A distilled genesis of MST3K by Joel Hodgson. Not as long as his theater show.
Music: Wings you can't see
Dec 28, 2021
Dec 23, 2021
Prehistorical civilizations
Is it possible there were civilizations on earth, before the currently known limits of history/pre-history?
Steven Ashley's article suggests some techniques to look for this. While I think he goes a bit further than necessary, considering other species could have had civilizations as well, the points about what mineral or carbon compounds to look for are probably real.
| Year Founded | Year Abandoned | City | Culture | Map Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10000 BCE | Present | Tell es-Sultan | Natufian | 31°52′16″N 35°26′38″E |
| 9500-9000 BCE | Present | Jericho | 31°52′16″N 35°26′39″E | |
| 7100 BCE | 5700 BCE | Çatalhöyük | 37°40′00″N 32°49′41″E | |
| 6000 BCE | 1200 BCE | Hattusa | Hittite | 40°01′11″N 34°36′55″E |
| 5400 BCE | 600 BCE | Eridu | Mesopotamia | 30°48′57″N 45°59′46″E |
| 5000 BCE | 3000 BCE | Chalcolithic Era | ||
| 4000 BCE | 700 CE | Uruk | Hittite | 31°19′27″N 45°38′14″E |
| 3800 BCE | 500 BCE | Ur | Sumerian | 30°57′42″N 46°06′18″E |
| 3300 BCE | 2100 BCE | Early Bronze Age | ||
| 2100 BCE | 1600 BCE | Middle Bronze Age | ||
| 1894 BCE | 1000 CE | Babylon | ||
| 1600 BCE | 1200 BCE | Late Bronze Age | ||
| 1200 BCE | 800 BCE | Last Bronze Age Collapse | ||
| 1200 BCE | 500 BCE | Iron Age |
Dec 13, 2021
Dec 10, 2021
Dec 1, 2021
Con of the North
| Time | Title | Remaining |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 12:00 |
Hostile RPG: The one where Joey goes to Blargon VII (GM)
When Joey's theater performance took his character Vic up in the futuristic marquee ladder to search for alternative fuels on Blargon VII, noone - the writers, actors, not even Gunther's god-cat, could have predicted that the DoD SDA would recruit his "friends" for space exploration on the spot. Space has a grittier side, but there's still perks, like good coffee in the ship's lounge. Will you discover how many layers there can be to negotiating a space fuel deal, like a good seven-layer trifle? This game uses the Hostile setting for the 2d6 Cepheus Engine RPG. |
6/6 |
| Friday 16:00 |
Star Fleet Battles: Mirimar III Station (GM)
Do you feel the need, the need for moving 31 hexes per turn? Is it possible to fly inverted, in, in the same 10Mm hex in two-dimensional space combat? Answer: no. We will be visiting Module J, Fighters!, to see who's worthy of coming back as a Mirimar III Station flight instructor. All the governments are sending their top pilots. Hope you're navigator is not allergic to Kzin dander. Mav, do not buzz the tower. |
4/5 |
| Friday 18:00 |
Those Dark Places RPG: Hollowed Monastery (GM)
After the monks of the dark matter carved their monastery from the interior of a mesosiderite asteroid, they found a new subject for their prayers: their survival. Time for the STAR pan-system marine force (you) to clean up the mess and eradicate any and all threats to humanity. |
4/5 |
| Friday 22:00 |
Mayday: Grand Prix (GM)
Mayday is the series 120bGDW Traveller ship combat game. The Grand Prix scenario demonstrates some of the movement and potentially combat rules for the system. |
2/5 |
| Saturday 08:00 |
Rurik: Dawn of Kiev Boardgame (GM)
Euro-style realm building game set in an 11th century Eastern European kingdom. Area control, resource management, and auction programming. Rules will be taught. Meeples, monasteries, and miniatures! |
0/3 |
| Saturday 10:00 |
Harry Potter Battle of Hogwarts
The forces of evil are threatening to overrun Hogwarts in this cooperative deck building game, and it’s up to four students to ensure the safety of the school by defeating villains and consolidating their defenses. In the game, players take on the role of a Hogwarts student: Harry, Ron, Hermione, or Neville, each with their own personal deck of cards that’s used to acquire resources. By gaining influence, players add more cards to their deck in the form of iconic characters, spells, and magical items. Other cards allow them to regain health or fight against villains, keeping them from gaining power. The villains set back players with their attacks and Dark Arts. Only by working together will players be able to defeat all the villains, securing the castle from the forces of evil. |
0/4 |
| Saturday 12:00 |
Star Saga (GM)
Mercenaries are controlled alternately and move around a grid-based sci-fi dungeon complete with computer terminals, narrow corridors and storage lockers to search for new equipment, which can then be used to upgrade the characters' abilities. Combat features an opposed dice roll between the Nexus Player and the Mercenaries using custom dice. The game features a number of different story-led scenarios detailing the exploits of the mercenaries as they venture deeper into the dungeon. |
0/4 |
| Saturday 14:00 |
Aliens: Ultimate Bard Donkeys (GM)
Aliens: Ultimate Bard Donkeys provides new options for fighting the xenomorph menace, adding even more badass characters to the "Aliens: Another Glorious Day In The Corps!" co-operative survival game. These reinforcements will help your fire team progress through the campaign missions, or provide options for the bug hunts. As your heroes investigate the threat on LV-426, they gain experience and hone their skills. Choose experience cards to compliment your character's abilities, or build a well-rounded character to tackle any test. The choice is yours, if you can make it to the extraction point alive... |
0/5 |
| Saturday 16:00 |
Blakes 7: Veron's Debt (GM)
Blakes 7: Veron has a debt to pay, and she's looking for assistance from the crew of the Liberator |
2/6 |
| Saturday 20:00 |
Mothership: Chromatic Transference
The top secret Ukweli-4 research facility was built to study a strange meteorite, inside of which is a color never before seen by human eyes. Due to an accident, the original researchers have long since died, leaving the facility an empty tomb? A tomb for your characters to explore! |
? |
| Sunday 08:00 |
SFS: Starfinder Society Quests - Learn to Play!
Want to try out Starfinder (aka Pathfinder in SPACE)? Look no further than the Starfinder Society Quests! Play a series of short adventures over the course of two hours; continue your quest with another session over the weekend, or try a new one with your Starfinder Society character. |
? |
| Sunday 10:00 |
Fate of the Norns RPG: Star Strangers (GM)
"This is the day that was prophesized. They will come from the sky to destroy us. They will burn the stars to light their way." -Blakes 7, Aftermath. "Play a Norse-like tribe on Sarran, the day when the star people fell the ground. Can you stop the star people invasion and defend your Fjord? "Pregens and runes provided. Viking helmets optional but will be respected. |
0/4 |
| Sunday 14:00 |
Teens in Space: Peril in the Shell (GM)
You're juniors at the space academy. To fulfill the class project for Space History (or Botany, depending on which class you need to boost your grade in), your teacher decides to explore a derelict spaceship. It should have a lot of history seeing it's from the Herbacean-Human war era. Or could contain the seed of your demise? This game will run for 3 hours and conclude at 5pm. |
0/5 |
Above and Beyond - the armory
Pretty Pink
Gardenstate - 1995
Fatum - Chocolate
Above & Beyond - Only you
Above & Beyond - Reverie
Nov 1, 2021
Oct 25, 2021
Gameholecon results
- Pathfinder 1
- Scenarios failed. Only one appeared for ironfang keep, none of the registered people appeared for, "We be goblins."
- Was able to play a game instead with a visually-impaired GM which was pretty interesting to see how he operated using braille documents and braille dice.
- Galactic Infamy
- Love this game. Let's hope more people hear about this game.
- Need to focus on educating my character. first
- Thought first one is free would work for equipment cards, no, it was just action/boost cards.
- I was attacked initially, so was trying basically to survive and thus fell behind the progression curve.
- Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok
- Love this game
- Teens in Space
- Should we have better distribution of characters
- Add cool artwork for characters
- Share the character relationships beforehand.
- Fix the character equipment for the scenario at hand.
- Star Fleet Battles
- Need to better tune the dragon console option if we're going to use
- Labs seemed to be more powerful than expected - need a scaling factor
- Traveller
An expert was on hand, which helped, but I could have done this petter.
- Focus more on fitting pcs to the adventure. Examples in the Traveller Companion, which I received after building the characters. Next time I would start there.
- Should have added # of parsecs to hyperspace roll
- Focus more on cool Traveller handouts
- Combat handouts for Travellers
- Starship combat handouts for Travellers
- Fully list out npcs and stats, I pulled some previously published ones but the weapons were separate.
- Would have the government on Sam's World attack the adventurers to "perma-seal" the archaic technology.
- Had my script, but it felt the details actually light for some of the questions/hard to find while playing.
- Need more practice - is this the first time I've run Mongoose Traveller, I think so! OK for first time, people seemed to enjoy it.
- People seemed frustrated when the archaic devices split the party. Try to avoid that mechanic in the future.
- Those Dark Places
- Players liked the idea of horror without necessarily making another aliens.
- Star Wars: Edge of the Empire
- Benjamin really knew the scenario at hand
- Dice were challenging initially, but he provided a good document describing how to handle them.
- If I run star wars, I would probably try to use action fleet toys but not sure that the on table view is any better than the imagination can create.
- Overall
- Don't procrastinate pulling minis together at the last minute.
- Was really good about getting what needed to the game, but forgot napkins/windex for sfb plastic sheets.
- Took the right amount of games versus breaks and sleep.
- The Pancho's Tacos truck was very delicious.
Oct 24, 2021
Seth Skorkowsky Rules
- Should be able to use dex or str for melee.
- If try to shoot with shotgun at close range, suffer a bane die.
- If enemy tries to leave close combat, enemies get a free melee attack (if possible), at DM+2.
Sep 21, 2021
Skalcon (Oct 29-31)
| Fri 11-16 | PFS 03-16: The Midnight Mauler A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 3–7. The Decemvirate sends members of the Pathfinder Society to the former crown jewel of Ustalav's royal courts, the decaying city of Ardis. Tasked by the Society to look into the fate of Absalom's former Master of Blades, Vonran Vilk, what they find will lead to exploration, diplomacy, murder, haunted pasts, and tragic love. Can the PCs stop the rampage of the Midnight Mauler before he kills again? "The Midnight Mauler" was originally an exclusive adventure, run only by 4-star Pathfinder Society GMs, Venture-Captain and Venture-Lieutenant campaign volunteers, and Paizo staff for its first year, but has been revised and updated for public release This scenario is designed for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, but can easily be adapted for use with any world. This scenario is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Note: This scenario has been updated from its exclusive version for public release. Purchasers have access to both the exclusive version released as Pathfinder Society Scenario #2–EX and Pathfinder Society Scenario #3–16, but as of February 29, 2012, only the latter is legal for Pathfinder Society organized play. Except for minor changes involving faction missions and general copyediting, both versions of the scenario are the same; only the legal version of the scenario contains a Chronicle sheet. by Crystal Frasier |
| Fri 18-23 | PFS2 03-99: Fate in the Future (1-2) The Pathfinder Society sends its best agents worlds away on a mission to uncover the source of a dangerous anomaly. Tags: Exclusive, Glyph |
| Sat 8-13 | PFS 07-05: School of Spirits Seven years ago, Pathfinders entered Absalom’s shattered Precipice Quarter in pursuit of a ruby ring but also rescued a strange survivor. She has since grown to adulthood and exhibited a rebellious spirit connected to the ruined school where the Pathfinders found her. The woman’s family has contacted the Society, hoping that its agents can escort her back to the haunted site and unravel the Drownyard’s relentless mysteries. by Alex Greenshields |
| Sat 13-18 | PFS 01-35: Voice in the Void For Levels 1-7 Mystery strikes again at the problem-plagued Blackros Museum in Absalom and its curator, Nigel Aldain, needs your help. When a famed Osirian tomb raider returns to Absalom and disappears in the museum's basement, Aldain fears the worst. When strange sounds echo from below and several of the curator's night watchmen go missing, he panics and begs the Society to investigate the mystery and save his museum from the darkness that infests it. Voice in the Void is a follow-up scenario to Pathfinder Society Scenario #5: Mists of Mwangi. When played together, the scenarios create a mini story arc in the famed Blackros Museum. by Rob McCreary |
Aug 30, 2021
Cyberstalker by Decade Defector
Can you hear me? I've been lost amongst the static Trapped inside these walls Hello, can you hear me? I know all your secrets I know all your fears
Aug 20, 2021
Aug 19, 2021
Aug 7, 2021
Aug 6, 2021
Aug 4, 2021
Gameholecon 2021 (Oct 21-24)
| Thu 13-00 | PFS Module: Fangwood Keep (GM) Mendota 3 - 126 Fangwood Keep has changed hands innumerable times since its founding decades ago on the border between the warring nations of Molthune and Nirmathas. Over the years, both countries have sacrificed money and soldiers in an effort to control the fortress along the Marideth River valley, both for its tactical location and for its secure defenses. Recently, however, the battles around Fangwood Keep have dwindled to a trickle as Nirmathas has firmly rooted itself in the surrounding valley, allowing the tide of war to shift elsewhere and peace to settle at last over Fangwood Keep. This respite was shattered by the arrival of a renegade Molthuni commander named Pavo Vos. Obsessed with capturing Fangwood Keep and unraveling the fortress’s mysteries, the defecting lieutenant unlawfully used his platoon to secure the castle, much to the ire of both the Molthuni and Nirmathi governments. Now the task of bringing Vos to justice and reclaiming Fangwood Keep for Nirmathas lies solely in the PCs’ able hands. by Alex Greenshields lvl 3-5 |
| Fri 8-12 | Galactic Infamy Lobby - 175 Galactic Infamy is a competitive sci-fi themed board game where players take on the role of Bounty Hunters in search of the galaxy's most notorious Crime Lord. Battle and capture bounties of up to 4 increasingly difficult ranks, confiscate their Equipment Cards for your own use, and turn them in for rewards of Credits and Infamy. Spend credits on Skill Cards, Equipment Cards and Boost Cards to improve your Bounty Hunter's attributes and take on more difficult bounties. The first player to turn in a Crime Lord ends the game and the Bounty Hunter with the most Infamy wins! Learn the game from one of the developers! Fill out a comment card at the end of the session and we'll put your name in the rule book when we publish! Character Building – Purchase Skill Cards and Equipment Cards to improve your core attributes. Dice Based Battles – Total each attribute with your dice roll, then win 2 of 3 attributes to win a battle. Party Crash Opponents – Spend Action Cards to manipulate other players' battles. Luck Mitigation – Spend Action Cards and Boost Cards to turn the battle to your favor. Player vs Player – Battle other Bounty Hunters in an attempt to steal their stored Equipment Cards or captured bounties. Mastermind – One player is the real Crime Lord. Discover who, then defeat them or turn in their body double to end the game. 20 minutes instruction plus 25 minutes per player 4 players – approximately 2 hours 6 players – approximately 3 hours Optional 20 minute feedback and Q&A after More info at www.galacticinfamy.com |
| Fri 12-14 | Nuclear War on Sovranti Lobby - 179 The Cold War classic of confrontation between world powers; eliminate your opponents' populations with diplomacy, propaganda, and nuclear weapons. All on the Sovranti digital board game library! One of the few games where it is possible to have NO WINNERS (often everybody loses!). Play the best digital version of Nuclear War. Invite your friends. Just hang out while Sovranti takes care of the rules, spinner, and scoring. We'll provide a tablet for you to use. Come join us at the event. Play smarter. |
| Fri 14-18 | Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok - The Children of Eriu Lobby - 178 Ragnarok has consumed Midgard. Old gods awaken, primordial evil crawls from the sea and a revenant queen returns to reclaim the land as her own. Embark on an epic journey that collides the Viking and Celtic kingdoms. Defenders of Eriu unite! |
| Fri 18-19 | Ravensburger alien board game (GM) Mendota 7 - 93 In ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo, players take the role of Nostromo crew members Ripley, Lambert, Parker, Brett, or Dallas. Over the course of the game, they collect scrap, craft items, and fulfill different objectives. The crew will lose and gain morale as they encounter the Alien and other situations. If crew morale reaches zero, players lose the game. |
| Fri 19-23 | PFS1: Pathfinder Module: We Be Goblins! (GM) Mendota 1 - 143 The Licktoad goblins of Brinestump Marsh have stumbled upon a great treasure—fireworks! Yet unfortunately for them, the tribe member responsible for the discovery has already been exiled for the abhorrent crime of writing (which every goblin knows steals words from your head). To remedy this situation, the Licktoads’ leader, His Mighty Girthness Chief Rendwattle Gutwad, has declared that the greatest heroes of the tribe must venture forth to retrieve the rest of the fireworks from a derelict ship stranded in the marsh. Caution: goblins are trouble! |
| Sat 09-12 | Teens in Space - Peril in the Shell (GM) Mendota 1 - 143 You're juniors at the space academy. To fulfill the class project for Space History, your team decides to explore a derilict spaceship. It should have a lot of history seeing it's from the Herbacean-human war era. Or could contain the seed of your demise? |
| Sat 12-15 | Star Fleet Battles - Dragon's Den (GM) Mendota 1 - 143 The Federation thought they were doing a good deed, rescuing an orphaned Space Dragon, but its cries have summoned a few adults, who plan to rescue it. Can the Federation and their allies fend off the attack/rescue? |
| Sat 17-20 | Traveller: Sit fodiens cave "Let the miner beware" (GM) Mendota 1 - 143 It sounded like too good a deal to pass up... Metallurgic sensors reported upwards of 90-grade ore. Is it worth ditching some of the current cargo? It's just below the surface, meaning short drilling times and fast setups. The payout outta be worth it. Pregens and mini's provided |
| Sat 20-23 | Those Dark Places: Ana Sid Amid (GM) Mendota 2 - 138 You are sent to investigate and potentially salvage another corporation's transport vessel that has drifted into our corporation's space. Contact is minimal so far, so it could be in distress, or industrial espionage, or a diversion from the next corporate war? Character generation is straightforward, so we'll be making the new investigation team on the spot. Warning: Scenario by the game author involves elements of space horror ( aliens, outland ) both physical and mental. We'll tone down descriptions from the module to be non-extreme based on a family playtest. Yet people (NPCs) might have been or are injured on the Ana Sid Amid, and there might be altercations with whatever is still alive on that ship. Building character pressure may cause player characters to weaken as scenario events unfold. We'll strive for PG-13. |
Aug 3, 2021
Worm Chemistry
A pretty thorough review of worm chemistry, not that my next game will feature worm-like species. acs article
Aug 1, 2021
Jul 30, 2021
Jul 29, 2021
Jul 18, 2021
Those Dark Places
Those dark places is my current fun sci fiction game, hoping to run it for a home game tonight. Found the hardcopy at the Source. Later, found that there are some nice resources online:
- Those Dark Places: Industrial Science Fiction Roleplaying
- Those Dark Places: The Ana-Sin-Emid Report
Jul 8, 2021
Traveller notes
world generation: http://www.rogercooper.com/TavellerMongooseGamesWorldGeneration.htm
futuristic names:
https://fantasynamegenerators.com/futuristic-names.php
May 8, 2021
Apr 11, 2021
Starhunter vs. Firefly
| Topic | Starhunter | Firefly |
|---|---|---|
| Country | Canadian, UK, French, German | American |
| Original Airdate | Original airdate November 1, 2000 | Original airdate December 20, 2002 |
| Episodes | 44 | 14 |
| Brown leather coat-wearing male captain | Dante Montana | Mal Reynolds |
| Military-trained tough, female first officer | Luc Scott | Zoe Alleyne Washburne |
| Well-worn spaceship | Tulip | Serenity |
| Jubilant, Multi-hair colored female engineer | Power for kitchen duties, "Black Light", airdate January 10, 2001 | Tall card for spaceship duties, "Shindig", airdate November 1, 2002 |
| Poker game | Power for kitchen duties, "Black Light", airdate January 10, 2001 | Tall card for spaceship duties, "Shindig", airdate November 1, 2002 |
| R**ers | Raiders | Reavers |
Feb 28, 2021
Teens in Space: Broken Droids, Broken Dreams
- A minute of arc, arcminute (arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol ′, is a unit of angular measurement equal to 1/60 of one degree
- A second of arc, arcsecond (arcsec), or arc second, denoted by the symbol ″, is 1/60 of an arcminute.
GaryCon XIII (03/25/2021-03/28/2021)
| The Expanse | Thursday, 18:00 - 22:50 |
| Gamma World | Friday, 8:00 - 11:50 |
| Star Frontiers | Friday, 17:00 - 20:50 |
| Traveller | Saturday, 9:00 - 12:50 |
| SWN | Sunday, 9:00 - 12:50 |
| Traveller | Sunday, 5:00 - 9:00 |
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