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Topics - Solifuge

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16
Play With Your Buddies / LP Temple of Elemental Evil: Ch.0 Reboot!
« on: October 11, 2011, 03:18:39 pm »
Let's Play: The Temple of Elemental Evil
Ch.0: Reboot!

Gather round, internet, it's time to play some good old-fashioned Advanced Dungeons and Dragons! Well, sorta old-fashioned, at least. We'll be running the classic Gary Gygax adventure The Temple of Elemental Evil, recreated in computer form by Atari and Troika Games. I'll be your DM for the evening, while you all will be my puppets adventuring party!



Rules and Participation:
1. I'm just the DM here. Players will be rolling up characters for the party, and choosing the direction we move the story in.
2. When we're at a crossroad, feel free to post in-character, and figure out what you guys want to do next.
3. This is an Ironman run, meaning there will be no savescumming, and character death is permanent. Sorry in advance! :3
4. Each player gets 1 character at a time, and only 6 can fit in the party. If your character dies, feel free to add a new one to the queue.
5. This is liable to be more than a bit silly. Have fun with it!





Party Alignment, and Character Creation:
Before we can start, you guys will first need to decide on a Party Alignment, and roll up some Character Sheets. The party's alignment influences the plot, and determines the party's choices in the story. Also, each character in the party can only be 1 step removed from the Party Alignment, or they won't be allowed to join. Choose wisely, as this will affect much of the game!

As for character sheets, I'll need a name, a race, a class (or 2 if multiclassing), their skills and specialties, and your characters 2 best and 2 worst attributes (among: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma). Give me a few personality traits, quirks, or any other descriptors you want to add too, since that lets me know how to build their skills and feats, and how you want them to be played.

Spoiler: Example (click to show/hide)

17
Life Advice / On cutting family ties
« on: July 24, 2011, 12:55:01 pm »
My mother came by my apartment unannounced an hour or so ago, asking to borrow money from me. I explained to her how little I have, having been without work and so on for as long as I have. Normally I'd have been happy to help, but she was asking for half of the money I currently have to my name, all of which needs to go into gas for my new job. I tell her that I can't spare it, and she gets irritated, and immediately switches to talking about how our old cat is dying. I try to get a feel for his health, and ask her a few questions, to which she instead answers that he's not been eating or using the litterbox much lately, she took him to the vet, and the medication they gave him isn't helping. I pushed her to take him back to see if it's a simple digestive issue, but she kept repeating that there wasn't anything she could do, and he was probably just going to die. She goes on to talk about how her favorite fish, named "Blazing Saddles Bitchy Pouty Mouth", recently died (the last in a long line of their fish that have died since she and my step-dad got a tropical aquarium). I offer condolences, and as I do she jumps topic to how pissed off she was that I borrowed their DVDs for a week while I was tending their house. As rationally as I could, I tried to explain that I didn't think it would have been a problem, especially since she herself had offered to let me borrow them before.

After a few more things, she returns to the topic of borrowing money, and I repeat that I honestly can't afford it. At this point, she starts speaking to my cat, telling her how "she shouldn't listen to any of the bullshit that comes out of my mouth," then says to her "don't tell me not to talk to my son like that", and finally asks "if he's so poor, why doesn't he just go live with his fucking father?" At this point, I was done being abused, and I told her that she was being both disrespectful and theatrically crazy. She stood up and made to leave, saying she'd talk to me again when she could borrow money from me. I responded that, if she wanted to grow up in the meantime, I would be happy to speak with her as an adult for a change. The door slammed, and the event was over.

I want to see her happy, to take care of herself, to better her own situation, and otherwise live a fulfilling life. She's lived on a couch for my entire adult life, doing little more than reading and watching television. She plies all of her effort and energy toward abusing others out of her own self-loathing, until someone reaches out and takes care of her. Her mental abuse is the reason I withdrew from others as I did; I honestly couldn't have made it through childhood if I'd made myself available to her brand of mindfuckery.

I'm tired. I have nothing but love for my parents, but so much of me wants to break ties with them right now... to thank my step-father for his guidance and help, but to ask him to take the car he's financing for me and sell it to recoup his losses. To tell my mother that I appreciate what she had to do to raise me and my siblings alone, but hope she can get beyond her cycle of self-destruction, and can stop trying to drag others down with her. I'm in such a bad position right now that I can't afford to refuse help, but I really don't think that their help is worth the abuse I put up with for it. I'd sooner serve in the military, or find some other way to sell 4-odd years of my life to get out of the hole I'm in, but do it on my own terms.

18
Play With Your Buddies / Solistream: HIATUS MODE ENGAGE
« on: March 13, 2011, 07:02:39 pm »
Hey there, anyfolks. I like to stream things. Do you like to watch people streaming things? If so, perhaps we can come to an agreement.

Twitch TV
Status: Hiatus


9/14/2016 Hiatus:

Just marking the channel as on Hiatus for the time being. Will update when/if that changes!

3/31/2016 Updoot:

It's spring break, I have a pretty open schedule, and I'd like to stream some Indie Games I've been wanting to share. Spring holidays usually see me fairly busy with various branches of the family, but I'll do my best to let folks know when I'm Streaming ahead of time.

19
Creative Projects / Blunderbuss Rules and Discussion Thread - It's a Game Now!
« on: February 26, 2011, 03:48:32 am »
Blunderbuss:
Post Renaissance Fantasy Campaign World



(06/2012) Mechanics: Archetypes and Character Creation
(06/2012) Mechanics: Charcters and Reputation
(10/2012) Mechanics: Death and Dying
(10/2012) Mechanics: Spellcasting
(03/2011) Technology: Black Powder Rockets
(12/2011) Technology: Protective Equipment
(03/2011) Religion and Magic: The Exemplarate
(03/2011) Religion and Magic: Spellcasters and their Patrons
(06/2012) Religion and Magic: Daemons, Archons, and the Cosmos
(01/2013) Religion and Magic: Titles Within the Exemplarate
(05/2011) Races: The Kobolds
(10/2011) Races: The Kenku
(10/2011) Races: The Flinds
(06/2012) Races: The Hobs

This is a World-building thread, where I'm hashing out an original Campaign Setting for the Pathfinder d20 system. It's based on a collaboration with a good friend of mine, bits from world folklore, a long-standing love of fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, and otherwise), and plenty of original ideas. I'm trying to give the world a different feel than your typical fantasy world, while keeping things recognizable. If I had to put the setting in a genre, it'd be something like "Post-Renaissance Steampunk Fantasy".

I'll be detailing bits of the setting through a series of posts, such as the known races of the world, major settings and locations, notable civilizations and characters, new technologies, game rules, and so on. I'll do my best to keep them organized. I'd love it if you wanted to share suggestions, critiques, and general encouragement; I'm aiming to make it feel like a believable, complex world, so you might enjoy it as a narrative even if you're not into tabletop gaming.




Campaign Overview:

Blunderbuss is set in a low-magic world, in a more advanced historical period than typical sword-and-sorcery fantasy. Times have changed, worship of gods has waned, and constant breakthroughs in philosophy and technology speak of an exciting future. The discovery of steam engines and blasting powder has lead to new innovations and reshaped much of the cultural landscape, while new sailing and navigation techniques have opened up access to distant lands, enabling settlers to reach a previously unknown continent far across the sea. As with any paradigm shift, the world is rife with conflicts between old and new, such as those between old religions and new philosophies, discovery pushing against the unknown, and civilization marching ever onward against the wilderness.

20
Life Advice / Bridging the gap between intent and action
« on: February 08, 2011, 09:21:31 pm »
I've had consistent blahs for weeks now, separated by a few hours of normalcy when thoroughly engrossing myself in something, putting on the entertainer's mask, or taking strides to help others out or make them happy. It's a run-of-the-mill depressive streak, and I can see it plainly. So can my folks and friends, apparently, as they've voiced more concerns now than they have in the past.

While visiting my folks the other day, my Stepdad mentioned on a whim that Winston Churchill was Manic Depressive, and he channeled his depressive emotions into intense focus. That's sort of what I've always tried to do when I feel depressed, but with some things it can be difficult. I can easily wrap myself up in something thought or work-intensive, such as a new creative project, or spending a few hours to help someone out... but I have a much harder time of it when the task is something important to me, or something I need to do. It's tough to get myself to leave the house for classes, to continue searching for work, to maintain contact my family and friends, and so on. Additionally, I find it far more difficult to spend 15 minutes finishing a frivolous project than I do spending 4 hours starting a new one.

I know that my emotional state is pushing me to make poor choices, hurting my grades in the current semester, and damaging ties with people I care about; and yet pushing past it is like slogging through shin-deep mud. In hindsight I can see myself finding excuses, pushing things from my mind, or wrapping myself up in some task or other, but I can seldom tell when I'm doing it at the moment.

I can see that I'm at the root of these things... me and the choices I make. I'm convinced I can correct it under my own power, without seeking psychological help, chemical treatments, or so on; that I'm just not being focused, self-conscious, or tough enough on myself. I keep taking note of the poor choices I've made, and commit myself to changing them, but when the time comes I don't even notice myself falling into the same old habits... ignoring immediate things like phone calls or my alarm clock, or long-term problems such as my financial situation. I keep telling myself that I need to push harder but I keep failing to, and when I fail, I know that I only have myself to blame.

I can't tell if I'm just depressed, or am unconsciously sabotaging myself, or what... but whatever it is, it's a mess, and I'm having trouble finding a way out.

21
Forum Games and Roleplaying / Marooned: An Island Survival Game [Set-up]
« on: December 01, 2010, 12:06:29 am »
A vacation took a turn for the worse, and now you're stuck with a bunch of your forum friends on a deserted island. With no idea where you are, few supplies, and no clear way to escape, you'll need to find a way to survive... though how you're going to do that is up to you to decide!

Signups are open! If you're interested in playing, put together a character sheet as detailed below.

Player List:
  • Vector
  • arcadia
  • tehstefan
  • Barbarossa the Seal God
  • Tack
  • bloodsheder
  • Neyvn
  • MaximumZero
  • Kadzar
  • Diakron
  • Argonnek
  • Aqizzar
  • Japa
  • nuker w

Game Rules and Information:
Characters:
- Each player has their own set of talents, gifts, faults, and unique stunts at their disposal, as they work and explore.
Mechanics:
- The game takes place in turns, each representing a day on the island. Challenges are resolved with planning, and a bit of luck.
Survival:
- In order to stay alive, your character needs food, water, shelter, and rest. You'll also need to avoid injury from any dangers you may encounter.

22
Forum Games and Roleplaying / ♔ VS ♚: Free-For-All Chess
« on: September 28, 2010, 11:04:21 pm »
Rule #1: If you don't repost the gameboard, the move never happened.
Rule #2: If the last move was illegal, redo the move.
Rule #3: Don't knowingly make a bad move for a team, with the intent to sabotage them.
Rule #4: ...

    a b c d e f g h
  ╔═════════════════╗
8 ║ ♜ ♞ ♝ ♛ ♚ ♝ ♞ ♜ ║ 8
7 ║ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ♟ ║ 7
6 ║ ░ █ ░ █ ░ █ ░ █ ║ 6
5 ║ █ ░ █ ░ █ ░ █ ░ ║ 5
4 ║ ░ █ ░ █ ♙ █ ░ █ ║ 4
3 ║ █ ░ █ ░ █ ░ █ ░ ║ 3
2 ║ ♙ ♙ ♙ ♙ ░ ♙ ♙ ♙ ║ 2
1 ║ ♖ ♘ ♗ ♕ ♔ ♗ ♘ ♖ ║ 1
  ╚═════════════════╝
    a b c d e f g h


Pawn to E4.

Your moves, Internet.

23
DF Community Games & Stories / [CONTEST] DF Masters 3.5: Indiana Jreengus, and...
« on: September 24, 2010, 05:44:48 am »
It's been a while since I ran one of these, and this idea's been percolating in my brain for some time now, so without further ado I bring you:

DF Masters 3.5: Indiana Jreengus, and...



Past DF Masters Competitions:
DF Masters 1
DF Masters 2

Contestants: (6/16)
- Brisk
- Urist Imiknorris
- barconis
- Deadbeard
- cappstv
- Nevyn
-

Judges: (2/8)
- nuker w
- Aramco
-

Overview:
This contest will consist of two stages: The first, in the fine tradition of past DF Masters Competitions, will pit competitors indirectly against one another in a order to build the best Dwarf Fortress, while sticking to certain codes of conduct and gameplay challenges. The second stage is a new addition, and will consist of each contestant (and Judge) guiding a Kobold Adventurer through their opponent's Fortress, to seek out the secrets, collect the artifacts, and overcome the challenges created by their competitors in Stage 1.

Each contestant will be scored based on how fine a Fortress they've built (as rated by a panel of volunteer Judges), how well they overcome the challenges of their opponent's Fortresses, and how many of the Judges are able to overcome their own Fort's challenges in Adventure Mode. As with all the other DF Masters, the winners will recieve all kinds of bragging rights, as well as a little pixelated medal for you to bling out your forum signitures with. What's not to like?

Details:
The theme for this contest is simple, though how you go about is entirely up to you. For Stage 1, contestants will be given a pre-generated world in which to build their Fortress. The Fortresses will be designed to contain challenges, artifacts, or secrets of their choosing, be it within a forgotten city, a sprawling subterranean temple, a puzzle-filled dungeon, or anything else. The only guidelines for designing your fortress are that each will be scored on (and thus must include) at least 3 Aspects related to any of the following:

a) The Legend
b) The Secret
c) The Trial
d) The Guardian
e) The Treasure

Each of these Aspects must be tied to something physical in or about your Fortress, though you may interpret the categories however you wish. You may designate anywhere up to 5 Aspects of your fort to these categories if you wish, and can alternatively designate more than one aspect of your Fort to a single category (ex. 2 Guardians, and 1 Trial). In either case, you only score points for the 3 highest-scoring Aspects of your Fort. When you create them, you also must define to the Judges what they are, and what finding/completing/discovering each Aspect entails, since in the next stage, you and your opponents will earn points based on how well others are able to overcome or discover them.

For Stage 2, players and judges will be adventuring as Indiana Jreengus, a Kobold treasure hunter and explorer (ie. thief), who is famous (among Kobolds) for exploring and conquering (ie. surviving) many of the ancient Dwarven Ruins scattered across the land. With only your trusty Iron Scourge, Leather Coat and Cap, and keen wits, you must explore each submitted Fortress to uncover their legends, learn their secrets, and retrieve their treasures... while overcoming any trials and guardians that may stand in your way! You earn points for each opposing Fortress you are able to best within the time limit, and for each Judge who is able to best your own Fortress.

Oh, and you may have noticed the name of the contest itself seems to trail off midway through the title. That's because each competitor will be naming their Fortress so that it completes a title, to become "Indiana Jreengus, and 'The _____ of _____'." Be creative with your Fort's name, since it sets the tone for the challenge... and since the Judge's favorite will earn a chunk of bonus points!

Let's kick this thing off with sign ups. If you're interested in giving this contest a shot as either a Contestant or a Judge, let me know. We'll need plenty of both, so the more the merrier!

24
General Discussion / Discussion of the Week: "Is the Internet detrimental to humanity?"
« on: September 13, 2010, 07:28:05 pm »
"Is the Internet detrimental to Humanity?"
<> <> <>
Discussion of the Week: Round 1
(Sept. 13-19, 2010)

Past Discussions:
Round 0: "What do you want to discuss, and how do you want to discuss it?"
Round 1: "Is the Internet detrimental to Humanity?"

Rules (may change as necessary):
- Forbidden discussion topics include: religion, politics, or religiously/politically charged world events. Exceptions may be taken on a case-by-case basis, or by popular opinion.
- Feel free to wander from the original topic, or take it in a new direction, so long as it remains relevant.
- Don't incite flame-wars or attack others on a personal level. By the same token, don't let the discussion become a personal thing. Self-moderate, keep things light, and have fun.
-

Suggestions:
- Try to stay away from logical fallacies in your arguments.
-

25
DF Modding / Archetypical Zoology Mod [VBASE]
« on: August 31, 2010, 01:56:53 pm »
I'm gearing up to make an expanded zoology using Captain Mayday's VBASE mod-kit. Before I embark on this, however, I need help compiling an extensive list of animals real, mythological, and extinct, in the following categories. Suggestions for categories and animals are welcome! Also, if you have ideas for new monsters, or a monster from a myth or story you remember, feel free to suggest them too, no matter how obscure or trivial you might think they are.

The goal of this mod isn't to fill out the world with hundreds of similar species for varieties sake, but rather to include animals from all different climates that players of DF will see or interact with differently. To a player, a White-Handed Gibbon is pretty much the same as a Pilleated Gibbon except for coloration, while a Sea Turtle and a Snapping Turtle are markedly different; one shyly swims around the ocean eating krill, while the other could snip your toe off in a murky pool. As such, I won't be using every animal suggested here, but this is designed to assemble a huge list that covers every biome, to whittle things down from.

When suggesting an animal, try to include a link to information, especially for more obscure mythological or real creatures. Also, for biologists, the classifications I'm using aren't completely taxonomically accurate. I'm trying to focus on logical groupings, rather than biological ones.

26
Play With Your Buddies / LP ToEE (LOCKED)
« on: August 25, 2010, 05:24:08 pm »
Let's Play: The Temple of Elemental Evil
- A World of Greyhawk Adventure by Troika Games

Adventures of the Last Great Bounty Hunter (Lawful Evil Campaign)
Introduction: In which a bounty hunter seeks fame and fortune, at a Temple to the Dark God Hextor.
Chapter 1-1: In which the bounty hunter meets a new employer.
Chapter 1-2: In which a ragtag band of adventurers gather.
Chapter 1-3: In which the adventurers test their mettle in an ambush.
Chapter 1-4: In which frogs look for (and almost find) an easy meal.

Current Party:
Solifuge       - Lassiter, Dwarven Rogue (TN)
janekk         - Nero, Human Sorcerer (NE)
TheBroodyMoods - Kelvyn, Dwarven Druid (NE)
Boksi          - Tylee, Gnome Cleric (LE)
Nirur Torir    - Riv, Human Barbarian (NE)
Josephus       - Cormac, Human Fighter (LN)

New characters are still welcome to join the roster! Submit a class, race, sex, name, and any specialties/quirks/traits your character has!

You heard the subject line, folks. We're playing the classic World of Greyhawk module by Gary Gygax, The Temple of Elemental Evil!
Spoiler: Yay 1st Edition AD&D! I'm sure you're thrilled. (click to show/hide)

No no no, this is the 21st century, and we have a more demanding taste in RPG entertainment these days! We don't want to sit around at a game table, and argue bitterly with our friends over the next logical course of action. No, we want to tell some schmuck on the internet to play the game how we want, and have the adventuring party take the most inane, sociopathic, and radical route to glory! We want to command our puppets to dance, from the safety of our laptops and computer desks. Behold!



There we go. So first things first; we need to create an adventuring party! In order to do that we first need to choose the party's Alignment. The sets us off on our starting quest, and influences how our party is viewed by, and interacts with the world. More importantly, it decides what alignments our party members can have, and thus whether or not we'll be indulging in acts of selfless heroism, or a country-wide bloodbath. Every member of the party has to be within one step of the Party Alignment, so choose wisely!



Also, we need Adventurers. We can have up to 6 party members at a time, plus any familiars or animal companions they may have. This is going to be an Ironman run, so there'll be permanent character death, no loading up old saves, and I've never played this before so I have no idea what we might be running into. Needless to say, we'll be cycling through would-be Adventurers pretty regularly! :D

Oh, and remember that your character's Alignment can only be one step different than the Party Alignment.


===>

27
Play With Your Buddies / Solifuge's Serious Frivolity (Offline: Firefly Soon)
« on: July 26, 2010, 11:32:39 pm »
Status: Offline
Soon: Record of Lodoss War Finale, Episodes 9 through 13

Serious Frivolity is a Livestream Channel where I stream Let's Plays, Movies, and other such entertaining nonsense. If you've got an idea for a classic, obscure, or great game you want to see a Let's Play of, suggestions are welcome! If you ever miss a Stream you wanted to catch, you can always view them in the Livestream History below.

Livestream History:

Games:
Let's Play Cortex Command:
☼☺ Introduction
☼☺ Multiplayer (1/2/3/4/5)

Let's Play Indie Games:
☼☺ Battle For Wesnoth (Fantasy Turn-Based Strategy)
-☺ Megaman Deathmatch (Megaman meets Quake)
-☺ Lugaru (Ninja Rabbit Fighting/Stealth/Action Platformer)


Videos:
Record of Lodoss War:
-- Episode 01: Prologue to the Legend
-- Episode 02: Blazing Departure

WARNING - videos may contain the following frivolity:
☺ = Live Music/Commentary
☼ = Multiplayer

28
DF Modding / Emulating Hardcoded Reactions/Workshops/Buildings
« on: July 16, 2010, 03:45:20 am »
I'm working on a TOP SECRET Mod, and ran into some difficulty with reactions and materials. Please let me pick your collective brains, since I'm sure we can figure these out:

1) Recreating Smelters:
I'm trying to create a series of auxiliary workshops that emulate several hard-coded workshops/reactions, but which have certain limitations on what they can do. For instance, a Smelter which can only smelt certain ores (Native Copper, Silver, Gold, etc.), but still retains the ability to melt down items. I've got the ore emulation down, since it's fairly easy... but I have no idea how to do melting of metal objects. It's not a vital function to have, but it'd be ideal provided it works without potentially melting any and every unattended metal object. Any ideas for how I might be able to make metal object melting work, ideally only objects marked for melting?

If I can tweak the raws in such a way as to prevent smelting of any ores unless there's a reaction explicitly allowing it too, that would also work.
Spoiler: Emulating Smelting Reactions (click to show/hide)

2) Adding Custom Reactions to Hardcoded Workshops:
In the same vein, I'm looking to creating an auxiliary Mason's workshop which can produce Querns, Millstones, Statues, Blocks, and a custom Stone Anvil object out of any non-economic stone, but won't build the majority of stone furniture items.

I'd like to add this Stone Anvil reaction to the hardcoded Masonry Workshop too, and I've got a few other custom reactions that I'd rather add to the hardcoded workshops, instead of making custom ones for each (namely the Craftsdwarf's Workshop and the Leather Works). However, I don't know the tags used to specify them. Do you know if the hardcoded workshops (other than the smelter) can be used by custom reactions, and if so what the tags would be to use them? Something like "[BUILDING:LEATHER_WORKS:NONE]"?

3) Mined Soil Layers Producing Materials - Clay and Ceramics Industry:
Since ceramics are sorely lacking in Dwarf Fortress, I'd like to create a simple ceramic production line based around Clay, Kilns, and the Furnace Operator skill; however, unless you can modify the soil layers to drop material when mined (does adding [IS_STONE] make them drop material?), I see two options: change Clay to a type of layer stone (sedimentary) that shows up near topsoil, or preferably make it a non-stone mineral that exists in deposits in certain soil layers.

In either case, since lumps of wet clay don't make for good floors/walls, what material/tokens can I use to make it so that it can't be used in stone constructions in its raw state? So long as I can do that, I can make a separate stone material called "ceramic" which doesn't occur in nature, and use reactions to turn the raw clay material into the desired objects made of ceramic at a kiln.

Spoiler: Ideas for making Digable Clay (click to show/hide)

4) Custom Buildings Made of Custom Objects:
Can custom constructed objects, such as Floor Rugs or Tapestries of woven cloth, be manufactured, and then built as a construction in rooms? Additionally, could a manufactured Mosaic be made of 3 distinct stone materials, and set to automatically depict DESCRIPTOR_SHAPE shapes similar to what statues do?

Though I'm doing my best to figure these things out, there are enough modders out there that I'm sure some of you have messed around with similar things, and have had more experience at it than I, so please share any ideas or information you have about how to make these work, or any other theories you have that I may not have thought of.

29
Other Games / Blunderbus (Pathfinder d20 Campaign)
« on: May 11, 2010, 03:43:15 pm »
Blunderbus:
A Post-Renaissance Fantasy Campaign World, for Pathfinder d20.

Narratives:
Intro: The Edge of Time

Character Races:
Hob (Halfling)
Flind (Gnoll)
Saat (Human)
Kenku (Tengu)

Rules and Equipment:
Black Powder Weapons
Bracing Shields

I'm putting together a Pathfinder d20 campaign that brings D&D into the Age of Exploration (though I'll be borrowing elements from SciFi, the Steampunk genre, and folklore as well). As I'm creating campaign materials, I'll be posting them here for critique, crowd-sourcing, general use, and for reading/enjoyment.

I'm working to distance it somewhat from classical D&D lore, as well as creating a handful of balanced systems for handling things such as Naval Combat, incorporation of black-powder weapons, more dangerous and powerful magic, a different cosmology and set of base races/classes, etc. I'll also be writing narratives to help piece out certain scenarios that are tangential to the plot, and to help me flesh out the world.

World-Generation is a lonely job, so I'd appreciate any feedback on the theme, rules, balance, and such, that you may have. Also, if anyone has suggestions, or ideas to bounce around, I'd love to hear them.

30
Life Advice / Build me a computer
« on: April 15, 2010, 04:10:28 pm »
Okay folks, I have a dilemma. My computer is over half a decade old, and sorely needs to be replaced. I know relatively little about hardware, but I want to build a computer from parts, so I can have more control over what I put in the machine, and can do so at a lower cost. I've got the resources and expertise to be able to assemble the thing, but I first need help selecting parts. I'm aiming to be under $999 in parts, preferably in the vicinity of $600-800.

When looking over parts, I'm considering that I do a fair bit of gaming, so I'd like it to be fairly powerful, with a reasonable storage capacity. My first priority is general processing power. Second, I'd like mid-to-high graphics capabilities. Third, I want reasonable storage capacity (150Gb has been fine in the past, but I know that's pretty skimpy these days). I don't necessarily want top-of-the-line components, but I'd like to use generally solid parts all around, from the power supply and cables, to the motherboard and hardrive, etc. Also, I intend to do LAN parties and whatnot with this thing, so portability and durability are plusses. I'm intending to run XP (possibly Windows 7) ideally with a little Ubuntu partition too, if it's relevant.

Lacking personal experience with the science of Computer Frankensteining, I come to you guys for advice. If you've got a new computer, what brands and specific parts do you recomend and/or trust? What services are best to look for parts on? How best can I go about making a fairly inexpensive, but modern machine?

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