Suriel

Well, I love to say: "Just have a good party, when I die! And I want the Rudyard Kipling poem on my tomb stone!"

But I know that won't happen of course. Some people will be sad, some people will be glad, perhaps...

And those I care about should be sad at my funeral. They can be sad and sobbing that one day and then continue with life.

I think funerals are made for the living, not for the dead.

Simms went back to his partners and told them about the cat.

"Artificial little spy kitty?",he asked, "Could be why the bastards knew Gaff and you were about to hit them. Oh, and I checked the registry. The name Frederick Tomlin ring any bell? Some hacker they busted. Perhaps they chose their names from the newspapers. Or they really had a connection with that hacker. We can ask for background on that bust later. Anything else we have to check out here?"

And possibly the keenest ancestry tracker in the world?

Eh, well... 15 pts and I AM german... Some facts:

I think the guys name whom we all owe OK to is Oskar Krause, not Otto Krause.

We don't say good-bye to people we meet in an elevator

People who drink Diesel (Beer/Cola mix) are considered insane...

etc...

I went to the KDW Flashmob here in Berlin. Huge media coverage. I won't be there on thursday in London, but I'd go to any fun regional mob again.

Sadly I didn't bring my digi cam, I was in the area for shopping actually, and had to be "alarmed" to the event by a friend via SMS, even though I read the article before. Sad thing I call a memory... Next time I definitely will take lots of pics!

The good thing about it all: There ain't no political dimension to it. As you stated in your article, it's all for fun.

Of course, some people are already speculating that this will change once organisations like, let's say Greenpeace, realize that these events can be exploited for their own goals (as I said HUGE media coverage...).

I don't see that happening yet and I hope it never will.

Nice garden, btw...

LMAO! That's... INCREDIBLE!!!

That guy must have been brain-

I think this scam is beautiful! I received so many of these emails in my time, I gonna start my own!

FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION:

I AM TEASER MAKRELE I AM FROM GERMANY. I AM RECENTLY OUT OF A RPG GROUP. MY OLD PLAYERS ALL MOVED AWAY AFTER THEIR CHARACTERS DIED AS A RESULT

OF INJURIES RECEIVED IN THE HANDS OF REBEL SOLDIERS IN BENIN.

THEY WERE INVOLVED IN SYKO TRADE IN THE REBEL-CONTROLLED REGIONS

OF BENIN, THE FORMER REBEL SOLDIER LEADER JOEY MEANY WAS THEIR BUSINESS PARTNER IN THAT MUNCHKIN SCENARIO.

UNFORTUNATELY JOEY MEANY WAS KILLED BY NPC HIT TEAMS IN FEBRUARY LAST YEAR.

THE NEW LEADERS OF THE REBEL GROUP DECIDED TO CONTINUE DEALING WITH MY PLAYERS, BUT RESTRICT THEIR ACCESS TO CYBERWARE. ALONG THE

LINE A SHARP DISAGREEMENT EVOLVED WITH REGARDS TO POWERLEVEL OF THE CAMPAIGN AND MY LACK OF INVOLVEMENT WITH A POTATO CHIPS AND COLA/BEER FUND SET UP BY MY PLAYERS

IN BERLIN/KREUZBERG WITH A SMALL DRUG STORE DOWNSTAIRS.

THIS FUND WAS TO THE BENEFIT OF ALL OF US, SINCE WE MIGHT LOSE TRACK OF BEER CONSUMED BUT THE SALES GUY DOWNSTAIRS WATCHED THE BOTTLES AS IF THEY WERE DIAMONDS. MY PLAYERS DENIED ME THE ACCESS TO SUCH FUNDS. THEY SUBSEQUENTLY MOVED AWAY AND NOW I NO LONGER HAVE A RPG GROUP.

BEFORE MY PLAYERS MOVED AWAY, THEY INTIMIDATED ME WITH ALL THE DETAILS OF HOW MUCH BEER THEY HAD PAID FOR ME AND THEY WROTE TO THE DOWNSTAIRS SHOP NOT TO BE SAD, INFORMING THEM THAT IF I EVER MOVED THEY WOULD BE BACK AND FINANCE HIM AGAIN WITH EVEN HIGHER LEVELLED DRINKING ORGIES.

I AM SENDING YOU THIS MAIL TO SOLICIT YOUR ASSISSTANCE IN HELPING ME GET BACK MY PLAYERS AND MY CREDIBILITY WITH THE BEER SHOP.  I AM WHITE, UNMARRIED, THE FAMILY NEVER SUPPORTED ME BEING INVOLVED WITH ROLEPLAYING.

SINCE MY PLAYERS MOVED, THE FAMILY HAS TAKEN OVER MY WEEKENDS AND WANT ME TO PLAY SCRABBLE WITH THEM ALL SUNDAY.

I HAVE THREE-THOUSAND NPCs THAT NEED TO BE TAKEN CARE OFF, THIS BEER IN THE SHOP IS MY LAST

HOPE OF GIVING MY LIFE A PROPER SENSE.

IF YOU ARE WELL DISPOSED TO HELPING ME, YOU CAN FURNISH ME WITH YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER VIA

MAIL SO THAT WE CAN DISCUSS ON HOW TO INVOLVE YOU IN PAYING MY DUES AT THE SHOP AND GETTING MY PLAYERS SHIPPED BACK HERE. THE FUND IN QUESTION IS 336,45 EUROS ONLY (EURO: 336,45).

I HUMBLY AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE.

YOURS FAITHFULLY,

TEASER MAKRELE.

21.69625% - Geek

I'd agree with that...

Of course there's also sites like www.booklocker.com out there. But I'd say you are better off on your own, since you have an audience here already.

Yes, I'd agree. If you have Acrobat, use it.

Set up the download for free and password protect some regions of the EBook. It's easy.

Give a code to those who pay for it. Shareware's almost always the best concept in such deals and a PDF file can be brought to any copy shop for print.

If you have a basic knowledge of JavaScript, you can also enter "life content" then. A part of the EBook that checks for updates on your server.

Hm... I almost never use pre-supplied backgrounds, so I normally write a folder for my players where they can look up the info I want them to know.

This is mostly background info only, no rules stuff. It's enough if I have to learn the rules. (And I only read the stuff I want to use...)

I think it's wrong to label a player that doesn't want to read through a whole background as "lazy". It's your job as a storyteller to present a believable world to the players. I really HATE it if players read through the rule book and then think everything that's written there is law.

Then again, I usually spend at least five hours with each player in a personal character generation/prelude session, so there's much time to introduce them to the gaming world.

The CGIs shouldn't be a problem... Tell me what you need, I can most probably supply it.

Three events of that kind in the next three days here in Berlin? Wow, I definitely need to check them out.

About 8 years ago, I wrote a letter to White Wolf, asking them for permission to publish some scenarios of my own for their system. They were really supportive, although they couldn't do much for the german license of all their products had already been sold to Feder&Schwert.

When you check out White Wolf today, there's not much of the original staff left. And, yes, they turned quality down and went for munchkin clans and concepts...

And yes, I think they got a decent living out of it.

Still, I wish them well...

I agree. Examples for back-stabbing characters who're justified to do so would be:

Nate - A Terrorist. Nice bloke, but would kill his closest buddy if he thinks he is a danger for The Cause. Would also plant "dirty bombs". Considering the nature of bombs, what are "tidy bombs" anyway?

Virgil - Assassin/Syndicate Commander. He actually likes killing. He went over the edge when he had to strangle his sister. He wouldn't kill for no reason, but he would if he thinks one of his subordinates ain't loyal.

Jesus Merced - Son of a Medellin Cartel boss - Yes, he can have quite a temper, too.

Hammer - Definitely a psychopath, likes to kill/maim people using a sledgehammer. Still, he creates fear and that's what his boss likes him for.

Due to an php error we've changed to auxiliary boards. These are linked to the HTML pages of Chromechilds at www.chromechilds.com.

Finally! Good to see you're back!

I think I was one of the first in germany to own the first soft cover edition of Vampire. I really loved the 2nd Edition, too.

But this really makes me happy!

I had feared for Demigod: The Beating

and Omnipotence: The Cashmaker

Let them all rest in peace after January 14th...

Well... The only bad publicity is no publicity, so Phipps is right in a way. But actually I would really WISH for that game to become popular, for it would weed out all the jerks that would otherwise try to satisfy their sad needs at decent RPGs.

For I guess one would need the intelligence of an below-average banana to actually take this thing serious. (Oh, now I introduced some phallic fruit here! They will LOVE it!)

So, where's the harm?

Face it, that product will never be popular. No-one will publish it, it will end up as print-on-demand. No-one will order it.

And for that radical christian guys and the whole biz of making RPGs respectable in the eyes of the public:

That's another thing to face, it will never happen. They will never end to demonize us gamers, for there ain't that many witches running through the woods anymore. No-one in his/her right mind takes them serious.

The Public: Well, it takes some imagination to be a gamer. They don't criticize writers, cause they got paid for using their imagination. It's a JOB. (Well, I'd say about 3% get paid for it, the rest of them are stupid idiots wasting their time, just like us... Until they, like King or Rowling, have their breakthrough... Or for all their life.)

Gamers don't get paid for using their imagination, so it must be wrong. (Although I know a guy who does those GM seminars... Real shitty stuff, but he gets paid for it... Rambling on for hours about why "Magic Sword above +3 level should not be introduced into a balanced D&D campaign...")

To be exaxt, I can't be grateful enough. It's like playing SIMS, that Character generator:

---------------------------F.A.T.A.L. Character------------------------------------

              Copyright © 2000-2003 Fatal Games. All Rights Reserved.

------------------------General Character Information------------------------------

Character Name: Redwald Gender: M Race: Dark Elf

Player Name: Occupation:

Homeland: Level: Religion:

Height: 45 Weight: 59 Siblings: 2 Social Class: Serf

Age: 675 Eyes: Black Skin Color: Black

Marital Status: Unhappily Married Birthrank: 1st

Birth Status: Legitimate  Hair Color: Auburn  Hair Type: Thin, balding, frizzy

Hair Length: 29 Vision: Perfect natural vision

Facial Feature:  Large eyes

Perceived as luxurious and unstable

Birthplace: Capital City Birthdate:7/6/4425

Most Attactive Feature: Crotch Most Repulsive Feature: Hair

Appearance:

Notes:

----------------------------Character Abilities-------------------------------------

Sub-ability           Score Mods

__

PHYSIQUE:               82  -18

Physical Fitness:       72  -30 Sprint: 16

Strength:               39  -75 Damage: -75%  C&J: 3  Bench: 5  DL: 8

Bodily Attractiveness:  83  -18

Health:                136   11 Int/Vom: -50%  All: 0  Ill. Imm.: 86%

CHARISMA:              112    4

Facial:                108    2 Description: Plain

Vocal:                 120    6 Description: Avoids 'uh' or 'um'

Kinetic:               109    3 Description: Ordinary

Rhetoric:              114    4 Avg. Speech: 160 or 180 (50%)

DEXTERITY:             102    0

Hand-Eye Coordination: 101    0 Finger Prec: 1/16 inch

Agility:               109    3 CA Bonus: 2  Brawl: 2  Stand: 3

Reaction Speed:         85  -15 Deep Sleep Recov: 2

Enunciation:           113    4 Max Speech: 240  Casting: -10%

INTELLIGENCE:          114    4

Language:              121    7 #: 4  Vocab: Perniciousness

Math:                   89  -12 Highest Math: Fractions

Analytical:            130   10

Spatial:               117    5 Unfamiliar Object Assembly: 1000

WISDOM:                107    2

Drive:                 115    5 Hours Resting: 13

Intuition:             108    2

Common Sense:           97   -3 Likely to: -

Reflection:            110    3 Earliest memory at: age 3

Life Points: 13 Unconscious: 2

Piety Points: 29 Magic Points:

-------------------------------------Disposition------------------------------------

Ethicality: 85 Morality: 92

You are: Neutral w/Ethical tendencies Moral w/Neutral tendencies

-------------------------------------Temperament------------------------------------

Sanguine: 62 Choleric: 78 Melancholic: 49 Phlegmatic: 25

Primary Temperament: Choleric Secondary Temperament: Sanguine

-------------------------------------Starting Funds---------------------------------

Silver Pieces: 2

------------------------------------Mental Illnesses--------------------------------

Illness 1: phobia: Kolpophobia - Fear of genitals, particularly female

--------------------------------------Allergies-------------------------------------

None

------------------------------------Rare Features-----------------------------------

Handedness: Right-handed

Foot Size: 6

Head Cicumference: 21.4264

-----------------------------------Sexual Features----------------------------------

Vaginal Circumference Potential: 5 Vaginal Depth Potential: 4.65667

Anal Circumference Potential: 5 Nipple Length: 0.25

Cup Size: AA Hymen Resistance: 61

Areola Diameter: 1 Areola Hue: Light

Tongue Size: 1 Sexuality: Heterosexual

Debauchery: 21

Well, it IS the worst game ever, after all, I guess....

This could easily get the longest ongoing ping-pong rant ever! Perhaps even 900+ pages long! Someone alarm Guiness book of records...

I have to agree with the authors on one point.

When I read RPG.net 's review of the game, it took a real long time before they came up with any real arguments.

Now, the fun of reading the review and the reaction to the review is obvious:

(Ping) RPG.NET rants about how bad the game is...

... ... .. .. . . ..... . . .. . .. .

(Pong) Fatalgames says the game is still in development and the review is wrong at all points of criticism.

No fun so far... So let's have a look at the secret main message:

(Get out your Militech Combat magnifying glass and read between the lines above or go for the low-tek version below)

Both are so amusing through word artistry and constantly contradicting their own argumentative positions.

Example:

(From Fatalgames)

"As a preface, understand that their fear caused them to react emotionally. Their attempted review is only an emotional outburst and lacks substance.  I do not need to rely on emotional appeals (no matter how funny and persuasive they can be), and will show the stupidity of their arguments, point by point, with reason. Although rhetoric is effective, it is the lowest form of debate."

(...later...)

"Wrong. I don't have a brother (Are you projecting? What was your brother like?),..."

"Judging by the level of Jason's criticism alone, I can't help but think that Jason would surely fail a comparison between my sex life and his. Why are we even talking about sex life?"

I can understand that. I don't like flamewars on my forums and I can react quite gruffy if my work is attacked in a non-constructive way. Although I would suggest some research into the Platonic Dialogues, since the game has a greek background. Phaidon will be of special interest.

Fatal wouldn't be a game for me, I'm sure. I don't need rules for rapes (even if it's only 2 pages out of 900...). Even if there've been billions through history... Even if the whole human race is the work of rapists. It's a terrible terrible thing and IF something like that ever happens in a game of mine, it will be a terrible terrible scene and NO DICE WILL BE ROLLED.

My goal would be for my players to have nightmares about it ever after and never force me to play such a scene again...

But perhaps, once the final version with the good pics, etc, is out there, some people (I don't know any) might feel inclined to read a 900 pages rule book. And pay the money for such a bible...

But I really want to thank the authors and RPG.NET for the opportunity to have a good laugh for a change.

Surprisingly I was "inducted" into RPGing when I was about eleven with Cthulhu as a starter. Yes, admitted, even though our GM was five years older than me, it was a harsh start.

And although the campaign was based on Cthulhu rulebook, it was more like "Rage across the US" really.

Afterwards, DSA (Das Schwarze Auge, transl.: The Black Eye). It's a fantasy RPG you just cannot escape in germany. I didn't like it much, but our GM was good and my fellow players, too (for thirteen year olds, the young knights of teenagerdom).

Then a bit of D&D and later AD&D, didn't like the combat system much, but it was altogether more "mature" than DSA.

Afterwards, there was a long series of RPGs we tried, including Paranoia, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Midgard, etc... until Vampire was published.

Stayed with Vampire for a long time. Then school was over and everyone I knew, including me, scattered to the edges of the known world.

Took me some time to found a new "permanent" troupe, but this one were actors I got to know through my studies and they made me see RPGing in a whole new light. (The first of two experiences that made me stick with it). They really went into character and it was great fun to play with them...

Four years later, I had to move again, this time to Berlin. I found a new group almost immediately, the one I still play with to this day, although some went, others came, etc. Same circle... At that time, I really felt burnt-out. I like to play, I also like to "master" (I really will sponsor Mark-Rein Hagen a beer, if I ever meet him in person for introducing the term "storyteller" instead of "Dungeon Master" or "Games Master"...)... So, I really like to tell a story...

But I had the feeling I had already done it all, played it all, went through all the possible plots.

I think it was then that I discovered that I really needed to invest more, if I wanted RPGing to remain my hobby.

I realized this in the course of a single night, the night before we would meet next time to play. I called it off and went over the plot again... The change is really hard to describe, - sketches to screenplay, perhaps - but I felt it and ever since, RPGing has been fun again for me.

Cyberpunk 2020: I always longed to play a plot in a world like the one Neuromancer depicts. I never found the right system to do so and - although I did start several times - I was too lazy to create one of my own. (Usually, I "adapt" systems so much, they could as well be my own later... Lack of foundation in that case. Fading Suns, one of the shittiest SciFi RPGs I ever had the honor to buy for 5 dollars, was the basis for my own version of "Dune RPG", for example...).

Cyberpunk2020 (2nd try): Used book in a local RPGing store. Starting price: about 15 dollars. Price went down by about 5 dollars a month. Bought it when it was at five.

I liked the simplicity of the rules. Quick, deadly (as long as you ignore everything that turns a human into a tank... As I said: Neuromancer, not Megapanzer...)

I don't think it's so surprising that they wrote it... It's surprising they SHOWED it to anyone and even PUBLISHED it on the Internet.

To be fair I must say, I only read the quotes at RPG.net...

To be unfair I must say, I don't want to read the real thing to validate their review.

My own preferences (only choosing from well known stock):

Armitage: Hm, tough soldier, potential for a certain hidden madness. A bit older... A bit wasted... : Gabriel Byrne perhaps. Or that guy from the last Almodovar movie "Talk to her"... Don't remember his name... The writer. Yes, he'd be better.

Case: Tough one... Always tough with the main characters...

Strangely, a lot of dead actors come to my mind... Edward Norton, perhaps.

Molly: Hmmm... She ought to be just as tough as Vasquez in Aliens... Bigger, short-cropped hair... Not a Trinity... Not Demi "Baldhead" Moore, either... There's so many of them and I can't put a name to a single one...  

Mhhh... Will think about it some more later...

It's a tick of mine. If I see a good movie, I want to know something about the director, the actors I found intriguing, etc...

I admire Cunningham's work so far and hope he will make his big league debut a good one.

Whom would you like to play Case, Molly, Armitage, etc?