It helped, being a scion of a baronial house in the Grand Duchy of Hermes, Falkayn reflected. To be sure, he was a younger son; and he’d left at an early age, after kicking too hard against the traces that aristocrats were supposed to carry; and he hadn’t visited his home planet since. But some… Continue reading Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Encounters
Sorry about missing a Traveller Tuesday; I’ve been dealing with some of the fallout from the Great TARGA Porn Debacle. It’s mostly been dealt with, though there will be a lot of interesting and potentially productive results from all that. Meanwhile, I have my players’ map of their delving into Xylarthen’s Tower to share with… Continue reading Distracted just a little
Just got back from GaryCon – and it’s not even over! Due to a perfect storm of multiple events scheduled on the same weekend, I was only able to spend some time yesterday at GaryCon. But what a time it was – I had a chance to see various lions of the hobby: Frank Mentzer,… Continue reading GaryCon!
I personally find it bizarre that some corners of the OSR think we should be spending our time debating how ethical it is to have mentions of sex and adult intimacy in reference to a game which has been semi-humorously summarized as being all about “killing things and taking their stuff.”Of course, I could be… Continue reading Being An Arbiter of Taste
Technological index may vary from 0 to 18, more commonly ranging from 4 through about 10. Higher numbers indicate greater capacity….The technological index is used in conjunction with the technological level table to determine the general quality and capability of local industry. The tables indicate the general types or categories of goods in general use… Continue reading Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Tech Levels, Part 3 of 3
The next morning, he and Harkaman took an aircar and went to look at the city at the forks of the river. It was completely new, in the sense that it had been built since the collapse of Federation civilization and the loss of civilized technologies. It was huddled on a long, irregularly triangular mound,… Continue reading Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Tech Levels, Part 2
Original D&D cost $10. That’s a fact. Using any of a number of online inflation calculators (I used this one), we can see that what cost $10 in 1974 would cost approximately $43 in today’s money. In 1974, the minimum wage was approximately $2/hour, which would be worth a little over $8/hour in today’s money.… Continue reading Cold Hard Facts
Tech levels in Classic Traveller have always been a subject of debate. Back in 1977, what was interesting was seeing the range of tech levels, and what they meant. Because of the relatively “gritty” feel of the original game – firearms and cutlasses on the ground, lasers and missiles in space – there was a… Continue reading Traveller Tuesday: 1977 Edition Tech levels
So I read over on the Escapist about “Read an RPG Book in Public Week” – I think this is a grand idea. I’ve been known to be reluctant to read my role-playing games in public, but that was because of unfinished-dissertation-guilt more than anything else. I’m going to have to think about it, but… Continue reading This looks like fun! Read an RPG Book in Public!
I’m having an epiphany of sorts. For a very long time, I thought that the idea of “race as class” was just plain weird. Why couldn’t a dwarf be a fighter? Why can’t a hobbit be a thief? It seemed very strange to me, reading about this in Moldvay/Mentzer Basic D&D. “It’s about the focus… Continue reading Race as Class
