Moments when a piece of entertainment completely rocked you.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Tue Aug 20, 2013 8:31 pm

http://owmysanity.blogspot.com/2013/07/thank-you.html

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:48 pm

http://www.somethingawful.com/news/mons ... eminism/1/

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Aug 24, 2013 3:24 pm

Just got this in an email from Fitocracy, which itself is re-running the article from a place called Geek Fitness:

Like the old man in The Legend of Zelda said, it’s dangerous to go alone. As you embark on your fitness quest, the most dangerous thing you can do is try to do this solo.

Think about it like this: would you have fought Onyxia back in 2004 as a lone Paladin? Or would you attack an AD&D Beholder without a full party to back you up? What about fighting Sephiroth as just Cloud and no one else?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then we need to have a talk. Because I’m worried about you.

I mean, as much as fitness and weight loss is an incredibly personal undertaking, if you head into an expert-mode dungeon without some kind of backup, you’re going to wipe. You’re going to wipe hard.

The idea of fitness training being likened to a dungeon amuses me greatly. Also, to their first graph questions, my reply is "depends on level."

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Sat Aug 24, 2013 8:59 pm

the fitocracy forum actually has some silly challenges about "increasing" stats based off the six d&d stats.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sat Aug 24, 2013 10:55 pm

http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/cq/page-387/

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Tue Aug 27, 2013 1:13 am

I picked up the 7th and 8th volumes of the A Certain Scientific Railgun manga. There's this great bit where some people are tracking down Level 5s to give the opening speech for a citywide sports tournament. In order:

#1 Accelerator nails the guy who comes to ask him with a brick before he even gets the question out.
#2 rants about how sports festivals are for weak fools who still have hope, then completely loses it when the guy says his abilities are pretty
#3 The Powers That Be forbid them from asking Mikoto because they want to keep her eccentricities on the down-low so at least one Level 5 will make them look good
#4 Mugino does not think it is a good idea for an underworld merc team leader to be on international television for some reason
#5 After taking some time out to make a subordinate eat twenty eclairs in revenge for being told to watch her weight, The Queen accepts, slightly miffed about being the second choice.
#6 is presumed to exist because there are 7 Level 5s
#7 agrees readily enough, having gotten lost on his way to TTGL.

These bonds that can never be erased! These bonds... These bonds... Crap. Line? whatever. Doing something about bonds that can't be erased using the spirit and guts coursing through our bodies! We'll fully exhibit our everyday training and guts! And show off our guts to bad guys that blow!! In order to make this tournament a gut-filled memory! And for any difficulties or obstacles, trials or tribulations that dare to stand in our way... We'll overcome all that crap with our guts, yeah!!!!!!

The other one was giving the correct speech, but she was cut off by the explosions.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Thu Aug 29, 2013 12:11 am

This is a really excellent LP
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showth ... genumber=1

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 5:41 pm

All right... I don't know if this is legit to post here because it's a different form of entertainment, but I'm having such fun with it that I want to put it somewhere.

So my son's birthday (he's five!) was way better than mine, and he got a pretty hefty chunk of change from relatives, as well as some money we earned selling a few things at my mom's garage sale this last weekend. I thought it would be really cool to take him to a bigger Toys R Us than is in Olympia, so we stopped at a larger store on the way home.

He looked all over the store and did the whole throwing stuff that he really wasn't interested in into the cart thing. We had a chat, and he back to playing with display toys. And then I remembered a castle we had seen at another store a month ago that he loved. So I went to find it.

We were impressed by the Imaginext Eagle Talon Castle the first time we saw it. Giovanni loved it so much that he put all the other things back and went for it right away. But as I was putting it in the cart, I walked past Ess who was holding the another toy in the set. And all of a sudden, the castle shouts, "Dragon!"

I almost dropped the castle.

Apparently, in addition to all the cool things the castle already does, it also communicates with other pieces in the set. So we ended up buying the castle, the dragon, and the ogre, too. The toys are well designed, their bells and whistles are cool but not overwhelming, and there's lots of room for pretend and general action figure/dollhouse story telling. There are also more pieces in the set, so we can expand more later.

Everyone came out happy on this one. Fucking awesome.

Shrapnel · Post by **Shrapnel** » Tue Sep 03, 2013 11:21 pm

I had a... no, not Playmobile... er, whatever company makes those tiny, hunched-over plastic dudes with huge feet and constantly obscured eyes. Fischer-Price! That's it! I had a Fischer-Price castle set, complete with knights, when I was a wee lad, and there was a spot next to the moat where you could plug in a dude, and it made different special sound effects and whatnot depending on which dude you put in there.

The thing I remember most about those Fischer-Price guys, though, was how often I would have a massive war between the gold knights and black knights, and pretended that each time someone got "killed' they were dismembered in ever more interesting ways. I also remember using a whole bottle of ketchup as blood and spreading it everywhere around the living room after one such "battle".

Ah, the fun, violent years of youth.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:56 pm

http://www.somethingawful.com/news/total-war-rome/

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Sat Sep 07, 2013 10:52 pm

There's an ongoing KoDP LP on the SomethingAwful forums. Around page 50, after much debate, the Goons opted to get a rune that warns against undead from a Heroquest.

Literally the next event was Vampire Attack. Also good was the thread reaction to the start of That Fucking Event Chain, in which someone steals a horse and then the chain continues until well after the thief, the injured party, and the player's capacity to give a shit are dead of old age.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Tue Sep 10, 2013 8:59 pm

http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/cq/guest-comic-4/

Cucumber quest never ceases to be amazing.

virgil · Post by **virgil** » Fri Sep 20, 2013 3:34 am

http://imgur.com/gallery/V0gND

Amusing story. The comments go out of their way to remind everyone that the rules have changed since those events happened.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Fri Sep 20, 2013 3:48 am

There is nothing like countering bullshit with greater bullshit. That's really spectacular.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Fri Sep 20, 2013 8:41 am

Maybe someone's posted this, but Night Vale Radio. A community radio news update for a small desert town where strange things happen, and everyone knows the Sheriff has secret police.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 5:00 am

http://www.somethingawful.com/news/mill ... rial-baby/

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Tue Sep 24, 2013 11:41 pm

Reducto Ad Absurdum is probably the most fun argumentative technique

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 1:35 am

Humans: Scary motherfuckers. We take injuries that would kill other animals, and keep going.

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 2:31 am

So there's this guy who watches tv shows for the internet and records himself reacting dramatically to them. He's doing Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and if I recall my episode events correctly, he will be uploading the one where Pride appears in the flesh for my birthday.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:27 pm

http://www.somethingawful.com/news/fera ... gibbonman/

On a glorious, long-lost day, when the sun was red and the hills were yellow, the rabbits of the endless plains came together at a wind-worn dais.

"Oh mighty Hercules!" the trembling rabbits cried. "Hero of heroes! Strongest of the strong! Save us from the terrible lion, who tears our throats and spills our blood!"

But Hercules only laughed from Olympian high, to hear such creatures plead. "Save thy own, oh timid beasts! The gods help those who help themselves!"

Yet still the rabbits pleaded and cried, until their sobbing grew so loud that it met the ears of the terrible lion out prowling the windswept plain.

"Your chance at last!" spake Hercules, as the terrible lion pounced on the dais. "Rally, oh rabbitkind! And rejoice in the feast of victory, hard-earned and fair!"

But the rabbits did not rally, defenseless and frightened as they were. Defiant or faint, it mattered not; the rabbits were the terrible lion's sport, every one.

The terrible lion licked its terrible mouth, and stretched its terrible shape, and napped in blood and fur by the feet of Hercules, the hero.

"Do not ask me for help, terrible lion," said Hercules with a huff. "You must make your own way in life"

"I am capable of that," smirked the terrible lion, lazy on the dais. "But thanks for making it even easier."

The moral of the story is: Every choice you make helps someone.

Corsair114 · Post by **Corsair114** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 1:19 am

Pretty much every battle sequence in Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 7:49 pm

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showth ... id=3534889

What are the encumbrance rules like?
Quest Squires uses what it calls a reverse encumbrance rating system, "To Heft A Collection Of Goods" or THACOG. Each character derives their THACOG rating by consulting the Encumbrance Rating Derivation chart, basing it off of a formula involving their Strength, Constitution, and Willpower scores, as well as their Lift subscore. It looks something like:

THACOG = (Strength score + Lift subscore)x2 + (Constitution score + 1/2 Willpower score rounded up) + an additional value based on your current experience point total, plus any additional modifiers that may come into play such as with the Strong Back Improvement (which counter-intuitively does not actually modify your Lift subscore, though a lot of people houserule it so it works that way).

Then from there, you take that value and you express it as a negative value. So someone with a THACOG of 72 actually has a THACOG of -72 instead. You apply your THACOG to the total weight in pounds of all the gear you're carrying on your person to determine your Actual Encumbrance Rating. So our adventurer with a THACOG of -72 carrying around 100 pounds of weapons, armor, and beef jerky has an AER of (100 + -72) = 28.

The Quest Master then uses that AER for any Endurance Checks that character has to make. Endurance Checks are a d100 roll, with the QM checking to see if the result comes in underneath the character's AER. If it does then the character begins to gain Physical Fatigue, if the result is equal to or over the character's AER then they suffer no ill effect.

It's pretty simple, really.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sun Sep 29, 2013 8:25 pm

I can't help but think that the Food & Rations rules are unnecessarily harsh. Granted, they're an abstraction, but it just seems like the guy played the early Ultima games too many times, and now you lose Food Points for every square you move. The bookkeeping is just absurd and the price chart seems unusually inflated. A 1st level commoner can't even afford a basic bread and water package!

This is a problem a lot of players run into that's more due to approaching the game with preconceived notions that are at odds with the game itself. The thing to bear in mind is that Quest Squires never actually defines what a "square" represents. "Square" is simply QS shorthand for "a unit of distance," but Quigley never establishes any sort of hard-and-fast rule for what that distance is supposed to be, leaving it up to QMs and players to infer that based on context. For example, in battle a square is typically assumed to be somewhere between 5 and 15 meters (there are examples in the combat and spellcasting chapters that support both, occasionally both at once), but when, say, exploring the wilderness then a square can represent an area encompassing miles of terrain, including entire dungeons, villages, or settlements. This is where a lot of the complaints that "martial characters are overpowered" comes from, by the way, because with cheap and easy access to Improvements that allow for bonus squares of movement some groups mistakenly think this means that characters with those Improvements can travel cross-continent in the span of a single day.

So if you keep that in mind the Food & Rations rules make a bit more sense when you consider that the average peasant may never venture outside the square they were born in (leading to the situation where peasants actually don't need to eat since only moving between squares provokes Hunger Checks, so someone who remains within a single square can technically go an indefinite amount of time without food or water). When you're operating using "dungeon measurements" the implication is that PCs naturally burn more calories than the average denizen of Dragynrealm and thus need a constant intake of nutrients and energy in order to quest effectively. Hence why every item listed on the Victuals and Comestibles table in the equipment guide has a calorie rating next to it...by rules-as-written you're actually supposed to be keeping track of that in your Quest Log, but a lot of groups simply skip all of that bookkeeping and use "food packages" instead.

Ok, I really need some clarification here because it appears that my group has apparently been playing a different game than the rest of you. Due to water appearing in the Dangerous Substances table with the "drowning" condition, the Merfolk statblock mentioning that they are immune to water, and the thirst rules saying that a character has to drink often but not specifying that he has to drink water, our QM assumed that water in Dragynrealm was poisonous, the bread and water package was an assassination kit, and people only drank milk, juice or alcohol. And of course, since you can't keep milk or juice from going bad after a few days, any significant dungeon delve ended up with the party trying to fight against a Crocolitch or an Ancient Kobold Lord while completely inebriated. Was the water safe to drink after all?

name_here · Post by **name_here** » Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:54 am

I got VtM:Bloodlines friday. There was a great bit where, due to a long series of events, my combat-monster Brujah got into a shouting match with a smug jerk vampire who had assured me a ghost was harmless prior to a mission where I took more ghost-related aggravated damage than I had taken any form of damage in the entire rest of the game, and I skipped a persuade option because I was pissed off, leading to the jerk saying she could tolerate incompetence but not threats, and I had one chance to prove myself. This despite being a relatively frail girl talking to an angry Brujah ex-special forces guy two feet away with no witnesses.

One of the available responses was "I've got another idea. I kill you, I kill the prince, I kill everybody!" It suited my present opinion of the NPC perfectly, and the threat worked!

Shatner · Post by **Shatner** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:27 pm

Legend of Korra's second season has gotten underway. All in all "Korra" doesn't have the polish, depth of character, or depth of storytelling that "The Last Airbender" had. However, the second season has introduced Varrick, a Howard Hughes-esque wacky businessman from the Southern Water Tribe and he is officially my new favorite character. His antics are great, the comedic timing is perfect, and he riffs off of Bolin beautifully. Civil War, episode 2 may as well be called "The middle of a Varrick and Platypus-Bear Venn-Diagram is labeled 'Awesome'".