Did a session zero for RQG: game mechanics and one combat. Ran into an issue during the combat I don't remember have back in 1980, but that's long enough ago I cannot recall how I addressed it:
What book-keeping solution do people use to track damage on groups of similar NPCs? I had 4 Lunars, so I used the 4029 squad sheet. I very quickly realized while each of the four listed squad members' whole body damage was tracked, the squad sheet only has one hit location chart. So, there's no clear way to track the specific anatomical-specific damage each squad member took.
The obvious solution is one sheet per PC or NPC. Is there a better, less paper intensive, solution I am missing?
Going to run an intro RuneQuest adventure out of the Starter Box. Promised myself not to go into the usual paralyzing Glorantha lore spiral. Just using the box.
Well, and maybe the (really badly packaged) GM pack. And the Bestiary. Weapons & Equipment. But that's it.
Which 1982 Nebula Finalist Novels Have You Read?
The Claw of the Conciliator by Gene Wolfe ✓
Little, Big by John Crowley ✓
Radix by A. A. Attanasio ✓
Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban ✓
The Many-Colored Land by Julian May ✓
The Vampire Tapestry by Suzy McKee Charnas ✓
Which 1982 Nebula Finalist Novellas Have You Read?
The Saturn Game by Poul Anderson #
Amnesia by Jack Dann
In the Western Tradition by Phyllis Eisenstein
Swarmer, Skimmer by Gregory Benford ✓
The Winter Beach by Kate Wilhelm
True Names by Vernor Vinge ✓
@michael_w_busch@nyrath Ah, yes, the one where the aliens from cold worlds orbiting dim quiescent suns think human resistance to shortwave EMR extends past UV...
It is not readily available as it involves divine magic, and it comes with a significant price: total amnesia about one's life before death and at least a century of service to the god.
@DavidOneill@bookstodon What struck me about that book was that Willis had managed to write a book about the American Civil War without once mentioning African Americans by any term or slavery.
All Hugo ballots must be received by Saturday, 9 March 2024, 16:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) (UTC+0). Blatant self-promotion, link to voting process over on my site.
Another week, another round of Which Nebula finalists have you read? This week's year is 1973, which for some reason had unusually long finalist lists.
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov ✔
When Harlie Was One by David Gerrold ✔
Dying Inside by Robert Silverberg ✔
The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg ✔
What Entropy Means to Me by George Alec Effinger ✔
The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad ✔
The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner ✔
The cover for the first book in a long British YA series begun in 1957.
It's intriguing to me as being touted as "realistic space travel"--as realistic as a book for young readers in 1957 can be, anyway. It also uses weight as an excuse for a teenaged protagonist: the British rocket on-hand can't haul a full-sized man to the Moon and young Chris is only five feet tall.
...Which is doubly interesting because god forbid they use a woman pilot rather than rely on a rookie teen. Very 1957, IOW.
There's a new post in my Cosmic Stories science-and-SF blog! Today I'm looking at swords of Damocles: the uses of orbital weapons platforms in SF, featuring Heinlein, Bova, The Tomorrow People, Man from UNCLE, James Bond and others.