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A Journal Should Be Live
Was in the middle of a draft of a big gaming-n-improv post the other week and had to save it in the middle, and never got back to LJ. So, just to keep my hand in, random stuff:
1. Just in case leighleighla didn't see the story, an astronomer in England announced a real discovery (a plasma jet from a supernova) via Doctor Who fanfic on her blog. Readers seem ( Read more... ) -
Accidentally Like a Watchdog
The Friday group had our fourth Qin: The Warring States session tonight, which involved taking down the evil lord of one town over and his External Alchemist henchman, then putting a likely local in charge of redistributing all the evil lord's goods among the townspeople to help restore the Mandate of Heaven to the town. When it hit me, I said ( Read more... ) -
For the Gaming Theories
Via Tyler Cowern, Galen Strawson's "Against Narrativity." It's about cognition and ethics, not RPGs, but it has relevance to a lost current in RPG theory/advocacy discourse. Back before Forge theory collapsed the rgfa distinction between Dramatism and Simulationism, and for years took the former as the whole of the latter, and before critics of ( Read more... ) -
Retro Nuvian
To the possible dismay of certain "Docnards" of my acquaintance, I've begun re-watching the Eccleston season of Nu Who. (This included watching the one where Gwen blows up for the first time, as I missed it contemporaneously.) I'm through Ep Five now, the conclusion of the Slitheen two-parter. Some thoughts ( Read more... ) -
Friend Folio
Russell Bailey's "Quick Primer on Middle School Gaming" touches on the "friendship & gaming" issue much discussed hereabouts a month ago. It's also a good-humored summa of high-WW-era gaming. -
Your Friday Evening of Just Making That Up
Friday group had a fun chargen session for Qin: The Warring States tonight. Qin seems like a fun game, though I'll be glad when we're through making characters because it's a fairly fiddly process, with different point-pools for attributes, skills, Qi tricks and outright magic for starting characters, and then, for the campaign-specific, a big pot ( Read more... ) -
You're Just Making That Up - With Dice
More gaming chronicles ( Read more... ) -
Spoilers
Finally watched the last of the David Tennant Doctor Who specials, which means when I work up the ambition I can now go back to any posts that immlass, hangingfire and leighleighla, among others may have written on the topic. Meanwile, some thoughts and questions from a mere Nuvian under the cut.
( Srsly, Spoilers! ) -
Just Making That Up on Thursdays
Interesting new lessons the last two weeks. Last week we began working on a more strictly theatrical skill than typical for us, which Gary called "Focus In, Focus Out." This is just alternating body orientation so that sometimes you and your partner look straight at each other, and others you both look directly out at the audience. Because so much ( Read more... ) -
You're Just Making Doctor Who Uo
A thing I love about the new Who RPG is the short skill list: a dozen skills that you can take "Areas of Expertise" on. An AoE gives you +2 on your roll when dealing with your specialty. If you have Science 4 with a Physics AoE, you add 6 to your roll when dealing with physics and 4 when dealing with any other scientific task. This strikes me as ( Read more... )