Previously, in Trip's Life...
29 February 2004 - Sunday
Slow day: laundry, shopping, wheee.
* * *
But I have succumbed to lure of zangband, and now I rock: the Tshirt
for killing the Greater Hellbeast, the boots of Feanor (+15 Speed
and activate for haste self), and... (drumroll, please)... The
JEWEL OF JUDGEMENT! (Okay, it's only 3-radius light, +3 Int, +3 Wis, +3
Speed, activate for clairvoyance and recall, but still!)
Jewel of Judgement by Dave (Wed Mar 3 10:54:42 2004)
Activating for claivoyance and recall is kind of odd (yes, you now know everything in the area, and poof, you're somewhere else ;).
zangband! by Ayse (Fri Mar 5 11:10:00 2004)
Activate for clarivoyance, then zap a recall rod to un-recall!
Re: zangband Jewel of Judgement! by Trip (Fri Mar 5 17:25:22 2004)
Actually, it turns out the recall part is optional. First it does the clairvoyance, then it asks if you want to activate the recall. So it all makes sense.
Make a comment!
28 February 2004 - Saturday
Amber High School! Well, kinda, since Ayse bailed and Ken didn't show
up to be introduced. The vampire mess was cleaned up, and Tia got to
demonstrate her knowledge of hierarchies and how make people acknowledge
one's divinity.
Make a comment!
27 February 2004 - Friday
Today, I extracted a copy of Everway from the USPS.
Eventually I will read it and see if there are any ideas worth
cannibalizing. Raar.
* * *
I went to Gamescape to see if they had anything new, but the UPS
creature hadn't come, so I sat around flipping through random gaming
material until the new stuff showed up, then left.
Make a comment!
26 February 2004 - Thursday
Bleah! I failed to set my alarm, so I slept and slept and slept and
by the time I dragged myself out of bed and through the shower and all
it was 14:00 and I felt as though I had exploded the entire day through
stupidness. :(
* * *
Yay! As If! is back!
* * *
Today's fortunes:
- "The heart is wiser than the intellect." (Er, no, it's not. mony
has a good anecdote about this.
- "You are contemplative and analytical by nature." (Hm, are you
sure? What would lead you to say that?)
* * *
Having given up on the day, I watched three episodes of Nuku
Nuku Dash and two of The Twelve Kingdoms, and went
to bed.
Make a comment!
25 February 2004 - Wednesday
Well, the stupid STUPID bus creatures made it take at least an hour
longer than necessary, but I have successfully extracted my package from
the USPS and gotten comics.
* * *
Emily ROCKS!
* * *
Again no Ayse or Ken for Hounds of Balazar. Meep.
But, we demonstrated the combat system on Bernie's character and met
Blueface and are generally all cool!
ROCKS! by Dave (Thu Feb 26 22:13:20 2004)
That's a rather self-referential pointer, there.
ROCKS! by Trip (Thu Feb 26 23:10:32 2004)
Is not.
Make a comment!
24 February 2004 - Tuesday
Bah, my dishwasher won't get fixed tomorrow after all.
* * *
We have finally finished with Banner of the Stars. It is
all good, even the bonus episode.
Next week, .hack. I predict that Dave will like it a
lot, and I won't like it any better than before.
Make a comment!
23 February 2004 - Monday
One of the repair guys came by to look at my dishwasher. He says it's
a bad pump, so he'll have to go get a new one and come back early
Wednesday morning.
* * *
Hm. The water to the entire apartment complex has been shut off. This
makes certain necessary fixtures much less useful than they should
be.
* * *
Yay! Water again!
* * *
The first session of Wandering Heroes of Nexus was, as expected, all
about character creation. We didn't finish (Chrisber had to write up two
characters, and Adam had no brain), but at least now we know it is
actually Wandering Rock Band of Nexus. Next session, they will actually
play a gig and fight evil. Or maybe play evil and fight a gig, I'm not
sure yet.
Make a comment!
22 February 2004 - Sunday
Finally we have succeeded in playing Home Front! Still no Earl,
but we did get everyone else, even Christy (although she is sick
still/again, as she seems to be every weekend and most weeks), and so
soul-sucking Nazi mad scientists were trounced as they deserved!
Job hunt by gconnor (Sun Feb 22 23:45:45 2004)
Hmm, let's see, what would be a good day of the week to check back for weekly updates on the job search? Wednesdays maybe? Wednesday would still give you time to do something that week if you haven't on Monday or Tuesday.
I'm assuming you are searching for a job and just not writing about it, but if not, at least keep an eye on the job listings once a week. If something new shows up it's best to contact them soon after the listing is posted.
Oh, and Good Luck!!
Re: Job Hunt by Trip (Mon Feb 23 09:45:15 2004)
Well, I haven't been searching much, but I certainly should be. This week's project is getting COBRA all straightened out, though, so I can get more drugs.
Sure, Wednesday is good.
Thanks!
Make a comment!
21 February 2004 - Saturday
Marith and I went over to comfort Ayse again, although mostly what
Marith did was play Neverwinter Nights and Final
Fantasy 10, and mostly what I did was watch her. Also, there was
pizza.
* * *
Watching Marith play FF10 made me want to watch the
Final Fantasy anime, so I did.
Make a comment!
20 February 2004 - Friday
HAPPY HAPPY JIMWEASELDAY!
* * *
At Kit's prodding, I wrote another 800 words of SMS, but it is still the
worst story ever, in the entire world. With no tuna.
* * *
Ken is in Arizona being one of those Vampire freaks, so Marith and I
went over to entertain Ayse in her time of bereavement.
For some reason, we had believed Su Hong was dead, but it isn't, so
we got take-out. Sadly, though, the Mandarin Oppressed Duck is no longer
good.
Then we watched the season premiere of Angel, which caused
Marith to froth with moral outrage at the failure of the main characters to
deal with Obvious Evil in a sufficiently prompt and thorough fashion. That
wasn't fun, so we watched some random thing Ayse's TiVo had found about the
making of LotR instead of another episode of Angel, and then
hyperimploded.
* * *
Why haven't I made an adventure for Heroes of Nexus yet?
frothing by marith (Sat Feb 21 12:33:42 2004)
Boy, that makes me sound like a not-very-fun person. I'll just sit over here and stop expressing any opinions before people put the "Big Stupid Paladin" hat on me.
Re: frothing by Trip (Sat Feb 21 12:50:30 2004)
Meep! It is okay for you to have opinions! But you seemed to be getting pretty worked up because Angel was jumping up and down on your buttons, and going "ARGH they're all STUPID" isn't any fun!
Yay me! by Jim (Fri Feb 27 13:36:48 2004)
Wow. I'm up to 6 bits. Eeeee.
Make a comment!
19 February 2004 - Thursday
By the simple expedient of getting up and not doing other stuff, I have
succeeded in writing just under 1100 words this morning! Chapter 14 of The Transmundane is now
complete!
* * *
That's about all I accomplished today, except for a bookstore
accident. (Yes, I know I don't have a job, but these are
books!)
Make a comment!
18 February 2004 - Wednesday
HAPPY HAPPY ANGIEDAY!
* * *
Oh, sure, today it's all sunny and dry!
* * *
Last night Dave and I were talking about how modern SF movies are
about comparable to 1950's written SF; my theory is that it's just fewer
total works, so the traditional themes haven't been done to death. Well,
and that the net effective intelligence of Hollywood (using the
committee formula) is about that of a pithed groundhog.
But anyway, this morning I read The Night Face by Poul
Anderson, and it struck me how obviously it is from the time when
computers had been invented, but hadn't had time to be thought about
extensively: these people have or can fake antigrav, and robots that can
be turned loose in the wild for years on end don't arouse comment, but
the best way the crew of this second-contact ship has to find out
what's going on somewhere is to have people hike there?!
Not that this should be taken as a slam on the book, which is pretty
good (it being old Poul Anderson, after all); it's just very much a
product of its time, and even the best can't overcome that very often.
* * *
Since people make faces at Antihero, and I have to freeze it so my
players can make characters (hint, hint!), I have been thinking about
simple systems as a fallback. This would mean waving my tentacles a lot
on the powers, but oh well.
Now, I could use the Dead Inside system, which is
very very simple and reasonably abstract, although I'd probably want to do
something with powers (change Type to Angel/Succubus/Djinni for the PCs,
use it as the roll for powers, have a list of powers and soul point costs
for them). And I might yet. But I was also thinking about a simple,
abstract system using playing cards (physical tokens good), as I mentioned
in a comment a few entries ago, and I think it goes something like this:
A character has some number of attributes, indicating what they're good
at. These are fairly broad: Mighty Kung Fu, for example, or Do Stuff With
Computers. Attributes can represent skills (Drive Anything, Demonology,
Immense Store of Trivia), innate abilities (Strong, Quick-Witting, Gorgeous
Gams), or superpowers (Fly, Look Like Target's Dream Girl, Manifest Flaming
Sword of Divine Justice). Skill- and ability-type attributes can be bought
multiple times to indicate being really good at whatever; probably twice is
high-end human ability, three times is low-end heroic ability. Superpowers
cost a number of attributes corresponding to how super they are; one that
duplicates normal equipment (Manifest Non-Flaming Sword of Angelic
Peevishness, Run As Fast As A Motorcycle, See In The Dark) costs one
attribute, and better powers cost more.
In combat, a character gets to draw one card for each attribute that
could contribute to either laying down the smack or avoiding the other
guy's smackdown. Then going from lowest character type to highest (ie,
mooks first, then minions, then fully-named characters; if necessary, break
ties with with the draw of a card), each character announces an action and
plays face down either one card or any number of cards in the trump suit
for that kind of action (clubs: body; diamonds: intellect; hearts:
emotion/socialization; spades: tools (including money)). Every card has to
be aimed at a particular opponent; multiple cards can be split up if
desired. When everyone's played their cards, all the cards are revealed,
and it's time to resolve the actions. From highest rank to lowest (that is,
in at least approximately reverse order from before), each character
applies her attack cards, which the target can then attempt to block with
any cards not already committed to attacks.
(Someone who has no relevent attributes draws two cards, but must
discard the higher-valued one.)
A card can be played defensively one of three ways: against one card
of the opposite color; against every card of the same color in a single
attack; or against every card of the same suit in all incoming attacks.
To successfully block a card it's played against, a defensive card must
have the same or higher value; in the case of cards of the same color or
suit, which can defend against multiple other cards, the defensive card
is applied against each attacking card simultaneously, so it may block
some and not others.
Every card that gets through reduces the number of cards the victim
draws in the next bout by one; when this reaches zero, the character is
out of the fight, and any attack cards he played disappear (so taking
someone of lower character type out of the fight means he doesn't get to
hit you at all). Additional hits past that point make the character
increasingly wounded.
Survivors toss in all their cards, drew new ones (possibly fewer
this time), and repeat.
Noncombat task resolution is like one or more rounds of one-on-one
combat (with inanimate opponents getting a difficulty rating in place of
attributes). Depending on the nature of the task, the character might
succeed if she gets one card through or may need to defeat the opponent
entirely. Similarly, damage inflicted on the character may only reduce
card draws for successive rounds, or may be actual damage, lost
possessions, or other lasting harm.
I'm not sure how to do wounds; possibly each point of woundedness
just subtracts one from the number of cards you draw for anything, or
perhaps each one negates one attribute (your choice, within reason).
Yah, okay, Antihero is better.
* * *
Well, I did some of my postjob paperwork. Tomorrow I will
try to do something about getting a primary care physician under the
Aetna weasel so I can make someone give me more drugs.
* * *
Oh yah. That's why I don't go to Armadillo Willy's anymore. It's not
any good now. :(
Systems by Carl (Wed Feb 18 18:35:32 2004)
How about Everway? It's 3 point design system for powers is simple and elegant,
and the card resolution could probably be swapped out for dice somehow. Still available cheaply on Ebay.
Or Sidekick, although it's more Hero than Light.
Or Feng Shui or Torg, although they don't have good power-design subsystems.
Feng Shui is even Nexus-flavored.
Re: Systems by Trip (Wed Feb 18 21:23:51 2004)
My exposure to Everway is approximately none, although possibly I should score a copy off ebay just because it's wacky and different. And I don't have enough unplayed games already.
What is Sidekick?
Archetype-based systems are probably a lose; it would be less work to make a new system from scratch in most cases. And Torg is hideously out of print to boot.
Picky? Me?
Everway by Flit (Fri Feb 20 13:59:03 2004)
I'd be happy to loan or give you my copy of Everway, assuming that I have one and am not just hallucinating. It's actually a pretty clean system other than the messy Tarot resolution.
Re: Everway by Trip (Fri Feb 20 14:50:25 2004)
This is just a cunning ploy to lure me to Santa Cruz! I can tell!
Everway Everwhere by Carl (Sun Feb 22 00:19:17 2004)
I bought many extra copies of Everway against just such an occassion, so I'd be glad to loan you one, plus bonus Spherewalker cards if I can find them. Although being lured to Santa Cruz is also a very fine plan.
If you decide to substitute any of your other card games for the Everway deck I am entirely not responsible in any manner or form, especially Mythos or XXXenophile or both.
I'm just saying, is all.
Sidekick is Hero Light, intended to be less intimidating for new users than the 500-page oxstunner hardcover. Being Hero, it is still 128 pages long, despite my hope for something more like 32, or even 4. I can loan you a copy of that too, although it's only $10, and you'd just spend the money on books or food or something or gas to get to Santa Cruz.
Re: Everway Everwhere by Trip (Sun Feb 22 10:04:05 2004)
Actually, I went ahead and scored a copy off eBay, but thanks anyway!
What, you don't think Everway XXXenophile would work? I mean, it's got to be better than Theatrix Ironwood!
I finally saw Sidekick in Gamescape, and yah, it doesn't actually look much, if any, less complex. It just doesn't mention the complexity you're going to want when you make your second character, thus getting Hero Games the price of Sidekick plus the cost of FRED. Insidious!
(And, well, what's the point of a Hero System book that doesn't give you at least +1d6 HA?)
Armadillo Willy's is no good anymore? by Lynx (Mon Feb 23 08:20:48 2004)
What happened to them? I had pondered going back sometimes for one of their brisket beef sandwiches.
Re: Armadillo Willy's is no good anymore by Trip (Mon Feb 23 09:43:05 2004)
New management, I guess. But the menu is a lot smaller, the meat is much lower quality (or maybe they just boil it instead of barbecuing it), everything comes with mediocre fries instead of salad or cornbread. It's just not a good restaurant anymore.
Make a comment!
17 February 2004 - Tuesday
A mere 30%
stronger isn't quite up to the standard one expects from killer
cyborgs, but it's clearly a step in the right direction.
* * *
My, that's a lot of wind in the out-of-doors which I must venture
into soon. It causes my balcony door to make alarming noises. At least
it's just wind, not cold wet horrible wind.
* * *
Well, it wasn't cold wet horrible wind until I went out in it!
Feh.
Now I am windblown and very soggy, and my inadequately-waterproofed
backpack has let my reading material get wet too. :(
Millbrae mostly consisted of a huge digression into the world of
dreams. Apparently my dreams don't suck. Plus, brains are interesting
and wacky.
Tomorrow I should do all my health-insurance and other post-job
paperwork. Doing it won't kill me; not doing it might.
* * *
Final episode of Banner of the Stars! (Er, except the
special bonus episode.) No spoilers, but we all thought it was good.
* * *
Not so much rain on the way home, fortunately, although I never did
completely dry out from Millbrae. The soggied reading material is now
pressed between spare bookcase shelves, to hopefully become flat
again.
Make a comment!
16 February 2004 - Monday
HAPPY HAPPY HEGEMONY DAY!
* * *
Okay, a diamond
star is just plain COOL.
* * *
Look, another day spent playing zangband. Well, and watching anime,
which is probably not much better, but at least is different.
meday! by hegemony (Mon Feb 16 11:13:10 2004)
Yay! Yay for me day! :)
Thank you! hug
Make a comment!
15 February 2004 - Sunday
Went over to Ken's to entertain him with Battle of the Bands and Dork
Tower while Ayse is explaining about kicking people in the head. Battle of
the Bands is much like the Portable Adventures games (no surprise; same
company). Dork Tower dragged on and on because we were better at
backstabbing each other than going for the gusto. Finally Dave made his
shot at winning, even though he knew he was doomed to fail, because he
wanted to end the game and go home to dinner. He failed. Ken made his shot
at winning. He failed too. I made my shot at winning, didn't draw a jillion
lairs or tombs, and won. But it wasn't very satisfying.
* * *
I seem to have spent most of the evening playing zangband. But all
my stats are maxed, I have steel skin, and my speed is normally +20!
* * *
Marith came over and gave me an anime art book and watched Inu
Yasha with me, thus saving me from spending the entire
evening playing zangband. Isn't she a good sister?
Dork Tower by Dave (Tue Feb 17 13:55:25 2004)
So, is a total strength of 76 or so a record? ;)
Re: Dork Tower by Trip (Tue Feb 17 23:13:03 2004)
Probably, although I seem to recall Earl doing something similar with chaining lairs/tombs in the other game I've played.
Make a comment!
14 February 2004 - Saturday
Still lazy. I assembled the lamp for the back library, but one must
still navigate the Maze of Death to reach it, because there are not
nearly enough shelves to put all the remain books on. Anyway I am pretty
sure of this; I guess I should check, but finding my tape measure and
working out how much bookshelf I need to buy to fill the currently unused
under-window space is doubtless going to happen sooner or later.
* * *
I've finished reading Dead
Inside, an indie game I was turned on to by discussion in the 20' by 20' Room (best gaming site
ever!), which is all about going to the spirit world to get a soul
after realizing that you sold/mislaid/never had your old one. Now I will
hide under this rock over here, because I am obviously not smart enough
or cool enough to design games. Like this:
me
(Yah, yah, Nobilis, but no being existing in merely
Einsteinian spacetime can possibly compete with Rebecca, so I don't take it
as personally.)
* * *
And yep, Chris is looking very dubious at having to divide, even by 5
or 2, during combat, and he's a veteran Hero player, so presumably has
divided medium-sized integers by 5 or 2 about as many times as he's
drawn breath. Meep. :(
His suggested fix is something a lot like the multiple damage tracks
from Alternity: regular attacks do Stun damage with any
points that overflow your Stun track spilling into the Body track;
killing attacks do Body damage directly; if you've taken any Body
damage, you can't take recoveries; when you've filled your Body track,
you're unconscious; when you've filled up your Body track twice, you're
dead.
This is certainly functional, and I've considered similar systems in
the past, but it is definitely even further from Hero than what I have
written now.
Thus, I meep. And consider playtesting; I don't think
Christy does arithmetic for fun, even though Chrisber does and Adam
might.
* * *
Yay more Slayers! Xellos is still very cute but darn
annoying.
* * *
Hm. Looks like there's another space parasite around these parts, and he
reviews movies.
Fortunately, although human brains may not be of high quality, there are plenty to go
around.
parasites by kit (Sun Feb 15 15:05:32 2004)
At least our parasite doesn't talk about himself in the third person. :)
Re: parasites by Trip (Sun Feb 15 18:27:51 2004)
Probably just a translator artifact!
Math for Fun by Tamago (Mon Feb 16 17:18:44 2004)
I do not, indeed, do math for fun. I was frightened as a child by a rogue multiplication table and the scars never fade. However, since I know Hero barely at all, I'm sure the change from one kind of math to a different but equal kind of math for Anti-hero will bother me not at all. Chris on the other hand does not like change. We're all just doomed. ;-)
Re: Math for Fun by Trip (Mon Feb 16 17:48:04 2004)
Yah. Maybe we should just go with some freeform thing where the GM waves his hands a lot. :(
Re: Math for Fun by Dave (Tue Feb 17 13:58:08 2004)
Yeah, well, we've tried that, and it can be suprisingly unsatisfying.
Re: Math for Fun by Trip (Tue Feb 17 23:15:27 2004)
What, you don't like Amber? :)
But yah, some framework is good. I've been contemplating a simple, abstract system using playing cards (physical tokens good), but I don't think I've got it to the point of being simple or systematic yet.
Make a comment!
13 February 2004 - Friday
Hm. The dishwasher now works, but it leaks. This makes me sad, but at
least I can get my dishes out of it so I have something to eat off of
while I wait for it to be repaired.
* * *
I appear to have become a product of Thai cuisine. (But a tasty one!) I
suspect Marith and Ayse of being responsible for Trip Panang.
* * *
Hah! They have admitted it! I shall wreak my horrible revenge!
* * *
Since other people (including ones likely to game with me) have approved
of the most recent Antihero ideas, so I've edited them into the system
weasel.
* * *
Lazy parasite.
Trip panang! by Flit (Sat Feb 14 14:32:10 2004)
Do they use a wok to make that, by any chance? ;)
Re: Trip panang! by Trip (Sat Feb 14 19:55:14 2004)
Davebat!
Make a comment!
12 February 2004 - Thursday
Yay! I have finished putting comics on shelves and breaking down
comic boxes! I have a LIBRARY!
Well, mostly. There is still one box of unsorted and possibly unread
comics I should do something with, but that's a lot better than twenty
boxes filling up the room. Maybe I'll move my computer in there; there's
space right under the window.
* * *
Hm. I figured with all the dishes I dirtied making meatloaf, I should
efficiently use the dishwasher, but it blew up the sink.
Eventually the repair guy will come and fix it, but until then I have
no dishes. Fortunately, Marith is bringing pizza.
* * *
Yay! The dishwasher is fixed! Now it is running again, but it's
probably still good that we have pizza, since I am hungry
now!
Make a comment!
11 February 2004 - Wednesday
The only useful thing I did today was make meatloaf, but I am very
pleased with it! At this rate, I will be able to boil water in no time!
* * *
No Hounds of Balazar tonight; our illustrious GM is stuck at work
forever and ever. I'm beginning to think we should do like Carl does
with his D&D game: schedule every week and just accept that half the
sessions will be cancelled for one reason or another.
meatloaf! by kit (Thu Feb 12 08:56:55 2004)
Woo Trip! Go you! beam
Re: meatloaf! by Trip (Thu Feb 12 10:50:30 2004)
I ate the meatloaf and I didn't die!
re: meatloaf! by kit (Thu Feb 12 20:39:19 2004)
Not dying is good!
Gaming Scheduling by Dave (Tue Feb 17 14:09:47 2004)
There is certainly merit to that sort of approach.
Make a comment!
10 February 2004 - Tuesday
I poked around the VTA website (which lacks what I'd think would be
the most fundamental function of all: feed it two locations and get out
a travel plan) for long enough that by the time I gave up and used the
phone, I couldn't catch the bus that would definitely get me there on
time. However, the next bus would get me there just about exactly on
time if all went well, and in fact the bus stop was right in front of
the building I wanted, so all was well.
The orientatification was sort of dull, but there were bits like
formulating the 30-second blurb about yourself to lay on people you meet
randomly that required my awakeness.
I have no idea if I will bother to go to any of the classes, but I
probably should. Knowing how to negotiate for more money can't
hurt.
* * *
Blargh, took forever to get back home. Stupid busses that don't run
to MV. No time for dinner before running to anime, never mind anything
else.
* * *
Wow, Galaxy Fraulein Yuna is even worse than I
remembered. It turns out it's one of those videogame-spinoffs, though,
which explains why nothing is explained.
Travel Plans by Dave (Wed Feb 11 21:39:36 2004)
Try http://www.transitinfo.org/
Make a comment!
9 February 2004 - Monday
Hah! It's not even 11:00 and I'm already showered and dressed and...
attached to my computer. Well, let's work on the easy things first.
* * *
While trying to fall asleep (being all alive by 11 means going to bed
earlier than I have been during my slackage), I thought about the damage
thing some more, and concretized what I got from my discussion with
Jeremy (which may not be what he gave me, but these minor discrepancies
are to be expected when you communicate via pressure waves rather than
direct exchange of neural matter).
So, you take some damage. (I think I'm sticking with the 3 damage per
1d6 attack & +1 damage per extra success system, although it doesn't
actually matter for this.) You subtract your appropriate Def from the
incoming damage, and add whatever is left to your appropriate damage pool.
When the damage pool reaches your Body or Soul threshhold (there are no
longer separate Stun and Spirit threshholds), you're out. (Body/Soul need
to be increased to what Stun/Spirit were before: Con/Ego + 15.)
However, some fraction of this damage is long-term. The options for an
attack power are 0% long-term ("stun-only" damage), 20% long-term ("normal"
damage), 50% long-term ("Hey, should this be normal or killing, do you
think?"), and 100% long-term ("killing" damage). You add this fraction of
the damage you took to the long-term portion of the appropriate damage
pool. Taking a recovery (in or out of combat) can't reduce the damage in
that pool below the amount that's long-term.
If you take half or more your Body/Soul in damage in one attack, you
lose your next action with some fitting special effect. If you take half or
more your Body/Soul in long-term damage in one attack, or if you have your
Body/Soul or more in long-term damage, you are "wounded", and take a -2
penalty to everything you do. If the damage is regular bodily damage, and
you don't have dramatic protection (because you're not in a heroic game, or
you are in a heroic game but you aren't a named character), a wound may
cause your eventual death. (Look, look! Even a fairly wimpy (2d6) handgun
(100% lethal) can fatally wound a normal!)
The default for normal attack powers is 1/5 long-term (this probably
needs a shorter or at least more euphonious term) damage; the default
for special attacks is 0 long-term damage. Either kind can be bumped one
notch up the scale (none -> 1/5 -> ½ -> all) for a +¼
advantage.
The effect where Def blocks Body while letting Stun through is no
more, so normals no longer need 2 Def to keep barfights with 2d6 Str
from being fatal, and default Def can be dropped to 0.
Since there are now more than two lethality ratings for damage, there
need to be more than two types of Def: any bit of Def now protects against
attacks of up to some given lethality rating. The default (and all that
normal humans can buy) is vs 1/5 or less; this can be increased for
+¼ per step, so "fully resistant" (effective against all long-term
or anything less) is +½. It can be reduced to be only effective
against no-long-term-damage (augh! must get a better term!) attacks
for -½.
Mental/Power/Flash Defense may default to "fully resistant". I'm not
sure yet. (I'm especially not sure about Flash Def, since I'm not sure
how Flash should be implemented in Antihero.)
I am considering letting Def of a given level resist attacks of one
level higher at half value, two levels higher at one-fifth value, and three
levels higher (all-long-term attack against only-vs-no-long-term Def) at
one-tenth. This is somewhat more complicated, but it's not like you weren't
just going to write the 4 numbers on your character sheet. It also means
that someone with 3 normal Def gets 1 point vs guns, but I don't think
that's horrible.
Anyone want to opine?
* * *
Ambar's meatloaf recipe (for my own reference):
Starling says "2lbs ground meat. (all hamburger is traditional; half
hamburger and half turkey works well if you want to be healthier). 2
eggs. salt & pepper. dried minced onion from the spice section. a 9x5"
loaf pan. optional: one green herb that smells good. I really like sage,
but we are being simple here. feel free to omit. :)"
Starling says "Put meat in a big bowl. Break eggs and beat in a
smaller bowl; pour over meat. Add 1.5 teaspoons of salt and .5 teaspoon
of pepper. Add a tablespoon of the onion. Add herbs if desired. (If
fresh, chop first; if dried, crumble. Stick to about 1 teaspoon of dried
if you don't know what you're doing.)"
Starling says "oil or butter pan if it's not a non-stick. Wash hands
and combine all the above by squashing together vigorously, like unto
play-dough. squash into pan. Bake for 45 minutes."
Starling says "350F."
Starling says "Remove. Slice. Apply ketchup to taste."
Starling says "This is totally for varying. I was trying to produce an
LCD of meatloaf. :)"
* * *
The get-a-job consultants Overture hired for all of us who got the
boot finally called while I was in, so I agreed to go tomorrow and get
orientatified.
* * *
Wow! Energy! Or something! I have hauled all the comic boxes into the
front library, put all the shelves in the bookcases, finished unboxing
the gaming and oversized books, and sorted & shelved half the
comics! Oh, and put in a floor lamp so I can work on this even when the
sun is down.
Go me!
meatloaf! by mony (Tue Feb 10 05:25:54 2004)
Easy things to add: they have diced onions and peppers in the freezer section of the supermarket that are idea for tossing into things like meatloaf. Canned mushrooms (or pre-sliced fresh mushrooms) would also be an excellent addition. Buy a can of crushed tomatoes with tomato paste in the juice and pour that over the top for a quick and easy sauce.
Admittedly, I make my meatloaf with little bits of torn up bread, and form it free-form in a 9x11 pan, so the sauce thing might not work quite as well if you're making it in a loaf pan or something significantly smaller where you're shaping the loaf all the way to the edges. (mushroom juice from the canned mushrooms makes a good addition for moisture if you find your meatloaf comes out too dry.) Order white rice from a chinese or thai place to serve it with for a quick and easy side dish. :)
Meatloaf is really pretty easy to throw together, though it may take some experimentation to get moisture levels just to taste.
rice by kit (Tue Feb 10 09:35:24 2004)
Or buy a box of Uncle Ben's "rice in a bag" stuff and follow the directions, which gives you perfect rice every time, as long as you can read, and is cheaper than ordering out. :)
Antihero Damage by Lynx (Tue Feb 10 10:18:39 2004)
Hero is too complicated. Antihero's point is to reduce the complexity. To that end, creating multiple types of damage and defenses that protect against them works against you.
If you're going with the comic book feel, then reduce everything to hitpoints and have the hero be knocked unconscious at 0 hitpoints. To keep lethality as an option, have it be a +1/2 or +1 advantage that allows the attack to reduce the hero's hit points below 0. When the hero reaches -BODY hitpoints, he's dead.
I do like having the hero be stunned/wounded at various points, that should be doable with just hitpoints.
Re: Antihero Damage by Trip (Tue Feb 10 12:06:40 2004)
Well. I want to simplify and streamline Hero, but that doesn't mean I want to replace it with TWERPS. :)
Note also, Hero is a superset of Champions, so Antihero should be useful for Fantasy Hero, Danger International, etc campaigns, as well as superheroics. I think some sort of long-term vs short-term damage is important there.
Anyway, you can just pay +½ for all your Def and ignore the complexity. :)
I suppose I could ditch the half-long-term level, so there are only three sorts of damage (and none-long-term is not very complicated)...
Re: Antihero Damage by Lynx (Wed Feb 11 10:39:42 2004)
It wouldn't be a very compelling system to pick up and use instead of Hero if it weren't notably simpler in execution, though! You want Hero's power point-balancing in character creation, but not the complexity in play.
Re: Antihero Damage by Trip (Wed Feb 11 12:03:45 2004)
True! I think that in practice, though, this bit of the system is slightly simpler, or at least no more complex. Body and Stun have been combined into one number, which is good, and you don't have to keep two damage numbers in your head while subtracting Def, which is also good. You do generally have to divide, eventually, but usually it will be a small number and you only have to divide by 5 or 2, which I think most people can do without trouble.
Having up to four sorts of Def is more complicated than having only two, but if Def defaults to 0, then you only have to deal with as many kinds as you want to; if you make all your Def fully resistant, then you only have one number to subtract from incoming damage.
It would be nice to reduce the number of types of Def, though. Probably it could be reduced to two (works vs 0- or 1/5-killing only, works vs all) without hampering things, but it would be nice to have the extra options for people who want them.
I think I understand Lynx's position here, though I cling feebly to my own ideas instead of agreeing with him. Does anyone else have helpful (or snide :) comments?
meatloaf by gregbo (Tue Feb 24 14:27:38 2004)
I vaguely recall putting some ketchup on the meatloaf right before putting it in the oven and letting it bake in. I also vaguely recall my mother used to mix bread crumbs in with the other ingredients.
Make a comment!
8 February 2004 - Sunday
Looks like quorum for Home Front is five. Since there were only four
of us, we played Grave Robbers from Outer Space (Jeremy won, since he
had the "win the game" card) and the LotR variant of Risk (Chrisber
won). LotR Risk was interesting, although I have to wonder if all the
extra stuff is new for this or just relabeled from current versions of
Risk.
* * *
I bounced the question of Antihero damage off Jeremy (darn, too much
Def!) and he suggested what turns out to be kind of like what I ended up
doing for SPD. That is, get rid of the two separate kinds of damage (Stun
and Body) before comparing damage to Def. Only after damage that gets
through defenses has been calculated does some of it get marked as
long-term. This is simple, and gets Stun and Body on the same scale, but
it's not very Heroesque. I must meditate.
* * *
Dinner at the Thai place next to Trader Joe's. Still yummy!
* * *
Hm. I seem to have ordered random small-press gaming things over the
web. Oh well.
* * *
Marith brought me waxed paper and kleenex when she came over to watch
Inu Yasha! Yay!
Make a comment!
7 February 2004 - Saturday
Today's fortune: "A wise man knows everything; a shrewd one, everybody."
Bah. I've seen that one.
* * *
I have no adventure for Home Front. I have vague situational ideas,
so I'll let the PCs chew on the scenery. Maybe I can distract them with
the long-awaited genre argument. And some experience points.
* * *
Now Marith is caught up to where I was in Inu Yasha.
Make a comment!
6 February 2004 - Friday
I finally found the slip for the missing package (it was in my wallet,
right where I looked and didn't find it before (Kit says I can blame the
Kitlings)), so got off my undercarapace and called the post orifice about
it. However, if they had ever found it, they would have returned it to
sender by now. I have sent mail to Amazon support in the hope they know
something.
* * *
Also, I have ordered the books I was actually looking for when I had
my bookstore accident.
* * *
I now have supplies to work on the model Marith got me um a jillion
years ago! This worries me, because I am sure I will do it imperfectly
and make a thing of horror and bleah instead of a nice statuette of
Belldandy.
* * *
Yay more Slayers Next! Also, lots and lots of talking.
Talking is good.
kitlings! by kitlings (Fri Feb 6 17:13:53 2004)
o.o! we r V. INNOCENT! o.o!
Re: kitlings! by Trip (Fri Feb 6 18:45:42 2004)
I'm sure you are the most innocent Kitlings who have ever lived!
Re: kitlings! by kitlings (Sat Feb 7 11:37:38 2004)
We are! We are!
(We would admit that might not be saying much, but that would require more brain power than we individually possess.)
Make a comment!
5 February 2004 - Thursday
Today, there was much lameness, but also a trip to the post office to
collect my big box of books from the UK. Then, on the way back, I had a
$90 bookstore accident. Oops.
The post office couldn't find my other package, though. Grr. I think
they ate it.
* * *
Didn't write. Lame parasite.
* * *
Hm. Adam is bailing on both Home Front (which he's supposed to be
RUNNING) on Sunday and Heroes of Nexus on Monday.
* * *
Tonight I finally watched All-Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku
Nuku, which I have had sitting around for a while. It is pretty
entertaining, if not deep or complex or anything. (Hey, it's shonen anime
from 1992; what do you want?).
* * *
And Marith is too sick to go to Roseville. Meep. No gaming for me!
Make a comment!
4 February 2004 - Wednesday
Hm. Maybe it wasn't the right morning to sleep in. Still, I got out
the door in almost-presentable clothes in time to catch the train to get
to South San Francisco an hour before the scheduled interview time.
Sadly, I was then betrayed cruelly by the taxicab industry, and
arrived half an hour later. Grr.
The person I was supposed to meet first had already taken off (he was
up at 0300 to deal with an outage), and one of the others was busy, but
I met with the guy I had phone screamed with and one other, and they
didn't seem to think I was completely incompetent. The word "senior" was
even used, and not in an obviously mocking way! However, I did lose
points for having been too lame to actually go to their website before
the interview.
* * *
Now I have been travelling all day, or so it seems, but I have new
comics, so perhaps I will flee from the computer.
* * *
Tonight's random new anime: Kiddy Grade, which has nothing
to do with school, but rather is in the same genre as Dirty
Pair. I guess the name is from the fact that the two protagonists
are supposed to be quite young, but although one plausibly does look eleven
or twelve, the other, well. I guess she's precocious.
Extra bonus cleavage aside, the plots are not horrible, and there are
hints that something interesting may be revealed, so I will probably pick
up the next disc, because my standards are not that high. Or er
something.
Good luck with the potential job! by Lynx (Thu Feb 5 23:54:41 2004)
Congratulations on now being titled Senior Parasite, hopefully things will go well! Parasites don't thrive well without larger organizations onto which to fasten. };)
Re: Good luck with the potential job! by Trip (Fri Feb 6 11:32:29 2004)
wumwumwum thanks wumwumwum
Make a comment!
3 February 2004 - Tuesday
After spazzing around and around, I finally went off to Millbrae, and
was duly milled (5 minutes late, because of stupid STUPID Caltrain
creatures).
* * *
Since we finished Love Hina Again last week, we had a
slot open this week for Voices of a Distant Star. It is
easy to see why it won many awards. It was even good!
The interview with the creator was only so-so, but it is heartening
that single artists can create anime. Stick it to the Man!
* * *
Hm. Apparently I left my checkbook in Millbrae. Oops. Fortunately I
don't write many checks.
Make a comment!
2 February 2004 - Monday
Well, the phone scream was late, but eventually it all got figured
out, and all was well. I don't think I sounded too brainless.
* * *
Indeed, they want me to go in and meet people in person on
Wednesday!
* * *
Played more zangband.
Make a comment!
1 February 2004 - Sunday
Marith came over and read some of How to Become King,
and then we watched some Inu Yasha.
* * *
Ken & Ayse fed us on yummy hamburgers. Now I am a round parasite!
VICTORY! Victory is ours! We have successfully defeated the Horror
and opened the caer!
Admittedly, we only managed this because the Horror's ally turned on
it, and in any event I contributed nothing because my average roll on
2d6 was about 4, but we reaped the rewards nonetheless.
Next time we get together, it's back to D&D.
Make a comment!
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