vivdunstan | Reading

This bundle presents Ironsworn, Starforged, and Sundered Isles from Tomkin Press, which use Powered by the Apocalypse for solo and refereed games, with SF and fantasy settings included:

https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Ironsworn

So far I've only had a good look at the Starforged rules, which is a very nicely presented game although it does fall into a few common SF tropes - most notably the "jungle planet", "desert planet" idea where an entire world has only one type of environment, which seems just a little unlikely. The rules are more complicated than I like, but that's pretty common for games based on the Powered by the Apocalypse mechanics. Art is very good - I suspect that some AI is involved given the sheer quantity, but it's a lot less obtrusive than some I've seen, and the characters depicted rarely fall too deeply into the uncanny valley. Characters seem to be dressed appropriately for safety and the environment, and there are no chaos spiky shoulder pads which is generally a good sign.

Overall, this is surprisingly cheap for what you're getting, and I think it's well worth a look.

james_davis_nicoll

Ironsworn, Starforged, and Sundered Isles, tabletop roleplaying games of perilous fantasy, space opera, and seafaring adventure by Tomkin Press.

Bundle of Holding: Ironsworn-Starforged

purplecat

Do you recall this paper (which is also summarised in this article in the Conversation) about which a YouTube video was made?

Well it's just gone and won the journal's best paper award.

I continue to think one should be wary of indulging in futurism and remain glad I managed to keep the words "Rogue AI" out of it.

selenak

Meme time! Bear in mind that we Germans used to get not just tv shows about a year later than they were broadcast (if not longer), and even blockbuster movies took their own sweet time in ye olde days before getting released overseas. This changed in the past 25 or so years, of course, and now we sometimes get to see coproductions in Germany before they're released in the US, and can stream tv shows simultanously.

MCU Meme from

vaysh and

muccamukk:

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).

( It seems I watched a lot of Marvel )

Star Trek Meme from

aurumcalendula :

Bold = Watched Entirety
Italic = Watched Part
* Watched more than once.
† Watched in the first few weeks of release (at least initially, for TV shows).
( And I've watched even more Star Trek )

Current Mood: silly
Current Location: Bamberg

james_davis_nicoll

2009: The Horrible Histories TV show debuts, Britons are treated to a Giles-worthy winter, and police decline to investigate the cash for influence incident so that they might better focus on the custard-tossing scandal rocking the nation.

Poll #33480 Clarke Award Finalists 2009

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 23

View Respondents

Which 2009 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?

View Answers

Song of Time by Ian R. MacLeod
1 (4.3%)

Anathem by Neal Stephenson
19 (82.6%)

House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
6 (26.1%)

Martin Martin's on the Other Side by Mark Wernham
0 (0.0%)

The Margarets by Sheri S. Tepper
5 (21.7%)

The Quiet War by Paul J. McAuley
4 (17.4%)

Bold for have read, italic for intend to read, underline for never heard of it.

Which 2009 Clarke Award Finalists Have You Read?
Song of Time by Ian R. MacLeod
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
Martin Martin's on the Other Side by Mark Wernham
The Margarets by Sheri S. Tepper
The Quiet War by Paul J. McAuley

With an * on the McAuley because it was too grim and I didn't finish it.

andrewducker

I went to the toilet at 4am a few days ago, and bumped into Gideon coming back from a toilet trip. Apparently he just takes himself if he wakes up in the night. No idea how long this has been going on for!

(Sophia comes and gets me, for company.)

rolanni

What went before: And that's the Author's Afterword for I Dare written. I'll go through it again tomorrow morning, make whatever changes seem good, and send it in before I get back with the WIP.

The plan for the rest of the evening is to go to bed early, and re-establish my fractured schedule tomorrow. Oh. And do the laundry.

Everybody stay safe; I'll see you tomorrow.

Monday. Ruthlessly bright and already warm. We are under a Heat Advisory, today and tomorrow.

Station air is ON, and all curtains closed.

Breakfast was half a blueberry muffin and plain yogurt. Lunch may be Door Dashed. We'll see.

First load of laundry is drying; second is in the washer.

I actually slept well last night, which isn't something we've seen for a couple of weeks. I could really use a good run of Actual Sleep, as I walk the Tightrope of Exhaustion.

It comes about that I'm going to have produce the habit of having honey in my tea. There are reasons and they are good ones, however, absent an occasional spoon of honey in peppermint tea (which is AWEsome), I drink my tea as my coffee before it -- black. Honey itself is not the problem; Steve left me several three pound bottles of very fine honey from a local apiary (this is aside my baking honey). My problem is that -- it's hard to manipulate a three pound bottle of honey to get a spoonful into a mug, and, also, that honey is -- sticky. And it drips.

I have for the moment decanted a small portion of honey into a well-sealed glass jar, which makes it easier to dispense by the spoonful, but I feel I ought to look about me for a method that might be less drippy. Shopping!

Aside the laundry, and one's duty to the cats, the to-do list includes reading the Author's Afterword, making such corrections as may be needful and sending it along to Baen. I will devote the day after lunch to my poor, long-suffering WIP, and to staying out of the heat.

What are your plans, today?

Today's blog post title comes from Pablo Neruda, one of Steve's favored poets: "Cat's Dream"

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250810.html

What's that strange light down the road?

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250810.html

james_davis_nicoll

The winners are:

Best Novel: The Siege of Burning Grass, Premee Mohamed, Solaris
Best YA Novel: Heavenly Tyrant, Xiran Jay Zhao, Tundra Books
Best Novelette/Novella: The Butcher of the Forest, Premee Mohamed, Tordotcom
Best Short Story: “Blood and Desert Dreams“, Y.M. Pang, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Issue 408
Best Graphic Novel: Star Trek Lower Decks: Warp Your Own Way, Ryan North, art by Chris Fenoglio, IDW Publishing
Best Poem/Song “Cthulhu on the Shores of Osaka“, Y.M. Pang, Invitation: A One-shot Anthology of Speculative Fiction
Best Related Work: Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction: Volume Two
Stephen Kotowych, editor, Ansible Press
Best Cover Art/Interior Illustration: Augur Magazine, Issue 7.1, cover art, Martine Nguyen
Best Fan Writing and Publication: SF&F Book Reviews, Robert Runté, Ottawa Review of Books
Best Fan Related Work: murmurstations, Sonia Urlando, Augur Society, podcast

andrewducker

My Dropbox Camera Uploads folder was up to 115GB and 18,000 files (dating back to 2010). So I went through and divided it into subfolders based loosely on years. Turns out that I take as many photos per year since Sophia was born as I took in the whole time from 2010 until her birth.

And that I take about 2,000 photos/videos per year, coming to about 15GB.

I also discovered that if you move 2,000 files from one Dropbox folder to another then it takes about 15 minutes to process the changes!

andrewducker

Pretty big fire on Arthur's Seat.

(The kids were just discussing whether the volcano had erupted, which I think we're pretty safe from.)
Original is here on Pixelfed.scot.

rolanni

Sunday. Sunny and said to be heading for warm.

Yesterday continued off-kilter, and it's not too much to say that it actually went into a spin. Today I must and, she says determinedly, I will, write the Author's Afterword for I Dare.

First, though, I need to find breakfast and make a list so that I may dash out to the grocery. I'm almost out of cat food, and that obviously cannot be allowed to stand.

How's everybody doing?

james_davis_nicoll

Two Americans set out for Venus. Only one returned. Where is the missing man? Evans knows but Evans is not a reliable witness.

Beyond Apollo by Barry N. Malzberg

apod_feed

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250809.html

james_davis_nicoll

A book I'm thinking of having play an important role in the campaign is Heinrich and Moritz Tod's Morally Uplifting Tales for the Edification of Recalcitrant Children, the Tods being the Old World analog of the Brothers Grimm. Uplifting Tales is an important cultural artifact and also the sort of book you'd read to kids at bed time if you wanted them to cry themselves to sleep.

rolanni

What went before: So, today has been a mismash of working and laying around. I did get some WIP-reading done, and a lot more of lying in bed by turns listening to The Goblin Emperor (which I know so well I'm not stressed about missing things) and dozing. Back is still tender, but not so much as even this morning, so, yanno -- progress progresses.

I'm hoping to be done with the worst of this particular brand of nonsense by tomorrow. fingers crossed

The cats are liking the lying in bed part of the day's structure. I fear they're going to be disappointed when the schedule returns to what I like to call normal.

I may try to get one more shift of WIP-reading in this evening. Or I may just watch the last three episodes of WandaVision.

Everybody stay safe; I'll check in tomorrow.

Saturday. Cool-for-now and sunny. Windows in my office are open.

Woke up early and ill, but hey! At least my back doesn't hurt. Currently sipping ginger ale. Trooper has had his morning gravy-with-meds.

I did watch the last three episodes of WandaVision last night. Pulling the witch out the hat was . . . facile, and honestly, I'm not inclined to follow Agnes any further down her road.

I'm actually amazed that Marvel tried to undertake a story about life-changing grief, and that they managed as well as they did. Even unto that very difficult -- and correct -- ending. And Wanda's love for Vision did not allow her to remember/recreate him wrongly.

One of the things that we as writers do over and over is to use death as a plot device -- the motivating force that triggers the Real Story. And while it's true that the Lost Girl, the Dead Spouse, the Slaughtered Village releases a lot of energy, surely there are other means available?

Going back to Wanda -- I'm interested in the smart girl with the bright red lipstick -- Darcy? -- who seems to be a continuing character. Does anyone know where I might find more of her?

And on that note -- woman does not take her meds on ginger ale alone, so I'd better see what I can cobble together and call breakfast.

I expect it will be another Off-Kilter Day here.

What's the day looking like there?

Rosebush proof of life: