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Monthly Archives: September 2016
You could go with this, or you could go with that
Or you could go with this. Or you could go with that. Or you could go with us! 優柔不断 yuu.juu.fu.dan Literally: gentle – soft – non – sever / judge / decide Alternately: Waffling. Vacillating. Hesitating to choose. Lacking resolve … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged Fatboy Slim, indecisive, vacillating, Weapon of Choice, 優柔, 不断
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Magic Monday – God-eaters – Deity template
I’ve shifted the focus of my RPG-related time allowance, in a serious way, to developing the God-eaters campaign. In the mid to long term this will mean that I’ll need to fill in more mechanics (beyond just magic spells with … Continue reading
One, two, three, four five; Once I caught a fish alive
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten; I never saw a fish again 柳の下にいつも泥鰌は居らぬ (Yanagi no shita ni itsumo dojou wa oranu; “There isn’t always a loach below the willow”) Definition: Just because something good happened once doesn’t mean that the same … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Kotowaza
Tagged ドジョウ, coincidence, expectations, loach, willow, 柳の下, 泥鰌
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He’s dead, Jim
Should have tried the Power of Rock. 薬石無効 yaku.seki.mu.kou Literally: medicine – stone – nothing – efficacy Alternately: Neither medicine nor treatment were effective. The 石 in 薬石 refers to traditional Chinese treatments making use of stones, such as bian … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged Chinese medicine, 無効, dead, 薬石, power of rock, treatment ineffective
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Magic Monday – God-eaters
(An outline for a CoaEG-style campaign) Last summer I posted about a “campaign core” idea based on player characters gaining power, not through traditional blood-and-gold leveling, but through stealing the essence of “legendary entities.” Recently I rediscovered the post and … Continue reading
Posted in Rules, Setting, World-Building
Tagged Children of an Elder God, god-eaters, legendary entities, RPG, YAOSC
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Your life may depend on what you overhear
門前の小僧習わぬ経を読む (Monzen no kozou narawanu kyou wo yomu; “The child before the gate reads sutras they never learned”) Definition: The place you live in has a strong impact on you. People who live somewhere for a long time will unconsciously … Continue reading
Deep, deep turtle
盲亀浮木 mou.ki.fu.boku Literally: blind – turtle – float – tree Alternately: An incredibly rare event; something nigh-impossibly difficult to find. By implication, something you really should take advantage of while you have the chance. Notes: 盲亀 is, as the characters … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Yojijukugo
Tagged blind turtle, Buddhism, 盲亀, driftwood, opportunity, 浮木
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Magic Monday – Uneasy lies the head
Crown of Shadows Shadows are strange, abstract entities that only truly exist in the realm of the Shadow – the psychic mirror of the material world. Many are benign, but the touch of even the best-intentioned can be dangerous to … Continue reading
Posted in Rules, Setting, World-Building
Tagged administration, artifact, crown, item, Magic Monday, Shadow
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Wise guys’ noses, eyes
Smart enough not to say “Smell you later”? 目から鼻へ抜ける (Me kara hana he nukeru; “[In] from the eyes and out the nose”) Definition: Especially perceptive and shrewd. Able to quickly understand and correctly judge a situation. “Smelling out” a situation as … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Kotowaza
Tagged 目から, 鼻へ, Kefukigusa, perceptive, quick discernment, shrewd, smelling out
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Challenge accepted: Artifact dash
Today I finally got around to reading a post from a couple of months ago over at an RPG blog called Semper Initiativus Unum about “megadungeons and artifacts.” As is generally the case when I write this kind of post, a … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellaneous, Musing, World-Building
Tagged artifact, challenge accepted, gaming, Kusanagi, megadungeon, RPG, sequence breaking
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