# Shout Outs and Banter



## Devor (Aug 13, 2014)

Do you have something pointless you want to say, or to give a shout out to another member for consistently helping you out?

Here's a place for the off-topic banter that you want to say but are afraid would derail a more productive thread.


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## Devor (Aug 13, 2014)

Saw this today on HBR. It's a little too poignant.


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## DaFlaminUnicorn (Aug 13, 2014)

I have a question, there are so many British television shows that we Americans love to watch on BBC America and PBS. So to all you British people out there, Are there any American movies or tv shows that you like to watch?


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## CupofJoe (Aug 14, 2014)

DaFlaminUnicorn said:


> I have a question, there are so many British television shows that we Americans love to watch on BBC America and PBS. So to all you British people out there, Are there any American movies or tv shows that you like to watch?


Oodles... There used to be a lot more out there but police procedurals are still a draw for me. Currently I am enjoying _Chicago PD_ and the original _CSI:Vegas_. 
Also anything cleverly written, I am eagerly waiting for season 2of  _The Newsroom_ to get here on DVD... [if it has written or created by Aaron Sorkin in the credits I'm probably going to be a fan]. American writing is usually faster paced and tighter written when its good. You got more in one ep of _The West Wing_ than you did in a series of _In the Thick of it_... I've given up on _Doctor Who_ because I think it is incredibly lazily written. Too many swelling cords, running about and meaningful looks but little actual plot... others may disagree...
I do watch other programs like _The 100_ and _Revolution_ but I think of them more as comedies... I know that aren't Ha-Ha funny but they make me laugh... I don't have access to most of the US shows released here as I don't have a Cable/Satellite TV package. I have enough reasons not to write, exercise, talk to people, go out of doors without adding 100 channels more...
_Orphan Black_ is good too, but isn't that Canadian?

The last film I really liked that was American as _42_ - a biopic about Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson. All the acting is good [especially Alan Tudyk] but Harrison Ford is almost unrecognisable as the Brooklyn Dodgers' Manager Branch Rickey.


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## teacup (Aug 14, 2014)

> I have a question, there are so many British television shows that we Americans love to watch on BBC America and PBS. So to all you British people out there, Are there any American movies or tv shows that you like to watch?



Most of what I watch is American, really. 

Supernatural
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Angel
Firefly
Fringe
Breaking Bad
Walking Dead
Game of Thrones
There's probably more but those are the big ones.

If you're watching British tv shows, I'll recommend a few.
For comedy, IT Crowd or The Mighty Boosh(this is weird, probably not for everyone, but I love it. Give it a chance.)  
Otherwise, Utopia is a brilliant series but I don't think it's available in America (except maybe sites that aren't legit), but if you find it, it's a must watch. Doctor Who I suppose is the big one that Americans watch (right?) It's gone a bit downhill lately imo but the Tennant era was mostly great.


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## teacup (Aug 14, 2014)

Shoutout?

A. E. Lowan. She critiqued one of my chapters once and we got to talking and ended up critiquing each others chapters and helping each other out, and wow, I don't know where I'd be without her. We talk all the time now and she's a great friend who helps me all the time. I'm very glad to have met her on here. This really is a great community, here.


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## DaFlaminUnicorn (Aug 14, 2014)

teacup said:


> If you're watching British tv shows, I'll recommend a few.
> For comedy, IT Crowd or The Mighty Boosh(this is weird, probably not for everyone, but I love it. Give it a chance.)
> Otherwise, Utopia is a brilliant series but I don't think it's available in America (except maybe sites that aren't legit), but if you find it, it's a must watch. Doctor Who I suppose is the big one that Americans watch (right?) It's gone a bit downhill lately imo but the Tennant era was mostly great.



yes I think I've seen some of Utopia maybe and I've seen advertisements for the IT Crowd. and I do watch Dr. Who as well as Sherlock, Rosemary and Thyme, and Downton Abby.


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## Philip Overby (Aug 14, 2014)

Shout out to the "Blitzers" (as I'm calling them) who are kicking major ass in the current Writing Prompt Blitz-o-Rama. You know who you all are!


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## SeverinR (Aug 14, 2014)

The shout out for British tv, American tv,
I send one out to the Canadian tv shows: Rookie Blue and Flashpoint.


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## Legendary Sidekick (Aug 14, 2014)

Rookie Blue is a good one. There was another Canadian show I was into before Rookie Blue starter, but I can't remember the name now.


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## Ireth (Aug 14, 2014)

Shout-out to Legendary Sidekick, Steerpike, and everyone else involved in the Dragon's Egg and Flat Earth RPs. It's been a lot of fun so far. Here's to a lot more fun in the future!


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## Legendary Sidekick (Aug 14, 2014)

I'll have to make an announcement next week that Flat Earth is coming back in September.

Taking a vacation did help, though. I'm FINALLY getting my writing in order!

Shout out to you as well, Ireth, for playing so many characters in both games. (+1 more in FE episode 4 or 5, depending when the party gets to the island.)


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## DaFlaminUnicorn (Aug 14, 2014)

I have to say, I am really confused on what flat earth and dragons egg are. I know they are roleplays but how do you roleplay in them?


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## Ireth (Aug 14, 2014)

Ever heard of D&D, Unicorn? Dragon's Egg is structured kinda like that. Flat Earth is a system Sidekick made up himself, I think. Here are the main discussion threads for both games, if you're interested in joining:

*Dragon's Egg:* http://mythicscribes.com/forums/dragon-s-egg-rpg/6542-welcome-dragons-egg-rpg-subforum.html

*Flat Earth:* http://mythicscribes.com/forums/flat-earth/10567-welcome-my-flat-world.html


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## DaFlaminUnicorn (Aug 14, 2014)

ah. yes I have heard of d&d. I don't have it although I wish I did. I probably wouldn't have time now though since school is starting. thanks Ireth.


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## Legendary Sidekick (Aug 14, 2014)

What Ireth said is pretty accurate. Flat Earth is more of a simplified D&D-ish game and a writing exercise combined, or at least that's what I'm picturing for future episodes. Some players were getting creative in a way that's not legal in D&D, and I thought since I'm making up the rules anyway, why not just design the game to allow creativity.

Maybe I need to give up a day to clean up the Flat Earth forum by deleting obsolete threads and editing the class thread, in case new players join. I'll try to stick to updating the game 3 times a week, at least for turn-based action.


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## SM-Dreamer (Aug 15, 2014)

DaFlaminUnicorn said:


> ah. yes I have heard of d&d. I don't have it although I wish I did. I probably wouldn't have time now though since school is starting. thanks Ireth.



I'm familiar with it - have read a couple books, have played the old Baldur's Gate video games - but I've never actually played, though I've wanted to.


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## Devor (Aug 15, 2014)

Neither of the games are actually D&D.  Dragon's Egg is on a system that's like D&D, but watered down to something like fifteen pages, and all of the info is available in the posts. And I'm not really sure I understand Flat Earth's system?


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## Legendary Sidekick (Aug 16, 2014)

The first two episodes were pretty much D&D-ish, but with just a d20. You needed a certain roll, and if you hit, the number on the die determined the strength of your attack: <10 = weak, 10-15 = normal, 16-19 = strong, 20 = max.

A few players starting making posts that assumed they hit, and one would even drop his weapon if he rolled a 1. So I thought I'd try something like I did in "Quest of the Week," which was to let the player write what happens based on favorable/unfavorable die rolls. The slight difference will be that you can only hit (or get hit by) enemies you can see on the "map," and only my GM post can confirm a kill/KO/damage. If you go over your character's limits by hitting five guys with your sword, the GM post might say you might grazed 3 or 4 and hit the other(s) harmlessly with the flat of your blade.

Players seemed receptive to the idea of rolling success/fail/neither ("neutral"). Next month, we'll know if it was a good change or not. I don't mind taking a risk, as long as the players are willing to go along with it.



Honestly, I like the idea of using an existing system like SP, but he's already running the ultimate D&D game on this site. Mine's more like a collaborative weird cartoon.

Oh, and I realize it's C&C (Castles & Crusades). While the rules have been simplified and home-brewed, I think the level of complexity is right for the game he's running, and the way he's running it. I got to work with him on ideas as to what a valkyrie can do, and when I dual classed as a barbarian-monk, he asked me what I think a grapple attack should be able to do. He then found a web-page that had a detailed list of how grapple attacks should work, which basically echoed my list plus stuff I hadn't thought of. I know other characters enjoyed a bit of customization, and other players besides me went outside class norms—the result being interesting characters.


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## Devor (Aug 16, 2014)

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Honestly, I like the idea of using an existing system like SP, but he's already running the ultimate D&D game on this site. Mine's more like a collaborative weird cartoon.



D&D's not the only choice. I loved playing D&D back in the day, but if I were running a game here I would probably want to use Fate. It has a dead-simple dice mechanic, could not possibly be more open with the characters, and happens to be free.

It sounds like you've got it worked out, though. I wish I had time to play.


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## Legendary Sidekick (Aug 16, 2014)

I'm reading up on the Fate system, actually. It's similar to the idea I had with its +/-/blank die rolls.

But the skill list is cool. If Ireth's up for it, we can play test with the Fate system rather than the d20 thing I made up, or keep the d20 so I can adjust which rolls are +/0/blank (as I'm doing now) but also use the other aspects of Fate (such as Aspects). Fate's system is in the spirit of what I'm doing anyway. Yeah… this is quite helpful!


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## Devor (Aug 16, 2014)

. . . y'know, I might regret this, but is there room for one more?  How often would I need to post an update?


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## Legendary Sidekick (Aug 16, 2014)

Room: Yes.

Updates: Three times a week is what I'm aiming at.

I'm a Fate newbie, so if I go with the Fate system, I might muck it up. But I am intrigued by what I'm reading (free PDF of Fate Core System). Would you like to join Ireth and I on the play test?


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## Devor (Aug 16, 2014)

Legendary Sidekick said:


> Yes.
> 
> Three times a week is what I'm aiming at.
> 
> I'm a Fate newbie, so if I go with the Fate system, I might muck it up. But I am intrigued by what I'm reading (free PDF of Fate Core System). Would you like to join Ireth and I on the play test?



Sure.

I'm not that familiar with the rules myself, but a playtest sounds like a good way to figure out if it's something I can keep up with. I'm in.

I'm sorry if I should have done all this by PM.


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## Legendary Sidekick (Aug 16, 2014)

PS- Fate/FUDGE is supported by Rolz. For Fate, "4u1+MOD" is the roll! Chances are 1/81 you'll roll min or max, but it's all good since the point is that you don't necessarily need to roll "Legendary" to "Succeed with Style." (Is it wrong that "Legendary" being the +8 adjective kept me reading when I meant to give the PDF a quick skim?)


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## Devor (Aug 16, 2014)

Legendary Sidekick said:


> (Is it wrong that "Legendary" being the +8 adjective kept me reading when I meant to give the PDF a quick skim?)



Seems legit to me.


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## Legendary Sidekick (Aug 16, 2014)

So, shout out to Devor for getting me to look at the Fate system.

I may just take aspects from the game, or use sort of a Fate-Lite. I like the system as a whole, but it's a lot to explain to players who are used to rolling a d20 and being told the results.

That said, I think the skills & stunts system is great. Categorizing actions as overcome/advantage/attack/defense makes sense. Most importantly, more skills are RP-based while combat skills can be lumped into one category. (You can have "fight" as your only a "good" or "great" skill, and you don't need "shoot.")


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## Devor (Aug 16, 2014)

Legendary Sidekick said:


> So, shout out to Devor for getting me to look at the Fate system.





It's just another thing to tinker with. I liked the Aspect system a lot myself. It opens up character creation in a way I hadn't considered possible before I saw it, and it's seeds the game with roleplaying fodder before you even get started. But if there's a sliding scale, it's the opposite end of D&D. The light mechanics don't seem to leave much room for strategy in playing the characters. There's always a trade off.


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## Devor (Aug 19, 2014)

I think it's amazing that the Word Association Game can often be so amusing.


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## DaFlaminUnicorn (Aug 22, 2014)

I think I should say something about my group. It a doctor who fan thing so if you like dr who you should join. It's on my profile or you could look it up. the group is called 'Whovians'


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