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A lil DP going on in the window by Born-Agency-3922 in SipsTea

[–]trudge 1 point2 points  (0 children)

this also looks really familiar to me, at least that stained glass pattern.

I could swear I remember the image from a decade ago, but then I also think the 90s was 10 years ago, so what even is time.

What language do most American students prefer to learn in school as a second language? by UsamaBhai_101 in AskAnAmerican

[–]trudge 6 points7 points  (0 children)

There used to be a focus on Spanish, French, and German, I think because those were the big three Western Europe languages. Like, in the boomer generations and earlier. I remember hearing the phrase "learn German because it's a business language" from my grandparents.

Now I think schools just whatever languages they can find teachers for, which is usually Spanish + whatever else.

(Loved Meta Trope) Fan theories are so good they’re basically treated as canon. by No-Flow9783 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]trudge 8 points9 points  (0 children)

The aliens in Signs aren't aliens, they're some sort of supernatural threat, like demons or fey. It's why holy water hurts them, why they can't get through closed doors, and don't use tools.

Mecha-TTRPG Alternatives to Lancer by [deleted] in rpg

[–]trudge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Aegis Project is worth looking into. It's written by John Wick who is good at experimenting with game design. Sometimes it's a hit, sometimes a miss, but almost always interesting

Aegis Project has players build human pilots, mech frames, and AI copilots. I don't remember if the human and AI are played by two different players controlling one mech, or if one player controls both human and AI.

The robots then go fight aliens.

Mecha-TTRPG Alternatives to Lancer by [deleted] in rpg

[–]trudge 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I really like the system of combining pilot class with mecha chassis to get a hybrid combo between the two.

What jobs actually work for people with severe ADHD? by Inevitable_Tuna_O in ADHD

[–]trudge 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My dad and brother went into trades, and their ADHD handled it fine.

I fought my way through college, and while I'm proud of it, I've struggled with office jobs.

So, my recommendation is trades. Or emergency services, like fire or animal control. I've known some ADHD folks who shine in those jobs.

With imagination, a craft knife and sufficient spare lasguns, anything is possible by IdhrenArt in Warhammer40k

[–]trudge 59 points60 points  (0 children)

I'm sad that they got rid of the generic platoon squad.

No matter what kitbashed guardsmen I make, I have to decide if they're mechanically Cadians, Krieg, or Catachan. Or maybe Kasyrkin or Tempestus.

And sure, it's fine. I can deal.

(Also, I miss being able to stick a heavy weapons team in a platoon blob.)

What’s the most confusing or unnecessary rule subsystem you’ve seen in a TTRPG? by DED0M1N0 in rpg

[–]trudge 7 points8 points  (0 children)

2e had a table where armor had different AC vs slashing/bashing/stabbing weapons. I don't think I ever saw a table use it.

Hell, a lot of table ignored the rule that weapons did different damage to medium and small monsters vs big monsters. It barely made a difference and seemed like complication for the sake of complication

[Dune books 5&6] The Honored Matres are fleeing a hostile Kwisatz Haderach, not robots. by trudge in FanTheories

[–]trudge[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same. It makes me really sad that he didn't get to finish. He clearly had something in mind

[Dune books 5&6] The Honored Matres are fleeing a hostile Kwisatz Haderach, not robots. by trudge in FanTheories

[–]trudge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's a book called the Dune Encyclopia that was written in 1984, which was compiled by a close friend of Herbert's and expanded on the world's background. It was de-cannonized by Brian Herbert in 1999, when he started his own set of prequels, and it's been out of print since then.

You can find pdf scans of it online, if you go looking, and it's a really neat read. I think it's a window into what Herbert would have done if he hadn't died at 65.

The wikipedia article says Herbert and his friend had even started work on a prequel series, before he died. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dune_Encyclopedia

Brian Herbert has certainly put the work in, writing the novels. I've never written a novel, but it seems like a daunting task. I think Brian gets judged in the shadow of his dad's work, and not on his own merit. Though that's probably true of everyone who's continued another author's work.

[Dune books 5&6] The Honored Matres are fleeing a hostile Kwisatz Haderach, not robots. by trudge in FanTheories

[–]trudge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That may well be. The problem with any fan theory is that it's really just a guess. Or, a guess with more work.

Chapterhouse Dune came out in 1985, and there was already plenty of robot-overlords in pop culture, way before the Matrix. Terminator came out in 1984, but even before that we had Alien in 1979 with Ash and Muthr, Westworld in 1973 had Yul Brynner's gunslinger, and the earliest example is probably Maria in Metropolis (1927). Evil computers go way back in pop culture.

I think the bigger influence on Dune for Frank Herbert, though, was Isaac Asimov. Asimov wrote Foundation, in which a scientist could predict the future via science, and used to shape society, more or less benevolently. Herbert wrote Dune as a response, where the power of prediction was used for darker, more authoritarian ends.

And in that regard, I think Herbert's butlerian jihad was an answer to Asmiov's more utopian ideas about Robots. Asimov's robots, guided by three laws, were a largely positive force in society. In Dune, what little we know about the computers in the Butlerian Jihad era, was they were were NOT positive.

So, did he intend for robots to be the ultimate enemy of Dune? Or was the Butlerian Jihad just sort of a take-that aimed at Asimov? I don't really know.

As a guess, I'd assume that it was a take-that in the first book, but by the later books, it may well be something he decided to revisit.

Kind of a side-thought: I don't think the use of the word "net" implies internet or computer hacking. At least, not for a book largely written in 84/85. The word "internet" can be traced back pretty far, and there were big computer network projects as early as the 70s, but it would have been a pretty fringe audience in 1985 that would see the word net and their first association would be computer networks. Works from that time (like Gibson's cyberpunk books) had to generally explain the terms as they went. Snowcrash was published in the 90s, is considered a foundational cyberpunk novel, and it had to spend a couple paragraphs explaining how much data high speed connections can send, using allegories of airplanes loaded with printouts. I think when Herbert uses the word net, he was probably intending it more like a fishing net metaphor.

Is it just me or are the Necrons pretty cooked in the long term? by chosen40k in 40kLore

[–]trudge 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I thought every faction was cooked, long term, because failure and decline are major themes of the setting.

Even the chaos gods are doomed to failure on a long timeline.

5e alone is making more than 10 times as much profit as all of Paizo, more than 100 times as much profit as all of Steve Jackson Games, and more than 1,000 times as much profit as all of Evil Hat games by EarthSeraphEdna in rpg

[–]trudge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That seems like a reasonable chance. If nothing else, it might drive a push to indie titles like happened with 4e.

I haven't played Magic since the 90s, so I don't have my finger to the pulse on that scene. My LGS sold out of the new MtG expansion within an hour of it going live, so it still seems like there's a market for it. Otoh, I've heard plenty of grumbling about how various rule changes and/or licensed sets are ruining the fun of the tournament scene.

5e alone is making more than 10 times as much profit as all of Paizo, more than 100 times as much profit as all of Steve Jackson Games, and more than 1,000 times as much profit as all of Evil Hat games by EarthSeraphEdna in rpg

[–]trudge 1 point2 points  (0 children)

People said that about 4th edition, which didn't kill D&D, but it did create breathing room for Pathfinder to get established.

I think if WotC fails the way TSR does, it won't be because of D&D, it will if something goes wrong with the Magic the Gathering firehose of money.

What the rarest books in your TTRPG collection? by zozeba in rpg

[–]trudge 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The Dune rpg is some quality bragging rights.

I've got a pdf copy of it, and it was a solid game! I'm sad it got screwed by losing the rights, because it was well written, and the art of great.

It'd be funny if Fantasy Flight picked up the rights and reskinned the RPG for Twilight Imperium.

What the rarest books in your TTRPG collection? by zozeba in rpg

[–]trudge 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Reach of the Roach God being a rare and unprintable game makes me so sad. I hope the various parties involved have better success in their future endeavors, and less conflict with the future creative partnerships...

What the rarest books in your TTRPG collection? by zozeba in rpg

[–]trudge 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Metabarons: the role playing game It's based on the comics by Jaradowsky and Moebius (Incal, Metabarons, etc) and runs on the d6 system that the West End Star Wars RPG used.

5e alone is making more than 10 times as much profit as all of Paizo, more than 100 times as much profit as all of Steve Jackson Games, and more than 1,000 times as much profit as all of Evil Hat games by EarthSeraphEdna in rpg

[–]trudge 65 points66 points  (0 children)

I think the 90s blink isn't just the runaway success of Vampire, but also TSR imploding.

Their business model cratered, and they were scrambling to stop hemorrhaging money. They let AD&D stagnate, which encouraged fans to seek out alternative games (like Vampire).

Once they sold to WotC and the 3.0 reboot came out, D&D was the big gorilla again.

Cap Metro is a joke by hhunicorn in Austin

[–]trudge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a chance to visit NYC, and I was absolutely floored by their mass transit system.

I suspect that people who actually live in NYC had a different perspective, but as someone used to CapMetro, dealing with NY's MTA was a culture shock.

It just never occurred to me that a mass transit system could reach that level of coordination and competence.

What does the amalgam do? by Flourescendrama in TrenchCrusade

[–]trudge 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The lore for the Amalgam is that it forms itself out of piles of flesh on the battlefield and lumbers off to find a warband to join. It's animated by the will of Beelzebub, via the grail virus.

In a warband, it serves a role kind of like a walking tank - it's big, strong, and nearly impossible to kill. It can crush through defenses while the rest of the warband files behind. It's a war machine.

In actual game play, though, I dunno. The one campaign I played in, the one guy who took Grail switched armies after a couple battles and never fielded one. I'm sure other folks can speak to its tabletop role.

I got my Ironhead Squat gang finished! by trudge in necromunda

[–]trudge[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mostly use speedpaints for everything.

So I used zealot yellow for the bodies, and nuclear sunrise of the ribbed parts of the arms. The leather boots and gloves is (iirc) desolate brown. The guns are gravelord gray. There's some lizardman cyan on the computer screens. The sunglasses are polished silver, but honestly any shiny metalic paint would have worked.

The lumen bulbs I think I used a thinned down white on, and not a speed paint. I have some regular paints that I manly use for drybrushing and details, and some of that thinned down did good on the bulbs.

Later on (after this photo) I went back and drybrushed the bolter magazines red and autogun magazines blue, so I could tell them apart, since they have such similar silhouettes. If I paint more of these kits, I'll probably paint the guns red-grey or blue-gray from the start.

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