Brass Bricks

Had my first day subbing. For obvious reasons I can’t go into particulars, but here’s the general gist of things.
Read more…

This is a very general map of Nikazanjima, or “Monster Island”, as you guys refer to it… in Japanese, that would be “Yokaishima”. Scary names have the advantage of obscuring the actual name and location of the island, and discouraging the superstitious from even fishing in local waters. Information presented is based on you guys landing in the previous adventure, and circling the island once before landing this time.
Read more…

These fine gentlemen are the experts upon which your future grandiose plans rely.
Read more…

I should do this full time! I enjoy fielding these questions.

Question: I want a 9mm pistol with an exposed hammer, manual safety, and a rail for lights and lasers. What are my choices?
Read more…

Crossposted from comments I left on adayinthelife’s LJ:
Read more…

Bob Hope has the best lines…

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me.
Read more…
OK, well that’s where I am these days. Any questions?

QUESTION: “And Andy… good inexpensive accurate rifles? Low kick, (IE *wife* would have to be able to use it.) What I used to shoot was a springfield, an 0ld one. Your AR15 is a bit out of our price range, at least until we decide we want to shoot as a hobby, rather then just enough to know proper technique. Etc?”
Read more…

Two jokes for you.
Read more…

Well, tomorrow at the gun show, I am selling my AR15. Failing that, I’ll sell it online. Why? Because I am now the proud owner of Der Uber-FAL.
Read more…

Author Jerry Pournelle divides the political spectrum with his own two axes, and generates a more useful model than the traditional Left—Right used today.

The two I chose are “Attitude toward the State,” and “Attitude toward planned social progress”.

Read the article

This timeline deviates from actual history sometime in the 1500’s, due largely to two factors: a weak, inward-looking Europe, and a strong, stable Ming Empire. Europe’s condition is due to the success of the Ottoman Empire against Spain in the Mediterranean, and the effects of a plague sweeping across Europe in 1540’s. In actual history, Spain was able to hold the Ottomans at bay, and the Age of Colonization proceeded apace. Enormous trade networks were established, and the world briefly fell under the guns and influence of Europe. In this timeline, the Age of Colonization got started, but was aborted completely by 1550. This is the state of changes in 1550 (alt):
Read more…

After discovering some plot brewing between the Naito Clan and Prince Kadonomaru, the PC were sent to Ningbo in China, to trail the Naito delegation and determine what they were up to. The Naito team, five samurai and a Buddhist monk led by a well-known samurai named Naito Hirokatsu, went to an inn called the “Nine Golden Lanterns”. The PC’s stealthily witnessed the Naito delegation departing frustrated and seemingly empty-handed. When the PC’s went to the inn, they discovered that the object of the Naito quest was in fact a group of Europeans, experts in gunnery and ship design. The PC’s made contact with a Malay interpreter named Nizam. Nizam explained that the Europeans had come to China seeking employment with the Ming. After the Chinese rejected them, the Europeans went on a bender and wound up incarcerated in the local Yamen by the annoyed magistrate. Nizam said that there are four Europeans… three Portuguese and a German:

Capitan Duarte de Silva, ship’s captain, navigator
Don Estevam Batalha, artillerist
Joaquin de Castro, shipwright
Moritz Weisel, warrior

That is where we left off on 8/6/05.

First, the PC must choose a “risk modifier” from –6 (Very
Risky) to +6 (Very Cautious), per CII118. The modifier is first added to the Survival
Roll for each Battle Turn, and the opposite modifier is applied to the Glory
Roll. This roll should be done at the beginning of each Battle Turn to
determine the fate of each player character.

Read more…

At the center of the Ouchi Court are the daimyo of the five largest clans, At any given court, each of the Daimyo will have 1d+2 lesser vassals (Daimyo in their own right) or subordinate samurai. These guests are there to back them up in debates, serve as assistants (in the case of samurai) or simply to learn from the experience of the highest levels of power. Aside from the various claimants and petitioners that come to the court, there are the courtiers. These are the people who are permanent fixtures at court; they have no direct authority, but can wield considerable influence on the indecisive, easily distracted Ouchi Yoshitaka. Each of these people will have 1d-2 attendants, flunkies, or other hangers on when court is convened. Courtiers come from a variety of backgrounds: Kuge, Chinese diplomats, religious leaders, favored scholars or artists, or anyone else that has successfully flattered the Ouchi Daimyo long enough to establish themselves.
Read more…

A monkey is sitting in a tree, smoking a joint, when a gecko lizard walks past. The lizard looks up and says to the monkey “Hey! what are you doing?”
Read more…

There was a panhandler, ragged hair and missing teeth, on the overpass tonight. I normally ignore these guys, for various reasons I won’t go into here.
Read more…

Earth punctured by tiny cosmic missiles

The scientists looked for events producing two sharp signals, one as it entered Earth, the other as it emerged again. They found two such events, both in 1993. The first was on the morning of October 22. Seismometers in Turkey and Bolivia recorded a violent event in Antarctica that packed the punch of several thousand tons of TNT. The disturbance then ripped through Earth on a route that ended with it exiting through the floor of the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka just 26 seconds later - implying a speed of 900,000 mph.

(from Time Enough For Love, � 1973 Robert A. Heinlein)
Read more…

GURPS Rules for Cinematic Samurai Slaughter

A staple of samurai fiction, be it cinematic or in ancient chronicles, is the lone samurai hero slaughtering hordes of onrushing rabble, be they peasants, ashigaru, or yakuza mobs. In such a case, the GURPS rules are far too detailed to game out the ensuing melee in a reasonable amount of time. Instead, the following rules should be used to model such fast and furious action. This should only be used for a few extremely skilled combatants (with the cinematic advantages “Weapon Master”) versus a massed rabble of disposable, faceless Scrubs. If there are too many combatants overall, it might be better to use the standard GURPS Mass Combat Resolution rules. In the case of two “Heroes” squaring off, utilize regular combat to properly display the martial prowess of both fighters, and make a more exciting scene.
Read more…

Armor Tables - Excel spreadsheet with the various types of armor in the game, converted to GURPS statistics.

Yamaguchi is the capital city of the Ouchi domain, which encompasses several provinces on both Honshu and Kyushu. Read more…

Read more…

The player characters in the Warring States Campaign are a motley crew.
Read more…