jackno.bsky.social
Jack Norris
@jackno.bsky.social
450 followers 140 following 4.7K posts
Game designer, writer, consultant, attorney, scholar on various topics, and all around professional nerd. (Apologies if sometimes my phone decides real words needs changing and I don't catch it)
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jackno.bsky.social
Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 22d
Osprey put together a fun package to go with my blog on character generation in Untamed Worlds.
ospreygames.bsky.social
Osprey Games 🎲 @ospreygames.bsky.social · 23d
▶️▶️ Learn all about character creation for our new anthro sci-fi RPG Untamed Worlds - out this week - in the author Jack Norris's design diary on our website blog: bit.ly/46JN2Ov
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 3h
And this really sucks because great fans are also one of the best things about many things.
jackno.bsky.social
Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 3h
And if you say this? There's always some angry "But I'm the real victim/injured party!" types that will yabutt the worst behaviors. And if they do admit some of their fellow fans are awful? It's usually with some caveat that takes a slap at some other group, creative, etc.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 3h
The worst thing about most stuff is the fans. I'd say "change my view" but you aren't going to.

From politics to Zak Snyder films and wrestling and even stuff like young adult fiction and Doctor Who, subsets of the fandom manages to at times become so awful they make everyone else step slowly away.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 3h
Who "are" that is. Unlike the Sorbos I try not to make my errors everyone else's problem...
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 3h
You can just smell the Axe body spray and nepotism.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 5h
For those who mercifully ignorant: imagine the third string bullying rich boy douche in your high school's Mean Boys clique. Now cut that guy's charisma in half and raise him so he's never been told to do a single exceptional thing while simultaneously being told everything he does is exceptional.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 5h
Apparently Kevin Sorbo's kid, who is named Braeden despite not growing up in Southern Indiana meth country, is trying to break into the right wing influencer market. After unwittingly seeing one of his videos? The only think this kid is gonna break is Grindr's server load.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 6h
I'm disappointed that most of these results from Donatello trending have nothing to do when Renaissance art or ninja turtles.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 6h
Noem claiming they've arrested the "girlfriend" of one of the founders of Antifa is stupid on so many levels but perhaps the biggest one is that lady would have to be about 110ish years old. At least.

I guess that narrows who it could be though...
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 12h
Look he ain't perfect. But damn am I glad this is our guy. He's just...better at all this than so many others.
atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15h
Pritzker: "This guy is unhinged. He's insecure. He's a wannabe dictator. And there's one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump. If you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me."
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 12h
It's pretty cool. I did the story paths for several of the monsters in one of the expansions. A good friend of mine did several too. It's a neat model. Almost like an rpg or choose your own adventure.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 18h
No problem. I mean, I responded to you. I just saw your comment on Alien and don't see a lot of chatter on it so I figured I'd say something. It's good to meet you. :)
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 19h
Thanks! It's been a fun ride.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 19h
Also did some work for the Monster Hunter Board Game and a few other random things.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 19h
At this point I've written on around 180 titles over for just shy of 30 years. Oh Scion, Vampire (Kindred of the East back in the day), Exalted, Trinity Continuum. I'm sure I'm spacing some.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 19h
Well, I've got a new one out, Untamed Worlds. I was lead designer on Dragon Age, Fantasy Age, Tianxia, John Carter of Mars, and some others. I've also worked on DC Adventures, Mutants and Masterminds, Marvel Heroic, 5E, Dune, Tiny d6, Zorro, d6 2nd Edition, and... I'm running out of space ;)
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 19h
Hmm. Not counting ones I designed and Alien...Pendragon, the old DC Heroes game. Feng Shui. Leverage and Smallville. The 1st eds of Legend of the 5 Rings and 7th Sea. Champions back in the day. Chill.

Fair number of them. I'm probably forgetting some.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 19h
I hope you continue to enjoy it! I think given the other stuff you've played you'll figure it out.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 20h
Its a really nice bit of design. Other stuff is pretty obvious, like unless you're all colonial marines with lots of gear? Being careful in combat is key. Actually even then, since nasty enemies can really mess up characters.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 20h
So the "sweet spot" in most scenes is doing just enough cinematic and risky stuff that you're carrying around a bit of stress but not so much that you're just wrecked. Like, appropriately enough, most of the characters in stuff like Alien and Aliens.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 20h
Hmmm. The big ones are mostly for GMs, like not having players roll unless its really for important stuff. But one thing that did stand out is the Stress system is a real feature. A bit of stress can even be useful, though it raises risk. But then too much is a problem.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 21h
(I would have let folks change names and stuff too, but nobody minded. We went with the pretty standard Alien trope of "First Initial and Last Name and you might reveal your first name during the story")
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 21h
I really like it. But yeah, it can go from "we're okay" to "well, I'm glad chargen is fast" pretty quick. But then that's genre appropriate.

When I ran it I pre-genned an crew of 17 characters and had players pick a name and basic concept to make it their own and then we grabbed others as needed.
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Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 21h
There are SO many examples of this but the producer is signaling me our time is almost up. Until next time, true believers. And remember...gatekeepers suck and are ignorant trash fires of insecure fandom!
jackno.bsky.social
Jack Norris @jackno.bsky.social · 21h
And it wasn't War Machine. It was "omg they never made Iron Man black...oh wait!" Rhodey. In Iron Man armor. Calling himself Iron Man. Being treated like Iron Man.

By contrast? Ironheart just built stuff LIKE Iron Man and these idiots are pooping themselves and calling foul.
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