Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

I also found this message from Phil as a follow up on the original Battlefield Magic post by Chuck Monson.

"Battle magic is indeed a way of slowing down and harassing an enemy army.
It also slows down your own forces. But it keeps every little would-be hero
from running out and zapping enemy leaders with his own little Eye of
Raging Power (or what have you). Can you imagine warfare in which magic is
used and in which there is *no* counter? What a mess that would be! With no
way to defend your generals and organised forces, warfare would quickly
become an incredible chaos of warring magicians."

Shemek

Yep. This. And Phil was still fuming over Dutlor / Tim Cox hitting Princess Ma'in with the Eye of Changing Alignment (instantly deleted from the manuscript of EPT, by the way) back in 1974, too.

Originally Posted by Bren

Congratulations or condolences as appropriate on the new job, Chirine.

Thank you! I am looking forward to the move - better schedule, and more time to write!

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Congrats on the new job, if that's in order.

I've lost track. Facing a moron isn't as much fun as you may think, folks; a game against poor opposition isn't really much fun. However, it's far worse when the moron(s) are on YOUR side. Wish I had a dollar for every time I've thought "I wish this were a real battle, at least then I could have you shot for incompetence."

Thank you! I think it'll be a lot better for me - a lot less stress, and that's what I really need these days.

Oh, how very true. There's a huge difference between playing with inexperienced or novice players - we did a lot of that - and players who did just plain stupid things, often just for the sake of doing something stupid. Luckily, most of the time they didn't last long in any of the groups we were in...

Many congratulations on the shift to real hours! Swing shift is awful, I agree; you have no life.

Yep. Tom T. was green and sometimes over eager, but he learned as the years went on.

I honestly think the Tin Soldier Shop was one of the worst gathering places for the "too stupid to shit unassisted" players. I remember Kadarsha teaching a young lad named Justin about "refusing the center". This 13 year old then went on to become one of the most victorious gamers there because his idea of tactics was something more advanced then, to quote Chirine, "lining up your troops and vibrating the table top like an electric football game." (Metaphor, but accurate in its way. They lined 'em up and slid 'em forward.)

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Sounds good. These days, I don't go off on adventures - adventures seem to come to me, which is nice because I get to eat at home and sleep in my own bed - but I am one of the 'patrons' that sends parties of adventurers / player-characters off on the sort of 'odd jobs' that I used to have to do.

And that's how Chirine figured in my game. Though I did place it nearer the beginning of his career.

Sun Tzu would be very proud of you, sir!

Thank you, though this part was inspired more by Wu Tzu! He was of the opinion that one should be humane to people you're trying to conquer, while Old Sun was more of a proponent of "scorched earth policy". Old Wu's stance was better suited to my disposition - I was paying those people for the things they delivered, after all...
(That, and I'd recently read how British traders were selling arms to a country they were in a war with. It inspired me to find people that would be even less patriotic).

Oh. Well. I have to say that I agree with you, if I may be so immodest. I just like making things; I'm good with my hands and tools, and stuff seems to flow together in most projects. No idea why, it just is...

I think it has something to do with the letters XP...

There were, out at Phil's, several different generations of each of the two groups. The original Monday guys were the 'New Men', and they had faded out by the middle 1980s; they were replaced by a number of 'power gamers', who lasted until the middle to late 1990s. Out group was in it's heyday 1978 to 1988, and then the original membership was largely replaced by the 'politically correct'. Both groups closed down in the late 1990s, and our groups' name was taken up by the five or six players who remained. I think, based on all the accounts I've heard, that we were the most 'open sandbox' of the groups as well as being the most assimilated and immersed in the setting.

Makes sense. The more a group is integrated in the setting, the less a Referee needs to give them direction.

I would not be surprised at this. I'll keep plugging away, and we'll see what happens. I start a new job in two weeks - I had a very successful interview today, at the end of which I was offered the position - with a better schedule, and we'll see if that helps.

Congratulations on the new job!
It should help, we hope...

Agreed; it just got old, in the gaming discussions...

Gaming discussions sure have some weird ideas. Like niche protection - someone posted today on another forum that Gronan's idea that thieves can Hide in Shadows, but everybody can sneak in utter darkness, amounts to "lack of niche protection".
Or the idea that "if you're not using the monsters from the Monster Manual, when running a system with heavier mechanics, you're lying to your players", from another discussion.

The trick is to laugh, call BS when appropriate, and not get angry.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

He's right. Magic is one arm of your strategy, not the answer to everything. A moron with magic is still a moron. (Write that one down, Chirine, it'll look great in the memoirs.)

How true...

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

I've lost track. Facing a moron isn't as much fun as you may think, folks; a game against poor opposition isn't really much fun. However, it's far worse when the moron(s) are on YOUR side. Wish I had a dollar for every time I've thought "I wish this were a real battle, at least then I could have you shot for incompetence."

Well, yes on the "facing a moron" part. You can make your moves interesting, but there's no way to do it for his moves...

And in game, I've shot other PCs for incompetence. Well, technically, I was going to, but the player chose to listen to reason...
The ones that didn't, in another game, I ordered to be hanged!

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Yep. This. And Phil was still fuming over Dutlor / Tim Cox hitting Princess Ma'in with the Eye of Changing Alignment (instantly deleted from the manuscript of EPT, by the way) back in 1974, too.

Did he get impaled?

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Oh, how very true. There's a huge difference between playing with inexperienced or novice players - we did a lot of that - and players who did just plain stupid things, often just for the sake of doing something stupid. Luckily, most of the time they didn't last long in any of the groups we were in...

Of course they wouldn't, there are dice and NPCs for that...

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Yep. Tom T. was green and sometimes over eager, but he learned as the years went on.

I honestly think the Tin Soldier Shop was one of the worst gathering places for the "too stupid to shit unassisted" players. I remember Kadarsha teaching a young lad named Justin about "refusing the center". This 13 year old then went on to become one of the most victorious gamers there because his idea of tactics was something more advanced then, to quote Chirine, "lining up your troops and vibrating the table top like an electric football game." (Metaphor, but accurate in its way. They lined 'em up and slid 'em forward.)

Yes, I remember that you were astounded when I quoted the statement "there's no tactics in D&D, because everybody charges for glory". That was the opinion of an old-school player.
But it sure seems there is always a demographic for which this statement is true.
Tactics work especially well when you meet those kind of opponents, of course...

Originally Posted by AsenRG

Like niche protection - someone posted today on another forum that Gronan's idea that thieves can Hide in Shadows, but everybody can sneak in utter darkness, amounts to "lack of niche protection".

At some point I stopped trying to fit my game to people too stupid to shit unassisted.

Hey All,

Found some pictures on line I thought I would share. I don't know who the artist is, but they are great. Enjoy.

First one: some Hlyss (Getting stomped by Chirine?)

Tekumel-damned_hluss.jpg

Second one: Ahoggya and Shen.

Tekumel-shen_and_ahoggya.jpg

Shemek

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

At some point I stopped trying to fit my game to people too stupid to shit unassisted.

Yea Verily!

Shemek

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

At some point I stopped trying to fit my game to people too stupid to shit unassisted.

We've kinda noticed. The same measure improved my gaming, too...

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

Hey All,

Found some pictures on line I thought I would share. I don't know who the artist is, but they are great. Enjoy.

They're great pictures, indeed!

Originally Posted by AsenRG

:


They're great pictures, indeed!

I really like them. I'm going to use them as visual aids in my campaign. You know what they say about the value of a picture versus words I think they might be some of Kathy Marshall's work.

Shemek