Ask Me Anything: Len

In an attempt to get to know the community and other users on GP better, we want to allow a different member each week to step into the spotlight.
You can find more information here.

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About me:


Ask Me Anything.

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This AMA will run until Oct 4 2022.

Is there anything in Seattle that's better than Vancouver? Anything about Vancouver that's definitively better than Seattle?

Are you going to run TMNT for Nezzeraj?

What do you wish we'd talked about (but didn't) in our YouTubed conversation?

Seattle > Vancouver: Your space needle is way better than our Harbour Centre. I'm not even sure if it's fair to compare them.Seattle < Vancouver: Our NHL team. Not that we're any good either, but we've been to (and lost in) the Stanley Cup finals three times now. The accompanying riots are always a treat.

Although I don't think I understood what a role playing game was at the time, we just made dozens of characters and imagined the stories they'd be in. I probably didn't miss out on much, the best thing about any Palladium product is making the characters, it is all downhill from there :D

Yeah, it was a good conversation! We could have gone on for hours. I don't wish we had talked about any topic, really; it was the first in a series, so I was glad to have the mic and pass it on for other people to cover other topics. I think one topic that I could speak about with knowledge would be gaming with kids. I also enjoy talking about play by post ... theory? Is that a term? Like, how do you do dungeon crawls well in PbP? These type of games are prone to slowing down with all the transactions, getting group consent on where to go next, keeping a narrative through-line from start to finish, helping players even remembering where they've been in a big dungeon, etc. I just like talking about that stuff!

Also sports. We didn't talk about sports.

No! You're poking holes into Q's totally original and new idea of "nerds and jocks might be different, you guys" 😱

What blend of Civ do you play (III, IV, V, or VI)?

PDFs or hard copy?

What flavor of Trek is your favorite?

You mentioned that Palladium goes downhill fast after character creation. I have to say that I agree. The system mechanics need serious work, but building a character is fun!

I have played 1, 2, 3, and 4. Probably played Civ 2 the most. I stopped playing the series because it is too time consuming. Ever be playing and say "just one more round before bed" and then the next thing you know it's 2am but Ghandi is nuking you and you just. can't. stop. now!

Lately I've been playing Polytopia on mobile. It is very basic compared to Civ but they've distilled it down to fun elements that still give me the Sid Meier's Civilizations vibe.

Also I've been eyeing this book - Sid Meier's Memoir! - might pick it up soon!
I love a hard copy book to read and enjoy, but PDFs are so much cheaper and take up so much less space. As a teacher, I get pretty easy access to printing, so sometimes I can have the best of both worlds. Bless those companies that offer the PDF when you buy the book, like Goodman Games.
I'm a little behind on my Trek, so I can't rate Discovery, Strange New Worlds, or Prodigy. From the ones I've seen I'd rank them like this:

1. Next Generation (Defines Star Trek for me)
2. Deep Space Nine (Great series, some amazing episodes)
3. Voyager (Underrated, I'd like to want to see every episode eventually)
4. Original Series (With all due respect!)
5. Picard (Some good ideas, but ...)
6. Lower Decks (Episodes felt formulaic & too fast-paced for me)
7. Enterprise (I did not finish this series on purpose)

As a nerdy kid growing up in a pretty rough school, Next Generation gave me hope that there could be a place where people could work together regardless of their background and united by their passions. I haven't found a place quite like this yet, but I generally like my Star Trek to be aspirational over realistic.
So true. The rules are always a mess. The art can be great too. I bought Rifts books even after I stopped playing just because I liked the art and the storylines.

Thanks for your questions, WhtKnt!

Gods, yes! For a peace-lover, Ghandi sure is quick on the trigger! I'll have to investigate Polytopia, thanks!

You mentioned that you’re moving from 5e to OSR these days! What have been some hits from the OSR for you?

Have you ever run any of Palladium’s settings using other rules sets?

So, you're telling me you have a job and a family and you GM and you have other interests as well? Where do you find the time?

You're welcome! And for the record, I pulled the trigger on the Sid Meier's Memoir audiobook, and it has been fantastic so far!

So far I've picked up and read (or at least thumbed through) Agon, Basic Fantasy, Beyond the Wall, Dungeon Crawl Classics, For Gold and Glory, Forbidden Lands, Stars Without Number, The Black Hack, Troika!, and Warlock! So far DCC and The Black Hack are probably my favourites, but I haven't really dived deep into games with them yet.

But more than systems, I find the OSR discussions on gaming to be the most interesting stuff. The Questing Beast YouTube channel (made by Ben Milton, designer of Maze Rats, Knave) has a great recommending reading page that spans many different blogs, and puts out the Glatisant newsletter that keeps us up-to-date on goings-on in the OSR scene. I also listen to a podcast called Blogs on Tape that lets me read OSR blogs through my ears on my commute.

No, but that does sound interesting. I've foolishly let pass two games of Rifts: Savage Worlds without applying. That sounds great, and I'd like to run or play in a game like this one day. I would prefer to be a player first, as I haven't played Savage Worlds before.

What widely well-liked movie/video game/rpg/novel/whatever else you can think of did you just really not like?

Oh, and what was your favorite character you've seen someone else play in a GP game you were in?

Callan, great to see you!

One way is to game with your family. I run a D&D game for my kids, and it's a really fun time. One of my sons also runs a game called "Fight!" It's his own rules system (I use that term lightly) and he runs it for the whole family, including his grandma and auntie! Before my kids were old enough to understand RPGs, I'd tell them interactive stories where they'd make up characters, and I'd tell them a story about them, letting them interject at important moments.

I also game at work. I have run a club for students called the "Social Gaming Club" since 2008 and gets funding for buying gaming books and materials!

I'm currently running and have run several times before a game set on Rifts Earth using the Fate system. In my younger days I also tried running it with GURPS.

Love it. I remember when you advertised the game, I was full up and unable to join another. How's it going? Is it public, and if so can I have a link to it? :D

It's going well, however it's private.

Glad to hear it's going well 😊

Knowing the importance of a robust family life to you, what is a favorite family tradition you have besides gaming together?

I'm gonna be the one that asks why you didn't finish the Enterprise series on purpose? :D :D

Pretty much the entire FPS genre of video games (except the original Doom and Portal if that counts). Nothing against them, but they never hook me in.

Any tips/resources for an idiot (me) to get more gooder at computers?

Oof, I avoided answering that question back when it was it's own thread. Great question, but there are so many it's hard to choose. If I restrict myself to just games where I was a player, the first amazing character that comes to mind was Qralloq's cloud surfing, hard-boiled Venusian detective that he wrote these amazing noir posts for. It was a Cypher sci-fi game.

Wow, a whole gaming family—that's so awesome!

How would you personally handle the classic predicament of having a tiny octopus in your stomach eating you from the inside?

Our summer camping trips are always fun. Living in British Columbia, we're never far away from nature, so every summer we grab the tent and go some place beautiful. Covid interrupted that streak, but we look forward to returning to it.

Thanks for your question!

I didn't like the time travel story that the larger plot was tied to. There were some characters and episodes I liked, but I never connected strongly with the series. I would find myself missing episodes and not care, so I just stopped watching. I also stopped watching Voyager, but that was because I was busy in university and I enjoyed catching the occasional episode and keeping up with the storyline.

I hear the later seasons get better, maybe one day I'll try again. Thanks for your question!

What aspect do you want to get more gooder at?

Is this a classic predicament? That's terrifying! I'd drink a lot of Coke, then swallow an entire pack of mentos. That'll show 'em. I'd also film it and put it on Tik Tok, and then cash in on the views. I'll probably be sued by PETA.

Because of the sports chatter, and that Bieber video, here's retired NHLer Chris Pronger checking Justin Bieber into the boards during a celebrity match. The facial expressions are everything, and yes, it's a real picture.


You put woodworking as a hobby. Have you crafted anything you could use for gaming? What historical figure or group of historical figures would you love to roll some dice with?

By the look on Captain Crunch's face, I can tell he enjoyed that!

The closest thing to a gaming accessory I've made from wood is a chess board. I'm mostly utilitarian in my woodworking nowadays, building things like stairs for my deck and such. But that's still fun for me. I just wish my old house had some 90 degree angles in it! This summer I inherited several of my dad's woodworking gear, so I'm going to try to build some dice trays and dice boxes eventually.

Historical figure to play D&D with ... probably Robin Williams. He was a huge gaming nerd, and his improv and creativity would be AMAZING. Historical group - I'd go with a team of Appendix N authors: Jack Vance, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E Howard, Fritz Leiber, and Michael Moorcock. I'd be the DM and we'd play something classic like Against the Cult of the Reptile God in B/X D&D, and it would all be fresh, new experience for them!

Great questions!

Funny. I'm running Against the Cult of the Reptile God using Savage Worlds right now. It's public if you want to follow along.

That's a fun adventure, thanks for the link!

What's your favorite Starcraft race and voice line?

Zerg.The ability to build so many units in parallel more than makes up for their relatively weak units.

Voice line: Tie between "Goliath online" and "Carrier has arrived."

How about you, Generator?

I'm a protoss player, myself. Terran does have the best voice lines (and music for that matter). My choice would be "Got a light?" 😁

Ah, good choice! Yeah, Terran are fun to play as well. I also like "Somebody call for an exterminator?" and "In the rear with the gear!" and whatever noise the Overlord makes. I am reminded of this video now: