Messages

1

RPGs / Re: "Real" D&D Alignments

« on: September 30, 2013, 02:14:53 AM »

Alignment is a hold-over from when non-humans were your multiclass characters. They remain so that those damnable, plot-breaking divination spells have a logical framework. They can also serve as a guide for those new to the table but soon get thrown out by most.

Vivax is right. Philosophical ideals *spit* can't be brought off the page without breaking down. The government in A Brave New World was hedonistic even in the colloquial sense that the term is used in the article but hardly Chaotic. Hell, go back to the ultimate canon of Tolkien - The Shire was Righteous, Humane, Transcendent and Sybaritic while Gondor was Ambitious, Ascendant and Orthodox. Minas Tirith "You will never find a more retched hive of scum and villainy".

2

RPGs / Re: Real life player characters

« on: September 28, 2013, 03:23:52 AM »

Izzy and Moe walked the streets of NYC during the prohibition busting Gin Houses. It's not hard to imagine them walking the back alleys of Red Hook.

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/Biography-Izzy-Einstein-and-Moe-Smith.html#.UkaCMdJ6b6E

Izzy Einstein's success was based on his skill in disguising himself. His ability to speak German, Polish, Hungarian, Bohemian, Yiddish and some Italian and Russian helped him deceive his victims. The human chameleon disguised himself as a German pickle packer, a Polish count, a Hungarian violinist, a Jewish gravedigger, a French maitre d', an Italian fruit vendor, a Russian fisherman and a Chinese launderer. His disguises included a streetcar conductor, an ice deliverer, an opera singer, a truck driver, a judge, a traveling cigar salesman, a street cleaner, a Texas cattleman, a movie extra, a football player, a beauty contest judge, a grocer, a lawyer, a librarian, a rabbi, a college student, a musician, a plumber and a delegate from Kentucky to the Democratic National convention. "In Coney Island, he entered a drinking joint in a wet bathing suit, shivering and gasping for aid. Wearing an attendant's white jacket, he shut another saloon near a hospital."2 He even disguised himself as an African-American man in Harlem.

"Izzy once tossed his agent's badge on the bar of a Bowery saloon and — this fat, unkempt individual — asked for a pint of whisky for ‘a deserving prohibition agent.' The bartender sold it to him, thinking him a great wit."3

Izzy and Moe Smith made 4,932 arrests of bartenders, bootleggers and speakeasy owners with an amazing 95 percent conviction rate. On a particularly busy day, they raided 48 speakeasies. Izzy referred to his successful operations as the "Einstein Theory of Rum Snooping."4 Einstein never carried a gun, although Moe sometimes did, and was shot at only once; fortunately, the gun jammed and he escaped harm. With arrests he typically announced "There's sad news here. You're under arrest."5

3

Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: I would like to lodge a complaint.

« on: September 25, 2013, 01:37:42 PM »

I've finished off the listing on iTunes and I'm currently working through the backlog from the website. As for the Actual Plays, I've listened to some but I'm more interested in theory than practice. It's a great product by the way, I don't know if I made that clear last night.

And thanks to everyone for your lists, I'll start working my way through those as well. I have quite a bit of time on my hands at work and home so I appreciate it.

4

Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / I would like to lodge a complaint.

« on: September 25, 2013, 12:46:45 AM »

I am broken.

Prior to discovering RPPR, I muddled through poor production. Cranking the volume to hear the nasally delivered ruminations of thirteen year old nerds that count the boobs in the latest Sci-Fi/Fantasy movie or the general, almost half-heartedly maintained, hubris of older gamers waxing philosophical on how they like or dis-like some setting or mechanic without discussing the actual reasoning behind their opinions. As if the fact that they colored in the numbers on their first set of dice imbues them with some absolute authority that need not be questioned but simply accepted. I too used that black crayon on a set of orange-ish dice while lying in plush, shag carpet under the watchful eyes of Farrah Fawcett. Doesn't that gift me with absolute authority? My wife says "no" and she won't get drunk enough to agree with me until the holidays so we'll just leave that on the table for latter consideration.

And now? Their icons lie at the bottom of my phone's screen, forgotten and their episode counts crawling towards that day when my phone notices I have so many un-played episodes that it decides it shouldn't download anymore.

I am broken. I demand to be compensated!

Either produce more content or point me in the direction of another group of fellows with similar tastes, critical thinking skills and production values. If you cannot or will not do so, please bring me your manager.