I'm gonna be back in NZ on the 3rd, and in Palmy from the 5th for five days or so. I'd like to hang out. I imagine I'll organise things with a bunch of folk individually, but I think a casual "drop in and say hi" thing would be nice. So, tentatively, I'm thinking I'll be in Cafe Cuba in the evening of Wednesday, the 6th of August, from around 6 or 7. Drop in, say hi, bring your friends.
Please let me know if you can come, alternate plans, or whatever.
For anyone who's curious about what I've been doing for the last two years, please check out the new Simon Carryer Super-Site Small Things. It contains all my roleplaying projects, links to some other gree games, and an article or two.
This article provides a remarkably simple mathematical proof that survey results that show heterosexual men having on average more partners than heterosexual women are, bluntly, lies.
By way of dramatization, we change the context slightly and will prove what will be called the High School Prom Theorem. We suppose that on the day after the prom, each girl is asked to give the number of boys she danced with. These numbers are then added up giving a number G. The same information is then obtained from the boys, giving a number B.
Theorem: G=B
Proof: Both G and B are equal to C, the number of couples who danced together at the prom. Q.E.D.
In other words, you can take your theory of the biological promiscuity of men, and shove it up your arse.
So I have kind of a favour to ask. Or, to put it more encouragingly, a fantastic opportunity to offer.
I wrote a roleplaying game, called "Fir Bolg". It's set in a kind of "mythic" Ireland, and it uses some kind of unusual mechanics. It's got kind of crunchy tactical combat, and a conflict resolution (as opposed to task resolution) system, that focuses on making sure the characters get to do their "cool thing" as often as possible.
I've tinkered around with the combat system enough that I know it's roughly balanced and there aren't any glaring problems, but I'd really like to know how it runs as part of a whole game. That's something I can't do very easily here. If anyone's interested, I'd really love it if one of you could playtest it for me. It wouldn't need to be more than a one-shot, short game, and I can put together a module to run if you like. Anyhow. If you're interested, you can email me or leave a message here.
I know it's kind of a big ask, and you've probably seen dozens of crappy homebrew games. I hope that this game is something a bit different, and it might give you a couple of hours of fun, if nothing else. Even if you just want to read it over and give me impressions, I'd be very happy.
Went to see Jintai Plastomic today. It's an exhibition of dead bodies that have been through a kind of plasticisation process so they can be dissected and looked at without falling apart. It's quite weird seeing a dude who's all chopped up with his bits all hanging out. I held a human brain. The best part was this one dude and there was nothing left except veins and arteries. It was cool how his ding-dong was all full of millions of tiny veins. The whole thing kind of made me a little uneasy because there's a bunch of controversy about how they got the bodies for it. They're all chinese, and the rumour is they come from some mental hospital there. Creepy. It was extra creepy seeing kids running round the exhibit, touching things, appearing entirely unconcerned.
"Kancho" is the japanese word for interlocking your fingers with the first two digits extended, and then inserting those fingers into unsuspecting groins. It's a popular passtime for boys aged 4-8. Today I experienced my first kancho, from a small boy at the campground we were visiting. I'd been warned, but nothing could prepare me for the determined and enthusiastic assault on my groin and ass crack delivered by this kid.
Fortunately, I had been taught the remedy. The only way to stop the kancho it to grab and invert the offending child, and then call "Kanchohodai!" which means, essentially "All the kancho you want!" Which draws children from all over for a kancho party on the poor kid.
This is the maddest, most hilarious and yet strangely compelling video I have seen in some time. You know I don't link frivolously. Trust me on this one, you will not be disappointed. Confused yes, disappointed no:
My copy od Sorcerer arrived in the mail today, faster than I would have believed possible. I'm still digesting it, but it looks pretty good. There are some things I don't like (like bonus dice for describing "cool" actions, or actions which advance the plot) but there's a lot of stuff I do. The game feels a bit dated, like it's reacting to trends in roleplaying that aren't really current anymore.
Soon we'll be playing a game where the "Demons" are werewolf spirits that possess the player characters, letting them wolf out and do awesome stuff, but at the cost of their humanity. Hopefully we'll meet soon to talk about what the werewolves actually are, what "humanity" means, and stuff like that.
So last weekend I went to participate in the 19th annual snowball battle. 3000 men, three days. One winner. That's not true, and the reality was, to say the least, much tamer than the savage ritual of blood and snow that I'd imagined it to be. The game, in its modern form, is much more tactical that one would imagine. Becasue the forwards may not go behind the quarter-way line, the backs are responsible for rolling snowballs towards them, to keep them supplied. The men and women of the Japanese teams were incredible. The dedication and rigor with which they approached the sport was typically Japanese. Uniforms. Training runs. The Japanese have managed to refine the art of the snowball fight to its purest form. No longer fun, but much more efficient.
We got pasted, needless to say.
Then we went to Rusutsu (pronounced "Roosts"), a fancy ski resort, for much needed R&R. I couldn't snowboard, due to messing my back up the previous day (I'm fine, mum), but to be honest, I had heaps to do. I no longer need to go to Europe, because Rusutsu has brought the delights of that fair continent to me. Austrian-inspired carousel, a French bakery, a Swiss themed promenade. Even a swing band of larger than life-size animatronic dogs, al la New Orleans. We took the gondola up to the peak, which was amazing.
As always, you can check out Emma's photo page for illustrated illumination.
Ever wonder what happens to German boardgames when they get translated into other languages, with cultural ideals that don't include European ethos of settlement and colonization?
Mega-Man Settlers of Catan - that's what! It was weird. "Roads" become "Networks", settlements are "Network Hubs", and the resources, man! There's "Fire", "Wood", "Water", "Electricity" (Or "Ereki" as it's called), and, appropriately enough "Normal".
We played last night, and it it was pretty weird. Although the number of times I giggled when we were trading and someone said "who's got wood?"
Ok, this is my meme. I'd be obliged if you'd all participate.
1) Go to the Google main page.
2) Type in some random letters. You just gotta go crazy on that thing. Four or five letters.
3) Go to the first choice in the dropdown menu.
4) Go to the first webpage that comes up.
5) Select a bunch of text, and post it to your livejournal!
Here's my entry:
Title Crystal structure of the Prp19 U-box dimer Authors Vander Kooi, C.W., Ohi, M.D., Rosenberg, J.A., Oldham, M.L., Newcomer, M.E., Gould, K.L., Chazin, W.J. Primary Citation Vander Kooi, C.W., Ohi, M.D., Rosenberg, J.A., Oldham, M.L., Newcomer, M.E., Gould, K.L., Chazin, W.J. The Prp19 U-box Crystal Structure Suggests a Common Dimeric Architecture for a Class of Oligomeric E3 Ubiquitin Ligases. Biochemistry v45 pp.121-130 , 2006
Hah! A common dimeric architechture indeed! What hilarity! Oligomeric!
Other things:
Achewood is awesome.
I am writing a story for Ryan North's short story compilation competition, about a machine that tells you how you're going to die. Every story's title is a method of death. Mine is called "HARD BOILED".
We had the biggest snowball rumble ever, last night. It was HARD CORE. I got tackled into a snowdrift, then I turned the tables on the guy and buried his head in snow. I probly got the worst of it though, he was a wiry little bastard. We were hurling chunks of snow and ice at each other, and I got nailed a few times. James got rocked by this big snow boulder thrown from above him. I got a few good hits in.
It was supposedly practice for the international snowball fighing competition in a few weeks. Funny story:
Jason's boss realised that we probably couldn't all make it to both the preliminary round and the finals, which are on seperate weekends. So, y'know, rather than us going to the prelims like the thousand or so other teams, he rings up the organisers and explains that we have GAIJIN on our team, and thus need a special dispensation. So, while the thousand or so other teams fight for their place, we've been seeded straight into the finals, amongst about a hundred teams. Classic Japan. I feel a little guilty though.
Emma downloaded Last FM and I"m listening to music that's similar to Mogwai, apparently. It's like Pandora, except that rather than using "music DNA", it decides what you might like based on what other people who like your "seed" band like. So I typed in "Mogwai", and I got Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Modest Mouse, Explosions in the Sky, and a bunch of other cool stuff. It's much more likely to get you stuff you like than Pandora, but it doesn't come up with cool stuff you've never heard of as often.
I'm still writing roleplaying games in my spare time. Mostly for the intellectual excercise. Once you get over the idea of trying to simulate reality or some genre, it's really tricky, but also really interesting. I wrote a game about Vampires, and now I'm writing one about the Ekumen, for play-by-post. I'm also mulling over a GMless game where the characters are all secretly in love with another character, in an Arthurian setting. Homoerotic knights ahoy!
This is a photo of me! It's got notes, which is this cool thing that Flikr does now, so you can find out all sorts of interesting information about me and my bedroom. Also, Mr. Roboto!
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