TRPG General Chat

12:04 AM

@Oxinabox I have several Shadowrun novels, from 1e-2e days. I haven't read them for over 15 years. Quality varies, but some are pretty good.

Adeptus

12:15 AM

@JoshuaAslanSmith There's an Otherworld comic I've heard about, that I want to read... Batman: Speeding Bullets. The premise is, what if Kal-El (aka Superman) came to earth in Gotham & was adopted by the childless Wayne family? Basically, Superman as Batman.

Adeptus

12:41 AM

@waxeagle Have you seen heroforge.com

mbriand

2:03 AM

@Adeptus Am I right in feeling that kind of thing suffers having to be painted? It seems really interesting to me, but then I'd have to buy a million paint colors and do very badly something I've never done before...

Like 99% of the people interested in a custom miniature likely don't have the skills or desire to paint it.

Adeptus

@mbriand On the kickstarter, they had an option to have them prepainted. They might offer this once they're fully up & running. Or, some people leave them unpainted. They actually offer a choice of two types of plastic - the cheaper one is actually intended to stay unpainted, because the texture isn't good for painting.

mbriand

Oh that's really interesting then. I'll have to look into it. Oh ok I found the link to their kickstarter.

LessPop_MoreFizz

Paizo's new iconic NPC is an awesome trans-lady dwarf shaman. That's freaking awesome.

BESW

2:45 AM

@LessPop_MoreFizz [wave] Have you been away, or have I just been missing you?

LessPop_MoreFizz

@BESW Bit of both.

BESW

Fair enough.

LessPop_MoreFizz

@BESW I was working out in Hawaii for a month and was barely around as a result of that.

BESW

Oh, cool.

Adeptus

3:01 AM

@LessPop_MoreFizz Looks like the whole RPG industry is taking steps to be more openly accepting. First the paragraph in D&D Basic, now this.

LessPop_MoreFizz

@Adeptus Yeah, though this is just the latest in a long trend for Paizo; they've had trans characters in adventure paths previously; an Iconic is still a Big Freakin' Deal though.

Adeptus

I didn't know that. Other than the 3.5e Adventure Path I'm currently playing in, I haven't played any Pathfinder/Paizo

LessPop_MoreFizz

@Adeptus It's quite the list.

wax eagle

3:38 AM

I heard about them during their KS (I've been keeping a bit of an ear to the mini scene lately, but I'm really new to it)

BESW

Normally a picture on the Internet is better than its context or not worth sharing at all, but The Necromancer Rises seems like a notable exception.

[scribbles campaign idea notes]

Grubermensch

4:19 AM

Why do people keep saying that Hebraic cultures are not Western....

This makes me sad

LessPop_MoreFizz

@Grubermensch Not finding this sentiment anywhere in this question or it's answers, but admittedly, I'm skimming. Care to point it out?

Grubermensch

Angels do NOT originate from Western culture. They are either Hebraic or Zoroastrian (still west of Japan, but...) — Madlozoz Jul 27 at 12:18

-1

A: What living apex lifeforms are there other than dragons?

Jörmungandr Sea serpent from Norse mythology, son of Loki Why? By definition, there could be only one Apex predator in one given environment. Jörmungandr is a marine creature. Problem solved. Classic fantasy based, preferably Western culture originating. That's Norse mythology. Unlike Leviata...

LessPop_MoreFizz

Oy.

Grubermensch

urgh, the Jörmungandr answer

hardly anybody ever means Nordic/Germanic only when they say "Western"

BESW

5:40 AM

Hmm. I should probably get to work on fitting Curse of the Lake Monster into the Cthulhu Dark adventure format.

I'm a little concerned about how to make it more investigation-heavy.

Heheheh.

25

Q: How can I reward Cthulhu characters for going mad?

I like it when, in Cthulhu games, Investigators go mad. With that in mind, I'd like to give some reward for the first Investigator to go mad. For example, perhaps, at the beginning of the next game, the player whose Investigator went mad first in the last game gets first choice of character. I'...

@JonathanHobbs [wave]

doppelgreener

@BESW Hi!

BESW

Also hi @kviiri.

kviiri

5:56 AM

@BESW Hello! o/

BESW

6:07 AM

What's new?

kviiri

Nothing much. Making notes for the introductory one-off AW session.

I've settled with a steampunk caper scenario.

BESW

Ooer.

I'm putting Curse of the Lake Monster into Cthulhu Dark adventure format, meself.

(It's a little slow because I'm also suggesting prayers for a friend who's having some stress.)

kviiri

Stress is nasty.

BESW

6:27 AM

Yes.

BESW

6:46 AM

[shakes self vigorously] BESW, you don't need to research whether that gemstone is found in that part of the world! It's a freaking Cthulhu game.

Magician

@BESW Players called me on saying they saw a bear in Antarctic. Had to turn it into a yeti.

doppelgreener

@BESW yes, BESW, listen to BESW here, he is making a lot of sense

BESW

@Magician Well, that's nothing to worry about then. Yeti are gentle and timid creatures.

doppelgreener

@Magician well, okay, yes, i would probably go "wait a minute" in the same situation... and I am also not a geologist, so...

kviiri

@Magician [is reminded of elementary school English book picture of a polar bear next to a herd of penguins]

Magician

6:50 AM

Geography may not be my strong suit, but when I'm the GM, it's not my problem.

"Oh, that doesn't add up? I wonder why that could possibly be." ::evil grin::

2

kviiri

I don't know why players worry too much about polar bears in the antarctic. They should be more concerned about them being several kilometres underground.

BESW

@kviiri My mother cancelled a homeschool service subscription when they sent a book saying the seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth's axis... ...*changing the distance of each hemisphere to the Sun.*

kviiri

@BESW Ooh, that's nasty.

I got about ten or so from this list at school: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions

BESW

Mm. The same service gave me a math problem like "5 - 7" and expected me to write "0" because they hadn't taught me negative numbers yet.

kviiri

@BESW By coincidence, we just discussed that kind of math on an IRC channel.

I find it funny because I don't recall ever having a hard time understanding negative numbers.

(could be because my dad's a programmer and by mom's a bank assistant)

BESW

6:56 AM

Math where 0 is the lowest boundary is fine, when defined as such. It's useful in many practical ways!

But this was not one of those cases.

kviiri

Yeah.

BESW

Negative numbers as a difficult concept... well, it depends on how they're presented/taught. My math education included various forms of the "number line" model from early days (my mother's got a degree in math education).

kviiri

I love messing up with the numeric system - it's a practical skill in a field where typically 2 147 483 647 + 1 = - 2 147 483 648.

BESW

Heheh.

I'm not specially good at basic arithmetic, for a number (har) of reasons, but the theories and concepts fascinate me.

kviiri

I guess one of the most "vile" misconceptions I was taught was, not because it has greatly impacted me but because I know it's deliberate, is the locally popular one: "Sweden-Finland".

Before the second millenium, Finland was a huge forest dotted with lakes, with several tribes instead of one national identity.

The lands wound up under Swedish control, and Finnish history textbooks (particularly older ones, because the tradition is dying out) refer to Sweden of that era as "Sweden-Finland" as if Finland had been a proper state under some sort of union with Sweden, as opposed to some extra farmland across the Gulf of Bothnia.

BESW

7:03 AM

I know very little about that part of the world, but last year at International Convention I talked with some of the Finland National Spiritual Assembly and learned that there's a very cool administrative experiment being conducted up there by the Bahá'ís:

If I remember correctly (and I could have who's doing what mixed up), the Finland NSA is being asked to administer the whole northern part of that area which crosses several national boundaries, rather than having each NSA administer just its nation's portion of the area. The idea is that the administration can follow cultural/social lines instead of political ones.

(Which is actually somewhat similar to what our NSA is doing out here, but on a much larger scale and modifying precedent in the area.)

I didn't catch all the details, but it had something to do with Finns generally having more in common with the Sámi?

kviiri

Yeah, the Sami people of Lapland retain a lot of their cultural identity in Finland, Sweden and Norway.

BESW

So they're seeing what it'll be like having the Finnish NSA also administer the Sámi-identified parts of the neighbouring countries.

doppelgreener

@Magician Yeah, I'm content with that. That's why I wouldn't mind finding weird rocks in a different country.

If this were Cthulhu Eclipse, and we were finding some kind of weird site, and I found a C# program with LISP code right in the middle of it and it was chugging along fine, I'd be okay with that. Although it would be very unnerving, because it doesn't make sense, and because it's LISP.

(In Cthulhu Dark, if I were at 5 sanity, I would probably stare for a few seconds, then remove the server from the rack and stomp it to pieces.)

(or send a virus to digitally burn the site to pieces)

BESW

@JonathanHobbs [squint] Cthulhu Eclipse, eh?

kviiri

Back to RPGs: I'm actually quite pumped about the Steampunk Caper mini-adventure.

BESW

7:15 AM

Sweet. I look forward to hearing more about it.

kviiri

British Imperialism! Colonialism! Fancy dress code! And the best part of all, I can concentrate on one particular caper and execute it flawlessly.

(at least, so I hope)

Elude the guards by slipping off in the thick peasouper fog of London. Die of respiratory disease after inhaling that stuff.

2

BESW

@CerylWiltink Hi!

doppelgreener

7:40 AM

@BESW Cthulhu Dark meets Eclipse Phase. Suddenly this idea is awesome to me, though I only mentioned it offhand at first.

kviiri

What sort of dress would you expect a steampunk pseudo-Victorian professional security officer to have?

The sort guarding valuables in a bank or in a museum.

Something that smells of authority, but is not intimidating because they need to be real gents towards civvies.

I was thinking of red shirt, black trousers, pistol holster as a part of the uniform.

Magician

@kviiri Speaking of steampunk-ish pseudo-Victorian settings, have you seen Fallen London and/or Sunless Sea?

kviiri

@Magician I've heard of the former, but don't have any real experience with either.

BESW

@kviiri Lots of buttons.

And a vest.

kviiri

@BESW Oooh, definitely. And a vest sounds great.

BESW

7:54 AM

Hat. Must have a hat.

Magician

Fallen London is a browser text-based choose your-own-adventure game that's properly massive (10-ish novels worth of words atm), and Sunless Sea is a game that's in beta on Steam set in the same universe. It's tagline is "lose your mind, eat your crew".

BESW

@Vorynn Hi! You'll need at least 20 rep on any one Stack Exchange site before you can type in chat rooms, but you're welcome to hang out until then.

kviiri

@BESW Outdoor guards only, I think. But they should have HUGE ones.

In keeping with the British tradition :)

BESW

Roundish, with straps.

kviiri

Also, the bigger your gun, the bigger your hat. Gatling guards will have the biggest ones, right?

BESW

7:56 AM

Or the other way around; the bigger your gun, the less you need your hat to compensate.

kviiri

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hat there's so much to choose from!

BESW

Bearskin

A bearskin is a tall fur cap, usually worn as part of a ceremonial military uniform. Traditionally, the bearskin was the headgear of grenadiers, and it is still worn by grenadier and guards regiments in various armies. == Origins == The cloth caps worn by the original grenadiers in European armies during the 17th century were frequently trimmed with fur. The practice fell into disuse until the second half of the eighteenth century when grenadiers in the British, Spanish and French armies began wearing high fur hats with cloth tops and, sometimes, ornamental front plates. The purpose appears to...

kviiri

Kepi

The kepi (English pronunciation: /ˈkɛpiː/ or /ˈkeɪpiː/) is a cap with a flat circular top and a visor (American English) or peak (British English). Etymologically, the term is a loanword of the French képi, itself a respelled version of the Alemannic Käppi: a diminutive form of Kappe, meaning "cap". In Europe, this headdress is most commonly associated with French military and police uniforms. In North America, it is usually associated with the United States Civil War, as it was worn by soldiers on both sides of the conflict. == French army - historic == The kepi was formerly the most com...

Yay, I can onebox!

Shako

A shako (/ˈʃækoʊ/, /ˈʃeɪkoʊ/, or /ˈʃɑːkoʊ/) is a tall, cylindrical military cap, usually with a visor, and sometimes tapered at the top. It is usually adorned with some kind of ornamental plate or badge on the front, metallic or otherwise, and often has a feather, plume (see hackle), or pompom attached at the top. == Origins == The word shako originated from the Hungarian name csákós süveg ("peaked cap"), which was a part of the uniform of the Hungarian hussar of the 18th century. Other spellings include chako, czako, schako and tschako. From 1800 on the shako became a common military headdress...

That one for commanding officers.

I put the "hat" in "chat".

2

kviiri

9:21 AM

@BESW, I figured it out on the lunch. The "casual" indoor guards (who'll also be acting as guides and general helping hands) have red vests with thin black vertical stripes and golden buttons, white cuffed sleeves and gloves, dark brown trousers and shined leather shoes.

BESW

Ah, yes. White gloves are crucial.

kviiri

For outdoor guards, add a hat, replace vest with a red coat and pretty shoes with leather boots.

Actually, I could make the trousers black or dark blue, like they were historically in VIctorian England.

A bit like that, but a tad less ceremonial!

BESW

These are private guards, right?

kviiri

Yes, that might have implications on how "actual-military" they are allowed to look.

BESW

My thought exactly.

kviiri

9:29 AM

Hmm, I wish I wasn't a poor drawer. But no matter, they can visualize it as they please!

BESW

@Mourdos [wave]

kviiri

I think the trousers could be dark brown anyway. That's a convenient color for someone who's about to face a bank robbery.

BESW

Heh.

BESW

9:52 AM

Going full-screen, but am pingable.

kviiri

10:25 AM

I wonder what sort of weaponry the steampunk people would use.

BESW

11:04 AM

@kviiri Gauss guns; taser swords/clubs; acupuncture projectiles...

(Remember, the steampunk age isn't just advanced/quirky science: it's also a fascination with the pseudo-scientific. Have weapons that project magnetic fields to make enemies less aggressive!)

kviiri

Aren't gauss guns powered by electricity?

A fricken' huge steam-powered machinegun would be cool.

Steam tanks, why not!

I need something weird sciency as well. AW features rules for "psychic maelstrom" etc, and I don't want to cut those.

Portable Gatling guns, that'd be swell.

BESW

@kviiri Magnets, seances, mummy powder--the Power of the Mind and the Secrets of the Ancients are obsessions of that era.

kviiri

I also came upon this idea of a tower that's basically a huge lightning rod. It can be manipulated so it gets struck by lightning easier, and when it does the charge allows it to propel a projectile at a very fast speed. It's basically a lightning-powered rail gun.

But that's more of a siege weapon, I was thinking of personal-scale stuff. I think revolvers, Mausers etc are the common ones, but crude assault rifles should exist too (they are one of the weapons offered by AW and I don't want to limit that choice for no reason). Also, portable Gatling Guns, because why not!

BESW

11:21 AM

I am of the opinion that simply using anachronistic technology with the "super-steam technology" justification isn't enough--and in fact should generally be avoided--in a steampunk setting.

Instead, use new weapons in line with the ethos of the age.

kviiri

Hm, good point.

I'm going to keep the player weapons functionally identical, though, because I'm a lazy bum.

Luckily, the game doesn't feature weapons like laser guns etc; just plain old kinetic weapons that could've (and frankly, I believe would've) developed just fine in a Steampunk universe.

The interesting stuff is what I'll give to the enemies.

BESW

[snerk] You think you can give weapons to enemies that won't end up in the hands of the players?

kviiri

Well it's the plain ol' pistol for most of the mooks :)

I have a bit of difficulty with the weapons because I think (personal) weapons aren't the interesting bits of steampunk.

Locomotion, steam tanks, big guns, those are more fascinating. For small weapons, I think our actual weapons like AK47 are something you'd find in a steampunk world.

Actually, they're almost as if invented in a steampunk world...

BESW

11:37 AM

Mmm. One of the common steampunk aesthetics is "screw practicality."

But yes, one of the attractions of the steampunk aesthetic is also how close it came to being our own.

kviiri

Gauss snipers could be cool, though, for the low noise.

No metal on metal action, nor combustion.

I hadn't really even thought of that, thanks.

kviiri

11:58 AM

Overall, though, I guess the emphasis will be more on caper and aesthetics than any serious attempt to create a steampunky world.

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