I am just wondering what you'd want in the core book, does it need a pre-built superhero city?
Superhero Cities: Do you need one in the core book
mardi 30 septembre 2014
Superhero Cities: Do you need one in the core book
Superhero Cities: Do you need one in the core book
Tire Rack -- Up to $50 Rebate on Select Set of 4 Winter Snow Tires
Hi All:
We are entering that time of year again...
Tire Racks Get Ready Get Fifty
When you purchase a set of four (4) select winter / snow tires you may be eligible to receive up to a $50 Tire Rack Prepaid MasterCard® by mail. Offer valid on tires purchased from Tire Rack’s in-stock inventory between 12:00 a.m. EDT August 18, 2014 and 11:59 p.m. EDT September 29, 2014.
Offer valid only in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (includes APO/FPO addresses) while supplies last. The offer does not apply to Canadian residents.
Get Ready Get Fifty
Wayne
We are entering that time of year again...
Tire Racks Get Ready Get Fifty
When you purchase a set of four (4) select winter / snow tires you may be eligible to receive up to a $50 Tire Rack Prepaid MasterCard® by mail. Offer valid on tires purchased from Tire Rack’s in-stock inventory between 12:00 a.m. EDT August 18, 2014 and 11:59 p.m. EDT September 29, 2014.
Offer valid only in the 50 United States and the District of Columbia (includes APO/FPO addresses) while supplies last. The offer does not apply to Canadian residents.
Get Ready Get Fifty
Wayne
Tire Rack -- Up to $50 Rebate on Select Set of 4 Winter Snow Tires
MU NBA Fantasy League 2014 - The League
The League 2014
Fantasy Basketball is al enkele jaren een begrip op MU en met het nieuwe seizoen in aantocht is het tijd dat we hier weer over gaan nadenken. Vorig jaar won
The League
Misschien zijn sommigen van jullie bekend met de comedy serie The League. In deze serie draait het leven van een aantal mensen compleet op Fantasy Football. Alhoewel dit uiteraard geen doel is om naar te streven, denk ik wel dat het misschien een goed idee is om onze league ietsjes interactiever te maken dan in de afgelopen jaren het geval was. Iedereen begint altijd fanatiek, maar na een verloop van tijd wordt er niet meer actief naar lineups gekeken en naar mooie Free Agent pickups. Daarnaast, hoeveel trades hebben we nu gezien in de afgelopen jaren? Misschien een keer een leuke weddenschap met als inzet een bepalende speler? Een beetje smack-talking als je je tegenstander in OT van de laatste speelronde hebt verslagen? Daarom wil ik jullie graag vragen of mensen van jullie interesse hebben in een Fantasy League whatsapp of Skype groep. Dit houdt iedereen scherp en geeft net dat extra element aan de Fantasy League. Uiteraard is dit maar een hersenspinsel, ik hoor graag jullie mening hierover. :)
Deelnemers:
1. Roprop
2.
3.
4.
5.
......
Graag hoor ik bij jullie inschrijving hoe jullie tegenover een dergelijk The League idee zijn en ook op welke avonden jullie normaliter beschikbaar zullen zijn voor een online draft.
De Fantasy League wordt gespeeld via de ESPN Fantasy site:
http://ift.tt/1vveebj
Spoiler for Mentions:
MU NBA Fantasy League 2014 - The League
RPGPundit Interviewed by German website
Aktion-abenteuer, a major German rpg forum/site has interviewed me. The english version is available here.
I don't know why the Germans like me so much, but they do. "Forward... to Adventure!" was bigger there than anywhere else, and even had its own German-language forum.
RPGpundit
I don't know why the Germans like me so much, but they do. "Forward... to Adventure!" was bigger there than anywhere else, and even had its own German-language forum.
RPGpundit
RPGPundit Interviewed by German website
[Savage Worlds] The Last Parsec Kickstarter
Pinnacle Entertainment Group, creators of the award-winning tabletop roleplaying game Savage Worlds, launched a Kickstarter project for The Last Parsec on Tuesday, September 23, 2015. You can find the Kickstarter page here: http://ift.tt/1q8ZBu0
The Last Parsec is a space exploration setting using the Savage Worlds Science Fiction Companion. A free 12-page document (The Last Parsec Primer) detailing the setting rules and background information on playing characters in The Last Parsec is available at http://ift.tt/1vv49v1 .
The Kickstarter for The Last Parsec offers print and PDF access to three setting books, a Game Master Screen with an adventure, 9 miniatures, 2 double-sided ship maps, Bennies (poker chips), and a double deck of playing cards. Stretch goals include a soundtrack by Harry Mack, Wild Dice, archetypes, more adventures, printable paper miniatures, a JumpCorp Requisition Kit with forms, ID cards, and death certificates, and finally the potential to unlock additional miniatures.
Pinnacle President Shane Hensley discussed some of the inspiration behind The Last Parsec in the first of several Design Diary releases, located here: http://ift.tt/1vv49v1
Here is a snippet from that document:
Imagine the awe and wonder of discovering an intelligent being. Or even some wild and terrifying animal. And that's what The Last Parsec is all about.
It's not hard science fiction or military science fiction or even space opera.
It's exploration science fiction where an explorer and her companions can be the first to step into the boundless void and discover things beyond our wildest dreams. It’s a setting where you can play alien races humanity has already encountered and experience the awe and wonder of the possible.
The sheer size of The Last Parsec also means that we wanted it to be something like a “sandbox”—or more appropriately, a “starbox”—game where Game Masters can make their own worlds, armies, societies, monsters, races, and adventures.
Savage Worlds was created by Shane Lacy Hensley. Savage Worlds, as well as The Last Parsec and the Pinnacle logo are all trademarks of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. For more information, visit www.peginc.com or contact Jodi Black, Marketing Manager for Pinnacle, at PEGJodi@gmail.com.
The Last Parsec is a space exploration setting using the Savage Worlds Science Fiction Companion. A free 12-page document (The Last Parsec Primer) detailing the setting rules and background information on playing characters in The Last Parsec is available at http://ift.tt/1vv49v1 .
The Kickstarter for The Last Parsec offers print and PDF access to three setting books, a Game Master Screen with an adventure, 9 miniatures, 2 double-sided ship maps, Bennies (poker chips), and a double deck of playing cards. Stretch goals include a soundtrack by Harry Mack, Wild Dice, archetypes, more adventures, printable paper miniatures, a JumpCorp Requisition Kit with forms, ID cards, and death certificates, and finally the potential to unlock additional miniatures.
Pinnacle President Shane Hensley discussed some of the inspiration behind The Last Parsec in the first of several Design Diary releases, located here: http://ift.tt/1vv49v1
Here is a snippet from that document:
Imagine the awe and wonder of discovering an intelligent being. Or even some wild and terrifying animal. And that's what The Last Parsec is all about.
It's not hard science fiction or military science fiction or even space opera.
It's exploration science fiction where an explorer and her companions can be the first to step into the boundless void and discover things beyond our wildest dreams. It’s a setting where you can play alien races humanity has already encountered and experience the awe and wonder of the possible.
The sheer size of The Last Parsec also means that we wanted it to be something like a “sandbox”—or more appropriately, a “starbox”—game where Game Masters can make their own worlds, armies, societies, monsters, races, and adventures.
Savage Worlds was created by Shane Lacy Hensley. Savage Worlds, as well as The Last Parsec and the Pinnacle logo are all trademarks of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. For more information, visit www.peginc.com or contact Jodi Black, Marketing Manager for Pinnacle, at PEGJodi@gmail.com.
[Savage Worlds] The Last Parsec Kickstarter
Chrysler to double Ram 1500 EcoDiesel production
Michael Wayland - DETROITNEWS - September 30, 2014
Chrysler Group LLC announced plans Tuesday to double production of its Ram 1500 EcoDiesel.
The Auburn Hills automaker said it will increase production of the diesel pickup from 10 percent to 20 percent of its light-duty pickup mix.
Bob Hegbloom, Ram Truck president and CEO, said there’s high demand for the diesel because of its fuel economy and exclusivity.
“Innovation sometimes comes with risk, but being first to market with a diesel engine for the half-ton segment has shown to be a great decision for the Ram brand,” he said in a statement.
Chrysler is the only automaker offering a diesel engine in a light-duty pickup in the U.S. The vehicle features a 3.0-liter V6 diesel engine capable of 240 horsepower, 420 pound-feet of torque and 28 miles per gallon.
When the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel opened for orders earlier this year, Chrysler received more than 8,000 orders within three days, which quickly filled the initial allocation for the powertrain. Nearly 60 percent of all Ram 1500 EcoDiesel sales are customers who formerly bought from the competition, according to Chrysler.
“The Ram 1500 EcoDiesel is a game-changer in the industry, and has proved to be a key to conquest sales over our competitors,” Hegbloom said.... [Read More]
Chrysler to double Ram 1500 EcoDiesel production
[Cartoon Action Hour: S3] Steven Long's Crusaders of Sarillon is Here!
Spectrum Games is proud to announce the release of Crusaders of Sarillon, Steven S. Long’s series book PDF for the Cartoon Action Hour: Season 3 roleplaying game.
In this series, there exists a wondrous land of both sorcery and science! For years, its people have been crushed under the brutal rule of the Council of Shadows – seven evil men and women who use their power to take what they please and destroy any who dare to stand against them. But now, the eerie Eternity Portal has brought several heroes from the mysterious realm called “Earth” to fight for the people of Sarillon and free them from oppression!
• Setting information, including a full history and write-ups of the various lands.
• Full page map of Sarillon.
• Write-ups and stats for 7 Game Master Characters, 7 types of Goons and 4 ready-to-play Player Characters.
• Details for creating your own Player Characters, including a brand new Special Rule called "Portal Power".
• Four episode seeds.
Crusaders of Sarillon can be purchased here: http://ift.tt/1rpEuo9
In this series, there exists a wondrous land of both sorcery and science! For years, its people have been crushed under the brutal rule of the Council of Shadows – seven evil men and women who use their power to take what they please and destroy any who dare to stand against them. But now, the eerie Eternity Portal has brought several heroes from the mysterious realm called “Earth” to fight for the people of Sarillon and free them from oppression!
• Setting information, including a full history and write-ups of the various lands.
• Full page map of Sarillon.
• Write-ups and stats for 7 Game Master Characters, 7 types of Goons and 4 ready-to-play Player Characters.
• Details for creating your own Player Characters, including a brand new Special Rule called "Portal Power".
• Four episode seeds.
Crusaders of Sarillon can be purchased here: http://ift.tt/1rpEuo9
[Cartoon Action Hour: S3] Steven Long's Crusaders of Sarillon is Here!
lundi 29 septembre 2014
TheRPGsite needs to do a Secret Santa Swap.
Or a secret whatever.
Anyway, way back in the mists of time TBP did an RPG swap that was completely blind, you just sent random stuff to a random person and got a random package from them/someone else.
It was awesome, you ended up getting stuff you'd never buy otherwise and stuff you didn't even knew existed. Meanwhile you got to share stuff you picked up at some point with someone else.
Of course because people are terminally fucking lame it changed to a general trading deal. Stupid.
Anyway, we need to do it.
This thread is to plan it out and try and get some volunteers to help organize it.
What do you all think?
Anyway, way back in the mists of time TBP did an RPG swap that was completely blind, you just sent random stuff to a random person and got a random package from them/someone else.
It was awesome, you ended up getting stuff you'd never buy otherwise and stuff you didn't even knew existed. Meanwhile you got to share stuff you picked up at some point with someone else.
Of course because people are terminally fucking lame it changed to a general trading deal. Stupid.
Anyway, we need to do it.
This thread is to plan it out and try and get some volunteers to help organize it.
What do you all think?
TheRPGsite needs to do a Secret Santa Swap.
[FM14] Leven na de leegloop
Feyenoord is leeg. De topscorer en drie dragende verdedigers zijn weggekocht door grote, buitenlandse clubs. Ook Koeman is vertrokken en het Rotterdamse schip lijkt langzaamaan te zinken. Is al het werk van de afgelopen periode voor niets geweest? Staat Feyenoord dan weer met lege handen aan het einde van de rit? De inmiddels in Rotterdam gepokt en gemazelde interim-trainer Van Vlokhoven zal er de komende periode alles aan doen om het roer om te gooien voor Feyenoord. Er is weinig geld, maar veel ambitie. Kan Feyenoord de leegloop overleven?
Spoiler for Uitleg:
[FM14] Leven na de leegloop
VWs All-new 2016 Passat PHEV
Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Sept. 29, 2014
2016 VW Passat PHEV-20? – Pricing and EPA may be a while.
Next week VW will be introducing the 2016 European Passat PHEV at the 2014 Paris Motor Show. Equipped with the latest fuel efficient drivetrain and advanced assistance and infotainment systems, it is a new design with more exciting proportions. The all-new eighth generation is currently being launched in Europe and the first Passat PHEV will be following soon after.
The GTE combines a direct injected and turbocharged 156 hp 1.4L engine (TSI) with a 113 hp electric motor mated to a 6-speed DSG, and supplied with energy from a 9.9 kWh Li-Ion battery. No idea if that is total capacity ot useable yet. Total system output is 215 hp which is far more than plenty for a midsize with a 20 + mile All-electric Range (AER).
Additional hybrid drive include the power electronics (converts DC power from the battery to AC power for the electric motor) and a charger. An electro-mechanical brake servo and an electric A/C compressor.
In Europe, the Passat GTE is rated to cover up to 31 miles with a 4.8 kWh/mile rating when on the plug so expect maybe 20 miles on the EPA when/if it arrives on our shores? It eventually will. ;)
The Drivetrain
Another data point is an 8-second to 60 blast, an 80.6 mph top speed on the pack, and a 136 mph from the combined. Again, far more than you would ever need on any road in the world.
Passat GTE Charging
There are two different ways to charge the battery via the charging socket in the radiator grille. The standard charging cable is plugged into a European specific 230V socket. The battery is then charged by alternating current (AC) at 2.3 kW. From completely flat, it can be fully charged in four hours and 15 minutes. An optional Level2 charger can charge the car at 3.6 kW or from flat to full in two hours and 30 minutes. 9 kWh so maybe the 9.9 kWh pack is total and 9 is useable?
The Charge Port
Passat GTE Standard Features
The Passat GTE includes LED headlights (for dipped beam and main beam), Driver Alert System, Automatic Post-Collision Braking system, Front Assist ambient monitoring system including City Emergency Braking function, rain sensor, the ParkPilot for the front and rear, chrome strips on the side windows and comfort seats in the front.
Passat GTE Exterior Appointments
Unique to the GTE is a chrome grille with an additional blue line. The front bumper includes cross panels in the lower air inlet and a C-shaped LED DRL. The LED modules integrated directly in the bumper. From the profile, unique 17-inch alloys are a PHEV standout.
Passat GTE Interior
Inside the Passat GTE is equipped with VWs "Composition Media" infotainment system and an instrument cluster (with power meter) standard. In addition, the Active Info Display with specific displays will be also available as an option for the Passat GTE. Other details include the blue ambient lighting, leather-trimmed multifunction steering wheel with blue decorative stitching, GTE-specific gear knob with blue stitching and seats covered in "Sevilla" cloth with blue highlights have also been especially configured to the Passat GTE. It also incorporates a “Waves” design (aluminum look) and "Piano Black" (high-gloss black) as well as a GTE logo in front of the gear shift gate.
The new Passat GTE makes use of the brands "CAR-NET e-Remote" app that you can see the current SoC, remote cool or heat the interior, see drive data, last parking position, and even remote start although I hope you understand then futility of that last activity.
Nicest VW interior yet!
Passat GTE Instruments
The new Passat GTE will include a high-res 6.5 inch display. An optional "Discover Media" with the same 6.5 inch and "Discover Pro" with an 8.0-inch display radio-navigation are available. Both devices feature a "range monitor", an "energy flow indicator", "zero-emission statistics", "e-manager" and – when the optional navigation system is installed – the "360° range" feature.
The GTEs instrument cluster has been designed as a full interactive display with all instruments implemented virtually. Navigation information can be shown in 2-D or 3-D on a 12.3-inch display. In Navigation mode, the speedometer and tachometer are relocated to the sides to make more room for the map display. Information on driving, navigation and assistance functions can be integrated into the graphic areas of the speedometer and tachometer as needed. Data that is displayed on the center console via the infotainment system, such as phone contact pages or CD covers, can also be shown in the Active Info Display in the Passat. In fact, the driver can find all information relevant to driving in his direct field of view. As described above, he can pull up important data he needs according to the situation at hand and then use it in an individually selected display.
Passat GTE Modes
The Passat GTE can be driven in four different modes. "E-Mode", "Hybrid", "Battery Charge" and "GTE". The driver can always see which mode is active on the multifunction display of the instrument cluster.
Upon starting the car, the Passat GTE drives automatically in the "E-Mode" (except when the battery is not sufficiently charged or the outside temperature is very low, in which case the TSI takes over immediately). When a minimum charge level of the battery has been reached or when there is very high demand for power, the drive system automatically switches over to the "Hybrid" mode. In this state, "E-Mode" is deactivated, and the Passat GTE now behaves like a classic full hybrid vehicle that charges the battery regeneratively during deceleration and automatically uses the TSI and/or electric motor. The SoC is maintained at a constant level in this mode. By pressing the "E-Mode" button (to the left of the gear knob), the driver can manually switch to "E-Mode." This button opens simultaneously a selection window in the infotainment system, in which the three "E-Mode", "Hybrid" and "Battery Charge" modes can be directly selected.
"Battery Charge" via menu. In addition to the "E-Mode" and "Hybrid" modes, you can set another mode via the infotainment system menu, as described: "Battery Charge" (charge the battery). In this mode, the high-voltage battery is charged during the drive.
By pressing the "GTE" button (also to the left of the gear knob), the driver can switch to "GTE" mode which activates the very sporty nature of the agile Passat GTE. The driver (and all passengers) notice the following: The characteristics of the accelerator pedal, gearbox and steering are made sportier. In connection with optional DCC, the chassis is firmer. The tuning of the TSI is also more performance oriented. In addition, in the "GTE" mode the TSI and electric motor work together, in what is known as "boosting", to make the full system power and the maximum system torque available.
The Passat GTE will be launched in the second half of next year as a sedan and wagon in Europe. We will see the Audi A3 e-tron PHEV hatch using a very similar drivetrain first with the Passat GTE PHEV “possibly” arriving here in the U.S. when VW releases the 8th Gen Passat here in late 2015/early 2016 as a best guess. My speculation on the timings if at all s take that with a grain of salt.
For more on the 2015/2016 Passat, consider the following.
2015/2016 VW Passat Early Preview
The Sedan and Wagon
And the wagon? Probably not as the Jetta Wagon will fill that niche.
VWs All-new 2016 Passat PHEV
"Ancient Buddhism": as Invented by Victorians and Ex-Hippies
Unless you are at least moderately involved in meditation, Buddhism, eastern spirituality or the new age, there's probably no chance you've heard that S.N. Goenka has died. You won't even know who he is.
But there's a good chance he affected your life. If you have ever "tried" meditation at all, and it wasn't some wacky new-age guided visualization, there's a fairly good chance that it was HIS meditation. If you were ever doing anything related to "mindfulness" whether in a meditation class, as physical therapy, reading a book or article about it, or in a business seminar; if you've ever done "vipassana" meditation at all, it was his vipassana.
And I just about literally mean HIS; in the sense of being invented by him, or rather by his teacher's teacher's teacher and almost single-handedly brought to the west by Goenka. But this meditation was his and NOT, as you might have believed, invented by The Buddha Himself. Rather, it was an invention by part of what was called the "Buddhist Modernist" movement in southeast Asia.
Westerners tend to be very naive about Buddhism. Some of the more educated ones understand that there's more than one type of Buddhism and that these are fairly different; but even then there's this ridiculous assumption that somehow Buddhism doesn't have all the same kinds of problems that you see in western religions. They also assume that, unlike Christianity (which they are often quick to point out does not often seem to follow the original teachings of Jesus), somehow modern Buddhism is (with slight regional variations) the original and direct philosophy and practices of the Buddha that has (at the very least in terms of the central "point") remained pure and intact for 2500 years. The truth is that, as much as any other mainstream religion, 90% of Buddhism has nothing to do with its founder's intentions and everything to do with either serving to prop up local social paradigms (to give spiritual reinforcement to what a certain demographic thinks of as "good" or "how things ought to be") or just as often to serve as a tool for power-groups (priesthoods, governments, and sometimes businesses) to promote their particular agenda.
In the case of "Buddhist Modernism", it arose in the mid-1800s as an attempt to "reform" an Asian tradition that had fallen into profound decline, by infusing it with modern "rational" Western ideas in order to use it as a tool to resist imperialism and compete with Christian missionaries. It is as much inspired by German Philosophy and wacky western Theosophists than by the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha). Its not even that it was a "revision" of old meditation techniques. No, because by the 19th century when all this was happening (yes, vipassana meditation is only about 140 years old at best!) there had been no Southeast Asian monks practicing meditation for ages. Buddhist Monks at that time didn't meditate; they made offerings, prayers, funerals, exorcisms, maintained temples, recited and repeated sutras, gave blessings to people, houses, cows, etc. and generally acted as Priests. So the "meditation" of the Buddha was unknown ,and Goenka's teacher's grand-teacher Ledi Sayadaw had to INVENT "Vipassana" by a combination of trying to engage in guesswork from the old Buddhist scriptures (which no where give clear instruction on just HOW to meditate) and pulling ideas out of his own ass.
The attempt to "restore" meditation to Southeast Asian Buddhism (and likewise, to "erase superstition" from Zen Buddhism in Japan, where the Japanese government literally ordered the Zen Schools to use German Philosophers as their inspiration!) was in order to make it seem less like the "heathen superstition" that the European powers were calling it, and more like a "modern", "rational", "philosophical" and dare I say even "Scientific" system of practice!
In other words, the Buddhism of S. N. Goenka was Victorian Buddhism; invented as an important counter-colonial tool by those Asian states that resisted European influence, they "modernized" their religion in just the same way that they sought to modernize their industry, army, or education system. (note: this was not unique to Buddhism; something very similar happened with Hinduism in India for the very same reasons; and modern Hatha Yoga (what almost everyone thinks of as "yoga" today) has only existed within living human memory, as in: there are people alive today who are older than what most westerners think of as the "ancient traditional yoga" they do in their trendy studios or the local community hall)
None of this would be such a big deal, except that Goenka (along with a few other "Buddhist Modernist" fans of "rational" Buddhism) brought his techniques to the west, where in the 1960s it was widely embraced by the baby-boomer generation, and increasingly so in the 70s, 80s and 90s. And it was from this basis, and (falsely) attributing this as the authentic real-deal "teachings of the Buddha" to give it authority, that they created the western Buddhist Consensus paradigm.
The problem is: the Western Buddhist consensus sucks massive ass. Partly because of the Victorian sentiments of the main sources of inspiration for that consensus (Reformed Zen and Rationalist Vipassana Theraveda); and of course partially because the Baby Boomers felt that the Universe itself revolved around their Asses and therefore whatever their "values" were must be those of the Buddha.
What we've ended up with, increasingly so over the last 30 years, is a Buddhism that is almost useless. Its a Buddhism that doesn't talk about Enlightenment, or even Altered Consciousness. It only ever talks about "transformation" in the "self-help" sense of Pop Psychotherapy in terms of being emotionally stable or happy or more effective in business or better at relationships, and never in the sense of the transformation of consciousness into Enlightenment. It has thrown out a lot of superstition that was probably not very useful, sure, but its also thrown out some of the most basic elements of what made Buddhism work as an initiatory and esoteric system: the authenticity of the Enlightenment experience, Guru-yoga, Devotion; it has even largely downplayed the importance of concentration-states practices (which are the flipside of vipassana's "insight" and utterly essential to actual spiritual progress beyond a certain point; without concentration practice you just end up a go-nowhere meditative midget running around in the same circles over and over again). It has grotesquely twisted notions about the relationship between meditation and emotions; the Consensus has made it so that western Buddhists aren't supposed to "feel" anything too strongly; they're supposed to smile gently and talk about loving-kindness (never just LOVE, no; its always 'loving-kindness' which is a pathetic weasel-word) but in their eyes a successful Buddhist should never actually feel anything too strongly (that would be "overcoming attachment", if you're a Germano-Buddhist Rationalist philosopher, I guess; it has little to do with anything the Buddha was about). This has coincidentally led to a lot of would-be Buddhists getting very troubled when they find that they still feel strong emotions in spite of all the (spinning in circles, mostly worthless) vipassana they're doing, and those who don't just quit in frustration often choose to resolve this little inconvenience by a combination of emotional repression and putting on a fake attitude (which in fact is just about the opposite of what one would think to be the point).
To the Consensus Buddhists, "Buddha-nature" means just a general state of do-nothing vaguely-pleasant "niceness"; a softly breathing gently-talking starry-eyed slow-moving human-pandabear that spouts meaningless platitudes and doesn't ever feel very much or do very much. Its the opposite of the real concept of the Buddha: of the fully-realized human being. Its so far from the fullness of humanity it isn't even funny. Shit, its one "Om" away from a coma-victim.
And Goenka (again, along with a few other figures like Suzuki and Thich Naht Hanh) had a lot to do with this. Almost all the major players in modern Western Consensus Buddhism: people like Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Lama Surya Das, and all the other aging-hippie luminaries, were taught meditation by these guys. They're the ones who've taken over and been allowed to define western concepts of Buddhism, and even of meditation itself, and to define what is proper 'spiritual' behaviour or values; which most often have NOTHING to do with Enlightenment or with Buddhist values, but are rather a rehash of Baby-Boomer values: tolerance, niceness, distrust of authority, rejection of ritual or tradition, egalitarianism to the extreme, social justice and causes, the idea that no one's personal delusions can be criticized, an anti-intellectual bent, a rejection of discussion and debate as "not nice" in favor of the ridiculous idea that all systems and all religions are not just inherently similar but also equally "valid", and the fundamental belief that spirituality is All-About-Me (with the concurrent definition of "spiritual work" as being "working on yourself", and usually borrowing more heavily from modern pop psychology dressed up in eastern drag rather than any authentic eastern (or western) esoteric sources). It is the post-hippie set of values (what Ken Wilber called the "Green Meme", as in "what you're allowed to and expected to believe in if you're a Spiritual Progressive of 20th Century North-america" (be it a progressive Christian, Unitarian Universalist, Pagan/Wiccan, general new age practitioner, or most strains of westernized versions of eastern religion).
Those teachers and schools that did not come from this background of "Buddhist Modernism + Hippie Green Meme" have for the most part been either extremely marginalized, or have been in some way or another brought (or more aptly "bought") into the fold. The mainstream of Tibetan Buddhists, for example, have undergone a huge transformation from the 70s-era of intense Tantric teachers like Chogyam Trungpa, to a modern-day situation where they grossly downplay Tantric and other authentic practices in favor of selling classes and books that amount to westernized self-help guides full of empty platitudes about "the way to happiness" (usually involving "niceness") and Tibetan art-fairs, without any instruction of substance. In the case of the Tibetans, this was done largely because it suits the Dalai Lama's political agenda vis-a-vis his public image to win points in his struggle to free Tibet, and because there were Tibetan hardliners that weren't very keen on teaching westerners serious stuff anyways, and because the guys that teach the most serious tantric stuff were not from the Gelug lineage the Dalai Lama belongs to and there's a lot of internal politics and very old rivalries affecting things behind the scenes. And, frankly, because they realized there was WAY more money to be made, since there were WAY more westerners who wanted to pay for a Tibetan-themed new-age sideshow than there were westerners looking to do a lot of hard work in spiritual practice.
All this has had an effect beyond Buddhism's borders into all areas "alternative religion" in general.
There is, just now in the last decade, a counter-movement finally starting to emerge both within and without Buddhism, mostly spurred by the post-babyboomer generations that have come to feel that the vapid "niceness" of the Western Esoteric Consensus is shit. They want something more profound than that, and are willing to break the back of the enormous Consensus-machine to get it, with just as much determination as the baby-boomers themselves once had to break free of the paradigm the generation before them had expected them to buy into. It remains to be seen to what extent they might succeed.
Now, I'm not saying Goenka was a bad guy; or even that Buddhist Modernism was bad; or even that everything about the Baby-boomer Green Meme was bad. Goenka introduced millions of people to meditation, however limited his system might have been, and however much it might have been further warped by the Hippie bullshit; there's still probably a tremendous amount of good that came of it (shit, his writings were among the very first things I ever read on the subject of meditation, for which I'm grateful). Buddhist Modernism revived a dedication to meditation and stripped out a large amount (thousands of years worth) of superstitious and folkloric accumulated detritus from Asian Buddhism that had largely distorted it from the original purpose (though again, in turn it distorted it into a different direction). The Baby-boomers freed western culture from a shitload of uptight repression and tradition and instilled many new values that no one could reasonably argue aren't incredibly worthwhile.
Its just that, like anything else, in fact like the Buddha himself warned when he said (2500 years ago) that the authenticity of his teaching would last for about 500 years, and after that people should look elsewhere for Truth: the point gets distorted over time. Paradigms tend to rot if left on top of the heap for too long. And the sheer demographic push of the Baby-boomers has made their paradigm sit out in the sun for 20 years past its due-date.
Goenka was an amazing man. Few people make that much of an impact on the world, the kind of impact that can't be achieved by military or political or even economic power, but only by the power of ideas. And he did it with a sincere effort to do good. He was 90 years old when he died, and there's hardly a meditation practitioner alive, at least in the west, whom (whether they knew it or not) Goenka hadn't been influencing for their entire lives. But I kind of hope that with his passing, with the realization of his impermanence, we might finally get to see the impermanence of the notions that have come to be attached to the paradigm he helped greatly to impose on western alternative spirituality (and not just buddhism); and get some badly-needed reformation. I sure as hell hope we won't have to wait another four decades until we've finally seen the last of the baby boomers' stranglehold on western Buddhism.
RPGPundit
(originally posted October 1, 2013)
But there's a good chance he affected your life. If you have ever "tried" meditation at all, and it wasn't some wacky new-age guided visualization, there's a fairly good chance that it was HIS meditation. If you were ever doing anything related to "mindfulness" whether in a meditation class, as physical therapy, reading a book or article about it, or in a business seminar; if you've ever done "vipassana" meditation at all, it was his vipassana.
And I just about literally mean HIS; in the sense of being invented by him, or rather by his teacher's teacher's teacher and almost single-handedly brought to the west by Goenka. But this meditation was his and NOT, as you might have believed, invented by The Buddha Himself. Rather, it was an invention by part of what was called the "Buddhist Modernist" movement in southeast Asia.
Westerners tend to be very naive about Buddhism. Some of the more educated ones understand that there's more than one type of Buddhism and that these are fairly different; but even then there's this ridiculous assumption that somehow Buddhism doesn't have all the same kinds of problems that you see in western religions. They also assume that, unlike Christianity (which they are often quick to point out does not often seem to follow the original teachings of Jesus), somehow modern Buddhism is (with slight regional variations) the original and direct philosophy and practices of the Buddha that has (at the very least in terms of the central "point") remained pure and intact for 2500 years. The truth is that, as much as any other mainstream religion, 90% of Buddhism has nothing to do with its founder's intentions and everything to do with either serving to prop up local social paradigms (to give spiritual reinforcement to what a certain demographic thinks of as "good" or "how things ought to be") or just as often to serve as a tool for power-groups (priesthoods, governments, and sometimes businesses) to promote their particular agenda.
In the case of "Buddhist Modernism", it arose in the mid-1800s as an attempt to "reform" an Asian tradition that had fallen into profound decline, by infusing it with modern "rational" Western ideas in order to use it as a tool to resist imperialism and compete with Christian missionaries. It is as much inspired by German Philosophy and wacky western Theosophists than by the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha). Its not even that it was a "revision" of old meditation techniques. No, because by the 19th century when all this was happening (yes, vipassana meditation is only about 140 years old at best!) there had been no Southeast Asian monks practicing meditation for ages. Buddhist Monks at that time didn't meditate; they made offerings, prayers, funerals, exorcisms, maintained temples, recited and repeated sutras, gave blessings to people, houses, cows, etc. and generally acted as Priests. So the "meditation" of the Buddha was unknown ,and Goenka's teacher's grand-teacher Ledi Sayadaw had to INVENT "Vipassana" by a combination of trying to engage in guesswork from the old Buddhist scriptures (which no where give clear instruction on just HOW to meditate) and pulling ideas out of his own ass.
The attempt to "restore" meditation to Southeast Asian Buddhism (and likewise, to "erase superstition" from Zen Buddhism in Japan, where the Japanese government literally ordered the Zen Schools to use German Philosophers as their inspiration!) was in order to make it seem less like the "heathen superstition" that the European powers were calling it, and more like a "modern", "rational", "philosophical" and dare I say even "Scientific" system of practice!
In other words, the Buddhism of S. N. Goenka was Victorian Buddhism; invented as an important counter-colonial tool by those Asian states that resisted European influence, they "modernized" their religion in just the same way that they sought to modernize their industry, army, or education system. (note: this was not unique to Buddhism; something very similar happened with Hinduism in India for the very same reasons; and modern Hatha Yoga (what almost everyone thinks of as "yoga" today) has only existed within living human memory, as in: there are people alive today who are older than what most westerners think of as the "ancient traditional yoga" they do in their trendy studios or the local community hall)
None of this would be such a big deal, except that Goenka (along with a few other "Buddhist Modernist" fans of "rational" Buddhism) brought his techniques to the west, where in the 1960s it was widely embraced by the baby-boomer generation, and increasingly so in the 70s, 80s and 90s. And it was from this basis, and (falsely) attributing this as the authentic real-deal "teachings of the Buddha" to give it authority, that they created the western Buddhist Consensus paradigm.
The problem is: the Western Buddhist consensus sucks massive ass. Partly because of the Victorian sentiments of the main sources of inspiration for that consensus (Reformed Zen and Rationalist Vipassana Theraveda); and of course partially because the Baby Boomers felt that the Universe itself revolved around their Asses and therefore whatever their "values" were must be those of the Buddha.
What we've ended up with, increasingly so over the last 30 years, is a Buddhism that is almost useless. Its a Buddhism that doesn't talk about Enlightenment, or even Altered Consciousness. It only ever talks about "transformation" in the "self-help" sense of Pop Psychotherapy in terms of being emotionally stable or happy or more effective in business or better at relationships, and never in the sense of the transformation of consciousness into Enlightenment. It has thrown out a lot of superstition that was probably not very useful, sure, but its also thrown out some of the most basic elements of what made Buddhism work as an initiatory and esoteric system: the authenticity of the Enlightenment experience, Guru-yoga, Devotion; it has even largely downplayed the importance of concentration-states practices (which are the flipside of vipassana's "insight" and utterly essential to actual spiritual progress beyond a certain point; without concentration practice you just end up a go-nowhere meditative midget running around in the same circles over and over again). It has grotesquely twisted notions about the relationship between meditation and emotions; the Consensus has made it so that western Buddhists aren't supposed to "feel" anything too strongly; they're supposed to smile gently and talk about loving-kindness (never just LOVE, no; its always 'loving-kindness' which is a pathetic weasel-word) but in their eyes a successful Buddhist should never actually feel anything too strongly (that would be "overcoming attachment", if you're a Germano-Buddhist Rationalist philosopher, I guess; it has little to do with anything the Buddha was about). This has coincidentally led to a lot of would-be Buddhists getting very troubled when they find that they still feel strong emotions in spite of all the (spinning in circles, mostly worthless) vipassana they're doing, and those who don't just quit in frustration often choose to resolve this little inconvenience by a combination of emotional repression and putting on a fake attitude (which in fact is just about the opposite of what one would think to be the point).
To the Consensus Buddhists, "Buddha-nature" means just a general state of do-nothing vaguely-pleasant "niceness"; a softly breathing gently-talking starry-eyed slow-moving human-pandabear that spouts meaningless platitudes and doesn't ever feel very much or do very much. Its the opposite of the real concept of the Buddha: of the fully-realized human being. Its so far from the fullness of humanity it isn't even funny. Shit, its one "Om" away from a coma-victim.
And Goenka (again, along with a few other figures like Suzuki and Thich Naht Hanh) had a lot to do with this. Almost all the major players in modern Western Consensus Buddhism: people like Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Lama Surya Das, and all the other aging-hippie luminaries, were taught meditation by these guys. They're the ones who've taken over and been allowed to define western concepts of Buddhism, and even of meditation itself, and to define what is proper 'spiritual' behaviour or values; which most often have NOTHING to do with Enlightenment or with Buddhist values, but are rather a rehash of Baby-Boomer values: tolerance, niceness, distrust of authority, rejection of ritual or tradition, egalitarianism to the extreme, social justice and causes, the idea that no one's personal delusions can be criticized, an anti-intellectual bent, a rejection of discussion and debate as "not nice" in favor of the ridiculous idea that all systems and all religions are not just inherently similar but also equally "valid", and the fundamental belief that spirituality is All-About-Me (with the concurrent definition of "spiritual work" as being "working on yourself", and usually borrowing more heavily from modern pop psychology dressed up in eastern drag rather than any authentic eastern (or western) esoteric sources). It is the post-hippie set of values (what Ken Wilber called the "Green Meme", as in "what you're allowed to and expected to believe in if you're a Spiritual Progressive of 20th Century North-america" (be it a progressive Christian, Unitarian Universalist, Pagan/Wiccan, general new age practitioner, or most strains of westernized versions of eastern religion).
Those teachers and schools that did not come from this background of "Buddhist Modernism + Hippie Green Meme" have for the most part been either extremely marginalized, or have been in some way or another brought (or more aptly "bought") into the fold. The mainstream of Tibetan Buddhists, for example, have undergone a huge transformation from the 70s-era of intense Tantric teachers like Chogyam Trungpa, to a modern-day situation where they grossly downplay Tantric and other authentic practices in favor of selling classes and books that amount to westernized self-help guides full of empty platitudes about "the way to happiness" (usually involving "niceness") and Tibetan art-fairs, without any instruction of substance. In the case of the Tibetans, this was done largely because it suits the Dalai Lama's political agenda vis-a-vis his public image to win points in his struggle to free Tibet, and because there were Tibetan hardliners that weren't very keen on teaching westerners serious stuff anyways, and because the guys that teach the most serious tantric stuff were not from the Gelug lineage the Dalai Lama belongs to and there's a lot of internal politics and very old rivalries affecting things behind the scenes. And, frankly, because they realized there was WAY more money to be made, since there were WAY more westerners who wanted to pay for a Tibetan-themed new-age sideshow than there were westerners looking to do a lot of hard work in spiritual practice.
All this has had an effect beyond Buddhism's borders into all areas "alternative religion" in general.
There is, just now in the last decade, a counter-movement finally starting to emerge both within and without Buddhism, mostly spurred by the post-babyboomer generations that have come to feel that the vapid "niceness" of the Western Esoteric Consensus is shit. They want something more profound than that, and are willing to break the back of the enormous Consensus-machine to get it, with just as much determination as the baby-boomers themselves once had to break free of the paradigm the generation before them had expected them to buy into. It remains to be seen to what extent they might succeed.
Now, I'm not saying Goenka was a bad guy; or even that Buddhist Modernism was bad; or even that everything about the Baby-boomer Green Meme was bad. Goenka introduced millions of people to meditation, however limited his system might have been, and however much it might have been further warped by the Hippie bullshit; there's still probably a tremendous amount of good that came of it (shit, his writings were among the very first things I ever read on the subject of meditation, for which I'm grateful). Buddhist Modernism revived a dedication to meditation and stripped out a large amount (thousands of years worth) of superstitious and folkloric accumulated detritus from Asian Buddhism that had largely distorted it from the original purpose (though again, in turn it distorted it into a different direction). The Baby-boomers freed western culture from a shitload of uptight repression and tradition and instilled many new values that no one could reasonably argue aren't incredibly worthwhile.
Its just that, like anything else, in fact like the Buddha himself warned when he said (2500 years ago) that the authenticity of his teaching would last for about 500 years, and after that people should look elsewhere for Truth: the point gets distorted over time. Paradigms tend to rot if left on top of the heap for too long. And the sheer demographic push of the Baby-boomers has made their paradigm sit out in the sun for 20 years past its due-date.
Goenka was an amazing man. Few people make that much of an impact on the world, the kind of impact that can't be achieved by military or political or even economic power, but only by the power of ideas. And he did it with a sincere effort to do good. He was 90 years old when he died, and there's hardly a meditation practitioner alive, at least in the west, whom (whether they knew it or not) Goenka hadn't been influencing for their entire lives. But I kind of hope that with his passing, with the realization of his impermanence, we might finally get to see the impermanence of the notions that have come to be attached to the paradigm he helped greatly to impose on western alternative spirituality (and not just buddhism); and get some badly-needed reformation. I sure as hell hope we won't have to wait another four decades until we've finally seen the last of the baby boomers' stranglehold on western Buddhism.
RPGPundit
(originally posted October 1, 2013)
"Ancient Buddhism": as Invented by Victorians and Ex-Hippies
In need of photoshop skills (desperate)
I really apologize if this isn't topic appropriate or in the wrong place, but I don't know where else to put it. Below is a link to a rather beat up photo. Last Tuesday, my sister in law (in the photo) was killed by her abusive ex boyfriend at 32 years of age. I don't have the photoshop skills to make this photo look any better. Is there anyone out there who has the skills to at least do any kind of fixes to it? I would be eternally grateful.
http://ift.tt/1mHLIlZ
http://ift.tt/1mHLIlZ
In need of photoshop skills (desperate)
Lords of Olympus Question
Please note I know that Lords of Olympus is based upon the Amber DRPG system and I have been playing Amber DRPG on and off for over 20 years.
I am very confused about the nomenclature regarding the Gods in Lords of Olympus. For example Zeus has the following abilities:
EGO First Class +5
MIGHT Tied First Class +3
FORTITUDE Tied First Class +2
PROWESS Tied First Class +5
To be honest, and maybe I am stupid, but I have no idea what that means and I Have read character creation over 5 times! The Section on Page 10 Numbered Class does not clear this up at all.
The chart on page 230 is meaningless.
So any help would be appreciated. I can't even guess what this means.
In Amber we see characters have WARFARE of 250pts for example - but PROWESS (the LoO equivalent) of First Class +2 makes no sense.
Even Lords of Gossamer and Shadow gives you Ability Points to assist in things.
So any help please!
I am very confused about the nomenclature regarding the Gods in Lords of Olympus. For example Zeus has the following abilities:
EGO First Class +5
MIGHT Tied First Class +3
FORTITUDE Tied First Class +2
PROWESS Tied First Class +5
To be honest, and maybe I am stupid, but I have no idea what that means and I Have read character creation over 5 times! The Section on Page 10 Numbered Class does not clear this up at all.
The chart on page 230 is meaningless.
So any help would be appreciated. I can't even guess what this means.
In Amber we see characters have WARFARE of 250pts for example - but PROWESS (the LoO equivalent) of First Class +2 makes no sense.
Even Lords of Gossamer and Shadow gives you Ability Points to assist in things.
So any help please!
Lords of Olympus Question
Help me pick a new system
First time poster. So please be kind.
I'm getting back into RPGs having last dabbled over a decade ago. I recently purchased Dr. Who: AITAS, Terra Primate, and DC Adventures.
Gaming background:
I started RPGs with Palladium books, specifically Robotech and Rifts, then moved onto World of Darkness. Few times I've played D&D (one adventure of AD&D 2E, and two sessions of D&D 3E) and it's not my kind of game. I've also played L5R 1E on several occasions and I found it enjoyable and fondly recall a Shadowrun campaign that was my best experience as a player, credit to the GM.
The first book I've ever bought was GURPS, don't recall which edition, because I loved the idea of a system where I can play any setting or type of genre possible but it didn't do it for me.
Which leads to my question...I'm looking for a system in which I can do what GURPS does and would like suggestions from all here.
No disrespect to GURPS but not GURPS.
I don't like static levels like Palladium and D&D.
Many posts mention that superhero game like DCAdv (M&M) can do it but I'm looking for something different.
Savage Worlds also interested me but the criticisms I hear is that it doesn't do well at higher power levels. I might be wrong and if so please inform me.
Unisystem as I know it from Terra Primate and from what I've read seems like it might do the trick from lower levels like Buffy to higher levels like Armageddon. I read about Beyond Human and if it ever comes out it might be just exactly the system I'm looking for though I have never used Unisystem.
I read reviews of BESM (Tri-Stat?) because I felt anime does it all but can't get over the fact that it's only 3 stats.
Not interested in older systems like Basic or Hero System and interested in a newer system. Last I played was back in 99, maybe? So something after that. I like the way game systems are going from what I've read online.
And if anyone suggests a homebrew (I'm assuming that means my own system) I am not good enough to do that from the ground up but understanding that no system is perfect I'm sure that I am going to have house rules to any system I choose from your suggestions.
Sorry for the long post but I wanted the suggestions to not go all over the place and let it be known somewhat clearly of at least what I am not looking for and understand that I will have to have to houserule things.
In a sense I am looking for a system where in one campaign I can do street level heroes and in the next campaign I can do giant mecha or supermen being gods in a futuristic earth, or a mixture of both or whatever.
Thanks
oh and I also like to stick with a major publication if possible. I understand that there are a lot of good indy rpgs and some of their systems can probably be universal but it's another weird restriction of mine.
I'm getting back into RPGs having last dabbled over a decade ago. I recently purchased Dr. Who: AITAS, Terra Primate, and DC Adventures.
Gaming background:
I started RPGs with Palladium books, specifically Robotech and Rifts, then moved onto World of Darkness. Few times I've played D&D (one adventure of AD&D 2E, and two sessions of D&D 3E) and it's not my kind of game. I've also played L5R 1E on several occasions and I found it enjoyable and fondly recall a Shadowrun campaign that was my best experience as a player, credit to the GM.
The first book I've ever bought was GURPS, don't recall which edition, because I loved the idea of a system where I can play any setting or type of genre possible but it didn't do it for me.
Which leads to my question...I'm looking for a system in which I can do what GURPS does and would like suggestions from all here.
No disrespect to GURPS but not GURPS.
I don't like static levels like Palladium and D&D.
Many posts mention that superhero game like DCAdv (M&M) can do it but I'm looking for something different.
Savage Worlds also interested me but the criticisms I hear is that it doesn't do well at higher power levels. I might be wrong and if so please inform me.
Unisystem as I know it from Terra Primate and from what I've read seems like it might do the trick from lower levels like Buffy to higher levels like Armageddon. I read about Beyond Human and if it ever comes out it might be just exactly the system I'm looking for though I have never used Unisystem.
I read reviews of BESM (Tri-Stat?) because I felt anime does it all but can't get over the fact that it's only 3 stats.
Not interested in older systems like Basic or Hero System and interested in a newer system. Last I played was back in 99, maybe? So something after that. I like the way game systems are going from what I've read online.
And if anyone suggests a homebrew (I'm assuming that means my own system) I am not good enough to do that from the ground up but understanding that no system is perfect I'm sure that I am going to have house rules to any system I choose from your suggestions.
Sorry for the long post but I wanted the suggestions to not go all over the place and let it be known somewhat clearly of at least what I am not looking for and understand that I will have to have to houserule things.
In a sense I am looking for a system where in one campaign I can do street level heroes and in the next campaign I can do giant mecha or supermen being gods in a futuristic earth, or a mixture of both or whatever.
Thanks
oh and I also like to stick with a major publication if possible. I understand that there are a lot of good indy rpgs and some of their systems can probably be universal but it's another weird restriction of mine.
Help me pick a new system
Spel valt steeds uit sinds vanavond
Sinds vanavond loopt het spel bij mij steeds vast, ik krijg geen crash dump info maar kan de hele pc niets meer doen.
Op taakbeheer staat er dan bij fm spel reageert niet
Iemand die weet hoe ik dit op kan lossen?
Op taakbeheer staat er dan bij fm spel reageert niet
Iemand die weet hoe ik dit op kan lossen?
Spel valt steeds uit sinds vanavond
Hollands Hoop
Een nieuwe Nederlandse serie waarvan afgelopen zaterdag de eerste aflevering is geweest.
Wat me direct opviel en beviel aan de eerste aflevering is de naargeestige, macabere sfeer die heerst in de serie.
Ik ga niet te veel verklappen; de eerste aflevering kun je hier terugkijken: http://ift.tt/1mHcNG1
De serie is elke zaterdag om 21:00 uur te zien op Nederland 2 (of voor de betweters onder ons: NPO 2)
Wat me direct opviel en beviel aan de eerste aflevering is de naargeestige, macabere sfeer die heerst in de serie.
Ik ga niet te veel verklappen; de eerste aflevering kun je hier terugkijken: http://ift.tt/1mHcNG1
De serie is elke zaterdag om 21:00 uur te zien op Nederland 2 (of voor de betweters onder ons: NPO 2)
Hollands Hoop
[Draken Games] Argor Fantasy RPG
A newly released Fantasy RPG called Argor with 14 races, rules for lite play with Argor Lite, and a willingness to work with players and GMs of the game to grow the world.
http://ift.tt/1c5Fkjb
http://ift.tt/1c5Fkjb
[Draken Games] Argor Fantasy RPG
Ford’s Global LED Lighting Installations
Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Sept. 29, 2014
This morning Ford revealed it is investing in low carbon LED lighting at manufacturing facilities around the world. The new lights with a street value of more than $25 million, will save both energy and corporate $s while improving lighting quality.
The 25,000 new LED fixtures will replace traditional high-intensity discharge and fluorescent lights, and are expected to reduce Ford’s energy use at manufacturing facilities by 56 million kilowatt-hours annually!
That equates to an up to 70 percent reduction in lighting energy consumption and $7-million dollar reduction in cost per annum compared to current installed systems.
The real kicker is that maintenance should diminish, as high quality industrial LED lighting has a 15-year life expectancy and light output remains steady at less than 1 percent degradation per year over the life of the equipment vs. fluorescent and HID fixtures require re-lamping in as little as two years. LED lights also improves safety by lowering fire risks and provides a brighter work area, better uniformity and improved color perception.
In 2011, Ford embarked on an aggressive program to lower its energy use 25 percent per vehicle produced at its facilities by 2016. The company is well on its way toward meeting that goal, having achieved a 20 percent energy efficiency already.
In 2013, Ford selected Dialight, a leading LED industrial fixture manufacturer to develop light fixtures that met Ford’s production needs.
Work began the LED replacement program at its Dearborn Truck Plant late last and will continue the LED installation program through years end at 17 other Ford manufacturing facilities around the globe.
Ford’s Global LED Lighting Installations
Kia Optima Concept: Mild Hybridizing the Turbo Diesel in Europe
Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Sept. 29, 2014
The Optima Hybrid Turbo Diesel Mild Hybrid Animation.
Kia will reveal the new Kia Optima mild hybrid concept at the 2014 Paris Motor Show on October 2, the first application and demonstration of a new new mild hybrid powertrain.
The Kia Optima T-Hybrid (turbo hybrid) concept is powered by the existing 1.7L CRDi I4 turbo-diesel mated to a small electric motor and powered by a 48V “lead-carbon” battery. The diesel-electric powertrain concept enables full hybrid operation at low speeds and even when cruising according to the Kia release. “Glide-Mode” pretty please? Deceleration like all hybrids can provide regenerative braking which charges the pack.
Kia Optima Hybrid-T Lead-Carbon Battery
Like the innovative long lasting Li-Po battery in the current Optima Hybrid, Kia moved to a new energy storage solution for the mild hybrid called Lead-carbon. Unlike Li-Ion, they require no active cooling and are easier to recycle at the end of the unit’s lifecycle.
The vehicle features a stop-start system, and a new belt-driven starter generator similar to HSG on the current Hybrid drivetrain allowing low NVH starts. Whereas the Li-Po battery in the current Optima Hybrid reduces trunk capacity by 4.6 cu. ft. to just 10.8 cu. ft., the new battery is much smaller with a lower volume capacity reduction penalty. Actual cargo volume was not provided.
Kia Optima Hybrid-T Drivetrain
The system also allows the installation of an electric supercharger similar to Audi’s efforts for the 1.7L CRDi engine, in addition to the conventional turbocharger, providing improved power and torque at all engine speeds. The electric supercharger in particular helps to boost torque and engine response at low engine speeds.
Kia stated that the Optima T-Hybrid continues to be a development concept with no performance or fuel economy details to provide other than a 15 to 20 percent increase with the new powertrain over the current 134 hp 1.7L.
2015 Kia Optima Hybrid-T Turbo Diesel Mild Hybrid Concept
Kia emphatically stated there are no plans to produce the Kia Optima T-Hybrid yet it remains a consideration for the future lineup. Maybe even here in the U.S.?
Bring it on Kia, bring it on!
Kia Optima Concept: Mild Hybridizing the Turbo Diesel in Europe
Week of Sep 29 - Oct 05 2014 (Nat Avg: $3.337)
Average regular gas price is almost unchaged (-0.001) at $3.337 (6.8¢ lower than a year ago).
Diesel is down 1.9¢ to $3.738, 12% more than regular.
Prices in the UK have gone down over 0.6% to $7.937 for gas and $8.198 for diesel.
Have a great week everyone :D
__________________
No commute for me this week - car pooling :cool:
Diesel is down 1.9¢ to $3.738, 12% more than regular.
Prices in the UK have gone down over 0.6% to $7.937 for gas and $8.198 for diesel.
Have a great week everyone :D
__________________
No commute for me this week - car pooling :cool:
Week of Sep 29 - Oct 05 2014 (Nat Avg: $3.337)
2015 Fiat 500e Now in Oregon
Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG - Sept. 25, 2014
2015 Fiat 500e - $32,650 incl. D&H and better yet, $199 a month for 36 months with $999 up front and a class-leading 87 miles of AER.
Earlier this week Chrysler announced that the 2015 Fiat 500e is now available at FIAT studios in both California and Oregon for $199 a month over 36 months with $999 due at signing. Previously, 500e had been sold only in California as a compliance vehicle since 2013.
Of all the EVs I have driven to date, this one is the closet to providing fun with style and affordability.
Changes to the 2015 Fiat 500e include a redesigned center console with a new cup holder design and an additional, USB port. Two paint colors have been added for a total of seven.
500e Drivetrain
The 2014 Fiat 500e’s liquid-cooled/heated battery-electric drive system produces 111 hp and 147 lb.-ft of torque. The pack can be charged from a Level2 charger in less than four hours.
The 500e uses a “blended” braking strategy that combines both coasting and regenerative braking.
The position of its 24-kWh battery redistributes the car’s front-to-rear weight ratio – 57:43, compared with 64:36 for the conventionally powered Fiat 500. As a result, the car handles better as well.
2015 Fiat 500e Interior
Fiat 500e Alternative Transportation
As with the 2014, when 2015 500e owners need to drive beyond the vehicle’s range or need the carrying capability of a larger vehicle, the Fiat 500e retail plan provides an alternative transportation plan called the Fiat 500e Pass program.
The FIAT brand and Enterprise Holdings, owner and operator of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Alamo Rent A Car, and National Car Rental brands will provide purchasers and lessees up to 12 days of alternate transportation each year for the first three years after purchase.
2015 Fiat 500e Now in Oregon
dimanche 28 septembre 2014
[5e] Bloodlines..
Anyone have alternate bloodlines for 5E sorcerers? I started a game of it and the players mostly enjoyed it, but we have magic class-and I've overruled anything but Wizards at the moment, primarily because of the say dragons/magic work, and I don't like Warlocks at all.
Alternate bloodlines might work....but I'd like some suggestions..
Alternate bloodlines might work....but I'd like some suggestions..
[5e] Bloodlines..
[Amber] Play by Google: Tales from the Testlab
Finally running my first Amber game. After ages of letting ideas simmer on the back burner (re:procrastination), and some time lurking/posting on the forums, I've decided to heed the advice I've been given here, and "Just play the game".
I've been putting together the beginnings of my testlab game. I'll be running a short 3-5 session arc to get a feel for the system and work out what tweaks/changes I want to make before starting a long running campaign.
I have settings docs(I've chosen the 2-3 year imprisonment period of NPiA as the back drop. Eric's reign in Amber), a collection of possible hooks, and a quick-chart for current whereabouts and activities of the Elders in play. All saved to a game-folder on my google-drive.
Within the game folder I have individual folders for each player that only they and I have access to. This is a place for them to riff on character creation, and will eventually become the spot where they will submit any character contributions.
My plan is to run a group of 4-6 players in real-time gaming sessions via Google Hangouts 1-2 times per month.
I'm going to post in this thread here and report on how the game is going for my self and the players, and how well the Google platform is working for the purposes of the game itself.
My confirmed players:
Player 1: Long time friend. Has read the Amber series. Lots of DM/GM experience, highly creative and loves world building. Based in Colorado.
Player 2: Long time friend. Has read the series many times. Digs the improv and character work of RPGs. Based on Colorado
Player 3: Has not read the series, but has read tons of sci-fi/fantasy. Lots of DM/GM experience. Enjoys writing, and creative problem solving. Based in Minnesota
Testlab Mentor: Old friend that has both played and run Amber games. Agreed to play mentor for the test-lab. Help out myself and the players. I'm saving him a player-slot in the long term game (probably some bonus contribution points as well). What's nice about the arrangement is I have a veteran to help role play out scenes with a big bad, an elder, etc.
More to come. Still waiting on the last couple invites I have out before we schedule the auction. My plan is to leave about a month between the auction and the 1st session so everyone has plenty of time to ready themselves. Prior to the start of the game I plan for everyone to have created a Google Account for their character. The idea there being a hard line between player comments, and character input. My hope is that this will make it easier for the players to stay in character.
I've been putting together the beginnings of my testlab game. I'll be running a short 3-5 session arc to get a feel for the system and work out what tweaks/changes I want to make before starting a long running campaign.
I have settings docs(I've chosen the 2-3 year imprisonment period of NPiA as the back drop. Eric's reign in Amber), a collection of possible hooks, and a quick-chart for current whereabouts and activities of the Elders in play. All saved to a game-folder on my google-drive.
Within the game folder I have individual folders for each player that only they and I have access to. This is a place for them to riff on character creation, and will eventually become the spot where they will submit any character contributions.
My plan is to run a group of 4-6 players in real-time gaming sessions via Google Hangouts 1-2 times per month.
I'm going to post in this thread here and report on how the game is going for my self and the players, and how well the Google platform is working for the purposes of the game itself.
My confirmed players:
Player 1: Long time friend. Has read the Amber series. Lots of DM/GM experience, highly creative and loves world building. Based in Colorado.
Player 2: Long time friend. Has read the series many times. Digs the improv and character work of RPGs. Based on Colorado
Player 3: Has not read the series, but has read tons of sci-fi/fantasy. Lots of DM/GM experience. Enjoys writing, and creative problem solving. Based in Minnesota
Testlab Mentor: Old friend that has both played and run Amber games. Agreed to play mentor for the test-lab. Help out myself and the players. I'm saving him a player-slot in the long term game (probably some bonus contribution points as well). What's nice about the arrangement is I have a veteran to help role play out scenes with a big bad, an elder, etc.
More to come. Still waiting on the last couple invites I have out before we schedule the auction. My plan is to leave about a month between the auction and the 1st session so everyone has plenty of time to ready themselves. Prior to the start of the game I plan for everyone to have created a Google Account for their character. The idea there being a hard line between player comments, and character input. My hope is that this will make it easier for the players to stay in character.
[Amber] Play by Google: Tales from the Testlab
Firefly
So, a few years back Margaret Weis Productions got the license for Serenity, capitalizing on the recently released Geek Bait movie of the same name. MWP seems to specialize in licensed product, as I can't recall a single release of theirs that didn't come from someone else's creation. Even their first release, Sovereign Stone belonged to... um... (checks book...) Larry Elmore, back when they called themselves Corsair Publishing.
Serenity wasn't without problems, of course. The most glaring of which was the simple fact that the Geek Bait they'd licensed was only half the package, meaning they couldn't use anything from the TV show. Minor hitches like a lack of an initiative mechanic, or a decent character sheet* only acerbated the problem.
But honestly, the basic rules were fine, if showing a bit of their pre-D&D3e roots. Not everyone wants to adjust the size of their dice to reflect their ability, but whatever. It worked, it was simple and fast, and it even had some clever, if not quite original, ideas such as treating the character's star ship as a character as well.
Now, as Firefly enters High School, in terms of age, someone finally got the license right. And between the release of Serenity and Firefly (the RPGS, not the movie and tv show, respectively), MWP overhauled their ruleset, bringing it... I assume, fully into the modern age.
Now: I consider myself something of an expert in RPGs, being experienced with a truly staggering array of mechanics and systems, and being all to eager to buy some book from the dusty and forgotten shelf if only to figure out 'how it works'. But I do have one gaping blind spot in my knowledge, that being the entire FUDGE/FATE phenomenon. I heard about it, decided it was too far removed from my tastes and that ten years later everyone would have forgotten about it. More fool I, since it seems to be going stronger than ever.
What does that have to do with Firefly?
Well, based on what I DO know of FUDGE/FATE and all the rest, MWP's new 'Cortex Engine' is essentially a bowlderized hybrid of their old mechanics (Different sizes of dice) with the Fudge bit about picking a meta-trait that can be related to your roll to add to your dice pool. You might imagine that I don't really like Firefly, the RPG on account of this change, and you would be right. However, as I know many of you are fans, I'll try to fairly review the rest of it without coloring my judgement unduly.
Let me start by saying this is a beautiful product. In addition to taking screenshots from the show, they have any number of photographs of actors in costume. I know, ususally that's a bad thing, but they actually do a good job with it, professional and slick rather than a pathetic bunch of fans trying to look good on a shoestring budget. There is actual artwork as well, for the record.
So, it looks good. It looks, in fact, a bit like one of those coffee table Geek Books you find for stuff like Star Wars, only with a lot more text and a lot less engineering.
Setting: The very first chapter of the book is an episode by episode breakdown of the TV show, written as introductory adventures to slowly introduce play concepts. There seems to be some conceit that the game will be played, at least a significant percentage of the time, with the characters from the show rather than with all new groups, and that was true of the Serenity incarnation as well. Luckily, both incarnations fully support 'new' characters. One issue I long had with Serenity was how very stupid, from an astrophysics point of view, the Starmap in the book made Joss Whedon look. I always assumed it had come from him. I'm no Carl Sagan, mind you, but the implied physics of that map made my teeth ache. There is no Map in Firefly, but descriptions of the setting make clear concepts that are far more palatable and help explain the setting of the show better than the show itself did. It'll never be Traveller, but its at least as playable as Star Wars.
Da Rulz: Here is where the game lost me, and I'm afraid that will result in a truncated review. Essentially you build a dice pool using roughly three dice (somethign about Big Damn Hero dice giving you a shot at four or more... but I'm talking in general). Dice range mostly from d4s to d10s or d12s at the outside, and tend to fall mostly in the middle of that spread. You roll a stat, a skill and a trait. With me so far?
So every character has only three stats, best summed up as 'brains, brawn and charm'. I'd try for the alliteration, but the only word that comes to mind is balls, and that would be misleading. Anyway: They all start as a d8, but you can adjust one down to raise another, so they range from d6 to d10.
My quick off the cuff math tells me that this means there are only nine possible combinations of attributes. Likewise, the statistical variation between the stats themselves is almost trivial. This strikes me as highly problematic in the long run.
the next step is to pick your traits, called Distinctions. You get three, and they are broke down into rough catagories, though I can't see how the catagories matter except from an organizational standpoint. Being the ship's captain is a distinction, as is being a veteran of the unification wars or being a mercenary, or simply being a cold hearted bastard. Now, every Distinction is a d8, and from what I can tell, this doesn't vary. There are a couple of elements to Distinctions: A list of skills attached to that distinction and a list of 'triggers', the first trigger is always that you can halve the die rolled to a d4 in exchange for a plot point.
The skills list is important, since you step up your die for that skill each time it appears in a distinction you picked. Triggers are less important as you'll have about six different triggers available, but can only pick two, having to unlock the rest later.
the skill list is fine. Everyone has all skills at a d4 minimum, stepped up by their distinctions. You then get nine points to further improve your skills, and there is room for specializations (which add an extra d6 to your pool).
You don't get equipment, or even money. Gear is 'assets' which are just like distinctions in how they are handled during game play. You can shoot people all day long without having a gun asset, but if you have a gun asset, it has a die attached to it, and you roll that die for using that asset. ALL equipment is treated like this, and far more than distinctions, this drove me from the game, screaming.
Now: Starships did get some loving in Firefly, beyond the simple Asset thing, or rather a more complex series of assets unique to ship to ship adventures. It is fair to say that they are treated much as they were in Serenity, as a unique form of character, what with having three stats, some distinctions and assets and whatnot. Me? I prefer deck plans and weight to thrust ratios, but I can see the appeal of a more abstract system.
I couldn't bring myself to delve into the rest of the mechanics, which is why I apologized at the beginning of this review, but the appendix at the back is almost worth the price of the book if you are a die-hard fan, given a good chinese glossary, schematics of the Serenity herself (Yay!), and yes: simple maps of each of the star systems that make up the setting (I know, I know: I said there wasn't a map. What I meant was there wasn't a bleeding eyesore, a festering boil on teh buttocks of physics pretending to be a map...). Now, my copy of the book (which came shrink wrapped from my FLGS, which I assume is standard in this case) has a curious flaw here in that the top corner of the pages of the appendix were not cut properly, and there are little paper bridges holding them together. This may be of some note to collectors, but I assume if you aim to play this sucker you'll just cut those damn things off and be done with it.
Now that I've covered that, I was planning to work in some snarky comment about how the people in Firefly (the show/movie) clearly came from the European part of china, given the near total lack of asians of any sort, which is not true of the book, but I just couldn't find a good place to stick it, so I'll just stick it here, at the end.
*Fan made character sheets demonstrated just how badly MWP had fallen down on this particular element.
Serenity wasn't without problems, of course. The most glaring of which was the simple fact that the Geek Bait they'd licensed was only half the package, meaning they couldn't use anything from the TV show. Minor hitches like a lack of an initiative mechanic, or a decent character sheet* only acerbated the problem.
But honestly, the basic rules were fine, if showing a bit of their pre-D&D3e roots. Not everyone wants to adjust the size of their dice to reflect their ability, but whatever. It worked, it was simple and fast, and it even had some clever, if not quite original, ideas such as treating the character's star ship as a character as well.
Now, as Firefly enters High School, in terms of age, someone finally got the license right. And between the release of Serenity and Firefly (the RPGS, not the movie and tv show, respectively), MWP overhauled their ruleset, bringing it... I assume, fully into the modern age.
Now: I consider myself something of an expert in RPGs, being experienced with a truly staggering array of mechanics and systems, and being all to eager to buy some book from the dusty and forgotten shelf if only to figure out 'how it works'. But I do have one gaping blind spot in my knowledge, that being the entire FUDGE/FATE phenomenon. I heard about it, decided it was too far removed from my tastes and that ten years later everyone would have forgotten about it. More fool I, since it seems to be going stronger than ever.
What does that have to do with Firefly?
Well, based on what I DO know of FUDGE/FATE and all the rest, MWP's new 'Cortex Engine' is essentially a bowlderized hybrid of their old mechanics (Different sizes of dice) with the Fudge bit about picking a meta-trait that can be related to your roll to add to your dice pool. You might imagine that I don't really like Firefly, the RPG on account of this change, and you would be right. However, as I know many of you are fans, I'll try to fairly review the rest of it without coloring my judgement unduly.
Let me start by saying this is a beautiful product. In addition to taking screenshots from the show, they have any number of photographs of actors in costume. I know, ususally that's a bad thing, but they actually do a good job with it, professional and slick rather than a pathetic bunch of fans trying to look good on a shoestring budget. There is actual artwork as well, for the record.
So, it looks good. It looks, in fact, a bit like one of those coffee table Geek Books you find for stuff like Star Wars, only with a lot more text and a lot less engineering.
Setting: The very first chapter of the book is an episode by episode breakdown of the TV show, written as introductory adventures to slowly introduce play concepts. There seems to be some conceit that the game will be played, at least a significant percentage of the time, with the characters from the show rather than with all new groups, and that was true of the Serenity incarnation as well. Luckily, both incarnations fully support 'new' characters. One issue I long had with Serenity was how very stupid, from an astrophysics point of view, the Starmap in the book made Joss Whedon look. I always assumed it had come from him. I'm no Carl Sagan, mind you, but the implied physics of that map made my teeth ache. There is no Map in Firefly, but descriptions of the setting make clear concepts that are far more palatable and help explain the setting of the show better than the show itself did. It'll never be Traveller, but its at least as playable as Star Wars.
Da Rulz: Here is where the game lost me, and I'm afraid that will result in a truncated review. Essentially you build a dice pool using roughly three dice (somethign about Big Damn Hero dice giving you a shot at four or more... but I'm talking in general). Dice range mostly from d4s to d10s or d12s at the outside, and tend to fall mostly in the middle of that spread. You roll a stat, a skill and a trait. With me so far?
So every character has only three stats, best summed up as 'brains, brawn and charm'. I'd try for the alliteration, but the only word that comes to mind is balls, and that would be misleading. Anyway: They all start as a d8, but you can adjust one down to raise another, so they range from d6 to d10.
My quick off the cuff math tells me that this means there are only nine possible combinations of attributes. Likewise, the statistical variation between the stats themselves is almost trivial. This strikes me as highly problematic in the long run.
the next step is to pick your traits, called Distinctions. You get three, and they are broke down into rough catagories, though I can't see how the catagories matter except from an organizational standpoint. Being the ship's captain is a distinction, as is being a veteran of the unification wars or being a mercenary, or simply being a cold hearted bastard. Now, every Distinction is a d8, and from what I can tell, this doesn't vary. There are a couple of elements to Distinctions: A list of skills attached to that distinction and a list of 'triggers', the first trigger is always that you can halve the die rolled to a d4 in exchange for a plot point.
The skills list is important, since you step up your die for that skill each time it appears in a distinction you picked. Triggers are less important as you'll have about six different triggers available, but can only pick two, having to unlock the rest later.
the skill list is fine. Everyone has all skills at a d4 minimum, stepped up by their distinctions. You then get nine points to further improve your skills, and there is room for specializations (which add an extra d6 to your pool).
You don't get equipment, or even money. Gear is 'assets' which are just like distinctions in how they are handled during game play. You can shoot people all day long without having a gun asset, but if you have a gun asset, it has a die attached to it, and you roll that die for using that asset. ALL equipment is treated like this, and far more than distinctions, this drove me from the game, screaming.
Now: Starships did get some loving in Firefly, beyond the simple Asset thing, or rather a more complex series of assets unique to ship to ship adventures. It is fair to say that they are treated much as they were in Serenity, as a unique form of character, what with having three stats, some distinctions and assets and whatnot. Me? I prefer deck plans and weight to thrust ratios, but I can see the appeal of a more abstract system.
I couldn't bring myself to delve into the rest of the mechanics, which is why I apologized at the beginning of this review, but the appendix at the back is almost worth the price of the book if you are a die-hard fan, given a good chinese glossary, schematics of the Serenity herself (Yay!), and yes: simple maps of each of the star systems that make up the setting (I know, I know: I said there wasn't a map. What I meant was there wasn't a bleeding eyesore, a festering boil on teh buttocks of physics pretending to be a map...). Now, my copy of the book (which came shrink wrapped from my FLGS, which I assume is standard in this case) has a curious flaw here in that the top corner of the pages of the appendix were not cut properly, and there are little paper bridges holding them together. This may be of some note to collectors, but I assume if you aim to play this sucker you'll just cut those damn things off and be done with it.
Now that I've covered that, I was planning to work in some snarky comment about how the people in Firefly (the show/movie) clearly came from the European part of china, given the near total lack of asians of any sort, which is not true of the book, but I just couldn't find a good place to stick it, so I'll just stick it here, at the end.
*Fan made character sheets demonstrated just how badly MWP had fallen down on this particular element.
Firefly
These Islands Imperium
Did a Traveller demo yesterday, didn't turn out as expected. Only one person showed up, so we did character creation for him and started a campaign. He rolled up a Noble who controls a small start-up colony and has a rival of the previous colony administrator and an evil younger sister with suitor as enemies. Oh, and this is all near the Zhodani border, so the colony is considered a client state and not a full member of the Imperium.
I'm writing up the entire world using Grand Survey and Grand Census still, but it and the subsector should be a lot of fun.
Did I mention that I'm allowing the Noble to have nuclear missiles?
I'm writing up the entire world using Grand Survey and Grand Census still, but it and the subsector should be a lot of fun.
Did I mention that I'm allowing the Noble to have nuclear missiles?
These Islands Imperium
Destiny
On the off chance you've been living under a rock, Destiny is a Sci-fi shooter that purportedly has RPG/MMO elements. Its been hyped and anticipated for at least the last year and a half... you may have seen pictures of a giant moon thing just hanging out over a city...
It cost a half billion dollars to create, supposedly, and has made back maybe 75% of that (375 mil, off the top of my head), which makes it something of a disappointment.
Well...
Sure.
Lets look at the facts: Aside from having levels to your character, and requiring an active internet to play... in fact on my 360 it requires not just Xbox Live, but a Live Gold, so I'm effectively paying for internet twice... it really doesn't have much of MMO or RPG elements. Its a shooter set on a fantastic (as in Fantasy) post-apocalyptic world.
So, it's not gonna compete well with Call of Duty. In fact, I'm gonna go on a limb and say it plays objectively worse than CoD, though I'm hardly an expert. Its not a bad shooter, I should say, but merely inferior in some small ways.
Fer Ex: In the last shooter I bought, and this is sort of an industry standard now, I could heavily customize my gun, swapping grips, stock, even recoil springs and sights. Never mind the paint jobs. Destiny? Um... no.
Now: Maybe you've seen those awesome commercials where you have a couple of armored gun toting badasses doing a firing line march or jumping and teleporting through mini-gun ogres and stuff? Looks a bit like actors in costume rather than CGI, right?
Yeah. Destiny neither looks like that, nor plays like that. In twenty or thirty hours of play I've never even seen a kill-cam shot. Now, I haven't played ever class and subclass (levelling is a bit grindy...) but I also haven't been able to do a jump-teleport attack, and grenades don't do much damage to boss-mobs, which generally require ten or twenty minutes of grinding down from a full fireteam to kill.
So you have a failure to meet expectations. Hell, I'm wondering where all that money went? That half billion dollars in development? Musta gone to the advertising department.
Then we get to the odd decisions, some of which I've come to expect from Bungie games. You've got a space ship, since Destiny plays out over about four planets (Earth, Mars, the Moon, Venus), but its pretty much just a load screen element. You can pay through the nose to upgrade your space ship, but again: Its just a load screen element. "better Spaceships" just look different. On the other hand, you start with a hover bike, because crossing the maps on foot is an exercise in tedium unless you are in a story-mission. Of course, high level players can get bikes with guns on them, which is a rather painful lesson to learn in PvP when you are just starting out (seriously? PvP doesn't scale to levels worth a god damn, so if you bought destiny to sci-fi shoot other players in teh face, well... guess you'll be playing for twenty or thirty hours just to qualify as a contender.)
Destiny isn't a bad game. With more modest aspirations it might have been praiseworthy as is, and the concept seems sound.
But really: If you want a sci fi shooter with space ships and you don't care much about real world physics and limitations? Play Warframe. Gun toting space ninjas that actually fucking play like you'd expect Space Ninjas to play. And while the developers clearly have no idea how guns actually work, you still have a veritable truckload of customization options suitable for, well, fantasy space ninjas.
It cost a half billion dollars to create, supposedly, and has made back maybe 75% of that (375 mil, off the top of my head), which makes it something of a disappointment.
Well...
Sure.
Lets look at the facts: Aside from having levels to your character, and requiring an active internet to play... in fact on my 360 it requires not just Xbox Live, but a Live Gold, so I'm effectively paying for internet twice... it really doesn't have much of MMO or RPG elements. Its a shooter set on a fantastic (as in Fantasy) post-apocalyptic world.
So, it's not gonna compete well with Call of Duty. In fact, I'm gonna go on a limb and say it plays objectively worse than CoD, though I'm hardly an expert. Its not a bad shooter, I should say, but merely inferior in some small ways.
Fer Ex: In the last shooter I bought, and this is sort of an industry standard now, I could heavily customize my gun, swapping grips, stock, even recoil springs and sights. Never mind the paint jobs. Destiny? Um... no.
Now: Maybe you've seen those awesome commercials where you have a couple of armored gun toting badasses doing a firing line march or jumping and teleporting through mini-gun ogres and stuff? Looks a bit like actors in costume rather than CGI, right?
Yeah. Destiny neither looks like that, nor plays like that. In twenty or thirty hours of play I've never even seen a kill-cam shot. Now, I haven't played ever class and subclass (levelling is a bit grindy...) but I also haven't been able to do a jump-teleport attack, and grenades don't do much damage to boss-mobs, which generally require ten or twenty minutes of grinding down from a full fireteam to kill.
So you have a failure to meet expectations. Hell, I'm wondering where all that money went? That half billion dollars in development? Musta gone to the advertising department.
Then we get to the odd decisions, some of which I've come to expect from Bungie games. You've got a space ship, since Destiny plays out over about four planets (Earth, Mars, the Moon, Venus), but its pretty much just a load screen element. You can pay through the nose to upgrade your space ship, but again: Its just a load screen element. "better Spaceships" just look different. On the other hand, you start with a hover bike, because crossing the maps on foot is an exercise in tedium unless you are in a story-mission. Of course, high level players can get bikes with guns on them, which is a rather painful lesson to learn in PvP when you are just starting out (seriously? PvP doesn't scale to levels worth a god damn, so if you bought destiny to sci-fi shoot other players in teh face, well... guess you'll be playing for twenty or thirty hours just to qualify as a contender.)
Destiny isn't a bad game. With more modest aspirations it might have been praiseworthy as is, and the concept seems sound.
But really: If you want a sci fi shooter with space ships and you don't care much about real world physics and limitations? Play Warframe. Gun toting space ninjas that actually fucking play like you'd expect Space Ninjas to play. And while the developers clearly have no idea how guns actually work, you still have a veritable truckload of customization options suitable for, well, fantasy space ninjas.
Destiny
Help me win an Argument About What a Piece of Shit James Maliszewski Is
I'm arguing with someone on G+ (someone who's a big participant of the Ultra-Orthodox Wing of the OSR, so claims of ignorance about the subject seems a bit contrived, but whatever), who is questioning claims about how before starting Grognardia, James Maliszewski was actually not an Old-School gamer (not in the sense that some of the Clonemaniacs use of "you don't play purely the way play so you're not a REAL old-schooler", but in the much more LITERAL sense of "did not play old-school games") and had in fact written many things where he mocked, made fun of, criticized and insulted old-school D&D.
So being a guy who remembers stuff but doesn't keep records, I could use some help in this: point me to evidence in links to articles, forum posts, references to publications, etc./whatever that show James Maliszewski being a complete Swine about D&D before he had clued into how potentially profitable it would be to pretend to just lovey love love old-school in order to become a blogging celebrity to a group of people he considered retarded (so as to eventually embezzle them).
RPGPundit
So being a guy who remembers stuff but doesn't keep records, I could use some help in this: point me to evidence in links to articles, forum posts, references to publications, etc./whatever that show James Maliszewski being a complete Swine about D&D before he had clued into how potentially profitable it would be to pretend to just lovey love love old-school in order to become a blogging celebrity to a group of people he considered retarded (so as to eventually embezzle them).
RPGPundit
Help me win an Argument About What a Piece of Shit James Maliszewski Is
Explicitly Christian Clerics?
Their spells would bounce like billiard balls off anyone in a state of grace; simply the usual modicum of decency and determination would get a man
through. You could be killed by them, or through their machinations; you could be fooled, dazzled, victimized; but in a certain ultimate sense, you could not be conquered unless you wanted to be.
-Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson
"The saint endeavours to recover a gift which he has lost; the sinner tries to obtain something which was never his. In brief, he repeats the Fall."
-The White People by Arthur Machen
I just finished reading Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson and it makes a better case for clerics to be separate from magic-users than anything else I've ever read. In a lot of books (and in history) trying to draw a clear distinction between divine and arcane magic is foolishness, for example in Conan does it ever really matter if Conan's enemies are priests or not? The same applies to D&D, clerical magical seems to start out as I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Catholic but as it developed into pseudo-paganism what spells clerics get and which magic-users get gets more and more arbitrary until in 4ed "power source" is mostly irrelevant fluff.
In Three Hearts and Three Lions on the other hand, divine magic is explicitly Christian (or at least Abrahamic) power that serves the purposes of Law while all arcane magic is, when you get right down to it, Satanic (although not necessarily all practitioners, magicians seem able to bind and command demons while remaining basically decent people) and Chaotic.
In Three Hearts and Three Lions divine magic seldom does anything that would have any effect on physics but instead it works to protect and oppose the influence of Chaos so it's really easy to differentiate magic and the divine in that book: Law upholds the natural order while Chaos subverts it.
OK, so let's run with that. What should explicitly Christian clerics look like? Let's try to make their powers tied as closely to Christianity as possible. Also instead of having clerical magic be something separate from the workaday ritual of medieval Catholicism let's try to infuse the sacraments and the rest with magic. I'm an atheist personally but how so much of modern fantasy takes Medieval themes and sidelines the religion that was so important in Medieval times always struck me as strange.
Protection vs. magic
This is the clearest benefit of the divine in Three Hearts and Three Lions, it lets spells bounce off of you, enables you to erect barriers against magic and keeps agents of Chaos away from churches (until human allies defile them). One thing I liked in the book was this protection is dependent on what you're doing right now, even minor failings (like jealously) can break this protection, but you don't have to go through the whole D&D paladin atonement annoyance to get the power back up, just act decently the next day.
In the book going into a church can break illusions and presumably other spells, so high level clerics would then be walking talking bundles of Dispel Magic. Throw in exorcism of those possessed by demons and you've got a good bread and butter powerful for clerics and would make a lot of Chaos be as much about tempting as killing D&D parties.
Prayer
In Three Hearts and Three Lions the clearest benefit of prayer is that holy words cause physical pain to creatures of chaos. In D&D terms this would seem to be extending Turn Undead to Turn Chaos, which would be a very potent ability.
Lay on Hands
Lay on Hands and clerical magic is mostly about recovering lost HPs but historically (IIRC) and in Three Hearts and Three Lions it's more about getting rid of disease which fits in the anti-magic wheelhouse of clerics if you think of diseases as curses rather than as caused by germs.
Burial
One thing that appears over and over in folklore is how many problems with undead come about as a result of people not being buried properly. Cutting an arc of slaughter through the opposition without burying any of them is asking for undead and having a cleric along can help with that.
Holy water
Stick an expiration date on holy water so it's useful to have a cleric along to bless more. Let them bless weapons and well which would allow them to count as +1 weapons for purposes of hitting can only be hit by magical items critters.
Marriage
In Scandinavian folklore marrying a troll woman can turn her (mostly) human. This sacrament could be a good way of driving out Chaos from certain creatures.
Also many creatures of Chaos desire to marry mortals as the pact of marriage gives them power of them, which being already married prevents.
Inspiration
For Gandalf-style inspiration perhaps a mechanic along these lines: clerics can drive out supernatural fear and other magically-inspired emotions and against Lawful people they can inspire one of the Seven Virtues. For example a cleric would have a good chance of being able to exhort an NPC towards "charity" but couldn't choose the form that that charity would take.
Communion
In Three Hearts and Three Lions, the main character feels nervous about heading out into the lands of Chaos without taking communion but doesn't give us any more details than that. Putting mechanical benefits to taking the Host might take this mental exercise a bit into the preachy though. What about Baptism? Extreme unction? Confession?
Detect Magic
The Chalion books by Bujold have some of the best treatment of religion I've seen in fantasy books. The most important power of saints in those books is to see things from a divine point of view and see what's going on with people's soul and detect magic in general, which is a good power for clerics.
Another thing I like about Bujold's treatment of religion is the priorities her gods have. They really only care about the spiritual so things like people starving or war don't really bother them much but disturbances to the life cycles of souls such as undeath piss them right off. I like how her gods are benevolent but have very different priorities than humans.
Relics
Note sure what to do with these exactly or if I want D&D clerics carrying around a bunch of reliquaries, but stuff like the Venetians raiding the Holy Land for saintly body bits to take back home is D&D as fuck and I'd like to include it.
Miracles
Having clerics being able to produce miracles that alter the physical world on command never quite felt fantastic and, well, miraculous enough. Maybe instead put in mechanics for miracles but have them be implemented by the DM in a way that surprises the player.
OK, moving on from good powers for Christian clerics to concluding remarks I think it's important to note that:
Donatus Magnus was wrong
Donatism is an early Christian heresy that says that sacraments carried out by immoral priests don't count. Catholic dogma, on the other hand, says that no matter how many puppies your priest kicked the morning of your marriage your marriage still counts. So most of those above powers should still work no matter what the cleric has been up to. To the extent that they depend on the morality of the cleric, they should depend on what they're doing RIGHT NOW when they're using their power and having a clerics powers fail because they're being a jerk but then work just fine later seems more gamable than loss of all powers across the board after screwing up.
Overall for Christian clerics I'd like to have them gain more and more potent powers that are always on, ones that are powerful but that don't really affect the physical world, rather than porting Vancian magic over to them, which I always loved but thought was a far better fit for magic-users.
through. You could be killed by them, or through their machinations; you could be fooled, dazzled, victimized; but in a certain ultimate sense, you could not be conquered unless you wanted to be.
-Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson
"The saint endeavours to recover a gift which he has lost; the sinner tries to obtain something which was never his. In brief, he repeats the Fall."
-The White People by Arthur Machen
I just finished reading Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson and it makes a better case for clerics to be separate from magic-users than anything else I've ever read. In a lot of books (and in history) trying to draw a clear distinction between divine and arcane magic is foolishness, for example in Conan does it ever really matter if Conan's enemies are priests or not? The same applies to D&D, clerical magical seems to start out as I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Catholic but as it developed into pseudo-paganism what spells clerics get and which magic-users get gets more and more arbitrary until in 4ed "power source" is mostly irrelevant fluff.
In Three Hearts and Three Lions on the other hand, divine magic is explicitly Christian (or at least Abrahamic) power that serves the purposes of Law while all arcane magic is, when you get right down to it, Satanic (although not necessarily all practitioners, magicians seem able to bind and command demons while remaining basically decent people) and Chaotic.
In Three Hearts and Three Lions divine magic seldom does anything that would have any effect on physics but instead it works to protect and oppose the influence of Chaos so it's really easy to differentiate magic and the divine in that book: Law upholds the natural order while Chaos subverts it.
OK, so let's run with that. What should explicitly Christian clerics look like? Let's try to make their powers tied as closely to Christianity as possible. Also instead of having clerical magic be something separate from the workaday ritual of medieval Catholicism let's try to infuse the sacraments and the rest with magic. I'm an atheist personally but how so much of modern fantasy takes Medieval themes and sidelines the religion that was so important in Medieval times always struck me as strange.
Protection vs. magic
This is the clearest benefit of the divine in Three Hearts and Three Lions, it lets spells bounce off of you, enables you to erect barriers against magic and keeps agents of Chaos away from churches (until human allies defile them). One thing I liked in the book was this protection is dependent on what you're doing right now, even minor failings (like jealously) can break this protection, but you don't have to go through the whole D&D paladin atonement annoyance to get the power back up, just act decently the next day.
In the book going into a church can break illusions and presumably other spells, so high level clerics would then be walking talking bundles of Dispel Magic. Throw in exorcism of those possessed by demons and you've got a good bread and butter powerful for clerics and would make a lot of Chaos be as much about tempting as killing D&D parties.
Prayer
In Three Hearts and Three Lions the clearest benefit of prayer is that holy words cause physical pain to creatures of chaos. In D&D terms this would seem to be extending Turn Undead to Turn Chaos, which would be a very potent ability.
Lay on Hands
Lay on Hands and clerical magic is mostly about recovering lost HPs but historically (IIRC) and in Three Hearts and Three Lions it's more about getting rid of disease which fits in the anti-magic wheelhouse of clerics if you think of diseases as curses rather than as caused by germs.
Burial
One thing that appears over and over in folklore is how many problems with undead come about as a result of people not being buried properly. Cutting an arc of slaughter through the opposition without burying any of them is asking for undead and having a cleric along can help with that.
Holy water
Stick an expiration date on holy water so it's useful to have a cleric along to bless more. Let them bless weapons and well which would allow them to count as +1 weapons for purposes of hitting can only be hit by magical items critters.
Marriage
In Scandinavian folklore marrying a troll woman can turn her (mostly) human. This sacrament could be a good way of driving out Chaos from certain creatures.
Also many creatures of Chaos desire to marry mortals as the pact of marriage gives them power of them, which being already married prevents.
Inspiration
For Gandalf-style inspiration perhaps a mechanic along these lines: clerics can drive out supernatural fear and other magically-inspired emotions and against Lawful people they can inspire one of the Seven Virtues. For example a cleric would have a good chance of being able to exhort an NPC towards "charity" but couldn't choose the form that that charity would take.
Communion
In Three Hearts and Three Lions, the main character feels nervous about heading out into the lands of Chaos without taking communion but doesn't give us any more details than that. Putting mechanical benefits to taking the Host might take this mental exercise a bit into the preachy though. What about Baptism? Extreme unction? Confession?
Detect Magic
The Chalion books by Bujold have some of the best treatment of religion I've seen in fantasy books. The most important power of saints in those books is to see things from a divine point of view and see what's going on with people's soul and detect magic in general, which is a good power for clerics.
Another thing I like about Bujold's treatment of religion is the priorities her gods have. They really only care about the spiritual so things like people starving or war don't really bother them much but disturbances to the life cycles of souls such as undeath piss them right off. I like how her gods are benevolent but have very different priorities than humans.
Relics
Note sure what to do with these exactly or if I want D&D clerics carrying around a bunch of reliquaries, but stuff like the Venetians raiding the Holy Land for saintly body bits to take back home is D&D as fuck and I'd like to include it.
Miracles
Having clerics being able to produce miracles that alter the physical world on command never quite felt fantastic and, well, miraculous enough. Maybe instead put in mechanics for miracles but have them be implemented by the DM in a way that surprises the player.
OK, moving on from good powers for Christian clerics to concluding remarks I think it's important to note that:
Donatus Magnus was wrong
Donatism is an early Christian heresy that says that sacraments carried out by immoral priests don't count. Catholic dogma, on the other hand, says that no matter how many puppies your priest kicked the morning of your marriage your marriage still counts. So most of those above powers should still work no matter what the cleric has been up to. To the extent that they depend on the morality of the cleric, they should depend on what they're doing RIGHT NOW when they're using their power and having a clerics powers fail because they're being a jerk but then work just fine later seems more gamable than loss of all powers across the board after screwing up.
Overall for Christian clerics I'd like to have them gain more and more potent powers that are always on, ones that are powerful but that don't really affect the physical world, rather than porting Vancian magic over to them, which I always loved but thought was a far better fit for magic-users.
Explicitly Christian Clerics?
You Are The Hero: A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks
I need to get some things out of the way. First things first - I’m a huge Fighting Fantasy fan. I’ve been reading them since 1983 and it was the game that got me into the tabletop gaming hobby. I got myself wrapped up in the worlds of Fighting Fantasy, especially Titan, and I played the books, the RPG, the boardgames and the computer games. I was first in line at the UK Games Expo a few years ago to get my 25th Anniversary book signed by Jackson and Livingstone, and I can quite easily attribute my love of fantasy gaming to the exposure I had to these books. I’ve also got a mention in the actual book itself, which warms my heart on so many levels I can’t even begin to explain it.
Telling you all that will probably cast a bit of a shadow over this review as I’m hardly going to be subjective, am I? Look at it this way; I’m not writing this review as a critic, but as a passionate fan of not only the subject but the genre in general. The chances are you’re reading this because you have an interest, perhaps even a love, of gaming. In that case, let me share with you my excitement in reading this book.
You Are The Hero has been researched, compiled and written by author Jonathan Green, himself a veteran of Fighting Fantasy as both a fan of the books and as a writer for the official line. Inside the lavishly illustrated full colour book you’ll find pretty much everything you need to know about Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, from Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone starting out in Games Workshop in the 1970s, to the first books and how they got them on the shelves, to the artwork, other writers and the different worlds they created, to the RPG and where Fighting Fantasy is today. All the way through we’re treated to images, artwork and snippets of interesting information in the little Fighting Fantasy Facts (I’m in number 27!). As far as presentation goes it’s a great looking book, and the interior full-page colour panels of the book covers are quite beautiful, especially as they’re just the images with none of the original text covering it.
All in the entire book oozes flavour. The images evoke a sense of atmosphere and - for me and no doubt other older fans of the series - a sense of misty-eyed nostalgia. It really threw me back to the heady days of fandom when I was in my teens and all of this was new and exciting. Newcomers to the hobby or those reading this book out of pure curiosity will find it all quite informative as the illustrations take the reader through the years and decades.
The story that the book tells is, of course, the meat of the product. From Jackson and Livingstone’s early days up to the present day and the involvement they still have with the Fighting Fantasy world we’re taken step by step through their own histories, their meeting, their early hobby and Games Workshop day and then the books themselves and how the got them off the page and into the stores. Much of this was covered in talks I attended at the UK Games Expo but if you think they addressed everything in their seminars then think again – there’s plenty of stuff in here that I didn’t know and getting to hear the story of the first books from the publishers, artists and writers gives you a whole new appreciation of how these books made it into the eager hands of children such as myself.
All the way through you get details on the books of the original series. With information about the book’s plot, little quotes from the writers and artist and snippets of information these make for good reading and cast new light on the books and the people who helped create them.
There’s plenty of stuff in here covering every aspect of the Fighting Fantasy franchise; the books, miniatures, boardgames, battlegames, RPGs, computer games and magazines. This information leads on to details about other gaming books and lines, such as the Sorcery! epic, Clash of the Princes and the novels, as well as other lines such as the Tasks of Tantalon and the Way of the Tiger series, even the old F.I.S.T computerdial telephone game (which got me into plenty of trouble over phone bills). Everything Fighting Fantasy touched and influenced gets a mention and there are plenty of people interviewed, and they all talk about how they became involved or how the books influenced them. Fighting Fantasy gets a lot of love and it’s quite wonderful to see the positive power the gamebooks had on the public and on professionals who were either in the business, about to break into it or were inspired to get involved.
The whole tome gives me plenty of pleasure from beginning to end. There were more than a few ‘Oh, yeah! I remember that!’ moments and plenty of material that makes me look at my Fighting Fantasy collection and want to add more to it. It’s also made me revisit the world of Titan and ponder running an original roleplaying campaign using the original basic rules from the 1980s.
More than anything, it’s made me wonder at the future of Fighting Fantasy and how it can be relaunched into the national consciousness. I’ve thought of everything from new computer games to radio dramas to children’s TV; although it was the books that fired the imagination of a generation in the 1980s and 90s, this is a new age of technology and multimedia. The books are still relevant but there has to be a new hook, a gateway, to get the young people of today reading them again. You Are The Hero takes me back to the days of old when the books were new and exciting but it also really makes me want them to be successful again, so that this generation can explore and enjoy the worlds of Fighting Fantasy.
An excellent read that takes old gamers like me back in time, as well as being an incredibly interesting history lesson in the early days of gamebooks and British gaming for the regular hobbyist to enjoy. Highly recommended.
Telling you all that will probably cast a bit of a shadow over this review as I’m hardly going to be subjective, am I? Look at it this way; I’m not writing this review as a critic, but as a passionate fan of not only the subject but the genre in general. The chances are you’re reading this because you have an interest, perhaps even a love, of gaming. In that case, let me share with you my excitement in reading this book.
You Are The Hero has been researched, compiled and written by author Jonathan Green, himself a veteran of Fighting Fantasy as both a fan of the books and as a writer for the official line. Inside the lavishly illustrated full colour book you’ll find pretty much everything you need to know about Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, from Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone starting out in Games Workshop in the 1970s, to the first books and how they got them on the shelves, to the artwork, other writers and the different worlds they created, to the RPG and where Fighting Fantasy is today. All the way through we’re treated to images, artwork and snippets of interesting information in the little Fighting Fantasy Facts (I’m in number 27!). As far as presentation goes it’s a great looking book, and the interior full-page colour panels of the book covers are quite beautiful, especially as they’re just the images with none of the original text covering it.
All in the entire book oozes flavour. The images evoke a sense of atmosphere and - for me and no doubt other older fans of the series - a sense of misty-eyed nostalgia. It really threw me back to the heady days of fandom when I was in my teens and all of this was new and exciting. Newcomers to the hobby or those reading this book out of pure curiosity will find it all quite informative as the illustrations take the reader through the years and decades.
The story that the book tells is, of course, the meat of the product. From Jackson and Livingstone’s early days up to the present day and the involvement they still have with the Fighting Fantasy world we’re taken step by step through their own histories, their meeting, their early hobby and Games Workshop day and then the books themselves and how the got them off the page and into the stores. Much of this was covered in talks I attended at the UK Games Expo but if you think they addressed everything in their seminars then think again – there’s plenty of stuff in here that I didn’t know and getting to hear the story of the first books from the publishers, artists and writers gives you a whole new appreciation of how these books made it into the eager hands of children such as myself.
All the way through you get details on the books of the original series. With information about the book’s plot, little quotes from the writers and artist and snippets of information these make for good reading and cast new light on the books and the people who helped create them.
There’s plenty of stuff in here covering every aspect of the Fighting Fantasy franchise; the books, miniatures, boardgames, battlegames, RPGs, computer games and magazines. This information leads on to details about other gaming books and lines, such as the Sorcery! epic, Clash of the Princes and the novels, as well as other lines such as the Tasks of Tantalon and the Way of the Tiger series, even the old F.I.S.T computerdial telephone game (which got me into plenty of trouble over phone bills). Everything Fighting Fantasy touched and influenced gets a mention and there are plenty of people interviewed, and they all talk about how they became involved or how the books influenced them. Fighting Fantasy gets a lot of love and it’s quite wonderful to see the positive power the gamebooks had on the public and on professionals who were either in the business, about to break into it or were inspired to get involved.
The whole tome gives me plenty of pleasure from beginning to end. There were more than a few ‘Oh, yeah! I remember that!’ moments and plenty of material that makes me look at my Fighting Fantasy collection and want to add more to it. It’s also made me revisit the world of Titan and ponder running an original roleplaying campaign using the original basic rules from the 1980s.
More than anything, it’s made me wonder at the future of Fighting Fantasy and how it can be relaunched into the national consciousness. I’ve thought of everything from new computer games to radio dramas to children’s TV; although it was the books that fired the imagination of a generation in the 1980s and 90s, this is a new age of technology and multimedia. The books are still relevant but there has to be a new hook, a gateway, to get the young people of today reading them again. You Are The Hero takes me back to the days of old when the books were new and exciting but it also really makes me want them to be successful again, so that this generation can explore and enjoy the worlds of Fighting Fantasy.
An excellent read that takes old gamers like me back in time, as well as being an incredibly interesting history lesson in the early days of gamebooks and British gaming for the regular hobbyist to enjoy. Highly recommended.
You Are The Hero: A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks
Iowa Curbs Tesla Test Drives
Joel Aschbrenner - Des Moines Register - Sept. 25, 2014
Hypocrisy as car dealer groups appear to be looking out for themselves more than the consumer? -- Ed.
2014 Tesla Model S 60 - $72,240 to start incl. D&H with a 208 mile range.
Don't plan on taking the Model S for a test drive in Iowa anytime soon… Iowa told the company to cut short three days of test drives earlier this month in West Des Moines.
The Iowa DOT said the test drives were illegal for two reasons: Tesla isn't licensed as an auto dealer in Iowa and state law prohibits carmakers from selling directly to the public…
The Iowa DOT asked Tesla to stop its West Des Moines test drives after being alerted to the event by the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association, said Paul Steier, director of the DOT's Bureau of Investigation and Identity Protection.
Tesla store in Palo Alto, Calif.
Another longstanding state law prohibits auto manufacturers from selling directly to the public. Anderson said if carmakers owned dealerships, buying a car would be like buying a laptop at the Apple store — there would be one non-negotiable price… [Read More]
Thanks to @autonewz in my twitter feed for this one.
No Tesla S test drives for you Iowa!
Iowa Curbs Tesla Test Drives
OHT's 5e Homebrew Thread
Rather than spam the board with a new thread each time i brew something up, i'm going to collect all of it here and post new stuff to this thread.
----------------------------------------------------------
Background: Guide
You come from a rural background and spent your youth travelling the pathways, hedgerows and valleys of your village. As your knowledge grew, travellers, as well as locals, sought you out to guide them to landmarks and local resources. Some of these travellers were adventurers and tired of seeing them return with trinkets and riches, you sought to use your knowledge to join them in the ranks of the revered.
Skill Proficiencies: Nature, Survival
Tool Proficiencies: Artisan's Tools - Cartographer
Equipment: Cartography kit, Explorer's pack, 2-man tent
Feature: Wayfarer.
Due to your knowledge of terrain and intensive travels, you have an intimate knowledge of the best camp-sites in the local area – including access to water, defensibility, commanding views and comfort. You can leave and read tokens left by other guides that communicate details about nearby suitable camp-sites.
----------------------------------------------------------
Background: Guide
You come from a rural background and spent your youth travelling the pathways, hedgerows and valleys of your village. As your knowledge grew, travellers, as well as locals, sought you out to guide them to landmarks and local resources. Some of these travellers were adventurers and tired of seeing them return with trinkets and riches, you sought to use your knowledge to join them in the ranks of the revered.
Skill Proficiencies: Nature, Survival
Tool Proficiencies: Artisan's Tools - Cartographer
Equipment: Cartography kit, Explorer's pack, 2-man tent
Feature: Wayfarer.
Due to your knowledge of terrain and intensive travels, you have an intimate knowledge of the best camp-sites in the local area – including access to water, defensibility, commanding views and comfort. You can leave and read tokens left by other guides that communicate details about nearby suitable camp-sites.
OHT's 5e Homebrew Thread
samedi 27 septembre 2014
Stonehell 2, electric boogaloo?
I recently got Stonehell dungeon as part of my fall OSR megadungeon kick. It is fucking great. Which I don't need to tell you because everyone else has been saying the same thing for 2 years.
So, my question: I know volume 2 is in production, but does anyone know when it is supposed to be available in hard copy through Lulu?
Also, I like the look of the two related expansions but don't really want to get them in pdf form (I basically never really use pdfs of gaming products). Anyone know if there is somewhere these can be had in bound hard copy format? I suppose i could print and bind them. But I'm lazy so I would rather command my computer to have someone mail them to me.
So, my question: I know volume 2 is in production, but does anyone know when it is supposed to be available in hard copy through Lulu?
Also, I like the look of the two related expansions but don't really want to get them in pdf form (I basically never really use pdfs of gaming products). Anyone know if there is somewhere these can be had in bound hard copy format? I suppose i could print and bind them. But I'm lazy so I would rather command my computer to have someone mail them to me.
Stonehell 2, electric boogaloo?
Zero Motorcycles Company Owned Vehicles on Sale
Hi All:
Received this via e-mail a few days ago...
Wayne
Received this via e-mail a few days ago...
Quote:
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2014 Zero Motorcycle Lineup
Wayne
Zero Motorcycles Company Owned Vehicles on Sale
Man Breaking a Windshield with His Face Might Convince You That You Need a Dash Cam
Zach Noble - THEBLAZE - September 27, 2014
The circumstances surrounding the video remain unclear, though the video poster wrote that the incident took place on Sept. 19 in South Korea and labeled the man as an “insurance scammer.”
In the video, the man rushes the car as the people inside scream, leaping on the hood and smashing the windshield with his forehead.
Is he an “insurance scammer,” faking being hit by a car to milk money from an insurance company (or the driver)?
Perhaps, but if he is, the people inside the car were well-prepared with their dash cam, with the video hopefully thwarting any attempts at an ill-gotten payout.... [Read More]
Man Breaking a Windshield with His Face Might Convince You That You Need a Dash Cam
5e - Legendary Medusa
This is my take on a legendary Medusa and draws on the original Clash of the Titans film and the Yuan-Ti Malison stat-block as inspirations. The Legendary Medusa has the upper body of a humanoid female and the lower body of a great serpent, the tail of which is topped by the rattle of a rattlesnake.
Perhaps in your world all Medusa are like this or perhaps the Yuan-Ti Malison went too far in trying to increase its power and suffered the curse of the Medusa from its Serpent Lord.
How and why is up to you. I just thought this is a cool take.
----------------------------------------------------------
Legendary Medusa
Large monstrosity, lawful evil
Armour Class: 15 (natural armour)
Hit Points: 144 (17d10 +51)
Speed: 30ft.
Strength: 16 (+3)
Dexterity: 15 (+2)
Constitution: 16 (+3)
Intelligence: 14 (+2)
Wisdom: 13 (+1)
Charisma: 16 (+3)
Skills: Deception +6, Insight +4, Perception +4, Stealth +5
Damage Immunities: poison
Condition Immunities: poisoned
Senses: Passive perception 14, darkvision 60 ft
Languages: Common, Abyssal, Draconic
Challenge: 8 (3,900 xp)
Innate Spellcasting: The Medusa's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13). The Medusa can cast the following spells, requiring no material components.
At will – Animal Friendship (snakes only)
Petrifying Gaze: When a creature that can see the Medusa's eyes starts its turn within 30 feet of the medusa, the medusa can force it to make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw if the medusa isn't incapacitated and can see the creature. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the creature is instantly petrified. Otherwise a creature that fails the save begins ot turn to stone and is restrained. The restrained creature must repeat the saving throw at the end of its next turn, becoming petrified on a failure or ending the effect on a success. The petrification lasts until the creature is freed by the greater restoration spell or other magic.
Unless surprised, a creature can avert its eyes to avoid the saving throw at the start of its turn. If the creature does so, it can't see the medusa until the start of its next turn, when it can avert its eyes again. If the creature looks at the medusa in the meantime, it must immediately make the save.
If the medusa sees itself reflected on a polished surface within 30 feet of it and in an area of bright light, the medusa is, due to its curse, affected by its own gaze.
Normal and giant snakes are immune to the Legendary medusa's gaze.
Actions
Multiattack: The medusa makes either three melee attacks – one with its snake hair, one with its short sword and one constrict – or two ranged attacks with its longbow.
Snake Hair: Melee weapon attack. +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one creature. Hit 4 (1d4+2) piercing damage plus 14 (4d6) poison damage,
Shortsword: Melee weapon attack. +6 to hit, reach 5ft., one creature. Hit 6 (1d6+3) piercing damage.
Constrict: Melee weapon attack. +5 to hit, reach 10ft., one creature. Hit 10 (2d6+3) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the medusa can't constrict another target.
Longbow: Ranges weapon attack. +5 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit 6 (1d8+2) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage.
Legendary Actions
The medusa can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The medusa regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Constrict: The medusa makes one constrict attack.
Bow: The medusa makes one longbow attack
Suggestion (3 actions); The medusa casts the Suggestion spell as an innate spell.
Medusa Lairs
Medusa live forever in seclusion, alienated from the world around them by their monstrous form and caprice. Their homes gradually fall into disrepair until they are little more than shadowy ruins covered with thorns and creepers, riddled with obstructions and hiding places. These hiding places are riddles with serpents attracted by the medusa's presence. Foolhardy looters and adventurers who enter are often unaware of the medusa until the creature is among them. The medusa removes any reflective surfaces from its lair. Statuary of petrified animals and humanoids are scattered throughout the lair, captured in poses of dread.
Lair Actions
On iniative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the medusa can take a lair action to cause one of the following magical effects: the medusa can't use the effect again until it finishes a short or long rest.
1. The medusa uses its rattle to rouse the snakes in its lair. Each creature within 60 feet of the medusa is attacked by a poisonous snake that emerges to bite them and then darts back under cover.
2. The vegetation and collapsed masonry of the medusa's lair impedes all creatures within the lair. All of the lair counts as difficult terrain for the rest of the encounter – the medusa is not affected. Furthermore, creatures must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or have their movement halted until the end of the medusa's next turn.
3. Shrieks of terror suddenly erupt from the mouths of the medusa's previously petrified victims. All creatures must make a DC 13 Intelligence saving throw or be Frightened. On a failure, a creature may make another saving throw on its subsequent turns, success ending the effect.
Regional Effects
The temperature within 600 feet of the lair is several degrees higher than the surrounding area.
There are noticeably more snakes and reptiles within 600 feet of the lair than in the surrounding area.
Birds avoid the area within 600 feet of the medusa's lair.
All of the above effects end within 1d6 days of the medusa's death.
Perhaps in your world all Medusa are like this or perhaps the Yuan-Ti Malison went too far in trying to increase its power and suffered the curse of the Medusa from its Serpent Lord.
How and why is up to you. I just thought this is a cool take.
----------------------------------------------------------
Legendary Medusa
Large monstrosity, lawful evil
Armour Class: 15 (natural armour)
Hit Points: 144 (17d10 +51)
Speed: 30ft.
Strength: 16 (+3)
Dexterity: 15 (+2)
Constitution: 16 (+3)
Intelligence: 14 (+2)
Wisdom: 13 (+1)
Charisma: 16 (+3)
Skills: Deception +6, Insight +4, Perception +4, Stealth +5
Damage Immunities: poison
Condition Immunities: poisoned
Senses: Passive perception 14, darkvision 60 ft
Languages: Common, Abyssal, Draconic
Challenge: 8 (3,900 xp)
Innate Spellcasting: The Medusa's innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13). The Medusa can cast the following spells, requiring no material components.
At will – Animal Friendship (snakes only)
Petrifying Gaze: When a creature that can see the Medusa's eyes starts its turn within 30 feet of the medusa, the medusa can force it to make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw if the medusa isn't incapacitated and can see the creature. If the saving throw fails by 5 or more, the creature is instantly petrified. Otherwise a creature that fails the save begins ot turn to stone and is restrained. The restrained creature must repeat the saving throw at the end of its next turn, becoming petrified on a failure or ending the effect on a success. The petrification lasts until the creature is freed by the greater restoration spell or other magic.
Unless surprised, a creature can avert its eyes to avoid the saving throw at the start of its turn. If the creature does so, it can't see the medusa until the start of its next turn, when it can avert its eyes again. If the creature looks at the medusa in the meantime, it must immediately make the save.
If the medusa sees itself reflected on a polished surface within 30 feet of it and in an area of bright light, the medusa is, due to its curse, affected by its own gaze.
Normal and giant snakes are immune to the Legendary medusa's gaze.
Actions
Multiattack: The medusa makes either three melee attacks – one with its snake hair, one with its short sword and one constrict – or two ranged attacks with its longbow.
Snake Hair: Melee weapon attack. +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one creature. Hit 4 (1d4+2) piercing damage plus 14 (4d6) poison damage,
Shortsword: Melee weapon attack. +6 to hit, reach 5ft., one creature. Hit 6 (1d6+3) piercing damage.
Constrict: Melee weapon attack. +5 to hit, reach 10ft., one creature. Hit 10 (2d6+3) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the medusa can't constrict another target.
Longbow: Ranges weapon attack. +5 to hit, range 150/600 ft., one target. Hit 6 (1d8+2) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) poison damage.
Legendary Actions
The medusa can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The medusa regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Constrict: The medusa makes one constrict attack.
Bow: The medusa makes one longbow attack
Suggestion (3 actions); The medusa casts the Suggestion spell as an innate spell.
Medusa Lairs
Medusa live forever in seclusion, alienated from the world around them by their monstrous form and caprice. Their homes gradually fall into disrepair until they are little more than shadowy ruins covered with thorns and creepers, riddled with obstructions and hiding places. These hiding places are riddles with serpents attracted by the medusa's presence. Foolhardy looters and adventurers who enter are often unaware of the medusa until the creature is among them. The medusa removes any reflective surfaces from its lair. Statuary of petrified animals and humanoids are scattered throughout the lair, captured in poses of dread.
Lair Actions
On iniative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the medusa can take a lair action to cause one of the following magical effects: the medusa can't use the effect again until it finishes a short or long rest.
1. The medusa uses its rattle to rouse the snakes in its lair. Each creature within 60 feet of the medusa is attacked by a poisonous snake that emerges to bite them and then darts back under cover.
2. The vegetation and collapsed masonry of the medusa's lair impedes all creatures within the lair. All of the lair counts as difficult terrain for the rest of the encounter – the medusa is not affected. Furthermore, creatures must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or have their movement halted until the end of the medusa's next turn.
3. Shrieks of terror suddenly erupt from the mouths of the medusa's previously petrified victims. All creatures must make a DC 13 Intelligence saving throw or be Frightened. On a failure, a creature may make another saving throw on its subsequent turns, success ending the effect.
Regional Effects
The temperature within 600 feet of the lair is several degrees higher than the surrounding area.
There are noticeably more snakes and reptiles within 600 feet of the lair than in the surrounding area.
Birds avoid the area within 600 feet of the medusa's lair.
All of the above effects end within 1d6 days of the medusa's death.
5e - Legendary Medusa
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