Where Worlds Collide

David Edelstein (Amadán to his friends) has posted some wonderful Online GMing Tips on the DreamLyrics Message Board.

The New Musical Express thinks The Darkness should be destroyed, as the antithesis of everything the NME stands for. Of course I’d rather keep The Darkness, and let the NME be destroyed instead.

The Darkness play full-blooded rock anthems of the kind we haven’t heard from a new band in years, with songs titles like “Get Your Hands Off My Woman” and “Love on the Rocks with No Ice”, and gratuitously sexist cover (What’s wrong with being sexy, as Nigel Tufnel would say) Imagine a rawer version of Thin Lizzy crossed with the heavier end of Slade’s glam-rock, with a bit of Spinal Tap’s self-parody thrown in for good measure.

It’s not quite perfect; singer Justin Hawkins overdoes the falsetto vocals just a bit, and the guitar solos could be a a little bit widdlier, after all, cock-rock is supposed to have ejeculatory guitar solos! Still, at just 38 minutes, the album doesn’t doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, and certainly isn’t burdened with filler.

Population: One: Monday Mashup #2

We have a new gaming meme, the Monday Mashup. And this week it asks:

Pick a roleplaying world and talk about how you’d use the specified book/movie/TV show/whatever as an inspiration for a campaign or one-shot set in that world. You can post on your own blog or LiveJournal or in the comments here, as you see fit.

This week, your mashup subject is Invasion of the Body Snatchers. (The 1978 remake is also valid fodder.)

I tend not to GM much using published settings, preferring to develop my own. So let’s set Invasion of the Bodysnatchers in Kalyr. I ran a five year campaign using the setting a few years back, and currently run two on-line games set there. As well as the odd convention scenario.

For those of you not familiar with the setting, Kalyr could be described as a science-fiction setting dressed in fantasy clothes. Psionics is quite common, and technology has become more arcane, the principles by which devices work lost or obscured. And the whole world is ruled by secretive and sometimes hidden elites.

Kalyr already had a race of psionic shape-changing aliens, the Drarth. As a race they’re not particularly malevolent, although a small percentage of them are insane, at least by human standards. So far, the ‘bad’ Drarth tend to be loners, so an organised Drarth conspiracy would not be expected. They’re too few to attempt a takeover of any of the larger cities (and my games set in this world have so far been largely city-based), especially since any significant population of psis are likely to sniff them out pretty quick. A small outpost might be a different matter, if the Drarth can eliminate or subvert any psis present. Or perhaps one very powerful Drarth could do it on it’s own, replacing one individual and using it’s psionic powers to control everyone else? And just what might their agenda be?

Alternatively, we could go for the technological route. One secretive group in Kalyr possesses the technology to produce clones. Taking the Cold War metaphor into Kalyr’s own Cold War, we’ll have them in league with the “Evil Empire” of Kalyr, Karmork. Their agenda is much more straightforward, to expand their brutal and chauvinistic empire. (They’re really closer to Nazis than to Communists) They’ll be substituting their clones for important members of the societies they plan to subvert and soften up. Such a plan would be very long term, would need large numbers of agents to gather the required DNA samples of their chosen victims, and significant effort to remove them (by kidnapping or assassination) so as to replace them with the clones. They won’t go to the trouble of trying to replace a large fraction of the population, just a small number of influential people; city administrators, military commanders or influential religious leaders. Can the heroes thwart their plans before the clones betray the city to the invading army marching out of Karmork?

Are you troubled by blogroaches? Is your blog infested by Freepi, Randroids, Trotskyites or Yngwie Malmsteen fans? If so, you need the Random Insult Generator to respond to those that leave nasty comments in your blog.

Your post is a tedious, homogenised, chameleon-esque scribble which amounts to nothing more than the demented cacophonous racket of a drugged lunatic banging loudly on kitchen pots and pans. I suggest you hone your writing skills before applying borrowed glories as a mere typist.

Trying to get something of value out of your post is like trying to squeeze orange juice out of an apple. You are obviously suffering from Clue Deficit Disorder. Well, you’re certainly thoughtless; I just wish that you were keyboard-less, too. To quote Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

You are about as entertaining as watching grass grow in a windowbox. What do you do for a living? You are living, aren’t you? You have the warm personal charm of a millipede and about as much class as a bucket of mucous lodged on top of a dumpster in a Blue Light district of New Jersey. Maybe you wouldn’t come across as such a jellyfish-sucking mental midget if you weren’t an ‘idiot savant’ without the ’savant’ part; if your weren’t so fat that when God said “Let there be Light”, he told you to move your fat ass out of the way, or if you didn’t have a face that makes people ask: “Damn, is it Halloween already?” Who am I kidding? You would.

Please try to have some small idea of what in the hell you’re talking about before you try to post again.

(Thanks again to Adam Lipscomb)

This month’s Model Rail has a review of CJM’s new n-gauge version of an EWS class 67 diesel, and what an incredible model it is. I saw a couple of pre-production samples at the Alexandra Palace show in March. The bodyshell is a highly-detailed resin casting, with etched brass detailing parts, running on Chris Marchant’s own flywheel-drive mechanism, the whole thing professionally sprayed and hand-finished.

However, at a price tag of £400 per loco, I fear I may have to rethink my provisional order for two of the things I made back at the N gauge 35th anniversary show last September, before I knew the price, even though a pair of them on a china clay train would have looked nice.

Game Wish 56 asks about Friends and Associates

Do your characters have friends and associates who play a regular role in the game? What about henchmen and hirelings in the old D&D sense or Champions-style DNPCs? How does your group handle playing them? What sorts of things are they used for in the game? Is their influence good, bad, or indifferent?

In on-line games I like to give my characters friends and relations, as much to give the GM a few plot hooks to play with as much as anything else. Of course, when I’m playing in a game where 99.8% of the population dies from a plague, the same GM will kill them all of slowly and painfully while watching how my character reacts emotionally. Similarly, the first incarnation of goth-metal guitarist Karl Tolhurst came complete with the rest of the band (one of whom was dead and another undead), as well as several members of his family.

The long-running AD&D game I played years ago had a large cast of henchbeings of assorted, considerably outnumbering the actual player characters, and a major reason why combats tended to go on all night.

As a rule, I dislike henchpeople when I’m GMing, because I have a tendency to forget them and let them fade into the background. Character’s friends and family are another matter entirely; they’re a valuable source of plot hooks. I always try to make them individuals in their own right that have lives of their own.

One character that gave me real problems was when the player character was the bodyguard to a powerful mage. The mage a character of a much higher power level than the mostly “street level” PCs, and whenever she was around she tended to dominate things. I eventually had her kidnapped by bad guys (using a teleportation machine) just to take her out of the picture for a while, and force her bodyguard PC to take the initiative.

How have I managed never to have heard about the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland? It’s an amazing futuristic boat lift linking two canals in Scotland, opened last year. It looks like something that’s escaped from a science-fiction novel set on an alien planet, using quite simple technology on a grand scale. (Link from Ken MacLoed)

With the UPC Bar Code Character Generation, you can turn a household object, publication or any other product with a barcode into a D&D character! (Thanks to John Crimmins for the link)

Some examples:

The new album “Permission to Land” by The Darkness is an untrustworthy religious dwarf

Gender: Male
Race: Dwarf (Height: 3′11″, Weight: 154 lbs.)
STR: 16 [+3]
DEX: 12 [+1]
CON: 13 [+1] [+2 CON racial bonus]
INT: 17 [+3]
WIS: 7 [-2]
CHA: 7 [-2] [-2 CHA racial penalty]

Total ability modifier: +4

Where you were raised: (see Hero Builder’s Guide for details)
Temperature Zone: Cold (arctic or subarctic)
Terrain: Plains
Community Size: Delve
Family notes:
Economic Status: Military Support
Social Standing: Lower Class
Family Defense Readiness: Medium
Private Ethics: Untrustworthy
Public Ethics: Undeserved
Religious Commitment: Strong
Reputation: Outstanding
Political Views: Loyal Opposition
Power Structure: Matriarchy
Ancestors of Note: Prophecy, Spell Creator

Education:
Early Childhood Instruction: Multicultural
Formal Education: Natural History
Learning a Trade: Special Military Training

Life Events (thus far):
Early Childhood events: Undertook a Long Journey
Youth Events: Battle
Pivotal Events: No Pivotal Events

Relationships:
Parents: Two Living Parents
Siblings: Only Child
Grandparents: Three Grandparents Alive
Extended Family: Many Living Relatives
Friends: Few
Enemies: No Enemies
Instructors: No Instructors of Note

Meanwhile a Minitrix N Gauge Swiss Re460 Locomotive comes up as human heretic. Not sure what class he’d be

Gender: Male
Race: Human (Height: 5′10″, Weight: 204 lbs.)
STR: 14 [+2]
DEX: 13 [+1]
CON: 12 [+1]
INT: 14 [+2]
WIS: 14 [+2]
CHA: 15 [+2]

Total ability modifier: +10

Where you were raised: (see Hero Builder’s Guide for details)

Temperature Zone: Warm (tropical and subtropical)
Terrain: Hills
Community Size: Village
Family notes:
Economic Status: Poor
Social Standing: Newcomer
Family Defense Readiness: Mixed
Private Ethics: Fair
Public Ethics: Normal
Religious Commitment: Open Heretics
Reputation: Unknown
Political Views: Dissatisfied
Power Structure: Matriarchy
Ancestors of Note: None

Education:
Early Childhood Instruction: Religious
Formal Education: Politics
Learning a Trade: Healing

Life Events (thus far):
Early Childhood events: Undertook a Long Journey
Youth Events: Great Romance
Pivotal Events: No Pivotal Events

Relationships:
Parents: Two Living Parents
Siblings: Fraternal Twin
Grandparents: Grandparents Unknown
Extended Family: Few Living Relatives
Friends: Some
Enemies: Arcane Rival
Instructors: Exotic

The Ordnance Survey 1:25000 scale map of Manchester and Salford comes up as this evil Half Elven Fighter/Mage

Gender: Male
Race: Half Elf (Height: 5′6″, Weight: 177 lbs.)
STR: 18 [+4] ()
DEX: 10 [+0] ()
CON: 13 [+1] ()
INT: 18 [+4] ()
WIS: 10 [+0] ()
CHA: 11 [+0] ()

Total ability modifier: +9

Where you were raised: (see Hero Builder’s Guide for details)
Temperature Zone: Temperate
Terrain: Desert
Community Size: Elven Dominated Area (Elven City)
Family notes:
Economic Status: Military Support
Social Standing: Lower Class
Family Defense Readiness: High
Private Ethics: Evil
Public Ethics: Undeserved
Religious Commitment: Strong
Reputation: Mostly Bad
Political Views: Dissatisfied
Power Structure: Elders
Ancestors of Note: None

Education:
Early Childhood Instruction: Magic
Formal Education: Finishing School
Learning a Trade: Healing

Life Events (thus far):
Early Childhood events: Survived Childhood Danger
Youth Events: Crime
Pivotal Events: Community Crisis

Relationships:
Parents: Parents Lost or Unknown
Siblings: 2 older brothers
Grandparents: Father’s Parents Alive
Extended Family: Many Living Relatives
Friends: Some
Enemies: Diabolic Enemy
Instructors: Exotic

Feel Euphoria is the seventh album by San Francisco-based prog-rockers Spock’s Beard, and the first without the former bandleader, vocalist, and songwriter Neil Morse. Over the past few years they’ve built up a reputation as one of the best bands in their genre, fusing influences from 70s English progressive bands like Yes and Gentle Giant with some more streamlined American sounds. Their often lengthy songs frequently climaxed with a massive wall of sound, featuring not one, but sometimes two of that magnificent prog-rock instrument, the mighty mellotron.

Many people, myself included, felt it would be hard for them carry on following the Neil’s departure, to “follow a spiritual path”, much like Geoff Mann of Twelfth Night a generation before.

But anyone that wrote off the band has been proved wrong. “Feel Euphoria”, which sees drummer Nick D’Virgilio takes over lead vocal duties (Just like that other, much bigger prog-rock band you all know of) proves the Beard are far from finished.

All four band members, drummer and now singer D’Virgilio, guitarist Alan Morse (brother of Neil), bassist Dave Meros and keyboardist Ryo Okumoto contribute to the songwriting, and they’ve also brought in a couple of songwriting collaborators in the shape of Stan Ausmus and John Beogehold. They’ve pushed the boundaries a little rather than attempt a simple pastiche of Neil Morse’s writing style, which probably wouldn’t have worked, but there are enough elements of their old sound to keep existing fans on board. The music still sounds very much like Spock’s beard. The musicianship is good as ever, some of Dave Meros’ basslines are amazing. However, unlike too many of their neo-prog brethren, they keep things focussed and don’t go widdling off into endless noodling jams.

The opening hard rocker, “Onomatopoeia” might make you think they’ve gone metal, while the title track, with its dub bassline, reminds me of Marillion’s “Quartz” until it breaks out into an ELP-like keyboard extravaganza. The lengthy “A Guy Names Sid” comes over as an amalgam of the best bits of the Beard’s sound from past albums, from the epic guitar climaxes to the multi-part vocal harmonies, including an a cappella section. The real highlight of the album is the haunting “Ghosts of Autumn”, whose haunting melody is in danger of giving power-ballads a good name.

f you’re already a Spock’s Beard fan, you’ve probably got this album already, of course. If you’re not already a fan, go out and get it, then buy the previous six!

From BBC News. A Freightliner train has come off the track on the Trent Valley line between Tamworth and Lichfield, carrying, among other things, Guinness. Fortunately no injuries, and it’s on a stretch of line that’s got an alternative route, so disruptions to services aren’t as bas as the could have been.