It Slices! It Dices!

1. I'm not posting on the half-hour.
2. I turned off everything but trackback pings so you don't get innundated with update notices.
3. It would have been good to get to bed before 2am the night before I stay up for 24 hours straight, so I'm expecting some 20 minute catnaps.
4. I do have a thong. Two of them. Be warned.
5. I will be out for a bit later this morning to get blood drawn. I'll try to write up some extra while I'm gone, but it's up to the doctor's office as to how fast that goes. Unfortunately, I do not have any wireless connectivity at this time.
6. Comments, IMs (when I'm up), and MP3s (even bad pr0n ones) almost always appreciated.

For comment, amusement, and education...

* The Laws of EndGame

1) PCs should rarely fail.
1a) If they fail, they should fail big. If they win, they should win big.
1b) Know when to call it quits.

PCs should rarely fail.

Continuing my rules...

1a) If they fail, they should fail big. If they win, they should win big.

If you're looking for a "how-to," the obvious beginning references include Dragon Pink, Bondage Fairies, XXXenophile, and the Meredith Gentry series. I'm sure a search for "fairy hentai" would probably give you too much to think about, as well.

"Let's make death more dangerous, shall we?" Because you know, death is merely the beginning of the tortures we'll inflict on your...cold...lifeless...uncaring...hey, wait a second!

("That was the last post, dear. The fairy sex manual post is done..." - Shadowpryde
"That's better than what I was thinking." - the LintKing
"What was that?" - SP
"`...and then they buried her.' Did she tell you that one?" - tLK)

Anyway.

1b) Know when to call it quits.

...will be back when I'm drained properly.

* The Laws of Planning

2) Go with the players' plans.
2a) The amount of time spent on a plan should give it proportional
importance to the plot.
2b) Red herrings should be used sparingly, so they don't stink up the
place.

Go with the players' plans.

Continuing on the laws of planning...

2a) The amount of time spent on a plan should give it proportional
importance to the plot.

I think I want to create an SJG In Nomine game based off of a sudden change in the Symphony where both Heaven and its counterpart are united in a place very much like a theme park. It would have Yves as the Ringmaster, and Fate as a janitor. Or maybe it should be like a safari park, and the main NPC will be a tour guide.

"Over there on your right is a bunch of angels in their native habitat... don't frighten them with your flash photography..."

How about a Nightlife campaign where each of the characters is some kind of bound servant? Some could be traditionally bound (butlers, valets), some could be magically bound (demons), some could bound by circumstance (dj'nn, ghosts), some could be bound by oaths (samurai, corporation men) and all of them have reasons not to want to kill their boss, but, of course, want the opportunity for freedom? It might even be cool to make it a cross-time campaign, where the captors have some kind of cabalistic connection...

2b) Red herrings should be used sparingly, so they don't stink up the place.

Red Herring:

1. something intended to distract attention from the main issue; misleading clue or false trail.

2. a smoked herring with a reddish color.

From an IM conversation with Rainbow K:

"Chows can be dark or hero. My chow turned evil."
"Why would he do a silly thing like that?"
"He looks cool."
"Oh, evil is good-looking? Wait...that doesn't make sense."

I'm sure that's why the Sith did it.

That and it gets the chicks.

"But what is it?" the LintKing asked me. I suddenly realized that I had this whole vision in mind, but I hadn't actually talked about it.

The world of "Illegal Gods" is in the recovery period of what amounts to a holy war that nobody won. It's a science-fiction genre, and thus allows for some level of exploration: there are plenty of planets where one side or another still holds the pockets of believers in one faith or another... but that's not what you are. You're pirates. You're one step up from space debris: you're deserters and renegades.

Because you transport illegal gods. You smuggle religion under the noses of the Inquisitors, the tall gold-clad forces of the God-Emperor that no one knows if they are men or machines. You worry that your next crew of pilgrims doesn't consist of any Missionaries, the spies of the God-Emperor.

And sometimes you escape by miracles.

I kind of see it really loosely as a cross between In Nomine and Star Wars.

I found this from my first iteration of webpages, circa... oh, I don't know... this version was saved in January of 1997. Funny thing is how little this has changed over the years. (I buy new, now, for example.)

I used to send these out irregularly to various players in PBeM / BBS games. I think the questions are fairly slanted, but it was still amusing...

Some of the questions changed depending on who I was sending them to... for example, the lurker comment card had the questions:

Do you like the players? Do you like the way things are said in the characters' viewpoints? Have you recommended anyone to lurk?

I don't tend to run Supers games. I think it's because besides Elfquest (another world I have difficulty coming up with decent plots for) I cut my reading teeth on X-men comics, and I can't help but spoof them.

See, your traditional superhero comic has a lot of things that I just don't really integrate into my gaming. There's a lot of property damage, even if there's not a lot of "Pow!" and "Bang!" happening. My meihem tends to be subtler, if a bit harder to get out of the carpet. There's usually an antagonist with epic plans over small grievances. My games tend to have small plans with epic consequences.

Where did they get that silly idea that ten warriors (or was it a dozen?) would grow from where a dragon's tooth was sown in the ground? Did it have to do with the "strength of ten because the dragon killer's heart was pure?" If you planted a claw, would you get some mages? How about a knuckle? How much for just a wyvern's tooth?

A post about multiple consciousnesses (there's a word for ya!) reminded me of this house of Lessima... (Amber-based content ahead!)

G'WAN FISH: the gothic-punk world of fishermen and the weresharks that mess with their minds.

MILLE BORNES 40K: battle fierce orks in your race across the galaxy. A card game for 2 or more players.

HOOPS & HOOPS: The world of pro-basketball, and the blonde cheerleaders that don't fit in with them.

X-MYN X-TREME: Mutant estrogen pills create the newest PMS Avenger squads.

...nah, it's not getting late yet, even.

I was just thinking that in this day and age of corporate mergers, there ought to be a "Bachelor Game" where the girl asks, "If I married you, how would we increase our shareholder value?"

There's a Shadowrun one-shot in this somewhere...

Who are your enemies in this game? Well, besides rival clans, people who interpret your particular holy writ just a leetle beet deeferently and, well, any military patrol you come across (because even if they're quasi-military, they've probably got a better ship) you've got the special forces of the God Emperor, "Himself."

[note, most of this was written BEFORE I had read that Donaldson series...]

Most Mirror Magic is, first, and foremost, the magic of images. Even the powerful abilities of such magics as Trump are but a subset of the overall power
of imagery. One's outside image is a link to them, and while Trump may go deeper, it is reliant upon the image overall. However, both Trump and Mirrors are also windows -- access ports, in a way. While it is difficult to leave a Trump open, it is similarly difficult to leave a Mirror closed.

The major advantage to Mirror magic over Trump is the ability to distort them (and to have easier use of them in conjunction.) The major advantage to Trump is the semi-invulnerability.

Do complex moral and ethical issues come up in your games?

I was reading some writings from old archives, while trying to come up with new stuff, and one of the notes involved in "creating a dark game," was "a sense of pessimism regarding complex moral and ethical issues."

It's hard to play the bad guy. Jokes about the good-lookin' evil guys aside, I've got my own moral quandry in the game I'll be playing later today: my character is not, entirely, convinced that she's on the side of good. She understands the ethos of war, and justice, but not entirely the idea that the path we're following is "good" in the overall measure.

• Meat and fruit would be the makings of a well-balanced meal.
  
• The only way to say, "I love you," would be with a triple-shot bonus.
  
• You could keep fighting the same dragon for the same reward again, and again, and again. Oh wait, maybe that IS like some jobs I've had.
  

A browse of journals and commentary made by other players in one of the campaigns I'm in notes that because a character is noted as being "attractive," some of the other players refer to that character as "skinny."

She isn't. She's "curvy." Every description of her by the player reflects this. Of course, there's probably an axis describing a range of modifiers between "flat as a board," and "fat." But it might also reflect a bias. Hmmm.

Worlds grow from eggs.

Cities grow from seeds.

See, the process of building a city requires fertile soil to plant it. Cities are harvested from other cities, of course; that's why suburbs are badly pruned cities.

Worlds grow from eggs. The question there, really, is: what lays these eggs? Is the Milky Way some great deposit of World Sperm?

Slapstick. Defined as:

1. visual comedy full of boisterous action, as in a film or stage revue.

Probably one of my favourite revisited threads of all times are the listing of the humorous crossover opportunities between RPGs. This is a good example of humour in the "unexpected revelation;" the clever title (I still think In Anime is my favourite for that), the unusual mixture, or just the idea of Ewoks dressed as Street Samurai.

If you were going to boil down most of the game preparation articles, I think you would probably end up with something gooey, but it might just look like this:

Know what's going to happen, but let the players take you there.

That sums it up for me.

Get me to a convention, and I can speak eloquently and knowledgeably on the following topics:

Gaming Fiction: Accessible Campaigns or In-Jokes?

Fan Fiction: Crossing the Line Between Flattering and Flat-Out Wrong

Who's Behind the Wand/Door/Summoning: Does Conspiracy Theory Differ Between Genres?

...and much, much more!

Plus, I eat light, sleep rarely, and I'm a redhead who looks cute in leopard print.

OK, I'm giving you a little bit of blog fodder, but it's also that I'm up WAAAAAYY too late. Early. Somewhere in there.

...and continuing their adventure...

Introduction:

Better minds than mine have attempted this, but I think it's time to start considering the MaBarry Rulez.

This is a work in progress...

I see PCs as playing any of the following kinds of characters:

1) God Merchants (selling, buying, trading gods...think a cross between slave trading and missionary work.)

2) Pirates (because every interstellar story ought to have pirates!)

3) Alien Observers (um, see "pirates" above.)

4) Members of the Enemy (particularly Missionaries)

5) Quasi- or decomissioned Military for the "other side."

6) Scavengers and Salvage Artists (because "Alien" is one of the influences.)

7) Tribal Priests, Demon Summoners, and Shamans being Transported

8) Ex-members of the decomissioned Human Science Experimentation League. (See my gaming fiction for Illegal Gods.)

9) Translators and other professionals.

10) Bureaucrats

I've mentioned Jelica enough on here it seemed like a good time to talk about her stats... this is her "starting version" - there have been quite a number of changes since.

...and I'm off to bed. When I wake I'll no doubt think of a dozen other interesting things to say and wish I could take some of these things back... but I'll slip that banana peel when I come to it.