@SJohnRoss@dice.camp
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

SJohnRoss

@SJohnRoss@dice.camp

You examine the S. John closely, but find only a small tag proclaiming him a product of the Frobozz Magic Game Designer Company.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

hishgraphics, to random
@hishgraphics@dice.camp avatar

I've finally found an orchestral film score track that feels like 99% the inside of my brain.

https://youtu.be/b0d8sSmZqzs?si=xNn2IpJEUm8aq5s_

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@hishgraphics Nice. Adding this to some of my Work Music playlists immediately. ☺️

orcusdorkus, to random
@orcusdorkus@dice.camp avatar

RPG book covers matter. It deserves as much attention, if not more, than the pages within. You could have the absolute best game ever but if your cover looks like a passing thought slapped together with Brøderbund Print Shop, most people are going to simply pass it by. Thoughts?

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@orcusdorkus My next two books will have no art at all (cover or otherwise) and for my target audience, it's ideal.

As a consumer I sometimes enjoy nice art as a consolation prize for poor RPG design and poor RPG writing, but I'd rather not be consoled. I'd rather be satisfied.

But, I'm a working-class gamer in a (largely) middle-class hobby.

TheIofQing, to random
@TheIofQing@dice.camp avatar

This is nuts. How does one maintain a presence in multiple social media networks without going insane?

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@TheIofQing I think maintaining even one risks sanity. 😄

PaulCzege, to random
@PaulCzege@dice.camp avatar

I solved a problem on my computer of the past several weeks that was keeping me from being productive.

But now I need to be productive.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@PaulCzege Whenever I need to be productive I take a nice evening walk. I think it works for my brain-wiring because being away from my keyboard and other tools makes me crave them, and the stimulation of fresh air and life around me fills me with notions. 😅

That said, I've no idea of how much our brains overlap in that territory.

2ndLevelBard, to random

I've had a lot of listens but zero sales for my opening weekend, which is really depressing and makes me feel I don't make things that people like.

If you checked out my work and enjoyed it, please consider passing me $1 for a download. If you don't have it to spare - which is fine! - boost me?

https://thistlefinch.bandcamp.com/

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@2ndLevelBard Amen to this. 😥

mrgwillickers, to random
@mrgwillickers@dice.camp avatar

Questions we run into because of Pathfinder:

Can a crab clap? If so, how would it clap?

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@mrgwillickers [polite but enthusiastic cancrine applause]

Role_Play_Chat, to random

Reminder that all GMs are built different. Comparing yourself to others is not the way.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@Role_Play_Chat But it feels so GOOD. Can it be wrong when it feels SO GOOD? 😊

StefanEJones, to random
@StefanEJones@dice.camp avatar

Spent an hour or so playing Baldur's Gate.

The original, from 25 years ago; bought the set from Goodwill for four bucks.

I figure if I have the patience for it, I'll be justified getting the fancy new one.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@StefanEJones I still replay the original every few years. 😊

seedling, to random
@seedling@dice.camp avatar

I recently reread A Wizard of Earthsea. I'd read it as a kid but only remembered one scene from it. It holds up quite well as an adult, still very much worth reading.

(Going to get a little discourse -y)

One thing that was interesting is that Le Guin talked about not being interested in war in fantasy, specifically mentioning Tolkien and I think alluding to D&D. However, unlike many TTRPGs that also distance themselves from that, conflict, fighting and death are very much part of the story

SJohnRoss, (edited )
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@seedling There's always been a hunger for broader focus I think ... I started on TTRPGs in 1984 and was utterly bored by the violent stuff (or by its ubiquity) by 1986. 😄

JasonT, to random
@JasonT@dice.camp avatar

Reading about the origin of the phrase “lingua franca” makes me wonder what it would be like to run a fantasy RPG campaign in a setting where the “common tongue” is really just a pidgin trade language with limited utility, so actual knowledge of different cultures’ languages is no less beneficial than skill with weaponry.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@JasonT That's not an uncommon choice. I did a satiric spin on it in Uresia back in the day.

StefanEJones, to random
@StefanEJones@dice.camp avatar

Back from a quick shopping trip to buy discount sardines and cheap rum.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@StefanEJones I know which one I hope to forget sooner. 😄

Faintdreams, to random
@Faintdreams@dice.camp avatar

I see Russel T Davies is Back on his bullshit.

😮‍💨

Anvilicious to the Nth degree.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@Faintdreams I am hype. Gonna soak up that joyful stupid RTD anviliciousness later tonight. ☺️☺️😮

BrianBloodaxe, to random
@BrianBloodaxe@dice.camp avatar

If I could consign one piece of RPG terminology to the ever-burning dumpster it would be "fiction first". It's meaningless, there are no RPGs which are not fiction first!

SJohnRoss, (edited )
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@BigJackBrass @BrianBloodaxe That's how I view "story," also (although I like to remind people that the story of what happened is not only a retelling, it's a lesser thing, a reductive echo of the experience).

But that seems distinct from "fiction," just, not in a way I need. I expect they're being ... what was the term? People. 🤷

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@edheil @BigJackBrass @BrianBloodaxe I think I misread the threading and responded to this wrong. Amended. Oops. 😮

galadhion, to random

Does Sigil have a soft g sound or a hard g sound?

I posit that in Planescape belief begets reality. If enough of you believe that it's a soft g, then that becomes reality.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@galadhion One of the things I loved living in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania is that there are a minimum of three pronunciations for the town's name, everyone in town just says whichever one they feel like in the moment, and nobody bats an eye or says boo about it. ☺️

Taskerland, to random
@Taskerland@dice.camp avatar

You don't see many allusions to RPGnet nowadays... Nobody ever links to 'good threads' or even points to it as a site of discourse generation.

Weird given the sheer size of the place.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@Taskerland I wandered away from it so many years ago ... I've never had a moment of missing it. When I get the new book out I'm sure I'll do a single post there about it. Now and then it shows up in a Google search, and I read it then and continue to not miss it.

jsgjames, to random

There are a LOT of Christmas albums from the 1950s and 1960s that are mixtures of pop and classical artists, with some orchestras tossed into the mix both classical (NYPhil with Bernstein, or Ormandy and PhiladelphiaOrch) and pop (The Melachrino Strings, etc.). Many sold by companies as promotional albums for customers (Firestone, Goodyear [may family had one of these], W. T. Grant Department Store). The classical artists are not lightweights either. Here's a list from the Firestone series: many of the classical artists were affiliated with the Metropolitan Opera: Rise Stevens, Brian Sullivan, Roberts Peters, Franco Corelli, James McCracken, Dorothy Kirsten, Leontyne Price, Nicolai Gedda; or Broadway: Martha Wright, Gordon MacRae, Julie Andrews; or Pop music: Vic Damone, Jack Jones, Vicki Carr, John Gary. Very often, those classical sopranos were singing either the Gounod Ave Maria, or Schubert's Ave Maria. Leontyne Price's version is especially fabulous.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@jsgjames I'm very curious about the promotional albums! I didn't realize it was a common thing!

In 1977 my parents bought their first microwave oven, and the dealer threw in an album of patriotic music that Amana (the oven manufacturer) had published in the prior year (the bicentennial). They still had a stack of the albums left over. 😅

That's my only experience with promo albums. I guess I caught it years after the heyday.

PaulStefko, to random
@PaulStefko@dice.camp avatar

Gods help me: I've started looking into vim.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@PaulStefko That is when the gods abandon you. [Flash of lightning] [Peal of thunder]

glenatron, to random
@glenatron@dice.camp avatar

As far as I know The Hallowed Walk remains the only storytelling game you play by going for a walk with your friends: https://bridlewise.itch.io/the-hallowed-walk

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@glenatron Ha 😊 I'm a walking junkie, personally, but it's true that not every gamer is. Girl I used to game with back in Denver would get a look of absolute horror if you suggested she walk anywhere. "But I wear these ridiculous goth boots!!!" And whose choice was that? 😂

SJohnRoss, to mastodon
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

Just a reminder: hashtags are valuable here. Hashtags are important here.

They're pretty tacky everywhere else. It took me a bit to adjust to how valuable and important they are. But they are.

CITIZEN_OCHOA, to random
@CITIZEN_OCHOA@dice.camp avatar

I just remembered how good the Craig Ferguson show was and I miss it.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@CITIZEN_OCHOA Absolutely.

BigJackBrass, to random
@BigJackBrass@vivaldi.net avatar

"Sheila Hancock’s crotch puppet" is certainly not a line I expected to encounter today.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@BigJackBrass Right??? It's not Christmas. That's the sort of magic I'd expect only on Christmas day.

slimewitch, to random
@slimewitch@dice.camp avatar

Made the mistake of revisiting some piers anthony novels from my childhood and yep they are terrible in every way

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@slimewitch Oh no. 😮

It's been a LOT of years ... decades, but I've long had the vague intention of revisiting Prostho Plus, and now I'm scared ...

WelshAdventurer, to random

Good morning you lovely people. It is Friday! We are nearly at the weekend. How are you? Safe and well I hope.

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@alexshendi @WelshAdventurer Yikes! 😬

roger, to random
@roger@coales.co avatar

@SJohnRoss It occurs to me that some people (which is to say, me) end up focusing a lot on the "High-Trust" part of and not at all on the "Trad" part, which I'm not sure I, personally, understand.

I'm thinking of things like Graham Walmsley's "Dying of St Margaret's" for Trail of Cthulhu. It has all the High-Trust hallmarks, to my eye, in the sense that it doesn't pre-suppose any solutions to the central problem -- but it does pre-suppose that there are no solutions; the bad thing is bad and no one can do anything meaningful about it. So maybe it doesn't count on the Trad front?

Anyway, if you'd care to offer any clarification on this, I know I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

SJohnRoss,
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

@roger Anyway, for the sake of my mental health, let's not talk for a few months. All this heavy low-trust stuff does nothing for my spirits, and I've got people in my life who need me to do my thing. But I appreciate the discussions we've had about these kinds of things. I'll check in on you in the springtime. Happy Holidays, whatever flavor you celebrate!

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • megavids
  • magazineikmin
  • Youngstown
  • khanakhh
  • ngwrru68w68
  • slotface
  • ethstaker
  • mdbf
  • everett
  • kavyap
  • DreamBathrooms
  • thenastyranch
  • cisconetworking
  • rosin
  • JUstTest
  • Durango
  • GTA5RPClips
  • Leos
  • tester
  • tacticalgear
  • InstantRegret
  • normalnudes
  • osvaldo12
  • cubers
  • anitta
  • modclub
  • provamag3
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •