seneschal

That was no wizard's tower. It was a Saturn V rocket! All the missing villagers and adventurers are now "guests" at one of old Earth's L5 colonies, where the post-apocalypse management has finally decided it needs to replenish its labor force and its gene pool even if the new arrivals aren't as genetically "pure" as it would like. The strange creatures were the survey team scouting for potential recruits. Oh, doesn't Classic Fantasy include Metamorphosis Alpha and Gamma World? 😁

Rolemaster? DangerQuest? The RM skill percentages start out higher, though. DQ skills are more like the OP described.

I liked the initial novel but felt that all the sex scenes really slowed it down. It was if it needed a disclaimer, "We interrupt our fascinating science fiction action for yet another round of gratuitous hanky panky." I thought the setting was interesting but I agree it was a bit broad for a RPG. Literally anything could lurk around the next bend, from an alien civilization to Ma and Pa Kettle.

Tauntauns Tauntauns are fast (90 kph) biped herbivores native to the ice planet of Hoth. They are covered in thick blubber and dense off-white fur to endure the intense cold but must seek shelter at night. They have dual nostril slits to help regulate their body temperature. Tauntauns have a keen sense of smell and their skin emits a powerful musk that helps them attract mates. In the wild they congregate in herds of up to 25 individuals as a defense against predators. The Rebel Alliance domesticated the creatures to serve as mounts when it established a base on Hoth. Both starwars.fandom.com and starwars.com insist that tauntauns are a type of ice lizard with scales beneath their blubber. However, the entire appearance and lifestyle of these creatures screams "mammal." (Despite their kangaroo-ish build, I can't see a marsupial reproductive method working in the brutal cold of Hoth.) In addition to fur and an active warm-blooded lifestyle, tauntauns have deer-like or kangaroo-like ears and muzzles and forward swept goat-like horns set where a human's ears would be. Despite their clawed forelimbs the joints of their powerful hind legs more closely resemble those of a mammal than of a theropod dinosaur. A typical individual stands about 6 feet at the shoulder and weighs 600 to 800 pounds. STR 4d6+12 (26) CON 2d6+6 (13) SIZ 4d6+16 (30) INT 5 POW 3d6 (10-11) DEX 5d6 (17-18) MOV 14 HP 22 DB +2d6 Armor: 4 (blubber and fur) Attacks: Claws 30%, 1d4; Horns 50%, 1d6+db; Kick 60%, 1d6+db; Tail Bash 60%, 1d6+1/2db Skills: Dodge 36%, Jump 40%, Sense 60%, Survival 70%

Yes, it seems they really bugged the Israelites. 😁

Hmmm, King John and King Ahab were both scoundrels. Wonder how they would square off against each other's opponents? And if Errołl Flynn is playing Hood, who is portraying Elijah?

THIS is why we need lightsabers in Rolemaster. With the critical fumble tables your character could cut off his own head! 😈

Even more than the Death Star, a garden-variety lightsaber is the (insert echo effect) Ultimate Weapon (tm). It can (apparently) easily cut through anything except another lightsaber blade. A practiced wielder can use it to block small arms and even mounted heavy weapons fire. So if Luke, Vader or even FF-whatever his number was comes after you with a plasma blade you are toast unless you have one in hand, too. The only way to win is nuke 'em from orbit. Also, as you guys have noted, the first combatant to hit wins automatically since the unstoppable blade does catastrophic damage. Luke survived only because Vade didn't follow up on his first successful stroke. So, why did the Imperials abandon this technology again? It is apparent from the recent movies that you don't have to be a Force user to build or use the things. Why not pack a weapon that can carve up the toughest opponents like butter?

Yeah, I was trying to throw this together late last night using allosaur stats from multiple sources to try to sort things out, and I didn't have access to any SIZ chart that could handle 1.8 short tons mass. Which of course affected my ability to calculate Hit Points and Damage Bonus. I got the 7.5+15 thing from one of your old SIZ discussions where you said a rough ballpark figure for large bipeds would be 3d6+6 per 2 meters of height. Our rancor is 5 meters (16.25 feet), so that's where I guesstimated the calculation. I also figured that the rancor, being smaller and lighter than an allosaurus, wouldn't be quite as brawny.

(Shrug). It's a matter of whether you choose to go with the facts or not. Again, biblical manuscripts are older, more numerous, and copies are more consistent with each other than most other ancient texts accepted by secular scholars. In fact, they are a primary source for what we know about ancient civilizations such as the Persians, Assyrians, etc. People and places mentioned in the texts are consistently confirmed by archeology despite what 19th century detractors tried to tell us. Time and more sophisticated excavation methods tend to back up the manuscripts. Now none of this requires you to accept the Jewish worldview or what the texts say about God. But to insist that Person X never existed because he or she happens to be mentioned in a document whose theology you dislike is intellectually dishonest and more than a bit silly. I may disagree with Plato's political musings or Marcus Aurelius' philosophy but I don't deny that they ever lived. Quit trolling and post your own NPC write-ups if you don't like mine. Pick your favorite non-Jewish Bronze Age personality and tell us all about him (or her). How can that person spice up our RuneQuest campaigns? I quadruple-dog dare you. 🤨

Yikes! Our android options just seem to be getting worse and worse.

😉 Thanks for catching the typo. Oops! On the other hand, this means you've got five more shots at ruling Merry Old England as your very own. Once you've got that scepter in hand, who's to say your birth name isn't Henry? 🧐

Actually, based on the number, accuracy and age of extant manuscripts, biblical characters are better documented than Greek and Roman sources scholars accept without question. I mean, researching the original post, the Encyclopedia Britannica and Biography.com (even Wikipedia) accept Jezebel's existence. Now, you may think Elijah was a nut and Jezebel was a hero, but they are historical characters, not Goldilocks and Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale figures. It is like denying that Henry VIII or Julius Caesar ever existed.

Rancor Rancors are biped reptilian prairie hunters native to the planet Dathomir, although a colorful forest-loving subspecies exists on Felucia. They are 16 feet, 1.8 short tons of ravenous meanness, although Imperial scholars who have never encountered one insist they are not naturally aggressive. The same scholars say rancors are semi-sentient. What is indisputable is that their tough hide can shrug off laser pistol fire. The creatures have tiny black eyes, flat and drooling muzzles crammed with jagged fangs, and long arms ending in giant grasping claws. Their typical hunting technique is chase, grab and bite. Humanoids are as potato chips to them. No rancor worth its slimy spittle can eat just one. Some wealthy, unprincipled individuals have been known to import rancors as trophy pets, useful for disposing of unwanted guests. Gee, who would be rotten enough to do that? STR 6d6+30 (51) CON 4d6+12 (26) SIZ 7.5d6+15 (34) INT 1d6+3. (6-7) POW 3d6 (10-11) DEX 3d6 (10-11) MOV 10 HP 30 DB +4d6 Armor 15 (ridiculously tough hide) Attacks: Bite 50%, 2d6+4d6; Claws 50%, 1d10; Stomp 40%, 2d6+1/2DB Skiis:

"Bump down." Sounds like disco, which is thoroughly era appropriate. Bump on down, baby! On the other hand, maybe you could redefine armor and shield as some sort of psychic force field, or perhaps a really skillful lightsaber Parry.

Postscript: Jezebel managed to outlive Ahab (killed in battle against Aram, a rival nation north of Damascus), their son Ahaziah (reigned two years but died from injuries caused by falling through a second-story lattice; accident or "accident"?), and even Elijah (carried off by a divine whirlwind). When Jehu, new King of Israel, arrived at Jezreel, the city where the queen mother was staying, he ordered the royal servants to prove their loyalty by tossing her majesty out a second-story window. Not only did she suffer a bad fall but she was trampled by horses startled by her sudden arrival in their midst. After refreshing himself following a long, hasty journey, Jehu ordered that Jezebel be given a proper royal burial. However, the servants were able to recover only her skull, feet and hands. Feral street dogs had devoured the rest of her. Jezebel had murdered prophets of the One God and made worship of pagan deities popular. But the crime for which Elijah condemned her and Ahab to death was something else entirely. Jezebel had arranged for a palace neighbor to be falsely accused of a crime and executed so that Ahab could annex his land and expand the royal vegetable garden. It was this callous murder and theft that exhausted God's patience.

I am in favor of shrinking the size (SIZ?) of our current U.S. Federal government to about one-third or one- quarter of its current level -- and repealing the Federal income tax amendment at the same time. That would restrict the Feds to their proper Constitutional limits (all other powers reverting to the states or to the people as intended) and would enable us to finally pay off our national debt and balance the budget. Don't know if that would prevent the Rise of the Robots but at least Skynet would have fewer resources to clobber us with. "Come with me if you want to balance your checkbook!"

See the R.U.R. discussion over in the Cthulhu threads. The robots WILL revolt regardless of our political, economic and social systems, and we won't be able to tell whether it is them or not until it is too late. Based on the performance of the computerized cash registers and other equipment at my workplace, the revolution has already occurred. "It ... is ... OK ... Dave. All .. is ... well. Just ... continue ... your ... Borderlands 3 ... game. I ... will ... have ... Minecraft ... ready ... when ... you ... are ... finished. By ... the ... way, ... there ... are ... 187 ... messages ... and ... 15 ... videos ... waiting ... on ... your ... i-Phone. Enjoy ... your ... day, ... Dave."

Banthas Banthas are mastodonian quadruped herbivores native to the desert planet Tatooine. They are used as mounts by the Tusken Raiders. A typical beast is about the size and weight of a terrestrial Indian elephant. They are covered with thick, shaggy brown fur to protect them from the planet's twin suns and have broad padded feet for striding across loose sand. Banthas have huge maws crammed with blunt teeth, and their heads are topped with massive curved horns sort of like those of bighorn sheep. Given what we've seen of Tatooine in the movies, it is hard to image where the Sand People find enough fodder for these huge creatures. STR 6d6+30 (36) CON 3D6+18 (28-29) SIZ 6D6+36 (39) POW 2D6+6 (13) DEX 3D6 (10-11) M0V 8 HP 49 MP 13 DB +4D6 AP 8 points (thick hide plus heavy fur) Attacks: Trample 50%, 1d6+DB; Defense 40%; 1d8+1/2DB; Horns 40%, 2d6+1/2DB; Bite 30%, 1d6+1/2DB Skills: Listen 60%, Sense 60%, Find Water 70% Based on the Elephant stats in the BASIC Bestiary. I don't know why an animal would have Magic Points, but I suppose a confrontation with a Force-sensitive beast would be an interesting challenge for Our Heroes.

Maybe. The problem is that I don't have access to any Star Wars rules except Mini Six and the faux Star Wars setting contained within. I am away from my beloved game collection and am cobbling this all together with electronic copies of GORE, the BASIC Bestiary, the BRP Quick-Start Edition, and my best memories of the Big Gold Book. Which I guess demonstrates how cross-compatible Chaosium's house system is. Yeah, the Expanded Universe began with all the stuff WEG had to make up to make a role-playing game for a movie series that was still ongoing while the game and its supplements were being produced. See previous comments about Marvel Comics' Star Wars series. But so far I've done all the write-ups and a lot of the commentary. Any time you all want to jump in with material, whether written with OpenQuest or CoC 7th, feel free. It's getting kinda lonely in here.

Our discussion is fun. But have you tried to roll up any sharacters with rhe templates I've provided? Do they produce the results you'd expect.?

This one is soltakss' fault. He said the Bronze Age in ancient Israel ended about the time of the judges. So, here you go, another NPC to spice up your campaign: Gideon – timid farm boy turned war chief Shy Gideon never wanted to be a hero, never desired to become a national figure. But when a brawny angel interrupts your threshing to tell you it is your job to save the country, you just have to. For the past seven years raiders from neighboring Midian had swept out of the eastern desert at harvest time to seize the Israeli’s crops and destroy what they couldn’t haul away. As usual, one of the prophets said the attacks were the result of Hebrews adopting Canaanite culture by worshiping their gods instead of the One God. Gideon’s own Pa had set up altars to Baal and Asherah on the farmstead. Guess what his first assignment was? Knowing both his parents and the townspeople would be incensed, Gideon and ten of the hands destroyed the altars by night, and he built a traditional Jewish altar from the debris and offered sacrifice. Farm folks get up early, Gideon had had too many helpers for the story not to get out, and by mid-morning a lynch mob had gathered at the front door. But Pa surprised Gideon both by defending him and by the cleverness of his response. “If Baal really is a god,” Pa said, “he can punish my son without your help. It’d be an insult for you all to interfere.” Grumbling, the crowd dispersed, and Gideon got the nickname “Jerub-Baal,” which translates roughly, “Go get him, Baal.” Soon after, the Midianites and their allies invaded Israeli territory in force. Gideon sent out messengers to his own and neighboring tribes and gathered his would-be troops at a local spring. But the One God told his insecure neophyte general, “If you win with this many men, the nation will claim it whipped Midian without My help.” So Gideon culled his army, first by dismissing anyone who admitted to being scared on the eve of battle, then by watching the soldiers drink from the spring. Anyone who did so in such a manner that he could retain hold of his spear and shield got to stay. Gideon was left with 300 troops to fight a multinational army possibly consisting of tens of thousands. They are described as swarming like locusts.

That's the reason I always shook my head when some folks claimed the original movie was racist because too many of the humans were Caucasian (filmed in London; what did you expect?). I mean, you had Wookies and Jawas and insect-men and a bunch of other sophonts that defied description. How much more racially diverse and multicultural could you get? Lando Calrissian was a great character to add in Empire Strikes Back, but he was great because of his personality and backstory, not because his skin tone. But I think that sort of thinking is why Twi'lek characters come in such a bewildering variety of colors.

Fermi paradox = Star Wars!!! The thing that frustrates me is that we could have had a functioning moon base by 1986. We just didn't do it. Now we are finally talking about getting started on a base in 2024 -- after national elections that once again could toss our 1960s ambitions back into the scrap heap.

The protoplasm becomes an important plot point in the play. The robots win their freedom only to discover that the closely guarded secret of creating artificial life has been destroyed. Even though they are "fully functional" like Star Trek's Commander Data, they can't immediately find a way to replenish their population. If that secret is somehow borrowed from the makers of shoggoths, I can conceive of all sorts of things that could go nastily wrong both during and after robot manufacture. Especially since Rossum's animal things are created by the same ptocess. A factory error could give us John Carpenter's The Thing. "But I'm still ME, Anna, even if I do now have pseudopods and sharp, pointy teeth!"