Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2018 18:27:05 GMT -8
I'm glad you guys read my letter! Thanks again! Some clarity: yes, there was a pretty wide spread of ages at the table. Looking back, it was a pretty varied, although semi-neckbeard table. We had high school kids (including the cool skater kid who worked at the skateboard/gaming store), an accountant, a handyman, an IT guy, a bouncer... It's weird I can still generally identify most of the PCs from that ginormous table. Of course before my mom would let me go, I had to get people from there vetted. It was also a weird time because it was pre-cellphones. I do think it was a good point that in that day in age, it was good that a way could be found to get a new player at a table. Luckily, we all knew each other from the BBS days, where we'd have communal cookouts. And we were forced to be local due to the nature of the BBS - I can't think of how many times now a days when I'm looking for a group, the time spent on commuting makes it a non-starter. And on that adverserial GM? I think we had just caught him so off-guard, he couldn't think of a way out of the situation. Still warms my heart, the memories of introducing Superclone to the Joy of the Atom. And Blackrazor? The poor man's Stormbringer with the serial numbers scrubbed off. And for Central Casting, here's a sample:
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shinigamitwo
Initiate Douchebag
Posts: 45
Preferred Game Systems: oWoD, Deadlands, D&D
Currently Playing: Deadlands HOE Classic - The Doctor Rides Agin!
Currently Running: Vampire 20th Anniversary
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Post by shinigamitwo on Feb 7, 2018 12:08:18 GMT -8
So, not that I don't enjoy being the rules lawyer but it so rarely involves actual law. An apologies if you guys figured this out after talking about prison gaming but I had to pause at that point and ended up looking up the thing in the intervening food-cram aka lunch.
Our dice are fine, as long as no money, good, or proxy exchanges hands. California Penal Code Chapter 10 330a is the problem at hand and its subsection a ends with a bunch of unless money bits. Now I am not an actual lawyer, just a rules lawyer, but I'm pretty certain about my reading. Had to pass it along as it blew my mind, but was within the realms of possibilities for California, that we would ban multi-sided dice. Semi-random aside, it is apparently the reason for video roulette in Native American Casinos.
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Post by ericfromnj on Feb 7, 2018 12:19:43 GMT -8
Man that 80s story brought back some memories of the table. Yeah it was a strange time. I remember one time the players discovered a Hellraiser puzzle box and solved it. Immediately smoke covered the windows of the tavern and from the door they saw a corridor and heard a voice say “Please explore. We have all of eternity to feast upon your flesh.”
This was all that was needed for another player to jump up and start physically beating on the player who solved the box while screaming “You idiot! Pinhead is going to kill us!”
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Post by ayslyn on Feb 7, 2018 13:14:13 GMT -8
So, not that I don't enjoy being the rules lawyer but it so rarely involves actual law. An apologies if you guys figured this out after talking about prison gaming but I had to pause at that point and ended up looking up the thing in the intervening food-cram aka lunch. Our dice are fine, as long as no money, good, or proxy exchanges hands. California Penal Code Chapter 10 330a is the problem at hand and its subsection a ends with a bunch of unless money bits. Now I am not an actual lawyer, just a rules lawyer, but I'm pretty certain about my reading. Had to pass it along as it blew my mind, but was within the realms of possibilities for California, that we would ban multi-sided dice. Semi-random aside, it is apparently the reason for video roulette in Native American Casinos. Along this vein, the reason that many prisons outlaw RPGs is because they are escape fantasies, and theoretically enable escape plans....
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2018 16:09:56 GMT -8
There are a lot of good articles about prison gaming out there. Some of the resistance comes from left over Satanic Panic, some from the fear that a session might really be the inmates planning to go all Shawshank/Ocean's 11 on it, and some, to be honest, is a general sense that if you're in prison, you should not be having any fun, even if it might be good to keep morale steady and the population calm.
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Post by OFTHEHILLPEOPLE on Feb 8, 2018 14:03:16 GMT -8
Because heaven forbid we try anything positive when rehabilitating someone in prison.
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Post by alverant on Feb 8, 2018 19:19:53 GMT -8
Hey! Thanks for reading my letter!
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mrcj
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 173
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Post by mrcj on Feb 9, 2018 9:48:43 GMT -8
The skills challenge that Jason mentioned is a very interesting solution to adding more tension to a chase. At that moment the GM would just announce that it is a skills test then go from there.
I listened to the Actual Play that Jason GMed and to me it added quite a bit of spice to the scenes where it was used.
My assumption is that using that kind of skill challenge mechanic would be transferable to other game systems as a house rule. How would you do it for GURPS, Traveler, Savage Worlds? Any suggestions?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2018 10:47:04 GMT -8
Here when we've done skill challenges in SW, generally we go something along the lines of a '5 successes before 3 failures' kind of set up like 4e D&D had, with the stipulation that you cannot use the same skill the previous person used. I'd imagine you could also work in aid another and raises for extra successes of course
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D.T. Pints
Instigator
JACKERCON 2018: WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY June 22-July 1st
Posts: 2,857
Currently Playing: D&D 5e, Pathfinder, DUNGEONWORLD, Star Wars Edge of the Empire
Currently Running: DUNGEONWORLD, PATHFINDER
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Post by D.T. Pints on Feb 9, 2018 14:01:58 GMT -8
What’s the average age HJ demographic? Because I loved being dragged down memory lane but those in their 20s must think this was a “This Week in Ancient History Podcast” 😄
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Post by ayslyn on Feb 9, 2018 18:36:01 GMT -8
The skills challenge that Jason mentioned is a very interesting solution to adding more tension to a chase. At that moment the GM would just announce that it is a skills test then go from there. I listened to the Actual Play that Jason GMed and to me it added quite a bit of spice to the scenes where it was used. My assumption is that using that kind of skill challenge mechanic would be transferable to other game systems as a house rule. How would you do it for GURPS, Traveler, Savage Worlds? Any suggestions? Another kinda cool thing that was available in 4e was replacing combat with skill challenges. There was a great piece where they simulated a zombie horde over running a village with a skill challenge. Each failure cost you a healing surge, keeping you fresh for a "real" fight but costing you your ability to push on longer.
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