Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 29

Oh, goody! A table of Basic Animal Characteristics! Yes, this is where we get more details on what these animals can actually do once you're run into them. The table gives us the four basic types and their subtypes, the chance that they will attack, the chance they will run, and how fast they move. Herbivores check their chance to flee first, then their chance to attack; everyone else gets the attack roll first. And they aren't likely to run anyway.

So, as mentioned before, herbivores are split between filters, intermittent, and grazers. We still don't have definitions for these types beyond what we can figure out from our own experience. Filters run on an 8+, intermittents on a 9+, and grazers are the skittish ones, running on a 5 or more on the 2D roll. Filters are only going to attack under certain circumstances; intermittents are quite unlikely to attack (10+), while grazers that stand their ground have a decent chance of fighting back (8+). Filters are slow, while the other two have double the normal movement rate.

Omnivores are gatherers, hunters, and eaters. Gatherers attack on a 9+, or run on an 8+. Hunters will attack on a 6+, but only if there's smaller prey (at least one member of the encountered party is smaller than the hunter); otherwise, they run on an 8 or more (at double speed). Eaters, to no one's surprise, attack on a 5+, and run on a 10+; their speed is either ordinary or double normal.

Next up, the carnivores: Pouncers, chasers, trappers, sirens, and killers. Pouncers, trappers and sirens will attack only if they have the element of surprise on their side. Chasers will only attack if they outnumber their prey. Killers will attack on a 6+. None are likely to run; pouncers will, if they themselves are surprised. Chasers and trappers flee on a 9+, sirens on a 10+, and killers on 11+. The speeds are interesting; pouncers are double, chasers are triple or double speed, trappers and sirens are either moving at a normal pace or don't move at all, and killers can double their speed.

Finally, the scavengers. They are hijackers, intimidators, carrion-eaters, and reducers. Carrion eaters will attack on a roll of 1 or more on 2D. Which is interesting, because they'll attack absolutely anything. I'm assuming there are some modifiers to the roll, because otherwise Traveller's vultures will be as aggressive as sharks. If by some miracle the carrion-eater doesn't attack, it flees on an 8+, as do the hijackers and reducers. The latter two attack on a 7+ and 10+, respectively. Intimidators attack on an 8+ and run on a 7+. All but the carrion-eaters move at double speed.

The way the varied speeds work isn't quite clear. The note at the bottom states that when an animal subtype has two possible speeds, roll 2D; on a 7+, the first speed applies; lower rolls get the second speed. But does that apply to the species in its entirety, or is it situational? I'm inclined to go with the species in its entirety, because of how the trapper and siren predators work. I'm thinking in particular of carnivorous plants like the Venus fly-trap; no die roll is going to get it to hike up its roots and high-tail it to safer ground.

So, that's a pretty useful page of information, already offering some variety within the animal types. Next up...whatever is on the next page.

Oh, I Want to Cry...

Sometimes, we forget certain things. Things that turn out to be important. Things that can prove to be very costly. Why do I mention that? Well, by an incredible coincidence, I just got to experience (again) one of those certain things.

My new Cameron Vail mystery is on a flash drive. I hadn't gotten around to backing it up onto the computer yet, since the computer is starting to show its age and I hadn't switched things over to the second computer. Well, my beloved little Garrett decided that my flash drive was a toy, and he's made off with it somewhere. And the best part is, being autistic, he has no way of telling me where it is, no matter how much I beg and plead with him about how important it is.

Which means it's gone until we find it.

There's more on the drive besides that book, of course. There's stuff that was on our old computers that we managed to recover, pictures from old vacations and the like. And I hadn't transferred it over to the computer yet. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Now, I'm sure it isn't lost forever; it's somewhere in the house, and it's not that big of a house. So, we'll find it at some point. Unless one of the dogs happens to find it and use it as a Milk Bone. Which has happened before, too.

It's on me, not Garrett; I'm the one who carelessly left it out on my desk instead of hiding it away. But that really isn't any sort of comfort. I just know that I want it back. In the meantime, though, I'll have to put that book on hold; I'm not going to rewrite it. I'll just shift gears to something else instead. Actually, I have an idea from a workshop I did recently, which might be fun to try. It's another mystery, of course; Cameron Vail is a busy detective. And I've got some fantasy ideas to work with, too. There's lots to write, so I'd best get at it.

I'll have another Traveller page up tomorrow, assuming I get the chance at the end of tax season...

Paradigm Shift

It's incredible to think of how much our lives have changed in the past fourteen months. And I'm not talking about COVID. No, I'm talking about how our attitudes toward certain things have completely changed. Things like sports. And movies. Pop culture in general, really.

I mean, the Oscars were last night. I'm not really a movie buff, but I love lists. And I can name just about every Best Picture winner of the 20th century. Including the ones that really didn't deserve to win. But I couldn't even name a single nominated movie from the past year. More importantly, I don't care; I watched maybe two movies that came out last year, and both of them sucked. I can't even name them now; they made no positive impression on my mind whatsoever.

And I'm not an isolated case; the Oscars set a new futility record for apathy, producing the lowest rated show they've ever had. Nobody was watching. And this is in a time when people are being forced to stay home, with nothing to do but watch TV. Hollywood hasn't just lost its glitter, it's been tarnished to an ugly green mess.

Sports is another example of this. The sports leagues are trying to explain away the loss of viewers, but every major sports league is plummeting in the ratings. Again, this is at a time when people have been stuck at home for over a year. It's the most captive audience in television history...and nobody is watching. The Super Bowl's ratings were dreadful, the lowest they've been in fifteen years. The NBA Finals were the lowest rated Finals EVER. They were getting more people to tune in during the 1970s. Baseball is also seeing lower ratings, though not as bad as the other two leagues.

Why is this happening? In a time when the vast majority of people are desperate for something to do to escape the boredom of being locked in their homes by governmental decree, why aren't people watching movies and sports? It's not even that they're not gaining new viewers who previously had better things to do; they've lost a lot of people who DIDN'T have better things to do in the past.

Well, a lot of people have found better things to do. Spending more time with their families, for one thing. I used to follow football religiously on Sundays, but I haven't for quite some time now. And my family is better for it. And I've cut way back on my movie watching as we get ready for the planting season, not to mention tax season at work is reaching crunch time.

People are looking for better things to do, and a lot have found them. Frankly, I think it's for the better. Ironically, in a time where we are separated from our loved ones and friends, people are getting closer as a result. It's as if we've started to realize what we've been missing for so long as we chased bigger and better things, things that didn't provide us with the happiness we wanted so badly.

It's a very significant shift, a reversal of a trend that has been growing for decades. It will be interesting to see the end result of this shift. People are rediscovering old values. I just hope it's not too late for society.

Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 28

Welcome back to another exciting page of Traveller, the original version. Last page, we had a couple of tables that help to narrow down what kind of animals are being encountered on alien worlds. We continue with the procedure to find out if all your hard work in preparing these tables will pay off with an actual encounter.

So, there are two encounters per day; if the party splits (everyone knows that's a bad idea, but they still do it), then each sub-group has its own two chances for an encounter every day. Remember, roll 1D per encounter opportunity; a 5+ means there's an encounter. If there is one, use the appropriate terrain table to figure out what is encountered. Sometimes, encounters won't be with alien animals, in which case look back to the previous section on random encounters. If combat happens, go back to Book 1 for those rules.

Next up is a section on Special Effects. This doesn't mean CGI'd alien animals or sleight-of-hand tricks. It's referring to what you can get out of the animals you encounter. Strangely, these animal encounters are described as 'the only general possibility of access that characters have to food, furs, or other valuable items.' So...if you want to buy alien elephant tusks, you have to go hunt for the elephant yourself? You can't just walk into the alien market and lay down some credits?

Guides are available for the intrepid hunters, offering a +2 or even greater DM to get the encounter you're looking for. And when you do find the critters, it's probably going to be edible (5+ on 2D, I think; there's no range listed), although if the atmosphere is tainted, the meat probably is as well (-3 DM on the meat roll). And the atmosphere has to be between 2 and 9, and if it's got some sort of venom, you're not eating it. You can get 5-30% of the animal's body weight in meat (1Dx5%). That can make for some impressive steaks on some of those bigger animals. Ever see the Flintstones? Brontosaurus ribs for the win!

Finally, you can use the bare bones (sorry) of the animal's characteristics and flesh them out to describe it more fully. Examples in the book are 'lion-like' and 'amoeboid,' which are useful to visualize what the creature is. You don't have to do it, but why wouldn't you? It's an alien world; imagine the hell out of it!

Next up is the encounter table creation checklist, which just summarizes everything from the past five pages. We're still missing some important information, such as an animal's weapons or what the different kinds of animals actually are in real-life terms. But those will be coming up shortly. I hope.

Catching Up

Well, time flies when you're swamped with tax season. I finish school, but I'm still swimming with the piranha as Canada's tax deadline rapidly approaches. It sucks, but there's nothing I can do about it. Except quit working. Which wouldn't go over well with my wife, so that option is off the table.

For now.

The weather is finally nice, and we now have a trampoline in the back yard. Now, understand that when I say 'back yard,' I'm talking about roughly three acres of grass. There's a lot of room between the trampoline and the house, that's all I'm saying. We're considering installing a transit system from the house to the trampoline just to make it easier on everyone.

Farms are fun. That is a sentence I never would have even considered typing nine months ago. And yet, here we are. Anyone who says God has no sense of humor, I just shake my head at them. How little they know...

Seriously, how did I end up here? I'm a city-boy, one hundred percent. And, like everyone else in the city, I knew that farms existed solely to grow food for us city-folks. They weren't places anyone actually wanted to live on; farms were like outdoor prisons, with lots of fresh air and a whole lot of animal dung stench.

My, how a person's perspective changes.

The air is clean (although there is definitely a distinct aroma nearby), the kids are healthy, it's peaceful and quiet, and we've got garlic growing in the first garden I dug last year. That's right, we've got healthy garlic shoots coming up through the straw mulch we left on top. It's awesome. We've almost got the chicken tractor built, and the fruit trees we were waiting for have arrived.

I'm a bloody farmer. How in the hell did that happen?

Ashton and I are already planning out what we want to do with the rest of the farm; digging out dead trees, planting oats in the back field next year, extending the gardens, building a vegetable stand to bring in some extra money...it's crazy. And I'm loving it.

Self-sustainability is the goal; it's not going to be easy, but it's got to be done. There's no telling what the next year is going to look like in this country; Ontario is turning into a police state as we watch, and I thank God every single day that we moved out here. Now, we have a chance to start a new life, and make something special here. I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Now, it's time to get back to writing. There's a mystery afoot, don't you know. And if you want to read something new and different, check out the first of the Cameron Vail mysteries, Final Exam, available now on Amazon.

Jesus Christ Superstar, Rock Arena Tour 2012

Well, I was supposed to get this one done before Easter, but things happen. This is an interesting version of the rock opera, a version that Andrew Lloyd Webber claimed was how he had 'originally' intended the show to be performed. This is a recording of a stage performance that was done as sort of a rock concert. The 'stage' is a terraced platform where the band is off to the sides and the actors/singers do their bit on the steps. I've never seen anything like it before, so it had that uniqueness going for it.

Of course, the key to any performance of this nature is the singers themselves. This version stars Tim Minchin as Judas, Mel C from the Spice Girls as Mary Magdalene, and Ben Forster in the role of Jesus. Forster got the part by winning a reality show called 'Superstar,' which was explicitly done for the purpose of finding someone to play the part of Jesus in this performance tour. I'll get to his performance later.

The original stage and screen version of the show had a 'modern' feel; the movie has Roman soldiers walking around with spears and machine guns, with tanks rumbling in the desert and fighter jets flying overhead. The sets are very abstract, the apostles are wearing jeans and T-shirts, and it's incredibly anachronistic.

This version 'updates' that concept, moving the setting to even more modern day; cell phones and online polls play a part, the Pharisees are Illuminati/businessmen, and Pilate looks like a judge. When he's not working out. Herod is a talk show host, and the soldiers are riot cops. But the most striking conceit is that Jesus and the Apostles are portrayed as an Antifa-style group. This is in the years before Antifa was the big news it became during the Trump administration, but it's still very, very jarring to see this performance portraying that movement as Christ-like.

Be that as it may, the story is unchanged from the other versions; Judas is torn and conflicted, Mary has the hots for Jesus, Pilate just wants to keep the peace and prevent any riots, and the Pharisees want to ensure that no one threatens their power. You know the drill. One of the songs added in the movie remains (Could We Start Again, Please), while the other (Then We Are Decided) is dropped. As far as I know, that one only appeared in the movie. Too bad; it's a nice tune.

So, let's look at the leads. Minchin has been praised for his performance as Judas; it was a lifelong dream of his to sing the part, and he handles it capably. His Judas is quite snarky, having quite a few literal eye-rolling moments. He gives a sense of 'I know better than the rest of you,' and he is antagonistic toward both Jesus and the other apostles, shoving them aside when they try to talk to him and sitting at the far end of the stage to brood. This develops over the course of the performance; his initial song (Heaven on Their Minds) is excellent, showing Judas as a man who just doesn't really believe that Jesus is what he claims to be.

Mel C is excellent. Her portrayal of Mary Magdalene is a highlight, combining the world-weary wisdom of an 'experienced' woman with the uncertain fears of a woman confronting a man she loves but totally doesn't understand. It's a delicate line, but she walks it well. Her performance of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" is fantastic. She doesn't hog the spotlight, either; she fades into the group of disciples when she's not soloing, never wearing out her welcome.

Now, we come to Ben Forster's performance. First off, his "Gethsemane" is absolutely incredible. The raw emotion he puts into that song just jumps off the screen. Jesus is scared and angry at the same time, desperate to understand why he has to go through the upcoming passion and death. Forster puts everything he's got into this song, and it totally works. One part that especially stands out is the changed line near the end. Originally, Jesus sings, "God, thy will is hard/But you hold every card." In this version, the lyric is changed to: "God, thy will be done/Take your only son." It's quite the change, and I like it a lot. Forster somehow ramps up the emotion in that lyric, to powerful effect. Thumbs up all around.

The problem I have with the rest of his performance is, up until that point in the show, Jesus has been very...off. What do I mean? Well, this Jesus is pissed. And arrogant at times. And he blows off his 'right-hand man' (Judas) multiple times. No wonder Judas finally handed him over to the Pharisees; Jesus was being a complete dick to him from the very start. When Jesus rampages through the temple, overturning the tables and kicking out the moneychangers, the sense is very different. When you watch the 1973 version, or just read the Bible itself, it's a shocking moment; this calm, peaceful rabbi and healer suddenly goes postal in the temple, shocking everyone with the sudden violence. But in this version, it's more like walking into the temple was the trigger point for a man about to become a mass-shooter. It's not surprising that he tears into the merchants and moneylenders; what's surprising is that anyone is surprised that he finally snapped.

The other problem I had with this performance is that Jesus is a little too appreciative of Mary's attentions. Sure, Mel C is still a whole lotta woman in her late 30s/early 40s, but this is supposed to be Jesus Christ, not his horny cousin Randy Christ. But this performance doesn't shy away from the idea that Jesus is just as into Mary as she is into him. It's a bit uncomfortable in a couple of spots.

Overall, I would have to say that this version is a bit disappointing. "Gethsemane" is the highlight, as it should be, and Forster nails it. The rest of it, though, doesn't really work. It's not that it's bad, and the musical performances are excellent, but the production leaves a lot to be desired. Forster's "Gethsemane" is available on youtube; the rest of the show is just so-so, and you won't miss anything if you miss it.

Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 27

Back for more, and we've got two previously-mentioned tables here: The Animal Types table and the Special Attributes table. But first, there's a brief note on specific encounters at specific locations, in which case random encounter tables are superfluous, so don't bother with them.

Okay, the Animal Types Table. There are four types, with several subtypes. Herbivores can be filters, grazers, or intermittent. I'm not sure what 'intermittent' means, but I'm sure we'll find out on another page. There are several die roll numbers on the table to indicate how many of the animal are encountered. Grazers can have as many as 5D encountered, which is the biggest amount on the table. I'm guessing that 'filters' would be animals that strain tiny bits of plant life, like some dinosaurs were said to do. Grazers are your basic deer and antelope, of course.

Next are Omnivores, which can be gatherers, eaters, and hunters. There aren't going to be as many of these as there are herbivores. Which makes sense; herbivores are going to be the most common of animals on any world. I'm not sure if bears would fit under gatherers or eaters; I'm leaning toward eaters, though. Gatherers would be...meat-eating squirrels? That's an interesting image.

Carnivores can be pouncers, sirens, killers, trappers, or chasers. Pouncers and chasers are straightforward enough; lions and cheetahs. Trappers would be like spiders. Ooh, gigantic spiders. That would freak people out. Because it's never been done before. Sirens...oh, a Venus fly-trap would qualify. My mind went to literal sirens from Greek mythology, but anything that lures prey in somehow would be a siren. Killers...I'm not sure about an example for those. It's a pretty generic category. A pack of chasers would be pretty terrifying, since they can have a 3D roll for number encountered. Fifteen cheetahs chasing a group of characters would be one hell of an encounter. For a few minutes, anyway.

Finally, there are Scavengers, which are carrion-eaters, reducers, hijackers, or intimidators. Carrion-eaters would be vultures; hyenas are in there somewhere, but I don't know enough to call them hijackers or intimidators. Reducers sound more like fungi that subsist on carrion but don't actually eat it.

This table is modified by the terrain DMs chart, from the previous page. So, if you're looking for a herbivore in the desert, you're not going to find any filtering ones; they're almost certainly going to be grazers. In the jungle, you get a -4 to the roll, so there won't be too many grazing critters, but quite a few filters. The other tables have their subtypes scattered around, so there's no real pattern to what you'll find in any particular terrain.

Next up is the Special Attributes table, which adds movement capability to various animals. The lower the roll, the more likely it's a water creature. But you'll only find triphibians on the beach, or in the sea; not on the riverbank or in a swamp. The attributes also include size modifiers, which will be cumulative with the ones from the terrain table. So, for example, a marsh encounter gets a +4 to the size roll, while an amphibian (a 3 or 4 on the Attributes table) gets a +1 or +2. Any amphibian in the marsh is going to be BIG. I'm not sure how big yet, since I haven't seen that table, but it's going to be pretty large. Swimmers in the marsh get a -6 to their roll, though, so it's a cumulative -2. So, the fish are going to be small, and the frogs are going to be friggin' massive.

And that's another page done. Moving along...

Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 26

We continue with more alien animal info. On the last page, we were informed that if an animal takes twice its maximum damage, it's worthless for food or pelts; basically, it's a rabbit shot with a high-powered sniper rifle at point-blank range. So, the way you figure out how many hits it can actually take is simple: The animal size and weaponry will give a range, such as 2D/2D. That means that you roll two dice and add them together to get the number of points the critter can take before being unconscious. Then you roll two more dice, and add that total to the first total to get the amount of damage needed to actually kill the target. Twice that second number means it's a smear on the ground. Got it?

There are also modifiers for damage done by the alien animal, depending on its size. I don't have this table yet; the table I have is the terrain DM chart for encounter type and size. There are a lot of terrains here, too: Clear/Road, Plain/Prairie, Desert, Hills, Mountain, Forest, Woods, Jungle, Rainforest...

Wait. What's the difference between a jungle and a rainforest? I'm sure that some professional botanist will be able to point out exactly how those two differ, but let's be honest: They're the same thing. I mean, swamp and marsh got put together into one column, as did plain and prairie. But the rainforest is so special it has to have its own category. The table just gives DMs for the roll for animal type and the roll for animal's size.

Moving along, then. Animals get natural weaponry, such as fangs, claws, horns, maybe an armored plate like a triceratops. Some of the natural weapons are categorized by their similarity to a man-made weapon, such as a pike. And of course, there's a roll for that, too.

Then there's a Common Sense paragraph, capitalized and everything. And it is pretty common sense, although I have no doubt someone managed to completely miss those warnings and did weird stuff like have a neo-elephant wandering around on a world with a trace atmosphere. Don't do that. And don't have a big flyer on a 100% water world, because that would be impossible to sustain. In that spirit, change any rolls that make zero sense. But try to leave the rest alone, if you can, because it's that randomness that makes an alien world so interesting.

Finally, we get a paragraph on using the encounter tables. Basically, you roll once, or maybe more often, a single die. On a 5 or 6, there's an animal encounter waiting to happen. And, as always, the referee can modify the roll as needed, such as cover in the jungle.

Writing Again

Oh, it's been a while. Too long. But now that I'm done this term of school, it's time to get back to writing. Man, I've missed it.

I've started fresh with a new mystery. The one I was working on before just didn't feel right. The plot was just way too convoluted, and I wrote myself into one hell of a conundrum. So, I'm going to set it aside and let it mull around in my head for a while longer before trying to fix it.

So...starting over. It's a good feeling, actually. I took a whole new idea, and started rambling on the keyboard. It turns out that the boys are back in college after all. One more mystery to solve at school. So, while it will be the fifth book in the Cameron Vail series published, it's the third one chronologically.

I don't know why I'm writing college stories; I was in college for the past few years, but the past sixteen months have been online only, and before then I wasn't in residence. I haven't been in residence for thirty years, in fact. And yet, I still have some very vivid memories about that time.

I have a couple of other books done; they're fantasy novels, though, and covers are harder to come by for fantasy and science fiction. Do you know how hard it is to find a stock photo of a creature you made up in your mind? They just don't exist. Mysteries, on the other hand, are easier to find covers for. So, another mystery to get me back in the groove. Besides, I write them fast. Sort of. The first one took me nearly thirty years, with a very long break, but the second one took eleven days. When the groove hits, the words just flow. It's a fantabulous feeling.

So, back to the grind. I'm toying with an idea I got from Dean Wesley Smith: writing a novel in seven days. It's possible, but it takes a lot of dedication, focus, and commitment. I'm going to wait a bit until I get my writing legs back under me, but I'm going to get it done at some point.

In the meantime, though, for those who are interested in seeing what my mysteries are like, check out Final Exam, the first Cameron Vail mystery, available right now on Amazon.

Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 25

More animal stuff. Or, at least, the encounter tables. Last page introduced the four types of animals: Herbivores, Omnivores, Carnivores, and Scavengers. We now get a blank encounter table, which places the types according to their frequency. Herbivores, not surprisingly, get the middle three numbers (6-8), so out of 36 possible rolls, 16 give a result of Herbivore. Carnovires get 9, 11, and 12. Omnivores are 3 and 5, and Scavengers at 2 and 4. Did I miss one? Why, yes, I did: a result of 10 is an 'E', for 'Event.' What's the event? It's not determined from the animal table; it could be something described elsewhere in the rules, or the referee can just make it up.

So, once you know what type of animal you're creating, the specifics need to be generated. Most animals are walkers, but there are also flyers, swimmers, amphibians, and 'triphibians.' Is that a flying amphibian? Ah, yes it is, as they are described in the next paragraph. There's a special attribute table to check (probably on the next page, of course) to see how the critter moves. There are DMs for world sizes and atmospheric types, too. That makes sense; a heavy-gravity world with a thick atmosphere isn't going to have a lot of birds. Or at least you wouldn't want to meet them.

Flyers will tend to be smaller creatures, and swimmers will be bigger. Well, whales are the largest creatures on this planet, so it stands to reason. Bear in mind, these encounter tables are pre-generated; it's not like you're going to roll up a new creature in the middle of a session. Even in old-school games, that can take up some time. So, prepare your alien animals ahead of time.

Okay, so after you know what kind of animal it is and how it gets around, the next question is, "How big is it?" These rules allow for critters as small as about a kilogram (2 pounds in the States), and as big as 6 tons or more. So, lots of leeway. Again, it's a two-die roll. There will be DMs for the planet's size and the terrain, as well as a possible one for mobility.

Sizes are measured in ranges; the base number can be up to 20% varied in either direction. The bigger the animal, the more damage it can take, too. Well, you wouldn't expect a rabbit to take as much punishment as a coyote. Especially if said coyote is a certified genius. Like characters, if an animal takes damage above its total hits, it's dead. If it takes twice as much damage, it's destroyed, and you can't even scavenge the remains for food or pelts. So, don't hunt a squirrel with a laser rifle. Unless it's really ticked you off.

More to come!

End of Term...Finally!

Oh, it's been a rough week and a bit. Four courses finishing up, four major assignments...but I finally got it all done. It's not going to be perfect, but I'm happy with what I got done, especially in the past few days. I should have known it was coming, but Saaturday morning found me at the hospital in Summerside getting treated for a damn kidney stone. Stress does that sometimes.

But, I'm pretty much over it, and I'm done with this term. Two more courses to go this summer, and I'm finally finished. And they are going to be easy courses, unlike the past term of assignment-heavy stuff. Music notation and Canadian history, and that's it. I'm so very looking forward to being done.

The last assignment I had was for my History of Modern Britain course. My final essay's topic was Sir Richard Burton, the man who did the sixteen-volume translation of The Thousand Nights and a Night, which I am still reading night by night. I picked him as a topic because he's an excellent example of the kind of man we don't have anymore, a man who went out and did things, great things, and wrote about them for everyone to read. By today's standards, he was the very definition of 'toxic masculinity.' But by any normal standards, he was the kind of man we need a lot more of these days. Unapologetically masculine, self-assured, and a man who was both brilliant and strong. He combined a lot of the best traits mankind has to offer. Sure, he was a Victorian Brit, and didn't think too highly of the cultures he visited and wrote about, but let's be honest: They were backwards, by the standards of the Christian West. It might be politically incorrect to say it, but it's the truth.

Anyway, it was a topic that spoke to me, and I hope I did it (and him) justice.

Now, it's a few weeks of relative peace before heading back into the fray one last time. I can't wait to be done with it.

Let's Read: Traveller, 1977 Edition, Worlds & Adventures, page 23-24

I really should read ahead before ending a page. This one only covers about a third of the page, and it's just the reaction table with some DMs. I'll do page 24 as well.

So, the reactions range from 2 (Violent, immediate attack) to 12 (Genuinely friendly). The higher the number, the better the reaction you get. The DMs are pretty straightforward: If you've served five terms in the army, navy, marines or scouts, you get a +1 to your roll. If the planet is heavily populated (11 or better, which is a B), you get a -1. And that's it.

Reactions are rolled once upon the initial contact, and it's one roll for the group. And of course, the roll is just a guideline, not a hard and fast rule; rolling a two when your waiter comes to take your order doesn't mean he's going to grab the nearest steak knife and try to carve you. But he probably won't earn much of a tip.

Okay, next page. And we have Animal Encounters!

So, we get a brief overview of what to expect. Basically, every planet has its own peculiar ecology. And when people show up on a new world, that ecosystem is affected, and the animals might not welcome visitors.

Obviously, this system isn't designed to provide a list of alien animals; instead, it's going to go with broad classifications which can be used universally; big animals will have certain characteristics in common. Big predators will have even more in common, even if they look as different as a tiger and a shark. This is a good system for a sci-fi game, since the possibilities of alien life are basically limitless.

Animals are classified into four categories: herbivores, omnivores, carnivores, and scavengers. So, you've got deer, bears, wolves, and vultures. Simple enough. Then you get varieties within each group depending on their feeding and hunting habits. Examples given are grazers, chasers, and pouncers. So, cows, cheetahs, and tigers. Specifics of each type can be generated, such as their attack and defense methods. This allows customization, without relying on real-world animals to fill an ecology.

Oh, goody...the referee gets to create unique encounter tables for each world in the universe (there's that word again), although the rules generously allow that they don't all have to be done before play starts. Well, that's a relief. For the D&D players (the old-school ones, not the newbies), the encounter tables are divided up into columns, one per terrain type on the world. So, if you're in a Star Wars universe, every world gets one table, be it a desert, arctic, forest, or water world.

Yes, I always thought that was a silly baseline for planets.

Once you have the tables, you use them each day the players are on the planet in question to see if they run into anything hostile...or edible.

So, to create the tables, simply do up columns with eleven entries each (labeled 2-12). The sample encounter table gives a predetermined sequence of animal categories to use, although of course it can be modified, because the referee is the final arbiter.

I did check the next page, and it doesn't end with three lines of text, so I'll continue with this next time.

Spring is Here

More or less, anyway. The school term is winding down, and I've been busy trying to complete a bunch of assignments. I didn't even realize it's been a week since I posted.

Planting season is coming on the farm, so it's coming up on the time to dig more beds. I got two done last fall before the frosts came; this year I expect to get at least a dozen. More, if Ashton can use his new toys to dig faster.

We've already planted some seeds inside, under a growing light in those miniature plastic greenhouses. There's leeks, lavender, parsley, and tomatoes so far, with more to come this week when we have time. We'll eat well this year, at a much lower grocery bill than we're used to. And it will taste really, really good, too.

We did some container gardening last year before we moved, and we did bring in some tasty veggies. Mostly potatoes, but also some herbs, peppers, and tomatoes. I'm looking forward to seeing what our crop looks like here in PEI.

There's something...exciting, almost, about growing your own food. It's not something I ever considered before, being addicted to the city life, but out here, your perspective changes. It's a whole new way of looking at things. I've always wanted to make a difference somehow; now, I have a chance to do exactly that with a garden and a farm.

So, the plans for the spring include: ten to twelve garden beds, some fruit trees, and raising the chickens we got a few weeks ago. We have eight, five Rhode Island Reds and three Ayam Cemani. If you've never heard of that kind, they're the all-black chicken from Indonesia. Rare birds, and valuable, too. We're hoping we've got some egg-layers, and not just a pack of roosters; there's no way to tell at their age, so we just hoped for the best.

All in all, it's going to be quite the exciting and different spring for the Sprigg family. Unlike any we've ever experienced, in fact. I can't wait to see how it all turns out.