I think the tipping point (towards utopia / dystopia) will be much quicker with AI than say the cotton gin, just because the rate of technological change is so much faster now. So assuming it’s positive it won’t be 200 years. But still devastating to go through.
I have it! But haven’t read it yet. I will now move it to the top of my precarious to read pile :-)
Fair.
That is fair. But if you're going to spoil your ballot or not vote at all, may I suggest you let your Labour MP know that? A null vote isn't as bad for electoral maths as you voting for someone else, but it's still something they need to consider.
The rules system isn't anything particularly memorable, but it's a really good sourcebook for running a modern street level organised crime game - especially something like the Sopranos - there's a load of really interesting background material in there.
(I am now considering a game called Whitby Bay, which takes the Dracula Dossier by @kennethhite.bsky.social and mixes it with Brindlewood Bay by @gauntletrpg.bsky.social ... That couldn't possibly work ... or could it?)
And so much of it can be wasted. And that goes doubly so for investigation games. So why not go the other way entirely? (This also explains my love for Blades in the Dark - just like writers, GMs are pantsers or planners, and I'm definitely a pantser.) Currently looking at this as my next game. 2/2
Brindlewood Bay RPG - cosy horror and murder she wrote
18. Brindlewood Bay - massively divisive as to its core mechanic - the GM doesn't know the solution to the mystery that you're presented with, and you all play to find out. Lots of people hate it but I love the concept - I hate the amount of prep I have to do as a GM anyhow ... 1/2
Add in a choose your own adventure scenario, a deep knowledge of the Elizabethan underworld, a very progressive view on women, a starting adventure, and an extensive herbalist section (because that was largely going to be your healing source) and you've got a very good, compact, RPG. 3/3
when most other RPGs were fantasy with the occasional sci-fi or horror game. A full rule set, and a magic system that was impressively different to D+D and which can be seen as the precursor to Mage and Unknown Armies in some ways. 2/3
the cover of Alexander Scott's Maelstrom - a paperback sized RPG from 1984.
17. A very old favourite and one that @jameswallis.bsky.social likes (in fact, this is the current episode of www.ludonarrativedissidents.com/season-3-epi...). Maelstrom was a paperback published by Penguin books in the UK - so mass market. It's a game about roleplaying in Elizabethan times 1/3
Missed a chance for a “As any fule kno.” :-p
Yeah. A friend who’s working in academia needs a word for a concept. Grok is a perfect fit. But he’s rightfully loathe to use it now because of the other, newer associations.
Ahh - whereas I can tell you exactly where in Earthsea that quote comes and why it’s very pretentious (it fits the character speaking perfectly, but it’s a weird choice for a snippet.)
Dunno. Ultimately they’re both about can you make your connection at minimal risk to life. :-)
One of the first comments I read after taking the test (60/40 Ai/Human) pointed out that they were all old quote and modern tastes and styles weren’t represented. (The only one I cared about was the LeGuin quote. If I’d preferred the other I’d have hated myself.)
Ghost Dog RPG cover
16. Ghost Dog - based on the Forest Whittaker film about an assassin who is far too good for his Mafia bosses. He lives his life by Bushido, quotes the Art of War. They're kinda slapstick living on past glories. Never played it but the focussed nature of it - modern day samurai - really appealed.
16? Who are you people? :)
It's all kinds of great. The WW system is great for combat games (like Werewolf (with eco angst) and Vampire (with goth angst)) - Streetfighter drops the 'woe is me' and gets down to punching.
I stole Tom Hank's introduction in 'A League of Our Own' for my character's first meeting with the team.2/2
Streetfighter the storytelling game - RPG cover
15. Streetfighter - another weird game by White Wolf. Early 90s I was living in Brighton, and Ric of the Brighton Adventurers Guild (our FLGS) ran a gaming group. It's the group I ran my first Ars Magica campaign for, and played an awesome Golden Heroes with. Ric ran Champions, and this. 1/2
For a very long time my nom du guerre in computer games and MUDs was Hydro, which was the nickname of the fixer I’d generated for that game.
Legend of the 5 Rings rpg cover
14 Legend of the 5 Rings. I never really got into the CCG but then I didn’t use published scenarios either so wasn’t bothered by the metaplot. Epic scale game of samurai, ninjas and monsters without being bothered by historical reality. Bushido without the boring bits. Chefs kiss.
When I ran a game for @thegrognardfiles.bsky.social for Grogmeetish, I ended up using these rules for a British school based game purely because I thought of the pub Grange Hell. 2/2
Buffy the Vampire slayer RPG cover.
13. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Another of my favourites. Some fantastic work using drama points to give the Scoobies influence over the game so they didn’t feel outclassed by the Slayer. And fantastic writing by CJ Carella to bring the tone of the game into the rulebook. 1/2
To achieve your aims. Which was great until you got a player who hoarded their xp and outstripped you because you were spending them to solve problems. Yes, I’m still bitter. No. No one you know. :-) Great game despite that.
12. TORG. The Other Roleplaying Game according to West End Games (Star Wars being the first). A multiverse, a Drama Deck, a set of axioms to know if your healing spell or laser gun would work in my reality and a massively flawed xp system (save your xp to progress, or spend them in game 1/2
And theres a lovely Easter Egg in one of Jonathan’s novels (which are very good, and you should read them) to this particular game, which maybe 5 of his readership would get.
Space 1889 rpg cover
11 another one to lay at the door of @jonathanlhoward.bsky.social but this one we actually got to play. I played a working class Welsh engineer who was inevitably recorded as “and a Welshman” when the tales of our derring do’s were printed in the newspapers. 1/2
Cyberpunk 2020 rulebook cover
10. Cyberpunk. Another lost game. @jonathanlhoward.bsky.social had planned out a great campaign set in Manchester but because his computer got stolen all his notes were lost and understandably he didn’t want to recreate them. So we never got his story of warring gangs in 2012 Manchester ….
turned up and ran rings around the PCs, who were all reasonably new judges. None of the players minded. Just a “yes, we expected them to be that good”. (It was very rare they got /any/ support, so they were grateful for the help, I think.
