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[tracker7]

Shrine of the Mall Ninja

Found this linked from William Gibson's site.  Swear to God.

The day after I get a new gun pamphlet for Spycraft.

Comments

Wow.

[he-who-hunts.livejournal.com]

Spycraft was way too crunchy for me. You have my respect man.

I'm giving the shrine a read now.

Re: Wow.

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

I do loves me some Spycraft. It's a big beast of a ruleset, but it does what it does really well.

I think it and True20/Mutants & Masterminds are the ultimate examples of the d20/OGL rules, taken in radically different directions.

Re: Wow.

[he-who-hunts.livejournal.com]

I would agree, those are some fine examples of rules carefully designed, though I tend to shy away from d20 at this juncture, I feel a bit betrayed by the suddent injection of 4th Edition only 5 years after the overhaul to 3.5. That's a lot of money towards obsolete products.

I've heard the argument "but you can still use the books," but it's hard when many will be switching to 4th, and you want to find groups to play with.

Yeah. Beef there.

Anyways, Mall Ninja was HIGH-LARIOUS! And scary. So very scary.

Re: Wow.

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

Already, the D&D players around here are splitting into the 4th Edition/3.5 Edition/Pathfinder/Something Else factions. It doesn't directly affect me, as I'm not too much on the kind of fantasy gaming D&D's geared towards, but when it comes time to round up new players, and I run up against the "D&D of my flavor, or nothing" folks, I want to scream.

I, for one, will shop more confidently, knowing that there are golf-cart-mounted hard men with stupidly-powerful firearms patrolling the grounds, waiting for someone to boost a packet of Gummi Bears from the candy store.

Re: Wow.

[he-who-hunts.livejournal.com]

Damn skippy, comrade.

And yeah, I'm willing to play anything, I only ask players attempt to be of like mind.

Re: Wow.

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

There are only a very few games I just flat won't play. Rifts and Vampire top that short list.

Now, player types to avoid, that's a whole other thing.

Re: Wow.

[tegyrius]

Hey, you played in a Vampire game once. I even like to think it didn't suck.

Fangbangers

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

It didn't, but it wasn't especially to my liking. Just a matter of taste.

Re: Wow.

[he-who-hunts.livejournal.com]

Funny how some of the first games I played were Vamp and Rifts. Never played them since! Haha!

I purchased the new WoD when I rediscovered RPG's, but just recently pitched them out (sold for a reasonable price). I liked the idea behind Mage, but the system just doesn't represent the concept very well, and is cumbersome instead of intuitive (where the system claims to be the latter).

Just goes to show how an RPG with reasonably solid core rules fractures when bulky rules additions are applied. I'm glad I have Unknown Armies...

Still, I'd give it a shot with competent GM. Over here in South Dakota, of the scant players we have, very few of them have the wherewithal to craft a campaign and run the thing with devotion (to both the setting and the game itself). A lot of people talk the talk though.

I mean business with my WFRP campaign, but d20 has broken people into the idea of a character's nigh-invincibility. Few casual gamers (read: working stiffs just looking for a night of fun) want to accept the possibility that their characters will bite it. I hope in Maine to find other obsessed, die-hard gamers like myself.

And yeah, people with any bodily odor, I don't care how nice they are. There's no pride in the stench. Get your ass in the shower. I cringe to think what grows in their dark crevices.

Also, rule-lawyers and system know-it-alls. I'm the GM. Let me handle it. You may like my ideas if you give them a whirl. I'm actually a do-it-by-the-book kind of player, but when it comes to character actions, I tend to let there be fuzzyness about what a skill does and what actions a character can take. Still, some people, I think, like quibbling over the rules more than actually playing.

Give me a cool description of your action, and I'll happily give your attack/skill roll some extra results, even if you don't meet the target number. You wanted to hamstring your target after a strike from the shadows, but you missed your attack? You catch his pants with your blade and he falls on his duff. No damage, but you have the advantage next round for putting the thought into your actions.

Hmm... sorry. I tangent quite a lot.

What player types do you prefer to avoid? I is curious.

Re: Wow.

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

I like the new World of Darkness stuff, especially the core "blue book" stuff. The most spectacular surprise has been Werewolf. I hated Apocalypse, but Forsaken has a lot of good stuff to like; Changeling likewise. The couple of Changeling books I've read have done a bang-up job of keeping the horror nice and personal.

South Dakota, you say? Does the phrase "Section O" mean anything to you?

To jump back for a moment, something I like about Spycraft is the potential for quick death - critical hits don't multiply damage; instead, the damage is applied directly to the character's Wound Point total, which is the fatal damage type. Wounds are based on the Constitution score, so when you've got handguns banging out 1d12 and assault rifles in the 4d4 and higher range, characters can buy the farm if the other guy's good and/or lucky.

I try to avoid anyone whose idea of fun in gaming is wrecking somebody else's fun. Pedantry gets my goat, too.

Re: Wow.

[xer0rules.livejournal.com]

I'm still more of a 1.0 SC than a 2.0 SC kind of guy. I like the ideas behind SC 2.0, but the organization of that book just makes my brain hurt.

I may look at it again once SFA comes out once more.

Re: Wow.

[tegyrius]

You can thank the RPGA for a lot of the design decisions made in 2.0.

Re: Wow.

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

For certain values of "thank" that include "blame," or "condemn."

Re: Wow.

[tegyrius]

That's what I like about you: your flexible value system.

Ethics

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

I am all about finding alternate solutions to the same ol' problems.

Re: Wow.

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

The (thicker black-and-white) second printing fixed a lot of the layout and organization problems. I'm still unwilling to drop the money on a hardcopy, though.

By the by, are you and the missus still coming to GenCon?

Re: Wow.

[xer0rules.livejournal.com]

Not in the cards this year, I think. I might have the money to make it solo, but that'd be money better served being saved for trans-Atlantic trips. We'll have to see though, I might have a windfall appear somewhere.

She flies home for what is looking more like the last time tomorrow evening, so I don't know when she'll be back over. But when she is, it'll be for good.

Re: Wow.

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

Rats. Was hoping to have a drink with you.

Good luck on getting everything worked out.

Re: Wow.

[xer0rules.livejournal.com]

Well, let's wait and see, I might still be there. Car rentals aren't cheap, but if I can get one of my game group to go, it might be doable.

Thanks for the luck, we'll take whatever we can get. But like I said, it *should* be smooth sailing from here on in. Just need to be patient.

[atolnon.livejournal.com]

I <3 Mall Ninja.

You know, something in me wants ridiculous stories like this to be true.

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

The world's more interesting if there's goofy stuff like this going on, isn't it?

[q99.livejournal.com]

I remember that site! Thanks for reminding me of it, great stuff.

[tracker7.livejournal.com]

That was some crazy right there. So funny.