Really? Really?!?

This is brilliant, Alex. Three cheers.

Gentlemen, please. You can't fight in here. This is the War Room!

It's certainly true that a large number of progressive gamers took umbrage with my stance on GamerGate, but they're neither the first nor last group to take umbrage with me, so I bear them no particular ill will. Umbragers gonna umbrage. 

It's also true that Vox Day's "eating SJWs" was tongue-in-cheek, not a literal art order I'm putting in the book, but equally true that the joke was at the expense of those who support social justice as an important moral mandate, so I get why they don't find it funny. Again, the actual art in the game will not be political.  

In general, let's not presume the politics of any of our backers or players. As long as you support adventuring and conquest, don't mind a goddess of love and war served by scantily-clad bladedancers, and understand why halflings should not be a default PC race, you are welcome here.

 

 

Thanks for giving me a chuckle Alex. Sorry for my earlier pithy response, I don't get as wordy when on my phone. For what it's worth, this die hard liberal isn't going anywhere as long as you do what you said you'll do with regards to ensuring the dark lord art requests all make sense in the book and don't denigrate anyone.

[quote="Jard"] Thanks for giving me a chuckle Alex. Sorry for my earlier pithy response, I don't get a wordy on my phone. For what it's worth, this die hard liberal isn't going anywhere as long as you do what you said you'll do with regards to ensuring the dark lord art requests all make sense in the book and don't denigrate anyone. [/quote]

Thanks! You're with me on the halfling thing though right?

[quote="Alex"]

Thanks! You're with me on the halfling thing though right?

[/quote]

That depends on whether or not you've got the right kind of marinade to baste them with.

 

[quote="Alex"]

It's also true that Vox Day's "eating SJWs" was tongue-in-cheek, not a literal art order I'm putting in the book, but equally true that the joke was at the expense of those who support social justice as an important moral mandate, so I get why they don't find it funny. Again, the actual art in the game will not be political.  

[/quote]

Just give all the person he's eating very brightly coloured haired.

and just forget the fact that the book is black and white

Wicked Witch. Evil Queen. White Witch.

The seduction of a “Dark Lord” who is not a military leader is really more of a female thing, is it not? I’d remove much of my objection if this were a “Dark Mistress” class in the Auran Empire and in the book art, since it would be much less an attempt to reflect a real life dude. Can we all get behind that?

Dr. Pete, there is actually already a Warmistress class in the book. It's awesome. Excerpt below.

******************************************************************

By the grace of the goddess of love, warmistresses possess alluring beauty. A warmistress gains a +2 bonus on reaction rolls with NPCs who are potentially attracted to her. If this bonus results in a total of 12 or more, the subjects act as if charmed while in her presence. Creatures with a WIS greater than the warmistress’s CHA are immune to this power (and the warmistress will know they are immune). This bonus stacks with Mystic Aura and/or Seduction proficiency.

Through teasing, taunting, and flirting, a warmistress can use her alluring beauty to provoke the passions of an intelligent creature that is potentially attracted to her. Provoking the passions of a creature requires one round (10 seconds), during which time the warmistress must remain stationary and take no other action. A creature must be within 30’ of the warmistress and able to both see and hear her in order to be the target of provocation. The targeted creature must make a saving throw versus Spells. The Judge may grant bonuses or penalties to the saving throw depending on circumstances, the temperament of the creature, and its training or familiarity with the warmistress. If the save succeeds, the creature is not provoked. If the save fails, the creature is provoked for 1d4 rounds plus 1 round per level of the warmistress.

The effect of provocation depends on the creature’s current reaction to the warmistress (see ACKS, p. 99). A hostile creature will become enraged, attacking the warmistress in preference to all others without regard for its own safety for the duration of the provocation. An unfriendly creature will become hostile, seeking to verbally or physically harass the warmistress for the duration. A neutral creature will become distracted, ignoring other duties or activities to pay attention to the warmistress for the duration. An indifferent creature will become friendly, seeking to assist the warmistress for the duration. A friendly creature will become enamored, helping the warmistress as if charmed for the duration of the provocation. If the warmistress or one of her allies attacks a creature while it is provoked, it immediately becomes enraged.

When a warmistress reaches 5th level (Maiden of War), her fiery spirit inspires those around her to do great deeds. Any henchmen and mercenaries attracted to the warmistress gain a +1 bonus to their morale score whenever she is present. This bonus stacks with any other modifiers from the warmistress’s Charisma or proficiencies.

At 9th level (Lady of War), a warmistress can build or conquer a stronghold and establish herself as the ruler of a domain. (Rules for strongholds and domains are detailed in the Campaign chapter of ACKS. ) When she does so, she will attract 1d4+1x10 0th level mercenaries and 1d6 fighters, explorers, or warmistresses of 1st-3rd level to her service. Worshipping the warmistress as if she were a living goddess, these zealous followers are completely loyal (morale +4) and need not be paid wages, though they must still be provided food and lodging.

*********************************

Alex, I'm with you.  I never could put into words what I disliked about halflings before I read your take.  My main complaint is that they're supposed to be small/weak, but I started with 3.x and so inevitably the highest damage dealer was some bizarrely kitted out halfling which always bugged me.  I think the last straw for me was the Pathfinder Cavalier, a class built on charging with a lance, where it inevitably made more sense to take the minor strength hit to be a halfling so you could ride a mount that could actually come with you into the dungeon.

[quote="DrPete"] Wicked Witch. Evil Queen. White Witch. The seduction of a "Dark Lord" who is not a military leader is really more of a female thing, is it not? I'd remove much of my objection if this were a "Dark Mistress" class in the Auran Empire and in the book art, since it would be much less an attempt to reflect a real life dude. Can we all get behind that? [/quote]

A dark lord is a well established trope, although I've always assumed it was less about your abilities and more about your state of mind.  Wizards and Clerics can easily be dark lords.  Mechanically, minion masters are a time honored tradition that, alongside heal-over-time spells, have never been able to make a satisfying jump from videogames to pen & paper.  Conceptually, it's fine.  

 

The WEIRD part is how strongly this guy identifies with being a dark overlord.  And not just a sympathetic or dynamic villain, the world is full of pubescant boys with the Joker as their online avatar.  No, everything that came up involved him referring to himself as the dark lord, as well as an unhealthy obsession with a certain political figure he refers to as "God-Emperor".

 

Now I'm going to nip in the bud that, between what I just said and people's objections to the faceless minions eating SJWs the idea that "this liberal has no sense of humor."  To Quote Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force: "I get it. It ain't makin' me laugh but I get it."  I understand that the "joke" is that the "SJWs" consider him so awful that they think they're ACTUALLY being consumed.  

 

I've got some analysis on this topic to make in the form of two points.  

First: Fantasy games and art are full of jokes.  the DCC rulebook features a piece of art of a female warrior in a chainmail bikini next to a fully armored fighter asking "why does your armor give the same AC?".  These are plays on existing tropes that have emerged from play.  The SJW "joke" is inserting humor not largely shared by the tabletop audience, and even for those who get it, I don't think it's unreasonable to say it's a bigger challenge to suspension of disbelief than most jokes.  

Second, I have had the misfortune of sharing hobbies with people like this elsewhere, especially Paradox grand strategy games.  It's all fun and "DEUS VULT" and "0/10 did not Remove Kebab" until someone actually spraypaints "Deus Vult, Saracens Go Home" on a mosque in europe.  There are a few (just a few, I'm not making broad strokes here) who are happy to use the smokescreen of fake awful humor as a way to test out their actually awful beliefs. They know they can retreat into irony if someone responds with "oh god, that's horrible".  I'm not saying we should give up on awful humor, what I'm saying is the people who go "wow, this guy is messed up" are not necessarily overly sensitive or humorless when they're suspicious of guys like him.

 

But as I re-itereated earlier in the thread: I'm not going anywhere.  This is my hobby too. Theodore doesn't get to taint my association with a game I love just because he has a lot of people willing to spend money on his behalf.  I don't think less of my name being in Sinister Stone of Sakkara as compared to my other backer listings because that one happens to share space with him.  If he bought the same car as me, I wouldn't feel compelled to buy a different car (maybe I would if he was being paid to promote the car).  I certainly considered it when I first learned about this guy, though, so I hold no judgement for people who decided to withdraw their pledges, and I hope they won't think less of those of us who choose to stay.

 

Anyway, ranting aside: I'll re-iterate a question.  If I go into the comments and type "For the Chosen One" or "I'm one with the Force, the Force is with me" or whatever, do I have to pledge additional money to contribute to the goal, or does some/all of my existing pledge get put into a bucket?

 

To clarify how I handled this - I tallied up total pledges based on the marginal value (e.g. after cost of billing, goods, and shipping is substracted). That way I ensured that Autarch's needs were met. Everything remaining in the pledge then got "allocated" towards the expense of the tier. It works out to about 70% of pledge for most pledge levels. Last I checked the "Dark Lord" pledge value was at $2,133 or about twice the amount of $1,000 needed. 

I had intended it to be as a way to excite new backers, of course, but I'm perfectly happy to retroactively "assign" a pledge too, and have taken note of those who've pledged For the Light on the KS. After all once we get into bonus goal territory (like we are now) the Kickstarter becomes highly profitable so absorbing the cost of some B&W illustrations and design work in order to make people feel good about the product they receive is A-OK to me.  

The pledge drive idea is actually sufficiently interesting that I might try something in future campaigns, like offering two options "A" and "B" to go in the book and whichever side gets pledged the most is what I'll choose. Preferably something less controversial next time, like a cover design. 

Unrelated: I feel a big reason why heal over time (and damage over time) effects have never made a satisfying jump to tabletop is because of the way time is tracked.

A round is simply too long of a time for it to feel impactful and really be over-time. A Hackmasteresque system, that tracks seconds instead of rounds, or a more abstract version that tracks ‘ticks’ (that I have thought about but never done anything with), I feel would be much more likely to be able to bet DoT and HoT effects to feel good because they would continue to do things at times when the caster could not directly take actions themselves.

[quote="Aryxymaraki"]

Mechanically, minion masters are a time honored tradition that, alongside heal-over-time spells, have never been able to make a satisfying jump from videogames to pen & paper.  Conceptually, it's fine.  

 


-Jard

Unrelated: I feel a big reason why heal over time (and damage over time) effects have never made a satisfying jump to tabletop is because of the way time is tracked. A round is simply too long of a time for it to feel impactful and really be over-time. A Hackmasteresque system, that tracks seconds instead of rounds, or a more abstract version that tracks 'ticks' (that I have thought about but never done anything with), I feel would be much more likely to be able to bet DoT and HoT effects to feel good because they would continue to do things at times when the caster could not directly take actions themselves. [/quote]

Ahhhh, now there's the kind of discussions you expect to see on these boards.  

It's probably my fault, I found an old monkey's paw that granted wishes and I said "I wish there was more posting on the Autarch Forums" while holding it.

[quote="Jard"] Ahhhh, now there's the kind of discussions you expect to see on these boards.  

It's probably my fault, I found an old monkey's paw that granted wishes and I said "I wish there was more posting on the Autarch Forums" while holding it. [/quote]

Monkeys' paws generally aren't too bad, in my experience. Compared to some GMs' wish spells, anyway. I've had players who were so badly burned by wish spells that I could grant them exactly what they wanted and asked for with no side effect, and they'd freak out wondering what the hidden catch is and when it would appear. I remember a guy I knew once handed me a proposed wish spell he'd written up that was intended to get him the Wand of Orcus without side effects... It had so many clauses. And his attempt to protect himself didn't work; The GM siezed on the multiple possible meanings of 'appear' in order to present him with an intangible illusion surrounded by an impenetrible wall of force.

Myself, I cut my GMing chops running Paranoia. It was a great game... And more impotantly for this discussion, it taught me when not to "creatively interpret" a player's wishes. See, Paranoia's robot NPCs are frequently either painfully or malevolently literal, so attempting to command an AI in that game is a minefield... And there's nothing like saturation to teach you when making things hard can be counter-productive.

On an unrelated note, I'm amazed how civil the discussion in this thread has been.

[quote="GMJoe"]

On an unrelated note, I'm amazed how civil the discussion in this thread has been.

[/quote]

I'm not. We're all good Lawful folk 'bout these parts. Neutral at worst. :)

I for one put my vote FOR THE SHIRE.  Nothing says 'old school oddity' quite like a front-rank of heavily armored halfling warriors, cap-a-pie in BX 60gp plate mail, terrorizing enemies in a 10' wide passage with their nigh unhittable armor class (and of course, a 2nd rank of spearmen or pole arm users that strike above the halfling's heads).  "Little killers", we used to call them.  It's high time these doughty warriors take their place as the fearsome combat terrors we love and need.

Kidding aside, this whole episode about the internet-troll supporting ACKS forced me to get some mental distance about what's going on.  You have a project backer (the trollish character) who's bringing dollars to the table and lots of support, and in turn gets direction on an art order.  Our beloved publisher has assured us the book will be apolitical, professional, and the art will be appropriate to the genre.  The thing that got under my skin was 'the dark lord' boasting to his sycophants that the art would depict him or his minions destroying what he calls 'SJW's'.  Whatever.  At the end of the day, I'm confident a cool picture of an evil overlord will end up enhancing the book and fitting the genre, and I'm just going to ignore the drivel.  Gaming can transcend politics and there's a lot of good stuff going on here.  More backers brings us that much closer to The Little Killers.

Besides, I think we're missing the point on who is the real evil genius in all this - he's got sides bidding up their campaigns to back new character classes, he's dangling hard cover books to lure the reticent (I got sucked into King, too).  Your strings are getting pulled and you’re all doing the Kickstarter Dance, people!  I'm on to you, Alex.

[quote="Beedo"]

I for one put my vote FOR THE SHIRE.  Nothing says 'old school oddity' quite like a front-rank of heavily armored halfling warriors, cap-a-pie in BX 60gp plate mail, terrorizing enemies in a 10' wide passage with their nigh unhittable armor class (and of course, a 2nd rank of spearmen or pole arm users that strike above the halfling's heads).  "Little killers", we used to call them.  It's high time these doughty warriors take their place as the fearsome combat terrors we love and need.

Kidding aside, this whole episode about the internet-troll supporting ACKS forced me to get some mental distance about what's going on.  You have a project backer (the trollish character) who's bringing dollars to the table and lots of support, and in turn gets direction on an art order.  Our beloved publisher has assured us the book will be apolitical, professional, and the art will be appropriate to the genre.  The thing that got under my skin was 'the dark lord' boasting to his sycophants that the art would depict him or his minions destroying what he calls 'SJW's'.  Whatever.  At the end of the day, I'm confident a cool picture of an evil overlord will end up enhancing the book and fitting the genre, and I'm just going to ignore the drivel.  Gaming can transcend politics and there's a lot of good stuff going on here.  More backers brings us that much closer to The Little Killers.

Besides, I think we're missing the point on who is the real evil genius in all this - he's got sides bidding up their campaigns to back new character classes, he's dangling hard cover books to lure the reticent (I got sucked into King, too).  Your strings are getting pulled and you’re all doing the Kickstarter Dance, people!  I'm on to you, Alex.

[/quote]

Thanks! This was well put and is a good summation of things. 

The illustration of the Dark Lord class is just going to be a picture of me next to my Kickstarter crowdfunding total. Hehe.

 

[quote="Alex"] The illustration of the Dark Lord class is just going to be a picture of me next to my Kickstarter crowdfunding total. Hehe. [/quote]

"I love the smell of Internet bunfights in the morning. Smells like... victory!"

 

 

[quote="GMJoe"] On an unrelated note, I'm amazed how civil the discussion in this thread has been. [/quote]

I'm not. There aren't any political brownie points to be won in the thread, since Alex is maintaining Glorious Neutrality; more importantly, the numbers of people engaged in the argument seem relatively even to either side, and a number of people have already expressed a desire to not see this descend into a political row. 

End result is that the social status cost/benefit ratio of sticking the boot in is skewed towards cost, and these chimp-brains of ours are really good at making that sort of calculation without conscious input, so people instinctively don't do it.

 

[quote="Alex"] ... As long as you support adventuring and conquest, don't mind a goddess of love and war served by scantily-clad bladedancers, and understand why halflings should not be a default PC race, you are welcome here. [/quote]

 

Seriously though, screw halflings.

Cake-huffing little bastards, the lot of 'em.