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You know, those letters were sent to his wife, who was sending letters back and was into this poo poo What I'm saying is that he was just a pervert with an active sex life and it's unfair to compare him to raperaperaperape statistics raperaperape
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Apr 26, 2017 19:25
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theironjef posted:We wanted to ride the zeitgeist of the Talislanta Kickstarter happening, so we covered Talislanta. Some other edition. It is impossible to read in a week, this is a lot like reading an RPG by James Joyce. At the risk of being a China Mieville fanboy, this reminded me of a less focused, more excited Mieville joint with it's wild abundance of different races. Specifically the Bas-Lag books, which had human protagonists (mostly) and a supporting cast of all sorts of poo poo. The "Roman Robots building stuff" was rad, sort of between the Construct Council and the Anophelii mosquito people. Which mostly just reminds me that I'm sad the Bas-Lag rpg never happened. Plus Mieville's work has the sweet sweet current of anti-capitalist sentiment in the background.
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Apr 26, 2017 21:04
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Oh, I'm sure the creator of Far West will put that license to use any time now.
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Apr 26, 2017 21:44
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ZorajitZorajit posted:At the risk of being a China Mieville fanboy, this reminded me of a less focused, more excited Mieville joint with it's wild abundance of different races. Specifically the Bas-Lag books, which had human protagonists (mostly) and a supporting cast of all sorts of poo poo. The "Roman Robots building stuff" was rad, sort of between the Construct Council and the Anophelii mosquito people. Which mostly just reminds me that I'm sad the Bas-Lag rpg never happened. Plus Mieville's work has the sweet sweet current of anti-capitalist sentiment in the background. I tried to find a "A China Mieville fan! Get him!" meme but apparently it's okay. I would have figured it would be easy what with the invective lobbed at me for liking Neal Stephenson.
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Apr 26, 2017 22:14
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The Bas-Lag RPG is impossible, the license is in the hands of Gareth Michael Skarka.
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Apr 26, 2017 22:33
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My only memories of Talislanta are asking about playing a sneaky assassin and getting pointed to one to some femme fatale race with poisoned lips. Never did actually play for some reason. 
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Apr 26, 2017 22:33
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Doresh posted:But which Element of Harmony is Batman's?! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26xxQcGDjxY
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Apr 26, 2017 23:31
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I'll be honest, I thought you were going to link this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2p02DfyzCE
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Apr 26, 2017 23:53
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theironjef posted:invective lobbed at me for liking Neal Stephenson.  Why would anyone hate you for liking Neal Stephenson? He writes enjoyable books.
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Apr 27, 2017 00:06
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LatwPIAT posted:
no you see only some kind of simpleton would read a book to have fun and furthermore
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Apr 27, 2017 00:20
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The most Joycean RPG is Unknown Armies, since Avatars are normal people reenacting mythical archetypes, just like the characters in Ulysses (there are even charts with their mythological correspondences to Humors/Numbers/Colors etc). I had an idea for a campaign where Dublin-based Bibliomancers & Cliomancers fought to preserve Dublin exactly as it was on Bloomsday, the date Ulysses takes place, but it might be too niche. And China Mieville somehow started his brilliantly weird worlds by playing standard D&D, but I'm not sure how.
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Apr 27, 2017 00:37
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Is taking things personally some inborn nerd trait, or is it something that we learn, and hopefully un-learn later? Because Jesus, I may have opinions on Stephenson's writing, but I'd never slag someone for enjoying it.
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Apr 27, 2017 00:58
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I think a lot of it is because of how deeply nerds tend to define themselves by the media they consume. If a nerd likes something, then they have trouble accepting any criticism of it, because they see it as an attack on themselves. On the other hand, if a nerd doesn't like something, then they feel attacked by the people who do like it.
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Apr 27, 2017 01:14
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I read Stephenson books to have a fun story and also kind of learn interesting asides (that may or may not be true - good to look that sort of thing up later). He puts a lot of research into his work but isn't afraid to change things for the sake of a story. But on a personal level he seems to lean a bit libertarian and while I don't think he's a neoreactionary, a lot of them use his terminology and language. And REAMDE was awful.
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Apr 27, 2017 01:19
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Bieeardo posted:Is taking things personally some inborn nerd trait, or is it something that we learn, and hopefully un-learn later? Because Jesus, I may have opinions on Stephenson's writing, but I'd never slag someone for enjoying it. It's the same identification instinct that drives people wear branded sports team jerseys (for cities they're not even from, even!) and then riot over how the team in question performs. Humans naturally seek to associate themselves with larger groups, and mutual consumption and interest is an easy route to that effect.
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Apr 27, 2017 01:43
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bewilderment posted:I read Stephenson books to have a fun story and also kind of learn interesting asides (that may or may not be true - good to look that sort of thing up later). He puts a lot of research into his work but isn't afraid to change things for the sake of a story.
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Apr 27, 2017 01:44
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I liked REAMDE. 
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Apr 27, 2017 01:53
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Talislanta seems pretty neat, but if you've got more than 15 races you should really offer race creation rules instead.
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Apr 27, 2017 03:34
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I generally enjoy Stephenson but all his books end way too abruptly. It's like his editor calls and tells him the book he's been writing for the last thirty months is due tomorrow at noon.
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Apr 27, 2017 03:42
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LatwPIAT posted:
his pacing is not great, his fans are insufferable, and he's turned into more and more of a obnoxious ron paul libertarian over time the second is connected to the third
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Apr 27, 2017 03:51
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also people have Strong Opinions about snow crash, whether the YT sex scene is glamorized rape and raven's whole... deal
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Apr 27, 2017 03:56
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Talislanta at least has substance to its weirdness. Jorune just used the cliche of giving stuff weird names to make things fantastical.
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Apr 27, 2017 03:57
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 Rifts World Book 10: Juicer Uprising, Part 13: "Sneaking into Los Alamo will brand the character as a dangerous monster invader who will be hunted down and either driven from the territory or slain."  A torso the size of all Texas. Let's power through ten pages of Texas. We'll get more than we'll ever need of that with Lone Star... Los Alamo By C.J. Carella with Kevin Siembieda Founded by survivors from the Texas National Guards and the regugees they'd rescued, Los Alamo is a largely human community with some mutant animals and D-Bees located near the ruins of Austin, Texas. However, they survived largely by creating a massive minefield they called the "Border", but they started to open up to caravans a half-century ago. Just a few years ago, they finally developed formal relations with surrounding communities, but turned down an offer by Lone Star to join the Coalition. The Pecos Empire and vampire raiders are disorganized but recurring threats to the city. No talk of a border wall. Located near the Colorado river, they largely rely on a otherdimensional plant they call the "Purple Pine" that only vaguely looks like a pine. They harvest fruits known as "purples", which are a citrus-like cruit that's a staple food due to the plant's ability to grow in the arid climate. Packs of ostrosaurs (not-velociraptors) are a local menace. Originally run by so-called "robber barons" who were elite landowners and ranchers, the wealthy leaders of the community just took on the name of "barons". The governor role is held by a the B.I.C. (Baron-in-Chief), which is an inherited position, but the B.I.C. can choose whoever they want as their heir. The current B.I.C. is Morris Mellon, a gold-digger that married into wealth and believes in open trade for the city. He gets to appoint a number of officials, while there are elected Councilmen who handle minor administrative tasks like dog catching or garbage collection. Trials are short and Texan, and repeat offenses tend to get offenders in a minefield without a map. It's a modern modest city, and even has a train that now travels to other nearby communities. They've also been importing a lot of weapons (mainly Northern Gun), but recently the Naruni arrived and struck a deal with the B.I.C. that resulted in the majority of their arms now being Naruni. In fact, the reason the Coalition was rebuffed was that Los Alamo didn't want to break their agreement with the Naruni. Having raided a military facility near Austin, Los Alamo gained the technology to produce Juicers and has used it since its inception. Now, there are no less than ten "body chop-shops", and Titan Juicers and Psi-Hound Juicers were first made here. They're considered to be local heroes that sacrifice their lives for the defense of the community, regardless of the modern reality of Juicer culture. In turn, many Juicers feel a sense of community responsibility and tend to police the worst amongst themselves. Because Los Alamo is fairly desirable to live in, they have a strict immigration and vagrancy laws, but that doesn't stop illegals from moving into the rougher areas of town where they avoid notice. Humans tend to dominate and D-Bees tend to receive prejudice due to past conflicts with monsters and the Pecos Empire. However, racism tends to be covert and pervasive rather than overt or violent. Similarly, they tolerate but don't care for magic, and magic-related crimes tend to receive more severe punishment. Psychics are treated more fairly, considered to be a "natural" phenomenon. Most civilians are familiar with combat due to ongoing small-scale conflicts, apparently, and know how to fend for themselves more often than not. We get a long breakdown of their units from armored companies to air wings. Unlike the writeup for Kingsdale, none of them particularly have any character, it's just a list of troop types and percentages and-   Pillbox is smaller than the fence. Places of Interest Once again, only what's interesting to bring up.
That's Los Alamo, we're not done with communities yet, but randomly we get:  That Uprising isn't in the text yet, slow down, Crazy Lou! Notes Regarding Juicers & Other Kingdoms Skipping some of the ones already covered here.
Alien Rope Burn fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Apr 27, 2017 |
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Apr 27, 2017 05:07
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Seveneves is two books, one that's really good and one that's 200 pages of orbital mechanics and insanely stupid future-racism. Uh, something thread-relevant. Really enjoying the 13th Age dissection. Like it when the reviews talk about how the mechanics fit together and work (or don't always, in 13th Age's case). I never could quite get my head around how to use the icon die - even as a full storygamer swine, I just didn't get what it was supposed to represent or how to use it.
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Apr 27, 2017 05:26
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BinaryDoubts posted:Really enjoying the 13th Age dissection. Like it when the reviews talk about how the mechanics fit together and work (or don't always, in 13th Age's case). I never could quite get my head around how to use the icon die - even as a full storygamer swine, I just didn't get what it was supposed to represent or how to use it. That's because it isn't actually very well defined and honestly, a lot of stuff it does is stuff that's better done by talking to your players and finding ways to use their Icon choices as a guideline rather than rolling dice to see if their section of the plot actually comes up today. I mean I guess they're fine for if you prefer to improv more, but given how you need to fairly carefully plan out fights and ration healing and all, I find 13A really isn't a very good game to go full improv on.
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Apr 27, 2017 05:53
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I think the biggest piece of information missing from ARB's Juicer Uprising review is how many Teslas each Juicer type can lift.
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Apr 27, 2017 12:36
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For a moment I thought you were referring to that stupid juicer appliance that's on the news lately. If the Juicero could lift cars it might be worth the price. E: was there ever a kitchen appliances RPG? By popular demand fucked around with this message at 12:50 on Apr 27, 2017 |
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Apr 27, 2017 12:41
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Cease to Hope posted:his pacing is not great, his fans are insufferable, and he's turned into more and more of a obnoxious ron paul libertarian over time That's a good reason to hate Mr Stephenson, less of a good reason to hate people who like his books.
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Apr 27, 2017 12:50
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Mors Rattus posted:The Bas-Lag RPG is impossible, the license is in the hands of Gareth Michael Skarka. Who is Gareth Michael Skarka?
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Apr 27, 2017 13:05
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PurpleXVI posted:Who is Gareth Michael Skarka? The author behind Far West http://www.isfarwestoutyet.com/ quote:Far West is 1945 days past the Kickstarter deadline.
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Apr 27, 2017 13:07
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PurpleXVI posted:Who is Gareth Michael Skarka? For twelve years, you have been asking: Who is Gareth Michael Skarka?
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Apr 27, 2017 13:07
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I know of him only because of the big flamewar he had.
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Apr 27, 2017 13:13
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Horrible Lurkbeast posted:E: was there ever a kitchen appliances RPG?
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Apr 27, 2017 13:51
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PurpleXVI posted:Who is Gareth Michael Skarka? He's a guy who doesn't release games and gets very mad at people who ask him what he did with the kickstarter funds for said games. EDIT: I just looked up what he's been doing lately and he's still playing the victim complaining about the backers being mean to him, five years after Far West was supposed to release. ZeroCount fucked around with this message at 14:33 on Apr 27, 2017 |
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Apr 27, 2017 14:29
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So, FATAL & Friends, I have some ...developments... that I'm going to share here. I'm running MAID tomorrow. The table is myself, two guys, and two girls. Our D&D campaign wrapped in early February and this is our gag session / get back together for the first time. We've agreed to go 'weapons free', for lack of a better term. All the weird poo poo is on the table, everyone has been made aware of what they're in for and that they can back out at any time. There may be safe words. The setting will be a demonic library from the D&D campaign, I'll be reprising my role as the sex-positive, succubus librarian. I'm open to any suggestions as to what I should have on hand to include. Gin is already on hand.
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Apr 27, 2017 15:07
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A bunch of d6s and a pizza should be fine, if everyone knows what they're getting into?
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Apr 27, 2017 15:17
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Horrible Lurkbeast posted:For a moment I thought you were referring to that stupid juicer appliance that's on the news lately. He was, one of the gimmick lines of the Juicero was that it gave off four tons of force, "enough to lift two Teslas". I think it's pretty much a given, however, that Juicer could certainly squeeze a Juicero bag by hand. So at least two Teslas. ZorajitZorajit posted:So, FATAL & Friends, I have some ...developments... that I'm going to share here. I'm running MAID tomorrow. The table is myself, two guys, and two girls. Our D&D campaign wrapped in early February and this is our gag session / get back together for the first time. We've agreed to go 'weapons free', for lack of a better term. All the weird poo poo is on the table, everyone has been made aware of what they're in for and that they can back out at any time. There may be safe words. MAID doesn't naturally generate much creep unless you're using Table 51b, the Trauma or Complexes tables, the Seduction rules, the Items table... which may sound like a lot, but all of that stuff is Optional with a capital "O", so it's up to you how deep you want to dive. Though the term "Lolita" was probably inadvisable to use in character generation, regardless of the actual intent. That's not a defense of the game's creep, but just pointing out it's relatively easy to avoid some of the more problematic elements depending on how you want to roll.
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Apr 27, 2017 16:58
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I want to give the benefit of the doubt to Ewen Cluny and assume he at least meant 'lolita fashion' rather than the other meaning, even if the author may not have. E: it is so weird to me that the Japanese guy who wrote Maid also wrote Golden Sky Stories.
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Apr 27, 2017 17:01
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Mors Rattus posted:I want to give the benefit of the doubt to Ewen Cluny and assume he at least meant 'lolita fashion' rather than the other meaning, even if the author may not have. It basically refers to a character that looks young, small, or cute. Which absolutely has some problems when put alongside adjectives like sexy, but the player can interpret it in less skeevy ways. If you think that's weird, then... y'know, I'm not even going to mention it. Yeah, it's weird.
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Apr 27, 2017 17:16
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Oh, I'm sure dude's done some other real weird stuff. It's kind of fascinating.
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Apr 27, 2017 17:20
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