Let's roll some dice, watch some movies, or generally just geek out. New posts at 6:30 pm ET but only if I have something to say. Menu at the top. gsllc@chirp.enworld.org on Mastodon and @gsllc on Twitter.
Last Friday, one of my favorite YouTube channels, Mythology & Fiction Explained, released a video on the creatures from North America. These are creatures from Native American mythology but rather ones that came about after Europeans settled the west.
These creatures didn’t come about from a need to explain the change of seasons, earthquakes, or the path of the sun in the sky. Explaining the unexplained is what we mean when we refer to something as a myth, but it’s clear that there’s more to it than that. As I’ve mentioned, while explaining the unexplainable is the genesis of a myth, myths become widely accepted because they’re entertaining. The stories spread because we enjoy them and, sometimes, want them to be true (preferably with no one getting killed). Humans of the mid-20th century believing these stories is evidence of this claim. Why spread stories that are clearly hoaxes or silly mistakes? Because they’re fun. I bet that applied to ancient cultures as well, and the stories took on a life of their own over time. After all, some Nordic people still believe in some elements Norse mythology, selecting the ones that don’t contradict their modern knowledge or sensibilities.
Mind you, I’m not complaining. These stories can be fascinating and could easily be part of your fantasy roleplaying games, especially this guy.
Sundays now are lazy days for me. I either post something silly or other people’s work. Usually both. Today, I’m answering an unanswered question from Avengers: Age of Ultron. Why did Joss Whedon feel it was necessary to kill off Pietro Maximoff?
Look, not all of these posts can be winners.
Why is this Evan Peters and not Aaron Taylor-Johnson?
I’ve gone through all of the cats from the 1e AD&D Fiend Foliohere and here, and I pretty much covered the 1e AD&D Monster Manual cats here. Now it’s time for the 1e AD&D Monster Manual II (“MM2“), which is entirely new to me. I recently got it as part of my stash of 1e purchases, so it’s time to go through MM2 cats. There aren’t a lot.
Cat (p. 22)
Umm, okay. A cat. There are two varieties: domestic and wild. As a human living in the real world, I understand that wild cats can be a pain in the ass when they’re angry, but . . . what? Okay, let’s just move on.
Level I, not included on any of the encounter tables. No idea why. 🙂
Cat Lord (p. 22)
This is the master of all cats, but he looks like an ordinary dude. Despite the art, we’re told he has ferocious bite and claw attacks, and being a level X (10) monster, that’s backed up by the numbers. I should relate to the character, but I can’t see including him in any adventures except as a joke. A level X joke, but a joke nevertheless.
Astral Plane, 5.3% chance of encounter (3 on a 2d10).
Catfish, Giant (p. 23)
No, no, no, no, no. Doesn’t count. Move on.
Level VI, 5.3% chance of encounter in tropical and subtropical freshwater.
Cheetah (p. 25)
I have to say that I’m not particularly impressed with the MM2 cats so far. It’s an ordinary cheetah. What else do you need to know?
Level III, not found in any of the random encounter tables. For creating your own random encounter tables, cheetahs are “rare” in both tropical wilderness plains and tropical wilderness deserts.
Hey, there’s a demilich on page 32!
Stop, Rob! Don’t get distracted.
Elfin Cat (p. 63)
We don’t get a picture of this cat, but it’s described as “usually mistaken for a wild cat or possibly a lynx, but this is because the creature does not wish to be recognized as out of the ordinary.” Yeah, this cat’s got some magic, including Enlarge, Reduce, Pass Without Trace, Tree, and Trip. They have limited ESP, magically resistant 20% of the time, are surprised only on 1 out of 20, and surprise 1-5 on a d6 (1-2 is normal). What the hell. They can also leap 20 feet “with ease.” So, throw a bunch of wild cats at the PCs, then have them stumble upon a pair and their kits.
Level IV, found in forests when rolling a 19 on a 2d10 (5.3% chance). For creating your own random encounter tables, elfin cats are “very rare” in temperate wilderness forests.
Wemic (p. 126)
These count. A wemic is a “lion centaur,” akin to the urmahlullu from Mesopotamian mythology. Wemic are intelligent, use armor and weapons (both melee and ranged), and may even have magic items. If they lose their weapons, they can use their claws instead, so they’re never truly unarmed. They are surprised only on a 1.
Level IV, not included on any of the encounter tables. For creating your own random encounter tables, wemics are “very rare” in both temperate wilderness plains and temperate wilderness deserts.
Well, that’s not a lot, but maybe you can make something of these in your game.
Okay, I know. I went to Vegas, and you don’t care. Fine. Back to 1e AD&D.
My friend and I are developing a game system. It’s unlikely it’ll ever see the commercial light of day, but it constantly keeps me thinking about what I like and dislike about game design. I had an idea that’s apparently not novel (I’ve never even read Shadowrun, let alone played it), and it was brought up a couple of weeks ago on Facebook: Monster taxonomy.
Obviously, I think it’s a fun idea. Despite someone complaining that the mere discussion of monster taxonomy was stifling creativity and story, the only use for developing taxonomy is creative in nature, producing a story element with no real mechanical effect. All taxonomy would do (at least as I envision it) is tell the player how closely related two species are. Are elves homo sapiens dryadalis (a subspecies of human), or are they something like dryadalis sapiens (in an entirely different genus from humans)? This would depend on your origin story for each species. Matching the nomenclature with the origin story can be clever and fun, but as a story element, players and GMs that disagree could completely ignore it.
And that was today’s lesson on how to take something nerdy and make it even nerdier.
Every year without a new pandemic, I go to Las Vegas for blackjack. They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but that’s not really a problem for me. I usually don’t even drink when I’m there. This year was a little different, but still not worth hiding anything. These posts are an assortment of photos and videos from the Vegas Strip. Most of the videos are from an aquarium I visited. The images are pretty big, so if you blow them up, you should still get good resolution.
I always stay and gamble at MGM properties. My credit card doesn’t get me gas credits or airline miles; it gets me gambling comps, so everything but tips are paid for because I paid my car insurance bill, got gas, or bought food at the grocery store. The comps really add up, so I use that card for everything I possibly can. I started the trip with $1,327 in available comps ($200 added just for reserving the room, so you can get those), and that was before I sat down at a blackjack table to gamble.
In all my years of going to Vegas, I’ve been off-strip only twice before this trip. Once was to visit my cousin’s aunt, and the other was to play D&D. For the latter, I connected with my now-friend Stephanie via Facebook. She picked me up at the hotel, drove me to a gaming store, ran one of the early DDAL adventures, then took me to In-N-Out so I could see what the fuss was about (meh), and then took me to In-N-Out headquarters so that I could say I had been there and Erik never had.
The Millennium Fandom
This year, Stephanie had a free day Wednesday, so she took me on my third trip off-strip. This was the first thing I saw when I entered the bar:
The Nationals World Series championship cap makes me feel like an outsider at this bar.
After this, the owner (Alex) took us into a section of the bar that was closed that night.
Suck it, Kessel Junkie!
Alex took another picture, but it was a bit poorly timed. However, Alex pointed out that it probably caught me at a moment I was using the Force. I think he’s right.
Star Trek >> Forgotten Realms >> Star Wars
Next, I had to pick up a passenger. She’s why I crashed the Tie Fighter into a bunch of chairs.
This post is becoming a slam against all my friends.
After this, I toured the rest of the bar. I didn’t get some of the references, so please fill in the blanks if you can.
The Fifth Element‘s Water Stone.
Lightsabers, a helmet from The Mandalorian, a helmet from 300, the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones (top left surrounded by red light) and some big-ass sword I didn’t recognize. The bottom left look like bullets, and above that is a shield.
Well, sure, you can just look at these things, but ….
Pretty sure this is a vorpal lightsaber.
What’s that above me?
I know you knew.
Beneath the Aluminum Falcon was this guy.
What’s that hanging above R2’s “head”?
Some Raiders of the Lost Ark stuff and stuff from video games I didn’t recognize.
The Air Stone, Pac-Man, and a mashup. I didn’t get the reference on the license plate.
Lots of masks, the Earth Stone, and a katana I don’t recognize. Is it from Highlander? Suicide Squad? Maybe it’s simply a katana.
He told you he’d be back.
Wall-E thinking the band would let him play that night.
Wall-E was wrong.
I almost went back here thinking it was where the men’s room was. No reason.
Enough of this. Let’s have some more Star Trek. And what the hell? Some Hellraiser too.
The TV is blanked out for copyright reasons, which seems silly considering what I’m posting.
Now we have the proton pack from Ghostbusters and some Nightmare Before Christmas stuff, as well as some other things I don’t recognize. It’s hard to see from this image, but in the top right corner is an archer with an eagle on its shoulder. I didn’t get the reference, but I’d love to have that in my home. It was pretty cool-looking. The reason it’s blurry is because the lighting in the room forced me to use a “night” setting on my camera phone requiring more than an instant of exposure, and the slightest movement blurred the picture.
Unless you had forgotten, you must have known that the Fire Stone had to show up. Also, we have references to Predator, Alien, Wonder Woman, and Nightmare Before Christmas (a movie, by the way, that I didn’t see until last year).
After the tour, I noticed a couple of other things around the bar itself. First, a Batman vs. Superman sign that was behind me as I entered the bar.
Remember what I said about the camera setting? In this case, the blur created a neat effect. This is a real image. These are real people, not a drawing or touched-up photo.
Okay, but what’s the crowd like? Well, the QAnon Shaman showed up!
Not really.
Finally, as I was leaving for the night, I went to the men’s room and saw this hanging on the door to the bathroom stall. Brilliant. I love this movie.
As you can see, this is my kind of bar. If you’re reading this post, I’m guessing it’s your kind of bar as well. It’s worth the Lyft/Uber trip. Oh, and a self-delivered pat on my back.
Every year without a new pandemic, I go to Las Vegas for blackjack. They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but that’s not really a problem for me. I usually don’t even drink when I’m there. This year was a little different, but still not worth hiding anything. These posts are an assortment of photos and videos from the Vegas Strip. Most of the videos are from an aquarium I visited. The images are pretty big, so if you blow them up, you should still get good resolution.
I always stay and gamble at MGM properties. My credit card doesn’t get me gas credits or airline miles; it gets me gambling comps, so everything but tips are paid for because I paid my car insurance bill, got gas, or bought food at the grocery store. The comps really add up, so I use that card for everything I possibly can. I started the trip with $1,327 in available comps ($200 added just for reserving the room, so you can get those), and that was before I sat down at a blackjack table to gamble.
Normally, I don’t do much more than eat, sleep, and gamble, but I added this stop to my itinerary on Wednesday. Here are a bunch of pictures and videos presented in the order I took them (to the best of my recollection). There’s a small bit of commentary, but these are mostly just for your viewing pleasure.
Gator? Caiman? I didn’t read the placard.
This next one freaked me out. Mostly, he kept his eyes closed but occasionally opened them. I caught him with eyes opened. Seemed annoyed.
Komodo Dragon
This one was just weird looking. I thought it looked prehistoric, so it was worth a photo.
Next up is the touch pool. You’re permitted to reach into the water (maybe 1-1/2 feet deep) and, using only your index finger, lightly stroke the rays or horseshoe crabs. These were clearly juveniles based on size.
This guy was gooey.
At this point, I realized I should be taking videos rather than taking pictures.
Why haven’t these turtles been eaten?
What the hell is the evolutionary basis for developing a saw-like appendage?
What the hell is the evolutionary basis for developing a hammer-like snout?
Tomorrow, the entire post will be dedicated to a single locale: The Millennium Fandom.
Every year without a new pandemic, I go to Las Vegas for blackjack. They say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but that’s not really a problem for me. I usually don’t even drink when I’m there. This year was a little different, but still not worth hiding anything. These posts are an assortment of photos and videos from the Vegas Strip. Most of the videos are from an aquarium I visited. The images are pretty big, so if you blow them up, you should still get good resolution.
I always stay and gamble at MGM properties. My credit card doesn’t get me gas credits or airline miles; it gets me gambling comps, so everything but tips are paid for because I paid my car insurance bill, got gas, or bought food at the grocery store. The comps really add up, so I use that card for everything I possibly can. I started the trip with $1,327 in available comps ($200 added just for reserving the room, so you can get those), and that was before I sat down at a blackjack table to gamble.
I stayed at the Luxor, which has a pretty cool design. Here are a few views from the elevator lobby.
The view from my room wasn’t so great, but very few rooms get an unobstructed view of the strip. In all of my trips to Vegas, I’ve gotten that kind of a view only once. This time, however, I got a partially view of the T-Mobile Arena (I almost bought a ticket to the Monday night game between the Ravens and Raiders), as well as my former preferred spot, the Excalibur.
Don’t knock the Excalibur. I always get what I want there. Whenever I’m down, I walk away from the table, head over to Excalibur, and win it all back. I was up $1,000 this year but headed there anyway because I know I could do better. I started with $900 and played for 4-1/2 hours, bouncing between $650 and $910, never gaining ground. Then I went on a run of about 15 straight winning hands, jumping from ~$700 to $1,900 (as explained, I gradually increase my bet as I win, and with ~15 straight wins, my chips explode). Once I finally lost a hand, I walked away. The Excalibur is always awesome to me.
Back to Luxor, one thing bothered me. I stayed at the Luxor once before, but my room was on the first floor. This year, I was on 17, and, well, I’m not sure why more people haven’t fell to their deaths at the Luxor.
If you click through to You Tube, I cite a story about strange deaths at Luxor, but that includes things like a UNLV player dying after a fist fight. Few of the deaths that occur are from falling over these ledges. Considering how short they are, and how drunk may guests are, that’s surprising to me.
Bellagio
Tuesday night, I took a walk down the Strip, stopping at Bellagio for the fountain show. I’ve done that four times before, so it wasn’t a new experience, but it wasn’t as good this time.
— Rob Bodine, #Attorney by Day, #Nerd by Day & Night (@GSLLC) September 14, 2021
I had to wait another 15 minutes for the next song. All Night Long by Lionel Richie was next up. I thought the choreography was a bit weak, but I’m a child of the late 70s and 80s, so I can live with that. The copyright holder is allowing the video to stay up, but there will be ads.
Why What Happens in Vegas Need Not Stay in Vegas
On the walk back to Luxor, I passed a few shops and knew I had to tweet about them.
I know my friends would love it if I did this, but no. In fact, never have and probably never will. #Vegaspic.twitter.com/ePMKVu9i4I
— Rob Bodine, #Attorney by Day, #Nerd by Day & Night (@GSLLC) September 14, 2021
Even the ATM is green.
Sorry, hippies, but this just ain’t my sort of thing.
On Wednesday, I visited Mandalay Bay‘s Shark Reef aquarium and virtual reality show. To keep these posts short, I’ll post those photos and videos in a separate post tomorrow.
A good screenwriter would pounce on this new material. Why not? Some of it has never been seen before, so it’d seem like a fresh take on the legend, yet it would be as legitimate as any other version you’ve heard or read.
Sundays now are lazy days for me. I either post something silly or other people’s work. Usually both. Today, it’s some neat Star Trek art from Young Rascal, a.k.a., Rich Kingston. I’d like to post a sample but, while I don’t know if he properly acquired the rights to publish the actors’ likenesses, I don’t want to trample on his or anyone else’s copyrights or publicity rights.
Here’s an article pondering who in the MCU is a cat person v. dog person. I have a response to each entry.
Loki, cat person: Hiddleston provided the best acting in the entire MCU.
Steve Rogers, dog person: I’ve been called libertarian (or libertarian adjacent), and that label is reasonable, but Steve Rogers is the most naïve of libertarians. “We don’t trade lives.” Really? One willing life for trillions of unaware innocents? That’s a dog person for you.
Tony Stark, cat person: Tony Stark is the MCU.
Bruce Banner, dog person: Couldn’t figure out a woman loved him until she beat him over the head with it. Even then, walked away from it. Dipshit.
Natasha Romanoff, cat person: The glue of the Avengers. Everyone had a special relationship with her.
Clint Barton, dog person: Every rule has an exception, and this is it. Clint’s alright.
Nick Fury, cat person: He’s the spy. He organized the whole thing without a superpower to stand on.
Sam Wilson, dog person: Really a cat person, but went dog because he does whatever Steve Rogers does, just slower. Loses respect points for that one.
Bucky Barnes, dog person: He was probably a cat person until Hydra scrambled his brains.
The Vision, dog person: Because dog people aren’t really people.
Wanda Maximoff, cat person: Rivals Thor for strongest Avenger. Took on Thanos one-on-one.
James “Rhodey” Rhodes, dog person: Iron Man wannabe. Really mean person requiring unconditional love in order to have companionship. Yep. Dog person.
Peter Parker, dog person: Again, requiring unconditional love, but in Peter’s case, it’s because he’s an insecure teenager. He’ll grow out of it. He better.
Carol Danvers, cat person: She can fly in space. Her powers come from an infinity stone.
Scott Lang, dog person: No, he’s a cat person. They say he’s an excitable pup, but opposites attract, and the opposite of a pup is a kitty. Scott’s still okay in my book.
T’Challa, cat person: Ruler of the most technologically-advanced kingdom in the world. A freaking king.
Play What You Want 