UnderDiscussion

I’ve survived the horror that is Black Friday again this year. To celebrate I’m giving you twice the quotes for the same low price!

• I’d contacted the Vatican in reference to your possible canonization. They reminded me that you ain’t dead yet … but it’s the thought that counts, right?
• fuck this station. I’m going to weld people into lockers until I get kicked out.

A long time ago, I was taught all the ins and outs of being a good DM/GM by an older player, who gave me plenty of guidelines to work by. One of my favorite of his guidelines was this: unless a player gives you reason to believe he is going to act like an asshole, it’s safe to assume that a player isn’t going to act like an asshole. If you’re afraid that he’s going to hog all the face-time, let him know. He’ll probably make an effort to be an equal part of the story, rather than a greater part. Unless he has a history of douchebaggery, there’s no particular reason to watch what he does. If he starts being a douchebag about it, you can fix it mid-campaign and solve the problem.

• It isn’t realism, it’s verisimilitude; the appearance of truth within the framework of the game.
• “You are going off the reservation with this… are you sure you want to?”

At this point we follow an ancient elven warrior proverb, it sounds better in elvish I swear.
“Run away, come back, and burn the place down.”

• “What the fuck? They destroyed our homeworld in like a year, and they’re still down there somewhere like dread fucking Cthulhu, what more evidence do you need?”
• Interesting how the unsavory behavior is considered acceptable when it’s being done, but is harmful when exposed. The leaks are not causing the harm. It’s the activities that led to the leaks that are the real problem.
• What would Hercules do? When confronted with a task beyond the ken of mortals or gods, change the rules of the game.
• Masterwork items are essentially just well-made. They are not the equivalent of a damascan-steel katana forged over the heat of a rare slow-flowing lava river over the course of 3 years by a master weaponsmith at the culmination of his career.
• But in a world of mad science and fucking unionized supervillains, you might want to take the guy who claims to have magical powers at his word.
• Best to avoid things that do nothing except spoil a players fun.
• Restating my point, if you and the DM disagree with a rules interpretation. Accept the GM’s view. You can always vote with your feet by not showing up for future games in his world. It makes your GM have less stress running a game.
• Low magic is quickly becoming a sign of a game I don’t want to play.
• Questions are the hallmark of the creative mind, and the curious cat finds the cream. “What if” and “Why not” are great questions.
• I’m not much for psionics (or monks) in D&D, but everyone who defends their presence by saying how great they were in Dark Sun is not scoring the gimmick any points with me. Dark Sun may have had some good stuff in it, but its pointlessly inflated stats and “Faster, DM, Kill, Kill!” attitude turned me off so stone cold so you might as well be trying to convince me that Rob Schneider’s a great actor because of the amazing range he displayed in “Deuce Bigelow”.
• An elegant cat toy, from a more civilized age.
• It’s such a shame that Lucas had that that tragic accident after Star Wars came out. I’m sure the sequels would have been amazing.

In Washington’s defense (during the war anyway), there’s a reason he lost so many battles – the war kind of resembled the Empire’s invasion of Hoth, only repeated dozens of times across dozens of cities. Not really his fault he was outnumbered and outgunned at every turn. Just saying.
Yeah, I wish more people remembered the British’s use of AT-AT walkers. Those guys were real a*****es for that tactic. At least Ben Franklin got to train with Yoda during his time in France after all the dust was settled or we would never be the country we are today.

• I remember sitting in on a TSR sales presentation at a trade show in the early ’90s when they announced yet another Buck Rogers game (probably “High Adventure Cliffhangers”). Some retailers audibly groaned, and Jim Ward, who was making the presentation, said “That’s right—we’ll keep making it until you start buying it.”

Have a good week, I’m going to go back to sleep.