This last week I’ve read Fate Core (the PDF), in preparation for my The Tower of the Serpents game at this weekend’s upcoming Bookwyrm Con. It’s still a solid system, mostly familiar; the new iteration strips out some of the less commonly used terminology (like tagging for effect) and generally reflects another few years of experience with the system. I look forward to my game–though Sunday, 8 am, is pretty cruel.
I also read a book I was gifted for Christmas this week, Brenda Cooper’s The Creative Fire. I really like the setting, which is a well worn generation ship, several generations in. My lack of deep-seated emotional understanding of music led Ruby, the book’s heroine, to not quite resonate correctly to me. I got that she was popular…. but it’s hard for me to imagine folk singing having such power. Anyway, I enjoyed her characterization, along with Onor, the other predominant POV. The system that developed on the ship makes sense, and the diagnosis (that comes late in the book) seems reasonable too. It’s clearly the beginning of a series–that, despite enjoying the characters, I hope is short.
This week’s listens were fewer; I listened to a pair of TJ hours and enjoyed RoleplayDNA Episode 18. The episode was middling and wandered quite a bit, but was still interesting to listen to. The central question was about handling vampires and creatures of the night as central players–either PC or NPC.
The Jefferson Hour shows were both interesting. Episode 1012 – War in Virginia, was a very interesting discussion about the challenges of being a wartime governor in Virginia during the revolutionary war, when the war finally came south. It was interesting to hear Jefferson defend his skills as an administrator, while disavowing himself as a leader of men. The strangely crippled executive branch of this era was something I’d never heard about before. All in all, a fascinating hour.
Show 1013 – Boundaries of Authority was familiar, since it covered topics that the other guest hosts were also interested by, especially the Louisiana Purchase and how it comported with Jefferson’s limited government stance. What made it work was the strong line of questioning from the guest host; since we talked about the purchase only two episodes ago (in 1011), the difference in questions and, particularly, Jefferson’s contrast of his actions to Hamilton’s made the episode distinct. But I can see the purchase coming up very frequently if each guest host indulges their curiosity about Jefferson’s justification every two episodes.