Jeff Hogg

Sometimes writer. Alpha Geek table gamer. Check out my substack. Search for "His Give A Damn Is Busted!"

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

I’ve picked up some followers (groovy), but I haven’t declared what I’m using X for (anti-groovy). So I should fix that.
The Manglepaw Manifesto!
I want to talk about the things I’m screwing with now. What I’m painting, the game(s) I’m running, you know, game geek stuff. Meet more gamers. Share opinions and tall tales about games I have played and some inside baseball on being a co-owner of a game store. I really enjoy all four of the subdivisions of Game Culture (Role, War, Board, Card). Right now, I’m focused on Narrative RPG play. But I have an itch to play some skirmish wargames. And some board games. Not so much for cards, though. I played back at the start; my first gaming-related biz was card sales and local independent tourneys. And I’m still not keen on chasing them. Also, In a very real way, TCGs have gotten to the point where they are their own separate thing.

But like I said… Mostly.

I’m also working on my writing craft. This is the exception that ‘mostly’ implies. To date, I have gotten one story through the editorial process. So, I’m definitely here to talk about writing as well and promote my successes as they come. At some point, I will publish independently, but not until I judge I’m competent enough NOT to write the low-quality stuff that is much of independent publishing. That’s why I’m starting with Indy Publishing Houses. That is the metric I’m judging myself against. So you will not get a bunch of “Look Here-Buy Now” out of following me.
So, thanks for the follow. If you post a question and you think I can help, tag me. I’d love to offer what aid I can.

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

@wyrmlordpress Yes. Though you may want to inform the devising character that they want to discuss this with a wizard. Spells that ignite start in cantrip range.🔥

[Raconteur Press, LLC @raconteur_press]

Read it in Auntie Heroes! https://t.co/hQbUhONrpl #affiliatelink

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

@MikeyDiMercurio Absolutely. But don't forget robots.

When I worked for GM I loved hearing the crunchy warp of a deck lid as the robot botched putting a tire in the trunk.

The Machine Apocalypse will be rife with unforced errors.

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

@Marcus211334133 @GaryD20Games This. This. This.
The first time I pulled out a laser line pointer and a tape measure with my current group, they looked like I had brought old-timey surgical instruments to the table.

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

This wasn't a big change for me. The hero System has Ego and Presence. Ego is your wisdom and willpower. Presence is your ability to rally yourself and others.

Within that system, an adversary may psychically blast you (Ego), may try to impress or coerce you (Presence). Also, illusions go against INT.

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

@WhittersRichard If the players (including the GM) cannot manage a turn in six seconds, is it really 1:1 time?

[meme bastard 🍕 @mask_bastard]

Rico! You know what to do!

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

@OriginalGrogna1 1981 Ral Partha Calendar. Somehow, I have two of the three minis remaining.

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

John mentions the unwritten rule and posts up and down on this topic cite individual games. But no one seems to be talking about initial contact.

The worst thing to do in any game is, "You meet in a tavern, find a job board, and take on one of the quests tacked there."

Jumpstarting the adventure does nothing to solve the problem of group compatibility (alignment) or earn player buy in on the task at hand.

These are easy solves. In games with an overarching organization like the government, like Stalking the Night Fantastic or Delta Green, the Character Creation instructions are clear. Your character will have these traits, or your boss will kill you.

If you get rid of job boards, you can inform your players that they must build a character who has the traits you're looking for. A King would want moral traits, a Crime Lord would want immoral traits.

The alignment system sucks because Michael Moorcock is a forgotten name. Hero System's Psych. Lims. is better, because it details what a character is compelled to do. White Wolf's Nature and demeanor invert the compulsion to a system for restoring Willpower.

But none of them are meaningful in a world lacking consequences for the thought that a character can truly do anything. That line, 'you can do anything, be anything," is pure marketing.

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

@Marky_X_ Marketing. Marketing. Marketing.
Seriously.
They are SELLING the dream. Not the product.

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

The minute time travel becomes available, the divorce rate plummets for the asset class.

Yea what I wrote doesn't have anything to do with Hitler or Brutus.

The point is to look to personal signals before looking for heroic outcomes.

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

@pureMetatron @DrDavidMiano Kind of goes deeper. Every episode of Why Files is presented in three parts. 1st, the topic, presented as robustly as its adherents would. 2nd, the debunking, everything that is contradicted gets called out. 3rd, whatever remains.

It's entertainment, not a doctoral thesis.

[memeslich 💀 dnd memes @memeslich]

hit me with the harshest dungeons & dragons truths

[Interstellar News @InterstellrNews]

In honor of today...

(make sure you open the image up all the way)

Babylon 5 💕

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

@Marky_X_ 20 volunteers on a mission to teach geeks and nerds to socialize with extreme exposure therapy using hard liquor and strippers.

Paid for by adult beverage distributors.

Biggest party, 2K guests. Outnumbered 100 to 1.

Measuring in metric did'nt do that. Cubic Dead Hookers did.

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

@Marky_X_ Correct. I used to be part of a group that organized huge room parties at conventions in the Midwest.
We had a cargo van for hauling gear (portable bar/fortress), nightclub sound equipment, and crates upon crates of booze.
We used dead hookers as a unit of measurement.

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

Enflamed opines on X? Say it ain't so.

But I think you hit the why in your comment. "...if I paid $50 dollars I damn well better be having sex with Tieflings..."

Yes, I know you're joking.

But people want X. People with money will facilitate finding X w/ $.

Not a bug. A feature.

[Jeff Hogg @Manglepaw]

@GaryD20Games A memorable moment from the game store.

The DM had us facing off vs. a Dark Elf, armed with Forgotten Realms guns.

Quoting one of the players at the table, "Get your black powder out of my medieval fantasy."

The point isn't the story. The point is, two views one game. Again.