u/thealkaizer

Hi! This is just gonna be me rambling and thinking through writing.

I heard about The Wire so many times over the year. I don't watch that much TV Shows anymore, but I tend to be quite selective. Life is busy! I finally felt like watching a cop/detective show and just finished Season 1 after two weeks or so. I loved it! But at the same time... it felt so much like a show from twenty years ago. And I don't mean this in a bad way.

If you go back twenty years, I wasn't the biggest TV show fan. Most of them had smaller budget, I found the quality of acting lacking. The format needed some cliffhangers or shocking moment every episode. There was filler. There was always great TV shows! But I didn't enjoy most of the TV shows.

Then, from my perspective, the time of ~2010 came. During this period I saw Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire and the first season of Game of Thrones. I had that moment, I was like *"TV is changing. These shows are different, they lean much more into cinema." And it became a blurry line for me. I have some shows from before that I enjoy; but my enjoyment of TV drastically increased after that period. It felt like so many shows were coming out! And many were creative and novel.

Now, you know when things change little by little over time and you don't notice until you look back? Well, I've been underwhelmed by quite a few shows in the last two or three years. It just didn't feel the same. Obviously, there's dozens of shows coming out, so it's in part which shows I decided to watch. But still, there's something I couldn't put my finger on.

Now, I've watched The Wire and it was like a time capsule. In many ways, it feels like the shows before the 2010s. It's highly episodic, it doesn't lean that much into the language of cinema and is firmly rooted in the tropes of TV. But it's just really well written, has great pacing and natural characters. It's honestly a fantastic show so far.

But the contrast with what I've watched recently is... crazy. I've realized that several of the shows from the last few years feel over-acted, and over-budgeted, and they now follow a new formula that has become just as drab. It's like a caricature of the HBO TV of the early 2010s. The shows don't know where they're going, they don't know how many seasons they'll get, etc.

The Wire feels like it knows where it's going. I have a sense of confidence that (obviously I know the show is fully realized) I can trust the creators, this is a story that knows where it's going and how it'll end.

I don't know. To me it has shown me a personal disconnect with what's going on on TV; and it also shows some of the qualities that we lost when TV changed style.

Anyone understands how I'm feeling? Or can relate to this perspective?

Hi!

I love to play duet games (one player and GM). It's my favorite mode of play.

Some games, by their design, are harder to run with only one PC. All the D&D-related games that have an action economy tend to require a decent amount of tweaking to just not have the probabilities against you. There's ton of solutions.

But some games just naturally work as well if there's one PC or five. I've played a lot of Burning Wheel in duet.

Very recently, I bought Age of Vikings from Chaosium, which to my understanding is a BRP game. It is my first contact with both the publisher and the game system. I'm slowly reading through it, I'll probably be able to get a gut feeling for it by the end...

But I wanted to ask others! If anyone has experience specifically with Age of Vikings... do you see challenges or obstacles that would require tweaking so it'd run smoothly with only one PC? Is it easy to stat up companions NPC?

If not for Age of Vikings specifically, I'm also open to BRP testimonials!

I'm a bit confused. As I read it, the equipped and stowed distinction is related to the slot-based encumbrance. There's no mention of it in the weight-based encumbrance.

It's clear to me that characters can carry up to 1600 coins of weight before being unable to move, and that carrying more slows you down.

But how do containers fit into this? They have their own weight. Fine, I add them to the list. They have a capacity. I can only carry up to the capacity? We need to use sacks?

For lots of items it make sense. Chalk, torches, etc; you yeet them in the backpack. But for weapons, and armors, and ammo. Do we take for granted that the adventurers have scabbards, and slings, and quivers and that while counting in terms of weight, they don't count i term of container capacity?

And I know that treasure counts. So I feel that when the players find some, they'll put it in their inventory first, or do they write it into coins? Do you write your coins twice (coin section, and then in the inventory) or do you just always check the coins before totaling your weight to include them?

My first session is approaching quickly. I'm feeling quite comfortable with the core rules. The many procedures I'm not too worried about, I'll have the book with me and once I've run them a few times the DM screen will be sufficient.

However, I'm thinking about all the hexes, their terrain type, the location of stones, the different fungis, etc; and I'm like "How am I gonna run this? Will I have four books at all time?"

So my question is: taking for granted that you have the player map on the table for the tables, you have your DM screen and some notes. What were the rules or the setting-related content that you found that you had to consistently reach for? What's not immediately available yet used all the time?

It's really difficult to evaluate without having run it.

Hi!

I'm continuing my foray into Dolmenwood. I've got two more questions which are burning:

The rules for getting lost mentions that you roll once at the start of the day. However, the party can travel multiple hexes in a day. And except for a mention about roads (you get lost when you leave the road), I don't understand how this fits in the whole procedure:

1. Do they get lost in the first hex they enter from their starting point?

2. What if there's different chances to get lost because of different hex types along their itinerary? Which one do we take? (1-in-6, 3-in-6, 1-in-6 for example)

3. Doesn't take that for granted that the party is obligated to share its whole itinerary for the day? Can't they move hex by hex and make decisions along way?

4. If they can move hex by hex, and if there are different changes to get lost in each hex, isn't it optimal to step in a easily navigated hex first and then finish your itinerary as you see fit?

Bonus questions:

5. I saw the torches and the lanterns in the equipment section. I saw a few mentions of effects of darkness in some sections (like having more chance to get lost in the dark) but I don't think an actual section that really clearly states the rules for light/darkness, etc. It's probably tucked somewhere. Any insight?
   I found it. Player's Book page 150.

6. I haven't found a Dungeon Tracker sheet for Dolmenwood. I quickly checked my OSE books (which I haven't played yet). I feel like I can use the OSE Dungeon Tracker as is, right? The underlying mechanics seem to be the same.

Hi! I'm preparing for a campaign of Dolmenwood with friends. My first foray into OSR games.

I have so many questions, I might make a thread or two more in the coming weeks. But here's a few questions:

1. I'm gonna have three players. I see lots of recommendations for bigger groups. I'm not sure I want them to have two PCs for now (maybe once they get more comfortable with the rules), can that easily be fixed by having them hire retainers? What are your recommendations?

2. I've finished reading the Player Book. I feel that most of what's in there I could share with the players. I'm just a bit unsure about the bits at the start that talk about the factions, their goals, etc. Is that a good thing to share with the players?

3. We'll be playing in person. I want to put a map before them. I have both the Referee and Player map in cloth from the Kickstarter.

The Player map is gorgeous; but it doesn't have hexes and every settlement and some notable locations are pre identified on the map.

The Referee map is not as good looking, but it does have hex. But it also very clear shows the roads and settlements.

I know there's also a black and white hexed map going around that some people print.

What's your recommendation for the map?

Hi!

I have installed syncthings on several devices, and syncthing mobile for my Android.

All is well except one little detail. I had another desktop computer that I connected to several of my devices. I disconnected it from other devices, formatted it and had the computer recycled.

However, my mobile syncthings is still getting ghost requests saying that that device wants to connect. I ignore, but they keep coming back.

This doesn't happen with the other devices (laptop, desktop). I'm not sure if it's because it's the mobile app, or because the connection between the phone and the recycled desktop was different. But I'm wondering if anyone has any idea on how to get rid of that.

Hi!

I watched a few handful of episodes of Glass Cannon in the past, but I'm taking interest again. I've got two of three of their runs saved and I've been trying to decide on what to watch next.

While searching, I noticed some shows with "paid access" on Spotify. Notably what seems to be a new run of The One Ring 2E called The Secret Fire.

My question is kind of a general question related to the lifecycle of their shows. Does the network have free shows, and paid shows and that's it; or do shows start paid early access and eventually release to everyone for free. Or is it different for every show?

Hi!

I'm sure the question has been asked before. But Charted Space is so big and Traveller has decades of material. So, here are the rules for this thread:

• No Spinward Marches.
• No Trojan Reach.
• No full homebrew.
• Has to be in the Charted Space setting.

So, what's a less-known sector (or subsector) that's a favourite of yours, and why?

Hi!

I'm a big fan of Conan, yet I never dove into the comics. For me it's been mostly REH original stories, games and the movie.

I've taken an interest in Savage Sword of Conan. However, I'm a bit puzzled.

From my understanding, there was an original run over decades split between Curtis and Marvel that ended in the 90s. There's only 200 issues, and that's the original.

Marvel started to print some omnibus collecting these stories several years ago.

Titan Comics got the rights and from my understanding... they reprinted the Marvel stuff from a few years prior and are keeping up the Omnibus train.

My question is relatively simple. Are all of these the same content? The newer editions have not been redrawn, or rewritten, right? If I get the Omnibus, it's the same as the original, just in collection format.

Is there any reason to prefer either Titan's Omnibus or the issues from the original run?

Hi!

I bought Outcast Silver Raiders last year. What a beautiful product. After a first read, it's been sitting on my shelf tempting me to start a campaign.

I've finally decided to do it and started rereading it.

I've got two questions for you today.

1 - Modules & Dungeons

The game is already full of content. However, my experience dictates that having a handful of slot-in content is always a good idea. I already own quite a few OSR adventures and modules, I'm gonna go through them to pick some that are tone appropriate.

But does any of you have suggestions of modules or dungeons that would be a good fit for Outcast Silver Raiders? They should be tonally appropriate, and not overly long (remember, it's a slot-in!).

2 - General Tips

Outcast Silver Raiders is a pretty complete product. But it's always difficult to judge the experience at the table, before you get to the table. So if some of you ran the game, I'm curious if you could share some tips, rules to remember, changes that you did. Just anything to better approach it!

Thank you!