Timewaster's Guide Archive

For those of you who don't know St. Ehlers and I are preparing to forey into the magical mystical world of making RPG's with Eureka!!! The Mad Science RPG.

We plan two editions, a rules light Beer and Pretzel Edition and a more comprehensive Delux Edition.  Supplements for Eureka planned so far are "Retro Rockets and Square Jawed Heros" and "The Menlo Park Scientific Supply Catalog"

Just so you know authoring a game is much tougher than it seems and I have been working on this game in my spare time for about a year.  After a lot of work I have a great mockup of the game ready but I have decided to completley finish it and the two supplements I have planned before marketing and selling it.  Last night I began to fully rework and redesign my rules engine to make it smoother an simpler.  
Soon playtesting will begin and we will have to rework the game again.
But before I get there I need your input, (please dont suggest formats or seperate RPG ideas.....)  
So here's your chance to contribute to a creative process. What would you say absolutely HAS to be in a Mad Scientist RPG!!! Do you have a favorite setting or a favorite invention idea or a scientist you think doesn't get enough credit? Tell me about them. I'll try and convert them into game terms and include your name in the title of an invention as your form of credit. (drawings and diagrams would be nice too if your an artist with lots of free time)  

Lets say tomorrow someone handed you a golden ticket and sent you off the RPG factory filled to the brim with ompahloompahs and mad reclusive game designers and said
"Here you go my boy (or girl), WOTC's latest project D&D 3e. Its yours change it around how you want it."

What would you do?  

There is lots of free stuff for classic and D20 Traveller at ftp://http://www.travellerrpg.com/eLibrary/

I saw a copy in the store the other day and really considered it  on a purely coffee table level that is.  Let me say I hate In Nomine- style games... where players are the god of XXXX or the servents of XXXX. I hate them because its way too hard to get a group made and have them stay together especially when you have two or more competing ideologies. Thats one of the reasons I dont like Unknown Armies even though the system is so well designed, and the reason I sold Demon a few days ago. And Man is the price STEEP, granted its a beautiful 300+ page book with glossy pages and a gold bookmark. But still.

Anyhow I am trying to talk myself into it if only for the conversational value so those of you who own the game please tell me I can be wrong about the servents of god/ Devil/ Beer style play.

Ok I read the review and I have to say Hunh?  Is it supposed to be a review of My Big Fat Greek Wedding or Bend it? No offense meant to kid kilowatt, but I get the impression that he likes and dislikes the movie (which is ok, but misleading). Unfortuanately the review reads like the back of a VCR tape.  

Comparing this movie only to MBFGW is a little asinine. I mean how many films have been made about a clash of cultures or gender roles for that matter.

The importance of films like Bend it in a world where the next biggest special effect vehicle is likeliest to succeed can not be easily reckoned.  Movies today lack a certain human element that this type of film provides, without being crude and disgusting, or ultra violent.  

I am puzzeled by several segments of the review but this one really had me scratching my head.

apart from the occasional inconsistencies in the characters. Jess’s family seems to be very volatile and very forgiving – they betray each other and make threats and cry but, a scene later, they are a happy family again. Kid Kilowatt.

How is that an inconsistancy, heck my family is that way.  Its not like you can pick your relatives. Sure you fight and fight dirty, but in the end your still family and you still love them.

So Im wondering if Kid really like the movie, or if he hated it. Reading his article it seems that he hated it but was afraid to say so.

Obviously one of the most lucrative titles in Gaming Star Wars has been through a few editions and a major rules change to D20.  
I definately have feelings about which system I liked best (D6 Second Edition revised) and which system I like least (D20) but I'm sure others among you have definitive feelings about it as well.

I re-watched Star Wars Episode IV (THX Edition- Pre Special edition) on friday and felt again the magic of the Star Wars Universe. That Magic allowed me to suddenly not hate Episode I (except for Jar-Jar) and to Violently hate Episode II.  (In episode I I felt that special effects were used to enhance a story while I felt that the story in Episode II was just special effects.) But I made a descision, and I went to C&W used books in Potomac Mills and picked up Almost all of the 2E Star Wars line at the expense of D20 SW 1st ed.

What I like about D6 is that a Player doesn't have to think about characters if they just want to start playing. Take a template Juggle 7pips around for skills and jump "Fast and Furiously" into play.

I also like the fact that a GM scripts SW like a movie rather than like a hack and slash D&D game.  Granted any GM can do that for any game but SW was written to encourage GM's to do that. Stock NPC cannon fodder, horrible evil villans and ideas for sound effects and scripts to get players in the mood. Great Fun.

I plan to submit a series of articles about cooking for gamers. (the first one on homade pizza was submitted today) Generally I plan on showcasing healthier and tastier and cheeper alternatives to fast food for the serious gamer. You wont need a lot of gadgets around the kitchen and I'll try to talk you through step by step. Also if anyone has a question about a recipe this is the place to ask me about it. Also if anyone has a favorite recipe they want lightned ask me and I will try and cut the fat and caloric content by at least half while keeping the taste high and simplifying the cooking process.

Jeff Crews