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Eow Links 12 |
| 2021-03-21 |
Eow Links 12
"Eow" for End Of Week. Links I gathered during the week. This is iteration 12.
For more weekly links, head to The Seed of Worlds Shiny TTRPG link collection.
The second algorithm is given the task of creating a face. We obviously know that they’re all fake, so we mix these into the faces for the first algorithm. The goal of the second algorithm is to fool the first.
Alex Schroeder is calling https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/image repeatedly to get a portfolio of NPC faces. Fascinating.
There are also cats.
Conflict: Surprise & Initiative
The sensible adventurer will endeavour to ensure they are always ambushing. An ambush is achieved when the attackers achieve surprise. When two parties come across one another unexpectedly, or when one lies in wait for the other, there is a check for surprise.
Where initiative is 1d6 + Readiness + Leadership + terrain
Everything Can Listen, But Nothing Wants to Talk
The change was to the nature of language, principally Common, and was thus: Everything can speak and understand Common. That's Everything with a capital "E", in the sense that everything a person could interact with (vegetable, animal, and mineral) can talk. Anything can have a discussion.
A reflection on a fundamental change in a setting. The title says it all. Animistic.
I've been keeping myself busy in quarantine during 2021 by reading academic papers.
Links to titles like "No One Plays Alone", "Understanding Procedural Content Generation", or "Why Games are Good but Gamification is Terrible".
How the Germans defined Auftragstaktik: what mission command is and is not
Auftragstaktik is a cultural philosophy. It is the highest form of military professionalism. The overall commander’s intent is for the member to strive for professionalism, in return, the individual will be given latitude in the accomplishment of their given missions.
So AC is an abstract concept representing how difficult it is, or how much effort is required, to actually cause a significant injury.
Historic or challenging thus fun?
Running UFO Press’ Shattered City, designed by Douglas Mota and Mina McJanda, these past several months has been the RPG equivalent to my late-life injury-risking weightlifting program. It finally broke me, but along the way it was great to hit new numbers. It was fulfilling to feel accomplished. To feel strong.
Sitting by the fire, reading. I am not capable of running such a game, but reading about it is a pleasure.
Book Review: Ker's "The Dark Ages"
The Northern gods have an extravagance in their warfare which makes them more like Titans than Olympians; only they are on the right side, though it is not the side that wins. The winning side is Chaos and Unreason; but the gods, who are defeated, think that defeat is not refutation.
I point to the first in four posts about The Dark Ages by William Paton Ker. The second post has a wonderful story of outdoor adventure for a monk travelling 150 miles to read a book.
Worldbuilding Scale References
500, 1000, and 2000 miles squares layed out on Europe, North America, and East Asia.
I can't help but enumerate the many different cultures contained in each of the 2000 miles squares.
