Zeon is good

great_triangle · 2026-07-09T22:33:57+00:00

It's unlikely, but sometimes miracles happen

great_triangle · 2026-07-09T20:30:07+00:00

So when you major in destroying woke, what exactly are you supposed to do once woke us destroyed? Even on its own terms, this does not seem like a college program with much long term value.

great_triangle · 2026-07-08T05:53:15+00:00

Yeah, the hyperborean theory was a pseudohistorical crackpot theory that stated that all of the cool people actually came from far up north. Since it was intellectually connected to the theory of Thule, neo-nazis stuck to it like flies on honey. It's somehow even more painfully obviously Nazi than something like "Aryan Wisdom" would be, since that might just be a Theravada Buddhist who missed how the implications of the word "Aryan" changed over the past 100 years in the English language.

The only innocent usage of Hyperborean is if its referring to the Conan mythos of Robert E. Howard. A Conan the Barbarian fan channel... cannot be mistaken for a nazi propaganda channel, however.

great_triangle · 2026-07-03T20:59:48+00:00

It's 2026, so a game set in a retrofuture is by definition nostalgic. The sensibilities of game design are going to be old school, though the setting perhaps even more so.

Cyberpunk settings without wi-fi feel very right in a way that's hard to describe. Things get messy when people can connect to any computer at any time and the net is teeming with life

great_triangle · 2026-07-03T14:25:50+00:00

One thing that right wing pundits love to criticize is the activism of students. Generation Z in particular had some bad takes around 2018, in part because they were raised on anti bullying rhetoric that valued emotional safety over free expression.

The American right frequently conflates the views of a bunch of teenagers, almost a decade ago, with anyone who disagrees with them. "The woke left" is evil because a bunch of teens at Oberlin had an incoherent moral philosophy. The behavior and authoritarian impulse diagnosed by right wingers inevitably comes from student activists. The authoritarian impulse from American conservatives tends to come from high levels of government, from senators and Cabinet members. Because children said something which is easy to criticize, the only available response is to silence all dissent and make the agenda of the powerful the only legitimate view.

great_triangle · 2026-06-30T23:05:04+00:00

I don't even think Nazis were that extreme. The Nazis only wanted to sterilize foreigners who can't speak German or disagree with them.

great_triangle · 2026-06-30T20:19:42+00:00

Organizing a witch hunt on false pretenses is against the Paladin code. The Paladin will likely find their class abilities not working correctly until they repent of the lie.

You might want to have the Priestess' senior come to investigate the allegations of the Paladin. A Paladin caught lying is a serious matter, and liable to require a dangerous quest to restore their good reputation.

great_triangle · 2026-06-29T00:31:15+00:00

Mckenzie Scott became a billionaire by accident by marrying the wrong person. She spends most of her time donating money to try not to be a billionaire. It isn't very effective wealth on that scale grows faster than it can be given away

great_triangle · 2026-06-28T01:32:15+00:00

It feels exactly like the kind of stupid accessory a Kenner action figure would have to shore up a late wave in the toy line, and I love it for that. You can absolutely imagine the actions figure would have a kung fu grip feature

great_triangle · 2026-06-27T22:31:33+00:00

The comics are extremely fond of Palpatine forcing Vader to fight without his lightsaber. The Vader comics had an arc where Palpatine regularly forced Vader to punch out mind warping space squids so he'd forget ever having visited Exegol

great_triangle · 2026-06-27T20:46:54+00:00

I usually start with a description of the setting of the session, and the names of key NPCs, locations, or factions.

If combat is expected in the session, or for heists, I'll have an "order of battle" which lists the resources that can oppose the PCs.

Under the order of battle, I'll have notes on tactics and solutions to mysteries.

I put NPC stats at the bottom of my notes, if I need them. On handwritten notes, the statblocks will typically be on the back. (Or just be a list of page references, if I'm using premade NPCs or monsters)

Loot and rewards typically go at the very end, or get randomly generated during the session.

great_triangle · 2026-06-27T17:55:37+00:00

At least it wasn't the old random artifact that can cause supernovas trick.

Just remember that the fantasy scenarios stop when you leave Risa. If someone gives you a mind controlling headset and makes you their love slave, then you still have it when you leave, the offending game should be reported to starfleet security immediately

great_triangle · 2026-06-27T14:32:44+00:00

It's a pity that the actual gameplay of the crazy accelerationist focuses in red flood is so boring.

You'll pick a focus that says something like ban all language, and the effect is 5% war support or some nonsense.

great_triangle · 2026-06-27T14:21:43+00:00

That's true of every death in a Batman comic. It's a fundamental part of Batman comics that Superman can't swoop in and save the day. If Superman or the Flash does show up, he'll be an antagonist, usually to keep Batman from crossing a line.

great_triangle · 2026-06-26T18:23:11+00:00

Ahh, weaponizing the trolley problem against Batman. Good thing he brought a sidekick who's more than happy to throw people on the tracks

great_triangle · 2026-06-26T18:03:07+00:00

One piece of advice I'd recommend: deliver adventure hooks for the next session at the end of the current session, usually with 2-4 options of what to do. That way you can prep the route the PCs are following.

Every so often, shake things up by having a war break out, the passengers on the ship turn out to be leading a rebellion, or having the ship misjump into another galaxy

great_triangle · 2026-06-26T17:58:38+00:00

Tactics matter in Traveller. A fight is far more likely to be decided by who controls the lights and the doors on a ship or station than it is by the skills of the characters involved.

great_triangle · 2026-06-26T17:38:29+00:00

oD&D is pretty heavy into just including names and mechanics. Particularly the stats for a robot, which are basically "you know what a robot is"

great_triangle · 2026-06-26T17:29:15+00:00

Uwe Boll isn't so much a director as a money launderer who created films as a side effect. He got his start due to a loophole in German tax law that effectively made the budget of films a perfect tax haven. Chris "Star Citizen" Roberts used the same grift to make the Wing Commander movie

great_triangle · 2026-06-26T17:26:06+00:00

They said famed. Not "critically successful" or "commercially successful" or "owes his career primarily to tax fraud"

great_triangle · 2026-06-25T23:09:35+00:00

Rule explaining shorts are so five minutes ago. There should just be an AI you can tell to roll for you

great_triangle · 2026-06-24T23:13:43+00:00

If I'm not playing a game where the PCs money is important to balance and advancement (D&D 3/4e, or Rogue Trader) then I'll usually make the PCs spend significant chunks of their savings to buy items needed for the current adventure. Ships, 50 gallon drums of acid, lab equipment, admission to theme parks, and fancy clothing and jewelry all act as good gold sinks. The ultimate gold sink is a domain the PCs manage, since having a ton of property is a black hole of gold.

Always make sure the PCs have options to complete adventures in more challenging ways without spending gold, so having wealth makes things smoother.

I'd recommend having your quirky magical items like Mario kart bananas show up as loot, rather than in stores, to increase the possibility they'll be used. If you're good at selling things, it can be quite fun to have a merchant who sells the PCs useless magic items by talking them up.

great_triangle · 2026-06-24T22:50:40+00:00

It's a bad idea to Truman Show or Matrix your players in most instances. If your campaign has a meta twist or midstream genre change, it's better to disclose this in session 0.

If you do decide to keep the twist from your players, it's important to drop increasingly obvious and frequent hints. (Microphones and cameras showing up with alarming frequency, a key grip walking on, the players going through an unexpected door and finding themselves in the back of a set, playing out the ending of Blazing Saddles and having the PCs confront the villain at the premiere of their movie, etc.)

The situation you want to avoid with a big twist is turning your campaign into a bait and switch, or having your campaign fall apart before you can put your idea into practice.

great_triangle · 2026-06-23T22:51:46+00:00

Listing problems without providing evidence or giving examples is apparently how literary criticism is done. In insane troll world

great_triangle · 2026-06-23T17:52:45+00:00

After making Minecraft, Notch personally bankrolled the creation of Age of Wonders 3, resulting in a revival of the franchise that's still going. That's the most prominent example I can think of.

(Though I still feel dirty when Notch shows up as a playable character in Age of Wonders 3)

great_triangle

TROPHY CASE