Quote from: Benoist;708762Good. It's okay, I know you have a familiarity with the topic of nazis seeking refuge from their past mistakes in South America, so I see where you guys are coming from on that one.

Shit, I'm pretty sure I've met a few of them IRL.

Quote from: The Butcher;708773Shit, I'm pretty sure I've met a few of them IRL.

Please, start a fucking thread about your horror stories about working at an ER in Rio or going asleep while listening to gnufire in the favelas near you. Gaming material, that.

Quote from: The Butcher;708753... but the last is definitely underused as a source for my own RPG sessions...

Asterix is a treasure trove. It's tone and themes are also an excellent antidote for folks who have grown weary of grim-dark fantasy.

Quote from: Imperator;708862Please, start a fucking thread about your horror stories about working at an ER in Rio or going asleep while listening to gnufire in the favelas near you. Gaming material, that.

Yeah, you said as much when we met back in Barcelona (I still didn't send you the pics, did I? My bad ). I'm not sure, it's way off-topic. I mean, I'm not sure how to keep things relevant to RPG discussion. Or where to start, really.

I suppose I could start a thread on RPG-relevant medical topics, though. Trauma, infection, recovery times, a bit of history of medicine and surgery, etc.

Quote from: Shipyard Locked;708867Asterix is a treasure trove. It's tone and themes are also an excellent antidote for folks who have grown weary of grim-dark fantasy.

Yeah, sometimes I pick a book from the shelf and it never fails to plaster a smile on my face. I want to say it's got this amazing, timeless quality; my mom, my dad and I all adored it, but I'm not sure it appeals in the same way to kids nowadays.

Quote from: The Butcher;708894Yeah, sometimes I pick a book from the shelf and it never fails to plaster a smile on my face. I want to say it's got this amazing, timeless quality; my mom, my dad and I all adored it, but I'm not sure it appeals in the same way to kids nowadays.

I don't have any sales figures to cite, but the books are certainly still a notable presence in stores and family homes in France from my experience.

Quote from: The Butcher;708894Yeah, you said as much when we met back in Barcelona (I still didn't send you the pics, did I? My bad ). I'm not sure, it's way off-topic. I mean, I'm not sure how to keep things relevant to RPG discussion. Or where to start, really.

I've often pondered running a game set in Mexico where urban fantasy hunters/defenders keep their organisation going by raiding Mexican drug cartels.

Quote from: The Traveller;708902I've often pondered running a game set in Mexico where urban fantasy hunters/defenders keep their organisation going by raiding Mexican drug cartels.

We've never been quite as bad as Mexico but we've been, and still are, pretty bad here in Rio. The area near the hospital where I did my residency was often referred to as "Gaza strip" because of the frequency and intensity of shoot-outs.

Of course, working at a hospital with an open ER next to a hub of urban violence made for some... curious stories. I told Ramón a few and he thinks it's game material. I'm not so sure.

Quote from: The Butcher;708910We've never been quite as bad as Mexico but we've been, and still are, pretty bad here in Rio. The area near the hospital where I did my residency was often referred to as "Gaza strip" because of the frequency and intensity of shoot-outs.

Of course, working at a hospital with an open ER next to a hub of urban violence made for some... curious stories. I told Ramón a few and he thinks it's game material. I'm not so sure.

I've lived in a few warzones in Southeast Asia (and saw a videoke vendor mortared on account of keeping the local mayor's daughter in law awake) for somewhat more ambiguous reasons, so to an extent I do understand.

I've previously asked whether or not it would be a good idea to run a game set in situations where people are still dying today; most people were ambivalent. I'm not at all comfortable with the notion.

And yet Central and South America have some of the richest imaginable cultures and history around! Cities of gold, hearts being cut out on an industrial scale by primitive sorcerors to satisfy demon gods, extraordinary mythology, magnificent legends. And caves! Immense, unmapped cave systems. Stir in the heady mix of guns, drugs, blood and money and you've got the setting to beat all settings.

Beh. It's a poser.

Quote from: The Traveller;708913I've lived in a few warzones in Southeast Asia (and saw a videoke vendor mortared on account of keeping the local mayor's daughter in law awake) for somewhat more ambiguous reasons, so to an extent I do understand.

I've previously asked whether or not it would be a good idea to run a game set in situations where people are still dying today; most people were ambivalent. I'm not at all comfortable with the notion.

And yet Central and South America have some of the richest imaginable cultures and history around! Cities of gold, hearts being cut out on an industrial scale by primitive sorcerors to satisfy demon gods, extraordinary mythology, magnificent legends. And caves! Immense, unmapped cave systems. Stir in the heady mix of guns, drugs, blood and money and you've got the setting to beat all settings.

Beh. It's a poser.

Early customer of mine from Africa. She suggested and helped with the development of the RPGs Dark Continent equivalent. Lots of useful insights into some tribal aspects and Im not arguing with a woman 2ft taller than I...

There was an old mecha combat game called... Mecha and one of the expansions was Aztecs. In that setting all mecha are powered by the gods apparently they were warring on eachother across space. The Aztec faction transplanted people from earth to a distant system and set things up in stages to create a system of wars via mecha. And the daily sacrifices are vital as it really does power the gods who in turn power the mechs.

No idea how the Victorian faction worked as never could find the core game.

Quote from: Omega;708990There was an old mecha combat game called... Mecha and one of the expansions was Aztecs. In that setting all mecha are powered by the gods apparently they were warring on eachother across space. The Aztec faction transplanted people from earth to a distant system and set things up in stages to create a system of wars via mecha. And the daily sacrifices are vital as it really does power the gods who in turn power the mechs.

Not exactly the same thing... maybe an equivalent would be running an adventure in Leyte just after Haiyan, where the typhoon uncovered an ancient ruin or something. It's not derogatory to anyone, it's just... really really bad taste. I dunno, I wouldn't run that game.

Quote from: Bill;707892Also, is anyone a bad gm themselves?

I think a prerequisite of a bad GM is to think they are actually an amazing GM. No need for improvement in style or substance - they're already perfect in their tiny minds.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll;708070In a month I'll be in a game where I know the GM is terrible.  He's telling us what our characters will be doing in the game.  And it doesn't remotely sound fun or interesting.  We'll be simulating work, with no room to role-play.  And we have to know the protocols for doing everything.  And there's paperwork we have to do.

Run away. Change your phone number. Don't leave a forwarding address.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;708415When I have encountered truly bad GMs they are often the type who blame or complain about the players when sessions go wrong.

First time I ever played Savage Worlds was in a game run by a sort-of famous, legend-in-his-own-mind guy in the gaming community, at a convention. That was his complaint when we figured out his "mystery" fifteen minutes into the 4 hour session. Ya know, because it's our fault he's an idiot.

He also controlled a friendly NPC that seemed to be there just to do everything better than the actual player characters and rub it in our noses. "Well, your Spirit is only a D4, and my NPCs Spirit is a D8, so you should just let me roll." Keep in mind, all of our characters were pre-gens.

On top of that heaping pile of crap, the setting was one he created, which is now billed on his website as, "the most immersive, most complex world for gaming you've ever encountered," which translated to actual game play meant humans, elves, and dwarves, fighting ogres and minotaurs and every other generic fantasy bullshit thing. Nothing original.

There was so much stupid NPC expositions, all in the same shitty british accent, that it slowed down gameplay and was boring. That's a cardinal sin in my book.

I can't remember if we stopped the bad guys, or if he just arbitrarily killed our characters - I just remember being relieved when it was over. I said to my buddy, "Now that this is over, lets go play some Rifts and actually have fun." To which John Popper (our nickname for the fedora wearing tubby bastard) said, "Pssh... Palladium? Haha, sorry!" while his Steve-Dave fanboy toady giggled in the corner. To which I replied, "Yeah, we're sorry because we actually like to have fun when playing a game."


and this fuck wrote a goddamn book (critically panned for terrible writing, editing, etc, btw) about rpgs.

One good thing came from the experience; my buddy I went with really dug the Savage Worlds system, and is a good GM, so we played the shit out of it for years.

I think I would have found an excuse to leave that game. Pet NPCs that do everything while the PCs act as cheerleaders and torchbearers are my least favorite GM behavior. I can accept some railroading - especially if the DM makes it clear that we have to take the hook if we want to play the game, but being forced to play second fiddle to an NPC pisses me off.

Quote from: therealjcm;709124I think I would have found an excuse to leave that game. Pet NPCs that do everything while the PCs act as cheerleaders and torchbearers are my least favorite GM behavior. I can accept some railroading - especially if the DM makes it clear that we have to take the hook if we want to play the game, but being forced to play second fiddle to an NPC pisses me off.

Early on in GMing I caught myself overdoing it with a "pet" NPC and stopped. Since then I tend to keep an eye on myself when handling NPCs that end up with the group so they do not end up grandstanding the party. And tend to be wary of allowing NPCs in the group overlong unless the flow of events dictates otherwise.