Ask Me Anything: Qralloq

Allergies? And you're welcome :) People keep asking "Who's Qralloq", but not "How's Qralloq" < insert wisdom emoticon >

People ask "How's Qralloq" all the time.

They just usually append "keeping up with all those games" to the question

I'm not a good artist, and even my miniature painting was barely passible.
No thank you, I'll pass.

LOL! :D

What is the best fantasy depiction of Canada (whole country, or a city therein) you have encountered in a RPG? A post-apocalyptic wasteland, maybe? The object of vampiric turf wars, perhaps? A sprawling cyberpunk metropolis?...

Canadians high five each other when we're remembered in any kind of media that originates outside our extensive borders. That being said, I can't recall many instances of Canadarcana in RPGs. I will say that I love the east/west portrayal in the World of Darkness. Vancouver (in Dark Alliance: Vancouver) shows a community where global politics are essentially banned from vampire power structures, and an uneasy peace is brokered between the ancient enemies vampire vs. werewolf. This is an interesting echo of early Canadian history, when British Columbia essentially existed in isolation from much of the world, separated by vast distances.

Meanwhile, Montreal by Night is as dark and gothic as all get out, one of the few books reserved for their Black Dog Press R-Rated publications. Deeply embedded ancient powers as old as colonization and as corrupt and incomprehensible as could be expected from such structures, with an underpinning in all things of art, culture and counterculture. The Sabbat church-like organization also reflected in the churches and cathedrals of Montreal.

my 'Trademark Question' ©Antiproduct: What do movies and television get wrong about your culture?
What's you favorite regional slang word or phrase?
What ingredients do you always have in your kitchen?
If you could have any job, as long as it's one that Homer Simpson also had, what would it be?
Can I hire you to make an customized Excel spreadsheet?

What’s the most important/your favorite part about character creation, and the least important/favorite part about character creation?

Spreadsheet master, eh? Have you tried EVE Online? You'd be a master at it.

Are there any MMOs that you play/have played?

Canadians aren't crazy polite. Also, we don't say "a-boot". Just stop that. Okay, maybe people in New Brunswick do, but they mostly stick to themselves.
"Lord tunderin' Jesus bye" -- not 'my' region per se, but it's a favourite.
Canned soups. They make great bases for sauces. In fact, cream of mushroon soup (without milk) on spaghetti? Lord tunderin' Jesus bye that's good eatin, wha?
I have to admit that being a Mr. Plow would be a ton of fun. Less time for GP, though, so hisses through teeth.
Yes.An avatar for PBP, a voice/accent/dialect for live gaming. It's all character. What I don't like are lame personal questions. "What was your character's first goat's stuffed penguin's brand name? How many siblings did your third maternal cousin have that didn't eat cheese?" That stuff is so tedious.
Yes, I used to play EVE Online. In fact, I dual boxed it, ran two accounts on two separate machines side by side, one for mining, and one for protection and ferrying ore to station. I made enough money to pay for the second account, and to slowly upgrade bigger and better ships. Would have stuck with it more if I could have entirely avoided PVP, which I'm not a fan of.

I've played lots of MMOs. Thousands of hours in WoW -- even earlier this year. Played Age of Conan for two years. Neverwinter Online, TERA both got lots of time in. Didn't get much into D&D Online, LOTRO, Everquest 2 (boo). Also played Momento Mori, others I can't remember.

And yes, for EVE Online, and WoW, there were spreadsheets.

We'll test your allegiances here with this first question.

As I write this, Chicago is losing to Calgary 3-2 in the 3rd, but then there's McDavid/Draisaitl and the Oilers. Both appear headed for the postseason, so come May, who are you pulling for? Why?

However, back to TTRGPs, what game would love to run as an extended campaign in? Why?

I was in Calgary during the 2004 cup run, where they lost to Tampa Bay in the final. The energy in the city was astounding, you can still google "Red Mile" or "Girls of the Red Mile" and who wouldn't want to see that again? Even still. McDavid, right? Either way, I'd be watching hockey again.
An extended campaign... drools. I want to say, Blue Rose because it seems to fit what I want from fantasy. Similarly, a fantasy game set in and using The Strange (maybe set in the Ardeyn recursion, maybe not) would be just amazing. I'd also love to run a Babylon 5 League of Non-Aligned Worlds campaign, running alongside the show timeline with opportunities to diverge, although I haven't seen a game system that really calls to me that it would match the tone of the setting -- Savage Worlds with the SWEX Sci Fi companion is close.

What I want from a campaign is a solid setting with rich definable character, and the freedom to be a little creative with how things go. Room for big ideas and grandiose plots, but a familiar sandbox to draw them in.

1. What was the RPG that disappointed you most?
2. What RPG were you surprised you liked?
3. If you were to create an RPG, what would it be?

What drives you nuts in PbP games?
A genie grants you free expertise in any skill, tool, or language - what do you choose?
If you could remove something from GP, what would it be?

Oh wow, I knew antiproduct was a fellow Greek, but never realized he was also a felow Cretan. Small world!
I'm guessing what passes as standard public behaviour in Canada or other countries, what you take as a given and might not consider as "trying hard to be extra polite", still impresses Americans given their average experience in their country. Kinda the same as public healthcare, free in Canada and Europe, not a thing we think twice about, but such a big deal for Americans. Speaking of which, is that how you manage to look this good in your 50s? :P

Please feel free to ignore the question if it seems too personal but what do you do for a living and how do you think it affects your gaming style/preferences, if any?

I would say Cortex Prime. It seems like a great toolkit, but there were key elements to understanding how it works that just weren't in the book in any accessible way. By the time I figured that out I'd wasted hour after hour looking for things that should have been explained at the start, I was already soured on the whole experience.
I'd say Lasers & Feelings. I slide toward the crunchier end of the scale, but L&F with its ridiculously simple engine really worked well, and it was fun.
This is a golden age of RPGs, there are so many games already put together. I have been working on a game, a very niche experience, with @windyridge. We just wrapped up a playtest. The game starts off as a medical drama, but through hijinx, the hospital staff get stranded on a deserted island. A survival based hex crawl phase culminates when Alien Cannibal Hybrids attack! Oh no!

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Too little or too much agency. Too little and your actions don't matter, so why bother? Too much and PBP derails into choice paralysis with days between noncomittal posts.
I would choose to be able to play guitar. It's a lifetime dream, but one I've never devoted any measure of time to.
You want to take away my preciouses? All of it is needed. If I had to choose, I'd reduce the number of sections of forums. There is too much overlap, which makes it hard to find something specific.

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Smoking, sunlight and making facial expressions age you the fastest. I avoid all of these like a boss.

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I'm in actuarial sciences, so basically blending finance and statistics. I'm sure that it does affect me, but as I gamed for nearly 20 years before entering this career path, such an effect was not formative. I'd say that I'm probably more quick to be judgmental about settings that don't make obvious economic or political sense. Like if there was a Hunger Games RPG, I would scoff, sir, I would scoff mightily.

Random question out of nowhere: What's your opinion on the Hunger Games?

What is ‘Qralloq’? And why did you name yourself after it?

A cruncher who likes Lasers & Feelings? Huh. What tempted you to try it out, and are there any other rules-light games you have liked?