play 3rd Edition in the 2020s (witness some of the "fun" I've had trying to use actual GURPS materials to play this game as it transitioned via DF to DFRPG, which I can't buy in bits and pieces of PDFs like I've done with the parts of DF I needed), it means that those who aren't getting left behind are spending money on rules like some of us used to do on dice, miniatures, maps, modules, etc. without changing the actual rules.

So, no, I don't think I'll be supporting that linked kickstarter.  I think SJGames is an awesome company -- but I don't like the modern model of "let's keep changing stuff so everyone has to pay out every month or two."

No Argument, but for $3 I'll go along.

Nothing is being changed in this.  Action 8 isn't changing anything that's come before it, it's adding to the Action series.  Same with DF 22 and DF 23.

Actually backing the Kickstarter is a statement of "I'm supporting Dungeon Fantasy (DF, the line that's now 22 books long), not Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game Powered By GURPS (DFRPG the box set)".




And not an attack, but I can't remember a time when my favorite game companies didn't have something new to buy every month or two.  Just look at the "Basic D&D" line, Moladavy-BE/Mentzer-BECMI days.

There was Basic, then Expert, then a year or two later Basic and Expert again, then Companion, Master, and Immortals.  And while they came out roughly every 6 months or so, there were Adventures, the Gazetteers, Geomorphs, Dragon magazine, etc.  Did you need all of it... no... did I want all of it?  Yes.

I still have some of those wild and wolly scifi gamer magazines from back then.


And that's just the Basic D&D line.  I'm not mentioning AD&D, which had it's rulebooks, and settings, and modules.  Like for awhile I felt like there was something every month or so to buy for D&D, and not just Dragon magazine.  And then they created Dungeon...
This message was last edited by the player at 06:21, Sun 18 July 2021.

[SIDE NOTE]
The DFRPG "boxset" is available in pdf for 40$.  I have no idea when they decided to sell them in pdf seperate from the boxset* (but still all as one due to publishing laws), but they are available for pretty cheap.


* Probably a long time back, I've been pissed at them since they updated the books but refused to put together an errata†, meaning I have to rebuy the books if I want to know what the changes are.

† I get they don't have the people to actually retroactively figure out the errata, but they made updates tot he book and didn't keep a record of those changes... I'm just... the fuck?  Like, the fuck?  How do you not keep a list of the changes?  /throwsarmsupindisgustagain.gif

In general, I dislike buying games in PDF form.

Can't put my finger in one page while I flip for a cross reference.  Can't (in most cases) put sticky tabs (equivalent) on the pages, at least with the PDF readers that come with Ubuntu.  Can't reach for the book in the middle of typing a character post, without minimizing my browser, opening my file manager, navigating to where I stored the PDF, opening it, searching for the reference -- much of the time, I can find what I'm after faster with an indexed paper book.  Not to mention paper books work without batteries or line power (need light, but candles will work for that -- I've played D&D through a power outage a couple times, back when paper was the only kind of book).

The only advantages to PDF, IMO, are price (cheaper to sell a download than to print, store (or POD), and ship dead trees) and ability to store multiples on a small, easily portable device like a laptop or Kindle (and Kindle really sucks for this, the search is bad and the device is slow -- but it's cheap, has excellent battery life, and it's small/light).

Beyond that, I'm not likely to buy paper books for a game I'm unlikely to play beyond the one I'm in.  I haven't even bought all the DF PDFs (why pay for stuff I don't need, and see above for my opinions on PDF game books).  Honestly, one of the things I've always liked about GURPS is that it isn't D&D, but the past several years, all SJGames effort has been toward making it look and feel like D&D.

I used to feel the exact same way.  Then I moved into this much smaller place and 4e came out, and I decided to 'pdf it for now'.  Then I ran a game at a gaming store and not having to lug the books I needed to and fro and being able to use term searches in pdfs, being able to have multiple copies of one book open for ease of cross referencing - your "put my finger in one place while I look up something in another", having literally my entire book library to draw from at a moment's notice, no table clutter (okay, less table clutter since the core books were there for others to use), etc...

I'm never going back.  In fact the only reason I'd have to buy physical books now would be for "hardened copies", ie, in case "the big one comes" and I need to run a game without access to electricity.  (But I have neither the space nor money for that right now.)


True,  but I never did that with my books.  I did write in the margins though, and put in extra pages with longer notes if the margin wouldn't be enough, and I kinda miss that (some pdf writers allow for adding notations, but they  aren't reliable between pdf readers/editors).  So I will admit I miss being able to just put notes in the book where I want to put notes.


Sure, and before I got used to just having the folder I'm using in a hotbar, I had to do most of that as well (does Ubuntu force you to minimize the browser to open the file manager?  I'd hate that).


Yes.  And this is (IMO) the only drawback.


And duplication of resources.  I can have as many copies of the book open as I have space on the disk to store, of which I have "four copies" of each Basic book, the two Combined editions and two of each Characters and Campaigns.v  Mostly because at one time I needed four copies of Characters open for ease of cross-referencing and decided to just mirror Campaigns that way as well.  (I also have two monitors, so... yeah, it makes that sort of nonsense a bit easier.)

And depending on how strictly you're adhering to the laws of the land, it's also easier to provide each Player with copies of books they might need.  I prefer for each person to purchase their own books, but I've been in the position of needing to borrow books, not only due to lack of money, but also due to lack of desire to own that game system.  I've only ever owned D&D, GURPS, White Wolf, and a few of the more fringe games.  So every time I play Shadowrun, CPunk 2020, Star Wars, etc, I've had to borrow books to build characters.  And with D&D from 3e on, I've borrowed books as I didn't want to own it.


Agreed.  But I only run GURPS, so I trend towards picking up most of everything just in case.




Then you've been ignoring what they're doing and only noticing the DF/DFRPG line.  Granted, they haven't put out a Monster Hunter book in awhile and After the End and Reign of Steel have absolutely stalled...  but I think you're also missing some key info.

GURPS has one employee.  Sean Punch.  He writes the stuff he enjoys and edits everything.  The first only happens when they have a KS for new books, and the later is his full time job.  But books only get written when an independent writer (this includes him when he puts on the writer cap) submits a book proposal and Evil Stevie signs off on it.

So what you have is Sean Punch (aka Kromm), Peter Del'Orto (Toadkiller Dog), and Douglas Cole (Gaming Ballistic) all proposing books for the DF/DFRPG line because that's what they enjoy and run for their home games.  Though Sean Punch has kept expanding the Action line at a roughly equal pace to his DF books lately and Douglas Cole is working on an "Aliens/X-COM: UFO Defense" style line now too.

Then you have a 'stable' of maybe five to ten other authors who propose a book every six months to a year, usually in whatever niche they find most interesting.  So yeah, it might look like SJGames steering into "being D&D" because that's most of what's getting submitted.

If you look at their Wish List (http://www.sjgames.com/general...s/digital-wish-list/) there are 32 requested areas for submissions, DF/DFRPG is only one of them.

Bottom line, GURPS is a failing game system, it's being kept alive by two men (Steve Jackson and Sean Punch*) as a vanity project that makes the company (and those men) no money.


* And Douglas Cole, who shifted into running a business (Gaming Ballistic) that is all about putting out books for DF, TFT, and D&D and he's struggling to not go under as well.

regarding christopher rice, i'm on thin ice.

In reply to Chye Isuel (msg # 308):

Chris has had a bad couple of years.
fun fact, Punch, Rice, and I all share a diagnosis... as do Bahr and Finch.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 309):
aha!

I have been given three "Final Warnings" from Mr. Rice (about once a year I forget which of the three GURPS Facebook Fanpages I'm in and speak the verboten politics).  I suspect he doesn't actually keep a list, just you know, if you're egregious enough and talk politics or smack talk often enough, he'll remember and boot ya.

this time it was over my low opinion of d&d 5e, but i was already on his shit list, when i came out as a nationalist.