#the extraordinary adventures of baron munchausen

[haveyouplayedthisttrpg]

Have you played The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen ?

By James Wallis

"Ha! welcome, dear reader, to yet another place where I, the Baron Munchausen, have managed to secret away a few more paragraphs about My game where My dastardly editor cannot find them. I must be brief, but the pen of the Munchausen's is as Swift as the arrows fired upon Me by the dragon-hunters of Northern Greenland. (They mistook Me upon My flying carpet for some new breed of Dragon. Truly, they are a useless people.) My game, then, in brief. The extraordinary adventures of Baron Munchausen is a storytelling game of My own devisement, that invites you and your stout companions to share the tales of your adventures and exploits from around, across, and (in some cases) through the circumference of the world. As each one tells his story, the others shall interject with most villainous objections and interruptions, yet the true storytellers among you will persevere. Upon the completion of each one's tale and a copious amount of drinks, the best story will be judged by all players and the next round is ready to begin."

As befits the source material, a competitive boasting game where each player attempts to spin an adventure yarn more bombastic than the last. Other players bet coins to introduce complications to the story ("But surely, Baron, is it not known that the cannibalistic cyclopes are allergic to garlic?"); the challenged can accept the coin and weave the complication in or counter with their own coin and negate the challenge. At the end of the game, each player chooses another player as their favourite story and gifts their coins to them; winner is the player with the most coins after that. A perfect game for playing at a pub or similar place where refreshments are sold

[flaetsbnort]

What RPG systems do the guilds of Ravnica play?

Azorius: They exclusively play GURPS, as they believe it's the only system thorough enough to actually simulate reality. Some of them got really into Paranoia but they can't make it work because they can't help playing it straight.

Selesnya: Prefer cooperative worldbuilding games (Microscope, Ex Novo, i'm sorry did you say street magic, etc.) If they're feeling spicy enough to play actual characters it'll still be something nice and/or ethereal, like Nobilis, Wanderhome or Do: Fate of the Flying Temple.

Gruul: You'd probably think they like something violent and full of crunchy combat, but when you remember that the things the Grull hate the most are needless complexity, mathematics, authority and bigotry, you understand why they only play Belonging Outside Belonging games.

Rakdos: "FATAL, of course" they'll say with a smug grin. They're technically saying the truth. They won't say that while their ongoing campaign did start in complete debauchery, it moved into what is essentially collaborative storytelling, barely using the game's mechanics and rarely more offensive than a Ren & Stimpy episode. They're also quite fond of Toon but will never admit it.

Dimir: The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Played in what they call 'hardcore' mode, in which they'll just start telling an outlandish story and others have to figure out the game has started.

Boros: These are the ones who like stuff that's violent and full of crunchy combat. They're usually playing some flavour of d20, although most of them have dropped the pretence of roleplaying and moved on to Zombicide-style skirmish board games. Some of the higher brass prefer Gumshoe games, but even then they play it in very pulpy, 'punch out Cthulhu' style.

Izzet: Do you want to play Guaxinins & Gambiarras, the generic hack of Lasers & Feelings made for a Brazilian podcast? Or maybe Roguelite, a game in which you find letters of alphabet and can only roll for actions that starts with them? Every time you drop by they'll have a different one-page game with a bizarre mechanic. They absolutely adore Grant Howitt. If you want a longer campaign, though, ask them to take Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast off the shelf. I guarantee you they'll have a copy.

Simic: "Well it's Electric Bastionland, except we're using GLOG classes, and also a few MOSAIC modules to spice things up. Oh, and the setting is completely homebrew, of course."

Golgari: You'd think they'd all be playing grimdark adventures full of death and decay (and probably using Lamentations of the Fire Princess, or Trophy if they're cool), and they are, but their favourite game by a long shot is The Quiet Year.

Orzhov: Physically unable to have fun playing anything that doesn't use treasure as XP, they're mostly stuck playing really old editions of D&D and their retroclones, albeit some of them did make the jump to Esoteric Enterprises. But if they ask you to come over for a game, refuse: they're trying to have you play as the Business Tycoon in Conspiracist, the character that can pay the DM actual money for in-game benefits.

[neothgames]

Celebrate Saturnalia with this holiday sized card game of godly braggadocio! Take turns relating to tales of your godly exploits, making them as humorous or fantastical as you would like. A delightful way to spice up your holidays with friends.

You can find it here!

Art was done by Obliesk

This game is a rules-lite hack of The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, which you should definitely check out!

[apocalypticavolition]

Film Thoughts

So in an effort to become more cultured and whatnot I figured I might as well get the streaming service for film nerds. Way too many essential films I haven't seen, so why not knock a bunch out? Here's what I watched in the last week.

The Graduate

It's rare for a romantic comedy (well, dramedy, but still, it's hilarious) to be aware that its male protagonist is a horrible person whose only virtue, if you can call it that, is an unrelenting persistence in getting what he wants. It's even rarer for those with incompatible romantic leads to be aware of exactly how miserable they're going to make each other once the honeymoon phase wears off. The Graduate is famous for its ending that makes it very clear exactly how badly its protagonists have torpedoed their lives. But I'd really like to highlight that delightfully horrible moment in the middle, when Dustin Hoffman's character drags Katharine Ross to the front row of a strip club and - for basically the only time in the film until the ending - feels something resembling the human emotion of regret as she is humiliated by the dancer and brought to tears. Anne Bancroft is a fantastic Mrs. Robinson, a woman whose initial affair with Hoffman and perpetually caustic attitude don't quite manage to hide how desperately depressed she really is. A+, should have seen it a lot sooner.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen

I've seen Time Bandits, so I'm honestly not sure why I expected anything different. Terry Gilliam adapts a German novel about a tall-tale-telling nobleman (played by John Neville) who fought in the Russo-Turkish War of the 1730s. It's... well, with just a little effort you could easily make it a sequel to Time Bandits. The big differences are that the Baron's obligatory child companion is a girl this time (Sarah Polley) and that he only has one dwarf (Jack Purvis) in the party instead of six, with his other companions being a variety of dudes with extraordinary abilities. Like the Bandits, the Baron jumps from fantastic location to location, visiting a city under siege, Greek myths, and a distant ocean. Finding Robin Williams as the King of Space on the moon is a new touch at least. But sadly, where Bandits's strange ending is almost entirely based on how its plot unfolded bar Sean Connery's unexplained presence in the present, Baron doubles down on the inexplicable at the last minute and deliberately muddles its own finale. I'm not sure Gilliam really ever knew how to end stories. Everything else was quite fun though.

The Delta

An obscure indie film about a young man (Shayne Gray) in Tennessee who embraces his queer leanings and goes boating with a black Vietnamese immigrant (Thang Chan). It's the kind of indie film I often find myself bouncing off of, avoiding a clear dramatic arc in favor of atmosphere and subtle characterization, but on the whole I was drawn in. Chan was a particular delight, demonstrating the difficulties his character had as a queer immigrant of unusual heritage navigating the south in the 90s. It's obvious their relationship is going to fall apart, but I rooted for it anyway. I also enjoyed an earlier scene in the film in which Gray hooks up with a middle-aged man with fetishes that end the encounter prematurely, despite the man's begging as Gray prepares to leave. Sadly, this is another film with ending problems, escalating to a violent conflict that feels more like it was about shocking the audience that anything else. It's still worth watching for Chan's performance.

Inside Llewyn Davis

I really enjoy the Coen Brothers. Oscar Isaac plays the titular character, the Coens' take on real folk singer Dave van Ronk, a talented musician whose impulsiveness and pride consistently prevent him from ever finding real success. Davis remains a more sympathetic character than the company he keeps in part because of the grief of his former musical (and romantic?) partner's death and in part because he does consistently try to do right by his friends even as he makes poor decision after poor decision. Other strong performances in the film include Carey Mulligan, who is almost completely unlikable but dominates every scene she's in, and of course John Goodman who could play a decayed corpse and still be nominated for several awards. In this case he plays a complete asshole of a jazz musician with a heroin problem. It's a fun look at a fictitious variant of the New York folk music scene, but honestly "Coen Brothers" should have already told you whether or not you'd like it.

The Lady Vanishes

Since the Criterion Channel cycles their roster monthly and Hitchcock is being kicked off the streams at the end of this month, I figured I'd give him a bit of attention. The Lady Vanishes offers up a simple enough story: bride-to-be Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood) crosses paths with Miss Froy (May Whitty) on a train, but Miss Froy vanishes and Iris has to team up with Gilbert (Michael Redgrave) when no one will admit to having seen the woman, some for merely selfish reasons and others for far more sinister ones. It's a bit too "civilized Brits keeping their chins up amid wicked foreigners" for my liking, but the mystery is a good one and the suspense keeps up even as the characters unravel it. Apparently side characters Charters and Caldicott (who were kinda gay for each other, just saying) were so popular that the BBC just kept using them, which I... do not understand at all. A fun movie, but not Hitchcock's best.

Rear Window

Okay I've already seen this one, but it's been years so it was time to watch it again dammit. I don't know if Rear Window is Hitchcock's best, but it's my favorite. A film that's as much about film as it is about spying on your neighbors, Rear Window is a technical marvel. James Stewart and *checks notes* future princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly-

*checks notes again*

Nope, that's what it says. Hell of a career move.

-star in this thriller about a man who tragically broke his leg about five years before TV became popular and so had to turn to voyeurism to pass the time instead. When he's not spying on the hot dancer or the lonely over-30 woman who is about ready to kill herself from the loneliness, he solves crime! Seriously, just watch it, unless you don't like movies where the dog doesn't live. (Spoiler alert: the dog does not live and its owners are fucking distraught.)

The Cat from Outer Space

Imagine crossing E.T. with Hocus Pocus and adding some of the cast of M*A*S*H, then carefully distilling all of that quality entertainment, tossing it in the trash, and turning the dregs into film. I cannot even begin to fathom why the Criterion Channel has this movie. Its individual scenes are blandly predictable while its overall plot veers wildly from concept to concept (the military reacts to an extraterrestrial probe! the heroes need to gamble on sports and then at a pool hall to get gold! there's an air rescue scene!) in a mishmash of ideas that are each almost but not quite interesting. Since it does predate the kids films it so strongly resembles I won't ding it for having a scene where our alien cat levitates a bike for our hero to ride to safety, but I was so uninterested in this movie that I still kind of want to. Show this to your young kids, ideally when you don't have to be in the same room, but otherwise skip.

Rope

So this was a Hitchcock that I thought I hadn't seen but realized very shortly that I definitely had back in high school. Struggling against the limitations of the era, it's a Hays Code movie starring John Dall and Farley Granger as a murderous gay couple and it's shot to look like a single take despite the fact that they literally couldn't fit more than ten minutes of film into the cameras back then. The title refers both to the literal murder weapon and to the metaphorical noose tightening around the main characters' necks as they try to flaunt their criminal genius by throwing a dinner party with all of their victim's family and friends while he's stuffed into the table they're eating off of. Dall, the sociopathic dom of the relationship, is all too pleased with himself and confident they have everyone (including James Stewart) fooled, while Granger, the obedient sub, slowly cracks under the guilt. You should definitely watch this, especially if you somehow didn't notice how gay it was.

[vintagerpg]

Board games! This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re talking to James Wallis about his forthcoming book Everybody Wins. It’s a fantastic book that charts the recent history of board games through the lens of the forty-three winners of the German Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) award, from 1979 to 2022. We also talk a little bit about RPGs as well — how could we not, as James was behind Hogshead Publishing and their New Style series of RPGs (we’re going to have him back to talk at length about The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, promise). Everybody Wins is in stores on March 14 — head to the show notes for pre-order info!

[prokopetz]

A summary of entries posted 2023-11-14 through 2023-11-23:

52 Pickups by @proteusinanitas

AS LONG AS WE'RE HERE by @soft-at-worst

Aye, Brutus, do you fear it? by @piratesexmachine420

Cheese Heist (A game for 2 players) by @deluxeloy

Cunning Thief vs Maybe a Mimic? by @janksmith

Enemy Shields Analyzed! by @derpravener

Escape From Murder Island by @gigsroleplaying

The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen-by-Proxy by @the-real-seebs

Folded Steel by @mallowmaenad

Grand Melee Chaos by @pomrania

Help! My DM Skipped Session To Read A Light Novel [...] by @computationalcalculator

Kill the Queen: The Regicide-Playing Game by @marquisnaberius

Little Goldake by @jaypea00101010

Pet the Cat by @thatforgottenbasilisk

Problem Simulator 20XX by @manywingedmoth

Somniwarrior: a semi-meditative RPG to play while falling asleep by @fireball-me

Star-Crossed Lovers' Chess by @casa-anachar

Tetromino Hole by @headdunk

They Fight Crime by @notsomeoneyouknow

Threatening Occultics and Uncertain Hearts Over Unusualities by @notsomeoneyouknow

Utgarda Mini by @guerillawh0refare

Vampire Weeknight by @maybe-the-real-language

THE WORM WANTS by @ladytabletop

You Wake Up in a WORLD. by @strixcattus

This brings us to 184 entries in total – and with that, we're moving into the final stretch: at the time of this posting, there are exactly seven days remaining in the month of November. If you were planning on joining in, but you're the sort to put things off until the very last minute, the minute in question is fast approaching – fair warning!

Previous summaries: 2023-11-01, 2023-11-02, 2023-11-03, 2023-11-04, 2023-11-05 through 2023-11-08, 2023-11-09 through 2023-11-13

Tumblr 200-Word RPGs 2023

Last November, we did an informal game jam for folks who wanted to write something for Writing Month, but would prefer to write fewer than fifty thousand words of it. You can find the complete list of participants for that event in this post here. There's also an off-Tumblr archive of entries whose authors gave permission for them to be preserved here, if any of those links turn out to be broken.

Last year's collaboration went over well enough that I thought we might dust it off again this year. To be clear, this is just for fun – it's not a curated jam, and nobody's judging winners or handing out prizes..

If you'd like to throw your hat in, just follow these steps:

Step 1: If you're unfamiliar with 200-word RPGs, read a bunch of last year's entries (linked above) or browse the 200 Word RPG Challege archives at https://200wordrpg.github.io/ to get your brain-meats properly configured.

Step 2: Write your own 200-word RPG. If you're not sure whether you have 200 words or not (and with RPGs it can genuinely be difficult to tell!), you can use the word counter at https://200wordrpg.github.io/wordcount to check.

Step 3: Reblog this post and append your 200-word RPG.

Step 4 (optional): Please indicate in your post whether you're okay with having your 200-word RPG archived off-site for posterity – if you don't say anything one way or the other, I'll assume the answer is "no".

(As before, as a courtesy to anyone who's creeping the notes, please restrict non-200-word-RPG commentary to replies and tags until November 2023 is over – let's make the actual games easy to find!)

[open-hearth-rpg]

Retellings: Great RPG Mechanics #RPGMechanics: Week Six

I’ve taken an extra week with this one, trying to figure out how to approach this. RPG have always been about telling stories. There’s an interesting bit in Jon Peterson’s Playing at the World talking about the months in 1974 after TSR launched D&D and the disconnect between it being written as a war game– a rules set for medieval fantasy at a certain scale and how it actually got pitched. Very quickly Gygax & Arneson realized that the real pull in advertising was to present stories and suggest players could create their own. That became the key draw of role-playing.

At the same time the idea of “retelling” has been a little less evolved. On the one hand we’ve had licensed rpgs which aim to place players within a specific, existing story– not just a setting– and have them play out their version. The most notorious example I can think of that is Mayfair’s AD&D module for The Keep, the surreal Michael Mann horror movie set during WW2. That has you as fantasy adventurers dropped into the movie’s plot directly. 

Other games have played with the idea of tellings and corrections. For example InTERRORgation contrasted, Rashamon style, several testimonies by the PCs about an incident. There’s also The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen which revels in lying and contradictions. So we have two senses of retelling: an exploration of a previous story and the act of stopping and correcting in mid-story (done either by ourselves or another). 

Ma Nishtana: Why is this Night Different does both of these things. Subtitled “A Passover Storytelling Game,” playing this remains one of my all time favorite storygame experiences. Gabrielle Rabinowitz and Ben Bisogno did an amazing job with this. It’s a beautifully crafted games, so I fear my description isn’t going to do it justice. 

The game draws on the tradition of the Passover Seder, the ideas of sharing, involvement, ritual, and storytelling. As the designer say it is not a replacement for that, but a way to echo those aspects. Each player takes up one of the six possible characters– Miriam, Moses, Zipporah, Aaron, Bityah, and the Pharaoh. They then place through a set of ritual steps of play– with a physical ritual, reading, and then roleplaying– to tell another version of the story of Exodus, unpacking what the story means and how it sustains across multiple versions. 

I’m not Jewish, but playing this made me feel welcomed into the stories and feelings. It offered a kind, accepting, and vibrant entry point. There’s a lot to be said about the physical ritual component of this– it is striking and works, even online. But I want to focus on the concept of story and retelling. 

The game includes safety and collaboration as an organic moment in play. At any point when someone is narrating, another player can say “Wait Wait Wait!” to pause the moment. They can then ask a question for clarification & expansion or they can make a suggestion. This can add new elements or it can be used to revise material. This approach giving the feeling of friends and family gathered together, with the gentle butting in and interruptions that create a sense of camaraderie rather than conflict. I love this idea of playful collaboration between players. 

But the other sense of retelling lies in the broader concept: the retelling of a story with cultural weight and importance. The formal structure here points us back to the themes of the Passover story, but each retelling– with different characters and players– may show us new things about those themes. I wonder what other kinds of stories, echoing important cultural content but perhaps at more of a distance might be explored? What would Gilgamesh or Beowulf look like in that context? 

What Ma Nishtana does is create engagement with a cultural history, allowing for a new and novel understanding and unpacking the stories and concepts. That’s why it's a dynamite game everyone should read.

To swing this to other rpgs, there’s a parallel here with HeroQuests from Glorantha and Runequest. These quests are in-game enactments of the myths and stories of the player character’s culture. Heroes gather together, supported by the energy and will of a community, to work through a particular tale. They ascend to the Heroplane for this tale– there they face challenges and act out the stories. The power of the stories worked through in the Heroplane can then have an impact on the real world when they return: bringing prophecy, restoring crop fertility,  empowering a relic. It depends on the story. 

But the story isn’t always the same. The basic concepts exist, but they may be told in different ways. Failure in overcoming challenges can have a negative effect on the real world. But, like Ma Nishtana, the choice of different characters being played and how they react will change things. Heroquests have always been a part of Glorantha’s setting– with different kinds of HQ rules to simulate them: some abstract and some highly mechanical. I love this as another approach to collaboratively building new stories– the telling of which actually impact the game world.

[geekandsundry]

http://geekandsundry.com/tell-tall-thirsty-tales-with-the-newest-edition-of-the-baron-munchausen-rpg/

Many great tabletop stories start inside of a tavern. Even before Dungeons & Dragons made the shadowy man handing out quests in a shadowy corner a common feature of adventures, tavern patrons gathered around to hear the wild tales of travelers who wandered into town. The more entertaining...

[crossoverworldtree]

N.O. Faery

There are many varieties of Fae entities. One that is rarely talked about is the ones who find appear rather normal at first but enter a person's life and turn it upside down, often leaving them better off than before they met. Then the being leaves as mysteriously as they arrived.

They are many famous examples of this entity, so much so that television and movies started using them in tropes like the "Manic Pixie Dream Girl." But this variety of entity is far more overtly magical than most films would have you believe.

And they are not all female, though the most potent are.

Baron Munchausen Motivation: Heroics! Critter Type: N. O. Faerie Attributes: Str 7, Dex 7, Con 7, Int 7, Per 7, Will 7 Ability Scores: Muscle 20, Combat 20, Brains 20, Life Points: 96 Drama Points: 10 Special Abilities: Warp Reality, Hard to Kill 10, Weakness (Requires Belief, Iron x 2 damage), Attractiveness +1, Charisma +2, Love (tragic), Mild Lechery, Honorable (Serious), Contacts (Supernatural: The Wonder Horse Bucephalus) 3 Name - Score - Damage - Notes Sword - 20 - 33 - Slash/Stab Warp Reality - 20 - Varies - Makes damn-near anything happen. The Baron is one of the oldest known N.O. Faeries on record. Appearing in the Age of Reason, the Baron follow a specific formula, of blowing into small towns (often under siege), and if it finds the people inside to be worthy of his aid, lends it through empowering certain individuals with his vast reality-warping powers. He transforms several ordinary people into his magnificent assistants: Berthold, the world's fastest runner (Fast Reaction Time, +5 Dexterity + 100 Speed); Adolphus, a gunman with superhuman eyesight (Super Sniper Rifle (Damage 30, No Range Penalties), Acute Senses (Sight), +3 Dexterity, +3 Perception, Enhanced Senses (Sight)); Gustavus, who possesses extraordinary hearing, and sufficient lung power to knock down an army by exhaling (+5 Constitution, Acute Senses (Hearing), Supernatural Attack (Wind Blow: vs. Strength Score of 100 at range or be blown away 1 yard per SL (3 damage per))); and Albrecht, a fantastically strong man (+15 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +5 Constitution, Armor Value 5, +100 Life Points). He will only bestow these powers on characters without exceptional abilities (IE: White Hats) but needs to be reminded of his mission at times. He also needs to be kept alive through belief in him (IE: he will slowly age and rot away if given a retiring opportunity, the cast must rouse him by beating a brains score of 16 to break him free of this and regain his youth). At the end of the adventure, it is inevitable that he will die no matter what and will get a large funeral. But then he will remind the people that it is just one of the many times that he had died--an experience "that I would not hesitate to repeat". It appears that Death herself finds his antics extremely amusing and allows him to play this game. His horse, Beau cephalous is immortal, has Damage Reduction 1/5 everything, and uses the Wonder Horse stats found in Fistful of Zombies.

Dr. Lao Motivation: Move People to Action Critter Type: N. O. Faerie Attributes: Str 7, Dex 7, Con 7, Int 7, Per 7, Will 7 Ability Scores: Muscle 20, Combat 20, Brains 20, Life Points: 96 Drama Points: 10 Special Abilities: Warp Reality, Hard to Kill 10, Minority (Chinese), Languages (All), Resources (Fantastically Wealthy), Contacts (Supernatural) 5 (Circus), Adversary (Pet), Honorable (Serious) Name - Score - Damage - Notes Dodge - 20 - None - Defense Action Stun - 20 - None - Freezes Target in place. Warp Reality - 20 - Varies - Damn near Anything happens, usually creates items for effects above PL 5. Dr. Lao is a relic of the Old West in a sense. Roaming the world on a Donkey with his pet fish in a bowl, the aged man from Pan-Oh-Hai, China, seeks out injustice and those stuck in ruts and sets up his circus. Dr. Laos circus is a tremendous mirror, featuring attractions and entertainers (who never appear together, except for the doctor and the fish) who are reflections of the drawbacks held by the (important) townsfolk. Each one should be tailored by the director to suit the story's ends. Once he has had his desired effect of advancing the town in some way, he disappears as mysteriously as he arrived. Dr. Laos forms include a Satyr (representing hidden lust and love), Medusa (for people who treat everyone around them as if they were stone), Apollonius the Blind Prophet (to test most others with his dark predictions), The Yeti (paralleling all big lugs everywhere), The Giant Serpent (for treacherous snakes-in-the-grass and malignant tricksters, whose face it usually adopts) and Merlin the (rather inept) Magician (for those who need feel downtrodden but have great potential). Dr. Lao himself adopts a thick Chinese accent and a buffoonish aura, but only when it suits him. It comes and goes depending on the mood. Have the players pass a difficult perception test to notice this change.

Name: "Loch Ness Monster" Date of Birth: Inapplicable Motivation: Eat Dr. Lao Critter Type: Fae Attributes: Str 15, Dex 7, Con 10, Int 7, Per 7, Will 7 Ability Scores: Muscle 36, Combat 20, Brains 20, Life Points: 110 Drama Points: 10 Special Abilities: Dual Form (Small Fish), Limited Use (Out of Water Only), Adversary (Dr. Lao), Armor Value 20, Regeneration (Con per Turn) Name - Score - Damage - Notes Bite - 20 - 50 - Slash/Stab Slam-Tackle - 36 - 42 - Bash Fin - 20 - 35 - Bash Dr. Lao's pet, kept in a fishbowl is, in truth, A Loch Ness Monster! And not happy. If it is released, it will try and eat Dr. Lao. Dr. Lao could stop it easily but prefers to have it challenge him (and the cast) when it does--to see if they are truly worthy of his attention.

Haruko Haruhara Motivation: Power and Freedom Critter Type: N.O. Faerie Attributes: Str 7, Dex 7, Con 7, Int 7, Per 7, Will 7 Ability Scores: Muscle 20, Combat 20, Brains 20, Life Points: 96 Drama Points: 10 Special Abilities: Warp Reality, Hard to Kill 10, Battler Guitar, Artist, Obsession (Power to warp reality without relying on proxies), Attractiveness +4, Severe Lechery, honorable (minimal) Name - Score - Damage - Notes Guitar - 20 - 37 - Bash or 5 damage, open portals Warp Reality - 20 - Varies - Damn near anything happens The secret shame of N.O. Faeries are that despite their vast powers to warp reality, they can only do so in conjunction with humans. Haruko wants to rid herself of that dependence and become a truly God-like being. To meet this end, she seeks out a person with great potential (high Willpower score) and uses them to track down the current lord of the N.O. Faeries, the Pirate King Atomsk, and then steal his power. She has yet to succeed in this, and usually inadvertently fulfills the N.O. Faeries function regardless. She travels on a yellow Vespa (that can fly when needed), and leaves confusion (and growth) in her wake but doesn't really care about it.

Mary Poppins Motivation: Bring Families Together Critter Type: N. O. Faerie Attributes: Str 7, Dex 7, Con 7, Int 7, Per 10, Will 10 Ability Scores: Muscle 20, Combat 20, Brains 25, Life Points: 96 Drama Points: 10 Special Abilities: Warp Reality, Hard to Kill 10, Honorable (Serious), Languages (All), Attractiveness +4, Enchanted Item (Intelligent Umbrella of Flight; Bag of Useful Things, Any Taste Medicine, Mood Measurement) Name - Score - Damage - Notes Dodge - 20 - None - Defense Action Warp Reality - 25 - Varies - Damn near Anything happens, usually creates items for effects above PL 5. Mary Poppins is the typical N.O. Faerie. The Archetype, the Original. The Real Deal. She is one of the most powerful beings known and has used her power to save the world once from an Antichrist.

In her own words on the incident:

"I have a great many responsibilities. Foremost among these, however, is my concern for children. I am concerned regarding their well-being and the healthy development of their imaginations. I am concerned regarding their behavior... " Saving the world was a side job. Helping children become better is her true calling.

[jaspers47]

I watched 180 Movies in 2020

Five Stars

1917 (2019) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) Before Midnight (2013) The Biggest Little Farm (2018) The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (1989) Daisies (1966) Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997) The Fits (2015) For All Mankind (1989) I Am Not Your Negro (2016) Ink (2009) It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012) The Last of Sheila (1973) Living in Oblivion (1995) Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) The Myth of the American Sleepover (2010) Police Story (1985) Rewind This! (2013) Serial Mom (1994) Shock Treatment (1981) Stalag 17 (1953) The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) Uncut Gems (2019) The Watermelon Woman (1996) Zazie dans le Metro (1960)  Zombie Girl: The Movie (2008)

Four Stars

12:01 (1993) The 39 Steps (1935) All Things Must Pass (2015) Alphaville (1965) Always Shine (2016) The Amazing Johnathan Documentary (2019) April and the Extraordinary World (2015) The Bad Seed (1956) Batman vs The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019) Black Sunday (1977) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm etc. etc. (2020)  Brief Encounter (1945) Buck Privates (1940) But I’m a Cheerleader (1999) Carnival of Souls (1962) A Christmas Carol (1951) The Court Jester (1955) Da 5 Bloods (2020) Daughters of the Sexual Revolution (2018) Death at a Funeral (2007) The Devil’s Backbone (2001) Earth Girls Are Easy (1989) Ebirah, Monster of the Deep (1966) Gas, Food, Lodging (1992) The Getaway (1972) Ghidorah, the Three Headed Monster (1964) The Green Fog (2017) Hollywood Shuffle (1987) The Host (2006) I Married a Witch (1942) I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020) The Irishman (2019) John Wick (2014) Klute (1971) Live from the Space Stage: A Halyx Story (2020) The Lady From Shanghai (1947) The Living Daylights (1987) The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) Man With a Movie Camera (1929) Mascots (2016) Mikey and Nicky (1976) The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944) Moon (2009) Mothra vs Godzilla (1964) Night of the Demons (1988) The Night Stalker (1972) The Ninth Configuration (1980) Palm Springs (2020) Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) Postcards from the Edge (1990) The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) The Public Enemy (1931) The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) Sisters (1972) Sleeping Beauty (1959) Sudden Fear (1952) Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken! (2019) That Darn Cat! (1965) Throne of Blood (1957) Tom Jones (1963) Way Out West (1937) Yojimbo (1961)

Three and a Half Stars

Birds of Prey or the Really Long Harley Quinn Subtitle (2020) The Conversation (1974) Destroy All Monsters (1968) Double Dare (2004) Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (2016) Gimme Shelter (1970) Gun Crazy (1950) His Girl Friday (1940) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939) Jour de Fete (1949) The Lady Eve (1941) The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019) The Mask of Zorro (1998) Mean Streets (1973) Movie Crazy (1932) Onward (2020) Paper Moon (1973) Repulsion (1965) The Train (1964) To Catch a Thief (1955) You Can’t Take It With You (1938) Zelig (1983)

Three Stars

L'Age D'or (1930) The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988) Anna Karenina (2012) Bachelor Party (1984) Berberian Sound Studio (2012) Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970) Black Narcissus (1947) Black Sunday (1960) Cat Ballou (1965) Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974) The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969) Empire of the Sun (1987) Elvira’s Haunted Hills (2001) Enola Holmes (2020) Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965) The Final Girls (2015) Forbidden Zone (1982) The Golem (1920) The Great Ziegfeld (1936) High Sierra (1941) House (1986) It’s a Gift (1934) Kon-Tiki (2012) Lady and the Tramp (1955) My Name is Nobody (1973) Observe and Report (2009) Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003) Phantasm (1979) Phenomena (1985) The Phineas and Ferb Movie: Candace Against the Universe (2020) Saludos Amigos (1942) Slap Her, She’s French (2002) Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) Sons of the Desert (1933) Titticut Follies (1967) Touchy Feely (2013)

Two and a Half Stars

Arthur Christmas (2011) The Cat and the Canary (1939) The Cat from Outer Space (1978) Jasper Mall (2020) The Kid (1921) Return to Oz (1985) The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) This is Not Berlin (2019)

Two Stars

Bell Book and Candle (1958) Bride of Re-Animator (1989) Casino Royale (1967) Gamera vs Guiron (1969) Godzilla vs Megalon (1973) Masters of the Universe (1987) Make Mine Music (1946) Melody Time (1948) Muppets From Space (1999) Parenthood (1989) Valley of the Dolls (1967) Willow (1988)

One Star

Cave Dwellers (1984) Crash of Moons (1954) The Creeping Terror (1964) Foodfight! (2012) Hamlet 2 (2008) Howard the Duck (1986) The Human Duplicators (1965) King Dinosaur (1955) The Mad Monster (1942) The Mole People (1956) Swamp Diamonds (1955) A Talking Cat!?! (2013) Time of the Apes (1987)

[pubtheatres1]

The Extraordinary Time-Travelling Adventures of Baron Munchausen The Vaults 7NN, 9-10, 16-17 February 2019 Part of the Vault’s Festival "I would defy you not to enjoy this show"★★★★ The show is an improvised story-telling extravaganza based on an original idea by James Wallis. Lord Lovell, Pirate Technics and Professor Lord Seawood embarked on four mystical adventures. From the golden city of Eldorado to finding the Man who had been dead for fifty years. Each one taking on a unique journey with a different talented storyteller every time. The three actors are incredibly funny and understand the concept of what they are doing. Delivering improvised comedy is a tricky skill to master. Throughout the whole show, they engage with the entire audience. Many of the audience were used as living props and characters on stage, from sheep, a duel between the Baron and Norab, three Mayors and a bicycle, which added another edge to the comedy. My daughters, the toughest two critics who accompany me on some press nights, laughed all the way through this show. Anyone with teenagers will feel my trepidation in taking them to performances. It’s the perfect show for anyone new to this style of comedy. If you already like improvisation comedy I would defy you not to enjoy this show. Four stars for this extremely funny show. Image: by Elaine Chapman. @TTBaronM @thevaultsuk Reviewer Elaine Chapman is an English Graduate from Winchester University. By day a mother and business owner. By night an avid theatre goer enjoying the world of reviewing theatre and films from an audience perspective.

[philcon-programming]

Programming starting on November 21st at SATURDAY, 10pm EST:  The Adventures of Baron Munchausen --  An improv storytelling round robin where each panelist tells the most extraordinary anecdote from their travels with the Baron...based on a prompt just given to them from the previous storyteller. The Science of "Away"  --  Netflix's recent miniseries depicts life aboard a spaceship en route to Mars. How realistic are the crew's solutions to the problems they are faced with? Bookclubbing for a Brighter Tomorrow --  A discussion of the rewards and challenges of forming small discussion groups, practical advice on finding members and keeping them interested in coming back, and an overview of considerations such as: How is reading different when you know you will have to articulate your reactions and interpretations to a group of peers? Presented by members of Million Year Picnic Book Club. millionyearpicnic.org Q&A: DisCon III, the 79th Worldcon --   The 79th World Science Fiction Convention has a lot planned in Washington, DC August 25-29, 2021. If you're asking questions like, "What kind of plans?", "What is there to do in DC?", or even, "What's this 'Worldcon' thing you're talking about?", then you are cordially invited to come hear about all the amazing things that will be going on next August! Bring your curiosity and your questions! [Presented by Colette Fozard and Bill Lawhorn, co-chairs of DisCon III, and Lisa Adler-Golden, Head of Programming.]

Discord #media-discussion : The Magnus Archives --  What's YOUR theory on how it's going to end? Saturday Night Open Filk --  Saturday Night Open Filk starts at 6pm EST and runs until the last person turns in for the night. (Or morning.) The invite to the Philcon Discord server is https://discord.gg/2XSZQ3e Register for the Zoom items at the bottom of each panel listing at: https://www.konopas.philcon.org   ~ It’s easier to navigate by hitting “Expand All” so all the panel descriptions pop open!

=

(Philcon is free this year!)

[vintagerpg]

The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1998) is the first in Hogshead’s New Style games. This one is by Hogshead’s owner, James Wallis, and sets the tone for the rest of the New Style games — it’s a small booklet (24 pages) featuring an unusual set of rules, offered for sale for a low price. Of all the New Style games, it is probably the one with the biggest influence on future RPGs.

It is a storytelling game that, like its namesake, is concerned with the tallest of tales. Everyone has coins, one coin for each player. Each player tells a five-minute story, heaping as much ridiculousness on as possible and finishes with a vow of their truthfulness. Other players can complicate the story by putting one of their coins in the center of the table and offering a suggestion. The storyteller can either accept the coin and add the embellishment, or deny the coin and insult the questioner, who in turn can add another coin, raising the stakes further, take back their coin like a coward, or challenge the storyteller to a duel (or three rounds of roshambo, for those squeamish about violence), with the winner taking all the coins. Once a story is finished, the teller invites the person to their right to tell a story, and around it goes until everyone has had a chance to weave a tale. At that point, every player takes the coins in front of them and gives them to the storyteller they think told the best story. The person with the most coins is the declared the winner! Easy!

This is really the first formal rule set for an entirely storytelling-focused RPGs. It forms the foundation of the modern storytelling game and a whole lot of indie games and really changed a lot of our collective assumptions about RPGs. Not bad for half a page of rules.

[prokopetz]

The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, off the top of my head.

(This one also prescribes pistol duelling as a conflict resolution mechanism of last resort, when the question of a claim's veracity cannot be resolved through any of the usual methods, though several somewhat less lethal alternatives are provided for the benefit of cowards and children.)

In terms of conflict resolution gimmicks in tabletop RPGs, dice are always a classic, but I've also seen playing cards, tarot cards, party spinners, dominoes in both their matching-game and tip-them-to-make-other-dominoes-fall-over modes, coloured beads, coin flips, chess boards, dance-offs, stop-watches, Jenga towers, guessing games, public speaking, fire, knives, candy, baked goods, and in one notable case, a dildo covered in edible glitter which players compete to thwap with those little rubber sticky-hand things. I've played games which employ these devices in ways which emphasise random chance, games which employ them in ways which emphasise player skill, and a game whose method of resolving psychic powers was once criticised for affording unfair advantage to characters whose players are actually psychic. Though there's inevitably a sense of trepidation when pushing the boundaries of one's medium, I promise you, whatever goofy conflict resolution method you've come up with for your indie RPG probably isn't even the weirdest one to be published this week, let alone overall. The usual crowd is going to sniff and harrumph at anything that isn't "roll a single twenty-sided die plus modifiers versus a flat target number" anyway, so fuck 'em – do it for you.

[gentleman-fox-blog1]

An Evening with The Baron

You are cordially invited to join the magnificent Baron Munchausen for an evening of myth, music, magic, marvels, and possibly a little mayhem. This fully immersive, intimate, and interactive experience will be one like no other.

Rudolf Erich Raspe’s titular character from "The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen” comes to life as he leaps off the page and onto the table where you, his honored guest, will see his fantastical tales come to life before your very eyes. Charismatic performances, surprising illusions, creations by local artisans, and a specially curated spread of delectable hors d’oeuvres will be yours to enjoy as you experience and participate in the Baron’s larger-than-life antics.

At The Baron's table, you will witness extraordinary feats of derring-do from riding cannonballs through battlefields to living inside a whale and traveling to the moon. Twice!

This experience aims to reinvigorate the legacy of The Baron for a new generation and celebrate the timeless art of storytelling!

[pauljacobevans]

Tell Tall, Thirsty Tales With the Newest Edition of the Baron Munchausen RPG http://pje.fyi/NDq4nJ #vk