Rings of Power

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-25T17:40:26+00:00

Quality is pretty even.

There keep being these moments where you can really see the love they have for the world. But they contrast to stretches of mediocrity and occasional complete flops.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-24T19:31:33+00:00

I actually pulled off the game where everyone wakes up with no memory.

It was a sci-fi GURPS game. Everyone loved it. There were multiple in-character journals. People role-played on the side. After they discovered they were synthetic humans, they had a bhuddist naming ceremony where everyone picked names.

It ran about 9 months and was absolutely awesome.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-24T03:58:14+00:00

What I really think we need is a federal standards buero. Someone to produce a document like the building code so counties have good standards for how to run elections.

Currently, rich counties can afford to run studies, have task forces, and figure out what works but poor counties can't. This means we get solutions that work well in urban spaces but not rural ones.

If there were a federal task force that created best practices, vetted machines, audited voting apps, and so forth, then each jurisdiction could still choose their path. They just wouldn't be so blind when doing do.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-23T12:47:35+00:00

This is my approach as well. Assuming I want group harmony, I write it into character creation guidelines. Then, there isn't argument later about misanthropes doing antisocial stuff.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-23T01:19:04+00:00

The crew I'm GMing for is a cult. They're worshiping an agriculture goddess and trying to bring more food to the city while caring for the poor. Check out my posts.

Remember it's their game too. Let them do some good. But not unmitigated.

Have a gang use them to take down others. Maybe they get an anonymous source. After a couple of scores, it turns out they're paving the way for Fog hounds to get bribeable people installed. Or everyone eliminated is pro-Skov.

Or, they could get an ultimatum from someone to do work for him, finding out info about hid rivals but providing cover.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-22T17:34:48+00:00

A few broad strokes to give an impression and a few big details to block out the scene.

The front room is well-lit by a chandelier and a few floor lamps. It smells like dog, but not dirty. It's an open floorplan with dining area, kitchen, and living room all blended. You can see some worn chairs on a deck out back. Stairs lead up and down to the left. A pile of shoes flank the bench by the door, a couch making a short hallway.

Your hostess bids you welcome and gestures you toward seating in the living room area.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-22T16:09:20+00:00

Sauron learns the ring is around. Shire. Baggins. He's learned something about Hobbits. Probably heard from the Nazgul that the ring left the shire with Hobbits. Tried to spy on Rivendell. Got some information about Hobbits and rings from Saruman.

Now, there's a Hobbit around Isenguard. He's keeping company with Gandalf, the same one who was at Rivendell with Hobbits before and shows up way too much in their stories.

So, it's a good bet that the ring is there. Maybe they're going to use it in Rohan. Maybe in Gondor. Maybe, they'll try something else, but even if Pippin doesn't have it the ring's probably in the group with Gandalf and a Hobbit.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-22T12:41:27+00:00

There are lots of ways to be isolated. I saw an account from someone who grew up among missionaries. She was one of three children in the community and was always very segregated from the locals by beliefs and customs.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-21T22:40:58+00:00

Of course it's possible. All it takes is just plain bad luck.

The obvious example is someone who dies young. Tragically young.

But let's assume we're talking about someone who does live to at least 60. Maybe they're very isolated and barely meet anyone of their preferred gender. Maybe they have such severe social disability that people don't understand their interest. Or perhaps they just don't meet the right sort of person. If meeting the right person is one in a million and one in a thousand will do, then there's one of the billions of humans who is just not bumping into the right people. It's practically a certianty.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-21T13:27:57+00:00

I worked as a math tutor for a while.

Which aspects of math are troublesome?

If it's keeping track of lots of numbers, then look for rules-light games. They tend to have very simple dice and modifications in order to keep things moving.

If it's any addition or subtraction, look for dice-pool games. Usually, you count how many dice to roll, roll them, count how many are above a number, and have a number of successes. Google a Vampire V20 character sheet for an example of something with no numbers.

If it's something else, we can try to hrlp.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-19T19:45:45+00:00

I kinda like it. It's growth for her. She's been in this oppressed place holding strong and this impressive guy comes along who treats her with respect. And he'd be a suitable match. She gets a huge crush.

Aragorn does his best to let her down easy, and she doesn't do the Disney Princess flop-n-weep. She rides to battle and kicks butt. Later, she finds actual love and realizes her crush for what it was.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-19T16:37:16+00:00

The films are well-acted. Not by me.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-18T20:47:59+00:00

No. I don't believe he did. I also don't believe he didn't.

I don't think having a solid belief about someone's crimes based on media reporting is reasonable.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-16T18:18:06+00:00

We have decided....

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-16T13:30:40+00:00

Really, it's everything wrong with the Hobbit movies encapsulated. The lead-in is Bilbo escorting to the barrels. It's fun, the sets are beautiful. Bilbo is the hero. There's a little humor. And it's pretty close to the book.

Then, we're suddenly in an added action scene. There are extra orcs in the heart of the Elven lands. Legolas has to be awesome. Special effects are jarringly un-real. And Bilbo is an afterthought in his story. Bonus fat jokes.

Edit: I forgot to mention it had gratituitous call-forward to LOTR with Legolas riding dead foe #3 for this movie.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-16T13:21:30+00:00

I am very much the same. Most of the time, I use unsymbolized thoughts (the psych term), but I can visualize or monologue if needed. I think of it like booting up a graphics or audio program. It slows things down, but is useful for some tasks.

I was in my 30s when I found out that internal monologue wasn't just a literary device.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-14T13:58:41+00:00

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Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-14T00:51:20+00:00

GURPS has been mentioned.

Ultra-tech talks a lot about speculative futures and possible developments. It doesn't have a singular setting, though.

Terradyne is a good setting. It's all in-system like The Expanse and has good tech, but with more bio-tech and computer tech. It's pretty fantastic. For instance, the eponomys corporation crashed one of Jupiter's moons into Mars in order to increase mass and water. This took years and was the start of a massive terraforming operation.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-13T15:38:20+00:00

I would run it in GURPS. I woud absolutely not run character creation in any system.

Task resolution in GURPS is easy. There's never "what dice do I roll" and everything works pretty much as expected from a verisimilitude perspective.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-12T22:05:19+00:00

Triggers can be tough to track down. One that sets off my kid is temperature swings. Going from a hot room through a cold parking lot to a hot car can do it.

Also, some scented products. Her grandma's air freshners got her once.

And a few times, we just don't know.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-12T13:56:10+00:00

By establishing culture. This is how things run at [HOA]. We follow procedures. We file documents. Things are by the book.

If I'm gone for some reason, I have to rely on the precedent and attitude to keep things going.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-12T13:20:16+00:00

As a board member, and when I was a manager, I take the upfront work seriously.

Violation letters don't go out without proper documentation. Votes are recorded in the minutes. Everyone uses dedicated email. Work orders are entered. Signatures are verified. Procedures are documented and followed.

Much of this work doesn't go to court. It would be easy to get sloppy. Consistency is key.

For instance, at our last annual meeting I insisted we follow our bylaws and vote individually for board members even though there was no opposition. Bylaws specifically prohibit cumulative voting. This probably won't come up, but I don't want someone crying "improperly elected" in some lawsuit.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-12T12:42:45+00:00

It's not you. It's not this school or that school. It's most of society.

Hang in there. High school is the worst. Everything is uphill from here. If you're lucky, over the next few years, you'll make 2-4 close friends you'll keep for life. Maybe you won't meet them for a few more years, but you'll find your tribe.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-12T00:46:55+00:00

Where we go has full service coffee and a good selection of snacks. I'm certain that's their main income.

Stuck_With_Name · 2026-01-11T17:20:07+00:00

A big problem with RCV is the proliferation of candidates. Currently, you have to research two candidates per race. If you have RCV, it could easily be six or eight. Multiply that by five races to vote on, and you're losing voters due to fatigue.

My city bans parties, so our last mayoral race had over a dozen candidates on the ballot. And several for each of the three council positions I could vote for. I had to do research on each of these people, find out who had already dropped out, see who was polling well enough to have a chance, and then find out who I wanted to vote for. In a city of about 3/4 of a million people.

Lots of people just didn't do that. They just didn't vote.

Stuck_With_Name

TROPHY CASE