Happy Thanksgiving!

Posting three times a week was interesting. My human readership seemed to rise steadily, and American bots even started to outnumber Russian bots. But I am my own primary audience, and I don't want to put stuff out half-baked; so--as I'm sure you've already noticed--I'm slowing down to one post a week, at least through the New Year's.

Ancient History

I wouldn't describe myself as a particular fan of Star Trek, but I have watched an awful lot of it, so I want to give a very belated thanks to Real Life Comics for posting this strip and then hiding my forum post to preserve this gag. It still tickles me.

I'd acknowledge other people who've read me or who I read, but it's late, and I don't have many meaningful things to say which aren't better off being rolled into more topical gaming posts. 

No gaming content today.

I will say I'm amused at how my comment about setting a guard and fighting wargs was followed a week later by commentary here about setting watch and being attacked by dire wolves. Because that's the true meaning of Thanksgiving--not being eaten by wolves.

(One session I played in high school involved a large fraction of the party being eaten by random wolves (there was a recurring chorus of "allll, eaten by wollllllves"), due largely to poor spell casting on my part. I generally choose spells badly and time them badly, which is why I rarely play mages.)

Unaffiliated 'Mech Production (Part 4: ComStar)

First Look at ComStar

Due to the order weapons manufacturers appear in the HD:FS book, I suspect that Aldis Industries sells no more than 60 or 65 'Mechs and Aerospace fighters annually to Davion. For instance (counting a tank as half a 'Mech, which MW1e does when awarding XP), that could be 40 tanks, 20 'Mechs and 20 fighters. 

That might make Aldis bigger than Scarborough or the Exeter group, but is it enough to beat out the New Earth Trading Company and Ceres Metals for the title of "largest independent manufacturer of weapons in the Inner Sphere?"

Aldis should be selling to everyone, so only a portion would go to Davion - 110 / 385, if we go by regiments (110 / 402.33 including the major periphery states), or 35.67 / 88.5 if we go by mercenaries* (35.67 / 97.67, allowing for Capellan unchartered mercenaries). That would make total production something like 2.5x to 3.67x Davion's portion, or about fifty to seventy-five 'Mechs/yr.

It would be... aesthetically pleasing? ...if Aldis produced the Phoenix Hawk, Wolverine, Rifleman, Crusader and BattleMaster, since those are the five core types not produced in the periphery. I'm also tempted to assign the Chameleon and Longbow to Aldis, perhaps in place of the Phoenix Hawk and BattleMaster. As a neutral party, Aldis Industries makes a convenient supplier for these two 'Mechs, which don't otherwise seem to be produced anywhere in 3025.


*In a similar vein, how much a realm has to rely on mercenaries may be a good indicator for how easy it is for independent weapons manufacturers to operate in that realm.

Pathfinder: Everyone Wants the DM's Attention

In our last session, while neutralizing the guards in an underground prison, the party tripped a trap (magic vial around the captain's neck) which drowns the level in water. The sewer grate at one end of the level seals up in stone, and an arcane lock seals the trapdoor in the ceiling at the other end. None of us had dispel or knock, and our rogue didn't think he could pick magic locks.

We're Level 14 Ratfolk this time, & mostly evil

Things got pretty chaotic.

Light Up The Night

I never played Mega Man, but this song
(from a MegaMan inspired concept album / saga)
is great.

And now they're turning it into a sixteen-minute short film!
Which I'm not actually all that jazzed about, based on the trailer,
but it looks pretty well executed and I like their music so I'll give it a shot.