November 30, 2003
November 28, 2003
Wish 74: Supplements you would like to see
Name three or more supplements (or core books, for that matter) for existing game systems that you’d like to see. Why? What inspires your interest in these supplement? What existing supplements or materials are you using instead?
I agree with Ginger, Rebma is right out.
(Although Arref and Theresa--I've love to see the stuff you are doing for Rebma in GA. Any chance of a webpage of stuff, or to forward it to me?)
1. More Nobilis stuff
Yeah, I don't have the book yet. And there is one supplement, but its a game that can benefit, if not sorely use, some more. After all, Amber is intimidating but at least there are the novels to work with. Nobilis doesn't quite have that, just the GWB (Great White Book) and the one supplement which, I understand, deals with LARP rules for the game.
2. More GURPS Castle Falkenstein stuff
It's an intriguing and fun-filled world, and the two books already out there don't nearly cover enough of it.
3. Reprint/extend Nexus
Nexus is a fun world, where a bunch of pieces of different worlds jam together, all of different levels of magic and technology. Not quite as chaotic, then, as Cynosure, but you could go from the High technology "Angel City" and walk into a world where that technology is junk and magic rules.
It's out of print, sadly. It could use getting back into print, and detailing some more of those worlds.
Interestingly enough, my conceptual model of how pieces of Ways shift in Chaos Houses, pieces I call "Terrenes" (as Deb should remember), is derived partially from Nexus.
I could go endlessly on, listing various possible GURPS modules, but I figure that would be cheating, a bit, since I have no idea on if they would do a sourcebook on a particular world, topic, or literary universe. Besides, that would be stunningly close to a WISH we've already covered, I think, even if iti s for a "existing game system"
November 27, 2003
A thought for the day
I was talking with Jim about myself. And he explained some stuff that makes sense and has, well, stunned me by self-realization.
I won't quote him directly, but I will share the money quote of my summary of what he said, that I said back to him:
"So you are saying my propensity for self-flagellation hurts my relationships by making people feel guilty about it."
Uncultured!
Well, on this turkey day, I've learned that I have something in common with George W. Bush, President of the United States
We both mispronounce Nevada, at least according to the way the natives pronounce it.
I read on one of the news sites that in a visit Tuesday to Las Vegas, Bush repeatedly mispronounced the name of the state. Smugly, I continued to read on, until I discovered the horror.
Bush mispronounces the state's name as "Nev-ahh-da".
I had thought that WAS the way you pronounced the State's name. I did a little research, and it seems that the official pronounciation among residents of the state is "Nev-aa-da"
Now, if I do visit the state, I'll know better.
November 26, 2003
TMQ has returned
Readers back on the old incarnation of my blog will remember the fact that ESPN.com dropped Gregg Easterbrook's "Tuesday Morning Quarterback" Column after he said some really stupid things having nothing to do with that column or football at all, about the hierarchy of Disney.
Well, the ball has bounced again, and TMQ has returned--this time it is on NFL.com
I only found this by purest luck looking at the NFL.com homepage.
Yes, Gregg is an ass in his other columns, but he understands football. Huzzah!
Nonfiction Books I recommend
This post by Calpundit on Bill Clinton's "Favorite" books seems awfully titled toward nonfiction, and it seems a wee bit calculated.
Much of the talk in my circle of friends on the Blogs and LJ's usually revolve around Fictional works.
I'm going to mention some favorite Non fiction books that I think you might enjoy.
Nonfiction Books that Jvstin likes:
Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene
String Theory, the hottest thing in physics and cosmology, is elegantly explained. This is the book recently made into a PBS miniseries that I'd love to have on DVD.
Cosmos, by Carl Sagan
The Original and still the best. Getting a little long in the tooth, yes, but the sheer wonder of the universe is conveyed just as well in these pages as it is in the tv series.
Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond
Why and how did Europe go from a backwater to come to dominate the world? Why were the Native Americans still in the Stone Age when Columbus arrived? A fascinating study, which neatly refutes superiority theories based on race, religion, and the like.
Fortune Is a River : Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli's Magnificent Dream to Change the Course of Florentine History, by Roger D. Masters
Did YOU know that Machiavelli and Da Vinci knew each other? And that they had a bold ambitious plan, never realized, to turn Florence into a full seaport? A historical footnote because it failed, this is a look into a relatively obscure chapter in the lives of two of the most memorable men in 16th Century Italy.
New Penguin Atlas of Ancient History, by Colin McEvedy
Penguin puts out a line of small, relatively inexpensive (~$15) historical atlases from various time periods in history. This one is one of my favorites, covering the Ancient world (Europe to India) from the prehistoric to the fall of the Roman Empire.
Dictionary of Imaginary Places, by Alberto Manguel
Is this NF? I'm not quite sure, but every lover of fantasy, every player of RPGs, everyone of my friends, basically, should have this book. And revel in it. It has 1200 entries and maps from classic locations in fantastic literature, from Homer to Harry Potter. The tone and style is that of a true Encyclopedia or Dictionary, treating the places as if they really exist.
A Short History of Byzantium, by John Julius Norwich
Short only in the sense that it is an abridgement of his massive three-volume Magnum Opus on Byzantium, a comprehensive look at Byzantium's origin, apogee, and fall.
Five Kingdoms: An Illustrated Guide to the Phyla of Life on Earth, by Lynn Margulis
Covering every phylum of every Kingdom of life, this book tries to briefly survey the wide range of life on Earth, from conifers to archaeobacteria, to mammals. Illustrated wonderfully, too. It requires some biological literacy, but its comprehensiveness is astounding, for the price.
Annals of the Former World, by John McPhee
A look at the geology of North America, the easy to read but never dumbed down John McPhee just seems to know how to get his geological friends to explain matters in a way a layman can understand. (Or in my case, someone with not *much* in the way of geological classes). And yet, McPhee never halts from giving the human story of the places he goes.
I think that set should do...for today.
November 24, 2003
WISH 73: Player Driven Shifts
What’s the biggest PC-driven shift you’ve ever experienced in a campaign? If you were a player, what made you feel like you could successfully change the GM’s world? If you were a GM, was this planned or something the PCs surprised you with?
I'll go with Jim Groves, and Jayson. I am sure I mentioned this before, on Wish 66.
Very early on, Jayson changed a significant feature of the plot of my game, at least as I had mapped it out in my mind. And added a whole new strain in the process.
On his way to Amber, from his mother (Sand)'s shadow, Jayson got an unexpected trump call, a desperate one, from Deirdre. Contact brief, mysterious, fraught with peril and the mystery.
Now instead of rehashing what did happen, since I've mentioned it before, I am going to tell you what I thought would happen.
Jayson goes to Amber, and parlays the information. In the meantime, Deirdre and Brand wind up in the void between universes, and, eventually, way down the line, they finally escape, but not without cost to either of them. (I was musing which one of them to kill off, or to have the PCs find both bodies...)
I didn't intend Brand to be a subplot for years in the game, and Jayson shifted that. As a result, the whole Apollo subplot came into focus, and the foiled attempt by Brand to take the Fount (Bhangbadea and company staving off Brand in a dramatic battle!)
As a player, I could be wrong, but I don't think I've really shifted a GM's world that strongly. It also hurts that I've rarely had characters around long enough to really do that, over time. In fact, until GA, the only active characters I had, period, were Marcus and Cadmus.
It does explain why I don't think I'm that good of a player. I simply don't have the "chops" most of the people in my circle have.
Keyword of the Day: Snow!
It snowed here last weekend, as you have no doubt seen on the news, be it internet, newspaper or the nightly news.
Where I am, we only got 7 inches, although it was howling and blowing at a good clip on Sunday. Is it any wonder I stayed home in the apartment?
Today? Cold and Clear. Blue skies, the sun is shining
...and its in the mid 20's.
November 23, 2003
Scenario idea
Inspiration comes where you find it, and talking with Deb about (no surprise) GA has given me an idea for an Amber scenario...more of a "social" game than anything I've generally run
No title as yet.
Plot:
It is fifty years after Patternfall. The realm is at peace, and life is good. Vialle and Random have a son, and, Martin wanting nothing to do with the throne, the son is now the heir to Amber. Not that Random and Vialle have any plans on retirement.
No, the sticky wicket comes on the anniversary of Random and Vialle's coronation, when their son brings home the woman he has been telling about for months, the woman he would, with their blessing, like to marry. Along with her mother, who has insisted on coming to Amber to meet her opposite numbers...
And since I made a mistake and told too much already to Deb (who cannot play now as a result if I do run it), that is ALL you get.
November 21, 2003
Gernsback redux
This was so good, on Theresa's Making Light, that i had to quote it here in its entirety.
Ralph 4CR looked around in astonishment. “You mean… there are invisible beams all around us, carrying information to all parts of the globe, even as we speak?”
The Master of Communications turned towards him solemnly. “Yes,” he asseverated, “and the information is not carried whole, but is broken up into a myriad of infinitesimal packets, to be reassembled without fail when they reach their destination.”
“You astonish me,” breathed Ralph. “And this information is accessible to all?”
“It is,” nodded the Master. “The issues of the day are debated by all citizens, no matter where they may be located, and communication no longer waits on tides or weather.”
“And what are the great issues so decided?”
The Master cast a glance at the poll on his screen: Which Jedi Knight Are You? He looked severe. “I fear our issues would mean nothing to you across the great gulf of time you have traversed. You should go now and refresh yourself. We will speak later. You have much to learn. Vanna, show our young guest to his room.”
A lissome blonde appeared from behind a curtain and beckoned…
Not so much fiction anymore
Insurgents deploying rocket-launcher-equipped donkey carts attacked symbolically important and well-fortified buildings in Baghdad Friday, just hours after a top U.S. commander proclaimed progress in the military's newly aggressive high-tech counter-insurgency operation.
Washington Post
Rockets Hit 2 Baghdad Hotels, Oil Ministry
I wish I had a copy of Poul Anderson's THE HIGH CRUSADE around, because I sure as heck remember the medieval English using a trick with trebuchets and bombs at one point in the novel against the aliens (once they've been landed on the alien planet)
That's what this reminds me of, a mixture of low and high technology to go against an ostensibly superior fighting force and cause significant grief in the process
November 20, 2003
Game WISH 71: NPCS Unwritten
Ginger asks: (taking up the one that Arref posted during Ginger's break):
For GMs : when you plan or play your NPCs, do you intentionally leave out some of the story for each? Do you hold something back and let the Players imagine the rest or do you present NPCs from the core of who they are? Is time a factor—a short game or one-shot not allowing much character depth? Does NPC expertise shine through? Or are there character foibles that cloud the better qualities of the NPC? Are there short-cuts to get this across?
For Players : Do you rely on the NPC as presented, or are you usually looking “between the lines” to figure the elements that are hold-backs? Do you care that the NPCs might have as many conflicted qualities as the PCs? Should a game really revolve around the PCs in every respect, including a certain ‘artificial’ quality to the secondary cast? Or are you happier if the NPCs are ‘sticky’?
Gming first.
I am of several minds about NPCs. I love to have realized, fully imagined NPCs, with story and goals of their own, sometimes not even what I quite imagine. And I love it when a player picks up on things and adds to the NPC's story. "Oh, yes, Noys and I went to such and such a shadow once."
On the other hand, however, I have a rule. "When in doubt, let the PC do it."
With my penchant for NPCs being as fully functional as they are, there is a temptation, a danger, in having them do TOO much. To be too ubiquituous, too useful, to the deteriment of the PCs.
This is NOT fun. No one wants a game where they watch NPCs do everything. Sure, NPCs will be a part of the major threads, but I don't want them to dominate them completely. Especially when it comes to those NPCs who are "larger than life"...like, say, Lorius. He loves being a center of attention, almost too much.
And I purposefully stopped a major plot thread in Rebma dead in its tracks until I could have someone create a Rebman PC to interact and be part of it. Similarly, some other threads outside of Amber and Chaos are awaiting the spotlight of a PC or three to make them fully functional and known, and real.
The Players make this game, and I will, if I have to, somewhat mute the NPCs if they dominate the game too much.
Rebma and Fire
Arref writes: on Rebma and Fire. And no, that's not a contradiction in terms.
IMC, there is definitely sorcerous fire, although I conflate the first and the second together. They are really manifestations of the same thing, different wavelengths on the spectrum of sorcerous energies. I don't have an equivalent to the Emerald Flame, however. Rebma's sea life and bounty come from its unusual nature when it was created ex nihilio, rather than anything that needs to be maintained.
Wish 72: Character Interruptus
And we get back into WISH mode. I'll tackle this one from Ginger, first:
Talk about a few characters you had to stop playing before their stories felt finished. Where do you think they would have gone?
Well, given my penchant for reimaging, reforging and recasting characters, a question like this is usually campaign-dependent, and work with how the character's stories interact with the campaign themes.
Take Marcus, for example. Although he is in AOR currently, his original incarnation, incomplete, was in Rob Bergeron's Shadow War. There, he was Deirdre's son, the game set after an alternate Guns of Avalon where Eric didn't die there. Throw in getting sucked into the Jewel of Judgement, Rob dredging up one line of backstory to give him a prior relationship with a (now revealed) Chaosian, and best of all, Marcus getting a jeweled arm (analogous to the one Benedict gets, although this one was even more directly tied to the Jewel)
Where those plotlines might have brought him, I don't know. By the time the game went into stasis, Marcus had already decided to fight for Siobhan and to find her once again, once he got out of the Jewel. I don't know how the jeweled arm would have figured into that.
Archard, from EGB, is an active character in my head, and I suspect that Arref knows precisely what he is up to, since EGB is part of his Amber: The Eternal City World. Me, I think he might try and establish an embassy in the scholarly city of Glantri, continue to forge the delicate links he has to a couple of those strange and unusual Amberites, and support his family through difficult and tumultous times.
His sister Rakhi might yet become Heir, after all.
And, of course, oh yes, continue to explore his mysterious abilities, especially now with Delwin back in the Empire.
November 16, 2003
Live and Direct, Network 23
(Bonus points to anyone who gets that joke)
Well, a lot of my archives are missing thanks to the problems at the former home of the blog, but Blog, Jvstin Style has returned.
This is the new home of Blog, Jvstin Style. And it is still a Blog for my interests, still the same goodness. (if you like this sort of thing).
Moving on
Sorry if I implied that BJS was actually dying.
By a better place, I meant that literally, it is going to a better place.
Where?
Go forth and enjoy.
November 14, 2003
November 12, 2003
November 6, 2003
Shoot. Me. Now
I'm sick of this.
My posts don't post properly (that idiotic 500 error), comments are flaky, my categories are hosed.
I'm tempted just to do a bloody clean install...but I still think half of this is powweb, at least half.
:sigh:
A glitch
Well, my blog is back and you're gonna be in trouble.
Hey la, Hey la, my blog is back...
Okay, that was silly.
But there is a glitch, a fly in the ointment of my life.
The monthly archives (400 of them!) seemed to be the choking point on my blog, the thing that was causing the problem. So I stopped monthly archiving. Unfortunately, it seems that in removing that from the template, it is now not showing my category archives either, even though the MT code for them is still there.
Odd.
But at least my blog in the main is back.
November 5, 2003
Still plugging away
Win or lose, I want to give a shout out to Michael, Ginger's RFL for patiently trying to help me with this madness.
Minnesotan understatement
(And a test to see if I am really back)
The local paper had this to say about tonight's weather:
"Unseasonably brisk. Low of 17"
Somehow, I've never thought of 17 as brisk, unseasonably or otherwise.
November 4, 2003
Nanowrimo
I've decided, as noted elsewhere, to get into the Nanowrimo project for the month of November. The somewhat psychotic goal is to churn out a 50000 word novel in a month.
Philip K. Dick, I am not, but I have decided to give it a go.
Deb has kindly opened a blog for a small group of us in our circle who is doing it. So go visit Insanity is Contagious. I'll probably crosspost more significant milestones here, and leave the more mundane entries there.
November 3, 2003
The origin of "Jvstin"
I am feeling better, to answer a question that (might) be on some of your minds. Perfect and 100%? No, but better than it was.
But based on Deb's LJ post about her Nano novel and mistaking Justin for Jvstin, I thought I would explain just why that, instead of something else, is my online persona name...
I don't have a real middle name.
None of my brothers was given a middle name at birth. It was not as popular then as it is now. My older brother did receive a middle name at Confirmation (one of the sacraments in Catholicism).
Neither myself nor my younger brother were as rigrously educated, theologically, and so I didn't get a middle name by that route.
Peer pressure and a bit of envy played on me. My elementary and then junior high school classmates had middle names (I lived in an area with a high Catholic population). I had none, and felt that isolating factor impinge on me. I didn't like that feeling.
So I decided that I would invent one.
My first attempt at a middle name was a resounding failure. Although I liked the name Douglas, it drew derision and ridicule. Even into High School, I could be given a rise out of someone calling me "Dougie fresh."
I decided to be more discreet and private on the matter, henceforth. My interests in Greek and Roman stuff were percolating and growing in high school, and I had read Amber, and felt an affinity for Julian.
Thus, I decided that my middle name, unofficially, was going to be Justin.
When it came to joining the online world, though, I cast about in my mind for a good email name. Justin was of course already used, but I realized that many people might not think of a Romanesque spelling...substituting a v for the u.
And thus Jvstin was born.
I've thus tried to use Jvstin whenever possible as usernames on bulletin boards, on IRC, and so forth. I get a little miffed when someone beats me to the punch, such as on LJ itself. I'm the "real" Jvstin.
As far as personality goes, I will point out that Lisa, for example, much preferred calling me Justin in person rather than Paul. She thought I was much more the one than the other, admittedly because she was first exposed to Jvstin. And she is not the only person that has thought of me as Justin/Jvstin rather than my given name, especially *blush* in intimate situations. (The scene in When Harry Met Sally when Billy Crystal's character talks about names and sexual activity actually seems to apply in my case)
So Jvstin is a very important facet of my personality and is indeed my online "face" at large. I won't probably ever officially change my real name to add Justin as a middle one, but for all intents and purposes, that is what my middle name is.
And now you know where Jvstin comes from.