Billions Is Better Than Game of Thrones

I know fantasy is kickass.  I love elves and dragons and magic just as much as the next D&D geek.

But there's something to be said for consistently strong characters and a story of revolving alliances, rivalries, betrayals, and sworn enemies.

If you want to watch a modern day Game of Thrones that never drops the ball, I wholeheartedly recommend the Showtime tv show Billions.

Like GoT, an episode can turn on a dime.  Events that most series would milk for an entire season, Billions deals with in an episode or two.  Which means there's always something compelling just around the corner.  It feels like an immersive sandbox.  I guess that's my OSR connection.

Anyways, watched the season 4 finale, and it was superbly awesome!  The series has been picked up for another season next year.  I'm just excited and wanted to share my love for Billions.  Watch it!

Enjoy,

VS

Game of Thrones finale

Well, I finally got to watch the very last episode of the Game of Thrones tv series... [spoilers ahead!]

If there's one thing we hate, it's this - the subverting of our expectations. 

We expect Luke Skywalker to be hopeful.  Instead, he's a bitter misanthropic hermit who's given up on the jedi.

We expect protagonist Jon Snow to have some kind of agency and the courage of his convictions, but instead he broods about how Dani did some unjustifiable things and Tyrion has to talk our bro into doing what must be done.

And then the dragon melts the iron throne and Snow is kept a prisoner for weeks until he's eventually banished.  Oh, and then Bran the broken (god, that's a horrible name) becomes King of Westeros?  WTF?

I actually like Ben Shapiro's speculative take that Bran is actually like a deep-cover sith lord who knew what was going to happen and just let things take their course so he could be the one to rule over it all.

Anyway, this finale was mildly satisfying - Daenerys got what she deserved.  If you're going to go all genocidal tyrannical dictator, then bitches gots to go down.

Of course, the writers could have stayed the course, allowing Daenerys to be a benevolent and merciful ruler, but the seeds were sown long ago and I'm sure George Martin knew where he wanted things to end.

The whole thing with a Targaryen being born and the Gods flip a coin as the world holds its breath, waiting to see how it will land - that's just fucking awesome!  You really can't have a line as poetic as that in a story as dark, gritty, and betrayal-happy as Game of Thrones without Daenerys eventually going psycho.

There's this dumb twitter handle called "Daenerys deserved better."  Nope.  She deserved worse, actually.  In fact, the show robbed us of catharsis by not telling her to her face exactly why she should be murdered, instead of being allowed to carry out her "liberation" - (read: indiscriminately slaughtering innocent men, women, and children).

Maybe it's because the writers, like most of the Hollywood elites, don't actually believe that a social justice tyrant would be a bad thing.  Perhaps they think that would be beneficial to humanity, being ruled over by a person who thinks that anything - including the mass murder of innocents - is perfectly fine if it means that everyone will be equally squashed under the leader's heel. Yay, egalitarianism, socialism, and communism!

Back when the series began, my wife and I had thought about naming one of our daughters Daenerys (actually, she preferred Khaleesi).  Wow, I'm glad that didn't happen!

I'm hoping the character of Kylo Ren stays villainous and doesn't become some kind of myopic SJW crybaby that feels his own conception of "good" is the only possible objective good for everybody.

Anyways, just wanted to get some stuff off my chest.  End of rant...

VS

p.s. That picture is Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) dressed as Morticia Addams for Halloween a couple years ago.  Wow!

A Credit For Your THOTs

This is the final installment of the THOT trilogy.  You can get the PDF here.

It's got all the usual awesomeness.  If you love sleazy scifi, random tables, and modular systems that are fun and easy to use, then grab yourself a squirming fistful of xenophilia!

Have a question, just ask...

VS

p.s. Cha'alt is about 2 or 3 weeks from completion.

Sect of the Gleaming Polyhedrons

I'm thinking about starting a new religion, one based around roleplaying games.

Why a religion?  Because gaming to me is more than just a pastime, hobby, or side-hustle.  It gives me purpose.  It defines me.  And it's a whole lot bigger than I am, greater than I am.  Outside of family, RPGs are what's most important to me.

Why not crystallize that into a spiritual movement, an organization that'll take it as seriously as it deserves... without taking ourselves too seriously. 

This is the first and only commandment...

1. Enjoy roleplaying games as much as possible... at least once a week, preferably.  

Anyone interested in joining?

More details when I get back from vacation.  Have a good one, y'all.

VS

3 Types of Game Masters

As I mentioned towards the end of last week's Inappropriate Characters episode, I've broken GM differences into 3 basic types...

The first I'll describe is the Dungeon Master from beloved Saturday morning cartoon Dungeons & Dragons.

The Dungeon Master presents the facts, sets things in motion, and then pretty much disappears into the background until his presence is required down the road.  The RPG Pundit mentioned the "clock-maker God" as an example of this sort of GM.  Once he creates a world, his hands are off the wheel and things take their own course, according to the rules or the scenario or the GM's notes.

He's impartial, objective, and about as neutral as a GM can get.  Total free market... no matter what the outcome.  Is it discipline or ambivalence that keeps the Dungeon Master type GM from subtly nudging reality here or there?

The second GM type is Zeus from the 1981 sword & sandals film Clash of the Titans.

Zeus is more subjective, the campaign world filters through him, his perspective.  His hands aren't always on, but also never far from the wheel.  Yet, he still believes in letting go, allowing fate or free will decide which path is taken.  Zeus doesn't have a specific outcome in mind, but tries to maintain a fairness or equality of opportunity, according to his personal standards of ethics, morality, and aesthetics.

If you remember, Zeus has a few tricks up his sleeve.  While balancing the campaign world and all the characters in it, he feels justified tweaking the chances of a result or two in the name of either fair play or compelling story.  Occasionally fudging a die roll for the greater good.

However, Zeus is not a story-gamer.  He doesn't know how things will end up.  He hopes things will turn out well for those proving themselves worthy, occasionally exerting a bit of influence behind the scenes, but stopping short of pre-determining adventure's conclusion.

The third and last type of GM is the Wizard of Oz.

The Wizard of Oz is a showman and a conman.  He uses slight of hand, misdirection and railroading in order to get the end result he's looking for.  His GMing creates the illusion of free will and randomness, when in reality, he pulls all the strings.

The Wizard of Oz is the most likely to be a story-gamer, since that style of GMing is directly opposed to the traditional, old school approach (though many GMs in the 70's and 80's aspired to that standard).

Another aspect of this 3rd type is bluster, pomp, and pageantry.  Anything to build himself up, to make the all-powerful GM appear greater, wiser, and stronger than he really is.  His will is mighty and players should not test it, or else face his wrath.  Also, be prepared to confront several self-important NPCs (stand-ins for the GM himself) who shall not be fucked with.  You'd have better luck wrassling an ancient black dragon.

Please feel free to comment with your experiences, your opinion of the 3 types, etc.  Where do you fit in all this?

VS

Tentacled Dice Tower

Yeah, I know... it's not really a tower at all.  More like a tunnel or slide.

And not every die makes its way to the other side.  I feel like that's some kind of "tentacle initiation."  Such unfortunate rolls are simply sucked up into the void.

Hope you enjoy the video and like my clay sculptures.  I'll do more in the future.

Currently, I'm finishing up Cha'alt.  It's quite a beast and is taking up the majority of my free time.  Just about every room within The Black Pyramid has been written up (all 111 of them).  Now, I just have to make them even more awesome during the revision process!

Thanks,

VS

p.s. The Roll20 playtests have gone really well.  I appreciate everyone who comes back for more!

The Horror In Clay

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to fashion my own Cthulhu idol out of clay...

Well, last week I did just that.  And also made a kind of dice tower, which is actually more of a dice tunnel/slide.  But that I'll show off in a video and blog post this weekend.

Clay is difficult for a noob like me to work with, but I hope to improve on my next attempt.  The painting comes easier to me because I've been doing that all my adult life.

So, there you go... ia ia Cthulhu fh'tagn!

Enjoy,

VS

Crimson Dragon Slayer D20

As I've said before, D&D means a thousand things to a thousand people. 

It's impossible to define with just the acronym alone.  Even citing a particular version, preference, or play-style of D&D is fraught with peril.

Getting on the same page with a virtual table full of players is of paramount importance.  Without a place to start, you have nothing but floundering.  You need some kind of foundation in order to begin playing.

Here is bedrock!  All new and over-the-top "bloodstained parchment" look provided by layout guru David Guyll.  Did I mention it was absolutely FREE?!?

There are a few iterations of Crimson Dragon Slayer out there, but this isn't a new edition.  Rather, it's my quick and dirty checklist / cheat-sheet for running OSR type 5e games online.  It started here and evolved organically thanks to the feedback I received.

For me, virtual gaming requires the most rules-light approach.  Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 is my solution to all the problems I've encountered running D&D on Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, and elsewhere. 

Hope you find it as invaluable as I have,

VS

p.s.  If you appreciate all the freebies that come out of Kort'thalis Publishing, try our nearly 50 PDFs!

Equality of Opportunity, Not Outcome

For some, it's a difficult concept to grasp.  How can things be essentially equal if one person has advantages that another does not?

Well, it's kind of like rolling 3d6 in order, six times.  Everyone has the opportunity to be a titan of strength, intelligence, etc. but we all know that it's random.  You get what you get.  Sometimes the Gods favor you, other times they kick you in the balls.  That's life.

Now, if you were to make everyone's stats pretty good but not great, regardless of what was rolled, that would be equality of outcome.  This is attractive to some because they don't want the risk.  They want an easy "B."

But then, of course, everyone in the party pretty much has the same stats.  You lose individuality.  You also lose any sense of scale.  If everyone has the same thing, then that "B" might as well be a "C" or even a "D."  Without the highs and lows, those stats are relatively meaningless.

That which is attained without struggle has less value.

Especially when you consider the GM's plight... or obligation.  One of his many jobs is to challenge the PCs.  If everyone has good stats, then some villains will have to have even better stats to compensate.

Anyways, what we're after in life and in gaming is a fair shot, a decent chance.  Don't hand your players good ability scores just because you don't want anyone to feel bad.  Make them work harder to compensate for their PC's shortcomings.

What about the super-rich kids that inherent all their parents' wealth?  They didn't have to roll the dice in life.  True, but someone always gets really lucky.  Anyway, overconfidence and a sense of entitlement are their own weaknesses.

Actually, that reminds me of legacy PCs in the Knights of the Dinner Table comicbook.  Ensuring that newly generated PCs get certain advantages from the very beginning... and that shall be the topic for my next blog post!

VS