I've been reading the Star Wars RPG. (No need to comment, haters.) It reminds me of a joke from The Munchkin's Guide to Powergaming: "Your gun is your skill list"! In any circumstances, says the guide, you can shoot your way out of your problem.
In the Star Wars RPG, The Force is your skill list, and if you're not running Jedi, then there's something terribly wrong with you. Feel free to multiclass, but makes sure that your first level is Jedi, and that you max out charisma, and spend your first feat on focusing on the Use The Force Skill. Even the basic tricks of the Use the Force skill are worth wasting your first two levels. With this basic investment, you can send a telepathic message to anyone in the same quadrant of the galaxy 25% of the time, more if you have a good charisma. (And that's just a silly example!)
The Force Powers, which you do not need to spend extra resources on, are even better. With the same basic investment that I mentioned earlier, you can Force Choke people like Darth Vader does 75% of the time, and still maneuver freely. That Force Choke can be inflicted on anyone within Line of Sight! I think you know how ridiculous that can be.
"But carsonist, you incredibly insightful person," you cry, "you only get to use your Force Powers once a battle! What happens when you run out?"
First of all, thank you, you stupid idiot, for bringing me to my next point. You will notice that your Force Powers all return to you if you roll a nat. 20 on a Use the Force check. This does not have to be any check in particular. In fact, when you roll to deflect a laser, you roll against your Use the Force skill. I assume you see where this is going. Since you can maintain your Force Choke on someone indefinitely, (even if they die) and it's fair to assume that you're being attacked, you have a 9.75% chance of regaining your Force Powers every turn, even while you're maneuvering and deflecting shots. If you're really desperate to get your powers back, you can Sense Surroundings or Surge as a swift action every turn. Although it doesn't really get you many benefits, it does increase your chances of regaining your powers to 14.2625% a turn.
Oh, and even if you don't get your powers back or twink your stats, you still have the most powerful melee weapon in the game, and have the ability to block incoming lasers. So there.
Yes, I am aware of what you think of me for writing this.
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Now playing: Radiohead - Morning Bell/Amnesiac
via FoxyTunes
Monday, December 03, 2007
Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus
When people think "Titus Andronicus", they tend to think, "why did I think that? Am I going insane?"
Much more rarely do they think of the Shakespeare play. When they do think of that play, they think of the gore. The dying, the mutilations, the rape. It is a really bloody play.
What I think of is racism. Hideous, absurd, racism. The first black character in Shakespeare's plays is Aaron, the hopelessly evil character. When he thinks of his life, he only regrets that he hasn't done as much evil as he could have. He doesn't really have a character, though, he's just bitterness and dickery. We never see any backstory or motive for Aaron, so I can only conclude that he's supposed to be evil simply because he is a "Moor".
Anyway, one of the characters calls on the name of a saint. The setting is Imperial Rome. I'm 97% sure that's an anachronism.
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Now playing: Queen - Somebody To Love (1991 Remix)
via FoxyTunes
Much more rarely do they think of the Shakespeare play. When they do think of that play, they think of the gore. The dying, the mutilations, the rape. It is a really bloody play.
What I think of is racism. Hideous, absurd, racism. The first black character in Shakespeare's plays is Aaron, the hopelessly evil character. When he thinks of his life, he only regrets that he hasn't done as much evil as he could have. He doesn't really have a character, though, he's just bitterness and dickery. We never see any backstory or motive for Aaron, so I can only conclude that he's supposed to be evil simply because he is a "Moor".
Anyway, one of the characters calls on the name of a saint. The setting is Imperial Rome. I'm 97% sure that's an anachronism.
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Now playing: Queen - Somebody To Love (1991 Remix)
via FoxyTunes
Saturday, December 01, 2007
AD&D DMG
I found the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide at a used bookstore, and I couldn't resist getting it. A Role-Playing Book from 1979 for 8 dollars? Too awesome. I've been reading it, and the humour value alone makes it worthwhile. The book has the best example of adversarial GMing I've ever seen:
"It is incumbent upon the Dungeon Master to do his utmost to convince players that a cursed scroll should be read. This is to be accomplished through duplicity, coercion and threat, etc." (121)
This is particularly funny, since a cursed scroll has a 53% chance of killing the reader, turning him into a hostile NPC, or teleporting the party to "another planet, plane or continuum" (121)
Gygax, Gary. Official Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide by Gary Gygax 1979 Random House USA
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Now playing: John Lennon - Imagine
via FoxyTunes
"It is incumbent upon the Dungeon Master to do his utmost to convince players that a cursed scroll should be read. This is to be accomplished through duplicity, coercion and threat, etc." (121)
This is particularly funny, since a cursed scroll has a 53% chance of killing the reader, turning him into a hostile NPC, or teleporting the party to "another planet, plane or continuum" (121)
Gygax, Gary. Official Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide by Gary Gygax 1979 Random House USA
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Now playing: John Lennon - Imagine
via FoxyTunes
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