Slushposting wasn’t as formalized an idea in 2012, that I recall, but I’ve souped a few posts together here that would have met the criteria.
Recovered: 2012 Slush
Photo by Hannes Grobe, via Wikimedia Commons.
Summer Reading
The Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hideous Strength)
An exciting classic “science fiction” trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although at times the overt Christian themes were grating on my secular humanist upbringing. The villains in That Hideous Strength were particularly strong, and I hope my own games can have villains that good. I also took extensive notes on the language as I went, and eventually I’ll share those somehow.
The Long Earth by Stephen Baxter & Terry Pratchett
A grand exploration of infinity, with some bizarre characters. Reminded me that dinosaurs are awesome.
Railsea by China Miéville
Great world-building with good proportions of secrets, bizarre new things, and enough familiar things to stay grounded.
Doc Savage Stories
I got back to my pulp roots with some old Doc Savage books (“The Land of Always-Night”, “Mad Mesa”, “The Dust of Death”, and “The Stone Man”). This directly inspired Pulp Materials.
Things in Museums
My favorite part of visiting the UK is the museums. Here are some things I thought it worth making a note of when I saw them.
- A German “schwerdt” (which unhelpfully appears to mean sword) was 4-6’ long, and was not used in heavy over-head swings, but for fencing. The technique was to keep your off-hand just under the hilt as a pivot, and to control the motion of it with your good hand from the pommel. (Pitt-Rivers Museum)
- War quoits (chakrams) are basically sharpened rings, thrown like Frisbees held from the inside. I imagine they’d just be like exotic throwing knives in a game. (Pitt-Rivers Museum)
- In Guyana, traditional duels involve each participant standing close to the other and pressing their shields together. The first to lose their footing loses the duel. (Pitt-Rivers Museum)
- Instead of a traditional knife-bayonet, some early pistols had a sort of mace-head attachment on the barrel. I wish I’d taken a picture of this. (Tower of London)
- Before the formalization of molar theory, molar equivalencies were found using a slide-rule with salts marked in the positions of their molar weights. (Museum of the History of Science)
- When Copernicus first proposed his heliocentric model, people started using it for its accuracy, while simultaneously denying the validity of its assumptions. Essentially, it was used as an empirical model, but its implications ignored. (Museum of the History of Science)
Old Music
Long John effected an escape wearing shoes with a heel in front and a heel behind. Consequently, he was very difficult to track.
Miscellaneous Mechanics & Ideas
For making an alien in Samurai Jack
Roll 1d6 for number of eyes.
For characters from large families
Roll 2d12:
- The higher number is the number of children.
- The lower number is your birth order.
For halflings, use 2d20.
For steel-boned corsets
Use AC as splinted mail, with a bonus to Cha, and penalties to Dex.
Tell me these are really so different.
For a weird nightscape
Consider a pitcher plant that catches moths using an anglerfish’s bait. It obviously grows on trees. Possibly consider fat squirrels with anglerfish-bait-tails filling a similar niche.
Dream fragments
- Babylonian guardian demons that take the form of either giant awakened naked mole rats or riderless motorcycles. They enforce the rule that “nothing is free.”
- Helium jellyfish that float around like plastic bags roost in trees. They have a complex lifecycle. Possibly they have propellers.
- Staircases that are difficult to use the “wrong” direction. They aren’t railroads, but make circular navigation necessary.
These posts were first shared on September 6 and November 23, 2012.