Posts

Posted on

The First Law

As a dreamer of dreams and a travelin’ man
I have chalked up many a mile
I’ve read dozens of books about heroes and crooks
And I’ve learned much from both of their styles.
— Jimmy Buffett

I don’t have many rules in my life. I can’t abide rules. Guidelines, sure, but rules always get in the way. But there’s one rule I’ve stuck with all my life. I learned it when I was very young. I heard it spoken in a movie–the first movie I remember watching. I remember walking out of the movie theater and telling my dad, “I want to be that when I grow up.”

The movie was The Sting. The rule was this. “Never treat your friends like marks, kid.”

More…

Posted on

Stepping into the Light

Me: Will and Imagination.

Jared: hola

Jared: yeah

Me: The two keys to magic.

Me: (And the green lantern ring.)

Me: These must be stats in Secret.

Me: … but I’m not sure how they work.

Jared: Will you impose. It opposes Imagination.

Jared: Imagination overcomes someone else’s Will (ie: THEIR vision)

Me: Hm…

Jared: You could use a “one number” system like Zero and TrollBabe

Me: Will and Imagination are two, big man. 😉

Jared: you can make them one

Me: I don’t know about that.

Me: Here’s what I’m thinking.

Jared: pick a number. Over is Will, under is Imagination

Jared: or something

Me: I want people to build their own symbol systems. For example, Sloth means something to Jared. It has personal meaning.

Jared: right

Me: so, you write “Sloth” on your character sheet. Sloth is a specific type of symbol: a totem animal. When you do things that invoke the virtues of Sloth, you roll an additional die. Or a number of dice equal to your rank in Sloth.

Me: When you find another symbol that Corresponds to the same meaning as Sloth, you also get that symbol, albeit on a lesser level.

Me: Correspondances are important because they build symbol systems. There is a Correspondance, for example, between the Virgin Mary and a rose. They both imply purity. So, having “rose” on your sheet gets you dice, but so does the Virgin Mary, just not as many dice.

Jared: brb

Jared: so the exact term gets you 2 dice, a related word or concept gets you 1, say?

Me: Something like that, yes.

Jared: What if you had a central Word (“Virgin Mary”) and then your Will/Imagination ((?) )score gives you extra Correspondences?

Me: You build Correspondances. Deep Correspondances cannot be trumped.

Me: Oh, wait a second.

Jared: And then those Corrspondences branch out, until your run out of “points” (

Me: Ok. Will is the number of dice you roll for Correspondances. Imagination is the number of “links” you can have from core Correspondances.

Jared: so it kinda forms a tree

Me: Yes.

Jared: Each branch decrements the value by 1, until you hit 0

Me: Your character sheet looks like a tree.

Jared: yeah

Me: So, you pick a number of core Correspondances equal to some number. You can start with a higher Will or a higher Imagination.

Jared: maybe tie that seppiroth thing in? (sic)

Jared: higher imagination = more options

Jared: higher will = more focused on one idea but it’s stronger

Me: Yes.

Me: YES! 😀

 

Posted on

Spared

I was going through my friends list, looking to prune the tree, but I couldn’t find anyone I wanted to drop.

You’ve all been spared. Now that I have found you all worthy, you may bestow upon me shameless praise.

Posted on

VINDICATED

My buddy would agree with me on this.

There are certain members of the Camarilla who need one of these.

In fact, I may give them out at Christmas.

Posted on

New Phone

New phone number: 310-621-3308.

And because I know someone will love this:

They’re available at www.homestarrunner.com

Posted on

CBS Iraq Reporter Responds to Bush, Cheney

from the IMDB

CBS correspondent Lara Logan reacted angrily over the weekend to comments by President Bush and Vice President Cheney that the news media are not reporting on progress on the rebuilding of Iraq and are focusing on violence there instead. Interviewed in Baghdad for the CNN program Reliable Sources, Logan said, “I really resent the fact that people say that we’re not reflecting the true picture here. That’s totally unfair and it’s really unfounded.” She said that it is generally difficult to report on reconstruction because reporters are hamstrung by the increasingly difficult security situation preventing them from moving about the country. Indeed, Logan indicated that reporters like herself have exercised restraint in reporting negative stories about the conduct of U.S. military personnel. “If you had any idea of the number of Iraqis that come to us with stories of abuses of U.S. soldiers and you look at my coverage over the last few weeks, or even over the last three years, there’s been maybe two or three stories that have related to that.” Besides, she said, she has been under increasing pressure from CBS editors to show more positive stories, but when she asks the U.S. embassy in Baghdad to allow her to film them, she has been turned down in almost every instance because “security dominates every single thing that happens in this country.”