As reported by Kromm for the week named Sidi, GURPS Boardroom and Curia -- doing for organizations what GURPS Mass Combat did for armies and GURPS City Stats and GURPS Spaceships did for those topics -- is now a thing:

http://www.warehouse23.com/products/gur ... -and-curia

It even has a superhero team as one of its worked examples. It sounds like it could be useful for the organizations of Krypton-1. I plan to pick it up soon; proper review to follow then.

And they've cast Melissa Benoist of Glee and the recent Oscar-nominated/winning film Whiplash as the title character.  Article, photos at CNN http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/06/entertain ... index.html]here.
I dunno.  Regardless of how lousy the film was, I always loved Helen Slater's look as Supergirl.  Put her circa 1989 in that Man of Steel-influenced costume and I'd be a happy movie-goer.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com says it's up, but I'm getting "Firefox cannot find" errors. Maybe Verizon is borked again?
--
"Anko, what you do in your free time is your own choice. Use it wisely. And if you do not use it wisely, make sure you thoroughly enjoy whatever unwise thing you are doing." - HymnOfRagnorok as Orochimaru at SpaceBattles
woot Med. Eng., verb, 1st & 3rd pers. prsnt. sg. know, knows

A sketch of Rei, by Adam Warren

Let's see whether we can embed images from DeviantArt...

Paul Allen has located the wreck of the IJN Musashi, one of the two largest battleships ever built.

overview: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/04 ... attleship/

Details: http://www.paulallen.com/Interests/Expl ... Expedition

I can't tell from the images on Paul Allen's site whether the Musashi is in one piece.

It's still to early to know what's going to come of this discovery - but I'm hoping the wreck becomes a memorial to the 1000+ crew who went down with the ship.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

...hopefully.

So, I've always had a little bit of a thing for Shadowrun but could never find anyone to actually run the thing, so when the gaming group decided a break was required from the ongoing game, I offered to run a Shadowrun game - at Street Level.

This will be the first time I have ever attempted to run a game in person before. An online HG game sort of fell apart due to timezones after one session....

We had our first gaming session on Thursday, after a slightly extended character generation. It didn't help that RL spanked me in the previous two weeks and I wasn't really ready to run much of anything anyway.... So, we ended up running Fast Food Fight (The starter-pack intro scenario), just to get a feel for things. With actual full-blood PC's. The beginners module was never meant to take this abuse.

Now, We have our dramatis personae - in short form because things are still being finalised:

*Adonis, the Groups face with a thousand faces
*Wraith, the Limited Corporate Sinner and Mojo Slinger with an SK pin.
*Hollywood, also the Limited Corporate Sinner and Mojo Slinger.
*Count Zero, the Technomancer...
*Scorch, the one that makes things move fast.

All human. With 2 Magic users and 1 technomancer, I think we see why they caught some attention, especially given that we used slightly adjusted Street Level rules, so everyone was fairly limited on cash for the real shiny gear.

So.... on with the story.

----------

Markas, the teams local fixer Calls Adonis on his comm-link with a job offer. It's another milkrun for a personal friend of his named George Hampton. Markas informs them that Hampton probably won't be able to pay them much, so adds a little sweetener - he'll give them their first shot at the big leagues if they do the job right.

Adonis pitches it to the group. Wraith is hesitant, but all agree that if it gives them a shot at a big job, it's worth the hassle of taking a 'milk run'. The Runners are to meet a 'friend' of Markas and do a low paying happy feel-good job for him. The team agrees that it's good idea to take it on.

On the trip over Adonis admires himself in the Bulldog's mirrors as Scorch clearly isn't using them anyway.

Scorch tests his subvocal mic with a 'Can you hear me know?"

The team pulls up outside Hampton's Hollistic Healtchare - a Shaman-kitsch Hollistic medicine place of the sort that sells any sort of snake-oil people are willing to pay for. The shutters have been pulled. Even so, they're smeared in garish graffitti promising all sorts of unpleasantness if money isn't forthcoming.

Adonis knocks on the door, politely introducing the group as friends of Markas, sent to help with his problem..

(GM's comment. I like how this was played calmly. Knock on the door. Introduce yourself. Had in the back of my head the idea of Hampton assuming the 5 people who 'broke into' his shop being hired by the mob and panicking, but we didn't go there.)

Inside, is George Hampton - a middle aged elf in what might've been snappy suit a few days ago. Hampton is close to a full blown nervous breakdown, barely able to stutter out the details after being awake for days. Adonis calmly extracts the details from him, discovering that he'd been paying protection to a local Mafioso. Recently, the protection rates had skyrocketed, matching a sudden dropoff in business. Eventually, the local mob simply figured he was holding out on them and kidnapped his 16 year old daughter Moxie.

He explains that he thinks the person responsible is Vic Fratelli - a small time made-man who uses a nearby McHugh's franchise as a front. He's in a panic as he paces around the room, only able to offer 500 a head. He offers a little extra if the team's able to 'make his problem with the Fratelli's go away' in a way that can't be traced back him while bringing his daughter back. Adonis is able to convince him to make it an even 500 extra a head - he's not hard to convince, his mind is elsewhere. (GM comment. and his stats non-existant in the module. So I gave him a few dice and he... did not roll well. Ahem. )

The team drives a few blocks to the McHughes and park up inconspicuously outside. As inconspicuous as it's possible to be in a GMC Bulldog with a poor-quality replica of a paint-scheme from a century-old flatscreen tv program very few if any remember watching.

Count Zero decides to search for information on this particular McHughes, but finds nothing more than a single one-star review online warning against trying the food. Hollywood checks for Astral threats, but it seems reasonably clear. Wraith decides to scope out the place while under an invisibility spell, rather than let Count Zero try hack the cameras. Instead, Count Zero takes the time to look for Moxies Icon on the Matrix, to pinpoint her in the restaraunt. Adonis has dozed off in the van, it seems....

Wraith takes the time to wait until someone exits the restaraunt to make sure that the door doesn't open and close suspiciously with nobody walking through. It slams shut behind him. It's only after he's through the door that Wraith notices the metal detector, which should've gone off as he walked through. And the fact that it's been unplugged. (GM Comment - about the same time I remembered it being there myself, so it was 'off')Inside, he is assaulted by a wall of grease. The air is thick with it. The walls dripping and the floor slick. Things are being fried on the grill that look vaguely like meat-substitute, but there's so much grease frying is as much a case of keeping it from sliding off the griddle, as letting it cook.

Clearly, this is a Franchise McHughs. It follows the same basic open plan layout, but lakes the care an maintenance a proper corporate-owned restaurant would have.

He slips around the prep-area unnoticed by those too engrossed in keeping patties from sliding off the griddle under their own power. He steps back into the store-room, finding boxes of uncooked food basking in the heat theirein. It is not a hygenic place. Count Zero gets in touch to inform Wrait that Moxies own comm is broadcasting from inside the manager's office. He opens the door to find the office empty...

(GM Comment. Thank you to whomever does print layout and writing for Catalyst game labs for not obviously pointing out that Moxie was in the meat-locker in the storeroom. It's kind of an important thing to know. The map doesn't even feature the locker.)

Wraith finds the comm-link in the desk drawer, covered in glitter and sparkly stars. It's a budget Sony model.

Count Zero then directs the still invisible Wraith across the restaraunt to a table in the far corner. Vic is there, sitting with two henchmen discussing 'business'. Confirming Vic's presence, he leaves through the front door, getting back inside the waiting Bulldog. The team is filled in with the details. A plan is formulated.

The basic plan is a simple one. Someone, hopefully Count Zero, will distract Vic - most likely by spilling food on him, while Hollywood tries to surruptitiously touch him and cast a Mind Probe spell.

(GM Comment: There was a bit of a question over whether Vic would notice the spell and it's origin or not. The rules state that the target is aware of the mindprobe, but at the same time can't tell who it's coming from. At the same time, it's hard to miss someone touching you, and making the connection seemed simple if only one set of fingers is in contact. In the end, I decided to give Vic a perception test to realise if Hollywood was touching him - and if he passed, it wouldn't take two braincells to add 2 + 2. Otherwise, he just realised Magic happened from somewhere.)

Meanwhile, Scorch notices a van pull up in front of his - one prominently emblazoned with the SecTec logo. (GM Comment - Totally and completely not made up on the spot to cover the fact that I forgot the metal detector, but still wanted to do something with it.) 2 Men get out, each carrying tools. Realising that the SecTec employees are there to fix the broken metal detector, the team decides to enter quickly, leaving Adonis snoozing

Scorch decides that a distraction is required, and promptly runs into the van in front. Not enough to seriously anything, but enough to annoy the driver.

The SecTec driver is, naturally quite appalled and irate with Scorch for damaging company property, which will make him look bad in front of his bosses and probably get him goddamned fired and Scorch better be ready to pay for all the damage goddammit. Drekking idiots with their wannabee A-team Vans. You'd expect this sort of idiocy from an Ork, but a human being? 3000nY could make the trouble go away....

Scorch demands *proof* it was him at fault, which can be readily provided by the building's camera system. They both go inside and promptly begin arguing with each other in front of the security guard. Meanwhile, the rest of the team makes their way inside and sits down at a table beside Vic. Wraith slips inside, under an invisibility spell again....

Vic is holding a discussion with two of his men.... Frank and Dipsy. Another, Patsy, is manning the grill. Lucy is the guard in the booth.

Hollywood makes the mistake of ordering a Sqealer, while Count Zero has more sense and buys a soykaf. It probably still comes with a skim of grease on the surface. They both take their seats beside the Fratelli's, and listen in....

They hear nothing about Moxie, just some warehouse and general business. They also go unnoticed. The three gentlemen are too engrossed in their dripping lunch. They decide to go ahead with the plan...

Meanwhile, the Security guard, Lucy, is getting annoyed at the argument in his Booth. Scorch makes the fine suggestion to the SecTec driver that he could get his payment in the back of the Bulldog van. The driver doesn't fall for this, sarcastically suggesting that they meet in the back of his company van.

Remarkably, Scorch agrees.

Lucy, the guard, follows them towards the door to make sure the two troublemakers actually leave....

(GM Comment - The GM's intention at this point had been for both the Van Driver, and Scorch to go out through the metal detector, for the metal detector to go off, and then the second technician to proudly announce. Hey! I fixed it!. If Scorch kept his cool and pokerfaced it, the Tech would show the security guard the tools he was carrying as an explanation. If not.... roll initiative. It might also have given an opening to Hollywood...)

However, this is not what happened. Deciding that the plan as agreed required a distraction, Wraith promptly whips out his Ares Predator and shoots the hapless SecTec driver in the back of the head. The first the innocent driver learns of the impending attack from the invisible mystic adept is when he wakes up in the Happy Hunting Grounds with an odd headache, a ringing in his ears and the lingering sensation that his mind had just greatly expanded.

Meanwhile, back in the Real World, Scorch has turned around just in time to be treated to the sight of a man's head exploding into so much bloody mincemeat, followed moments later by the defeaning roar of an Ares Predator shattering one of the establishment's windows. There is only silence in the restaraunt as the now headless body crumples to the floor. A child screams. Chunky Salsa spatters across the floor.

Everyone instinctively hits the ground. Scorch throws open his coat, revealing his weapon.

Vic is aware of something probing his deepest, most innermost thoughts, even as the person beside him shrieks in 'panic'. He doesn't notice her fingers on his hand. Hollywood dives into his mind, past his surface thoughts which are a little bit uncomfortable to know, through his inner thoughts which are even more uncomfortable to know, down to the exact wharehouse address where she is located. Then on to his innermost subconscious thoughts, which probably explain why he starts panicking.

Initiative is rolled. (GM Comment. In hindsight, I should've called this before the previous mindprobe action..... My bad. General rule I'm going by is that if something happened because I forgot about something, then it's happened, and it can be worked around. Also my notes for the next section are a bit sparse because I was face down in the rules for a good chunk...)

*Wraith opens fire with his AK-97. He manages to break more glass, but not hit anything useful. He doesn't realise who the Mage is.
*Scorch runs for his van. Being covered in brains while beside an armed security guard tends to make a person do that.
*Patsy takes a shot with his Predator at Scorch, but misses completely.

*Vic recoils in horror at having his innermost thoughts, memories and subconscious probed, but doesn't realise it came from the 'screaming and panicking' Hollywood beside him. He doesn't notice the touch, he just manages to cry out to Frank that someone in there's using magic on him inside his head.

*Count Zero realises that Frank is the magic user, and marks him as such. Geek the Mage! Then Decides that being in the middle of a firefight is a bad idea. A handy 'open' window offers an escape.

*Hollywood starts to run.....
Dipsy attempts to shoot Hollywood with his America. It''s not very effective.
Frank attempts to cast Agony on Hollywood, But it's Counterspelled Handily
Lucy is pushing the Silent Alarm button.
Hollywood responds on the way out with a stunning Blast spell into the trio. Frank, Dipsy and Vic are momentarily stunned.

*Wraith delivers the final blow with a final Stunball, knocking all of them unconscious. Frank's rapid attempt at counterspelling on himself doesn't help. He's out for the count too. (GM Comment: I'm not quite sure on the order here as I was face down in the rules for a proportion of this.... but this seems like the most logical sequence of events given what I have noted, and what the initiative order was.)

By the time anyone even has the chance to think about calling Knight Errant, the Team are out the broken window, in the van and running for it. Vic, Frank and Dipsy are unconscious with Stun, and the second technician is already cursing the Van-owning mage who made his colleagues head asplode with a glance (GM Comment: Well, Wraith was never spotted, and the two were having a big argument before KERBLAMM! KBBBBLLT). Some bystanders are getting sick. A child is crying having been introduced to magical ultraviolence for the first time. Another bystander. is finding his courage and drawing a pistol.

Lucy has got some 'splainin to do.

Doc-Wagon's on it's way. Knight Errant are just about waking up and rolling over to the idea of sending out a patrol to see what the hubbub was.

(GM's Comment. There is a term for this in War Thunder; It's called Seal Clubbing. I think it's highly appropriate considering how badly beaten these low-level mobsters were. We basically managed 1 full initiative pass - that's less than three seconds. I suppose if your lunch was interrupted by a random head exploding, you'd be a bit slow to do much more than WTF too.

As a Final Note, This was a little bit rough and a bit wrong in places as everyone was getting into the groove of things and the GM was getting used to the idea of being on the other side of the screen. Had I remembered the metal detector when Wraith stepped through it while invisible, it could've been interesting much earlier. Also, If I'd called initiative when I was supposed to, chances are things would've gone slightly different. Hollywood wouldn't have been able to mindprobe Vic so easily, for a start - and her stunning attack might not have happened, which would've meant she was facing potentially three irate and half-stunned mobsters on the next combat round - with Vic getting another stab at her since he was initiative 12 and she was 9 - and potentially right beside him.

Either way. It was definitely a unique experience and one made enjoyable by the players. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made it so.

I liked how Moxie's actual location goes completely unmentioned, except in one somewhat out of the way location that I only found after I got home to double check because it seemed odd there was no mention of her, but I didn't want to hold the game up to find it so I just sort of made something up in the interim. She's now in a warehouse rather than where she was actually supposed to be, and we've a second session out of that, which I have to prep for.

Which means this shows every horrible risk of becoming a campaign)
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

I can't in GenChat - I get 403 errors when I try.

EDIT: I can post to an existing thread, but I can't start a new one there.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

I think we can all agree this is going to be impressive

Natural: A RWBY Ficlet

* * * * *

It was days after this that I found her in the Armory, just staring at the racks of weapons, shoulders slumped. It was obvious her mind was on her failure to find a weapon that she could wield easily, or really, at all. I made enough noise with my entrance that she turned to me, her silver eyes downcast.

"I want to be a Huntress... but I'm a failure." She turned and waved at the wall of equipment. "I've tried nearly everything! Nothing works! Nothing feels right! I'm two months behind everyone else, and the gap's getting wider every day." she moaned.

I approached her, and put my hand on her shoulder. "Signal isn't going to throw you out for not having a weapon, girl. Like your sister said, there's other options available to you." I gestured at the weapons, "Not every type is here, there's always some specialized piece we can think up. I know I had..." I trailed off, as a sudden thought hit me. "Nearly everything in the room, huh?" The tone in my voice caused my niece to look up at me questioningly. "Lets make that everything then."

I took my scythe from its holster, and expanded it to its full form. Her eyes widened at seeing it as I held it out to her. She tentatively reached out with both hands, and grasped it. I let go, letting her take the full weight, and took a step back. At first, I despaired, for she had taken it in an over-hand grip, off balance and shaky. It was only for a moment, though, as her right hand moved down the shaft, flipping around to an under-handed grip, supporting the weight of the weapon, leaving her left hand for control and direction. Her stance shifted, hips angling and feet moving to better control her new, lower center of gravity.

I shook my head in wonder as she unconsciously, unknowingly took a perfect beginners form, holding the weapon at the ready. For the first time since she had started working with weapons, trying to find her own, she looked... Natural. She looked at me, her eyes shining with disbelief, fear, and a smidgen of hope. I nodded at her, and motioned for her to take a swing. I could near hear her distressed swallow as her shoulders and back shifted the weapon - one larger than she was by far! - back and to the side.

The first swing wasn't picture perfect by any means, but it was a far better strike than any she had made before. Her feet lifted as she turned with the weight of the scythe, pirouetting on the point of her toes, then back down to continue twisting in another swing of the blade. I could tell she was alternating strikes, and could almost picture her foes as she danced with my chosen weapon up and down the Armory. What had started as a single clockwise strike had moved on to over- and under-hand attacks, counter-clockwise swings, and even a few double-swipes. I could tell that aside from just keeping the spiraling motion going, she was using her semblance to speed up her movements and help control the blade.

Finally, after twelve minutes of practice, she came to a halt, holding the scythe behind her back, right hand high on the shaft, left hand low near the head, the arc of the blade parallel to the floor. Her breathing was quick, her face flushed, but her eyes were bright with joy.

I stepped forward from where I had been watching, giving a slow clap and smiling at her. She grinned back, "I did it, didn't I Unc- Professor! It was so cool! I just couldn't help but move and I was all like Swing! Whoosh! Twirl! And- and-"

"That you did, Ruby, that you did." I held out my hands, and she reluctantly gave me back my perfect weapon, now a template for *her* perfect weapon. I collapsed it down to storage form, and holstered it on my thigh again. "We need to make a trip to the foundry, I think. You've got a bit of designing to do." I gestured for her to proceed me out the door. "Now, our weapon is difficult, probably one of, if not the most difficult..."

* * * * *

AN: So, dreamed this scene up last night, and put it to paper with little delay. I don't write that often so I know I've got problems. I had trouble deciding between first person and third person limited for Qrow, I kinda feel like I should have scenes leading up to this with Ruby trying out dozens of weapons to failure and growing depression, even trying out Yang's brawler style to tripping over her own feet.

And comments and criticisms are well appreciated.

I was wandering at the local Best Buy when I saw Logitech's MX performance mouse on the shelf. Took it home with and I'm impressed.
1.  You can 2 scroll speeds...fast and zooom! for those long internet pages or word documents. There's a detent switch above the scroll wheel to distinguish the speeds.
2. The scroll wheel can also be pushed left or right when you have a wide page.
3. The mouse will track over any surface..even glass...no more contacts getting dirty. I've been using over a dusty mouse pad and no problems so far.
4. It's wireless. Meh..you need batteries for it right and replace it. No quite. The battery is rechargeable and built in. The charging cable also acts as the mouse cable when needed. There's an LED status indicator that warns you when the juice is going done.  So, no need for batteries. No more hunting the house for spare AAA when the thing goes down.
There's more power hacks..haven't tried all yet.
http://www.logitech.com/assets/46861/pe ... -guide.pdf
Oh, there's also an off/on switch at the bottom of the mouse. If you want to speed up the charging time, just turn the mouse off when not in use.
You know, I'd like to see somebody fly a fighter using a mouse and HOTA system. Maybe not an athmo fighter, but a space fighter?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell