tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post5474198202357897089..comments2024-03-19T16:24:23.777-07:00Comments on Playing D&D With Porn Stars: The PhilosophersZak Sabbathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08812410680077034917noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-15573653119880014022016-02-06T01:47:38.568-08:002016-02-06T01:47:38.568-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Patrick Mallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04906639025904535922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-53819305317283284642015-02-13T16:02:53.459-08:002015-02-13T16:02:53.459-08:00I'd like to throw in the Illithad actually did...I'd like to throw in the Illithad actually did put quite a bit of detail into mind flayers, which I think combines with this quite well<br />Individual mind flayers are in their own way, all part of a larger body because they are all "part" of the elder brain running their city. (Part here meaning it mind controls them the way they mind control humans.)<br />It also had one really neat thing. The undead are invisible to the mind flayers, and they find this horrifying. They see via heat (this was 2e, back in the infravision days), but undead are room temperature, so they are invisible to the eye. They see via their mind, but undead are immune to psionics, so they are invisible to the mind. They have a rudimentary auditory sense, but even then the undead are quieter than the living, and some such as Shadows make almost no noise at all. To a Mind Flayer, even a lowly zombie is just this horrible blind spot that cuts them off from their own body.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09733542876025196994noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-73968631126118733942014-10-05T13:17:38.347-07:002014-10-05T13:17:38.347-07:00I was also reminded of Blindsight while reading th...I was also reminded of Blindsight while reading this article! Really a book that leaves you, well, thinking. About thinking. O_oBrunohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01448568062628550613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-2691781285446347832014-10-03T08:38:34.084-07:002014-10-03T08:38:34.084-07:00Surprisingly(?) useful food for thought when I'...Surprisingly(?) useful food for thought when I'm putting together encounters with my Night's Black Agents vampires.chattyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06539709430526111912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-13018149760920525102014-02-25T15:02:05.005-08:002014-02-25T15:02:05.005-08:00This makes me happy on 3 levels:
1. Cause it'...This makes me happy on 3 levels:<br /><br />1. Cause it's amazingly good and offers me interesting entertainment.<br /><br />2. Cause I'm a philosopher and I can send it to my D&D playing colleagues.<br /><br />3. Cause some bits of it sound very similar to recently popular proposals about understanding 'consciousness' as an phenomenon that is not constituted by the brain alone, but is distributed across brain, body and the environment of the organism.squidmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03486198900111225929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-57824617292371395112014-02-20T15:21:18.217-08:002014-02-20T15:21:18.217-08:00This is amazing. Im totally stealing it (even if i...This is amazing. Im totally stealing it (even if its free, wouldnt be the first time.) this is my favorite blog cause you rockjoshhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04839488102808252443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-19181043162022839632014-02-16T11:55:28.668-08:002014-02-16T11:55:28.668-08:00Wonderful! Grells are coming up in an adventure of...Wonderful! Grells are coming up in an adventure of mine, and you've done the grunt work for me here.soelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06607806243572128141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-88104444457547449152014-02-16T11:24:02.225-08:002014-02-16T11:24:02.225-08:00One of my all-time favorite posts.One of my all-time favorite posts.Devin H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/18160699373688690301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-35663469373600639322014-02-14T15:39:25.933-08:002014-02-14T15:39:25.933-08:00So, these philosophers teleport from one lair '...So, these philosophers teleport from one lair 'body' to the next like a hermit crab changes shells, I'd imagine. Maybe teleportation to them is like drifting off into a memory of another place, and they are unaware of changing locations, they are solipsistic in that they don't believe they perceive a reality outside themselves/ outside their 'culture'.<br /><br />This joins my all-time favorites of your posts. I feel like most neglect that bizarre monsters also have alien perspectives and motives.WB_Whitinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14415761324502957176noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-5318507102581228742014-02-14T15:01:30.797-08:002014-02-14T15:01:30.797-08:00I would think that they would either assume a grou...I would think that they would either assume a group to be a co-ordinated creature OR think about it and guess that each isolated non-telepath will act on their own without any knowledge of what the others are up to. The crazy way player character parties back each other up in wacky cascades of beserker self-sacrifice followed by self-interested protection of other members doesn't fit either of these models. Nor does it make sense unless you're sitting at the table at that moment (and maybe not even then).<br /><br />Also the prove-you're-not-a-robot hing just says Valentine. Somehow I don't think this is random.Neil Willcoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07166832958072749813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-78017618420074938032014-02-13T03:59:43.440-08:002014-02-13T03:59:43.440-08:00I like this hard scifi crossed with D&D stuff ...I like this hard scifi crossed with D&D stuff when it works. Old Dragon monster ecologies didnt usually have anything to say. Jonashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11838302056850766272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-79342144920192473962014-02-13T00:10:41.550-08:002014-02-13T00:10:41.550-08:00I was reminded of The Things, by Peter Watts.
htt...I was reminded of The Things, by Peter Watts.<br /><br />http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/watts_01_10/Spitting Trashcanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00740028241236591790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-981499467626875182014-02-12T20:19:14.820-08:002014-02-12T20:19:14.820-08:00This reminds a little bit of the scramblers from t...This reminds a little bit of the scramblers from the novel Blindsight... particularly the conversation the astronauts have with the alien spaceship. (the whole bit about the Chinese room, if you've read the book).<br /><br />They can mimic our meanings to manipulate us, but from their viewpoint, they are just making the noises they associate with making the monkeys dance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-76602090846971074872014-02-12T19:22:54.625-08:002014-02-12T19:22:54.625-08:00Very nice. Even just a portion of this post would...Very nice. Even just a portion of this post would have been enough to help me run these types of creatures in a weirder and more interesting way.Telecanterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07238356788092725244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-69210845126595254472014-02-12T15:50:46.661-08:002014-02-12T15:50:46.661-08:00Not only would "not planning" be difficu...Not only would "not planning" be difficult for these creatures to grasp, but the idea of non-telepathic sentience might be elusive. Just as people tend to anthropomorphize animal behavior, they might tend to assume telepathic, collective consciousness on the part of humans and other races, which would compound their confusion at the "random action" of "infectious" foes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-5237961919596074332014-02-12T15:13:16.540-08:002014-02-12T15:13:16.540-08:00The grell is a neat monster, but I could never buy...The grell is a neat monster, but I could never buy into the idea that they're some powerfull race on the throes of a comeback. To me, they seem very much like the Beach Ball Creature in John Carpenters "Dark Star" and was probably left <br />stranded on the world after some aliens booted It off their spacecraft.I.F.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04345074915911014741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-89205898719153771662014-02-12T15:02:02.629-08:002014-02-12T15:02:02.629-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.I.F.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04345074915911014741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-84717521563123338002014-02-12T13:22:30.294-08:002014-02-12T13:22:30.294-08:00Not a lot of time to digest and respond now, but I...Not a lot of time to digest and respond now, but I will say this is my favorite thing by you in quite a while. Like the old "ecologies" from a new angle.Confanityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10361443460498670841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-63116769704633967482014-02-12T10:34:03.064-08:002014-02-12T10:34:03.064-08:00I wonder how creatures like this would attempt to ...I wonder how creatures like this would attempt to make sense of religion or the concept of a god.Anathematahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03459426255827443025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-88865654578682339252014-02-12T05:04:36.394-08:002014-02-12T05:04:36.394-08:00Well that was good.Well that was good.amyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09908705724076508286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2638993969706011706.post-14541575415404455052014-02-12T00:15:29.385-08:002014-02-12T00:15:29.385-08:00That was really good. Reminded me of this Ted Hugh...That was really good. Reminded me of this Ted Hughes poem.<br /><br />"Hawk Roosting<br /><br />I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed.<br />Inaction, no falsifying dream<br />Between my hooked head and hooked feet:<br />Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.<br /><br />The convenience of the high trees!<br />The air's buoyancy and the sun's ray<br />Are of advantage to me;<br />And the earth's face upward for my inspection.<br /><br />My feet are locked upon the rough bark.<br />It took the whole of Creation<br />To produce my foot, my each feather:<br />Now I hold Creation in my foot<br /><br />Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly -<br />I kill where I please because it is all mine.<br />There is no sophistry in my body:<br />My manners are tearing off heads -<br /><br />The allotment of death.<br />For the one path of my flight is direct<br />Through the bones of the living.<br />No arguments assert my right:<br /><br />The sun is behind me.<br />Nothing has changed since I began.<br />My eye has permitted no change.<br />I am going to keep things like this."<br />pjamesstuarthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13288777018721199748noreply@blogger.com