Ars Mysteriorum

That's the guy! Definitely!

I've e-mailed him to see if he's interested!

This is really turning into a tour-de-force, with today's update.

Bravo to Dustin!

I am now tempted to abandon Interplanetary entirely and switch over to writing Interstate.

The funny part: it could actually be an interesting game...

Possible Skills:

Drive Auto 100%

Keep Anxious Gaming Nerds Placated 75%

Hide Beer in Crotch 65%

I like this set-up. It may be because I envision George to be much like the truckers I hung around with as a kid on my father's freight dock.

Hard-drinking, hard-working, and privy to a world few know exists... the world of the CB radio. Some people use this radio to broadcast their own odd views on reality, but every once in a while, there comes something deeper than the usual ponderings of the all-night line-haulers. There are legends of people who vanished on the road, strange cargoes not of this world, shady deliveries to beings with pure, black eyes. George has seen his share of the weird, but answers it all with a shrug and an offer to tell you all about it if you buy him a few beers.

He's no super-hero. He's just George... but, boy, does he have some yarns to spin.

Some may think I'm picking bit of this up from Big Trouble In Little China. Well, they wouldn't be mistaken... but there's also an acquaintance I grew up with that has taken up the strange sub-culture of the line-haul.

We were both in elementary school ULE (Useless Learning Experience) together. He was one hell of a bright kid. We were at odds due to our similar personalities, and we stopped hanging out.

Last I heard of him, his uncle had disappeared on the road, and my friend got his CDL and decided to go on the line-haul looking for him. I admire something about that greatly, and can only imagine the strange adventures he's experienced.

Since we're way off topic...

In the nearby town my girlfriend lived, a bar near the train station had a Beatles theme. I would go there if I missed my last train (12:45 am) and wanted to wait for the next early train (4:05 am).

It was an interesting place. One bizarre issue was that you could order draft beers in three sizes... an 6 oz mini for 100 yen, a 12 oz small for 300 yen, and an 18 oz "pint" for 500 yen. I never could figure out the math on that one, and when the foreigners showed up and ordered 30 mini beers at once... they got a bit grouchy.

At midnight and at their 3:00 am closing time, the owner and all of the waitstaff would get up on the little corner stage and do a half-hour set of Beatles tunes. If you didn't have the foresight to order before they went onstage... tough luck, you were waiting. Want to pay your tab while they're onstage... no chance. Wait 'til they're done.

Being drunk in a bar in rural Japan after 3:00 am essentially hostage to your bill while all of the waitstaff are playing "Eleanor Rigby" in Engrish can literally cause you to doubt your sanity. I saw lesser men crushed by it.

I don't know whether that's really funny or the most terrifyingly horrible thing I've ever heard. Were they even marginally talented? Or was it all a front to get a captive audience and stroke their collective ego?

What capitalizes these completely outlandish experiences is just how wonderfully and painfully polite the culture is otherwise. I think this is what makes it so completely unmanning when you suddenly and swiftly find yourself in the Leftest Left Field Ever.

You're tempting me to put up a thread asking for international wackiness...

I still remember the AD&D 2e Tarrasque. Now there was a monster to behold... how the hell could a party, even one worth its salt, actually kill one? Despite how powerful we made our characters, we had a reverence for the Tarrasque. An awe. We refused to let it be slain. Ever. Giants, Dragons (one we fought was a mile long), etc. etc., yeah, those are fair game.

The Tarrasque? No. Lay off. He's no-no territory.

Chaosium.com: News - BRP Rollin

Post-modern, new-age, old-fashioned, extra-crispy trucker with the power to bring joy to all the girls and boys in this forum. Is anyone else enamored with his odyssey into the unknown midwest?

Also, Wyoming is the Evil state. Be wary, good George.

I used to frequent three different bars in my area, each with different crowds.

One of them was an upscale cocktail place, run by a tiny little old man who looked like the Rankin-Bass Gollum. He always wore black slacks, a silken grey striped vest, and a black bow tie with his starched white shirt, and when he shook the cocktail shaker, his whole face would light up in joy. He'd practically dance while mixing drinks.

The next was a seedier sort of place, a 2nd-floor bar not much larger than a crawl space, where you'd get a different beer each time you ordered if you weren't keeping track. The master there had some excellent foodstuffs, and some truly frightening concoctions (one involved broiled tofu and mayonnaise). It was the kind of place where people took their mistresses, and where at any given time two or three of the patrons were among the digitally-reduced element of society.

The third was my favorite, a jazz-themed place called Solid Media. The master there had a jazz/blues band, and they sometimes played. His wife tended bar, and she had a "I'm busy, get it yourself" attitude when it came to fetching drinks. They always undercharged, and when everyone was drinking the debates would embroil almost everyone in the place.

Excellent times all around. For some reason, when I talk to people who lived and worked in Japan, they always have the same outlook... a particular bar that was more beloved than anything else about their life there.

Very cool. The third and first ones sound most appealing to me (in that order). There is something about those jazz places. I'd never listen to it at home, but it makes for fantastic background noise. But the master playing in a band? Far out.

You're on to something about the bars and nostalgia. There's a strange appreciation that owners have of their places that you don't get here in the US very often. The owners somehow manage to work their asses off, and yet seem relaxed about it in a way that harried waitresses and overhelpful managers here in the states can't duplicate, save for the rare exception. And, holy crap, do the Japanese know how to dress up a place, or what? They could make the tiniest place seem tremendous and packed with knick-knacks that brought life and character to every tiny corner.

They really are escapes there. Not places to just get drunk, but places to drink in. It's atmospheric intoxication with a side of inebriation. Hells yes.

Then there's the other side. Holy crap, you haven't seen a DIVE until you've been to Japan!

Thanks for sharing, you two!

I was in Shikoku just once, over in Kan'onji interpreting for the fisheries ministry. Smelly work, but the sushi was great!

Most of the time I lived in Tokyo with the space aliens and mutant ninja. After living there Blade Runner didn't really look scifi any more...

I was there for 5 years - amazing to think at the same time as Jason! Shame indeed our paths never crossed... there was a games shop not far from Shinjuku I used to frequent...

Where were you, Ars Mysteriorum?

(With belated apologies for naked threadjack)

Sarah

Niigata-ken, Nagaoka-shi. It was a very nice little place that was nigh antarctic in winter and hotter than hell in summer (But the hanabi was amazing).

Unfortunately, I worked for NOVA for the two years leading right up to their big crash. What a horrid corporate environment. We managed to get out just before it all came falling down, though only because my wife literally had a premonition: "I want to go home. Something bad's about to happen."

We met an Australian co-worker there who became one of our best friends, and we all decided to leave together. This made for one of the most memorable nights. I had a cafe where I would go to smoke cigars (and get stared at for doing so... their reasoning was that only rich people smoke cigars). It was a place where no gaijin went because only the older, quieter crowd went there.

The master would keep the place open late and we would talk with his broken English and my broken Japanese. He looked like someone straight out of film noir. Neat black vest, tailored white shirts with a collar. Always. His wife, though 60, looked 30, which lent to the timeless quality of the place.

At night, the regulars would wander in and we would all talk, which would lead to them buying me a drink. In my time there I probably bought 10 or 12 drinks, but drank probably somewhere near 20 or 30. They'd buy me whatever I liked and I wasn't allowed to refuse. Master said so. I always went with scotch, but in small amounts, a concept the master didn't understand.

He would give me a tumbler filled to the brim with scotch, and charge me for a single. I canNOT handle my liquor, and I get drunk on two beers.

After the first time I staggered home, and every time thereafter we would usually have a go-around that became something of an inside joke:

Me: "Scotch, onegaishimasu... TWO fingers."

Master: "Hai, hai. TWO fingers. Wakarimasu!"

Me: (With quirked eyebrow and a poorly hidden smirk) "TWO. FINGERS." (Gesturing with two fingers for emphasis)

Master: (With a likewise quirked eyebrow and a poorly hidden smirk) "Hai! TWO. FINGERS." (Gesturing with two fingers for emphasis)

Then he'd slide me a full tumbler with a big, shit-eating grin. "Two fingers, two fingers... FOUR FINGERS!"

Me: "NANDE?!"

Master: "My treat!"

He just liked to see me become a drunken puddle. This would invariably end up with us well after closing time, him with a beer and a cigarette, me with a scotch and a cigar, talking the night away.

When we left, they closed down the cafe and made a HUUUUGE dinner for our friend from Austrial, my wife, my wife's ex-manager (she had worked in Nagaoka for an additional two years with a different company, and the manager and her became close friends), and myself. He laid out a ridiculous spread of all the colors of sashimi, sushi, yaki-soba, fish, etc. etc. And drinks. We talked and were pretty silly until 1:00 AM, when they walked us to our train to Tokyo and saw us off.

It was probably the best night we had the whole time we lived there.

We get e-mails from my wife's ex-manager, in which the Master said he missed me. They're considering visiting us when we go to Maine. What an honor!

That cafe was better than any tourist site, historic city, or what-have-you for me. It felt better than home. It was where my wife and I would escape to where work could never follow us.

Sorry, I'm having acute nostalgia.

:focus:

I want a Mammoth Donkey. I'm going to name it "Tank Ass."

All I know is that now I have mine pre-ordered.

I am certain that this is not the case.

My guess is that Chaosium got some initial copies from the printer, and sent them to the farthest-reaching customers, thinking that it'd arrive for them the same time as everyone else.

When I lived in Japan, I occasionally had freak mail occurrences, like when my grandmother sent me a birthday card and forgot to put postage on it. Not only that, it wasn't sealed. I got it in less than 72 hours, complete with a check inside from Grandma. (Which made me crazy because I couldn't cash checks in Japan.)

A bit off-topic, but I think this is more than just the second time I've heard you mention living in Japan. I lived there as well! May I ask where you were?

A clever fellow over on Dragonsfoot.org used Adobe to create an old school 1st edition D&D Character Sheet for Castles & Crusades. By using Layers, he was able to swap elements in and out.

Don't want Hit Locations? Uncheck the Layer, now you have space for a Portrait.

Want to Include EDU in the stat block? That Layer is placed over the one without EDU.

I have Adobe 6, but lack the time or expertise to do something like this rapidly. Maybe I'll give it an experimental go over the weekend.

Shall we petition the MadIrishman to do it?

VIGOROUSLY. ALIVE.

My doctor gives me pills to handle my illusions...

"In forum threads which sleeping lie, with sudden news even thread death may die!"

I've just picked up the Masks of Nyarlathotep PDF from the Chaosium website for $23 (bargain price at UK exchange rates!). It's the "Third Edition" from 2006 with "the Lost Australian Chapter and Four New Episodes".

Back in my CoC days I regretted never getting hold of this classic baby - now here at last it is, in glorious PDF! At this rate, I might even start up a CoC game... with the BRP rules, of course!

Oh frabjous day, calloo, callay!

Cheers,

Sarah :thumb:

Very cool! It's nice to see this content readily available again.

Sadly, my group has dissolved. I doubt I'll be running it any time soon.

Fellow Mac user! WOOO!

More than just one. Mac here too

My lack of BRP experience other than CoC kind of limits me until the book comes out in print... sorry if I'm not as much help!

I was hoping BRP's release would mark the start of a new breath of life from Chaosium... from the sound of it, it's shaping up to be so. PDF's available to designers, new licenses going out... I think this is fantastic.

I'm not the biggest fan of the font, either... it reminds me too much of beer-garden menus from the 80s.

This made me laugh.

Is this a dead horse or a dead pony?

Sorry. I think the thread is officially over.

No! It's vigorously alive!

For starters, make a table and ask yourself if the results feel right. The first column shows the Taslislanta stat, the 2nd is the BRP conversion.

-4     1d6

-3     1d6+3

-2     2d6

-1     2d6+3

0      3d6

+1     2d6+6

+2     3d6+3

+3     3d6+6

+4     2d6+12

The quick method would be to pick a couple of skills that each race starts with +20%, and if necessary, a skill or two that starts lower than default. This method allows you to create a large table of skills and races, and make it easy to cross-reference.

Talislanta didn't balance races or archetypes. RQ didn't either. I wouldn't for a conversion. The balance comes from the setting not the rules.

Harshax, you've already got some great ideas going there! I think I'll be using this model (or a version of it) when I design the races.

Also, I agree. Balance has nothing to do with Talislanta in my mind.

I was thinking this was the new title proposal for Chaos & Catacombs.

I mean, how evocative is "Horses & Ponies?"

:deadhorse:

This horse isn't dead!

It's vigorously alive!

I wonder if there are D&D fans out there that are writing the same thing about BRP?

Nope. I'd say almost ALL of them have no idea what the hell a BRP is, unless you mean the sound of expelling gas out of one's orifices.

First let me say...

My name is Rodney Leary... and I'm a TFTer.

Ok, now that thats out of the way.

I think the release of 4th ed. D&D is a good thing. I was co-owner of a hobby store before the release of D&D 3.0 and while role playing games were still being sold, they were only about 33% of our business. New people just weren't getting into the hobby.

Then D&D 3.0 releases and we literately sold over 300 copies of the player’s handbook in the first 3 weeks. This big name rpg re-infused the hobby, bringing in a literal ton of new players. D&D brought them in the door, but eventually, they get board and want to see what else is out there.

With the increase in RPG interest we saw increases in Call of Cthulhu, GURPS, WOD, etc etc.

This is a choice time for BRPers. Renewed interest in the hobby as a whole is a good thing. Don't attack a game they love and expect them to flock to BRP because it’s better. If something you love is attacked you tend to attack back out of respect for your beliefs.

Instead, use this opportunity to talk about BRP and what makes it different (and better).

For example:

D&Der: My paladin is 15th level.

BRPer: The game I play doesn't use levels.

D&Der: How do you know if your character can kick another characters ass?

BRPer: Just like real life, two boxers don't have 'levels' floating over their head. One kicks the others ass because he's better.

D&Der: Well you could gauge how much better one is then the other because of how many experience points they have.

BRPer: Oh, my game doesn't use experience points.

D&Der: ....

BRPer:....

D&Der: Then... how do... you get better at climbing walls and stuff?

BRPer: You don’t get better at climbing walls by killing goblins, you get better at climbling walls, by climbing walls.

D&Der: You got an opening in your game?

Like I said, I think this could be a good opportunity for BRP.

Rod

This is totally me too, after my Great RPG Revival of 2004, where I went from my previous AD&D 2e knowledge from childhood into 3.5e D&D. Here I am!