Carnevale – Doctors Conversation

By Patrick MurphyPosted on January 26, 2024January 24, 2024Cat NerdTags Carnevale, Gaming, Tabletop RPGLeave a comment

I wish I could be a fly on the wall at the Ospedale when the Doctors realized what they were up against and what they were going to do about it. It starts out about like you would expect. Masters of Alchemy and Detrimental Elixirs bring them up to speed on their latest chemistry experiments. … Read More »

Game Review – Basic RolePlaying (Chaosium)

By Patrick MurphyPosted on May 17, 2023May 8, 2023Cat NerdTags BRP, Call of Cthulhu, Review, Tabletop RPGLeave a comment

This review will also include a few comments on Call of Cthulhu 7th edition, as it uses the same system. The Good The rules themselves are simple and straightforward, with mechanics that are pretty intuitive. It uses a basic d% roll not unlike the GURPS 3d6 vs target, D20’s d20 vs DC, or Planet Mercenary’s… Read More »

Game Review – Star Trek Adventures

By Patrick MurphyPosted on May 10, 2023May 8, 2023Cat NerdTags Review, Star Trek Adventures, Tabletop RPGLeave a comment

I picked Star Trek Adventures up recently on the Humble Bundle. A whole pile of books (all of them, I think) in PDF format for $25. Not a terrible deal. And since I collect RPGs and wargames anyway, why not? I’m basing this review largely on the core book and system. I looked over the… Read More »

You Want A Long Development Time, I’ll Give You An Obscenely Long Development Time

By Patrick MurphyPosted on January 4, 2023February 1, 2023Cat Nerd, Projects, Short BusTags Cartoons, My History, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Story Time, VidgamesLeave a comment

So one of the developers in one of the game dev groups I’m in finally released his game after 14 years in development. He made a few comments about it possibly being the longest delay in development history. I'm 99% joking, but I have him beat on obscenely long delays. 40 years. No joke,… Read More »

“Spring Semester” 2022, After-Action Report

By Patrick MurphyPosted on May 15, 2022May 15, 2022Cat Lifestyle, Nerd, ProjectsTags Coding, Educational, Geek, Self-ImprovementLeave a comment

OK, spring semester officially ended at my old school on Friday. Let's see how I did. In my defense, I spent a week in the hospital in April (plus a week out of work afterward), so cut me a little slack. One of my doctors also reminded me this whole deal is self-inflicted. It isn't… Read More »

GURPS Power: Goth Poetry

By Patrick MurphyPosted on February 27, 2022February 27, 2022Cat NerdTags Captain Obvious, GURPS, Horror, Stupid, VillainsLeave a comment

Proper goth poetry may only be produced by someone with Incompetence (Poetry). It serves as justification for either Secret (Goth Poet), at any level depending on how truly awful the poetry in question is (yes, that explicitly includes possible exile or death), or Odious Personal Habit (Goth Poet) at up to -2. It also justifies… Read More »

“Spring Semester” 2022

By Patrick MurphyPosted on January 10, 2022April 3, 2022Cat Lifestyle, Nerd, ProjectsTags Coding, Educational, Geek, Self-ImprovementLeave a comment

Continuous improvement is a thing for me. I am constantly taking classes and otherwise learning online, with plenty of hands-on application. This year I decided to try a more structured approach to my classes. I looked at the class schedule at my old school, realized Spring semester started in early January and ended in mid-May.… Read More »

A Boy and His Hog

By Patrick MurphyPosted on August 26, 2021January 29, 2022Cat NerdTags Character, GURPS, Tabletop RPG, WolandeLeave a comment

There’s this famous post-apocalyptic movie called A Boy and His Dog. It was one of the influences for the original Fallout, among other things. Well, you know me. I get bored. So I came up with A Boy and His Hog. It’s the origin story for a proto-ranger in a medieval fantasy campaign. As written,… Read More »

So You Have A Mighty Munchkin Murder-Hobo On Your Hands…

By Patrick MurphyPosted on August 16, 2021December 23, 2021Cat NerdTags GURPS, Tabletop RPGLeave a comment

Yeah, I've had That Guy in my game a few times too. Sometimes the only thing a player like that understands is "screw around and find out." And GURPS is not written around the bizarre idea that PCs should be able to win every fight because it's encoded into the rules to keep power-tripping munchkins… Read More »

Agile and Life

By Patrick MurphyPosted on July 15, 2021July 16, 2021Cat Lifestyle, NerdTags Educational, Me, Self-ImprovementLeave a comment

Agile is a flexible project management system originally developed by and for the software industry. It’s an outgrowth of Lean manufacturing, and it accepts that things will always be fluid in certain projects. As a prototyper and game designer, I’ve found it incredibly valuable as a set of principles. You know what else is always… Read More »