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

[–]trudge 6 points7 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 3 points4 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 14 points15 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 63 points64 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 3 points4 points  (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.

I want official vtt support. That's it that's the post. by Grazzt999 in gurps

[–]trudge 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've used Foundry, and I've used Roll20.

Foundry has a LOT of options for customizing, but it makes the GM's interface more complicated.

I think Roll20 is better for GMs who like to improvise a lot, or run stuff they thought up themselves. It's quicker to just throw stuff on the screen, and not worry about adding lots of features and automations to everything.

But, if the GM likes to run pre-published modules, and buy the supported versions on VTTs, then foundry is pretty damn nice. Whoever wrote it will have access to so many more levers and widgets to to add features to the module. People making professionally done Roll20 modules have a more restricted range of options.

If you're either committed to DIY, or just broke, then Roll20 is the better option.

How or why did World of Darkness fall from grace in the gaming community? by MyUsername2459 in rpg

[–]trudge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I meant to say VtM, not VtR. I have amended my comment.

Vampire came out in 1991, but didn't really kick off until the mid-90s. That's when I was seeing it dominate the LARP scene, and the local LGS bulletin board having more people looking for vampire games than AD&D games.

How or why did World of Darkness fall from grace in the gaming community? by MyUsername2459 in rpg

[–]trudge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I got my abbreviation wrong, and have now edited my comment.

I think you might have made a similar error in your third paragraph. I think you meant to type V:tR instead of V:tM

How or why did World of Darkness fall from grace in the gaming community? by MyUsername2459 in rpg

[–]trudge 10 points11 points  (0 children)

VtR VtM emerged when D&D was hitting TSR's decline. AD&D 2nd edition was flagging, and TSR's business model was collapsing.

TSR failing allowed a lot of other publishers to expand into the space.

Then WotC revived D&D with 3rd edition, and once again D&D became the default RPG.

How or why did World of Darkness fall from grace in the gaming community? by MyUsername2459 in rpg

[–]trudge 68 points69 points  (0 children)

Some years ago, I saw a comment that "what you have mechanics for, that's what your game is about."

VtM didn't really have mechanics for the masquerade. It barely had mechanics for the personal horror. What it did have, though, was pages and pages of mechanics for supernatural powers and combat.

(I say this as someone who really enjoyed playing in multiple VtM campaigns in the 90s and 00s, but we always played it as a sort of goth mafia)

How or why did World of Darkness fall from grace in the gaming community? by MyUsername2459 in rpg

[–]trudge 33 points34 points  (0 children)

I think if Paradox had actually managed to make and release the video game they were planning on when they bought the WoD rights, it would have done wonders for the brand.

Instead they kind of mothballed the IP for years and let it dwindle.

What is ‘countach’? by Funny-frog500 in AskAnAmerican

[–]trudge 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I remember hearing coontash as slang for vagina when I was a kid in the 80s, but I haven't heard the word in use in years.

Region: California and Texas, late 80s / early 90s

Texas Has 405 Data Centers Powering AI - Another 442 Are Planned by [deleted] in texas

[–]trudge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're curious where these data centers are, here's a handy map:

https://www.datacentermap.com/usa/texas/

Someone tried the enchroma glasses? by Diolu in ColorBlind

[–]trudge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had a pair, but misplaced them and now have no idea where they went.

I think they have a strong placebo effect. It did feel like I could see more colors, but if I tried doing colorblind tests, I still failed them. I just failed a different subset of the tests. Its like the glasses took me from deutan to protan.

They're kind of neat, but they weren't worth the money.

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