Twilight: Fourteen Years Ago

No, this post has nothing to do with the teen supernatural romance of a similar name.

In the heady days of the cold war, during the Reagan-Bush 1 era, I thought a lot about what the world would be like after nuclear war. The Soviets and the US were on the brink of open conflict, it seemed, and I would lie awake some nights wondering if the missiles had already been launched, and if so how would I survive? With no way to answer the question I played games along that theme: Gamma World, Aftermath!, and Twilight:2000.

Not only was the world political scene very different than it is today, so was the state of RPGs. For the most part, games released at the time were designed to be played within their own campaign setting. Twilight:2000 followed that model, releasing dozens of modules and campaign books to reflect their vision of the world after a limited nuclear exchange, in which soldiers in disintegrating Europe found themselves on their own. Many games today, many of my favorites, try to present themselves as genre-agnostic, toolkits by which gamers can create any world or feel they want, but Twilight:2000 made no bones about it. This was military fiction in a very specific world, where your vehicles ran on alcohol that the PCs had to manufacture themselves, where Krakow was a free city and Warsaw a radioactive ruin.

One other thing that strikes me about this game today: The rules put very little emphasis on the "role-playing" part of the game. Rather, the rules stress "realism" in recreating the world. Shooting someone was a far-from-certain outcome. The rules for distilling fuel alcohol were very detailed, as were the rules for the effects of radiation on the human body. Character creation had the basic six stats, then focused on military skills with few social skills available. No sign of "disadvantages" or "Hindrances", no mention of character motivations. Inherently, I don't believe this is a bad thing, but it certainly opens the door to the number-crunching munchkins.

Still, having played a variety of games over the years that stress role-playing, I think it would be interesting to play this game again, letting the RP evolve naturally. On the other hand, I'm glad that I don't lie awake anymore, waiting for a nuclear bomb to explode--so maybe this is a setting that should remain nostalgic.

#roleplaying #gaming

LILT: Nothing But Bills

After a shower and a fistful of aspirins, Studs felt ready to face the day. That lasted right up until he checked his mail and found three envelopes stamped "Final Notice". He heard Homeless George on the sidewalk outside, hustling change from passersby, and wondered how long it would be before he had to do the same.

Next Chapter

#lego #legotown #humor #studsfedora #snapjudgment

Home Again Syndrome

You know the old saying, "Home is where the heart is." (There's another old saying, "You can't go home again", so by the associative property you can't go where your heart is. QED. Thanks again for nothing, English language.)

Fact is, you can go home again, and it is much more than where your heart is. Here are five symptoms of Home Again Syndrome.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

You're driving back to your hometown. On the way you notice a housing development where a field used to be. There's a cute bistro that was once a redneck biker bar. A mall in place of that row of trash-infested vacant lots. And you react with white hot fury. "I remember when this was all farmland!" you rant in a perfect imitation of your grandfather. "They've driven out the working man and replaced him with commerce! It's an outrage!" you storm, until you find yourself going to the multiplex one afternoon with your folks and having dinner where the Pioneer House used to be.

Contempt

The more things change, the more they stay the same--except the only things that stay the same in your hometown are the things you never liked in the first place. Despite all the new amenities and conveniences that have appeared since you left, you still think of the old burg as a hick town, nowheres-ville, the ass end of the universe. See? That salvage yard is still the same old eyesore that...hey, where'd it go? They got rid of it so they could build condos?! Blasphemers!

Impromptu Reunions

Nobody attends high school reunions anymore; it's one of the benefits of social media that we can catch up to our classmates from a safe distance. Still, if you return to your ancestral homeland, chances are that you will unexpectedly come face-to-face with someone from your distant past--and it won't be that hot dude you crushed on junior year, it'll be that other guy. You know the one--he dipped snuff in gym class and spit into a cup; he drove a pickup truck on which he had painted the name "Rolling Thunder"; he went to the prom with you.

Say Hello To My Inner Child

You grew up here. Wait, no you didn't. You were a child here, then you left to seek your fortune and became the person you are today, a confident, self-aware, successful person who is defenseless against the psychic thumbprint your hometown left upon you. Plunged back into these semi-familiar surroundings, your brain reverts to old patterns of response and behavior, essentially reducing you to your twelve-year-old self. Tantrum much?

Flashbacks

All it takes is a single glimpse of a street, a building, a parking space in a public park and you are suddenly enveloped in a memory so vivid it's like being in the Matrix. You'll find yourself telling your kids, in excited tones, "We were so drunk! I don't know why that cop decided not to haul us in, but we drove off singing and we didn't die!" Because after all, these are experiences you want your own kids to remember someday, when they come back to visit you.

#life #humor #family #home