The conditions I need to be able to game again.
1) New Job. I need to find a different line of work.
2) Its going to be only gaming with my Kids and with my friends and their kids.
3) Its going to be 15-20mins away, which means less than a 2km away and within the new place we are moving to.
An update as real life has gotten me and I cannot do what I'm passionate about.
A Meta Gaming Blog talking about How to Frame Narrative, Exploiting and Exploring Biases, and Using Work Productivity and Motivation tools in a TRPGs most of the time.
Showing posts with label Rant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rant. Show all posts
Sunday, October 13, 2019
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Nerds are Rogues Too!
Why is it the negative stereotype that makes nerds idiots, despite their brains? I mean real intelligence is adaptability, in the hobby that emphasizes in Preparation, Improvisation and Adaptation I nerds should really fall under the Rogue category.
I was grouping templates for my GURPS LOW TECH LITE when i decided to simplify it to two groups: ROGUES and MEN-AT-ARMS. Under the Rogues are the Sages, Courtiers, Mandarins, and Guild Specialists.
Courtiers can be nerds, life in the Low Tech era is struggling to distract itself from subsistence and the Arts, Fashion, and Literature are pursuits wielders of great power would pay a premium for. As an adventurer, this is a character who can see the romantic heart of a situation and exploit it for advantage or gain.
Mandarins are very similar as courtiers, but their skills are more pragmatic like statecraft, administration, law/legal expertise, and various other tech management skills that allow for a complex organization to function more productively than the sum of its parts. These are as much nerds as engineers, but society and manpower are their toys and tools.
Guildsmen and Sages are focused in specializations that are very valuable in a given context. Alchemists, Engineers, Guides and Ambassadors (local expertise for far away lands), Manufacturing, etc.. have skills both useful in adventuring as they are to rulers. A master smith or builder can mean the survival of a city, a master ostler/horse trader can mean the efficient cost of maintaining a cavalry force. In the macro picture they are powerful, especially those who'se capabilities put them in adventuring grade, but their value to the right people can shift the story in many ways... (for lack of a nail the battle was lost)
A subgroup of Guildsmen, a kind of mandarin is the Banker or the Goldsmith and Silversmiths. Some economic lessons pointed out that these guilds used their reserves to back loans and became a portable means of payment through their issuance of certificates. Money attracts Money, and these "Whitesmiths" can be very influential.
These are the nerds, but because of their power and influence, no one tells them to their face. In some eras the Warriors rule, but in others the Rogues are in charge. I guess as modern people, we lost the appreciation of hard won knowledge, and I want to bring that appreciation back - "in a world of the blind the one eyed man is king".
I was grouping templates for my GURPS LOW TECH LITE when i decided to simplify it to two groups: ROGUES and MEN-AT-ARMS. Under the Rogues are the Sages, Courtiers, Mandarins, and Guild Specialists.
Courtiers can be nerds, life in the Low Tech era is struggling to distract itself from subsistence and the Arts, Fashion, and Literature are pursuits wielders of great power would pay a premium for. As an adventurer, this is a character who can see the romantic heart of a situation and exploit it for advantage or gain.
Mandarins are very similar as courtiers, but their skills are more pragmatic like statecraft, administration, law/legal expertise, and various other tech management skills that allow for a complex organization to function more productively than the sum of its parts. These are as much nerds as engineers, but society and manpower are their toys and tools.
Guildsmen and Sages are focused in specializations that are very valuable in a given context. Alchemists, Engineers, Guides and Ambassadors (local expertise for far away lands), Manufacturing, etc.. have skills both useful in adventuring as they are to rulers. A master smith or builder can mean the survival of a city, a master ostler/horse trader can mean the efficient cost of maintaining a cavalry force. In the macro picture they are powerful, especially those who'se capabilities put them in adventuring grade, but their value to the right people can shift the story in many ways... (for lack of a nail the battle was lost)
A subgroup of Guildsmen, a kind of mandarin is the Banker or the Goldsmith and Silversmiths. Some economic lessons pointed out that these guilds used their reserves to back loans and became a portable means of payment through their issuance of certificates. Money attracts Money, and these "Whitesmiths" can be very influential.
These are the nerds, but because of their power and influence, no one tells them to their face. In some eras the Warriors rule, but in others the Rogues are in charge. I guess as modern people, we lost the appreciation of hard won knowledge, and I want to bring that appreciation back - "in a world of the blind the one eyed man is king".
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Digesting a lot of Chinese History
Thanks to Laszlo Montgomery I found it easier to follow chinese history. As a filipino, i pretty much fall in between western and eastern culture... especially since our culture is weak and heavily borrowed.
I have to make a shout out to what Mr. Laszlo has done and the steadiness and frequency he has made his pod casts. I've tried the two other Chinese history lectures in the Teaching Company, and Mr. Laszlo's material greatly supplements details that are not tackled in the broad strokes.
It has gotten to the point that I want to adventure in: Modern historical China. Freaking eh, right?! I appreciate the risks, the challenges, the triumphs and the sufferings. The world is real to me, and thats what learning various histories do; they make the past more real and more remembered.
I feel strongly that people should check it out, especially since it gives a very well rounded world view. I have my own Philippine history, I get a lot of US history from the media, I got a lot of European history in gaming, through the Teaching company I got Ancient Empires before alexander and Human Civilization, because of Anime and L5R I got a lot of Japanese history, and now from mr. Laszlo I can get chinese history....
... funny is that I really have no one to talk to about chinese history... :P especially since its a controversial topic, I can get banned by the great firewall, and if I want to do biz in china I better keep my big mouth shut about my opinions about China :P
Like Scarborough Shoal or the Spratly Islands or Chinese fishing vessels entering Philippine waters...
I have to say, the amount of death, suffering and turbulence in China in ancient and modern history is equal to that of a whole continent. So in terms of wars, skirmishes, and tragedies few if there are any would meet a statistical and demographic equivalent.
I have to make a shout out to what Mr. Laszlo has done and the steadiness and frequency he has made his pod casts. I've tried the two other Chinese history lectures in the Teaching Company, and Mr. Laszlo's material greatly supplements details that are not tackled in the broad strokes.
It has gotten to the point that I want to adventure in: Modern historical China. Freaking eh, right?! I appreciate the risks, the challenges, the triumphs and the sufferings. The world is real to me, and thats what learning various histories do; they make the past more real and more remembered.
I feel strongly that people should check it out, especially since it gives a very well rounded world view. I have my own Philippine history, I get a lot of US history from the media, I got a lot of European history in gaming, through the Teaching company I got Ancient Empires before alexander and Human Civilization, because of Anime and L5R I got a lot of Japanese history, and now from mr. Laszlo I can get chinese history....
... funny is that I really have no one to talk to about chinese history... :P especially since its a controversial topic, I can get banned by the great firewall, and if I want to do biz in china I better keep my big mouth shut about my opinions about China :P
Like Scarborough Shoal or the Spratly Islands or Chinese fishing vessels entering Philippine waters...
I have to say, the amount of death, suffering and turbulence in China in ancient and modern history is equal to that of a whole continent. So in terms of wars, skirmishes, and tragedies few if there are any would meet a statistical and demographic equivalent.
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