Naganubhratra (Space Marine Chapter)

I'm not super-duper into 40k. I've played some of the PC games and own a few of the Fantasy Flight Games RPGs (haven't tried them yet though). But the universe is an interesting exercise in over-the-top dystopian ridiculousness. So sometimes I get a cute idea for it.

Please, do not be offended by any of the following butchery of Sanskrit or the totally awesome history and culture of the Indian subcontinent.

Menae in Full crew, part 1: Away Team 1

These characters were actually the PCs in the game I briefly ran in this setting, with some notes/changes to protect the innocent.

Onion Headlines

Since college, I have applied for hundreds job postings. Being of a liberal arts bent, I've been rejected for the vast majority of those. Sometimes, the applications are surprisingly fun, like when I had written auditions for The Onion:

These were meant to be headlines for the screen crawl at the Onion News Network's screen.

Menae In Full - a Mass Effect RPG subsetting

The Mass Effect trilogy is probably the only PC RPG series I've actually managed to complete. Probably because I prefer sci-fi (even space opera) over fantasy. Regardless, it's an interesting universe with some room for tabletop play in an extended universe.

What I came up with for a tabletop ME game was the Menae In Full, a deep-survey vessel decommissioned from the Turian Navy for seeking out deactivated Mass Relays.

My Crazy Eberron Ideas

I love Keith Baker's Eberron Campaign Setting, originally created for D&D3.5. I love the pulp, the noir, the weird new character options and the attendant roleplaying opportunities, the integration of psionics, the weird countries, the moral gray areas. Ugh. I just love it. With that, this blog entry will chronicle my demented brainstorm ideas for future Eberron games, whether in D20, D&D 5e, or some other system.

Advance, Bulwark, Charge, Disperse

Combat systems in games are an interesting, and usually complicated, thing. There seems to be a spectrum between tactical vs. narrative combat, with some systems lying in-between. Typically, tactical systems utilize miniatures/counters/tokens/pawns* ("meeples") of some sort, either on a grid (square or hex, usually) or grid-less.

An intermediate system would be something linear, based on range charts and the lines of battle that have characterized much of the history of warfare. Even horticultural or pastoral tribes often have a kind of ritual "war" based on lining up the men of the disputing tribes and throwing blunt weapons until one side flees.

Inspiration credit goes to the podcast Hardcore History, reading A Song of Ice and Fire, watching Master & Commander, etc.

*Note: I like to use snack foods to indicate fodder enemies, letting the player who lands a blow eat the snack item. Very satisfying.

Post-apocalyptic character appearance generator

I love random tables. I don't always use them in gaming, but they sure make me laugh. They're also helpful for when the creative juices aren't flowing. 

Inspired by watching Mad Max: Fury Road in theaters, this set of tables let's you generate appearances for those left alive after it all goes to hell...

Feel free to weight the results, depending on the particular crippling mutations the local scavenger tribes have...

Massachusetts Intercollegiate Mecha League (MIML)

This is an idea I had that I think would make a very amusing tabletop RPG campaign, perhaps a good way to teach players rules for a Superhero or Mecha system. 

RPG setting in which Universities in MA compete for contracts to become the State of Massachusetts' official superhero.

Why Massachusetts? Because there's a lot of universities there in a relatively small area, particularly in metropolitan Boston.

Disney Pantheon and associated Domains (for 3.PF)

...Annnd let's start this blog with something really stupid. 

This was originally written up by a friend, and edited by me. 

Obviously all of them get the Good domain, 'cause . . . Disney. One could also argue giving the Animal Domain to pretty much any of them too, given the consistent Princess ability to talk to them. 

Disney Princess Pantheon (as a whole): Animal, Good, Nobility.

Because they're all nice princesses that are always being swarmed by friendly furry/feathery creatures. Duh. 

Snow White: Charm, Animal, Luck

1. Bashful: Protection
2. Doc: Knowledge  
3. Dopey: Earth
4. Grumpy: Darkness
5. Happy: Feast
6. Sleepy: Repose
7. Sneezy: Restoration

(I'm not so sure about the associated dwarf domains, but left it up anyway)

Cinderella: Animal, Illusion, Luck, Magic

Ariel: Passion, Transformation, Water

• Flounder: Travel
• Sebastian: Law
• Scuttle: Chaos

Jasmine: Animal, Nobility (ACTUAL PRINCESS), Trickery

Aurora (Sleeping Beauty): Repose, Illusion, Animal

Belle:  Knowledge ('Cause she's the smart one), Healing, Charm

• Chip: Trickery
• Mrs. Potts: Feast
• Lumiere: Fire
• Cogsworth: Law

Alice (demiprincess): Magic, Illusion, Chaos, Trickery

Tinkerbell (demiprincess*): Magic, Trickery, Travel

*She may be a pixie princess. I don't know, I haven't seen her solo outings, given the fact that I don't have a 3-year old daughter. 

Mulan (demiprincess): War, Liberation, Community (A Family or Ancestors domain would be good here)

• Mushu: Fire, Scalykind

Esmerelda (demiprincess): Chaos, Charm, Travel
Pocahontas: Animal, Plant, Weather
Tiger Lilly (does she actually do anything besides get kidnapped???): Charm, Nobility, Liberation ('cause she always gets rescued) (ed: nobody cares about Tiger Lily)

Merida - Animal, Earth, War?