D&D General Is Appendix N Still Relevant to D&D?

[Cordwainer Fish]

[Outland] and Firefly is very Traveller to me.

My elevator pitch for Traveller is "High Noon Outland and Alien, except the lights mostly work, it's not 100% drug dealers and alien hyperpredators, and you're having a midlife crisis".

edit: my brain gave me the wrong movie

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Yes. It and Firefly is very Traveller to me

Space is a grimy rundown frontier where tough people do tough jobs. I’m reading Shroud (Tchaikovsky) at the moment.

As opposed to Logan’s Run, which is as bright and cheesy as a shopping mall, but concealing a dark secret.

 

[nyvinter]

Space is a grimy rundown frontier where tough people do tough jobs. I’m reading Shroud (Tchaikovsky) at the moment.

How is it? I need to read more Tchaikovsky, especially as the kickstarter for the Children of Time RPG is getting closer.

 

[Toe Knee Nose]

It occurs to me that cyberpunk is one of the few genres that SHOULD be redefined and given new foundational media every decade or less. Especially now that it is upon us in a very real way.

I remember reading somewhere or other that writing SF set about 20-30 years in the future was the hardest to write. Once you get past, say, a century, basically all the gloves come off and you can make your science do pretty much anything (within reason). Writing SF set in current times is also not as difficult because you basically just drop in your SF idea into a modern drama and off you go. But, trying to predict the future 30 years from now is extremely difficult and very often laughably wrong. And, sometimes frighteningly correct as well.

Think of what drones are doing to warfare right now. Then try to extrapolate what drones might be doing in 30 years. Are they Ed-209 from Robocop? That's kinda plausible now. But, really, it's just very hard to make any sort of prediction.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

How is it? I need to read more Tchaikovsky, especially as the kickstarter for the Children of Time RPG is getting closer.

It’s a good page turner but the ideas and themes are a bit too familiar for it to be great.

 

[Deadstop]

I don't think anyone's arguing that Weird Tales' authors, artists, and audience weren't majority male, just that it wasn't as overwhelmingly so as one might think.

It is a mistake to downplay the importance of Margaret Brundage to Weird Tales. Issues with her art on the cover quantifiably sold more copies. Authors would deliberately write scenes that would appeal to her sensibilities in the hopes of being featured on the cover.

Note that appealing to Margaret Brundage’s sensibilities involved scenes with women wearing very little clothing, often threatening or enacting violence upon other women wearing very little clothing.

 

[Mannahnin]

I remember reading somewhere or other that writing SF set about 20-30 years in the future was the hardest to write. Once you get past, say, a century, basically all the gloves come off and you can make your science do pretty much anything (within reason). Writing SF set in current times is also not as difficult because you basically just drop in your SF idea into a modern drama and off you go. But, trying to predict the future 30 years from now is extremely difficult and very often laughably wrong. And, sometimes frighteningly correct as well.

Think of what drones are doing to warfare right now. Then try to extrapolate what drones might be doing in 30 years. Are they Ed-209 from Robocop? That's kinda plausible now. But, really, it's just very hard to make any sort of prediction.

The nanotech in Stephenson's The Diamond Age is probably a BIT of a stretch, but all the drones are certainly ringing bells now.

 

[Thierry-Advent]

I don't know if it is, but it's a great resource to pilfer for older GMs, like me, playing with younger players who have not read the books or seen the movies.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

try to extrapolate what drones might be doing in 30 years.

Hunting the surviving humans for sustenance.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Neither Running Man, Logan's Run, nor D.A.R.Y.L. made the list?

I would agree that Running Man is a notable omission. One that turned out to be frightfully prescient. Especially for what could have been just a basic 80s Schwarzenegger vehicle.

My brain keep thinking it's the same movie as Outland! My bad.

I love Outland! Saw it at a young age and it really made an impact. The decompression scene was kinda traumatizing.

Re-watched it recently and it really does hold up. Dr. Lazarus has the best lines. And its retrofuture chunky tech hits the spot. It all feels very much in line with the tech of Alien.

Note that appealing to Margaret Brundage’s sensibilities involved scenes with women wearing very little clothing, often threatening or enacting violence upon other women wearing very little clothing.

Heh. Yeah, there were certainly some BDSM influences in Brundage's art.

Thirty-eight minutes long, but a great video essay about him:

I will have to check that out. Currently watching the TV series for the first time in decades.