Commander Pulsar
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commanderpulsar.bsky.social
Commander Pulsar
@commanderpulsar.bsky.social
93 followers 110 following 250 posts
He/Him. Pro-GM on Startplaying.Games & ttrpg enthusiast. Hockey Fan. Ask me about Fate, Cortex, Blades in the Dark, or my cats. Human rights are for all humans, full stop.
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I don't think I was supposed to sing that to the Muppet Show Theme, but I did.
Sorry.
"You've only ever played obe game."
"Nuh-uh! I've also played Pathfinder."
"My mistake."
Maybe a little, but we're all a little weird in one way or another. There are classics like Amber (diceless), or games with card based mechanics like Capers or Castle Falkenstein. Lots of ways to have fun in the hobby.
Sadly, finances aren't lining up for me to attend #PAXU this year. I bought a badge hoping things would line up, but the expense of a hotel or airBnB and y'know, food, is more than I can swing right now. I'll miss seeing everyone, and plan for next year.
It worked really well in the Star Trek Adventures game I ran. Main PCs were bridge crew, but everyone also had Away Mission characters, which they came to love just as much. I wound up running a couple Lower Decks sessions before Lower Decks came out (the show did it better).
Oh, just in time for the holidays! </s>

Welp, definitely time to stock up before Thanksgiving, then.
Continuing work on my #ironsworn #starforged game. As a theme, I'm naming things after folks in the nerdosphere. Two of the Founder Clans are named for Morgan Ellis and Rob Weiland, for example. The patriarch of the Bad Guys is, with utmost respect, @markmercervo.bsky.social. #solottrpg #ttrpg
Reposted by Commander Pulsar
I would rather live next door to someone who speaks another language than live next door to someone who doesn’t want to live near people who speak other languages. I know nothing about Person A but I know person B is a shitbird.
Vance says it is "totally reasonable and acceptable" for people to not want to live next door to people who speak a different language than they do
Also to be fair, thinking PC death is the only interesting consequence is valid, and if their Table is entirely on board, great for them. Play the way that's fun for you. Doesn't sound great to /me/, but I don't have to be at that table.
Learning what your players (and/or their PCs) care about takes a certain amount of work. If a GM hasn't done that work, then they threaten the only thing guaranteed they care about: the PC's life. But if you know what they value, then you can get them kicked out of their favorite bar, etc.
Ironsworn: Starforged (sci-fi solo to from @shawntomkin.bsky.social) seems to be the hottest iron in the creative fire. My Forge has a cassette futurism aesthetic & a synthwave soundtrack. The Terminus may be clean & neat, but we’re on the run in the Outlands.
Dang, that reminds me I'm not caught up on Wednesday.
I need to carve out time to watch season 2.
Y'all can have mine. I don't hate it, but I can only have a little and I get over it real fast. But awesome that you like it. It's good to like things!
once again for the folks in the back.

just wish all those that could use them could get them.
I want to use painted minis and fancy terrain & battle maps, too. I would also like folks to show up for game night on time, fully informed of the campaign lore, and completely on top of their characters' abilities. You know, while I'm daydreaming.

But just hangin' with friends & playing is fine.
I keep shouting about Hard Wired Island, and will continue to do so.

Jovian Chronicles is older, but checks out.

Orbital Blues is biodigital jazz, man.
I can vouch for Tachyon Squadron, having run one-shots, two campaigns, and used it as the core of starfighter combat for a Star Wars game. It's superb!
My day job makes a regular gaming schedule really difficult, so I'm putting my energy into solo games I can fit into stolen moments. Worldbuilding this weekend on some Sundered Isles, the seafaring setting for #ironsworn #starforged by @shawntomkin.bsky.social.
Just so I can try to get my calendar in order, when is the next No Kings rally? Same time next month? Two weeks? This Saturday?
Surely it's not a one and done thing.
I think nailing down the Expanse story you're interested in telling is going to inform the decision about the 'right' mechanics. If it's about the relationships & emotional life of a ships crew, Thirsty Sword Lesbians might be the right choice.
Fate's a good choice. Alternatives (to steal from if nothing else) include Jovian Chronicles, Hard Wired Island, GURPS Transhuman Space, Orbital Blues, and Stars Without Number.

I also don't mesh with AGE. Hard to say why, though.
Respectfully, I turn your attention to Magic: the Gathering and the plane of Ixalan, which has had deeply pious -conquistador- vampires since 2017.
When I moved back here I was disappointed to find the government infested with MAGA idiots, Maggats, if you will. It's been embarrassing; I try not to bring it up at all.

but the kids are all right.
npr.org NPR @npr.org · 15d
Three high schoolers founded a book club that reads some of the country's most frequently banned books after a state law removing books with sexual content was signed in 2023. Two years later, many of the books have been reshelved and parts of the law can't be enforced.
When books were being pulled from Iowa classrooms, these teens started an after-school club to read them
Three Iowa City West high schoolers founded a book club that reads some of the country's most frequently banned books after a state law removing books with sexual content was signed in 2023. Two years later, many of the books have been reshelved and parts of the law can't be enforced.
n.pr
It's rowing distance from the city (usually; it doesn't stay in exactly the same place) so some details can be guessed from afar. There are buildings, we think. Gilded white marble, maybe? And glades, definitely not just overgrown like the shoreline. But no one knows for sure.