31
General Chaos / Re: Steam Summer Sale/Trading Cards
« on: July 20, 2013, 07:42:50 PM »
I've got a spare Bioshock Infinite card I'm willing to dump. Fuck that game.
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32
RPGs / Re: Horror: How Far is Too Far?
« on: July 15, 2013, 07:24:57 PM »
That's really up to the individual gamers in a group, geekyogrt, and it's easier to come up with a list of what's not cool. For example, a game I run for my group has a hard 'No violence against children' rule and it's because I don't wanna see that shit. Even with that in mind, I'd never tell someone that scenarios shouldn't be written if they include things that I may find distasteful or distressing. Writers simply need to remember that some players will reject scenarios out of hand if they do include those sort of things.
That's not something an author should feel a need to necessarily apologize for but it's the reality of the marketplace. I know some of Cormac McCarthy's material features children in horrible, violent situations so I won't be buying his books but I don't need an apology from him. It also doesn't necessarily mean that I automatically judge stories that include such distasteful things to be bad or poorly written. There are parts of the video game The Last Of Us that include violence against children but I thought it had a well-written narrative. It made me overly emotional and put me off replaying it but I'm still glad I experienced the story.
That's not something an author should feel a need to necessarily apologize for but it's the reality of the marketplace. I know some of Cormac McCarthy's material features children in horrible, violent situations so I won't be buying his books but I don't need an apology from him. It also doesn't necessarily mean that I automatically judge stories that include such distasteful things to be bad or poorly written. There are parts of the video game The Last Of Us that include violence against children but I thought it had a well-written narrative. It made me overly emotional and put me off replaying it but I'm still glad I experienced the story.
33
General Chaos / Re: What Vidja games are you playing?
« on: July 10, 2013, 06:04:43 PM »
Speaking of emotionally destroying, The Last Of Us. Oof, what a terrific story. I needed a box of tissues at hand through a lot of it.
34
RPGs / Re: Horror: How Far is Too Far?
« on: July 10, 2013, 09:06:18 AM »
I'm not sure there are limits when it comes to horror because it's going beyond the bounds of safety, whether that be psychological, emotional or physical, that makes horror scary. That's my personal belief but RPGs have to cater to the lowest common denominator in the groups that are playing them. If I declare 'I've got no limits, free reign, baby, gimmie your best shot!' and another player says 'I don't like anything over PG-13' then we're playing something PG-13 or we're not playing. That isn't a bad thing, it's just part of the social contract that we have with other gamers when we congregate in our filthy nerd-hovels; No one is there to feel uncomfortable. Whether it's sexual content, horrific violence or torture, or even just PVP, it's gotta be respected to have fun.
There is one thing I would like to point out specifically concerning Lover In The Ice. You say this:
This is all well and good but you have to consider what the players are hearing about the Amante before they see it in action. Statues or renderings of some thing that's always described as having a 'giant phallus'. The seeder organ is referred to multiple times (both in the modern scenario and the prequel) as either an actual penis, something akin to a penis, or at least penis-shaped. It has an alien biology, sure, but can you really blame players for only picturing a dick getting rammed down a throat when the thing or one of the infected finally does catch someone?
This is different to Alien in that no one ever references the Facehuggers or their anatomical parts with language that has any sexual connotations. The film certainly does evoke forceful oral rape but it's never described by the characters that way. It's scary because that's where the audiences own imagination goes without having to be explicitly told 'This thing is gonna rape your face'.
I'm not saying that this is necessarily bad at all, I find the scenario to be really cool, but there's a lot of sexual imagery and description used that violates the 'Show, don't tell' rule. I think that's an important thing to keep in mind if you want to continue to write scenarios that touch upon sexual horror while still being largely accessible to a wide audience, even an R-rated one.
There is one thing I would like to point out specifically concerning Lover In The Ice. You say this:
Despite the urges used to drive them towards new victims, Seeders are NOT trying to rape anyone; they are trying to murder them, though I will admit that the primal fear of violation is something I was trying consciously to tap into. The Amante is NOT doing anything that could be called sex; the fact that's it has an animal definition of its action that doesn't intersect with the human perception is where the scary comes from. I mean, I was consciously going for an Alien vibe, but the scariness is what people remember about that brilliant film, whereas I worry I'm falling short and just landing in "pervy." Obviously, this wasn't my intention, and it's something I'd like to prevent in the future whether its due to the subject matter or just my inability to pull it off.
This is all well and good but you have to consider what the players are hearing about the Amante before they see it in action. Statues or renderings of some thing that's always described as having a 'giant phallus'. The seeder organ is referred to multiple times (both in the modern scenario and the prequel) as either an actual penis, something akin to a penis, or at least penis-shaped. It has an alien biology, sure, but can you really blame players for only picturing a dick getting rammed down a throat when the thing or one of the infected finally does catch someone?
This is different to Alien in that no one ever references the Facehuggers or their anatomical parts with language that has any sexual connotations. The film certainly does evoke forceful oral rape but it's never described by the characters that way. It's scary because that's where the audiences own imagination goes without having to be explicitly told 'This thing is gonna rape your face'.
I'm not saying that this is necessarily bad at all, I find the scenario to be really cool, but there's a lot of sexual imagery and description used that violates the 'Show, don't tell' rule. I think that's an important thing to keep in mind if you want to continue to write scenarios that touch upon sexual horror while still being largely accessible to a wide audience, even an R-rated one.
35
Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: Upcoming RPPR One Shot games
« on: June 08, 2013, 05:20:40 PM »
It sounds like the predecessor of the Hotline Miami game, can't wait!
36
General Chaos / Re: Best Internet Vidyas
« on: June 08, 2013, 12:38:14 PM »
Continuing the Russian theme. A 5 minute music video that's better than the last Bond movie.
37
RPGs / Re: Real life player characters
« on: June 06, 2013, 09:36:55 AM »
If you find yourself playing a politically oriented game, you could do a lot worse than this. I present Saint Olga of Kiev. How'd she become a saint? By spreading Christianity through 10th century Eastern Europe. What was doing before that? Well...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_of_Kiev
Princess Olga was the wife of Igor of Kiev, who was killed by the Drevlians. Upon her husband's death, their son, Svyatoslav, was three years old, making Olga the official ruler of Kievan Rus until he reached adulthood. The Drevlians wanted Olga to marry their Prince Mal, making him the ruler of Kievan Rus, but Olga was determined to remain in power and preserve it for her son.
The Drevlians sent twenty of their best men to persuade Olga to marry their Prince Mal and give up her rule of Kievan Rus. She had them buried alive. Then she sent word to Prince Mal that she accepted the proposal, but required their most distinguished men to accompany her on the journey in order for her people to accept the offer of marriage. The Drevlians sent their best men who governed their land. Upon their arrival, she offered them a warm welcome and an invitation to clean up after their long journey in a bathhouse. After they entered, she locked the doors and set fire to the building, burning them alive.
With the best and wisest men out of the way, she planned to destroy the remaining Drevlians. She invited them to a funeral feast so she could mourn over her husband's grave, where her servants waited on them. After the Drevlians were drunk, Olga's soldiers killed over 5,000 of them. She returned to Kiev and prepared an army to attack the survivors. The Drevlians begged for mercy and offered to pay for their freedom with honey and furs. She asked for three pigeons and three sparrows from each house, since she did not want to burden the villagers any further after the siege. They were happy to comply with such a reasonable request.
Now Olga gave to each soldier in her army a pigeon or a sparrow, and ordered them to attach by thread to each pigeon and sparrow a piece of sulfur bound with small pieces of cloth. When night fell, Olga bade her soldiers release the pigeons and the sparrows. So the birds flew to their nests, the pigeons to the cotes, and the sparrows under the eaves. The dove-cotes, the coops, the porches, and the haymows were set on fire. There was not a house that was not consumed, and it was impossible to extinguish the flames, because all the houses caught on fire at once. The people fled from the city, and Olga ordered her soldiers to catch them. Thus she took the city and burned it, and captured the elders of the city. Some of the other captives she killed, while some she gave to others as slaves to her followers. The remnant she left to pay tribute.
Olga remained Regent ruler of Kievan Rus with the support of the army and her people. She changed the system of tribute gathering (poliudie) in the first legal reform recorded in Eastern Europe. She continued to evade proposals of marriage, defended the city during the Siege of Kiev in 968, and saved the power of the throne for her son.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olga_of_Kiev
Princess Olga was the wife of Igor of Kiev, who was killed by the Drevlians. Upon her husband's death, their son, Svyatoslav, was three years old, making Olga the official ruler of Kievan Rus until he reached adulthood. The Drevlians wanted Olga to marry their Prince Mal, making him the ruler of Kievan Rus, but Olga was determined to remain in power and preserve it for her son.
The Drevlians sent twenty of their best men to persuade Olga to marry their Prince Mal and give up her rule of Kievan Rus. She had them buried alive. Then she sent word to Prince Mal that she accepted the proposal, but required their most distinguished men to accompany her on the journey in order for her people to accept the offer of marriage. The Drevlians sent their best men who governed their land. Upon their arrival, she offered them a warm welcome and an invitation to clean up after their long journey in a bathhouse. After they entered, she locked the doors and set fire to the building, burning them alive.
With the best and wisest men out of the way, she planned to destroy the remaining Drevlians. She invited them to a funeral feast so she could mourn over her husband's grave, where her servants waited on them. After the Drevlians were drunk, Olga's soldiers killed over 5,000 of them. She returned to Kiev and prepared an army to attack the survivors. The Drevlians begged for mercy and offered to pay for their freedom with honey and furs. She asked for three pigeons and three sparrows from each house, since she did not want to burden the villagers any further after the siege. They were happy to comply with such a reasonable request.
Now Olga gave to each soldier in her army a pigeon or a sparrow, and ordered them to attach by thread to each pigeon and sparrow a piece of sulfur bound with small pieces of cloth. When night fell, Olga bade her soldiers release the pigeons and the sparrows. So the birds flew to their nests, the pigeons to the cotes, and the sparrows under the eaves. The dove-cotes, the coops, the porches, and the haymows were set on fire. There was not a house that was not consumed, and it was impossible to extinguish the flames, because all the houses caught on fire at once. The people fled from the city, and Olga ordered her soldiers to catch them. Thus she took the city and burned it, and captured the elders of the city. Some of the other captives she killed, while some she gave to others as slaves to her followers. The remnant she left to pay tribute.
Olga remained Regent ruler of Kievan Rus with the support of the army and her people. She changed the system of tribute gathering (poliudie) in the first legal reform recorded in Eastern Europe. She continued to evade proposals of marriage, defended the city during the Siege of Kiev in 968, and saved the power of the throne for her son.
38
RPGs / Re: Eclipse Phase
« on: May 19, 2013, 01:52:39 AM »
That's an idea for a PC with Edited Memories. Many the things you did as a child were actually fake memories implanted to guilt you into behaving well by your parents. That time you almost got hit by a hover truck because you didn't look both ways? NOT REAL.
39
Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: Caleb is a mad genius (or Yet Another Fan Club Thread)
« on: May 18, 2013, 07:05:47 PM »
4 days left and only about $1500 to go!
40
Role Playing Public Radio Podcast / Re: Caleb is a mad genius (or Yet Another Fan Club Thread)
« on: May 16, 2013, 04:11:11 PM »
A week to pledge $10,000? I hope we hit it!
41
RPGs / Re: Anecdote Megathread
« on: May 05, 2013, 06:26:48 AM »
Ugh. I feel like I've failed.
My group has been playing a campaign that is best described as 13th Century Mob Drama for something like 6 years now with a semi-rotating cast of downright vicious PCs. Murderers, thieves, con-men, sociopaths, just horrible people with little hope of being redeemed. They've killed women and children, stolen the life savings of people who did them no harm, even performed political assassinations. We've all been looking forward to see how they each get their due but it's shaping up that my character is maybe one more session away from possibly going legit. He's going to frame an innocent man to accomplish it and has managed to connive his way into the pockets of influential politicians to assist him with this hideous plan.
I was really looking forward to my PC dying in the gutter.
My group has been playing a campaign that is best described as 13th Century Mob Drama for something like 6 years now with a semi-rotating cast of downright vicious PCs. Murderers, thieves, con-men, sociopaths, just horrible people with little hope of being redeemed. They've killed women and children, stolen the life savings of people who did them no harm, even performed political assassinations. We've all been looking forward to see how they each get their due but it's shaping up that my character is maybe one more session away from possibly going legit. He's going to frame an innocent man to accomplish it and has managed to connive his way into the pockets of influential politicians to assist him with this hideous plan.
I was really looking forward to my PC dying in the gutter.
42
General Chaos / Re: Kickstarting for a kickstarter
« on: April 28, 2013, 03:40:16 AM »
I'd be interested in knowing how many of the people involved in the Transhuman Kickstarter are pledging ( or increased their pledges when the $30K goal was announced) because of RPPR. That'd be some good market data.
43
RPGs / Re: Eclipse Phase
« on: April 25, 2013, 01:38:04 AM »
Cool! $250 chipped in, here's hoping the $30K goal is hit and you and Caleb get a bonus.
44
RPGs / Re: Eclipse Phase
« on: April 25, 2013, 12:08:11 AM »AFAIK The only major change has been the core book. If you're really curious, look at the errata for Sunward et all to see what mistakes they've made.
The core book is what I meant! Sorry, I should've been more clear about that.
I know there were significant changes (initiative and the d100 system among others) just from listening to the APs so my concern is getting 4 copies of the core book to pass around to my group and then getting another big mechanics change errata'd in.After thinking about it some more this afternoon, I'm gonna do it anyways because the best way to convince my group to play a game is to put a book in their hands and let them absorb the material through osmosis.
45
RPGs / Re: Eclipse Phase
« on: April 24, 2013, 06:36:57 PM »
I'm tempted to go the Hyperelite route but I'm a little worried about buying dead-tree versions that might get outdated. Has their been any major errata changes lately or has it sort of settled?