Picked up a couple of gaming goodies the other day...

GURPS Atlantis and GURPS Planet Krishna.

I'm sure the first is making you go. "ahhh." and probably the second is making you go "huh".

The second is based on the Viagens Interplantarias novels of L. Sprague de Camp. You should at least recognize the author's name. If not, I have a remedial course on seminal SF/F writers for you. :grin: The VI stories mainly center around a low tech planet called Krishna, which a Brazilian dominated Earth discovers. Not quite a Prime Directive, Earth forbids anyone going to Krishna to bring advanced technology or knowledge of same to the natives.

Inside that framework, Krishna is very much a reimagined Barsoom. Green skinned Princesses! Scheming potentates! Strange and sundry creatures in the wild! Pulp fun and adventure! It's one of my favorite settings, and so when I saw this book, I had to have it. It encompasses the setting, the milieu and the mise en scene perfectly.

As far as GURPS Atlantis, that will have to bear even more reading before I can pronounce an informed opinion on it.

I'm not an IT professional, but my dear friend Bridgette, who is, knew that I would get a kick out of this
and understand it.

The magnitude of Bernie's cluelessness is amazing. If his cluelessness was stellar luminosity, it would be Eta Carinae. If it were
a book, it would be War and Peace. If his cluelessness was a lottery jackpot, it would be a big old powerball one. If anything, I might
actually be understating the matter.

Anyway, here is the link:

http://petemoss.com/spamflames/ShifmanIsAMoronSpammer.html

One good thing besides a laugh out of this...learned a new word: Barratry (Threatening to sue someone (but with no intention of doing so) in order to get a result.

First cold of the year (although not the season) has broken over me like a Noreaster.

Weird dream involving a search through an abandoned building with someone I didn't know save in the context of the dream itself.

On brighter news, still thinking about a second ACUS game and have a few tentative ideas I need to marinate and select the
most promising of. I don't want to do one of the more ambitious ideas I've had for awhile--Status Quo Ante Bellum, Borders of Eternity, and the like simply on the basis of who will not be at the con. Is that selfish of me, to save ideas like that?

Character Scenes.
Saw what Meera did for her character Damascus, and thought I might do the same for my characters. Of course the irony is, right now I have only one single active character, Marcus, from Egwenna's Age of Retribution

Marcus at a Rebman Party.

His right eye turns toward "The Troupe." It would be unpardonably rude to walk away, but its clear that the seven of them should be and are more concerned with their reunion and such than having to deal with him. And Kyrie would not have gotten as nervous as if he was not present.

So, Marcus quietly and subtly slides back, and off to the side. It's not a sudden motion, and it is very gradual. The Rebmans might take offense, get the wrong idea, or prevent him, if they actually saw him shuffle off. However, its for their own good.

But, as a Trojan asteroid is loosely held in the grip of a planet's gravity, so too he will be loosely attached to the Troupe, giving them their space.

The reunited friends need and should have time with each other rather than the dubious charms of talking with him. The strong reaction of them to the presence of Ganieda here at the party is clue enough for Marcus. So just as he gave his sister space, so too, the Troupe.

He continues, once he emplaces himself, to watch his sister, Daphney, Serenia and 'Mirna'. from his more isolated orbital point.

"Here, let me refill that." The woman's voice is calm and self-possessed, as familiar seeming with you and her self appointed task as any family member might choose to be. But the delicately boned hand tinted the color of tropical bays is most distinctly not related.

"It wouldn't do to get caught with an empty glass when the Queen arrives." Silver rings sparkle from two fingers as Ganieda casually refills the glass Marcus still holds. "And might I add, for future reference, that nothing escapes a man who's profession is observing people?"

Ganieda's dark eyes flicker briefly in Arion's direction, but the bard is preoccupied with straightening the pin in his stole and doesn't seem to notice.

"Now there… is a mighty fine woman." Brastias steps forward, his eyes on a tall powerfully built woman in militia regalia. "Pardon me."

Arion's brash friend heads her way with a jaunty step that earns smiles from his friends.

"Oh…. Lieutenant Danai…" Gauriel winces, sizing up the impeding scene. "Seven to one he crashes and burns."

"I'll take that." Brehon appears from around a giggling group of old women who don't seem to have noticed him. "Ganieda?"

"I'm out. Don't know the woman." Ganieda shakes her head.

The Troupe dissolves and very neatly reforms without missing a beat. The cast members no more commenting on Marcus' attempted exit then they did on Kyrie's nervousness.

And so the moon is recaptured. So much for letting them have their privacy for their own good. Time to bow to the inevitable.

"Remind me to tell you sometime about celestial mechanics." Marcus says with a grin, mainly to Ganieda but intended for all, his eyes split between the persistent members of the troupe, Brastias' attempt at gaining the favor of the Lieutenant, and his sister's continued interaction with Serenia and Daphney.

Some real Amber Content today. This is an idea that I've floated around a bit for a while, and might use
for my character in Deb Atwood's Rite of Passage. I'm sure a lot of GMs have thought about it before
but here it is in black and white.

Quantity Multipliers for Shadows

Shadows, like Creatures and Items, can be defined by quantity. The advantages of this are obvious--one can buy multiple shadows at a fraction of the cost of specifying each and every single one. Shadows which are bought under a multiplier are considered continguous areas in the universe. Players are not only encouraged to, but should specify any shadow paths which exist between the shadows of their "family" of worlds. Just like creatures, shadows bought under the multiplier contain all the abilities of the base shadow in terms of barriers and controls. Just like creatures, too, one can highlight and add points to a single shadow of the group, as well, making it more potent than its brethren. Note that this compatible with Arref Mak's Shadows and Substance.

Multipliers:
*1-Unique. The Default.
*2 Named and Numbered: Up to about a dozen or so shadows. Note thanks to the continuity rule, these shadows will be in the same small region of
shadow and probably will be very much alike.
*3 Horde: A much more substantial area of shadowspace, up to 50 or so. The Empire of the Gleaming Banner in Arref Mak's universe is a horde sized area of shadow.
*4 Myriad: A significant region of shadowspace has been bought, up to a thousand.

Example of Multipliers in creating Shadows:

The Local Group of Shadows.
Personal Shadow (1)
Limited Access (2)
Named and Numbered Shadows (*2)
Total 6 points.

A group of five shadows, the Local Group is the home and realm of Prince Cadmus of Amber. Created by perhaps his parent, or his quasi-godmother
Aunt Fiona, Cadmus was fostered within it. There are several worlds within the Local Group, but only his home world, Terra, has access
outside the group of shadows themselves, and that access itself is in a limited number of locations. Gates and portals, however, link Terra with the
other worlds of the group, and were designed to provide a way for Cadmus to get around his domain and learn about the variety of worlds without
the need for Pattern. One of the worlds is of Faerie, another is a magic-based realm, another is a space-opera universe, the fourth is a magical kingdom,
and the fifth keystone world is Terra itself, a world much like Earth where history diverged around the 12th century AD, and has a strongly Byzantine dominated culture.

Still thinking about ACUS 2002 games. I've decided not to go with Gwyddbwyll...but what shall be my second game? Decisions Decisions...

I normally don't discuss my job in this space, but I wonder if I should make an exception.

The ethics of these things are a quandry. How many people who work at my store actually read my Blog? Is it a violation of
confidentiality?