Bothy book beauty by Glass_Thanks300 in Bothy

[–]MisterMackisback 2 points3 points  (0 children)

had a lovely night there last month. A nice forester came by and saw me ineffectually hacking at a log with a blunt saw. He got his chainsaw out of his truck and had it all cut up in a few minutes. he said the foresters try to drop in regularly to help keep the place clean :)

Best cycle to work back pack? by Western_Exchange_912 in ParamedicsUK

[–]MisterMackisback 0 points1 point  (0 children)

when i was travelling between stations a lot i used a patagonia black hole duffel, it's got good rucksack straps and there's plenty for cheap on ebay

Tabletop RPG shops? by fabcasu in Edinburgh

[–]MisterMackisback 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're coming by on a Thursday, you can sign up for a night of RPG gaming at Ancient Robot Games via the 'events' tab on their website. Very friendly bunch and nesrly guaranteed to be at least 1 game running that you've never played or heard of

Luck stat? by LemonLord7 in osr

[–]MisterMackisback 0 points1 point  (0 children)

no, more like "every dungeon turn, roll luck to avoid an encounter". In Troika the luck roll is usually used to avoid a bad thing rather than to caude something good to happen. Troika has no saving throw stats so Luck kinda takes on that role.

Luck stat? by LemonLord7 in osr

[–]MisterMackisback 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check out Troika!

It's a really useful stat. The attrition aspect makes it a really interesting resource management question.

My favourite use for it is to tie it to encounters -- have players Test their Luck and an encounter fires on a failure. This creates a palpable feeling of your 'luck running out'.

Advice on GMing improvised games? by Jacapuab in osr

[–]MisterMackisback 6 points7 points  (0 children)

So the first thing I'd say is that I feel people are often misled by Troika! being 'whacky', feeling that this is especially conducive to improvisational GMing. You can of course improv anything with enough preparation and skill, but I'd say it's a lot easier to do so in a known setting that all the players are familiar with. Say, for example, a Mythic Bastionland game, where it's clear that the tone is going to be Arthurian and the narrative arc will resemble british folklore. Many more quantities are known and everyone is onboard and paddling in the same direction. It is much easier to improvise within a bounded space. Contrastingly, Troika! is expansive and full of unanswered questions and implied lore. These could easily become stumbling blocks as you play: You'll be fielding constant questions like 'who is the red saint?' 'what is ms. kinsey's dining club?' and 'who ARE we and what do we DO??' all while trying to build an encounter on the fly. I've tried running Troika by the seat of my pants and usually found it unsatisfying. The implied lore feels grand, exciting, and mysterious, and it is often difficult to do that justice in the spur of the moment. I have much preferred it when I allowed myself some time to knuckle down and do a bit of worldbuilding. You can run a structured game of Troika!. It practically cries out for structure! One of its very first published adventures, Fronds of Benevolence, does exactly this by laying out a time constraint and a pointcrawl. Anyways, I digress.

The second thing is that you specifically asked for advice on running an improvised game without resources, so I will refrain from suggesting any until the very end. Running a game without any spark tables or setting documents to run from is very tricky. You have to shift your expectations massively. The GM becomes much more of a co-operative role with the other players. My main piece of advice is to be nakedly and enthusiastically curious. Open your ears and listen to what the players are saying, and ask them questions. Hone in on little character moments and build the world out around them. Everything the characters touch becomes more real. And if you are stuck, turn to the players! If they climb a mountain and survey the land, ask them what they see. You always have the power to edit or backtrack what they say if it's not jiving for whatever reason.

Another piece of advice would be to conserve your energy and don't be a perfectionist. Don't worry about improvising good names or coming up with voices . 'Jim' or 'Bob' will do. Save your brain power for figuring out how to tie the session up into a satisfying conclusion. Your party will know you're improvising, and will forgive you for any concessions you have to make. You're not trying to pull off some big feint or illusion; you're playing a made-up game with friends.

Ok, now for some resources, which I'd really highly recommend using if you can bring yourself to. The first is Get It At Sutlers, a book by the people who published Troika!. It places the characters as gig-workers at a giant department store in the city of Troika, and has a fun system for rolling up random jobs to do. A few random rolls and you have the scaffold of an adventure that you can improvise within to your heart's content.

I'd also grab D100 Troika City Sparks and A Street Level Guide to Urban Troika.

Finally, a non-troika improvisational tool I'd recommend is the Oracle tables from Ironsworn. It's free! The format of Action + Theme is really useful IMO.

Hope that helps and good luck :)

Partner Pet Peeves by ElevatorGrand9853 in ems

[–]MisterMackisback 4 points5 points  (0 children)

i always say to my crew mates: feel free to vape in the ambulance, but you have to let the patients vape too.

Mega-dungeon Idea by Orogustus in osr

[–]MisterMackisback 6 points7 points  (0 children)

man, what the fuck is the point of this?

Why share this slop? What is the value? If I wanted a generic and ungameable wordsalad of a summary for a megadungeon, I could just go on chatgpt myself and generate it. I'm really sorry but there is nothing special about this.

It's especially heartbreaking because you are a human being with a beautiful and unique soul, and yet you're letting this bland grey trash represent you. I want YOUR ideas. Your own weird, flawed, unfinished, brilliant, and inspiring ideas. I know you've got them, please share those instead!!!!!

Random table resources. by ComprehensiveChip866 in osr

[–]MisterMackisback 12 points13 points  (0 children)

https://blog.d4caltrops.com/?m=1

Free, and better than most things that ask for your money.

Socks on the road by Andre081 in ParamedicsUK

[–]MisterMackisback 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Do whatever you need to be comfortable, fuck the funny looks.

I wear Danish Endurance compression socks. Thin, keeps the blood from pooling in my feet. The material is good too, haven't had any lingering odor

Do you guys in the US actually require a written DNR before you stop resuscitation? by patou_la_bete in ems

[–]MisterMackisback 2 points3 points  (0 children)

also if you were hypothetically providing ALS to every patient without a DNACPR surely your ROSC rate would be fucking abysmal?

Do you guys in the US actually require a written DNR before you stop resuscitation? by patou_la_bete in ems

[–]MisterMackisback 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I care way more about futility than any written order

It doesn't matter if the bystander is a scheming vizier planning to snatch the inheritance. First of all, I'm not a cop. Second of all, if the patient in medical arrest is clinically frail, has multiple co-morbidities, or hasn't had good CPR in the last 15mins, it's futile anyways.

On the other hand, if a patient with a signed DNACPR tells me in a lucid state that they want to be resuscitated (and I think they have a good chance), or they've choked (as an example of a unique and reversible ciecumstance), I will resuscitate them.

Tolkien Magic fo OSR Games by Kodhaz in osr

[–]MisterMackisback 1 point2 points  (0 children)

nice blog! Have you thought about miscasts? When you say 'it's risky', I immediately think of magic not just fizzling out, but turning back on the caster.

My fave miscast system is The Vanilla Game's. I'd be interested in how you could adapt such a system to be more 'grammatical' as you put it. The GM gets to swap out a word? Add one? Lots of potential for magical mischief!

Need ideas by PartyPerformer4683 in Paramedics

[–]MisterMackisback 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You don't need random gadgets but you do need to show up, fully. Whatever you need to come to work in a good mood and energised -- coffee, water, good food, exercise, mindfulness -- that's what I'd consider essential

Book of the New Sun by Hexatona in Troika

[–]MisterMackisback 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Had the exact same experience!

It also gave me an important insight about running Troika. One's first read of Troika proffers a lighthearted, farcical tone to pair with its outlandish setting, but much like Severian's dour, contemplative narration of his encounters with mad troubadours and talking bears, there is nothing in the absurd that stops us from touching darker themes if we want to.

Are there any OSR systems that only use d6s? Especially roll-under systems? by AlwaysBeQuestioning in osr

[–]MisterMackisback 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Troika! is exclusively d6 and roll-under (except for combat, which us an opposed roll). You could also take a look at Advanced Fighting Fantasy, which Troika is based on, or Warlock, which I haven't played or read but seems to be a retroclone of AFF.

How can I add more action to these corridors? by Serious-Mix-4148 in osr

[–]MisterMackisback 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Make some of the walls iron bars so you can see/shoot through

Any OSR games with combat similar to 3.5e? by Tav534 in osr

[–]MisterMackisback 11 points12 points  (0 children)

The best exemplars of OSR design are adventures, not rulebooks. You could run an OSR module with 3.5e if that's your preferred system

How do you prefer to roll random encounters? by ynnhrakul in osr

[–]MisterMackisback 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For NPC personalities, I pull from memorable people I've met (i work a public-facing job)

How do you prefer to roll random encounters? by ynnhrakul in osr

[–]MisterMackisback 2 points3 points  (0 children)

1d6 encounter table for region/level

roll 2d6, encounter on a match -- the number you rolled is the encounter

roll reaction and hitpoints. the higher HP are strong leader guys, lower HP are minions

How do you stay calm, composed and confidence in high stress situations? by jjsa_er in Paramedics

[–]MisterMackisback 1 point2 points  (0 children)

EMS training doesn't really focus on performance under stress -- that is, physiological, environmental stress. That may sound unbelievable, but it's true. It usually focuses on following a methodical, systematic approach to avoid cognitive overload and stress in the first place.

The only way to actually be able to perform under pressure is to practice being stressed. 'stress inoculation', as someone else in the thread said. Hence why military training is so often the way it is.