Patreon
I'm making stuff again so a monthly fantasy 3fold and a larger booklet - a larger adventure zine or a larger work. Currently working on Exilon Book, Game System Book, Adventure/Simplified system (I have all art assets and mostly written i do want to playtest) and after those a Frog Magic book. Im feeling motivated to continue more output Im happy with. Lots of SF Horror adventures recently as that is what Im running at home.
EMO Blog
My readership has returned to 2016 levels for some reason and I don't feel I did much except possibly the SF Horror stuff seems to be of interest to people. So thank you if you a new reader or a returned reader. Its appreciated. I do like getting comments and they actually drive me to make more than money or hits (but they are nice and appreciated too).
Current Gaming
Im not running any DnD or fantasy games now which I hope to fix. Possibly when my horror sf game dies I will have a largely re-formatted EMO homebrew rules book with some features that will shock some players slightly as I address some balance issues. I am playing a DnD5 game where my new bad tactic is my eldarin magic thief makes themself look like an attractive female of whatever species we face and enter every room with a sexy acrobatic dance routine. While monsters all look the party ambush and kill them. Now other players say "cmon do your thing" when we go in a room. So yes I'm a horrible player. Also played some Gamma World - an edition id not played. It seems a bit more complex and with multiple score systems and clunkier. A few monster changes and weapons changes surprised me (some seemed arbitrary changes like shots and damage of a laser). The best thing is the factions which have moderate and extremist versions. This is fantastic and I will apply to my own faction-making. My main home game Im using call of Cthulhu and used to help me write my systemless horror stuff. I need to afford some hard copies of my books - Space and Auldwood.
What am I Buying:
DC Whos Who vol2, Dolemwood KS, Skerples Monster Overhaul
Tempted by Green Arrow Comp, a small mixer and FM synthesizer. KP3 khaoss pad
GURPS & Point-Buy Games
Gurps is a funny game because I have a 3-foot-thick section of product and I only played GURPS a few times 1st edition experiments. I loved Gurps v1-3 when every month a book would come out with a detailed historic or cultural book. Or a licensed SF book of some series I'd not quite been bothered to read. Books on genres, monster books, spell books, powers and abilities and more it was fantastic. I think the larger slower output colour books were not as interesting and lost the variety.
I can see why young ppl find the idea of making characters by weaponising disabilities and personal flaws so your heroes are all a mess. Champions I played 84-85 as it was a $5 gamebook but I preferred Marvel. I find point-building games like this a bit tedious now. If you can't pick up stuff and keep it limits what you can do in a game in an unrealistic manner. BRP Superworld was a bit better as characters made like all BRP humans then points were added on and you can go shopping with cash and pick up most stuff. Also, ppl would do odd things like minmax points by getting say flash vulnerability then a limited flash resistance and get extra points to profit and characters all predicated on this stuff seem a bit silly for every game. Top Secret/SI had an advantage/disadvantage system a bit simpler than GURPS bolted onto another game system and it feels better weighted.
GURPS $
I had a friend ask about how to manage a player-controlled organisation and my suggestion was Pendragon and mentioned trade in some games. Some ppl use a board game to simulate some things which is cute. But there is a game system we all kinda know and that is money and time. Really players want to start a spy org they will need a budget and you can look up some ballpark figures for a building, staff and hardware. Maybe GURPS economy really was the best universal RPG tool all along.
GURPS SF Setting Books
rating by school test card and mysteriously more generous than my previous 4 star system
Ogre - A
A RPG version of the nuclear war dystopia world of OGRE for a wargame where mega land leviathan tanks battle each other or whole armies of battlesuit troops with tac nukes. Vehicles, battlesuits and missiles and a grim world.
Reign of Steel - A+
One of my favourites. It describes a world dominated by AI with each computer having a different idea on human control and problems. Will be handy for my AI in my own setting and many of these ai states might make space colonies. There are AI generation tables
Alpha Centauri - A
Based on the computer game sequel to Civilisation where human colonies crash on Alph Centuri. The planet already has fueding aliens doing a terraforming and the j=humans have broken into factions that are all pretty interesting. I played the crap out of the computer game and its an interesting planet I can use in the future. Hmmm, I should get it from my GOG account.
Humanx - A
Based on a series where humans and an insectoid race are BFF for a change and describes a complete universe based on novels. It is nicely self-contained. I love the cover and find the setting guns and ship design theory interesting. Other alien species are described also.
Lensmen - B
Classic space opera novel inspired with shades of Green Lantern (cos lensmen was first) and mighty morphing power Rangers. Its not super useful to me but its still quite interesting a read and as an example of a space law enforcement game in an advanced cosmopolitan universe before Star Wars.
Uplift - A
Based on novels featuring humans and their uplifted animals meet galactic civilisation that has strict rules on uplifting and might wipe out humans who shouldn't exist. Weird legal dramas ensue and space adventures and some weird kink. Uplifted animal stuff is pretty cool and interesting and I will have more of it later - zoomorphic aliens all made by humans in the setting is fine by me instead of naturally occurring cat and bug and lizard ppl which gets old fast. A thinking person's tyranid swarm.
War Against The Chtorr - A+
Earth is overrun by biological terraforming ecology. It's wonderful and a bleak post-apoc setting. Lots about the invasion could be repeated on other planets. Kinda like Tyranids but the novels are probably older. I did play in an aftermath campaign based on this setting. You can have humans with big ordinances doing science and learning about the invaders which is cool.
Terradyne - A
A near-future setting with bases across system and mars semi-terraformed and a domineering mean-spirited corporation that get away with lots of bad stuff. Very dry think outland with corporate and political intrigue. It is probably pre-expanse book series development. The description and detail on mars terraforming and the inner planets is interesting. The Transuman space line possibly replaced and surpassed this. It's pretty close to the level of system exploitation as my own starting setting so a good read. Oddly enough the Buck Rogers RPG might be the closest to this.
Cthulhu Punk (mentioned in pt1) - B
Not really much in here - some of the organisations i might use. If you had any Cthulhu and cyberpunk games to mash together you won't need this
Blue Planet (mentioned in pt1) - A+
As my game has lots of ruins of aliens more than aliens this game setting will fit in fine. Has lots of interesting alien tech and abilities. I always wanted a Waterworld and this has done lots of work for me. Will be more in my later phase game after FTL. You could possibly drop it in Traveller or lots of games.
Mecha - B+
Pretty specific topic and trope genre guide and campaign ideas. Im not sure I'm ready for this and I have the BRP equivalent. Possibly my highest TL has ppl calling battlesuits from hyperspace and you can like Dragonball destroy planets in battles. I do have a bunch of miniatures that scale to my normal ones well - snaplock bandai kits i got cheap. If players really decide they want to fly around in a mech drop ship I guess I will let them. Im fine with going from clunky lower tech to more Evangelion mecha with FTL later. Anyway this book has some stuff to think over and like all GURPS books has a well-thought-out economy and price lists. Metkon is pretty sweet too.
Current Gaming
Im not running any DnD or fantasy games now which I hope to fix. Possibly when my horror sf game dies I will have a largely re-formatted EMO homebrew rules book with some features that will shock some players slightly as I address some balance issues. I am playing a DnD5 game where my new bad tactic is my eldarin magic thief makes themself look like an attractive female of whatever species we face and enter every room with a sexy acrobatic dance routine. While monsters all look the party ambush and kill them. Now other players say "cmon do your thing" when we go in a room. So yes I'm a horrible player. Also played some Gamma World - an edition id not played. It seems a bit more complex and with multiple score systems and clunkier. A few monster changes and weapons changes surprised me (some seemed arbitrary changes like shots and damage of a laser). The best thing is the factions which have moderate and extremist versions. This is fantastic and I will apply to my own faction-making. My main home game Im using call of Cthulhu and used to help me write my systemless horror stuff. I need to afford some hard copies of my books - Space and Auldwood.
What am I Buying:
DC Whos Who vol2, Dolemwood KS, Skerples Monster Overhaul
Tempted by Green Arrow Comp, a small mixer and FM synthesizer. KP3 khaoss pad
GURPS & Point-Buy Games
Gurps is a funny game because I have a 3-foot-thick section of product and I only played GURPS a few times 1st edition experiments. I loved Gurps v1-3 when every month a book would come out with a detailed historic or cultural book. Or a licensed SF book of some series I'd not quite been bothered to read. Books on genres, monster books, spell books, powers and abilities and more it was fantastic. I think the larger slower output colour books were not as interesting and lost the variety.
I can see why young ppl find the idea of making characters by weaponising disabilities and personal flaws so your heroes are all a mess. Champions I played 84-85 as it was a $5 gamebook but I preferred Marvel. I find point-building games like this a bit tedious now. If you can't pick up stuff and keep it limits what you can do in a game in an unrealistic manner. BRP Superworld was a bit better as characters made like all BRP humans then points were added on and you can go shopping with cash and pick up most stuff. Also, ppl would do odd things like minmax points by getting say flash vulnerability then a limited flash resistance and get extra points to profit and characters all predicated on this stuff seem a bit silly for every game. Top Secret/SI had an advantage/disadvantage system a bit simpler than GURPS bolted onto another game system and it feels better weighted.
GURPS $
I had a friend ask about how to manage a player-controlled organisation and my suggestion was Pendragon and mentioned trade in some games. Some ppl use a board game to simulate some things which is cute. But there is a game system we all kinda know and that is money and time. Really players want to start a spy org they will need a budget and you can look up some ballpark figures for a building, staff and hardware. Maybe GURPS economy really was the best universal RPG tool all along.
GURPS SF Setting Books
rating by school test card and mysteriously more generous than my previous 4 star system
Ogre - A
A RPG version of the nuclear war dystopia world of OGRE for a wargame where mega land leviathan tanks battle each other or whole armies of battlesuit troops with tac nukes. Vehicles, battlesuits and missiles and a grim world.
Reign of Steel - A+
One of my favourites. It describes a world dominated by AI with each computer having a different idea on human control and problems. Will be handy for my AI in my own setting and many of these ai states might make space colonies. There are AI generation tables
Alpha Centauri - A
Based on the computer game sequel to Civilisation where human colonies crash on Alph Centuri. The planet already has fueding aliens doing a terraforming and the j=humans have broken into factions that are all pretty interesting. I played the crap out of the computer game and its an interesting planet I can use in the future. Hmmm, I should get it from my GOG account.
Humanx - A
Based on a series where humans and an insectoid race are BFF for a change and describes a complete universe based on novels. It is nicely self-contained. I love the cover and find the setting guns and ship design theory interesting. Other alien species are described also.
Lensmen - B
Classic space opera novel inspired with shades of Green Lantern (cos lensmen was first) and mighty morphing power Rangers. Its not super useful to me but its still quite interesting a read and as an example of a space law enforcement game in an advanced cosmopolitan universe before Star Wars.
Uplift - A
Based on novels featuring humans and their uplifted animals meet galactic civilisation that has strict rules on uplifting and might wipe out humans who shouldn't exist. Weird legal dramas ensue and space adventures and some weird kink. Uplifted animal stuff is pretty cool and interesting and I will have more of it later - zoomorphic aliens all made by humans in the setting is fine by me instead of naturally occurring cat and bug and lizard ppl which gets old fast. A thinking person's tyranid swarm.
War Against The Chtorr - A+
Earth is overrun by biological terraforming ecology. It's wonderful and a bleak post-apoc setting. Lots about the invasion could be repeated on other planets. Kinda like Tyranids but the novels are probably older. I did play in an aftermath campaign based on this setting. You can have humans with big ordinances doing science and learning about the invaders which is cool.
Terradyne - A
A near-future setting with bases across system and mars semi-terraformed and a domineering mean-spirited corporation that get away with lots of bad stuff. Very dry think outland with corporate and political intrigue. It is probably pre-expanse book series development. The description and detail on mars terraforming and the inner planets is interesting. The Transuman space line possibly replaced and surpassed this. It's pretty close to the level of system exploitation as my own starting setting so a good read. Oddly enough the Buck Rogers RPG might be the closest to this.
Cthulhu Punk (mentioned in pt1) - B
Not really much in here - some of the organisations i might use. If you had any Cthulhu and cyberpunk games to mash together you won't need this
Blue Planet (mentioned in pt1) - A+
As my game has lots of ruins of aliens more than aliens this game setting will fit in fine. Has lots of interesting alien tech and abilities. I always wanted a Waterworld and this has done lots of work for me. Will be more in my later phase game after FTL. You could possibly drop it in Traveller or lots of games.
Mecha - B+
Pretty specific topic and trope genre guide and campaign ideas. Im not sure I'm ready for this and I have the BRP equivalent. Possibly my highest TL has ppl calling battlesuits from hyperspace and you can like Dragonball destroy planets in battles. I do have a bunch of miniatures that scale to my normal ones well - snaplock bandai kits i got cheap. If players really decide they want to fly around in a mech drop ship I guess I will let them. Im fine with going from clunky lower tech to more Evangelion mecha with FTL later. Anyway this book has some stuff to think over and like all GURPS books has a well-thought-out economy and price lists. Metkon is pretty sweet too.
Great stuff in this "series". I'm getting lots of ideas. Thanks and keep up the good work.
ReplyDeletethanks - i might try a video version
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