The Savage Doctor's Blog

Pop Quiz Hot Shot

2009-11-23T15:19:00.002-06:00

I would call myself more of a 'win the war we are in' Nationalist, who broadly defines that war. But hey, 'Crusader' I like that...

My Conservative Identity:

You are a Freedom Crusader, also known as a neoconservative. You believe in taking the fight directly to the enemy, whether it’s terrorists abroad or the liberal terrorist appeasers at home who give them aid and comfort.

Take the quiz at www.FightLiberals.com

Here's an idea, do your gorram job!

2009-11-20T22:04:00.002-06:00

Every week, the Senate routinely passes legislation that is never voted on, never debated, and rarely, if ever, read by the full Senate. Now surely, you say, this process is reserved for non-controversial bills like renaming post offices or honoring the Super Bowl champions, right?

Wrong. The “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body” regularly passes major legislation that creates new programs and authorizes billions in new spending without you knowing until after the fact.

The game works this way: the leaders of both parties send an email and recorded phone message to each Senate office notifying them they would like to pass certain bills sometime that day by unanimous consent. If no senator calls his or her party leader to object, it usually passes at the close of business that day without a recorded vote. Sometimes, I am given just a few minutes to read lengthy bills, and unless I pick up the phone to object (“hold”), it is considered passed by the US Senate.

I would be willing to bet that few senators even take the time to read the request, let alone the bill. Worse, the decision is usually left to an unelected staff member.

And they expect you to find out by noting the bill’s passage in the congressional record on the day after passage.

They call this process “unanimous consent” when in reality it is consent by default.

The US Senate, too lazy to debate. Fuck!

Inre: 'I’m not sure why there’s a resistance to proclaiming oneself libertarian'

2009-11-19T18:29:00.003-06:00

In the comments of this story about Republican primary challenges by Texas TEA Party protesters,

Bill589 said...

I run into many ‘conservatives, but . . . ’, who are actually better described as ‘right libertarians’. I’m not sure why there’s a resistance to proclaiming oneself libertarian; my guess is it’s mostly from skewed press over the years.

To which I reply:

Because Left-Libertarians, Minarchists, Anarchists, and Libertines give the whole Libertarian stream of thought a black name amongst Nationalists or Culturalists of any stripe.

Libertarian's hostility to the concept of the State, of standing armies and military spending, the seeming inability of Libertarianism to find any grounds from which to condemn infanticide, hostility to America's Christian identity, the studied refusal to recognize vital national interests, the rejection of preemptive national defense, Libertarian paeans to unrestricted immigration and hostility to border security and labor market restrictions, Libertarian praise for Jefferson Davis and condemnation of Lincoln...

These are why Conservatives are uncomfortable with Libertarianism. Liberty implies Duty; but Libertarianism tends to call Duty Slavery.

Yes, Libertarianism is a wide stream, as this blog indicates, but after having canceled my 'Liberty' subscription and stopped reading 'Reason' [out of disgust] I have come to point of saying, 'if this is Libertarianism, then I am a Statist and be damned'.

There, I fixed it!

2009-10-22T17:24:00.003-05:00

HT Wirecutter

Venturer: Thoughts

2009-10-21T20:19:00.003-05:00

Science Fantasy, Post Cataclysmic, Pulp Planetary Romance, in the Far Future!!

What the hell does that mean? Let me tell you dear reader (yes you, I see you over there).

Science Fantasy: This one's easy, two great tastes, together at last. The fallen Imperium of Man once ruled 30+ stars alone and serene in the vastness of space (science). As the Empire slowly ossified and sunk into degenerate hedonism, cults began to spring up that worshiped the ancient things beyond space and time (fantasy). Taking advantage, the wild men at the fringes of the Imperium; barbarians, pirates, raiders, fanatics, and outlaws began to run wild in an orgy of rape, pilliage, and destruction (science). One cult rises up to convert the wild men and lead them across the breadth of the Imperium smashing and burning worlds to feed their dark gods, culminating in the Sack of Terra (fantasy). With the Western Imperator dead (strangled in bed), Terra fallen, and the wild men settling down to enjoy the fruits of their conquests, Terra Nova in the East is the last bastion of Imperial technical civilization (science). Just when the traumatized human sphere thinks the worst is over, the stars come right again and the ancient things from beyond space and time, the vile Xothians rise up out of the depths of the wells of chaos and emerge from the ebony spherical event horizons that have opened up all across the worlds of men (fantasy).

Post Cataclysm: Well I think this speaks for itself, post apocalyptic just doesn't mean what people think it means, and has the wrong connotation to boot. Despite the fact that 'apocalypse' just means 'change' to most readers the connotation is one of finality. A cataclysm on the other hand, is in fact a major catastrophe, but it is not the end. One story ends and another begins. Most of the invading wild men were just looking for habitable worlds to settle on, and they intermarry with the surviving Imperials to found a new culture. One that looks back to the very Imperium that the invaders help to bring down as a lost golden age. In fact the new Western kingdoms that spring up adopt the Church of the Spirit of Man of the Earth, like their ex-imperial neighbors and in contrast to the popularity of the Spirit of Man of the Stars in the areas dominated by Terra Nova to the East.

Pulp Planetary Romance: Well, each habitable planet will have a unifying theme that will guide me in creating the textures of background and setting. For example, Venturer Mars will be based on Dark Ages Britain, while North America takes on traits of Gaul, Italy, and Spain, with Eurasia representing North Africa and Germania. The Asteroid belt and the moons of Saturn will be home to space vikings and so on. The characters will be larger than life, heroic or vile. This is not a setting for second guessing or navel gazing, but direct action!

HT two or three dot net

2009-10-20T19:46:00.003-05:00

9mm is for women, children, and pansies

2009-10-09T14:39:00.004-05:00

Venturer: Careers, one more time

2009-10-07T21:48:00.003-05:00

Ok got it. If we rearrange the Freeman career slightly;

Freeman: Not many of the few skilled free-guild members will leave the relative safety of their walled towns, underground vaults, and guarded cantonments, but some skills are rare and in high demand in the scattered small villages and settlements on the edges of the Yankish Kingdoms.

Tech Rigger: This skilled technician can create and repair electronic and robotic devices, even remotely control drones and automatons.
Mechanic: Generators, engines, windmills, tools to make tools... someone has to keep civilization going...
Merchant: Merchants can make real money bringing resources to the cities and finished goods to the fringes.

Then we add two more career trees: the Entertainer and the Adept.

Entertainer: Man does not live on bread alone, he needs stories to feed his soul and frame his life. The road is dangerous, but you never know what you will find. Will ye Venture out with me?

Bard: Musician, poet, minstrel, troubadour, six-string samurai; your songs can move the masses
Harlequin: Jester, juggler, tumbler, mime, actor, masked man; your antics can bring laughs and tears, also few can control their bodies like you can
Gladiator: Man must learn face his end, and you show how by facing death to give example. Few can best you one on one.

Adept: There a few educated men left, and fewer still go out into the world a Venturing. Those few have valued places in any party.

Field Researcher: Archeologist, biologist, planetologist, a thousand others; you have a theory and need data to back it up.
Churigeon: Medics and healers are all well and good, but sometimes you need a real student of the human body. Sure would be nice if he would stop studying you long enough to actually fix you though.
Mad Spark: They said it couldn't be done, that it shouldn't be done. You'll show 'em, you'll show 'em all!!

Venturer: Careers II

2009-10-07T19:54:00.004-05:00

more paths to 'Venture:

Psion: These mentalists use their talents to peer into other's thoughts, or to form darts of their will

Wyld Psyker: Cast out into the wilderness for his wytchery, the Wyld Psyker has little training but raw power and a connection to the natural world
Mentalist: Trained by an order or guild of mind-masters, the Mentalist has a breadth of skill and fine control of his abilities.
Psyber Knight: A psionic warrior-mystic, the Psyber Knights are respected and feared.

Rogue: Members of Societies seedy underbelly, the Rogue has many abilities that may be useful to a Venturing party.

Thief: Any thug can kill people and take their stuff, it takes skill to just take without the killing.
Assassin: Stand up fights are so declasse; the only fair fight is the one you loose.
Intruder: Information is the real prize; knowledge is power and you can't stop the signal. No information system is safe from electronic intrusion.

Scout: Scouts specialize in seeing and not being seen, they are the eyes and ears of any group travelling the wastes and ruins.

Ranger: Mountain man, monster hunter, bandit slayer, forester, wilderness guide.
Outrider: Mounted scout whether the mount is living or machine.
Scavenger: The 'Scav' specializes in recovering artifacts of the ancients from the ruins and selling them. Some ability to jury rig and repair, all serious Venture groups should have one.

Sky People: The lords of blue and black, orbital angels, the Sky People are the lifeline of a fallen world to the wider system. Smugglers, raiders, smugglers and even honest merchants. The Vikings of space, they are loved and loathed.

Pilot: The dashing flyboy, aerial acrobat, the Pilot's Guild is ancient and venerable.
Able Hand: The Able Hand forms the body of any Sky Ship crew.
Specialist: No proper ship could get by without its Mission Specialists; from Sawbones to Scotsmen to Stewards, these are the department heads that Captains rely on.

Ok, that's what I've mapped out so far. What am I missing? Agents? Not a whole lot of ideas there. I know I want a drone specialist sub career, but I don't know where to put it. Maybe an Adepts branch with more educated classes? I need somewhere for fixers/bag men...

Venturer: Careers

2009-10-06T20:48:00.004-05:00

Ok let's talk careers. The initial setting will be somewhat zoomed in on the Central States of Coventry (CSC) and the Yankish people, but most of its assumptions will be true for not just the ruins of Mundopolis Terra, but the solar system as well.

Instead of enlisting in imperial services or entering galactic careers, characters in Venturer will be testing to apprentice themselves into various guilds. If accepted they will gain some initial training and an opportunity to continue. Each 4 year indenture will give a character a chance to gain skills and to advance within the profession, or to crash and burn out miserably. The Nomad career will always be open, and some service will take levees, but you may only be levied once. Upon leving the service of their master, succesful characters will have the opertunity to gain starting funds (his master investing in his student) or trappings of his profession (starting gear).

I'm still mapping out some of the sub-careers (professions) but here's what I have so far:

Armsmen: Armsmen make their living with the strength of their arms, they are natural Venturers.

Land Warrior: The most fundamental Armsman, the Land Warrior is skilled in hand weapons and military armor
Dragoon: The Dragoon is a vehicle based soldier he is a driver, loader, gunner, commander, mechanic, or other crewman. Also capable of fighting on foot in a pinch.
Immunes: The Immunes are skilled warriors who support their comrades in the fight and off the battlefield. Medics, technicians, artilleritsts, they are immune from most camp chores because of their rare skills.

Augmentees: These armored and enhanced warriors seek the toughest challenges, with great risks come great rewards.

Power Troopers: Those who seek to master the almost lost art of battledress and power-suited combat. These powerful and valuable suits attract hostile attention on and off the battlefield.
Excelsiors: These few crazed individuals seek to eek out impossible performance from their bodies with combat drugs, aftermarket parts, and metabolic tuning.
Cyborgs: Where does the man end and the machine begin?

Divines: These holy men and women seek to bring the light and law of the spirit and gods of true men to the downtrodden masses in these dark times. Sometimes evil must be confronted directly

Cleric: These ordained priests are forbidden from rending flesh or spilling blood. The good book is a mite fuzzier on the subject of neural maces or knee caps. Also respected healers of flesh and spirit.
Monastic: Battle Monks and Warrior Nuns, these lay ascetics have left the walls of the monestary or convent to bring the word to those who will hear and sword to those who will not.
Paladin: Former Armsmen and Noble warriors who have heard the call and enlisted as a Knight Brother in an order-militant.

Freemen: Not many of the lucky few skilled freemen will leave their walled enclaves, vaults, and cantonments for Ventures in the Wyld.

Bards: Singers, story tellers, poets, troubadours, these wandering performers are one of the few sources of entertainment on the road, or off it.
Tinker: Skilled crafters; a brave maker of fine things can make good money on the road
Technician: Those skilled in the decaying technology of the ancients, the ruins still hold untold riches for recovery, if one is bold enough.

Mystics: Mystics use the power of their wills and their knowledge of hyperdimensional metaphysics to shape reality more to their suiting. Most honest people avoid mystics like the plague they are.

Wizard: The Wizard, or Arcane Caster focuses on the formulaic side of magyckal theory; by holding strange alien and barbarous formulae of power in their minds they can rewrite the code of reality.
Sorcerer: These magyckal casters focus on the wyld act of will to tap into sources of power beyond mortal ken.
TechnoMage: These scientist-wizards seek to unify human reason with alien blasphemies. The search to unify law and chaos continues.

Noble: These grandees have great resources and credit available to them, but also attract attention to themselves without trying.

Knight: A noble warrior, noble in station if not motive
Lord: A holder of a title of some import or wealth
Dilettante: An idly rich noble with many interests.

Nomad: Societies outcasts, this option always remains open to those who would walk alone.

Barbarian: A rough hewn wanderer of mighty thews.
Road Warrior: A wheeled drifter on the crumbling byways
Vagabond: A little of this and a little of that in the big rock candy mountains.

Next time: Psions, Rogues, Scouts, and Sky Raiders

Venturer: Post Cataclysm Science Fantasy Traveller

2009-10-06T19:31:00.005-05:00

As much as I love Basic Roleplaying (both for Elfquest, my intro to the hobby, and Call of Cthulhu, the BRP masterwork), I have been continually sidelining my BRP projects in favor Mongoose Publishing's new Traveller ruleset since I first aquired it, doubly so since I started running a Traveller campaign.

The new MGT rules approach the conceptual simplicity of the little black books, but with a unified system that doesn't require a separate sub system for every skill. It also blows away most versions after the LBBs due to comparatively tight editing and the aforementioned simplicity. Contrary to the closely held shibboleths of greybeard Traveller Grognards(tm), the great weight of Third Imperium Cannon was strangling Traveller, not defining it.

The MGT rules return us to a sense of wonder and wide open setting material with only a few essential assumptions penciled in, rather like early D&D and the neo-classical retro-clone movement. Even better, the new ruleset was released under an Open Gaming License, indeed, The OGL. which means that all those that want to develope for traveller, or even games inspired by Traveller are free to do so. Awesome! I truly believe that MGT has within it the potential to become the D20/D&D of SF roleplay, the baseline that it was always meant to be.

What does this mean for me? Well the 'Nemesis Gates' material I was working on for Chaosum's new BRP release will find a new home under Mongoose's Traveller, and I may just be able to sell it. Now that's something I wasn't expecting. This all became clear to me when I realized that in the MGT campaign I was running (it is on hiatus now) WAS the background story for the Nemesis Gate campaign. With the redirection of focus I need a new working title/codename, so now I am working on Venturer: Post Cataclysmic Releplaying, in a Science Fantasy vein.

So things in MGT that are awesome and must be included:

-careers and lifepath chargen.
-dynamic initiative
-stats as hitpoints
-quality of success adding to damage!!
-skill system encourages teamwork to solve problems
-connections between characters and party campaign skill packages
-social and education stats

Stuff that isn't in MGT that must be added:

-critical damage a-la WHFRP (love those bloody charts) 'head flies off 2d6' in a random direction'
-character advancement beyond trading down-time for skills
-magic
-sanity
-coolness under fire or 'bottle'
-situational awareness
-suppressive fire as area of effect attack not get driven back involuntarily
-mutations, corruption, and Lovecraftian stuff
-'gold' as experience (which ties into #2 above)

Watch this space, this is going to get interesting.

No comment

2009-09-29T15:21:00.002-05:00

Sunday AAR

2009-09-22T13:33:00.002-05:00

This past Sunday only two other (aside from yours truly) made the game. Present at the table were myself, Ulot, and Mr. Puente. Not having a quorum to continue the Traveller Campaign, we decided to play boardgames.

Lesson Learned. Always have a backup game; usually a boardgame-like game that can be played with small numbers and not much lead time. Of course, my roommate and I have boardgames so...

Ulot had just recently acquired the Battlestar Galactica board game so we broke out the box and started setting up. We only had three players so the game wasn't as good as we all quickely realized it could be, but it was pretty damn good nontheless. After the second game (which I won as the cylon president; starve you puny humans, starve! muahahaha!!) we tried a third game in which we each controlled two characters, alternating playing one and then the other, which worked surprisingly well. In the end though, having to divide our suspcicions between multiple characters made detecting cylons very difficult. All in all great game.

After we pigged out on the rich gamyness of the BGBG, we followed up with desert; a generous helping of light, whipped Zombies! I've heard there are some that don't like this game, no accounting for taste. Abyway, despite not getting in any Traveller, sunday went rather well.

Rule, Columbia!

2009-09-18T15:02:00.004-05:00

Once Britain ruled the seas. Now Britain is sinking beneath waves of alien colonists and self imposed impotency. Today we rule the seas...

When America first, at Heaven's command

Arose from out the azure main;

This was the charter of the land,

And guardian angels sang this strain:

"Rule, Columbia! rule the waves:

"Americans never will be slaves."

Avast ye landlubbers!!

2009-09-18T14:52:00.003-05:00

Be it known me hearties, tomorrow is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, yar!!

Be makin' it piratical weekend ye ken?

Happy Constitution Day!

2009-09-17T17:10:00.003-05:00

"On September 17, 1787, the U.S. Constitution was signed by thirty-nine brave men who changed the course of history."

Do you want to know more?

Traveller: After Action Report II

2009-09-16T20:59:00.002-05:00

After assembly at the usual time and place, it was discovered that we were down to three players to 50% strength. Aborting the campaign session in favor of board games was discussed but on the unanimous acclimation of Ulot, Puente, and Brandon, we proceeded as planned.

Play began at the sub-sector capitol's high-port in orbit, where we left off from last session. The crew then decided to entertain a lengthy debate on how and with what venture the party would embark to pay the mortgage on their ship. Captain Wong (Puente) strongly advocated a strategy of preying on outlaw spacers (drug dealers, pirates, and slavers) to finance the ship. Neither Cap'n Ronin (Brandon) nor Gideon (Ulot) had fundamental objections to that plan, although Gideon argued that it was best to start with Drug Dealers on the grounds that Slavers had manpower and weapons and Pirates had those and armed ships.

I let the discusion take its course and used the time to listen to the players plans (and formulate my own) as well as to catch up on some prep. The party then decided to to make for another planet (Freya or Frigga) to purchase supplies with the IC (imperial credits) 100,000 burning holes in their hold. There went all my prep for the High Port, arrrrgh!!

Aside, given that FTL comms are extremely rare, expensive, and low bandwidth; physical hard currency is big in my traveller universe. Treasure!!

Once dirtside, the party went shopping. I decided to throw a wrench in their plans at this point and threw a shady dealer at Cap'n Ronin (yar, pirates!). He made his streetwise check and I told him he got a bad feeling from this guy, but Ronin bought his shiny las pistol any way. Which ended up dragging him into a whole planetside police investigation into arms smugglers. To the rest of the parties horror, Ronin found himself wearing a wire to catch a big time arms dealer selling illegal arms.

What followed where some great roleplaying scenes as Ronin tried to work his way through the underworld without getting made. Just when I thought I was going to snap up the whole party in an escalating power struggle dirt side, the other two players manage to short circuit my plots in a daring extraction using the ship's launch (the same one that crashed into a mountain side during a previous extraction last game). They managed to nab both Cap'n Ronin and Markoth the Pink, Kra'ken arms dealer, target of Detective Swanson's operation. Then with some quick over the radio fast talking they managed to get to their ship and into orbit.

Not going to be outsmarted by the players, I figure that they can't hide from radar, and Detective Swanson manages to find them in time to have planetary defense ping them with targeting systems. In response to the sudden outbreak of radio problems on the Raptor as the party's ride is now known, the good detective sends them an g-mail (grav-wave network) 'put down or we'll put you down'. To which Captain Wong makes a counter offer; how much would it be worth to you if Markoth come down with a case of kinetic energy poisoning rather than live to get off the charges in trial.

But... Damnit. There goes that story. Of course the good detective leaps at a chance to cauterze this boil on society, she knows that alive he has money and political support, but dead he's just trash. Wong then maneuvers his way into getting 4 hours alone with the crime scene, it's not like the good detective wants these weapons on her planet stiring up trouble... Shit. Then the party manages to convince Markoth to pay them off for his life, which he does. They kill him anyway, of course. Bloody players got paid twice...

So the party manages to ship about 7 tons of gauss weapons and ammo into the Raptor's hold before the black and whites show back up from their call. And several smart missiles, some combat armor, a PGMP, and a pocket nuke. The party ends up selling the bulk of the weapons to a faction of pirates out of Hel headed by Captain Roberts, a four armed and three eyed combat enhanced human and very much a traditionalist (yar!!). This of course will end up changing the balance of power on the Council of Hel (evil grin). The party gets payed something ridiculous in bearer bonds redeemable on the Citadel and in Galactic Credits (gold pressed transuranics and highly traceable). The party uses this sum to pay a few months of the ships mortgage, their monthly expenses, and start a cache against a rainy day.

On their way back to Freya to begin their 'knock over the drug dealers' plan (aka kill the orcs and take their stuff) I roll up a random encounter. 'unusually bold pirate'. Hmmmm...

So the Raptor is wrenched out of warp space by a gravity well interdictor cruiser and 3 100 ton assault boats begin burning for them at thrust 6. This begins the slowest portion of the game, since space combat is both new to me and the party. It is discovered that my copy of the main book is MISSING the range modifiers to hit table, arrrgh!!! The party manages to burn the attackers with a combination of particle beam gunnery and missile strikes. Although if the Pirates hadn't been trying so hard not to kill anyone or if their gunner had hit more than once with the EMP beam...

Aside; I need to come up with some rules for the EMP beam, right now it is an act of plot...

Eventually the assault boats open up with their spinal mount meson guns, giving the party a big scare and irradiating one of the missing players. After dealing with the assault boats the party goes after the interdictor which they figure must be running on a skeleton crew and most of its volume taken up with the gravity well device. They target the things drives and score some awesome gunnery and damage rolls, crippling the pirate and leaving him dead in the water (note check for official called shots rules for space combat). The boarding action gets exciting with vislight chameleoned battle suited pirates giving the party a bit of a start. Luckily the party's paranoia in rigging their main lock with claymores pays off and the chameleon clouds are stripped away with plastique propelled ball bearings. Before the nano-clouds can reassemble, Gideon opens up with his PGMP...

So, scratch two battle suited pirates, expected. Before I can play up the suspense for the Pirate Big-Bad, Gideon tosses the pocket nuke onto the pirate ship. Unexpected. Scratch one mecha think-tank...

no game for you.

Sigh. So the party captures the interdictor, and sells it to Captain Roberts. Well, ok, I can work with that...

Questions for the GM, answered. Pt. II

2009-09-14T19:09:00.002-05:00

Ok I would know how to refill from a gas giant safely. Of course if you want to say its so routine we don't need to know how great.

-Gas giant mag-scoop refueling is a routine operation. What amounts to your pilot making a routine pilot check (+2) to grab the H. Refining the fuel results in large amounts of 2^H (deuterium) which enriches the fuel mix, and removing impurities.

The only danger is running into a storm during your scoop-dive. Well that and Hydrogen is highly energetic and reacts with just about everything.

I would like to know about the drug dealers in the subsector.

-Groucho the Gimp; a Capo for the La Ventura family, Groucho is at the center of a network of soldiers, toughs, drug dens, pushers, dealers, smugglers, laboratories, nurseries, fields and refineries. Groucho's products include Cocaine, Crack, Crank, Crystal, Psych-Out, Heroin, Jet, Mentat, and others.

-Don Juan Y Cordoba (aka el minotauro); another La Ventura capo, slightly higher status than Groucho, Don Juan's products are marketed to a higher end clientele. His operation is focused around the resort planet of Paradiso and the Sub Sector capitol of Thorn.

-Malkott the Slimy; Malkott is a yl'yalyat or 'leader of eight eights', usually (incorrectly) translated as octurion. This Kra'Ken's branch of the Rending Maw deals in combat drugs, illegal augmentations, truth serums, mind programmers, and the creation of augmented sophonts; everything from juice enhanced enforcers to compliant bed-mates.

-Grinderman; Kra'vak Klashton AKA 'Grinderman' is a 1%er outlaw spacer and the Drakkon Prez of the 'Hell Hounds' chapter of the White Hands. His chapter of 'swoop' single-ship 'enthusiasts' have a side line in moving various party 'enhancers'. Their main money maker is piracy and extortion, but even still, the Hell Hounds move 60% of the x, hash, acid, and mind-blast in the Sub-sector. Members of the gang do not usually distribute however, that is a job for 'earthworms', 'dirtsiders, and 'groundhogs'.

Im looking for the top four and rate them based on the following critiera

I would use my contacts in the ISS and any computer searches I can do to gather the following information.

Est. number of ships?

-Groucho: A veritable fleet of smugglers and mules work for Groucho, 100+

-El Minotauro: Don Juan maintains a small network of front businesses that move his product; 30-50 all registered merchant vessels working for shell corps.

-Grinderman: 100+ Hell Hounds with non-warp capable single-ships and 3-4 warp capable mother ships.

-Malkott: Unknown, ISS has yet to get reliable intell on Malkott's organization. Est. 40-60 but that is a rough guesstimate. Several ISS agents have disappeared trying to infiltrate the Rending Maw.

Est. ammount of product moved?

-Groucho: Hundreds of thousands of tons per week, Groucho's operation supplies the street vendors for the better part of two-thirds of this Sector.

-El Minotauro: Unkown, but probably thousands of pounds, irregularly. It would appear that El Minotauro and Groucho have a business relationship. Groucho handles getting the product to Minotauro's group, who then gets it to Don Juan's high end clients. While Don Juan provides Groucho with political cover inside the family and out.

-Grinderman: Tens of thousans of pounds. If there's a party happening the Hell Hounds are probably helping, usually in exchange for pussy and beer.

-Malkott: Unknown, ISS has yet to get reliable intell on Malkott's organization. Est. 40-60 but that is a rough guesstimate. Several ISS agents have disappeared trying to infiltrate the Rending Maw.

Est. number of soilders/ employees?

-Groucho: A veritable army of soldatos, associates, and made men work for Groucho, 1000+, with access to that many more street toughs through his dependent dealers network.

-El Minotauro: Don Juan maintains a wealthy estate complete with a reinforced company of mercenaries (200+) as well as a network of made men operatives who run his distribution rings through disposable cut-outs (100+)

-Grinderman: 100+ Hell Hounds with non-warp capable single-ships and 3-4 warp capable mother ships. May call on the White Hands for reinforcements (1000+ outlaw spacers and pirates with armed single-ships, fighters, motherships, and corsair frigates)

-Malkott: Unknown, ISS has yet to get reliable intell on Malkott's organization. Est. 40-60 but that is a rough guesstimate. Several ISS agents have disappeared trying to infiltrate the Rending Maw.

Major drugs moved?

-Groucho: Cocaine, Crack, Crank, Crystal, Psych-Out, Heroin, Jet, Mentat, and others.

-El Minotauro: Cocaine, Morphene, Heroin, Hash, Black Lotus, Xyrx

-Grinderman: x, hash, acid, and mind-blast

-Malkott: reflex, hyper, high-speed, besyrk, rage, others

What those drugs do.

Jet: 'poor man's combat drug' -increased reaction time, sensory amplification
Psych-out: A retrovirus and speicialised lipids and acids that give psychic experiences
Mentat: Increases neural activity
Black Loutus: Hallucinogen and euphoric, some users claim psych-out like experiences.
Reflex: Increases reaction speed
Hyper: Metabolism booster
High-Speed: Adrennal booster
Besyrk: Similar to Rage
Rage: Similar to Besyrk
Xyrx: Extreme Euphoric

Growers or resellers?

All the major 'drug lords' under consideration have both production and wholesales operations to a greater or lesser extent.

Based on single planet or mobile?

Groucho: operates from a private space yacht

La Minotauro: operates from his estate on Paradiso's moon, Ulthar.

Malkott: Unknown

Grinderman: operates from his club-house/asteroid base in the asteroids of the Wolf system.

Space based drug labs/ manufacturing?

-Yes.

RE: Betraying our Dead?

2009-09-11T20:46:00.000-05:00

W was allowed to define the problem as Bin Lauden's gang instead of the Saudi structures it was created from. W then ignored Bin Lauden after the fall of Kabul and let Dick and Don have their glorious Iraqi adventure. Our chattering class decided that defending 1990's level civil liberties and human rights norms was more important than our nominal war. Come back and wake me when a city gets nuked. The bad guys won. As with Nam we won in the field and were stabbed in the back.

-Scott

Betraying our Dead?

2009-09-11T14:57:00.001-05:00

By RALPH PETERS

Last Updated: 10:39 AM, September 11, 2009

Posted: 1:13 AM, September 11, 2009

Eight years ago today, our homeland was attacked by fanatical Muslims inspired by Saudi Arabian bigotry. Three thousand American citizens and residents died.

We resolved that we, the People, would never forget. Then we forgot.

We've learned nothing.

Instead of cracking down on Islamist extremism, we've excused it.

Instead of killing terrorists, we free them.

Instead of relentlessly hunting Islamist madmen, we seek to appease them.

Instead of acknowledging that radical Islam is the problem, we elected a president who blames America, whose idea of freedom is the right for women to suffer in silence behind a veil -- and who counts among his mentors and friends those who damn our country or believe that our own government staged the tragedy of September 11, 2001.

Instead of insisting that freedom will not be infringed by terrorist threats, we censor works that might offend mass murderers. Radical Muslims around the world can indulge in viral lies about us, but we dare not even publish cartoons mocking them.

Instead of protecting law-abiding Americans, we reject profiling to avoid offending terrorists. So we confiscate granny's shampoo at the airport because the half-empty container could hold 3.5 ounces of liquid.

Instead of insisting that Islamist hatred and religious apartheid have no place in our country, we permit the Saudis to continue funding mosques and madrassahs where hating Jews and Christians is preached as essential to Islam.

Instead of confronting Saudi hate-mongers, our president bows down to the Saudi king.

Instead of recognizing the Saudi-sponsored Wahhabi cult as the core of the problem, our president blames Israel.

Instead of asking why Middle Eastern civilization has failed so abjectly, our president suggests that we're the failures.

Instead of taking every effective measure to cull information from terrorists, the current administration threatens CIA agents with prosecution for keeping us safe.

Instead of proudly and promptly rebuilding on the site of the Twin Towers, we've committed ourselves to the hopeless, useless task of rebuilding Afghanistan. (Perhaps we should have built a mosque at Ground Zero -- the Saudis would've funded it.)

Instead of taking a firm stand against Islamist fanaticism, we've made a cult of negotiations -- as our enemies pursue nuclear weapons; sponsor terrorism; torture, imprison, rape and murder their own citizens -- and laugh at us.

Instead of insisting that Islam must become a religion of responsibility, our leaders in both parties continue to bleat that "Islam's a religion of peace," ignoring the curious absence of Baptist suicide bombers.

Instead of requiring new immigrants to integrate into our society and conform to its public values, we encourage and subsidize anti-American, woman-hating, freedom-denying bigotry in the name of toleration.

Instead of pursuing our enemies to the ends of the earth, we help them sue us.

We've dishonored our dead and whitewashed our enemies. A distinctly unholy alliance between fanatical Islamists abroad and a politically correct "elite" in the US has reduced 9/11 to the status of a non-event, a day for politicians to preen about how little they've done.

We've forgotten the shock and the patriotic fury Americans felt on that bright September morning eight years ago. We've forgotten our identification with fellow citizens leaping from doomed skyscrapers. We've forgotten the courage of airline passengers who would not surrender to terror.

We've forgotten the men and women who burned to death or suffocated in the Pentagon. We've forgotten our promises, our vows, our commitments.

We've forgotten what we owe our dead and what we owe our children. We've even forgotten who attacked us.

We have betrayed the memory of our dead. In doing so, we betrayed ourselves and our country. Our troops continue to fight -- when they're allowed to do so -- but our politicians have surrendered.

Are we willing to let the terrorists win?

Never Forget, Never Forgive

2009-09-11T11:00:00.005-05:00

Now, more than ever, I think we should kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. That or nuke 'em from orbit. I could either way on this one, really.

Fuck You Haji.

Darths and Droids

2009-09-09T18:11:00.002-05:00

Yeah, I forgot about this. My game is nothing like this. Okay, but only just a little...

Trav. Image Roundup

2009-09-09T01:06:00.005-05:00

Khai

Hiver

Ae-Shi

Yithian

What does My Traveller Universe look like?

2009-09-08T18:00:00.002-05:00

Kinda like this. Only with more tentacles. I have fever...

Questions for the GM, answered.

2009-09-08T15:43:00.004-05:00

Can a ship be towed at warp?

Qualified yes; given a tow line made out of unobtainium or a tractor beam array with lots of extra power (like say cap ship reactors) and skillful operation.

What are the major criminal elements in this sub sector?

Like the rest of the Orion AP sector (4x4 sub-sectors, you are in 4-3) major criminal enterprises are divided between human, mixed, and alien groups. Since it is a frontier sector on the edge of the Solomani Imperium, and a sector of 'rift' space (less dense with star systems) crime is indeed endemic. The big three are;

La Ventura: A Solomani family-run operation, since 2135; drugs, gambling, prostitution.

The White Hands: Johnny come-lately, this group is composed of outlaw spacers (1%ers) of any species; smuggling, weapons, extortion, piracy.

The Rending Maw: This Kra'ken run group has the least territory but a nasty reputation; slaves, assassination, terrorism, death sports, violence.

What are the conditions for indentred servents or slaves?

Slavery is technically illegal in the Solomani Imperium. Since the Imperium can't be every at once and in fact Imperial Sovereignty rests lightly on many areas (many systems, subsectors, and larger polities have internal autonomy) slavery happens and indentured servitude is a fact of life every where. Especially on the Rim (of the Human Sphere, the frontier in other words) where labor is scarce. The conditions for slaves and indents can vary greatly; from spice mine dregs to the body servants of the rich and famous.

How common is piracy?

Frightfully common, there's only so much Navy and a whole lot of black. Given that ships must come out of warp 100 diameters from stellar objects (due to gravity well affects, warp only works in 'flat space'), the existence of charted space lanes, and the proliferation of gravity well generating interdictor ships, there are many opportunities for pirates to prey on commercial shipping.

Is there some kind is cloaking or stealth system?

Stealth yes; there are various techniques to reduce a ship's signature. All known human techniques are imperfect, they rely on masking a ship from active or passive sensors, but the nature of space ships and space means that they are difficult to conceal. The only reason they are effective is the shear size of space. Certain aliens are rumored to have 'cloaking fields' that hide a ship AND it's emissions from detection, and some are even rumored to to be able to slip into a pocket of sub-space to escape detection. Penetrating these secrets constitutes one of the Imperial Naval Intelligence service's 'holy grails'.

Are thier life insurace companies?

Yes. Premium life insurance is known as 'clone insurance'.

Are their unexplored, but charted areas of this sub sector?

Both the Hel and Mordor systems remain largely unexplored. As does the empty space between the major systems of the Sub-sector.

What is the scanning range of the average ship?

Simple detection at 50,000 km+. Limited details at 25,000 km, full scan at 10 km. Modified, of course, by the size and bearing of the target.

if a ship had no power but life support how close would the average ship need to be to dected it?

1250 km unless you figure out something to do with the heat you're giving off. More if they have a reason to be looking for you. Out to 50,000 km if they're really looking.

What about the scanning range of a ship with no main systems on?

By mk 1 eyeball alone? 1250 klicks give or take. Detecting someone with no major systems on is the same answer as the previous.

First Traveller Game; Report

2009-09-08T14:33:00.003-05:00

The group met Sunday and we started by generating characters. I left my notes at home but in general we ended up with a merchant cum investigator cum scout, an ex cop, an ex pirate, a grizzled veteran mercenary (military adviser), a prior service navy ship's engineer's mate, and a former marine. The crew formed connections (and used the bonus skills to fill in gaps, not to raise skill levels), chose a package (starship operations I think), and voted on a captain (the multi-talented merchant marine).

Play began with the crew and their ship (at this point a plot device, I'm still fleshing out their ride) under arrest and impounded. Unbeknownst to them their used ship has a record of drug smuggling. A search turned up nothing and they were about to be released when the local Imperial Consul intervened. She had a problem and needed it dealt with, quietly and outside channels.

Her daughter had been recruited by a local cult which was under Imperial Interdiction (prohibited from prostelising beyond the local sector) which is plenty embarrassing for a diplomat. Also Dame Kusaragi is genuinely concerned for her daughter, and has suspicions about the cult (part of the reason she approaches outsiders is that she strongly suspects local authorities have been at least bribed to look the other way, if not worse).

The party begins an investigation that leads to an attempt to infiltrate the cult. Things go predictably awry when the (compromised) local police become aware of the Party's investigation. The captain and the ex-cop (pretend married couple converts) are kidnapped. the party manage to track them down by triangulating the signals from their ear-bud comms (quick thinking and good skill rolls, we got to try out the combined task and taking longer rules).

The Party then mounts a rescue attempt during which Murphy rears his head and things go predictably south. After some keystonish moments the party pulls it together and manages to rescue their comrads, extract the Dame's daughter, and collect valuable intelligence for the Imperium.

Good fun, big guns, explosions, and a crashed ship's launch.

Traveller Campain Notes: subpart one

2009-09-04T21:21:00.003-05:00

gameinthebrain has a great breakdown on the duties and functions of a hard(ish) SF starship bridge crew. Every Traveller worth his space-salt should read this. Go, and sin no more.

Traveller Campain Notes: part the third

2009-09-04T15:24:00.004-05:00

Minor Races, Council Associates:

-Xyk'ti: The Mantis Men of Xyk are six limbed bipeds, giving them four arms for using tools. The lower pair is heavier and stronger, although much less dexterous. The Hive Worlds of the Xyk Cluster are metal poor, and heavily armed mercenaries represent the Hive Queens only export of note.

-Gnoph-keh: These hairy lizard-like creatures are also hexapods, but use four limbs for locomotion, which is the reason for their Solomani nickname of 'centaurs'. The Gnoph-keh head also sports a single curved horn like that of a rhinocerous, which is used in Gnoph-keh mating rituals. Their shaggy fur and thick armored hide with blubberous insulation are all evidence of the icyness of the plains of Gnoph and the coolnes of the star Ithaqa.

-Sleip'nir: The Sleipnir are one of the stranger races of the Councilor Species. A strange mix of wolf, panther, and spider, these eight legged pack hunters of the forrest world of Nir show a reversal of the common sexual dimorphology. The females of this species are larger and more agressive, while the males are smaller and also are equipeed with the pouches and milch glands for nuturing their marsupial young. The front pair of Sleipnir limbs are shorter, and the paws thereof are equiped with opposable thumbs for tool-use. Female Sleip warriors are often equipped with backpack like gyro-mounts for support weapons, the mount's servos being slaved to targeting reticles built into the Sleip's helmets.

-Yuglug: These five limbed bipeds are often thought to be the products of ancient genetic manipulations, but evidence is scant. Yuglug are possessed of three arms, one much larger than the other two. Their thick necks project foward from the main body instead of up, and their heads have jaws that open side to side like great bear-traps. Powerful reverse jointed and hooved legs give these scavenging opportunists great speed and the thick powerful tail gives them the balance to manuever quite freely.

-Drakkon: These hulking brutes quite resemble giant walking iguannas or komodo dragons. The Drakkon homeworld is considered a hell-world of the first order. Heavy gravity, crushing atmospheric preasure, massive radiation, large amounts of free heavy metals in the soil, and an ecosystem that resembles side of beef being fed to piranhas, everything eats everything else. Once freed from the prison of their hellish habitat by the Khai (always looking for new martial races to place under their Dominion) the Drakkon population exploded to incredible levels. Eventually leading to a period of chaos known as the Drakkon Emergency. The Khai eventually released a retrovirus that modified the Drakka's great fecundity and they are now a dying race.

Kra'ken: These malevolent murder machines resemble a nightmarish combination of octopod and squid made man-sized. One of the most independant of the Councilor Races, they are not so much clients of one of the Council Races, and more like eternal pains in the rear-end. Numerous and advanced enough to have been made a member of the council long ago the subject has never risen somehow. The Ken don't seem to mind, using their position inside the Councilor Association to almost monopolise galactic organized crime. It is said that one of a Kra'ken's ten tentacles is in any shady deal in the 'verse.

Traveller Campain Notes: part the second

2009-09-01T20:09:00.003-05:00

Major Races in my Taveller game. These species all are represented on the Galactic Council, the ruling body of known space.

Khai: A predatory species evolved from high gravity methane breathing arboreal crustaceans, the Khai are great hunters, warrior poets, and far-ranging starfarers. Often called Space-Vikings, humans also think they look like 'predators' or 'klingons' whatever those are.

Elder 'Hivers': These starfish like creatures of radial symetry are on of the oldest known species of the Councilor Worlds. So old in fact, that no one, not even the Hivers themselves, remember their home world. The main body is generally one or two meters tall, general about that in thickness, and slightly tapered towards the top and bottom. The bottom five tentacles or pseudopods are thicker and longer, mainly used for locomotion and feeding. The top five seem to be a strange combination of manipulative appendages and sensory organs. A great lamprey like mouth occupies the center of the bottom side of the barrel like body.

Yithians: The race of Yith are possessed of bodies like upside down cones or funnels at the bottom of which is a slug-like body-foot of mucus covered muscle. The cone is segmented, and it appears one can judge the age of the Yithian by the number of segments in his cone. Surmounting this cone are five appendages. The bottom two are arms that end in three armored crab like grasping 'fingers' capable of gently manipulating and savagely ripping with equal measure. The top three are trunk like necks, each holding a 'head' that has sensory, communication, and feeding functions. The 'brain' of the creature is protected within the armored cone of the body and a Yithian can both view 360 degrees at once and loose two of three heads without being impared over much.

Ae-Shi: One of the most humanoid of the major species, the Ae-Shi resemble ancient Terran legends about Fae, Elves, and Fair Folk, many believe the Ae-Shi visited old Earth in the past. Perhaps, but the Ae-Shi today are not talking about it. In form they resemble tall and lithely shaped human beings, with very large pointed ears and very tall skulls with high foreheads with over-large eyes, the back sides have bony growths. Their skin ranges from golden to silver to blues and greens, eye and hair colring similar. Most Ae-Shi are psions of some sort and their abilities are very advanced. Their society is divided into three castes; Worker, Warrior, and Priest, and also clans and bloodlines.

Reticuli: Another some what human like alien, the Reticuli in fact resemble stories of 'grey aliens' who supposedly abducted people in the late 1990's AD. Although the details differ greatly; for instance the Reticuli have reverse jointed legs, hooved feet, horn like protuberances on their heads, feeding probisci, stubby tails and hairy bodies. In fact some have taken to calling them 'fauns' after a creature of old Earth folklore. Like the Ae-Shi the Reticulans are also strongly Psionic, although Reticuli seem to use more psiotic amps and other augmentation.

Kthani: These methane breathers stay mostly inside their encounter suits to maintain ritual purity, but it is known that they are human-like in shape and that their mouth is surrounded by many prehensile tentacles while their compound eyes resemble those of some Earth insects.

Solomani: Much to the surprise of those from Terra, they weren't the first humans into space. Although only the Solomani (Men of Sol) have a seat on the council. The rest are clients or even slaves of other species.

Traveller Campain Notes: part the first

2009-08-31T17:57:00.004-05:00

Well, my gaming group (Puente's Paladins) is on board to start up a game of Traveller (Mongoose style), while our regular GM recharges his batteries of creative juice as a player. Yours truly will take the reigns of GM-hood and hopefully I won't screw up too badly. There were voices in the group that wanted to play Ulot's fantasy trip(tm) (using Anima) instead, but since a good part of our group was recruited as Serenity players, they were hoping to continue in the SF vein.

So here's a quick introduction to the Galaxy of Fire and the Third Imperium of Man (pro-Imperial historians writing during the golden days of the Pax Humana count the Roman Empire as the first Imperium and the Holy Roman Empire as the second).

Alright you Space Dogs, listen up! Here's how it was...

2000-2100

Considered the 100 year's madness. A time of general chaos and disorder, the movements of peoples and the burning of cities. Out of the chaos, and the ashes of the old order, arises the Alliance. The Alliance brings law, order, and prosperity with only one demand; all fission and fusion weapons belong to the Alliance. Scientists discover what they think is a crashed space-craft at the bottom of the Pacific ocean. The news media runs with the story but it is eventually forgotten.

2100-2200

The Alliance become a true one world government and is now called the Earth Alliance. Fusion power, anti-gravity, nano-scale machines, and other advanced technologies become practical for the first time. The Earth Alliance begins exploring, exploiting, and settling the Solar System on a mass scale (the money is considered stimulative spending to energize destroyed economies and and the effort a collective project to unite mankind). Obviously extra-terrestrial ruins are found on Mars, Ganymede. Arkham Institute scientists rework Heim Theory to include poly-dimensional non-euclidean mathematics and test a working faster than light propulsion system.

2200-2300

An artifact is found on Pluto that baffles scientists for decades. Eventually an archaeologist and expert on extinct languages determines the writing on the artifact to be related to certain languages of the Ponape peoples of Polynesia. Eventually scientists manage to activate the jump gate opening up the wider galaxy. Combined with Heimdall Space-Time Warp drive the Jump Gates leads to a rush to explore the 'Final Frontier'.

2300-2400

First Contact War: Initial encounters with the Khai Dominion turn violent, leading to a multi-decade vicious war for survival. Just when it became obvious the alien foe had learned of Terra's location and were advancing towards it, shocking news ends the war. The Khai are members of a Galactic Council which stops the war (mostly out of factional politics, lest the Khai faction wax too powerful). Negotiations are long and tortuous but the errors of both sides are revealed and public amends are made. The Earth Alliance joins the Galactic Council as an associate species under the patronage of the Elder-Yith faction. Mankind spreads throughout the Orion Spur of the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. Friends are made, like the Ae-Shi and the Gnophkek, and enemies like the Ayayig, Migoul Pirates, and the aquatic Dagon. Human Psions appear for the first time.

2400-2500

Mankind is a rising power in the Galaxy, provoking awe and jealousy in equal measure. It becomes obvious to all that Humans are on a fast track to full Council Membership, with a seat and a vote, in a matter of a few brief centuries, unheard of. Events in the mid-Century cast doubts on this inevitability however. One man is at the center of everything; Captain Phillip Magnus Sherridan-Windsor, Commander of Byzantium Nine, a critical Star-Fort at the edge of Human Space and a trade hub in orbit around Epsilon Erridani. Phillip and his allies would both expose and thwart the design of a rogue Khai Inquisitor (agents of the Council, autonomous and deniable) to awaken slumbering terror. At the same time as Sherridan is saving the Galaxy and becoming the first Human Inquisitor, the Earth Alliance is falling under a shadow. A power mad vice president arranges for his superior to be assassinated and assumes dictatorial powers; beginning a reign of bloody terror. President-for-life Clark is only brought down when Admiral Sherridan overthrows him in a lighting fast civil war and counter-coup. The Alliance Navy hails Sherridan as Imperator and he crowns himself, thus inaugurating the Imperium.

2500-2997

The Human Imperium waxes strong and virile under the guidance of the Sherridan-Windsor dynasty. Now with a full council seat Mankind is truly a power astride the stars. New worlds are settled, grow, and found colonies of their own. The center of Imperial power shifts to Terra Nova, whith Old Terra remaining as a cultural and economic powerhouse. This veritable golden age of growth, discovery, advancement and achievement is soon referred to as the Pax Humana. Humanity begin to upset the old balances of power and ancient assumptions. Although still not as technological advanced as the Elders, Man is advancing at a rapid pace and beginning to question assumption older than the species itself. Many of the younger races flock to Humanity's banner, basking in the reflected glory that a youngling race can do so much.

2998

NOW

Shadows grow long and wheels turn within wheels, the golden age turns ashen as suspicions grow amongst the stars. Something is amiss in the black; ships disappear and colonies go silent. Trade is disrupted and voices and hands are raised against each other;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Gomorrah to be born?

Goodnight sweet prince...

2009-08-24T17:15:00.002-05:00

...And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

Holy shit! Awesome.

2009-08-22T15:13:00.002-05:00

Holy crap, this looks awesome. I've never really gotten into an MMORPG before, but his just might be the one.

Well, duh!

2009-08-17T20:31:00.000-05:00

A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.Samuel Adams, letter to James Warren, February 12, 1779

Hooah Code Talkers!

2009-08-14T17:18:00.003-05:00

Happy Navajo Code Talkers Day everyone! Drink one for the Dineh Badasses.

Geeze, ya think?

2009-08-11T18:29:00.001-05:00

My Political Views
I am a right moderate social authoritarian
Right: 3.74, Authoritarian: 2.98

Political Spectrum Quiz

Funny how gay marriage-no, legal pot-yes, capital punishment-yes, obscenely sacrilegious art-no puts me that far into the 'authoritarian' camp. My stance on most of these is really more nuanced than the answers to the questions allowed. But if all I have is for or against...

It all becomes clear...

2009-08-11T17:38:00.001-05:00

...why Games Workshop does what it does the way it does. Maybe not the way the 30 yr. old gorgnards want it to, but GW already has their money.

"My name is Dave and I have been a buyer and user of your products for many years. During this time I have made many comments to friends and other gamers about the terrible business practices of your company and how there are many improvements that can be made. However recent events have caused me to change my opinion."

full text behind title link...

Dragonfly: Episode I

2009-08-06T16:59:00.003-05:00

The continuing adventures of the MRV (merchant registry vehicle) Din Sua Bah (Dinosaur Bob) as recollected and adapted from the tabletop adventures of a crew playing Serenity the roleplaying game.

Dramatis Personae:
Yuri Leonid Spassky: Captain of the Din Sua Bah, ex Russian Mafia trouble-shooter.
Justinian Edumton Bartholomew Stuart III, esquire: Ace pilot, gambler, gun-fighter, duelist, womanizer, and morphine addict.
Senior Chief 'Stunty' Ryan: Diminutive ship's Engineer and intuitive mechanic, served with JEB in the war.
Dr. Hex: Ship's Medical Officer, former Independent Army Special Forces combat medic.
Kat: Public Relations, former IASF scout-sniper, served with Dr. Hex in the war.

The Din Sua Bah, an ancient and weathered Dragonfly class mid-bulk transport is floating through the inky black of space, on course for the terraformed moon known as Whitefall. Inside, the crew is cleaning up, the entire ship looks like it was shaken upside down by a giant, and everything loose went flying. In the cockpit JEB glaces behind him as the Captain enters the cramped space, looked out of sorts.

"Did you see that? Ah shaved three hours of flight time with that slingshot about Persephone"

"And next time, you give crew more notice when you pull hot pilot shit!" Yuri says icily before he slaps his over-dressed upper class twit pilot on the lop side of his thick head.

"Ah thought the gravy would hold up better, how old is this ship anyway?'

"One hour, you give crew one hour notice next time!"

"One hour, aye sah!"

"Good, we can still charge customer for full flight time and pocket difference, just don't break ship!"

Yuri glares at his pilot until JEB mumbles his apologies and busies himself with checking his sensors and flight plan.

"Now I go and check tractors, farm-boys on Whitefall all very eager for tractors, pay much money!"

The tractors in question were rusty second or third hand models from used lots on Beleraphon, along with boxes of spare parts, and drums of fuel and hydraulic fluid. Cleverly hidden inside the shipment were several thousand pounds of small arms, ammunition, and explosives. Someone was buying enough for a small army, and the simmering cold war between Whitefall's major ranchers was about to get hot. He dragooned his dwarf and the shooty lady into doing the heavy shifting, making sure things were ready for the inevitable customs inspection. He wasn't sure about this crew, his old crew had... left suddenly and this one had fallen together a little too easily. Maybe someone was pulling strings, and would want a favor in return. The thought made Yuri nervous and a nervous Yuri was a paranoid Yuri.

The ships intercom crackled and JEBs much chastised voice drawled out, "Captain, we're being hailed by an Alliance Patrol Cruiser, they want us to heave to and prepare for inspection."

"OK, make it last another few minutes!"

"How?" JEB thought to himself, then grinned. He summoned up his best, thickest drawl, "Ahh Terrible, this is MRV Din Sua Bah, Ahm having some trouble with the hydraulics in the port engine pod, going to have to compensate and killing my delta vee is going to take a bit longer than anticipated" JEB grinned, between the accent and the non-standard banter just figuring out the transmission would delay the purple bellies in the other ship.

Half an hour later three Alliance Federal Officers were standing in the Bob's cargo hold going over the tractors and crates. They looked a little green, since JEB had managed to convince the Terrible that they had to shuttle over, the main docking collar was 'busted'. Two were obviously going through the motions, but the third was poking his nose around like he smelled something. Yuri watched that one through slitted eyes.

"Captain Spassky, what is this?" The man, Jefferson was what his name-plate said, beckoned over the captain.

"What is what?" Yuri gave it his best impenetrable east-blok trade patois. He spoke very good, unaccented standard Anglic, but rarely. As he leaned over to look inside the engine compartment of one of the tractors, at what was obviously the receiver of a auto-rifle attached to the frame of the machine and covered, sloppily, in engine grease he put his arm around the agent. "I don't see anything!" Yuri grabbed the Fed and slammed his head into the side of the tractor, and then injected a syringe of fast acting sleep agent. Standing up he made beckoning motions at the other feds, "Help, this one fall down!"

"What happened?"

"I don't know, he fall over, hit his head on tractor, not wake up!"

"What the...?"

"No worries, I have doctor!" Turning to the intercom, Yuri pockets the syringe and mashes the all call button. "Doctor!, hurry, bring something for Fed!"

A few minutes later Dr. Hex, a nondescript figure with plain face and wearing unremarkable field utilities carrying a big bag with a red cross on it comes pounding down the stairs. "Were is he?"

"Over here!"

Hex runs over to the stricken Fed, glancing at his captain as he does so. Yuri shakes his slightly, and then points to the fallen man. "Hit head, fall down, won't wake, something must be wrong!"

Hex runs through some simple diagnostics, shining lights, taking pulse and pressure, doing witch-doctory things. Then he gives the man a shot saying, "Looks like he passed out and hit his head, can't say why, but he needs to get to proper facilities fast."

"Alright, we're out of here, Captain here's your stamp for inspection, now get of my sky."

"Ok, have good day!"

Later, as the ship was preparing for landing, Yuri asked his doctor "What did you give him?"

"A dose of insulin, he'll come up as diabetic on the scan, that'll explain the fainting, probably end his career though."

"Good, one less purple belly to worry about. Let's get this deal done, I got a funny feeling about this run."

...to be continued.

That's ok, I wasn't really all that into her after all...

2009-08-05T14:09:00.002-05:00

LOL

2009-08-05T13:55:00.000-05:00

2009-08-04T13:59:00.004-05:00

You Scored as Tactician

You're probably a military buff who wants to have the chance to think through complex problems. You want the rules, and your GM's interpretation of them, to match up what happens in the real world or at least be consistant. You want challenging yet logical obstacles to overcome.

Tactician

92%

Method Actor

83%

Storyteller

75%

Butt-Kicker

67%

Specialist

58%

Power Gamer

50%

Casual Gamer

25%

Recomended.

2009-08-01T14:02:00.004-05:00

I've been playing Mount & Blade for a week now and I'm still as excited as when I won my first battle. Its an addictive experience (like any good game) that will leave you saying, 'just a little longer' at 4:00 in the morning. What we have here is a loose simulation of medieval warfare from the ground up. You start as a free-lance knight bachelor in the fictional dark age country of Calradia, which is divided into petty princedoms and constantly at war. This is sandbox open-play at some of its finest; who needs a meta-plot when the world is your oyster? The game is an engaging mix of stat driven and twitch driven first or third person combat (I prefer third, sword fighting seems easier when I can judge distances better) using WASD keys and the mouse (which can control your direction of power of swing).

The combat swings between wild, frentic mass melees, wild horse chases, grinding siege battles, and more personal and nuanced tournament and arena battles, and even assinations. Play takes place in a living world constantly in flux as lords war with each other, smashing armies, taking castles, and intrigue. Become a vassal, go rogue, fight for coin, fight for honor, I'm only scratching the surface here. Your character improves both stats and skills though an experience point and level system, and he can find and recruit 'companions' that are basicaly NPC minions that also gain levels, filling holes in your skill development, and providing banter for those slow moments.

Rating: 4 out of 5 trilling noises. Doc_Savage approved.

Download the demo, do it now!!

http://www.taleworlds.com/

Charge!!!

Its coming

2009-07-29T19:10:00.006-05:00

Think of it as Traveller with guns that fire explosive rounds the size of soda cans, powered exoskeleton armour, and armoured mile-long spaceships blasting broadsides into each other. Yeah, I know, you can't make Traveller more awesome, but they did.

Visual Poetry

2009-07-28T15:36:00.003-05:00

If this doesn't move you, your soul just might be dead.

ht: FIREHAND

First Iraq War

2009-07-22T10:20:00.002-05:00

What, you mean H.Sap. and Neanderthal didn't have a dope smoking circle jerk like a bunch of dirty hippies? Imagine my surprise.

Maybe you can put out a bowl of milk.

2009-07-22T10:06:00.005-05:00

'Police have warned the public not to approach big cats after a suspected puma attack on a horse in Ayrshire.'

Let's just give up firearms, anything pointy and sharp, or any weapon-like object, what could go wrong? It's not like there's any apex predators left in Britain, right?

WTF?

2009-07-22T09:59:00.001-05:00

'Big Nanny Democrats want to ration health care for everyone in America — except those who break our immigration laws. Last week, the House Ways and Means Committee defeated an amendment that would have prevented illegal aliens from using the so-called "public health insurance option." Every Democrat on the panel voted against the measure.'

Read the rest, get a bucket for the bile though.

Good-night sweet prince;

2009-07-20T15:00:00.002-05:00

And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

March 13, 1923 - June 17, 2009

Nuff' Said

2009-07-20T13:58:00.002-05:00

Chainsaw!!!

2009-07-17T11:30:00.000-05:00

Man Says He Used Chainsaw to Fight Starving Mountain Lion

Friday, July 17, 2009

CODY, Wyoming — A Colorado man used a chain saw to fight off an apparently starving mountain lion that attacked him during a camping trip in northwestern Wyoming with his wife and two toddlers.

Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine from Windsor, Colo., said he was alone cutting firewood about 100 feet from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest when he saw the 100-pound lion staring at him from some bushes.

The 6-foot-tall, 170-pound Britton said he raised his 18-inch chain saw and met the lion head-on as it pounced — a collision he described as feeling like a grown man running directly into him.

"It batted me three or four times with its front paws and as quick as I hit it with that saw it just turned away," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Wildlife officials said Sunday evening's attack about 27 miles west of Cody was highly unusual because mountain lions are reclusive by nature. Only eight cases of mountain lions acting aggressively toward humans have been documented in Wyoming over the last decade.

"It's very, very rare" for lions to attack, said Wyoming Game and Fish spokesman Warren Mischke. "We're still trying to investigate why this lion would behave this way."

The wounded animal retreated after Britton inflicted a six- to eight-inch gash on the lion's shoulder, leaving him with only a small puncture wound on his forearm.

"You would think if you hit an animal with a chain saw it would dig right in," he said. "I might as well have hit it with a hockey stick."

The mountain lion was shot and killed Monday after it attacked a dog brought in to track the animal, which was 4 to 5 years old. Authorities say it was in poor physical condition and appeared to be starving.

After Britton's confrontation, he and his wife, Kirsta, decided to spend the night in their pop-up camper with their two children rather than risk packing up with the lion still on the loose.

Wildlife agents were called the next morning after Britton told a passing U.S. Forest Service employee about the incident.

Tests for rabies and other diseases came up negative, but officials said they were continuing to analyze the animal for other potential diseases.

LOL

2009-07-14T14:10:00.000-05:00

Mon 13 Jul 10:46 AM
Was naked man at a casino a Terminator? Enlarge Photo

A man found naked at a casino claimed he was a Terminator sent from the future.

19-year-old Sean Stanley Smith was arrested on the Nevada border after he was spotted by a motorist wandering around the highway nude. He was ordered by police to stop but proceeded into a nearby casino - where he was then tasered in front of a group of children.

Smith claims he was a Terminator sent back in time from the future - a reference to the film character made popular by Arnold Schwarznegger in the sci-fi franchise. The films usually start with a naked man being transported to the past.

However, it turned out that Smith was not a time-travelling Terminator but was in fact suffering from the effects of LSD and marijuana. He was charged with indecent exposure and resisting a police officer.

Sarah Palin on Energy

2009-07-14T02:01:00.004-05:00

"There is no shortage of threats to our economy. America's unemployment rate recently hit its highest mark in more than 25 years and is expected to continue climbing. Worries are widespread that even when the economy finally rebounds, the recovery won't bring jobs. Our nation's debt is unsustainable, and the federal government's reach into the private sector is unprecedented.

Unfortunately, many in the national media would rather focus on the personality-driven political gossip of the day than on the gravity of these challenges. So, at risk of disappointing the chattering class, let me make clear what is foremost on my mind and where my focus will be:

I am deeply concerned about President Obama's cap-and-trade energy plan, and I believe it is an enormous threat to our economy. It would undermine our recovery over the short term and would inflict permanent damage.

American prosperity has always been driven by the steady supply of abundant, affordable energy. Particularly in Alaska, we understand the inherent link between energy and prosperity, energy and opportunity, and energy and security. Consequently, many of us in this huge, energy-rich state recognize that the president's cap-and-trade energy tax would adversely affect every aspect of the U.S. economy.

There is no denying that as the world becomes more industrialized, we need to reform our energy policy and become less dependent on foreign energy sources. But the answer doesn't lie in making energy scarcer and more expensive! Those who understand the issue know we can meet our energy needs and environmental challenges without destroying America's economy.

Job losses are so certain under this new cap-and-tax plan that it includes a provision accommodating newly unemployed workers from the resulting dried-up energy sector, to the tune of $4.2 billion over eight years. So much for creating jobs.

In addition to immediately increasing unemployment in the energy sector, even more American jobs will be threatened by the rising cost of doing business under the cap-and-tax plan. For example, the cost of farming will certainly increase, driving down farm incomes while driving up grocery prices. The costs of manufacturing, warehousing and transportation will also increase.

The ironic beauty in this plan? Soon, even the most ardent liberal will understand supply-side economics.

The Americans hit hardest will be those already struggling to make ends meet. As the president eloquently puts it, their electricity bills will "necessarily skyrocket." So much for not raising taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year.

Even Warren Buffett, an ardent Obama supporter, admitted that under the cap-and-tax scheme, "poor people are going to pay a lot more for electricity."

We must move in a new direction. We are ripe for economic growth and energy independence if we responsibly tap the resources that God created right underfoot on American soil. Just as important, we have more desire and ability to protect the environment than any foreign nation from which we purchase energy today.

In Alaska, we are progressing on the largest private-sector energy project in history. Our 3,000-mile natural gas pipeline will transport hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of our clean natural gas to hungry markets across America. We can safely drill for U.S. oil offshore and in a tiny, 2,000-acre corner of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if ever given the go-ahead by Washington bureaucrats.

Of course, Alaska is not the sole source of American energy. Many states have abundant coal, whose technology is continuously making it into a cleaner energy source. Westerners literally sit on mountains of oil and gas, and every state can consider the possibility of nuclear energy.

We have an important choice to make. Do we want to control our energy supply and its environmental impact? Or, do we want to outsource it to China, Russia and Saudi Arabia? Make no mistake: President Obama's plan will result in the latter.

For so many reasons, we can't afford to kill responsible domestic energy production or clobber every American consumer with higher prices.

Can America produce more of its own energy through strategic investments that protect the environment, revive our economy and secure our nation?

Yes, we can. Just not with Barack Obama's energy cap-and-tax plan."

If you like what you're reading check out my favorite: Texans for Sarah Palin, or the official Sarah Palin Blog.

Present, arms!

2009-07-13T16:46:00.003-05:00

Story behind title link. Drink one extra tonight.

what? whoah, Cool.

2009-07-10T15:46:00.001-05:00

More music

2009-07-10T15:06:00.002-05:00

Click the tile to check out last.fm, an interesting streaming music service. Doc_Savage approved, doubleplusgood!

Sorry

2009-07-09T02:07:00.001-05:00

I know its kinda self referential, but I have to 'follow' my own blog to add songs to the player feature. Go figure. Sorry.

4th Edition and WoW in a nutshell:

2009-07-07T23:27:00.002-05:00

Rethinking Shadow Gates

2009-07-07T21:06:00.004-05:00

Back to a gaming subject, a break from dreary politics and policy.

1) The name. I'm not satisfied with Shadow Gates as a title for the project. It doesn't have enough menace. I'm thinking Nemesis Gates not only rolls of the tongue better but is at the same time more ominous. Also it brings in connotations of destruction via the Nemesis Hypothesis and the Harbinger of the Old Ones; Ghroth. Much better suited for a post apocalyptic project.

2) Historical Inspiration. I already knew that I wanted the campaign to take place in the ruins of a once great Human Empire. This has naturally lead to seeking inspiration in similar historical periods like, for example, the Dark Ages. The Confederation (my setting's nod to everyone's favorite Coalition Sates) was originally going to be largely based on the Holy Roman Empire.

Now I see I haven't gone back far enough. Instead I will be using the Frankish Empire of the Merovingian kings and Carolingian Emperors as my main inspiration. Instead of Franks crossing the Rhine into the Roman Empire we will have Yanks, ugly American exiles who left the great sprawling cities of Columbia and San Angeles to live in Coventry, basically a great reservation in flyover country. Now they are picking up the pieces after the Joachite Wreckers have leveled the cities of the ancien regime. Of course the Joachites also (knowingly?) completed a ritual to summon forth powers vastly older than Man and opened the Gates.

While the Cheyenne Commanderie will be modeled after the Exarchate of Ravenna, a last military outpostof the Eastern Empire of Terra Nova. Also there will be winks and nods to the Enclave of Fallout fame.

The Xothians of Mu, Kali, Atlantis, and Lemuria will stand in nicely for the ominously rising Moors. Their hordes of Barracuda fish-men and Gargoyle star-spawn chanting 'there are no Gods but the Old Ones and Lord Cthulhu is the prophet of their return.'

And from the frozen farthest north sweep baying packs of Gnophkeh warriors thirsty for blood and hungry for warm flesh. From the fury of the Northmen, oh Lord, preserve us.

I must stop myself from going on and on, there are so many possibilities; Pendragon of Mars, Serpent Men of the southron jungles, the Risen Empire of the vile Nephren Ka, the fungus from Yuggoth, Dinosaur Swamps...

3) Anyway play will initially focus on adventurous Yankish warriors questing forth into the ruins of ancient cities looking for lost technology or striking deep into the quisling Sorcerous Federation to destroy some nascent threat to the free peoples of Earth.

LOL, via Wirecutter's Knuckledraggin' Blog

2009-07-07T18:19:00.003-05:00

What?!

2009-07-05T08:56:00.001-05:00

"...Last week, the doughnut chain Tim Hortons, which operates on both sides of the border but is incorporated in the state of Delaware, announced that it was reorganizing itself as a Canadian corporation to take advantage of Canadian tax rates..."

Independence Day

2009-07-04T10:50:00.002-05:00

Freedom is not Free.
Liberty is Purchased with Blood.
Rights grow from the barrel of a Gun.

The best way to celebrate is to go and buy a firearm. Doc Savage out.

hmmm...

2009-07-01T21:55:00.002-05:00

An Earth-like planet spotted outside our solar system is the first found that could support liquid water and harbor life, scientists announced...

Liquid water is a key ingredient for life as we know it. The new found planet is located at the “Goldilocks” distance—not too close and not too far from its star to keep water on its surface from freezing or vaporizing away. [...]

The new planet is about 50 percent bigger than Earth and about five times more massive. The new “super-Earth” is called Gliese 581 C, after its star, Gliese 581, a diminutive red dwarf star located 20.5 light-years away that is about one-third as massive as the Sun.

This is the first terrestrial world discovered outside of our solar system that orbits within the habitable zone of a star. Although the planet orbits a short distance around its star (about 13 Earth days), life forms could easily survive on this world due to the dimness (or rather lack of heat) from the red dwarf sun.

Scientists are probably going to take a second look at this, and it will be interesting to see whether or not we will be able to locate features upon this world in the future.

...

The star is Gliese 581, already known to be home to a planet of Neptune mass and a possible third world about eight times as massive as Earth. It’s an M-class red dwarf, far smaller and cooler than the Sun. The new planet, the smallest found up to this point, orbits it in 13 days. Gliese 581, it should be noted, is comparatively close to our own Solar System, about 20.5 light years away in the constellation Libra. Radial velocity methods seem to have been made to order for this small star and the planets that circle it.

Old news but important. Food for my future history project. Text cribbed from:

http://www.centauri-dreams.org/?p=1200

http://www.colonyworlds.com/2007/04/another-earth-spotted.html

Red is the new brown

2009-06-30T17:34:00.002-05:00

Obambi unleashes the hounds. Link in title.

moving (progress)

2009-06-30T17:23:00.003-05:00

After much heaving and sweating in triple digit temps up three flights of stairs, we have moved from one apartment to another, much better one. Now we have rearrange the pile of crap in the living room into a livable space. No rest for the wicked, what?

moving (again)

2009-06-29T22:55:00.001-05:00

updates will be sporadic until we get interwebs running at the new place. please hold, thank you.

War Hawk Quiz from Reason

2009-06-26T00:54:00.003-05:00

I'm really getting sick of pacifist libertarians and their self-haloed cowardice, but I'll take a quiz from the state-haters over at Reason just for shits and giggles.

1) Should the National Security Agency or CIA have the ability to monitor domestic phone calls or e-mails without obtaining judicial approval?

Yes, if the phone call is being placed to a number outside of US territory.

2) Should the government have the ability to hold an American citizen without charge, indefinitely, without access to a lawyer, if he is believed to be part of a terrorist cell?

Yes. We've done it before at war and the world didn't end. Given my druthers I'd round up every last Muhammadan and put them in camps just like the Japanese during WWII.

3) Can you imagine a situation in which the government would be justified in waterboarding an American citizen?

Yes. Assuming that citizen is guilty either of giving aide and comfort to the enemy or of making private war on the US (terrorism).

4) Are there American journalists who should be investigated for possible treason? Should Sedition laws be re-introduced?

Yes and Yes.

5) Should the CIA be able to legally assassinate people in countries with which the U.S. is not at war?

Seriously? This a question? Fuck yeah!

6) Should anti-terrorism cops be given every single law-enforcement tool available in non-terrorist cases?

No, 'anti-terrorism' should under the heading of counter-intelligence. FBI gets cases involving resident citizens, CIA gets foreign nationals. Law enforcement takes back seat to preventing private war (terrorism).

7) Should law enforcement be able to seize the property of a suspected (though not charged) American terrorist, and then sell it?

Citizen, no. Non-citizen sure why not?

8) Should the U.S. military be tasked with enforcing domestic crime?

No, but they should be guarding our borders and vital infrastructure with deadly force authorized.

9) Should there be a national I.D. card, and should it be made available to law enforcement on demand?

Yes. Imagine how much easier this makes dealing with illegal immigration, for example. Citizenship IDs similar to current chipped military IDs would be a good start.

10) Should a higher percentage of national security-related activities and documents be made classified, and kept from the eyes of the Congress, the courts, and the public?

Yea verily yea. I mean seriously, how does on run a war without secrecy?

Boondogle canceled, story behind link

2009-06-23T18:53:00.003-05:00

'Future Combat System' canceled by Gates. Opens way for new acquisitions programs with attainable goals.

CANCELED

Happy Fathers Day

2009-06-21T08:14:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day, Dad.

I love you.

Notes from a Gamer's Life

2009-06-20T07:18:00.004-05:00

1. Got the Field of Glory rulebook today, thoughts at 22.00.

2. Saw Corvus Belli and Xyston minis in the lead, so to speak, i didn't realize 15mm could be that detailed.

3. No Rifts Game this week, the GM is going to be a daddy, again. Mazaltov!

4. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay continues to go well. Troll Slayers are awesome. I play him as a fearless fight like you don't care if you live or die, so long as you win sort of guy. I get the party in so much trouble...

5. Mass Effect is amazing. One of the best console RPGs since Knights of the Old Republic.

carry on.

Ancient Battles on the Tabletop

2009-06-17T19:49:00.003-05:00

Ok, Ulot (my roomate, he's not much of a blogger) and I might be getting into ancients miniatures gaming, depending on if we like the local commuity and can find time. We've settled on Field of Glory in 15mm. I'll be playing my idealized late Principate (193-211) Romans (Septimus Severus) and Ulot will take a late 100's year war free company, (pikes, longbows, bilmen, men-at-arms cavalry).

If this project comes off it should be interesting. I remain curious to see how heavy armored 'Dacian Wars' legionaries and clibinarii 'boiler-makers' will fair against bow, pollax, and chivalry.

Battle!!

Thinking

2009-06-16T22:09:00.002-05:00

I'm thinking of getting into Historical Miniatures Wargaming. Field of Glory (ancients) and Flames of War (WWII) seem to be the big games in my area. Now I have to decide on 15 or 25mm? Decisions decisions. Let's see what Ulot has to say.

Just Because: Hawt Izraeli Chicas

2009-06-15T22:49:00.005-05:00

Thanks bloodslides

Ok, maybe I'm stupid

2009-06-14T10:14:00.002-05:00

So Ophion2807 has been following my blog, and I've accepted the offer of inter-webs friendship, but I can't seem to find a link to his blog. Maybe I'm just too red-neck for this.

So gentle-reader folk, if you want me to follow YOUR blog, one had better make a comment on mine. Not because I need the reach-around, but because I can't seem to make blogger do what I want it to do.

Happy Birthday Army!

2009-06-14T09:19:00.004-05:00

Hooah Army!

Happy Flag Day

2009-06-14T09:13:00.002-05:00

You're a grand old flag,
You're a high flying flag,
And forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of the land I love,
The home of the free and the brave.
Ev'ry heart beats true
'Neath the Red, White and Blue.
Where there's never a boast or a brag.
But should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eyes on the grand old flag!

Shadow Gates Combat

2009-06-13T09:43:00.002-05:00

Ok, here's how combat is going to work in this campaign.

As in RAW BRP, combat runs on % dice. However I'm tweaking this slightly. Firstly, the results of a d% roll are read as 00-99, not 01-00. Secondly, instead of success, special success, critical success etc running off of fractions of your skill I will be using a margin of success system. This will be a simple 'blackjack' roll high but don't bust framework; your margin of success is the tens digit of your d% roll. For example; your skill is 53% and you roll 29, your margin is 2. This MOS will function as a direct damage bonus to attacks in combat, higher skills tend to result in deadlier attacks. Critical successes will remain; any roll that exactly equals your effective skill level is a critical success. While a roll of 99 is always a failure and a fumble.

Parrying, dodging, and other opposed actions will be resolved by comparing margins of success. An attack with a MOS of 3 beats a dodge with a MOS of 2. A critical dodge always succeeds, although a critical strike will still deal 1/2 damage.

I will be using strike ranks pretty much as written. Automatic weapons fire I'm still thinking on. Currently I think I'll have short bursts/semi auto add a bonus to strike (also effectively a damage bonus remember), long burst/semi auto fusillades be area effect, and having an option for suppressive fire to force a willpower test or stay in cover.

Science fiction and Meaning

2009-06-10T19:34:00.002-05:00

Bitpig has an interesting rant on why he like Japanese written SF. It still has people in it.

I agree. I like my SF to be operatic. Stories must be about people. And rayguns and rockets :)

Lessons Learned

2009-06-09T15:25:00.004-05:00

From dodbuzz.com

Israeli Lessons on Hybrid War

Israeli Lessons on Hybrid War
By Greg Grant Friday, June 5th, 2009 8:14 pm

Select quotes...

years of low-intensity conflict operations against Palestinian terrorist organizations, the occupation, damaged the military’s ability to shift gears and cope with a different fight of the high-intensity kind. The Israeli army had adopted a “low-intensity conflict mindset” that influenced corresponding tactical procedures including command and control, logistics support and casualty evacuation. What works in a low-intensity environment does not, typically, in a high-intensity one, and the IDF was slow to change out of the LIC “mode.”

The army didn’t follow high-intensity combat procedures, such as only advancing at night and was late to prepare for ground operations, “which was essential for decisive outcome in this type of conflict.

In the years leading up to the war, the Israeli army had trained less in combined arms operations and subsequently lost vital combat skills, mainly at the division and brigade level. It also gave too low a priority to updating major war plans.

The IDF’s “operating concept” used unclear terms and was impossible to implement against a non state enemy. The operating concept he references is “Effects Based Operations,” which emphasized airpower’s ability to achieve decisive effects.

Say it with me. 'Fourth Generation War is a crock of shit and conventional warfare is still relevant, forget that at your peril.'

Farewell PVT Long

2009-06-09T13:26:00.003-05:00

RIP, Private Long

by Paul J Cella

Pvt. William Long was to have been on his way to his first posting Monday when, instead, he was being eulogized in his hometown.
Long, from Conway, was killed June 1 outside the Army-Navy Career Center in west Little Rock where he had volunteered to tell others about his military experience. A Muslim convert once imprisoned in Yemen has pleaded not guilty to capital murder in Long's death. He allegedly told police he targeted Army personnel "because of what they had done to Muslims in the past."

About 200 people packed into the Harlan Park Baptist Church for the service.

My prayers for you and your family, a toast to fallen warrior, and the thanks of a grateful nation. You volunteered. That's all anyone can ever ask. Hooah.

Farewell Ironsides

2009-06-08T19:41:00.002-05:00

I'm currently playing in two weekly RP groups. Lucky me huh? Anyway, one of them is Rifts. I know, the system is broken and Siembieda couldn't edit or lay-out a small town phone book; but when the group is right it can be awesome.

Anyway, this Rifts group is just such an awesome group to game with, especially since the GM moves the story along and doesn't shoot down the players when they try to get creative, and has enough self confidence to make a snap ruling and run with it. In other words, a damn fine GM.

My 5th level Aberrant Cyber-Knight/Asshole finally bought the farm this past weekend. In a tragic blue on blue incident Sir Havel Ironsides was shot down as he single-handedly fought a higher level blackguard Cyber-Knight to a virtual stand still (while the rest of the pary delt with his equally vile but less powerful minions). It was Epic, it was Fail, it was Epic Fail.

Granted all it would have taken was a bad roll for Ironsides to have been cut down where he stood, but that would have been much more satisfying than friendly fire having the right of way.

It was, however, abosolutely HILARIOUS. Great fun was had by all and I'm looking foward to bringing a new character into the (dis)functional party of misfits that has been rocking the post-holocaust.

Farewell Ironsides, this one's for you.

Let's talk Characters (Shadow Gates)

2009-06-07T10:58:00.005-05:00

Ok I'm thinking of tweaking BRP as written in the handy-dandy, oh so shiny new BRP book. I'm going to be adding a handful of WHFRP/Dark Heresy, a pinch of GORE, maybe even a dash of Palladium...

Anyway, I'm thinking of eight or nine broad classes that determine what Jobs (professions) you can enter and what activities benefit from an experience bonus.

Jobs determine what skills and Talents/Feats/Perks (whatever) one has acces too, and increase in 'Job Rank', which opens up new character advances (skills, attributes, abilites, so on).

So here's a quick sekeleton I've put together;

Fighter 'Man at Arms'

Boomer (Combat 'Borg; Robocop, Briareos Hecatonchires)
Samsonite (Augmented Soldier; performance enhancing drugs, organs, prosthetics)
Powered Trooper (Powered Armor operator)
Land Warrior (generalist warrior)
Armored Crew (armored vehicle crewman; tanks, APCs, IFVs, walkers)
Flyboy (combat aviator)
Scout (wilderness path finding, tracking, survival, light infantry)
Assassin (infiltrate, kill, exfiltrate)

Skilled Support, tech 'Technical Specialist'

Field Medic (healer, paramedic)
Tech-Spec (item repair and item craft)
Hacker (opens doors, gets the info, spoofs sensors, etc)
Drone Rigger (gathers intel, fun with remotely controlled robots)
Scavenger (jury rigger and forager)
City Rat? Ganger? (not sure where I'm going with this idea, streetwise maybe)

Skilled Support, expert 'Academic Expert'

Field Scientist (smart guy, TONS of skills)
Field Surgeon (medical doctor, sometimes, you need one)
Field Researcher (three words; research, monster lore, weakness)
Genius Spark (mad scientist! makes gadgets that shouldn't work, but do)

Charisma/Persuasion 'Negotiator'

Face Man (confidence trickster)
Diplomat (negotiator)
Spy (secret agent man)
Fixer (Mr. Connections)
Entertainer (traveling performer)

Mystical Support 'Mystics'

Mystic (dabbler in Magyck and ESP)
Summoner (Evocation Mage; summon and bind)
Lesser Talent (minor ESPer; more skills fewer powers)
Greater Talent (major ESPer; fewer skills, more powers)
Sorcerer (Invoker of Alien Gods)
Enchanter (Enchantment Mage; buff, debuff, control)
Cleric (Invoker of the Gods of Men)

Fighter/Tech 'Military Speicialist'

Special Forces (skilled warrior and leader of men)
Combat Hacker (warrior with electronic war capability)
Military Engineer (construct or tear down defenses)
Field Armorer (warrior jury-rigger)
Road Warrior (wheel-man, speed-demon, transporter)
Tek Paladin (power trooper with scavenging, jury rigging and science!)

Fighter/Mystic 'ParaSwords'

Psi Knight (not a jedi)
Spell Sword (classic fighter-mage)
Spell 'Slinger (battle-mage)
Warrior Nun (fighter-cleric, female)
Battle Brother (fighter-cleric, male)

Fighter/Persuasion 'setting appropriate name here'

Smuggler (Han Solo, Jack Burton)
Six String Samurai (Bard; with a sword, and a steel guitar)
Black Operative (James Bond; wetworks, sabotage, high action, plausible deniability )

Mystic/Tech 'MagiTech'

Techno-Mage (Mad Spark inventor-mage)
Alchymist (transmuter of matter)
Churigeon (bio-wizardry)
Meta-Physician (scientist-mage researcher)
PsychoScientist (psi-scientist)
Psi-Comp. (psychic hacker)

Techie news

2009-06-03T18:28:00.003-05:00

Hat tip Dad. Do you have the URL for this?

US lab debuts super laser

by Glenn Chapman Glenn Chapman Sat May 30, 4:23 am ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – A US weapons lab on Friday pulled back the curtain on a super laser with the power to burn as hot as a star.
The National Ignition Facility's main purpose is to serve as a tool for gauging the reliability and safety of the US nuclear weapons arsenal but scientists say it could deliver breakthroughs in safe fusion power.

"We have invented the world's largest laser system," actor-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said during a dedication ceremony attended by thousands including state and national officials.

"We can create the stars right here on earth. And I can see already my friends in Hollywood being very upset that their stuff that they show on the big screen is obsolete. We have the real stuff right here."

NIF is touted as the world's highest-energy laser system. It is located inside the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory about an hour's drive from San Francisco.
Equipment connected to a house-sized sphere can focus 192 laser beams on a small point, generating temperatures and pressures that exist at cores of stars or giant planets.
NIF will be able to create conditions and conduct experiments never before possible on Earth, according to the laboratory.

A fusion reaction triggered by the super laser hitting hydrogen atoms will produce more energy than was required to prompt "ignition," according to NIF director Edward Moses.
"This is the long-sought goal of 'energy gain' that has been the goal of fusion researchers for more than half a century," Moses said.

"NIF's success will be a scientific breakthrough of historic significance; the first demonstration of fusion ignition in a laboratory setting, duplicating on Earth the processes that power the stars."
Construction of the NIF began in 1997, funded by the US Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).

"NIF, a cornerstone of the National Nuclear Security Administration's effort to maintain our nuclear deterrent without nuclear testing, will play a vital role in reshaping national security in the 21st century," said NNSA administrator Tom D'Agostino.

"This one-of-a-kind facility is the only place in the world that is capable of providing some of the most critical technical means to safely maintain the viability of the nation's nuclear stockpile."
Scientists say that NIF also promises groundbreaking discoveries in planetary science and astrophysics by recreating conditions that exist in supernovas, black holes, and in the cores of giant planets.

Electricity derived from fusion reactions similar to what takes place in the sun could help sate humanity's growing appetite for green energy, according to lab officials.

"Very shortly we will engage in what many believe to be this nation's greatest challenge thus far, one that confronts not only the nation but all of mankind -- energy independence," said lab director George Miller.

The lab was founded in 1952 and describes itself as a research institution for science and technology applied to national security.

"This laser system is an incredible success not just for California, but for our country and our world," Schwarzenegger said.

"NIF has the potential to revolutionize our energy system, teaching us a new way to harness the energy of the sun to power our cars and homes."

Shadow Gates: NA pt III

2009-06-02T20:12:00.002-05:00

Further thoughts on the CSA, SG:NA, and post-apoc. in general.

The Confederated States in this setting are obviously intended to be the great power of the North American continent, but lets look at what we mean by that. In a post-apocalyptic setting (especially this one), even the great (human) powers struggle to survive. Nor should one consider the CSA to be a monolithic, or even fully settled society. It is feudal in nature, and much of the territory claimed is still untamed wilderness or crumbling ruins. One of my problems with many Post-Apoc games and stories is that they are quickly filled with so many new powers and principalities, each a modern nation-state, that adventuring in a good ole' frpg sense is almost impossible. I'm trying to avoid this with Shadow Gates, and leave even the major player on the continent barely controlling its own territory and no more centralized than the Holy Roman Empire of the Hapsburg's.

Unlike its first main inspiration (the Coalition States from a certain other game) adventuring is quite possible in Confed territory. The local lord doesn't have the man-power to waste sending search parties after the beast rumored to be attacking his Vaki's livestock, nor search the ruins for rumored artifacts. And the State Guard and Confed Army units in the general area have much more important things to do. Also this Confed isn't quite as automatically murderous towards 'undesirables' nor as obviously inspired by the worst excesses of the early twentieth century with its gulags and einsatzgruppen.

This Confed. is willing to give 'demi-humans' a chance. What are 'demi-humans'? Any vaguely humanoid entity that the local, on the scene, authority decides to tolerate. The more you look like a base-line pure human the more likely you are to be tolerated, especially if you can provide a useful service to the local community. Obviously this varies greatly, Le 'estate du Nord is the most open and tolerant, while Little Dixie is much less so. Anything with tentacles, rotational symetry, or an odd number of appendages is likely to be shot on site wherever you are in the Confed. Psykers are also tolerated within the confed, as long as they are members of either the Confederate Army Psi-Corps, or the Mentalist's Guild, and don't get on the wrong side of a vengful feudal lord when on his property, or get lynched as a wytch by superstitious vakis...

Magyck is a special case. Unlicensed magyck, which is to say virtually all of it, is punishable by death. Magyck is equated with contact with ruinous powers, and the Confed is mostly right. Although not all, or even most sorcerers have dealings with vast an alien intelligences, all forms of what humanity ignorantly labels as magyck are inherently hazardous to human health, spirit, and sanity. There is not much functional difference between a a sorcerous rampage on behalf of hidden masters, or one brought on by sheer murderous lunacy.

There are some forms of magyck that are more controllable however. Non-Euclidean Meta-Physical Engineering, aka tekno-magery is one. Another licensed, bonded, and guilded path to the mysteries is Para-Combinatorial Chemistry, also known to the layman as Alchymy. Additionally, clerics of the Elder Gods of Man, and even the servants of Apostolic Palace, have been known to exercise gifts and boons of their lords, creating effects quite similar to that of a rogue sorcerer, but with tacit approval of the Confed. Emperor Rothschild isn't concerened that a Catholic Theurgist or a Cleric of Mars uses techniques similar to sorcerers, only that they have shown no threat to himself or his people.

Quick thoughts

2009-06-01T23:56:00.002-05:00

Man self organizes into polities

Polities civilize, humanize their members

Man needs a polity to really be human

Similarly, a polity needs a Church to sacralize itself, lest the entire exercise turn into self-idolatry

(We have seen were this leads in the early twentieth century)

These things need defending, and the best defense is a good offense

Memorial Day

2009-05-25T15:13:00.002-05:00

"Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

...We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. All that the consecrated wealth and taste of the nation can add to their adornment and security, is but a fitting tribute to the memory of her slain defenders. Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten...

True Love

2009-05-24T11:13:00.003-05:00

I'm in love, and she's under 10.

Oh look, she has a sister.

God bless America.

Rough history of powered armor

2009-05-20T21:46:00.003-05:00

Frame, Powered, Load Bearing (LBPF 'el-be-pif')
[powered frame]

Frame, Powered, Combat (CPF 'cee-pee-eff' or cee-pef')
[combat frame]

Exoskeleton, Powered (PEx 'pex' or 'pexo')
[combat exoskeleton]

Suit, Powered, Combat (CAS 'cas' or 'cassie')

[powered armor]

Infantry Fighting Armor, Airmobile (IFAA 'eye-fah')
[humanoid combat vehicle]

Quick Image Roundup

2009-05-19T23:08:00.012-05:00

Confed Propaganda

Public Art, Service Announcement, Propaganda.

All are one within the Confed. Vakis and City dwellers are admonished that starvation is a bad harvest away, and there is no room for shirkers or malingerers.

Freeholders are taught that they are pride of the Confed and better than Vaki scum.

Land-lords are encouraged to spur their properties to increased production and efficiency, and to keep their military retainers fully trained and equipped.

Everyone is constantly reminded that the lands outside the Confed are wild, untamed, and dangerous. Full of nebulous evil monsters. Humanity against a world gone mad!

Chiopolis

Chiopolis is an island of advanced technology in a post-apocalyptic world.

A cyberpunk sprawl of high rise tenaments surrounding a cyclopean armored acrology where the rich and pwerfull direct plans within plans.

In the canyons of plasteel, admantine, and rocrete it is always twilight and raining.

D-Town

D-Town is an industrial dieselpunk city, but also the capitol of the largest single Human State on the North American continent. It is a study in contrasts; dirty smoke belching coal fired factories and sweeping parks, avenues and epic statuary and architecture.

The people of the city are proud of the world they have built, and confident that with the guidance of the Emperor, there's nothing an Iowan can't do.

The City is relatively clean, and of new construction because in large parts it is a new creation, a phoenix rising from the ashes of the ruined old world.

Provisional Republic of Iowa

The greatest economic fact of North America

Stitching together the Confederacy with plasteel rails and adamantine armour

Federation of Sorcery

Rumors abound that the inhuman princes and lord-mages of the Ohio river Valley have banded together...

Confederate Army

Advanced elements of the First Armored Grenadiers scout outside of the ruins of Little Rock.

Seen here with a Mk IV 'ironfist' half track mounting a 'ma-deuce' pattern phased plasma machine gun.

A Confed Strider-jock strikes a pose for the camera. Humanity's Champion.

The hidden, hardened bunkers that house the General Products emergency assembly plants are just coming on line. Already General Mills breads and cereals are dominating department store sales all over the Confederacy and beyond.

General Dynamics tanks, aircraft, and even space-craft are still in testing.

Shadow Gates: North America pt. II

2009-05-19T13:00:00.010-05:00

In which we take a closer look at the CSA.

The heart of the Confederation resides in the the rich breadbasket lands that lie between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers; areas once known as Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas. The Confed also claims the southern portions of Wisconsin and Michigan as well as the northern parts of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

The Confederacy is both more and less than meets the eye. The Confed State, and its ruler, Emperor Karl Rothschild (President for life of the Americans, Governor of Iowa, Overlord of the Marches, Rex Mundi, by grace of God Emperor of Man) claims universal sovereignty as a successor state to the vanished Imperium. In reality the Confederation is a loose patchwork of City-States, Chartered Cities, Feudal Baronies, and Client Kingdoms. The Title of Emperor is technically elective, with each Elector in the College having a vote (the Electoral College being composed of great lords, city mayors, important clergy, and various guild masters) but practically only members of the Rothschild family have been elected, considering that the Rothschild heir is also ruler of the largest and Capital city, D-town, and the largest single polity, the Provisional Republic of Iowa. Karl is also the feudal overlord of a large majority of the Confederation's land holders, and they are honour bound to support and defend their liege-lord.

The structure of the Confederacy follows these rough lines.

The States: These are the largest organizational polities within the Confed, and are more or less (un)controlled by their technically elective State Governors. The only real power State Governors usually have is to regulate commerce within their State and to call out the Guard. Governors also formally have the power to assign Vaki (serf, short for evacuee) labor to the Farmers or Ranchers (hereditary land holders), although doing so arbitrarily is a good way to get replaced (usually after a fatal accident). Governors also serve at the Emperor's pleasure and after being confirmed by Imperial Decree, may be replace at any time.

Baronies: The Barons represent the wealthiest land-holders of the Confed, and their holdings form large portions of the States. The Barons are themselves feudal overlords and receive the fealty of...

Knights, Sheriffs, Farmers, and Ranchers: The smallest landholder to be Imperial Citizens, these lower nobles form the base of the feudal pyramid from which Emperor Rothschild derives his power and authority. Landholders lord it over...

Vakis: Evacuees, effectively serfs, these descendants of displaced and fled city dwellers were organized as brute labor during the Fall and have been mostly bound to land ever since. Vakis flee to pass themselves off as...

Freeholders: The effervescent yeomanry of the Confed, the successful eventually become Landholders and the failures die or run off to the cities to become...

Charted Citizens: The citizens of the various Chartered, Imperial, Free, of State Cities owe their citizenship directly to the Emperor as represented by the mayor. They may be drafted at any time and must pay taxes or be Evacuated as excess and unproductive.

States and Territories
Provisional Republic of Iowa: The very heart and core of the Confederacy, from D-Town emanates the word and will of Emperor Rothschild. The city is built upon amongst the runs of ancient Des Moines, and is the center of a network of canals and railroads, knitting together the Confederacy. The corn harvest of Iowa is the single largest economic fact of the Confederacy, and perhaps North America. This fact underlies the source of Iowa's strength, the largest pure human population in North America. The size and impressivness of her soldiery has led to the saying 'as big and fierce as a cornfed Iowan'. Capital: D-Town

Le' Estat du Nord: Minnesota, the State of the North is the most northern State of the Confederacy. Only the unorganized Territory of Ontario and Dominion of Winnipeg (independent, client of Britannia) provides a buffer for the Confed proper against the icy winds of Ithaqua and his Gnoph-keh God-Kings in their ice-ziggurats. Minnesota also shows the softer side of the Confed. Here the populace is mostly literate, and actually does voes vote for their Sheriffs and other county officials. This State is also the cradle of the official 'Humanity first, including demi-humans' policy; when Minnesota and xenophobic Iowa (and others) first merged to create the Confederacy in the first years after the fall, the Dvergar of the Iron Range were the pride of the State and very valued members of the community. No less than the First Emperor himself gave the Dvergar his blessing and oath of protection in exchange for the fealty of the Dver-lords in their halls of stone. Capital: Cloud City

Kingdom of Ishpeming: A nominally independent client state of the Confederacy, the Kingdom is useful a transhipment point for trade with the Great Lakes region and a manufacturer of low(er) quality weapons (usually heavier and less accurate) that can be guided to supply other polities without tracing back to official Confed policy. Capital: Ishpeming Court

Missouri: Another founding member of the Confederacy, also known as 'Little Dixie' this State is even more xenophobic and human supremacist than the Iowans, if that is even possible. This is, of course, not without good reason. Little Dixie borders on the St. Louis Hell Gate, a permanent gate that spews forth horrible monstrosities with terrible appetites. Most land-holders, including Governor Hannibal Simpson are initiated knights of the White American Nationalist Klan (or Wankers for short) an ardently racist and militaristic military order that forms the backbone of the State Guard. Missouri also mainly provides the para-military 'bushwackers' who mount 'filibusters' into non-Confed territories. Capital: Fort Jefferson

Arkansaw: An unincorporated territory of the Confederacy, Arkansaw has Four main portions. Firstly there is Fort Mountain Home, in the Boston Mountains. Here the First Airlord oversees the First Air Corps 'Ozark Airlords' with the twin missions of making air strikes on the St Louis Hell Gate and providing support for the Southron Marcher Lords in their fight against the vile Barracuda in the swamplands. Next is Fort Smith headquarters of the Lord of the Indian Marches. Next, there is Fort El Dorado headquarters of the Lord of the Southron Marches. Finally, Texarkana is a fully Chartered Imperial City, and center of the Confederacy's efforts to draw Lonestar into full confederacy. The ancient capitol of Little Rock is little more than a Necropolis, inhabited only by mutants, gate-spawn, and ghouls.

Wisconsin: The Cheeseheads of Wisconsin are proud members of the Confederacy, and joined shortly after Iowa, Missouri, and Minnesota signed the original Articles of Confederation. From the cities of New Wausau Governor Richards rules with an iron fist over the second most populous State of the Confed.

Chiopolis: Located in the unorganized, unincorporated Illinois territory, Chiopolis is D-Town's only competitor as first city of the Confederacy. Consisting largely of the rebuilt, fortified, and resettled corporate Arcology that once housed workers and formed a hub on the old Chicago-Dallas Mag-Lev line, located at Chillicothe Illinois, Chiopolis is a wonder to behold. Home of an advanced research lab from Before the Fall, Chiopolis is the the main source for the Confederations advanced technology. Deep underground in the SubUrbs manufactories and robotic forges run by teknomancers churn out hyper-advanced materiel for the Confed War Campaign.

Fort Wayne: A Confed outpost on the flank of the vile Federation of Sorcery in the Ohio river valley. Territorial capital for Indiana.

Michigan: Arsenal of humanity, the newly created state of Michigan is rapidly becoming an industrial powerhouse. The ancient factories left by General Products Inc. in Mo-Town (Old Detroit) were found to have been underground in hardened bunkers. Apparently one of the Emperors of the Old Imperium was paranoid about protecting industrial centers. General Dynamics tanks, planes, cyborgs, trucks, and other materiel are finding their way into Confed war stocks. Most settlers in Michigan are from Iowa or Wisconsin.

Shadow Gates: North America pt.1

2009-05-18T23:16:00.003-05:00

Let us begin looking at the overall picture on Shadow Gates Earth by starting with the area I'm most comfortable with; namely North America.

Overview: Little remains of the ancient cites of Man. First came the orbital bombardment of the Joachites, who took savage pleasure in literally stoning the traditional capitol of the Empire with asteroids plucked from solar orbit. They sought to slay the 'whore Babylon' and nearly succeeded. The valiant ships of Battlefleet Hortius finally drove the Joachites away from sacred Terra, but incredible damage was done. It was a short time later that the inconstant stars began their change that lead to the Fall of Man, indeed today many conflate the two events, and look askance on those 'Angels' from orbit. Some blame all those from the black and others hold that the fleets should have done more. The way the 'spacer dogs' have held back from assisting the 'earthworms' after the cataclysim hasn't helped. An objective observer would note that the Cataclysm has been bad enough for the orbital communities, indeed worse in some ways (there's no self generating atmo in space) but few have the perspective to be charitble.

The sea levels have risen, not surprising given the rising of so many new island contenents thought lost forever. Coastal areas suffered greatly from tsunamis, hurricanes, typhons, earthquakes, and other, more terrible things. The area once called California has split off from the mainland making an enlongated island called Kali, both as a corruption of the ancient name and in fear of the thing that lives there. On the eastern seaboard rises an evil megalithic city, the center of Xothian prescence on the Continent, a terrible tributary to the mistress of Atlantis.

Between the coasts two powers contend. The Confederated States of America (neither a confederation, nor composed of states, nor particularly American) is centered on the Mississippi river valley, while the Cheyenne Kommand is ruled from the great Command Vault One of Colorado. Both feudal kingdoms vie for influence in the Lone Star Republic. Everyone fears raiders from the Horselords of the NeoSioux. The Saints of New Deseret rule a desert theocracy from the Great Salt Lake, and the Free City of Lost Vegas is a hive of scum and villany with few peers. And in the verdant rainforrests of the Pacific North West lies the shining Kingdom of Mountain Vale, a place of magics and mystery, dedicated to the Elder Gods of Man. Two stable gates link this tolerant community to the Kingdom of New Avalon in distant Britannia and to a fantastic world of Elves, Dwarves, Yrrch, and even stranger things.

To the South lie the bloody pyramid kingdoms of the Aztekia, dedicated to the Flayed One. Travel is ill advised if one values his skin. To the North lie the frozen lands, colds things claim this land as theirs, resisted only by the Mounted Ones.

...more to come.

On Gay Marriage

2009-05-18T11:48:00.000-05:00

I like to think of this debate as a party of adventurers in a Gygaxian dungeon trying to decide if they're going to steal a gem the size of a man's head off the pedestal in the center of the room. The room has been searched for traps, but the older, wiser, players maintain that 'something bad will happen if we do this'. The younger, more rash players say 'like what?' The older players don't know, they just know with moral certainty that this is a bad idea.

Having played a Gygaxian dungeon or two, I too, have a bad feeling about this.

Military SF

2009-05-17T13:29:00.003-05:00

The title will take you to an excellent high-speed, low-drag resource for roleplayers, wargamers, and writers interested in MIL-SF, the military science fiction sub-genre. I haven't read all the articles, but on first impression it all looks squared away and ship-shape over there.

Happy Armed Forces Day!

2009-05-16T13:15:00.003-05:00

Hooah Army! (And the rest of the branches too)

Go ahead and celebrate by drinking a beer for the troopers far far away. If you can find a sailor, airman, marine, or soldier and/or veteran be sure to say thanks. Otherwise just give a small prayer in thankful remembrance.

God bless the USA and those that fight for her.

Oh look, more manly firearms

2009-05-16T11:10:00.002-05:00

And Crazy Einar even put the .455 Webly on the list, huzzah!

Also, check out that .600 OVERKILL. I want.

It's a trap!

2009-05-16T08:51:00.001-05:00

Blogger Iron-Mitten has an interesting bit on the Roman defenses at Alesia.

Funny cartoons on the other side of the in title link.

Protein Wisdom: More holes in Global Warming

2009-05-15T08:52:00.002-05:00

And in other news, the ice caps aren't melting (total ice above 30 year mean) and solar output is at the lowest level since the 1600s. Link in title.

The World of Shadow Gates: After the Fall, Before Peace

2009-05-15T01:37:00.004-05:00

Ecumenopolis Columbia

The City was the heart of the ancient empire. From the great and vast Ecumenopolis Columbia, a city so massive that it once covered the entire eastern seaboard of the North American continent, the Empire was managed for ten generations. Even after the splitting of the Empire of Man into East and West, the World City remained the economic and cultural center of a sizable fraction of the human species.

Now the shimmering city is but a memory. The great shining towers have fallen. The rising tides have washed away much. Entire Sub-Cities ,like the ancient and artful New York, have sunk beneath the waves. Much has been lost to the tides, and the rest is occupied by an alien force. Raiding from risen Atlantis, servants of Kassogtha, Lord Cthulhu of Mu's consort demon goddess, the vile Yugya, the monstrous Xothians, and the blasphemous Barracuda Fish-men squat upon the ruins like vultures picking the bones of Man's hubris. Under the watchful eyes of her mother, the Daughter of the Lord of R'lyeh builds her new great basalt stone megalithic city upon the bones of the old.

Tread lightly Son of Adam, these haunted lands may be your doom.

Wooly Haired Speculation

2009-05-13T19:47:00.001-05:00

We always believe ourselves to be good, and doing the right thing can mean doing the unspeakable to achieve that right thing. Even if the ‘right’ thing isn’t, and we really know it isn’t. As long as we can convince ourselves it is then we feel good, and we all want to feel good. So we lie to ourselves, and let others lie to us. It is easier that way. We remember those who refuse to let others define their good as heroes and villains, but we remember them.

Only when the good we are fighting to achieve is actually good, can we be righteous, but how to know? No one said life would be easy. You can’t know, that’s the kicker, because there is no impartial observer, because there is no absolute standard in a constantly changing world (and it is), you have to do your best, and hope for the best. The vikings knew this as the ultimate doom that befalls even the gods, and found glory in doing anyway. The existentialists know this as the ultimate farce mocking our meaningless existence, and find an excuse to do nothing. I know which I prefer, where's my axe?

Old Journal Entries Recycled #1

2009-05-13T19:36:00.001-05:00

Many thanks to akin for spreading this meme. If you ever wanted to know the manliest firearms, refer to this list. I own 3. Hmmm, I need more guns.

Actually I would quibble a bit with #5, for that position, and that weapon type, I would say that either the Single Action Army or .455 Webley were used by more warriors in war, and thus are more manly. The Webley even had a bayonet attachment during WWI!

However this is a mere quibble on my part, and not to be taken as a disagreement with the list overall. It has the Doc_Savage Stamp of Approval.

What the hell, after following links and doing the fact finding for you, my readers, the website to which you will travel to view the above list, Arthur's Viking Hall is also Approved by Doc_Savage.

Yar!

I'm Doc_Savage, and I approved this message.

New Ranger Rifle goes to war

2009-05-13T18:06:00.003-05:00

75th Rangers will take SCAR to war

By Matthew Cox - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday May 12, 2009 11:01:33 EDT

About 600 members of the 75th Ranger Regiment will soon take the Special Operations Combat Assault Rifle into battle.

The 600 SCARs are the first of 1,800 that U.S. Special Operations Command began fielding in early April, SOCom spokeswoman Air Force Maj. Denise Boyd told Army Times.

SOCom chose the SCAR system — which consists of the 5.56mm MK16 and the 7.62mm MK17 — to replace weapons including the 5.56mm M4A1 carbine, made by Colt Defense LLC.

Having had to repair M4s and M4A1s that literally shot themselves to pieces I can only say this is a good thing. The direct gas impingment system of the M16 family was never intended for short barrels, and the increase in operating temperature and pressure plays merry hob on the upper reciever and bolt and bolt carrier group. In sustained fire they just eat themselves up. It is too bad that there doesn't seem to be any US designs on par with either FN or H&K.

Campain Notes pt. I

2009-05-12T21:01:00.007-05:00

Working on a new Basic Role-playing Campaign. Take Rifts, Fallout, Twilight, Cyberpunk, Oswald Spengler, and Call of Cthulhu and put them in a blender. The objective is twofold, firstly create a campaign setting that makes use of the entire BRP book. Second, create a replacement for that Rifts itch that must be scratched at odd intervals until the incoherence of Simbieda's system puts me into screaming fits.

Here's a glimpse of the future.

2061-2080 Year of the Old God.
459-440 Before the Fall
The Final World War and the foundation of the Ecumenical Empire; Russia, China, and the Caliphate, each in turn, defeated and absorbed into the North American Free Trade Alliance. General of the Army Jessica Clinton Windsor Yamato in one person unites the Presidencies of the North American Republic and European Union, the Thrones of Great Britain and Japan, and Supreme Commander NATO.

After defeating her only competitor in bloody civil war, she declares herself AUGUSTINA I; President for life, Lord General of the Armies, Marshall of the Righteous, Grand Admiral of Seas and Stars, Defender of the Faith, Hammer of the Moors, by Grace of God Queen of Britain, France, Ireland, and Japan, EMPRESS of the Ecumenical Empire (World-State).

2080-2309
Golden Age of Technology
-Polyhedral Electro-Magnetic Inertial Confinement by Potential Well Fusion (Polywell)
-Highly advanced materials (exotic composites)
-Grand Unified Theory under the Burkhard Heim framework (Heim Theory)

Anti Grav
Faster than Light travel (pseudo velocity through gravitic space warp)

-Effective Nanotechnology
-Genetic Engineering
-Neural-Machine interface
-Extremely High Energy density storage (Ultracaps)
-Broadcast power
-Solar System and High Orbit settled and developed
-Extra-Solar colonies founded.

2322-2519
The Decline
-Capitol Moved to Iskander IV in the more vibrant Galactic East, renamed Mundopolis Konstantin by Mad Emperor Konstantinian VI
-Seemingly endless Civil Wars and Alien Invasions of Imperial territory.
-Terra, the Solar System, and the Galactic West, now a drain on Imperial resources, is left to fend for itself as a separate Western Empire.
- Joachite Rebellion. Vast fleets fight and die between the stars and entire worlds die in nuclear fire. Even remote Terra itself is wounded in the fight. In the end the Joachites are put down, but the Imperium is mortally wounded. Terra and the Sol System loose all contact with the wider Empire.

2520
THE FALL
‘The stars come right again’ and the Milky Way Galaxy once again is a place of Eldritch Energies. Things that lay dormant or imprisoned are released and energized by the cosmic realignment. On Earth the Gates, long shut or dormant open at long last and the ancient ones walk again upon the land. The seas boil, lands rise and sink beneath waves. Humanity is reduced to a tenth of a tenth, and is now and endangered species.

2625
105 After the Fall
NOW
Man struggles to rebuild amongst the ruins and in the shadow of terrible powers. Hope springs eternal for new heroes to arise and retake the cradle of man.