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E_T_Smith

@E_T_Smith@dice.camp

I currently exist ... or do I?

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Tim_Eagon , to random
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Though I've been drifting away from for a while now, it's still feels really weird to be completely uninterested in the latest releases. I mean, not even a twinge of FOMO.

E_T_Smith ,
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@Tim_Eagon @dragoncrown Prioritizing "choices at the table" pretty much always makes for better play, but unfortunately its a lot easier sell product around "choices away from the table."

E_T_Smith , to random
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A new used book store recently opened near me (a wonder in itself, given how rare they've become) and they have an unexpectedly wide spread of gaming materials. Working on my own FASERIP retro-clone, these are well-timed finds. On first read-through, they make it clear how MSHRPG was first and foremost designed as a battle-map game. "Time Trap" is directly just a contrivance to teleport the PCs to different battlefields to face villains of escalating power.

E_T_Smith OP ,
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@SJohnRoss Thart reminds me: one of the most intriguing qualities of TSR's ramshackle "Conan" RPG, another game from their "universal action chart" family, is that obviously it was originally intended to be another battle-map game, judging by the packaging and several errant references in the texts to things like grids and figure-facings, but something must have gone wildly off the rails in the production process, resulting in ... well, like I said, a really ramshackle game.

darjr , to random
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Wizards of the Coast has a new D&D survey as part of the 50th anniversary celebration.

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of D&D we want to know what you think about the game with a quick survey!

✍️ Click the following link to access the survey! (estimated time: 2-5 minutes): http://spr.ly/6181k8FA9

E_T_Smith ,
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@LeviKornelsen @slyflourish @Alphastream @cynical13 @croyle @Tim_Eagon @darjr

There really needs to be an option in this survey for "I don't hate you, but you have rendered yourself and your products irrelevant to my interests."

LeviKornelsen , to random
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[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    E_T_Smith ,
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    @LeviKornelsen I recall being bemused by the trade icons in the Greyhawk boxed set; kind of neat as background color, but little meaningful effect on play; it wasn't like I was going to follow the chain of imports and exports to figure out the flow of pottery across the continent.

    Trade notes work as succinct leads directly to scenarios (this barony produces iron, therefore mines to explore) but otherwise only make sense if trade is a supported game activity (ala Traveller).

    E_T_Smith , to random
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    Recently retrieved from a giveaway pile, it's possible that free was still too high a price for me to pay. Amazing Engine is a weak RPG system backed by sparse worldbooks, only notable as an artifact of late-stage TSR's flailing attempts to grasp after its diminishing audience. As failures go, I'm not even sure it's an interesting one.

    E_T_Smith OP ,
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    @Mark_Krawec @peteramthor @artikid There were definitely some compelling glimmers, but the setting books don't really provide functionally developed campaigns or games in themselves, they're not much more than broad concept pitches. I already have the Bughunters book because I like its potential (and Galactos Barrier because its such a hilariously blatant Star Wars rip-off) but I've never really found them playable.

    E_T_Smith OP ,
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    @Mark_Krawec @peteramthor @artikid @SJohnRoss I'll concede the fault of execution was almost undoubtedly forced by top management, accepting grudgingly that they needed to try some innovations after White Wolf's Vampire and Wizards of the Coast's Magic tore big bloody chunks out of their market share, but tepidly unwilling to put real resources into doing so.

    E_T_Smith OP , (edited )
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    @SJohnRoss @Mark_Krawec @peteramthor @artikid Large portions of my gaming library were at one time built from stacks of books acquired at desperate discounts from shops trying to clear space for Magic players, and bought used from gamers selling their own collections dimes-to-the-dollar to support their new CCG habit. I think my collection of Classic books, constituting most of the LBB's, came to me that way.

    18+ E_T_Smith , to random
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    James Maliszewski, of the blog Grognardia ... is there something about him to be concerned about? Been reading him for years, and could tell he was strongly Catholic, and probably "little c" conservative. But I can't help notice he hasn't uttered a pip about the passing of Jennell Jaquays, a creator he once praised and even interviewed, and notably he hasn't even mentioned her since she came out as a trans-woman.

    18+ E_T_Smith OP ,
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    @SJohnRoss @edheil Yeah, that's why I'm iffy about this concern, sin by omission is a weak case. It's just, J.M. was one of the early propopents of J.J. in the early OSR, even sought them out for an interview. I expected at least a gesture, kinda?

    epidiah , to random
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    Hey folks, tell me the most recently published you've played!

    (Define any of the above terms however you choose.)

    E_T_Smith , (edited )
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    @epidiah I guess that would be my self-published game Beeswox (posted it to itch.io only a month ago, but I've been hacking at it for years). It's a generic ruleset, but to kind of keep up the Big Bots theme, one of the scenarios I've been running at conventions with it is called "Centaurus Mecha High: Junior Kaiju Monitor Team!"

    epidiah , to random
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    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    E_T_Smith ,
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    @epidiah Watching Svengoolie every couple of weeks, on actual broadcast TV, one of the most surreal parts of the experience is the commercial breaks, half of which seem to be for companies that could only be explained as jokes or elaborate tax-dodge schemes.

    E_T_Smith , to random
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    1/2 Trying to summarize (what I call ) for purposes of an introductory document is surprisingly slippery. The problem is you have to address all these assumptions about how role-playing works that readers will project into the explanation. So I'm spending more words explaining what it isn't than on what it is.

    E_T_Smith OP ,
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    2/2 The three core precepts , as I see them:

    • De-gamifying: playing the world, not a rules set (this is where most of the "isn't" comes from; really amazing how wide and deep expectations of gamification have become, and not just in games).

    • Decommodifying: approaching the experience as something you create, not consume.

    • Independent Imagination: bit of a follow-on from above, legitmacy/authenticity of the world as created by the table's efforts, not an outside authority.

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