You are here: Home --> Forum Home --> Recent posts by Skari-dono
Topic: Iceland Government Fails
Subject: thankies
Thanks for your concern, but if I must say so frankly I don't believe this has effected me that much directly. I'm too young to be concerned about this, so my tactic is to avoid it for as long as possible 
I have heard people talk, I have read a headline or two, but I try not to dwell on these matters until they start making my life noticably different. Who knows, I may just be better off than many of my friends 
Posted on 2009-01-28 at 00:06:24.
|
Topic: Iceland Government Fails
Subject: heh
Bet you are all waiting for me to say a few words, eh?
I'm afraid I don't watch the news or read much of the newspapers, so I don't have all the details, but I'll tell you what I believe is pretty accurately close to the truth of the matter.
It has been made official. A temporary government is being issued to take control up until election which will be held as soon as possible. Our prime minister, Geir H. Haarde, doesn't agree with the temporary government and as I understand it he doesn't like the idea of stepping down either. Thankfully, our president has actually stepped up to pull some reins. Finally, I must say because our president hasn't really been much more than a front figure for our country.
Last year, some say in the latter half but I like to think it was from the very start, money problem started being apparent. Then, in the last four months, the banks became bankrupt (oh, the irony). A lot of people lost a lot of money, because these banks had been spending the money of their clients and now had no way of giving it back. These banks were re-established though and are back in business. Only one bank, aside from the national bank, did not turn upside down, become bankrupt or anything like that, and thankfully that's the bank I do business with 
Because of the banks' going ape, lot of businesses did the same thing or something similar. Many small businesses were left out of business, and many businesses turned to reducing their staff. Unemployement doubled in a month or two before Christmas.
Who did we blame? A lot of people. We blamed the government, we blamed the national bank, we blamed Davíð Oddson (our former prime minister and now the leader of the national bank, who, incidentally, has no education that links him to banks or any money-dealing) personally, and we blamed the British. We blamed a lot of people, but in the end we turned our wrath towards the government.
In the past weeks, nearly every day and certainly every week, protestors have been protesting outside our Alþingi (our prime ministry of sorts, can't remember a good English word for it), occasionally stopping the government from entering the building. It started out peacefully, then turned violent, then turned into peaceful protestors protesting the violent ones. It was kinda funny. Policemen lined up in front of the protesting mob, and another protesting mob stood beside the policemen with orange banners of peaceful protesting.
During these protests, the police was harshly criticized for how it handled the situation. The people criticized the police for handling it too violently, with excessive arrests and turning to pepperspray when it was not needed. I disagree with this criticism. The mob turned violent on several occasions and drastic measures were taken.
Once, the arrest of a protestor was protested against. The mob stood outside one of the better known policestations in Reykjavík and at a point tried to make their way in (or so it seemed).
These are interesting times to live in, I'd say.
There's nothing more I can think of adding. I know the English department has a scheduled visits to the political groups that is taking up temporary reins of the country, but I'm not sure if it will be followed through due to recent events. If I learn anything new there, I'll let you know.
Posted on 2009-01-27 at 12:35:34.
|
Topic: Going to be out for a while
Subject: heh
I'll update when I update. Kinda stuck in the Burning Wheel mindset at the moment, but it shouldn't be that long now (although it has been long enough already )
Posted on 2009-01-27 at 07:38:10.
|
Topic: Supreme Beginning
Subject: Arrival
At last, the truck came to a halt and the engine stopped. "This is your stop," the old driver said. "I will be waiting here until you return."
As you stepped out of the armored truck you heared sounds of commotion just by the corner of a building. A large group of people had gathered there to watch the hostage situation from behind safe distance.
A sudden scream erupted from the crowd as a police cruiser flew over their heads, much like if someone had thrown it with brute force. The cruiser passed most of the crowd, but an old lady was too slow to move out of the way in time.
((OOC: You are all able to react to this event. Take your time in doing what must be done to safe the old woman. I won't bother much with a time limit here so few actions are okay, even if it won't be logically possible. 5 actions is stretching it, though. The old lady is, lets say, 10 yards away.))
Posted on 2009-01-26 at 17:43:40.
|
Topic: Going to be out for a while
Subject: ouch
Sorry to hear that. I hope everything is alright, though. I'll just update without you then. Good luck with the exams and I hope your grand-dad will have a quick recovery
Posted on 2009-01-26 at 17:30:30.
|
Topic: Unconventional RPGs
Subject: Unconventional RPGs
As some of you know, I'm a bit interested in unconventional roleplaying games. I wanted to share my interest with the rest of the Inn so I thought I'd make a short review of Burning Wheel, an indy game by Luke Crane and the Burning Wheel HQ.
But then I thought, "nobody's gonna reply to that" so I came up with another idea. "Why not see who else has tried or read the mechanics of an unconventional game and have them post as well?" At the very least, I could add in my own experiences of other games.
That's pretty much what I am doing now. What unconventional games have you tried and what are your thoughts on that game? By unconventional games I mean games that don't use the d20 system (or use a heavily modified one, like Mutants & Masterminds or Spycraft 2.0), are independantly published ("indies"), and/or are generally not widely known (White Wolf's Storytelling system is not unconventional).
To start things off, I want to tell you about Burning Wheel.
Like previously stated, the game is published by Burning Wheel HQ, primarily written by Luke Crane, the newest edition is the revised edition... blah, blah, blah. That's the boring part.
I'll admit I haven't actually tried it in practice. I have read the mechanical bits and much of the character fluff, as well as few pages of the the monster book. The "core" books, those you really need to get a game going, are the "Burning Wheel: Fantasy Roleplaying System" book and the "Character Burner." Additionally, there are the Monster Burner (which I also bought with the other two), the Magic Burner and various setting books (such as Burning Empires and Mouse Guard).
The BW:FRS has all the core mechanics, the BW:CB has everything you need to create a character, and the BW:MB has in depth mechanics and system to create monsters. The Monster Burner is not just a "Monster Manual," it is a detailed monster creation book.
Why is Burning Wheel cool? First of all, it is because it is so different. Let me explain: Each roll has an intent and way to get what you want. Failing your roll does not mean you do not succeed, but rather you do not get everything you wanted. Confused? The simplest example is the battle. My intent could be "I want to kill that Orc." To do it I will use my sword. But, alas, I don't do so well on my roll. I may have struck the Orc with my sword, but I did not kill him.
Another example would be if I were out hunting, my intent could be "I'm gonna hunt a deer." I fail my roll and bring back something considerably smaller, like a squirrel or a bunny. Hardly enough for a group to survive on for long.
I could go on. I won't.
Characters advance rather quickly. There's no XP system, but instead Burning Wheel uses its own advancement system that is based on actual use of the Skill. Additionally, characters can add NPCs they know into the game with a trait called Circle. The trait basically measures who you know and where.
The game is also much both ways for the GM and the players. There are no secret rolls and the GM is constantly encouraged to work with the players instead of working against them. One such idea was to allow the players to work with the GM on making the setting and the story. The GM is also encouraged to spy on the players as they make their characters and build a story for the characters instead of having the players make characters for the story.
Finally, because I'm starting to get into too much details, the best part of the system is how it is written. I, for example, never read a whole book with game mechanics. I scan the occasional pages and absorb what I need to know. I read through the whole book that covered the mechanics. Not in one go, mind you, but no page was left unread.
The book is written in a very personal way, giving the idea that Luke Crane is actually talking to you and explaining the system to you personally. There are a lot of "Is" in it.
I wish I could put it in a more easier to understand way. Once I have actually tried it I can relay to you how well it works for a newby in practice.
But enough about me, haven't anyone tried/read a good game system lately?
Posted on 2009-01-26 at 01:16:54.
|
Topic: Freelancers - a game of Spycraft
Subject: thankies
Unfortunately, due to time consuming activities such as work, school and birthday-parties, we probably won't continue this game for another week (half a week at best).
I will update this story of a game as soon as I have something to say about it, but don't hold your breath (which I'm sure Grugg will do since I told him not to)
Posted on 2009-01-23 at 14:45:54.
|
Topic: Decorating Style
Subject: ...
Heck, do it like Iceland!
Have them bring in actual snow and build a giant freezer to store it in. Then cover the floor with it and when it melts you can get more (out of the freezer).
I'll take my $100k now, please.
Posted on 2009-01-20 at 18:25:27.
|
Topic: The Supreme Series Q&A
Subject: No update today
There won't be an update today due to me actually studying for tomorrow's class in Hollywood Musicals. That's right, I'm watching old musicals for University, from the 1920s to the 1930s. I'm halfway through the second movie and I doubt I will post an update tonight. Sorry.
Posted on 2009-01-19 at 21:35:05.
|
Topic: Generations of the Requiem Q&A
Subject: wondering...
Wondering if anyone else is going to post in the game any time soon (I'm looking your way, Vorrioch). If not, I'm just going to go ahead and post myself an update to the game.
We have two players hopefully starting very soon. Drakar and Kjin50 will be introducing their characters in-game within days I hope. Yay for them
Posted on 2009-01-19 at 10:21:07.
|
Topic: The Supreme Series Q&A
Subject: ...
Sorry about not updating the game this weekend as I promised. Had a game of Spycraft on Saturday with some of my real-life friends (yes, I actually have those) and on Sunday I was just feeling lazy. I'll update after school today (hopefully).
Posted on 2009-01-19 at 10:16:27.
|
Topic: Freelancers - a game of Spycraft
Subject: Freelancers - a game of Spycraft
So I started a game of Spycraft 2.0 yesterday with my usual group of evil campaigners. There was an accident with our newly joined player in the evil campaign where he shattered his leg in a car accident just before Christmas. Therefor, my longest running campaign was put on hold and we had to find something else to do. I had just bought Spycraft 2.0 and so I decided we should at least give it a try.
When we got together yesterday, one had a nearly finished character and the other two were half-way finished. The first one arrived around half-past three, and the last one came around half-past four. We began play around eight. To say the least, creating a character in this system is far more troublesome that just saying it.
So we had our characters: Teya, a beautiful computer-hacker (Int 18, Cha 16, with the Gorgeous Feat); Bill Taylor, the group's soldier and driver (Dex 20, ranged attack bonus +10, Drive skill +13); and finally Camila, the group's intruder and faceman (Cha 16, multiclassed in Intruder and Faceman). This was a Freelance game, where the players didn't work with an agency but for some private supporters.
When the game started, I presented them with three missions, one from each major supporter. They chose a mission named "Tomes of Intelligence", a mission where they were hired to steal the three volumes of La Secret. Each volume was at a seperate location, with a seperate set of security. Information about these locations were given to them before they began their mission. They were allowed to steal the books in any order they wanted.
They began their mission with choosing their tools most fitting for the mission. Then they headed out to Washington D.C. to steal the book from the secure section of the National Library. I have no doubt I made it too easy for them, but this was their first Spycraft game and I wanted them to enjoy it.
They got access codes to get into the secure section, but the security system was linked to a security station. Even with the access codes, the security station would be alerted as soon as the codes were used without authorization. So Teya (the hacker) did what she does best and hacked herself into the National Library's security to both loop the security cameras and to hide the use of the codes. Thanks to these codes, she had an easier time doing that. While Camila snuck into the secure section, Bill created a diversion so that no guards would get in the way. Bill started "accidentally" pushing people and bookshelves.
The second volume of the La Secret was hidden in the secure section C, behing three secured doors. Camila had all the codes she needed to get through them and meanwhile Teya sat in her car to monitor the security system. But when Camila got to the third door, the code didn't work. Of course, the player wasn't really happy about that since getting these codes was not easy. However, they soon found out why the code didn't work. Teya had failed in hiding their unauthorized use of the codes, the security station had been alerted and armed security guards would arrive in only ten minutes.
Teya managed to deactivate the lock on the door and Camila began searching for the book. It took some time, but Camila managed to find the book and get out of there just before the security guards arrived.
They now had the second volume of La Secret. Now they went after the third volume. During the mission briefing, they had learned that the third volume was in the possession of a private collector named Robert Phiscer, who now lived in Montréal. They looked him up on the internet and found his private website where he had a list of his collected items. The list did indeed include the third volume of La Secret, which Phiscer claimed to be complete gibberish and unreadable. The players decided to read the volume they had previously stolen, and indeed they were unable to make out what it was about.
Soon they had arrived to Montréal. They found the house where the collector lived. The house looked almost abandoned; there were cracks in the walls, the garden looked like no one had touched it in years and so on. Camila decided to make use of one of her perfect disguises as a Jehova Witness and made her way up to house. She noticed excessive locks on the front door, as well as a security camera recording the entrance. As soon as Phiscer noticed a Jehova Witness, he slammed the door without a speech.
Teya attempted a more successful plan to have a look inside his home. She made up a website about Star Trek and e-mailed Phiscer about taking an interview about his Star Trek collectives. After some time he accepted and offered her to visit. When she got in, she saw what kind of mess his home was in. There was dust and trash everywhere, dishes needed washing and spiders had made a home in the house. The house would be beautiful if he would bother with cleaning it, but it was a mess. He greeted her with a shotgun in hand, and made sure she was alone. Teya learned very quickly that Phiscer was very paranoid, convinced that someone was always trying to steal his collection. She also learned that he had no interest in Star Trek, or anything really. He collected only to collect, to own things no one else owned. "Mine! And nobody else's!" was a common line. Every single room had a security camera, even the bathroom.
Teya got out intact, but at that time we were too tired to continue. They haven't yet decided on what to do and that will have to wait until next time.
In a whole, they enjoyed the game. They found it excited and enjoyable. Not a single shot was fired in the first session, and not a single person was killed. The only person who had almost nothing to do was Bill's player, whose only task was to create a diversion in the National Library. But overall, they can't wait for the next session
Posted on 2009-01-18 at 17:54:37.
|
Topic: You say it's your birthday.....
Subject: yay
Happy birthday!
Posted on 2009-01-15 at 14:25:51.
|
Topic: Favorite Super Hero Movie
Subject: heh
A very good point. They made a whole lot of deal about how Superman can't be hurt by a bullet, but there are these little loopholes like hurled revolvers that really get him
Posted on 2009-01-14 at 15:33:18.
|
Topic: Favorite Super Hero Movie
Subject: Tough choice
I like superhero movies in general, but it is hard to pick my favorite. Iron Man has been my favorite superhero for years, but the movie lacked actual fighting.
Fantastic Four was also fun, I thought, with my favorite villain, but again there weren't enough Heroes/Villain fights in my oppinion.
Spider-Man movie was good, Spider-Man 2 was good, Spider-Man 3 was not so good.
Superman was only 'meh..' kind of good.
Batman Begins and Dark Knight were awesome, both of them.
X-Men and X-Men 2 were good (the first I thought was better), but I wasn't happy with X-Men 3.
Batman and Batman Returns were good. Batman Forever was not so good, but had Jim Carrey. Didn't save the movie but he was still in it. Batman & Robin was bad. It had Arnold in it but somehow managed to make him look bad too. Until then I didn't know that was possible.
I liked the old Superman movies when I was little. Only saw the third movie more than once since that's the only one we had on a tape back home. I think I saw the first and the second at some point, and possibly the fourth (I think there was a fourth movie), but I remember very little of them.
I recently saw the old batman movie with Adam West. It was weird.
Haven't seen Spirit yet, but it looks cool so I guess I'll see it someday.
And the Hulk movies. The first one did not suck. Hulkish dogs however can do that to a movie. I liked how they edited the movie to look like a comic book. The redux was much better though, in my oppinion. Hulk's fight with Tim Roth in the end (and the beginning) was pretty much what lacked in the other movie.
There are few movies I'm looking forward to in this and next year (possibly also in 2011). Thor is one I'm looking forward to, Captain America is another one which I think will turn out great, the Wolverine movie looks cool, then we'll have the Avengers movie, and Iron Man 2. We can probably also expect another Batman movie, which will be sweet. I'm looking forward to all of these.
Depending on the day, any of these movies could take a place as a favorite. I have no single favorite.
Posted on 2009-01-14 at 12:13:05.
|
Topic: Vampires VS Lycanthropes
Subject: Fine
If you don't claim to be an expert, I would have thought you would be more open to the suggestion that there is a pre-1920s reference to vampires burning in sunlight, even pre-Stoker. That you are not open to the possibility (and I say you are not because you appear to dismiss any mention of it without proper references) tells me that you are a very stubborn person.
Aside from one movie and some people you know (and don't say everyone you know because I doubt they have all seen it), do you have any scholarly citation to backup your claim that there is no reference to vampires burning up in the sun earlier than the 1920s?
Posted on 2009-01-12 at 23:06:46.
|
Topic: Vampires VS Lycanthropes
Subject: So...
If, by any chance, if I would say I had a reference to back up my claim (theoratical claim, that is), would you assume that I had read it or would you consider me lying about it?
As far as I can tell, Vorrioch has references that may back up his claim and I have not seen any indication of him admitting not to have read them. As such, I can only assume that you're guessing that he has not read those references himself. Even if you are proven right at a later date, there is no way for you to say that he does not have any references to back up his claim at this moment.
Therefor, your answer has still not made an appearance as far as I can see.
Vorrioch also pointed at articles at Athens. Are they not good enough for you? As far as I can tell, Vorrioch has plenty of references to back up his claim.
Posted on 2009-01-12 at 22:35:09.
|
Topic: Vampires VS Lycanthropes
Subject: Seriously!
If you don't want to bother checking if you're right or not, it's hardly that important you have to be bickering over it, now is it?
Additionally, it is not enough to back up your own claims to actually win an arguement. You'll also have to prove the other one's point to be wrong. And I don't see how you can do that by not going over the references he pointed at.
I would consider your question still unanswered.
Posted on 2009-01-12 at 22:16:54.
|
Topic: Vampires VS Lycanthropes
Subject: wow
This is starting to turn into a rather pointless arguing over the historical legend of vampires. You may have noticed that we've gotten a bit off track (not saying I did not help in doing so).
But I think we should stop this arguement now. Instantly. Before it gets out of hand. No more arguing after this post whether vampires were originally killed by sunlight or just glimmered or something. No more arguing about historical refrences, some of us haven't lived that long to care.
Vampires vs. Lycanthropes (vampires in the sense of those seen in modern action/adventure movies which are killed by sunlight, and lycanthropes in the sense of all were-creatures), I would have to say it depended on what werecreature. A vampire would most likely win against a werepenguin or a werebunny, and possibly against a wereorca on dry land, but I'd say a werewolf would beat a vampire.
Posted on 2009-01-12 at 12:31:27.
|
Topic: [WFRP Actual Play] - Don’t ask me, I’m just a Rat Catcher
Subject: I'd suggest....
I would suggest to move this to Personal Creations. That's where I had my (short) log of my tabletop game. That, or the Common Room.
Posted on 2009-01-11 at 23:51:39.
|
Topic: rdinn Photobucket Album Pics
Subject: Wow
Did you draw this? Some of these are very good. The rest are still good too
You might want to fix the link so that we'd have easier access. Copy/Pasting does get a little annoying in my oppinion.
In case you don't know how, within < > you'll write a href="[link]" target="new" (replace the [link] with the actual link), then write a little description (like "Photobucket") and then close it with a /a in another < >.
Like so:
Photobucket
In addition Scarab's awesome basic html tutorial can be found here, and is fairly comprehensive, everyone should take a look. - Grugglesworth
Posted on 2009-01-11 at 11:30:13.
Edited on 2009-01-11 at 15:03:31 by Grugg
|
Topic: Sounds of Trumpet - Q&A
Subject: Alrighty
Let's get this party started. Am I forgetting anything or did I get something wrong? Has a player lost interest that I don't know about? Anything you'd like to ask me before the game actually starts?
Posted on 2009-01-11 at 11:27:16.
|
Topic: Sounds of Trumpet - Q&A
Subject: Character 7
Reserved
Posted on 2009-01-10 at 13:38:58.
Edited on 2009-01-10 at 13:42:25 by Skari-dono
|
Topic: Sounds of Trumpet - Q&A
Subject: Character 6
Reserved
Posted on 2009-01-10 at 13:38:37.
Edited on 2009-01-10 at 13:42:09 by Skari-dono
|
Topic: Sounds of Trumpet - Q&A
Subject: Character 5
Reserved
Posted on 2009-01-10 at 13:38:27.
Edited on 2009-01-10 at 13:41:56 by Skari-dono
|
| |
View/Edit Your Profile | Staff List | Contact Us
Use of the RDINN forums or chatrooms constitutes agreement with our Terms of Service.You must enable cookies and javascript to use all features of this site.
|
|
What game do you own the 
Return to Charadun - Q&A
The Morphing Game
Return to Charadun - Recr
