500+ Words About...

...Removing the Money from Politics On this Leap Day, the United States is in the midst of spending billions of dollars to decide who runs this country for the next four years. Needless to say, this is a big business. However, the power that comes with being in charge is even bigger business, so those who put the billions in are doing it to make tens or hundreds of times as much.  What people see is the initial movement of this political process. They see that some group hires a lobbyist who spends their money to get a politician elected, who then passes (or blocks) legislation to help the lobbyists' causes. This makes the politician worth supporting further, which perpetuates the cycle.  So what do we do about it? After all, we seem to have the proverbial perpetual motion machine here: The money from the lobbyist passes to the politician, who then uses the government to refill the spigot of the cause who hired the lobbyist in the first place. But the key to all this motion is...

 ...Tonight's Season Premiere of Survivor Every season of Survivor  (USA) is quite different. There are twists and turns, and the producers try to introduce new things to keep people on their toes. But the main difference each season is the contestants and how they interact with one another. I have seen the early interviews of each contestant prior to this first episode, and it's obvious that the producers cast the most unique cast of at least the modern (i.e. post-pandemic) era, and quite possibly of all time. Each has a unique path for what made them apply in the first place, and now they are being thrown together to see what's up. I will not name names, but here is a sample of some of who we have playing: A man whose house was raided by police at a very young age and realized at that moment that he might have rely on himself to survive. A man whose family encouraged him to apply but is so convinced he's going to be the first person voted out that they're throwing...

 ...Walking through Spell Design I would like to take this time to walk through the how the Torg Eternity spell design looks today with examples of how current spells would appear as "on the fly" designs with explanations of the entries. To recall, an "on the fly" spell design takes the important aspects of the spell and divides them among the four magic skills. Each one would then be put into a Dramatic Skill Resolution and played out. When doing deliberate spell design, the process is done in a controlled setting over time, so each step would have effectively unlimited attempts at them. But what a deliberate spell design wants to do is create a new spell to add to the caster's repertoire, and what it values is balancing the amount of time spent working on the design with the final Difficulty Number of the spell. So a casting effectively repeats all the steps into one casting action, so counts as a Multi-Action on the four skills using the main skill for that s...

...One small investment for me... One of the things about writing is that things need to be comfortable. Another is that it should be practical to the situation. at hand. So as I'm concerned, a small investment is likely to yield large results. What is this small investment, and why does it matter? The investment is a wireless combo keyboard and mouse. I've had wireless keyboards before, and wireless mouse technology, but the advantage of this is both work with the same USB plug. With only two USB ports in my current computer, that's a major improvement.  This means I am able (if I wish) to operate keyboard, mouse, and something else. The "something else' is always something rare, but when needed, it's great to have. Also, with both keyboard and mouse combined and wireless, it means I do not have to keep the actual laptop near me to type. This means I can keep the laptop at eye level while typing and moving the mouse at a lower level where my hands are effectiv...

 ..."Looking At" vs. "Looking Along" C. S, Lewis wrote many things in an attempt to explain Christianity as he knew it. One such writing was an essay called. "Mediation in a Toolshed" for which  an excellent video  has been made. It highlights an imbalance in our thinking that has only gotten worse over time. The essay begins by noticing that while in a dark toolshed, a sunbeam had through a crack at the top of the door. He was able to see the beam, with dust floating in it, and it seemed to be the only thing there. But when he stepped into it, all that vanished and he saw outside the leaves, the sky, and the sun that had produced the beam.  The first observation was him looking at  the beam, while the second observation was him looking along  the beam. One gives an outside account, while the other gives the inside participatory account. Other examples he gave are the person falling in love vs. a scientist measuring the physical reactions of the lover, o...

...Black YouTubers Supporting Donald Trump Yes, this is a real thing. No, not every black YouTuber is supporting Donald Trump. But given the near monopoly that the Democrats have had in recent years over the black vote, this trend is noteworthy. I have listened to some of these, particularly for the reasoning being employed. I will give two such reasons here. Donald Trump: the Persecuted Within a single month, two courtrooms in New York have slapped insane fines on the former President totaling over $400 million. One is over a sexual assault charge that was so old the New York legislature had to alter the statute of limitations to be able to bring it up. The other is against his business enterprise, claiming it defrauded banks in the way it obtained bank loans, but managed somehow to get the State of New York to file as the aggrieved party. In both these cases, the demand for the money is being made immediately—no chance to delay the payment by appeal. So even if an appellate court doe...

 ...Not Being Happy with My Progress Today Here I am, looking at the remains of several big projects I sort of wandered into but probably won't finish in the course of the next year. And it has occurred to me that my goal of doing today's 500 Words is still on the table as well. Seems simple enough to just pick something from one of the projects and advance it by 500 words, right? Wrong!  Let me explain... One project is in a long slog mode. I know that anything I do now will just be spinning my wheels, so I have no desire for it today. Another project is one that has a specific steady goal for its next step, but I am on step 5 of like 200 for this phase, and when that phase is completed, I then get the task of trying to measure something that was built to be unmeasurable. Once that is done, the update needs to be tested on all my previous data points to weed out bugs. The last time I did this kind of project, it took a year and a half for the first part, and never got through...

 ...The Argument for God from Psychophysical Harmony (Part 1 of many) Since I'm limiting myself to chunks of text between 500 and about 1,000 words, I know the full explanation of this argument will take a while. So I will try to take things one piece at a time until it is complete. Statement of the Claim The fact that our psychological (mental) experiences are harmonious with physical reality provides strong corroboration for the existence of a God of the type normally associated with Christianity. Structure of the Argument The argument compares a priori epistemic probabilities  in a Bayesian structure in terms of how likely theism and atheism a priori  (i.e, before experiments) would have predicted the result of the experiment on an epistemic basis .  All the italicized terms will eventually be defined, either in this post or some later one. Then the Bayesian model of revising epistemic probabilities can be applied to see which option (atheism or theism) is more pr...

 ...Spell Trappings, Part 2 This post is the conclusion of Spell Trappings, which was published just before this. Prerequisite A spell that requires another spell or Clearance Level to learn qualifies for the trapping of Prerequisite, The difficulty of obtaining the prerequisite determines the degree of Difficulty Number reduction. Restriction Most spells can be cast over and over. When one Fireball  ends, another can begin. Spells that place limits on how often they can be cast qualify for the Restriction trapping. A Restriction's value in reducing the Difficulty Number is based on the amount of time that must pass between castings. Self In the original Torg, there was a trapping for Touch. In that version, an unarmed combat  or similar test needed to be made to transfer the spell effect to the target. Torg Eternity 's Aysle Sourcebook specifies that Touch spells do not actually need to touch the target; merely being close enough to touch the target is good enough. So in...

...Spell Trappings, Part 1 In a previous article, I mentioned that spells can have trappings , additional conditions that can reduce the Difficulty Number of a designed spell. Each trapping must create a situation where the spell either cannot be cast, provides incentive against casting, limits the scope of the spell, or requires additional preparation to cast.  This will list the trappings I have identified so far. Most of these are from the Aysle Sourcebook and reprinted in  Pixaud's Practical Grimoire  from the original Torg, but new ones are added, and all of them will offer suggestions for the player and game master to adjudicate them. In most cases, the value of the trapping has yet to be determined; I am "redesigning" the current published spells to see what values make sense. Additional Cast Time This one is easy enough to understand. Most spells can be cast in a single action, which is one round except in the case of Flurry. So if the spell takes longer than...

 ...the Effort to Create "On the Fly" Spell Design for Torg Eternity As we have already seen, there is more to creating a spell on the fly than simply deciding what you want and then casting it. The effects come about as a result of conscious choices, which were discussed previously. The next step is to build a structure for adding these choices in and resolving the effect.  Using the Dramatic Skill Resolution A Dramatic Skill Resoultion is appropriate here because "on the fly" spell designs are not repeated; they are designed for the moment, not for posterity. There are four magic skills, and all four have a role in every spell, even though the final result is primarily one skill. This seems like a perfect fit for our purposes.  The Four Steps of the DSR Step A: Divination . The supernatural archive of every possible spell needs to be searched for a spell that achieves the desired result. Divination  is the skill most related to discerning magic and gaining informa...

 ...Extended Skill Tests in Torg Eternity I have recently subscribed to Mike Mearls' Patreon account as a free member. There he is currently discussing how The World's Most Arrogant Role Playing Game  needs an overhaul on its skill resolution system. In this, he incorporates tiered success, which is already familiar to Torg Eternity  players, and includes in it the idea of a small failure being a Complication, which doesn't totally derail the action but introduces a new twist (again, familiar territory for those gamemasters who use Failing results). But his latest article (dated 2/14/2024) introduced a new idea, what I am calling an Extended Skill Test. An Extended Skill Test heightens the excitement by extending the action over several rounds, giving players more opportunities to manage the encounter. In that aspect, it is similar to a Dramatic Skill Resolution. But unlike DSR, the EST is not forced into a four (or fewer) step format where certain steps are only availabl...

 ...My Mother and Her Poetry I am going to take this opportunity to write about my mother, who is having health issues at this time. She was never famous, but for those who knew her, she is loved and remembered. Margaret Riesland was born to a farm family in western Racine County, Wisconsin. She loves the state and will not live anywhere else. She had three children, myself and my two sisters. She married William Reindl in 1969 and moved to Milwaukee shortly after that. She has lived in Milwaukee County since then. This past year has been rough for her physically. She is now unable to care for herself and needs outside help for basic tasks. Things have been touch and go, and she had to leave the apartment she lived in for the 15 years since her husband's death. The contents have been moved to various locations in case they are needed in the future, and I was put in charge of her file cabinet.  In going over my mother's papers, I have found a folder where a number of her poems ...

...the Building Blocks of a Spell in Torg Eternity If the goal of systematizing spell design in Torg: Eternity  is to succeed, we need to examine the components of a spell so they can be accounted for. This is my attempt to define and quantify these elements. Most of these were covered in the original Torg: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars game but may need adjustments to account for Torg Eternity 's simplifications. Spell Pattern Spell patterns are based on two things: the magic skill used and the arcane knowledge involved. The degree of complexity of the magic skills is well known. From most complex to least, they are: conjuration, alteration, apportation, divination. The link above has the original Knowledge Chart, which gives the original relationships between the Arcane Knowledges. Torg Eternity  doesn't use this chart, except that it determines which of the four main dedicated lists (Elements, Essences, Kindred, Principles) it began in, based on the spell's main focus...

...Considerations of Spell Design in Torg Eternity   Torg Eternity  is Ulisses Spiele's reboot and simplification of Torg: Roleplaying the Possibility Wars  from West End Games' original design. In the original, the magical world called Aysle had as part of its sourcebook a spell design system which applied a formula to how to design spells from their components. To say that player reaction was mixed about this system would be a gross understatement. It was one of the most polarizing aspects I have ever seen in a game: players either loved and embraced it or they hated it with the fury of a thousand suns, with very few in-between reactions. Those who hated it (the majority of players were in this camp) did so because it was overly detailed, cumbersome, and too swingy to be reliable. But then again those who loved it did so for the exact same reasons. And since I as a gamemaster always had one player (and sometimes as many as three players at once) who loved the system and...

...Why the "Problem of Evil" Doesn't Pose a Problem to Christianity Evil sucks. And it sucks because it truly is evil, not some personal dislike or other preference choice. The whole force of the objection to Christianity is based on the idea that a good God would not tolerate evil to the degree it exists. Throughout the ages, the formulation of this argument has changed. It started as a deductive argument, and has since moved to more evidential and probabilistic models, but the thrust is the same: Evil as it exists seems incompatible with a God who cares about the world and has its best interests at heart. Yet I will show that simply is not the case. Alex O'Connor poses a thoughtful objection to the theodicies (explanations of why a good God would allow evil): If God can build a world without evil, why not just do so? Why the intermediate step where animals die in forest fires or tidal waves send thousands of fish and other creatures to their deaths?  Yet, when I loo...

 ...the "500+ Words About..." Blog Welcome to the start of the "500+ Words About..." Blog. That's the official title, though for everyday purposes, I will call it simply "500 Words".  The goal of 500 Words is to fulfill the basis writing goal to write something new every day. For most people, that's going to be focused about either one specific topic, or working toward one book, or directed toward one cause. Not this. This will be about whatever I happen to find worth writing about that day.  There is a simple and compelling reason for this lack of focus. I have found that if I try to limit myself to one topic, I will fail. It will end in a fiery death at some point, because I get a few ideas, and strike while the iron is hot, but then something happens and I draw a blank, another project shows up, etc.  So the idea is to make this different. How, you ask? First, the lack of focus mentioned above. Writing 500+ words about "whatever I happen to...