sleestack

Oh, and I forgot to include this earlier. While I was in the ambulance, the paramedics told me they have a name for people who ride motorcycles without helmets: organ donors.

23 years ago I used to ride a motorcycle as my primary means of transportation. I was going home from college classes one day, and there was a city bus in front of me as we approached an intersection. The road I was on is a major road - 2 lanes in each direction and a turn lane in the center. The bus and I were in the inside lane, and as we approached the intersection the bus slowed and entered the turn lane. After the bus moved aside, I accelerated back up to the speed limit (35 mph) and proceeded into the intersection. Right as I entered the intersection, a driver going the other direction and waiting to turn left just...went. Right in front of me. I slammed on my brakes, but it was too late. I slammed into the rear right side of her car and was catapulted across the car to land in the intersection.

I stood up immediately, as I was aware that there was heavy traffic at the time and I didn't want to get run over. Well, my right knee let me know in no uncertain terms that it was not working any more. I looked down and saw a bloody hole in my leg, just below the knee. I collapsed back onto the street...then the pain hit. As I was screaming, a man ran up and told me to lie still. Eventually the endorphins kicked in and I stopped screaming. I then made a self-assessment of my injuries and determined that aside from some road-rash the only major injury was the hole in my right leg.

After a while aan ambulance showed up and the paramedics started doing their thing. While I was lying there in the road I looked over to see another motorcycle rider stopped at the light, staring at me with wide eyes and mouth hanging open. He wasn't wearing a helmet. I opened the visor on my helmet and yelled at him, "Get a helmet and wear it! It will save your life...like mine just saved my life! (Yes I was wearing a helmet, full faced. If you ride, wear a helmet!!! It WILL save your life and/or your cranium/brain. I'm living proof of that. My helmet had a 2-inch wide hole in the back, where it hit the pavement. If I had been helmetless that would have been my skull that was cracked open.)

Well, while the paramedics were working on getting me ready to transport, the girl that turned in front of me came over, and she was freaking out. She was crying and nearly hysterical. She said how sorry she was, and I told her it was OK and tried to calm her down. That's right, I was lying there injured, it was her fault, and *I* was calming *her* down! I assumed she just hadn't seen me coming, which is a hazard when riding a motorcycle. Then she said the words that if I had been able, I would have gotten up and strangled her on the spot.

She said, "I saw you coming, I just thought I could make it in front of you."

Now, I'm certain that had I been in a car she never would have considered turning in front of me. But a motorcycle? Eh, I can make it!

I've never ridden a motorcycle since.

If you drive a car, look out for motorcycles and bicycles. Motorcycles especially can be deceptive in how fast they are going, and can be on you much sooner than you think.

Oh and my knee? My right patellar tendon got ripped loose from the shin. After surgery, metal pins and physical therapy I walk without a limp, but I can never bend that leg all the way ever again. And sometimes it really aches, especially on cold, rainy days.

Thanks jerk driver-lady who almost killed me! I'll never forget you or what you did to me!

This might break the forum, but what the heck. It's both funny and insightful...two great tastes that taste great together.

Ok, all you people who are blathering on about how "soft" we are on crime...exactly what color is the sky in the world where you live? Because in the United States, the rate of violent crime has decreased over the last 20 years and now stands about where it was in the early 1970s, and the decline is continuing. The same holds true for non-violent crimes.

If we're soooo damned soft on crime, why does the US have the highest incarceration rate in the world? According to the linked article, the US has only 5% of the world's population, but almost 25% of the world's prisoners. Yeah, that's REAL soft on crime.

* * * * *

There are some parts of the world where drinking alcohol is a crime. I enjoy a beer or 2 every now and then. What do I do when the "superhero" from a "dry" country shows up and demands I stop drinking...or else? Hell, there are places where **** victims are stoned to death, for being "adulterers" for "letting" themselves get *****. Thank $deity that a Somalian "superhero" can now kill...er, I mean "bring justice to"...**** victims...er, I mean "adulterous criminals"...around the world.

Hooray for juvenile revenge fantasies masquerading as strong moral convictions and being "tough on crime".

There are some other tactics you can use as a squishie attacking groups of enemies.

1) Pulling - use your least damaging attack or even your origin inherent attack. Try to target an enemy that is closest to you, and as far away from the others in the group as possible. Often you will get only that enemy coming after you. Rinse and repeat. If you get more than 1 enemy after you, run until they lose aggro then try again.

2) Aggro the whole group then run like hell. After they lose aggro, they will run back to their spawn point. If you are quick, you can chase them down and catch a straggler without aggroing the entire group again.

3) Carry Awaken inspirations to rez without having to go to the hospital and run back to the mission. When fighting groups, try to move them away from their spawn point. That way if they defeat you they will run back to the spawn point, leaving you alone to rez in safety.

I know those don't sound all the "super", but these strategies can be effective for lower-level squishies until you get some more levels and powers and can take on larger spawns with more success.

Did anybody else take the survey linked at the end of the article? Some interesting questions there.

Who put the bop in the bop she bop she bop?

That was awesome! Now I know what the word 'on' means! Thanks Grover!

Zombies In Spaaaaaaaace!

From the article:

Inherent means you get it independent of other power choices. It's like Sprint or Rest, you just get it at the appropriate level (I'm not sure what that's going to be for Fitness).

Edit: Oh, and welcome to the forums and the game, if you just signed up.

I hope he doesn't employ the tired, over-used "slow-mo in the middle of the action sequence" thing. I mean a bit here and there can punch things up, but less is more in this case.

And General Zod? Really? He's cool...I guess...kinda...but HE'S BEEN DONE IN A SUPERMAN MOVIE BEFORE!!!! OMG, COME UP WITH SOMETHING NEW FOR A CHANGE!! Brainiac, Doomsday, Darkseid, Mr. Mzxyzxtplwtf, ANYTHING but Luthor or Zod.

Heh, let's see her do La Villa Strangiato, then I'll be impressed.

I'm impressed now, but I'll be impressed THEN too.

OMG that was was too funny!

I think he could do the role. I've seen many comedy actors successfully make the switch to more serious, dramatic roles - Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, Bill Cosby to name a few. I think Isaiah Mustafa could totally do this role.

Great story! The little girl sound like a born gamer.

I'm running a GURPS Supers campaign right now, and we usually play at a friend's house. About a month ago my wife was unable to watch our 10 year old son, so we moved gaming over to my house. I asked my son if he wanted to sit in and play a superhero with the "big boys", and he enthusiastically agreed. I checked that it was OK with my buddies - the biggest thing was to keep the talk PG-13 - and they all agreed.

Well, I let my son play one of the NPC party members (a rich battlesuit guy, go figure), and he REALLY got into it. He was RPing everything, and he did pretty well in that night's battle. The party was facing robots, and without prompting he asked if his Engineer (Robotics) skill could give him an advantage or insight to help defeat the robots. I said, "Make a skill roll". He rolled 8 under his skill, so I gave him a bonus to damage because he had identified a weak spot.

The upshot is, he loved it and wants to play again. But this time he wants to play his own character, and as he said, "This time I want to start from the beginning." He meant that he didn't want to jump into an ongoing campaign, but wanted to start a story. So, I'm working on a martial arts scenario based loosely on "Kung Fu Hustle" and "The Karate Kid". We're trying to enlist some of his friends to play as well.

*sniff* I got to play a PnP RPG with my son, and he liked it. I'm so proud!

She's a witch! Buuuuurn her!!!!

She turned me into a newt!

Thank $diety! I'm soooo tired of having to do things like bend over, manipulate objects with my fingers and then, after ALL THAT I have to straighten up again! That's just not right!