Topics

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RPGs / Trinity (a.k.a. AEon Trinity, a.k.a. "rhymes with crayon")

« on: March 11, 2012, 01:10:27 AM »

I've been a fan of White Wolf for almost exactly a decade now, ever since I picked up a copy of Exalted back in 2002. I proceeded on to World of Darkness, then Aberrant, New World of Darkness, and Adventure!. One book I was never able to secure a copy of was the originator of the Trinity trilogy, "Trinity". However, after searching for quite a while, I finally came across the core book at an Antique mall, of all places.

I've given it a skim, and I'm currently loving it. I kinda wanna hear from some other folks about it, though. I had an interesting conversation with a good gentleman on reddit (and that conversation is here, for anyone interested), but I'd also like to get some other perspective. I'd especially be curious to see what Ross has to say, as I do so love hearing his opinions on games (and frequently have similar tastes).

Now, other than Shadowrun and, to a lesser extent, Star Wars, I don't have much experience playing sci-fi games (and yes, Star Wars is arguably fantasy, hence why I say to a lesser extent). So I don't know how Trinity stacks up to other sci-fi settings. I'm sure it's not as hearty or realistic, or "hard sci" as Eclipse Phase and the like, but I'd still like to hear from fans of the genre. If I recall correctly, Tom rather liked the sci-fi Cthulhu game.

Anyhoo .. discuss ..?!

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Out of Character / A Curiosity

« on: May 26, 2011, 04:45:14 PM »

So.. did this game die before it started? Or are you still setting stuff up? Just making sure I didn't miss anything.

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Character Profiles / Character Profile: Jared Madison

« on: April 23, 2011, 04:26:14 PM »

Jared Madison was born to two loving, pleasant parents in Portland, OR. They were kind, pillar-of-society type folk; his father a studious businessman, his mother a homemaker. Both were from a religious background, though neither were zealots about their faith. They cared for and loved Jared, and cherished every moment they had with him.

That is, every moment before about a week after his fourteenth birthday, when Jared informed his mom and dad that he was gay. Things went downhill fast after that in the Madison household. His mother was worried she'd never see grandchildren, and his father was ashamed, and couldn't bear to look at him anymore. One night during dinner, when Jared was 17, his father was fed up and slapped him for speaking out of turn. That was when his father realized how good it felt to vent his frustrations, and sadly, that was when the nightly beatings began. His mother, as many tend to do in times such as these, simply looked the other way.

Things persisted that way for a while. Jared's school life started out great; when he arrived in high school, he had friends, high grades, and a world of oppurtunities. But when his home life crumbled around him, he struggled with his social and educational life. His best friend was Charles Montgomery, a student the same age as he. Charles was straight, and couldn't care less that Jared was gay. Jared, for his part, dated a few men behind his parents' and friends' backs (except for Charles, to whom Jared told everything). Jared even at one point dated a girl, named Abbigail, to try to appease his parents. This didn't last long, though, and she caught him in bed with another man, thus ending the relationship on quite a bad note.

After high school, Jared's parents wouldn't allow him to leave the house, too ashamed to let him into the world, as they said. He stuck around, working sub-par part time jobs for a while, squirelling away money whenever he could. The beatings continued nightly, and finally, on his 20th birthday, he left.

Charles had moved to Corvallis to attend OSU a couple of years prior, and Jared stayed with him in a house off campus. He got a job at Taco Bell to help pay the bills. After a month or two, Jared decided to do something meaningful and start attending college himself. He received sufficient student loans and financial aid grants to quit his job and become a full time student, studying Psychology, hoping one day to become a counselor.

When Jared moved to Corvallis, he decided to tuck away his sexuality, and never let people know the real him. Even amongst friends of the LGBT community, Jared poses as a straight man, for fear of ostricisation and ridicule, or worse. He even recognizes the irrationality behind hiding his true self from his homosexual friends, but he still can't bring himself to be "out". Charles is the only person who knows that he is gay. He even has a girlfriend.

Jared met Danita Mauve during his first year at OSU. She is a year younger than he, and also studying Psychology. Funny, fun, intelligent, and friendly, Jared and she hit it off immediately. The two of them, along with Charles, spent all of their time together, and eventually Jared realized that Danita was into him. He decided to move their friendship into a courtship, and eventually to an exclusive relationship. He cares for Danita, and loves her dearly as family, but not romantically. Danita, for her part, does love Jared romantically, and has no idea whatsoever that he is a homosexual. They've slept together one time, at which point Danita mentioned she wasn't ready, which suits Jared just fine. He gets to hang out with one of his best friends all the time, and occasionally he has to make out with her. It keeps Danita happy, and it keeps up his appearance of being a "red-blooded, straight American man".

One week, in 1991, Danita invited Jared to come out to Bourne and meet her family. (Dun dun duuuun).

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RPGs / Monsters and Other Childish Things

« on: March 05, 2011, 01:06:53 AM »

I started listening to RPPR a few weeks ago, and when I heard Ross mention Monsters and Other Childish Things, it sounded interesting, but something I would pick up at a later date.

Then he kept mentioning it, and mentioning it, and over and over again I would hear about this game and become more and more interested. Finally, I believe I was listening to the .. Gencon 2009 wrap-up maybe? And I decided I had to buy the game -this minute-. That was Tuesday, while I was working (yay security jobs, and yay Amazon application for my Android), and it just arrived today.

I have to say, this game is everything I was hoping for and more. The layout is fantastic, the content is superb, and the author is hilarious, witty, and quite intelligent. I can see why Ross holds such a torch for this game, and I think that I may be soon following in that regard.

The main reasoning for this post is mostly just to say, if there's anybody out there in the intarwebs who's been thinking about buying Monsters, or maybe they're not quite sure if it's up their alley, I -highly- recommend it. If you like modern fantasy/horror, I think this game will happily surprise you with how intelligent it is.

Also, ahem, this is my first post. Big fan, rock on Ross and Tom (and Cody, and other such people)!