Jerry Stratton's Blog, page 9

The Fifth Face of V: I Have Saved You

Time brings progress and it brings suffering. Can humanity be saved from the latter without losing the former? How much can we turn over to machines or governments before we are no longer human or free?

Artificial Intelligence Meets Tex Avery

Will artificial intelligence degrade our own intelligence? So much of AI “contribution” to our decision making isn’t just wrong, it’s obviously wrong.

All gaming is Pastiche linked on Biblyon Broadsides

“It’s a shame that we use so many extant terms from places like creative writing and theatrical improvisation in order to describe the act of table-top role-playing games. We do have our own jargon, but most of it is fun, whimsical, and more than somewhat esoteric. Or, to my chagrin, it’s borrowed from the video game industry—which wouldn’t exist in its current form without D&D in the first place… What we do at the gaming table is neither fish nor fowl.” “Conversely, a game doesn’t have to resolve itself, doesn’t have to answer every question, account for every hanging plot thread… If you read a novel and it swung focus around like a typical D&D game, you’d throw the book across the room within a few chapters.”

The Fourth Face of V: Science ascends, Man gives way

Is all power destined to be abused regardless of good intentions? Is technology necessarily dehumanizing? What happens when literally everyone has that technology at all times?

Why does the Institutional Left hate Israel so much?

The institutional Left doesn’t hate only Israel. They hate any ethnic group that rebels against enslavement by the Left.

The Third Face of V: The Freedom to Starve

Are V and Veidt heroes? What do they really do that’s different from what Norsefire did, or from what the Tales of the Black Freighter protagonist did?

Variant Species: The Golden Servant

“I am a golden god.” Well, a golden hero, anyway. But you’re a golden hero subject to the whims of unknown sorcerors. The Golden Servant is the perfect specialty species for the sporadic player.

Easter Candy-Cane Ice Cream

Candy canes are a shepherd’s staff. At Christmas, the shepherds were witnesses to Christ’s birth. By Easter, Christ is the good shepherd, giving his life for his lost lambs.

Kolchak’s Cold January at North Texas 2024

I’ll be running another Kolchak: The Night Stalker game at North Texas in 2024, again using the Daredevils rules from Fantasy Games Unlimited. We finally move into 1977 for the great Chicago freeze!

Flashing Blades at NTRPGC 2024

I’ll be running a game of Flashing Blades on Wednesday at North Texas 2024.