Seize the GM
Seize the GM
Episode 49: Print vs. PDF
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Main Topic

We live in a golden age of gaming where books are available forever and universally able to be found! Those of us from the dark ages where limited print runs and local stores created scarcity sometimes wonder at the PDF libraries available, or perhaps indulge in stocking a library we never could have maintained in our youth.  Print and PDF or other electronic formats provide two different ways to enjoy gaming books, but which is better?

 

Print – Classic Product with literal weight.  Some psychological studies show that retention is superior for most people with printed material.  Marginalia notes and house rules fit in the margins. Tabbing it for easy reference can be faster than electronic bookmarks.

 

PDF – A literal ton of books in a half pound tablet.  Searchability especially for PDFs without an Index. Bookmarking facilitates easy searching. Easier to organize and often copy from.  Printing individual pages versus the entire book.

 

Which do you prefer? Let us know on Twitter or the Facebook group!

Stat Blocks

Zendead-

The Picaroon Pot

The rusty old crab pot swings from the edge of the ship. Caught in the spray and the wind of the ship. There is a patch of old fabric woven in the wires. As the ships bell rings the end of work for the day the spray coalesces into several small crabs. As strange as this seems the crabs grow just a little bit more till they are the amount someone can eat in one sitting.

The Picaroon Pot as it is called comes when someone makes a deal after they have been stranded on an island with something otherworldly. It is capable of doing two things. One is if kept in the spray of water it will create a portion of fish or seafood for one person for one meal. And secondly if submerged it creates a feast for up to 5 people for one meal. If the first is done it can do this 3 times a day, and once a day for the second. There is no need for bait to create these effects.

But with all things from the ocean and otherworldly help there is a cost. Maybe it is that is only works a small number of times or maybe it poisons the user slowly. Make the rewarded get their just desserts.

 

Joules-

Summoning the God of Fire and Chrome

 

Legends whisper of a god of fire and chrome.  A lord of speed and power. Whose yawp would shake the earth.  Whose scream would arc across the sky as lightning. In whose flesh you would see a more perfect reflection of yourself.

 

In the 6th world, the urban shamans have now found a way to summon him.  Your local rigger more than likely has helped with this summoning.

 

It requires a car.  The actual make doesn’t matter.  But the body of the car has to have been built for speed and power and used as such.  Retired drag race cars are a fave.

 

Next comes the engine.  Scavenged parts of old racers.  Engine blocks from an urban assault vehicles.  Exhaust pipe molded from metal struck by lightning.  Anything that contains a fragment of the god of fire and chrome can and should be incorporated.  

While the being assembled, appropriate music must be playing to appease the god of fire and chrome.  And appropriate beverages must be used to quench the steel and to christen the engine as the god’s temporary new home.  A local rigger swears that a mix of meade, sweat and rainwater is the god’s favorite.

 

Has the ritual appeased the lord of fire and chrome?  You won’t know until you start to lower the engine into the car.  If the god of fire and chrome is pleased, he will make his approval known.  Some shamans claim to hear “Jesus Built my Hotrod” by Ministry. Other swear that “Legacy” by the Gone Jackals started playing out of the car’s stereo.  The ritual has pleased the god of fire and chrome.

 

So turn the key.  Slam the accelerator to the floor.  And let him take the wheel

 

Guard-a-Manger-

Big Tent Hippodrome and Spectacular

Everybody loves the circus, and the Big Tent Hippodrome and Spectacular is no exception! Coming into town fills the citizenry with delight and anticipation.  It is a show that brings the world under one tent and into three rings. The Big Tent has been travelling the world for years and always seems to be able to reinvent itself trip after trip, adding a new attraction or performer while staying true to the rustic and ramshackle origins of a good circus.

Time and time again, the Big Tent finds itself embroiled in dust ups in these towns and cities.  Maybe the locals think that Big Tent Hippodrome and Spectacular has more money hiding somewhere deep in those wagons.  Maybe they have just fallen deeply in love with the way that the performances make them feel. Eyes wide, heart open, and mind full of wonder in an almost infectious feeling as the elephants dances, the lions roar, and the acrobats flip through the air.  

Be it money or amazement, something is trying to trap the Big Tent in town and you need to help them escape … or maybe you want them to stay.  No matter that the ringmaster tells you, no matter where you look under the tent, you can’t figure out the inspiration that flows from the Big Tent Hippodrome and Spectacular.

Because it is the tent, no more no less, that fuels the performers and the audience.  It is the big tent under which dreams are born and dreams take flight,.

Lexicon

 

Antediluvian  adjective an·te·di·lu·vi·an  \ ˌan-ti-də-ˈlü-vē-ən , -(ˌ)dī- \

 

Definition of antediluvian
1 : of or relating to the period before the flood described in the Bible

 

2 a : made, evolved, or developed a long time ago
  b : extremely primitive or outmoded

 

Origin and Etymology of antediluvian
ante- + Latin diluvium flood

 

First Known Use: 1646

 

Popularity: Bottom 50% of words

 

Closing remarks

Zendead- Fall Out Boys new Album MANIA

 

Joules- The BonfireSide Chat

 

Guard-a-Manger- Field Notes notepads

 

Music is courtesy of The Enigma TNG you can find his music on YouTube or on Bandcamp

 

Find us

Show- Email, Twitter, Facebook

Zendead- Email, Twitter, Facebook

Joules- Email, Twitter, Facebook

Nulloperations-Email, Twitter, Facebook

Guard-a-manger- Email, Twitter

 

And Thanks to Merriam-Webster for our Lexicon segment

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