Comments on TWH #171

Peter Maranci

I also found the "disclaimer" in Heroes Now very disturbing. I don't go around saying Christians are mentally disturbed, and I don't like the inference that my lifestyle is appropriate only to the mentally sick.

It is not my job to censor what people think, and the book is in the ordering catalog that I show to my customers. However I don't carry the book in my store -- I don't feel that kind of sneaky virulence is appropriate to a game store, and I'm not going to provide the authors with a soapbox to shout from. I've mentioned it to my distributors, and if you don't like the book's statements I strongly urge you to make your discomfort known to Flying Buffalo. You are the ultimate "voters" on product -- if it doesn't sell it won't get made again.

Bill Ricker

Gosh, thanks for the compliments -- makes me feel all squiggly inside! Don't stop -- I'll send more covers! ;-)

Robert Plamondon

I am a very visual person, and tend to modulate my tones and behavior according to how my conversational partner is reacting. Writing is a good way to get myself into trouble. I forget that the reader can't see (for example) that I am smiling when I make an outrageously sarcastic comment. Thus I usually get a roommate to reread my written words and point out where I might inadvertently offend. I don't deliberately flame, I just make mistakes from the lack of body language. When I get angry, I'm more likely to ignore someone -- I find that works better in the long run.

I feel that writing zines (or anything) longhand is prohibitively time consuming for me. I still write, but only on the computer, and damned if I know what font or style this is -- it just looks nice! I'm a founding member of CIA (Computer Illiterates Anonymous). I get time on the computer for good behavior and saying things like "the font bug was obviously a glitch in the RAM -- definitely a hardware problem," in definitive tones of voice. ;-)

Douglas Jorenby

I had an acquaintance I used to game with. His favorite (N)PCs were always his interpretation of "James Bond" types as vampires, regardless of the game or genre. They were also unremitting annoyances. I believe he played these types as power and fantasy trips. I've always thought of vampires as (forgive my lack of memory as to the original speaker) "energy without grace", which certainly embodied this person's style of play.

I've never understood the fascination with vampires. If you want power and sex in your PCs or NPCs, then put it in. But having something dead and possibly decaying sink its teeth into you and slurp up your blood is about as exciting to me as letting rabid dogs tear at me. Perhaps I've been in the medical business too long. I put one game into unintentional hysterics by indignantly asking one vampire if he ever flossed! ;-)

Maybe vampires are a "morality play" of what happens when power is abused. Yes, they are more amazing than humans, but they are also the soulless (and consequently hopeless?) damned. I wonder what a moral vampire would do if it believed that there was truly nothing after final death; or what its actions would be if there was proof of Paradise' existence.

I think Vampire will be a lot like Paranoia -- fun to play for a while, but ultimately depressing when you really think about what you're playing.

George Phillies

*sigh* I almost hate to admit it, but I live in spandex. ;-)