School has a way of making it really hard to get anything else done,
which is why you haven't been seeing much of me ... well, that and I
posted so much on the forums and saw it lost that it is difficult to
get the energy flowing again.  But, no one's fault.

So, I know we are all here because we love the original Little Fears
game, but despite that there must be things you would have liked to
change.  So, if you were doing the game over, what would you alter?
Likewise, what have you heard about the mysterious new edition that
you like or dislike?  (obviously it's difficult to say much about NE,
considering we've only had a few comments and teasers, but one could
get a few impressions)

As for the first game: The biggest thing I've seen a problem with
were the "things I do/don't like" ... according to the book, if you
work your points right you could end up with as many as 10 possitive
qualities - which is an obscene number if you have more than 2
players, causing a great deal of overlap.  When I ran a group of 5 I
reduced the number of possible qualities to 6 per player and that was
still too many ... so I think the book either needed a chart/rule to
help gms balance this out, (because, yes a gm can discover this
through trial and repeated expiramentation, but that makes for a lot
of new groups before a managable distribution can be determined) a
little more playtesting to get the numbers reasonable, or many more
qualities - provided as a web-suppliment if necessary.

Next, the Lords ... I'm saying there was anything wrong with the
Lords, quite the opposite - I liked them.  But, for some reason I
never used them and most of the people I've heard from say the same
thing.  Now, I know the new edition is taking them out and I'm not
sure if that is any better ... but we'll see.

Okay, I did have another comment, but I see this has grown long so
I'll let someone else speak.  Again, I'm not trying to nitpick here,
just bring issues we might have had to light - constructive criticism.

I just noticed we got another member this week, which apparently brings
us up to thirty.  I'd love to hear from some of those people - what
brought them to LF and what their experiences with the game have been
like.

And if you have any topics of discussion, feel free to bring them
up! ::nudge, nudge::

Actually, Blair, I do have a question about the new system - chiefly,
why are you moving away from the original LF design?

Aside from a few number tweaks, such as I mentioned below, I liked
the mechanics - they seemed very consistent with the atmosphere of
playing a child; simple to understand rules, traditional board game
six sided dice, tests and quizes pitting children against themselves
as much - if not more so - than the enemy, etc.  One of the
qualities, faithful I think it was, needed to be reworked, as it was
too "powerful" the way it was, but editing and minor tweaking seems,
to me, all the system really needed.

Is there something specific you were hoping to achieve with a new
system that you didn't manage with LF?  I hope adding complexity
isn't part of it, because I liked the simple mechanics which really
allowed pcs to focus on flushing out the other aspects of their
characters - I got nothing but possitive feedback on the "framing
questions" ("who can you always go to?" "what is your most prized
possession?" etc.) portion of character creation.

Here's hoping the new system isn't unrecognizable ... (or I'll
probably just use the old system with the new content)



--- In little_fears@yahoogroups.com, "Jason L Blair"
<jasonlblair@...> wrote:
>
> Well, there's a lot that I'd change...and am going to. ;)
>
> Probably the most consistent feedback I received in regards to LF
was that
> the Kings were cool (and sickening and disturbing--which is the
reaction one
> should have to someone who wears the faces of children) but folks
didn't
> know what to do with them. That's fair, as they're the power behind
the fear
> so really they're flavor less than function. If you run into
Lamashtu, it's
> not like you're just going to walk away from her. The Kings are
powerful
> beyond power and that limits their usability.
>
> On the LFNE front, by the way, I'm in the midst of evaluating
existing
> systems for use. I keep hitting the same walls in design and it's
my hope
> that looking at and possibly using an already developed system
might help in
> that. I won't speak as to what the systems are but they're all
appropriate,
> I promise, and would likely see heavy customization to fit the
goals of
> LFNE.
>
> Work continues on LFNE. I appreciate the continued support and
interest. By
> all means, discuss! I'm open to answer any questions folks may have.
>
> Best,
>
> Jason L Blair
> Author, Little Fears
> www.littlefears.com
>

Hey, I just wanted to check with people here as to whether they're
suffering lost message problems.  I received a message from the list in
the email yesterday, but emptied it with the rest of the spam because I
prefer to read and respond to list messages here - but when I signed on
there was no such new message, and it has still yet to appear here, so
I'm wondering if anyone else saw it in their mail or if I'm simply
haveing some communication problem with yahoo, maybe sending me old
posts or something .... wouldn't be the first time I'd seen or had odd
problems with these lists.

If anyone did attempt to post (or worse yet, you sent me a private
message and I deleated it without realizing what it was) please give it
another shot, because we'd love to hear from you.

Hmm, I sent you an e-mail a few weeks about the LF related photobucket
I did, but I didn't receive a reply.
I sent it to the "maehedrose" e-mail. I also tried to add you on yahoo IM.

Oh yeah, I finally got a new computer last week, so you should see
more of me up here.


--- In little_fears@yahoogroups.com, "Jack of Tears"
<Jack_of_Tears@...> wrote:
>
> Hey, I just wanted to check with people here as to whether they're
> suffering lost message problems.  I received a message from the list in
> the email yesterday, but emptied it with the rest of the spam because I
> prefer to read and respond to list messages here - but when I signed on
> there was no such new message, and it has still yet to appear here, so
> I'm wondering if anyone else saw it in their mail or if I'm simply
> haveing some communication problem with yahoo, maybe sending me old
> posts or something .... wouldn't be the first time I'd seen or had odd
> problems with these lists.
>
> If anyone did attempt to post (or worse yet, you sent me a private
> message and I deleated it without realizing what it was) please give it
> another shot, because we'd love to hear from you.
>

The tally on the cieling there says we have four new members this
week, to which I say, Welcome!  Please, pull up a bean bag, sit
yourself down and enjoy the silence ... better yet, get talkative,
ask questions, spur debate!

Now that school is finally over for the year I'm hoping to raise from
my sandbox grave and scare some action back into this list.

There are a couple useful links in that section and I know Travis is
working on a photobucket for LF, which I hope he'll put in the links
section as well.

Blair comes by upon occasion to let us know he is still alive and
will usually answer questions you direct toward him, so don't be
shy.  For that matter, considering many of us on the list have a
great deal of LF experience, don't feel shy about asking any of us if
you want advice, recommendations, or just to talk about the game!

We are happy to have all of you here and hope to hear from you very
soon!  Now that school is out, I will try to respond to anything
posted.

Travis, hey, sorry for not getting back to you sooner.  Classes were
grueling this quarter, for some reason, and I've had no energy to do
anything else.  I hope, now that I can relax a bit, I'll be making for
of an appearance on the list and I hope to see you here as well.

We need to keep the love alive man!



--- In little_fears@yahoogroups.com, "Travis" <Madrigal9@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hmm, I sent you an e-mail a few weeks about the LF related photobucket
> I did, but I didn't receive a reply.
> I sent it to the "maehedrose" e-mail. I also tried to add you on
yahoo IM.
>
> Oh yeah, I finally got a new computer last week, so you should see
> more of me up here.
>
>

So, I've had an opportunity to look over WoD: Innocents at length and
thought I'd give something of my initial impressions.

First and foremost I always have to congratulate WoD writers on their
framing fiction - it is always publish worthy material which, many
times, I'd love to see grow into an entire book or at least novella.
The only complaint I'd have is that, while you follow a few of these
stories throughout much of the book, some of them never wrap up and
give you a sense of closure ... sometimes that is good, sometimes it
is disappointing.  But, like most WoD books, this one is worth
looking at just for the fiction.

With that out of the way; we'll cover most of the book by saying, it
is pretty much what you'd expect of the WoD system.  There is a large
skill system, some complex, though thorough, rules and a great deal
which just seems unneccessary for a company so enamored with placing
emphasis on storytelling.

New things; keeping in mind this is the first new WoD book I've
bothered to look through, some of these things which I label as new
may, in fact, be old hat to those whom have been following changes to
the line.

Morality:  This is your characters moral compass, which determines
how he sees and reacts to the world, including the things he is
willing or unwilling to do.  As characters perform actions below
their current morality level, they risk losing morality, which makes
them more and more comfortable with doing bad things and comes with
the potential cost of generating stress induced mental illnesses.
(every time the character performs an action that causes his or her
morality to drop, he must make another roll which - if failed - means
the stress of the shift has left a mark on him in the form of some
mental illness)

Assets and Faults: Basically your typical Drawbacks and Benefits,
save they don't give you any direct benefits upon purchase.  Instead
each character is required to start out with at least one of each and
when the player rps into either, to the gms satisfaction, they renew
their temporary willpower points.

Willpower:  Willpower is your character's ability to hang in and
persevere despite overwhelming odds.  Willpower comes in both
permanent and temporary points, the later of which can be spent to
add bonuses to rolls in various situations.  Willpower is regained
through either overcoming obstacles, playing into faults, rest or at
the end of a story.

Interestingly, WoD Innocents does not reward kids with any kind of
special power or understanding because they are children.  Instead
they play them as small mortals, left to their own devices and forced
to overcome dangers with no extra-normal assistance.  The closest
thing they have is Merits, which are alot like "things I like about
myself", giving a bonus to die rolls under certain circumstances.

Overall, I'd say there are too many rules for a game about children -
fast and loose is usually better than paging over rulebooks in the
middle of a session ... but I guess that is a matter of taste.

At any rate, I just had someone walk through my door, so I had better
go find out who it is.  If you have any specific questions about the
product, let me know and I'll answer if I can.

I also got my hands on a copy.
Honestly I had, and still have, conflicting opinions about.
One one hand the fiction is dead-on. I really liked the intros for
every chapter.
The overall mood is good.
And I did really like the way how they made an effort illustrate
examples of what skill and attributes to use for certain checks and tasks.
On the other hand, however, Innocents would have never been made if it
hadn't been for Little Fears.
I wasn't too impressed by the sample adventures in the back either.
And the little essays and personal takes on the genre just screamed
Jason Blair's intro and parting commentary in Little Fears.
But mainly, the system is just...wrong.
I've never particularly liked the White Wolf system and probably never
will.
But as a system for playing child characters, it's busted all to Hell.
-----------------------------------------------
DM; "Okay, here's your sheets for Innocents.

Player; "Wait, what are all these gaps in the sheet?"

DM; "Well, that's where all your bad ass supernatural abilities and
powers would normally go. Like, turning into a bat, shrugging off a
hail of bullets, having monster claws that can tear a man in half and
flipping a car over faster than Dewey Cox on PCP, y'know, that kind of
stuff. But that's if you were playing any of the other games.

Player;...Soooo...I don't get any of that? Like...none of that stuff?

DM; Not a damn thing. Also your ability points, those are nothing
compared to what an adult has, so the highest score you've got, the
one that you used all those points to buy...well, that doesn't have
anything to do with anything really. It's just there to make you feel
like you can accomplish something.
Also you take much more damage than anything else. I mean, pretty
much, a common guard dog would be like a dragon to you.

Player; "What the Hell, man!? But I'm fast though right? My kid's
faster than the monsters or at least be able to escape from them. So
can I outrun a vampire?"

DM; Heeheehee, now you're just being silly! No, all the monsters are
about as fast a frickin' cars.

Player; Kiss my ass, I hate you! *Gets up and leaves*
----------------------------------

I mean, Christ, why not run child characters with the RIFTS system and
setting. Oh, but no M.D.C. armor or weapons! Because that might
actually allow you to stand a snowball's chance in Hell.
Even 1'st edition D&D would make a better choice than the White Wolf
system.
I really hate to cut something down that bad because actual work went
and thought went into it and I'm sure for a good majority of the
writers it was a labor of love.
I just didn't like it.
But a Hell of a lot more people than me will WILL like it and WILL
play it and will probably have NEVER heard of Little Fears. At least
not until NE comes out.
That's what pisses me off a tad bit.

No big deal, man.
I got side-tracked tracking down everyone's e-mail addresses that I
lost and catching up with people.

Just to let you know in case I never specifically told you, my main
e-mail address is Madrigal9@...
And My yahoo IM is Lusipher9.
I tried changing it around on my profile up hear but yahoo makes it
way too complicated to change your profile around.

Oh, and this...
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk269/Littlefears/zombiekids1211205792122.jpg

Is the greatest picture I've ever seen in my entire life!

No idea who the illustrator is. I've been trying find out by my
searches yield nothing.

Color coded maps.
I spent a whopping two bucks and some change at the nearby Family
Dollar and got some off white construction paper and a box of crayons.
I'm going to make crude drawn maps with pen and marker, like something
a kid would scribble down in a hurry. That way I can make a lot in
very little time.
One thing I want to do with LF's that I've never done with any other
game is to make a really dynamic map system.
I'm even going to do a few maps from the side in reference to old NES
side-scrollers from back in the day. But only  a few times, I don't
want it to get cheesy.
When and if the kids have time to scope out their surrounding I'll
have them make the appropriate checks to take note of or discover any
potential exits/entrances, cover for hiding and so on.
I'm going to use red, blue and green crayons to circle or highlight
the aforementioned areas.
-Red means NO. Either the way's blocked or something is obstructing
your escape. However, if one kid's small or big enough they may able
to squeeze through or big enough to move it/knock it down, they might
can make accessible.
-Green means YES. You may enter/exit freely.
-Blue mean cover. When they notice an object that provides adequate
cover I'll ink in the concealment number beside. If the kid's size is
less than the concealment number, he can hide, no problem. If his size
is greater than the concealment number,surprise, he's too big to take
cover.
But if his size is equal to the CN, then there's slight chance he may
not be hid as well as he'd like. A show sticking out, to of the head
showing etc. That's up to the GM.
This is a double edges sword and I think it'll help for all kinds of
interesting roleplaying instances, because kids, after all, are
panicky little creatures.
Say that all the kids are in the backyard of the haunted house before
they make their move to enter. Suddenly there's a noise within the
house and someone or something is headed to the back door, all of them
bolt and scramble. A couple hide successfully behind some nearby
bushes. The stronger of the kids scales a nearby tree and the most
agile one vaults a short fence.
But what about the fat kid!? There's no way he can get over the fence
and he's too big to hide in the bushes and he can't climb the tree.
What does he do!?
The back door of the decaying old house begins to creak open.
The only thing he can do is hope he's fast enough to dive around the
corner of the house and out of line of sight. Either that or hide in
the bushes anyway, and how will the other kids feel about him giving
away their hiding spot, that is, if they live through the next few
minutes...
============

School rumor input.
I've decided that I'm going to get a large sheet of paper and draw a
rough sketch of the entire town as the kids would have in their
clubhouse. Push pins will mark places of interest.
Once a week, decided randomly or in order, one of the players will be
allowed to jot down on a post-it any rumor he feels his character
would have picked up at school. Much in the vain of the old thread we
had going on the Flames Rising board.
Naturally this will be an idea the player himself will find
interesting or appealing.
I think player input is pretty important. Keeps things from getting
rail-roaded and makes you consider encounters you hadn't previously
"Potential zombie sighting near Tannhouser street cemetery"
"Eddie's dad was talking on the phone to his friend about something
that looked like a gargoyle circling the steeple on the old church
near the water tower."
"There's something BIG in the lake near Greg's house"
"Rooster saw some weird lights floating through the woods on the way
back from the store."

And lastly.
I've decided that my LF campaign isn't just going to be about horror
and hopeless situations.
It's going to be heroic and EPIC!
Some examples I've wrote out include;
-A break-neck speed bicycle race that leads from the winding roads
down a forested hill into the bad part of town, all the while being
pursued by floating shadows that are swooping in attempting to knock
them off their bikes. The kid's will have to make the corresponding
checks to remain on their bikes as well as to use their flashlights
and small plastic bottles of "holy water" to keep the shadows away or
attack back at them.

-One kid is hastily climbing up the mouth of a slippery, and very
haunted, wishing well as ghosts are slowly floating up towards him
while his friends above are raining down salt (because it keeps ghosts
away) and sling shot attacks, all the while trying not to hit him and
screaming at him to hurry up and don't look down.

-A baseball bat duel to the death in the hayloft of a burning barn
against the school's possessed bully.

-One kid stranded on a makeshift raft in the middle of an olympic
sized swimming pool. His friends are pulling him in with a rope while
submerged zombies, sunk like rocks, from the deep end of the pool are
scrambling towards him, their fingertips just barely touching the
bottom of the raft. But as their pulling him towards the shallow end,
the zombies are following and their reach is extending. Should any of
the kids pulling him in freakout on a fear check they just might pull
a little too hard and yank him off the raft...

-Since they'll have access to large and well supplied garage/work area
I'm going to allow the kids to scavenge and salvage parts to make and
customize their bikes and weapons.
The blade from an old riding lawn mower with one end grounded down and
taped up for a handle and the other end sharpened on a bench grinder
makes for a pretty nasty sword.
And it's always important to know who's bike has a basket for extra
items or mount on the handle bars for a flashlight.

-Crashing a school bus through the brick wall of the local vampire
nest located on school grounds.

-Fighting off a swarm of small monsters while trying to make your way
up through the branches of an enormous tree to retrieve a magic weapon
stuck on the highest branch. And trying not to fall.

That's just a few things I have planned.
I mainly want my campaign to be directed more towards looking out for
your friends and saving other people against staggering odds.
Also, did I mention the town's got a slight case of the old "Seething
vice den of mundane and supernatural evil" going on.
I'm also going to maintain elements of isolation, neglect and abuse.
But temper them virtue, resilience, salvation and unrecognized heroism.

These are going to be some bad-ass little kids.

Ain't it though?
It's been my wallpaper for three weeks now and I don't see myself
changing it anytime soon.
Someone E-mailed it to me, they of course, had it sent to them by a
third party.
I saw it pop up on RPG.net, too.

I wish I knew who did it.

--- In little_fears@yahoogroups.com, "Jason L Blair" <jasonlblair@...>
wrote:
>
> That picture is fantastic! I'd love to be able to figure out who the
> illustrator is. Where did you find it?
>
> Best,
>
> Jason L Blair

"Come on guys, don't be chicken-shit!

-Phoebe "The feeb" Crenshaw.

Speaking of pictures.
I'd love, love, LOVE to see one of these guys do some work for
Nightmare edition.

http://www.sideshowmonkey.com/sideshowmain/illustrations.html

http://cryptlogic.net/

They've got the whole EC comics thing nailed down perfectly.

Hi, I'm new to the list.

My Name is Nathan Lilly. I've been a fan of Little Fears since just
before it launched. At the time I did a short flash-based "trailer"
that was on the original Key20 site's Little Fear's page.

Travis, the Zombie Kids image is awesome. I came across these photos
just this week (it's a slide show) and thought I'd add them to the
thread...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15702350@N00/sets/72157605573751992/show/



On Sat, Jun 14, 2008 at 3:16 AM, Travis <Madrigal9@...> wrote:
>
> Speaking of pictures.
> I'd love, love, LOVE to see one of these guys do some work for
> Nightmare edition.
>
> http://www.sideshowmonkey.com/sideshowmain/illustrations.html
>
> http://cryptlogic.net/
>
> They've got the whole EC comics thing nailed down perfectly.
>
>

Nice stuff, I particularly liked the creature under the stairs -
anytime I walk down an open stairway like that I can't help but imagine
something beneath, just waiting to grab my ankles and pull me down.



--- In little_fears@yahoogroups.com, "Nathan Lilly" <nelilly@...> wrote:
>
> Hi, I'm new to the list.
>
> My Name is Nathan Lilly. I've been a fan of Little Fears since just
> before it launched. At the time I did a short flash-based "trailer"
> that was on the original Key20 site's Little Fear's page.
>
> Travis, the Zombie Kids image is awesome. I came across these photos
> just this week (it's a slide show) and thought I'd add them to the
> thread...
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/15702350@N00/sets/72157605573751992/show/
>
>

--- In little_fears@yahoogroups.com, "Travis" <Madrigal9@...> wrote:
>
> Color coded maps.

Props are always fun, and doubly so in a Little Fears game, where
having things to hold and fiddle with adds to the fealing of being a
kid.  This sounds like a fine addition.

Speaking of props, I was just at the dollar store again last week
looking at potential aids to the game and have to say, the dollar
store is a gods send when it comes to LF.  There are so many perfect
examples of the crappy toys we played with as kids, not to mention
the terrible snack foods we ate, that it really evokes the nostalgic
atmosphere perfect for the game. (and cheeply, at that)

> -Blue mean cover.

I like the cover rules and continue to play with adding them to the
game.

> School rumor input.

I like this for an ongoing game.  My LF campaign tends to center
around holidays or specific events, since it isn't my primary full
time game, so there isn't much need of or room for such an idea.
However, if the game becomes more full-time I will have to keep this
idea in mind.  Even if I don't use it for actual adventures, it will
add flavor to the game.

Really too bad we lost those lists on the other board.

> And lastly.
> I've decided that my LF campaign isn't just going to be about horror
> and hopeless situations.
> It's going to be heroic and EPIC!

These are some good scenes you have imagined here and I can see where
they'd be a great deal of fun to play.  There is certainly nothing
wrong with taking an 80's style monster movie approach to your game,
with the kids being more proactive and aggressive.  That isn't the
approach I take, because I'm shooting to create terror and too much
empowerment sabotages that ... which is something I'm going to
continue to worry over about the NE, until I see otherwise for
myself ... but it's all a matter of what your looking for in the game.

I hope you get your LF off the ground soon.

Father's Day, Mother's Day, pleasant little holidays if you like your
parents - if they like you.  But what about all those children who
can't say that?  Do they instead becomes terrifying ordeals in the
shadows of self satisfied tyrants? My Day!  For thousands, this is
the case.

One a mundane level one can imagine the horrors which a child might
be put through - forced to perform grueling work, cook meals, wait on
the parent hand and food, with the slightest mistake, the slightest
indiscretion punished with arogant mercilessness.  Then, of course,
there are the more terrible things a parent can do, rights a parent
might claim for his or her day ... hopefully it's only once a year.

I could see Titania being the patron of such a day, vanity being at
the core of the experience.

But what of other threats?  Father's day ... what if, once per year
your dead father arose from the grave to demand he be celebrated ...
what if it started right after midnight with him scratching on the
window of your room, or walking out of your closet, or just right
through your bedroom door as if nothing were wrong - nothing but the
stench of grave rot and his shuffling stride.  Perhaps he wants you
to do things like bring people to him that he can kill, or hurt ...
if you don't, he says, then he can't go back to sleep ... they he'll
be stuck with you until next Father's day.

What about Tim, down the street, to whom that happened, though no one
can prove it.  Everyone thinks his father is a drunk, but no one
takes it seriously ... but his father fell down and broke his neck
two years ago, you were there, you saw.

Perhaps the thing you've heard banging and scraping against the walls
in the old barn is Agatha's dad ... they say someone stole it right
out of the morgue.

Or maybe it's something different ... what if your father hated you,
hated you so much he wants you dead instead of him ... what if he
believes he can do that and each father's day, for the last two
years, he has come back, posessing the bodies of father's in town -
chasing you down and trying to kill you ... what if it hasn't
happened yet, what if that was all a dream, but your father did hate
you and this is the first father's day since he died ... could he
trade your life for his?

Your mom isn't abusive, per se, but she isn't your real mom either.
She moved here when you were three and has raised you like her
own ... you and every other child she can capture - one a year - one
new child each year for mother's day.  And you, being the oldest, are
responsible for helping her.

(I say you, but hopefully your characters are actually on the
solving, or discovery end of these scenarios and not starting out
screwed)

There is that old hospital at the edge of town - you know the one,
you've heard the rumors - and though no one likes to admit it, there
are alot of bodies burried out there.  Perhaps mother's day is the
one day they get to wander free, the day they get to search for the
mothers who abandoned them.  Alone they're not much, but the stories
say hundreds of operations where performed ... hundreds of angry,
lonely almost-babies looking for a mother.  Twenty four hours is a
long time.


Okay, that's it from me for now.  I could probably keep going for
awhile, but let's hear some other ideas!

Okay, apparently my last post didn't inspire anyone to contribute, so
I'll try again.  And if that doesn't work, I'll try something else.
This game doesn't die until I say it does, damnit.

Since everyone liked the old "Story Bites" in the forums, I'm going
to try and rekindle that.  For those of you who are new, the point is
to throw out an idea, ideally less than a paragraph long, that a gm
can pick up and expand upon quickly - thus providing an vast
collection of story ideas.  We had something like thirty or more
before the forum fell down, not sure I can pump that many out again,
but I'll start here with one.  If you decide to add anything, please
make a new post and entitle it "Story Bites" and if you can, number
each hook for ease of reference in discussion or organization.  I'll
start with number 1.

1) Some of the kids at school started a new club.  No one knows much
about it, except it's real hard to get into; rumor is they have a
clubhouse and everything.  The other kids would kill to get invited,
so I don't know how I got in.  It was real fun at first, we dressed
up in costumes and drew on the floor in halloween blood - the type of
stuff that would drive our parents crazy.  But lately it's gotten
wierd ... the president has been asking us to do strange stuff, and
last week he even drank some of that fake blood from a cup we got at
the second hand store.  When it was just him it wasn't so bad, but
the others are starting to do it to ... I want to quit, but Mark said
something about quiting last week and he hasn't been back to school
since ... I don't know for sure, but ... if I try to quite ... will I
stop comming to school too?

2) Nicholas Reed plays with matches.  He only burns little things, bits
of paper, those puffball flowers, kindling ... his father even lets him
start the fireplace at night.  He's always careful, always throws the
matches in the garbage when he's done ... so that little fire behind
the Quick E Mart couldn't have been his fault.  No one was hurt anyway,
just some dumb dog.  But it still hasn't been as much fun since ...
it's like no matter where he goes he smells charcoal, or burned
hair ... and yesterday he got yelled at for letting some dog follow him
home and track dirt all over the front porch.  Whatever, just some dumb
dog ... but what is that scratching at the bedroom door?

--- In little_fears@yahoogroups.com, "Jack of Tears"
<Jack_of_Tears@...> wrote:
>
> Okay, apparently my last post didn't inspire anyone to contribute, so
> I'll try again."

Easy there, Jack.
I just started a new job last week. Factory. Walking on concrete for
12 hour shifts from seven in the evening until seven in the morning.
36 hours from Friday to Monday morning.
I'm hurtin' man. My bones ache. My feet are demolished.

I've been planning on posting on here tomorrow night.
I've had at least three threads brewing in my head over this past
never-ending weekend.

*Ding! Ding! Ding!*
Oh yeah, I'm finally running LF this weekend and I've got four players.

Yeah, you've got to forgive me there, I was a little drunk when I
typed that - though the statement stands either way ... and I did
manage to provoke a reply, which was what I'd been shooting for at
the time.

Congrats on the getting a game lined up!  I look forward to hearing
all the details next week!  My 4th of July game fell through, as my
little sister won't be coming down to visit and all my friends will
be out of town, but I'll still be doing something in July.

And I hope the new job works out for you!


--- In little_fears@yahoogroups.com, "Travis" <Madrigal9@...> wrote:
>
> --- In little_fears@yahoogroups.com, "Jack of Tears"
> <Jack_of_Tears@> wrote:
> >
> > Okay, apparently my last post didn't inspire anyone to
contribute, so
> > I'll try again."
>
> Easy there, Jack.
> I just started a new job last week. Factory. Walking on concrete for
> 12 hour shifts from seven in the evening until seven in the morning.
> 36 hours from Friday to Monday morning.
> I'm hurtin' man. My bones ache. My feet are demolished.
>
> I've been planning on posting on here tomorrow night.
> I've had at least three threads brewing in my head over this past
> never-ending weekend.
>
> *Ding! Ding! Ding!*
> Oh yeah, I'm finally running LF this weekend and I've got four
players.
>

Oh, man.
I my fingers don't even touch the keys unless I'm gettin' Irish. (I
can get away with saying that because the majority of my DNA is Irish.)
(See what you've done, Blair, all your fans are irritable, limey, drunks!)
I was planning on posting on here at length but a combination of
semi-neglected girlfriend and being dry for five days kinda' caught up
with me and I had some lost time to make up for.
Now my head's fu**in' splitting wide open and I need to go lay down
and recover from my recklessness.

Oh before I go, I've come up with an interactive barter system for my
LF campaign.
Cheap-ass green glass beads from the craft dept. in Wal-mart. Cost me
two bucks. They represent dollars.
Pennies represent quarters.
It was only later that I realized using actual nickels and pennies
would be cheaper than those glass counters. But man, how they sparkle.
The character will be presented with a list of items that include the
item's name, a crude picture and the cost of the item in 25 cent
increments. (Kinda' like old school console RPG's.)
I'm also stealing a page from your book and when my pay check drops
I'm going to harvest an ass-load of candy from the dollar store and
put in  a small box that can be purchased from the "shop" as well.
So they'll be able to purchase and barter things like their in-game
money and possessions for in-game items and benefits like ammo,
supplies, weapons, slight HP recovery items and so on, or they can use
they're money to get real life bonuses like candy and "buying" from my
old comic book book collection.

Oh, and I thought of the perfect way to keep players who are present,
but not included in a scene, occupied.
Friend's laptop + NES, SEGA and super NES emulators and roms +
alienware USB game controller + headphones.
Keeps 'em occupied, interested, oblivious to what's going on and in
the right mindset. Fun too.

God, I'm going to be sick.
And on that note, I have to work today and tomorrow but I'm off
Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
And as for the job, thanks man, but honestly, it's one of those
soul-crushing-monotony type things.
Wouldn't hurt my feelings too bad if things didn't work out.

Hope your little sister gets to show up and roll with you soon.

Be posting soon,
Travis


--- In little_fears@yahoogroups.com, "Jack of Tears"
<Jack_of_Tears@...> wrote:
>
> Yeah, you've got to forgive me there, I was a little drunk when I
> typed that - though the statement stands either way ... and I did
> manage to provoke a reply, which was what I'd been shooting for at
> the time.
>
> Congrats on the getting a game lined up!  I look forward to hearing
> all the details next week!  My 4th of July game fell through, as my
> little sister won't be coming down to visit and all my friends will
> be out of town, but I'll still be doing something in July.
>
> And I hope the new job works out for you!

--- In little_fears@yahoogroups.com, "Travis" <Madrigal9@...> wrote:
>
>
> Oh, man.
> I my fingers don't even touch the keys unless I'm gettin' Irish. (I
> can get away with saying that because the majority of my DNA is
Irish.)


Same here ... which is why I can't usually get drunk. (high
tollerance) But this new medication of mine changed all that.


> I've come up with an interactive barter system for my
> LF campaign.
> Cheap-ass green glass beads from the craft dept. in Wal-mart. Cost
me
> two bucks. They represent dollars.
> Pennies represent quarters.
> It was only later that I realized using actual nickels and pennies
> would be cheaper than those glass counters. But man, how they
sparkle.
> The character will be presented with a list of items that include
the
> item's name, a crude picture and the cost of the item in 25 cent
> increments. (Kinda' like old school console RPG's.)

Interesting idea, I like it.


> So they'll be able to purchase and barter things like their in-game
> money and possessions for in-game items and benefits like ammo,
> supplies, weapons, slight HP recovery items and so on,

Slight HP recovery items?  What are you using for that?  Like, candy
gives you a sugar rush so you recover some health?  Band aids always
make kids feel better, so those as well?


> Oh, and I thought of the perfect way to keep players who are
present,
> but not included in a scene, occupied.
> Friend's laptop + NES, SEGA and super NES emulators and roms +
> alienware USB game controller + headphones.
> Keeps 'em occupied, interested, oblivious to what's going on and in
> the right mindset. Fun too.

Another interesting idea, though I might be concerned the players
would become more invested in the video games than the story. (those
games can be addictive! - I know I'd have a hard time walking away
from Super Mario 3 to get back to the game)  Also, I'd be concerned
about breaking the immersion and/or atmosphere.  I guess it really
depends on how long you expect to have people out of the action -
sometimes it is unavoidable, I know.  You'll have to let me know how
that works out for you. (I have an old Atari 2600 somewhere)



> And as for the job, thanks man, but honestly, it's one of those
> soul-crushing-monotony type things.
> Wouldn't hurt my feelings too bad if things didn't work out.

Drinking and soul crushing labor ... man, sounds like Closet Land is
setting you up for a fall. ::smirks:: Just don't let anyone convince
you that your life would be easier if you could set up a sweat shop
making local kids wait on you and do your housework ... or, if you do
and it works, let me know the secret.


>
> Hope your little sister gets to show up and roll with you soon.

Yeah, thanks, me too ...

take care,

~W

Thought I'd let the moderator know we have another bit of spam in the
Links section ... some air travel business or other, didn't look at it
too closely.