Recent content by Leo Knight

This thread cuts to one of the central frustrations I've had with RPGs. In books, movies, and other plotted entertainment, they leave out the boring or frustrating bits. Characters usually figure out "what they're supposed to do" by the end of the episode. They do so because a writer makes them...

I seem to remember an episode of "Lost in Space" called "Hunter's Moon", where John Robinson was the quarry in a sort of "Most Dangerous Game" big game hunt. The bad guy hunter had a wierd looking gun that launched spiked disks. Always go with the classics. :wink:

The Honor Harrington books had a region called the Silesian Confederacy. The weak government led to chaotic conditions, piracy was rampant, etc. Here's a Wikipedia on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silesian_Confederacy

This reminds me of a scene early in the novel "Lucifer's Hammer". Upon discovery of a comet heading towards Earth, the media asks a scientist if it hit the Earth, would it destroy the planet. He answers, "No, of course not...civilization, maybe, but not the planet." Personally, I like the image...

Mithras, I found this some time ago. Not exactly what you're looking for, but awesome nonetheless. Norman Bel Geddes Flying Wing: http://home.att.net/~dannysoar/BelGeddes.htm Just a rough estimate, this thing must be about 5-600 d-tons! There are other wild and wonderful pre- WW2 aircraft on...

Whenever pressed by players, I always stole... er, borrowed Jack Vance's idea that the credit is the standard minimum wage for one standard hour of unskilled labor. His rationale was that because of the wide variations in the availability of most commodities from world to world, and the lag in...

Prehistoric and Proud! I had the first edition I bought in 1977. (begin geezer mode) "When I was a teenager, we didn't have any supplements or adventures. We had three little black books and two dice, six-siders, no d20, thank you sir, old fashioned bones. We just ripped off "Star Wars" and...

Sorry if I wandered. I've had about 3 hours sleep in the last 48. Whatever the advantage your players get, eventually people will take notice of that advantage, and consequences will come with that advantage, for good or ill. If they get rich, people will want some of that money, just like...

More to your question, it's not that the world or universe scales to fit the players, it's that they attract threats or challenges that want to take them on. Like on Old West gunfighter, eventually someone will come gunning for him who is better equipped, more skilled, meaner or sneakier. Think...

Back in the day, with the original edition of Traveller, it was much more likely to come out of chargen with a ship. In one campaign I ran, one player had a scout, another had a corsair! I know I should have vetoed, but they whined and gave me the lost puppy look. My advice: give them enough...

I always assumed in my games the corsair was a revenue cutter, light patrol vessel, or picket ship, designed for checking for contraband, providing assistance, etc. Sort of like a Coast Guard cutter, or an older, under-gunned patrol cruiser. Over the years, a few fell into "the wrong hands"...

This thread makes me smile, since these are the same arguments I've been having with myself and others since 1977. The first edition of Traveller didn't link tonnage with anything. It was just an abstract number, and several interpretations came up. One of my few still existing posessions from...

Speaking of classic SciFi, here's the first part of "20 Million Miles to Earth", with a nifty, not-really-a-tail-sitter spaceship. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CeF0_2hfug Enjoy!

I found this discussion on the Starship Modeller forums: http://www.starshipmodeler.net/talk/viewtopic.php?t=66565&sid=898bc8f90fcd0b1703fa25e6ab28dd8c A vertical oreintation, steampunk spaceship! The cargo door with telescopic crane: There are several other in progress and finished shots...

I occasionally find books or articles on 'wierd science' to try to give some internal consistency to my Traveller outings, if only for my own satisfaction. One I found recently was this article about Paul Hill: http://ufodna.com/articles/articles/hill.htm Hill was an aerospace engineer, who...