A Continent of Banalities

  People are dumb on the internet. They posture, believe what they read, and forget everything about the distinction between public and private information. They're so ripe to be plucked that it's almost unsporting to take their money. That's never stopped Valerie Robinson though. A rube is something you decide to be. Val is a nice, smiling lady of around sixty-seven. Looking at her, you wouldn't credit that she used to be a phone phreaker, wrote a few articles for Abbie Hoffmann's YIPL, and possibly even briefly dated someone who went on to found Apple. Her early background is pretty much a mystery, but she will cop to being of the Canuck persuasion. Val soon discovered that life was so much more pleasant taking people's money than worrying about 'beating the Man'. Toll fraud, phone scams, Val did it all. Do not underestimate. When the internet came along, it was like a license to print money. For several years she managed to siphon off astronomical amo...

I have two settings for TROIKA! available for free on Itch. Art by Evlyn Moreau There's The Liver of Acratopotes , a fantasy setting set on a demigod's liver. And there's the TROIKA! version of Passing Strange . 21st century weirdness and the weirdos who must suffer it. Both of these have been featured in stages of unfinishedness on this very blog.

Background tables These tables are meant to serve as inspiration for your teen’s background. You’re not required to use them, or to roll randomly.  D10 Ideology/Belief 1 There is no such thing as bad attention. 2 Being a kid is really an application process for being an adult. I know where I’m meant to go. 3 I have faith (specify). It helps me tell right from wrong. 4 “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” 5 I know that the world could be better, and it’s my job to make others see this (what’s your cause?) 6 There are more things out there than what people will admit to. I want to see what’s beneath the surface. 7 Childhood is a golden, fading memory. I don’t like I’m heading. 8 I only tr...

I have tried to make a hack of Call of Cthulhu which lets you play teenagers in the 1990s, heavily inspired by Things From the Flood. It owes a good deal to Pulp Cthulhu as well, and uses some of the Pulp Talents and Luck rules. How to roll up a teen. STRength 1D6+8 x 5 CONstitution 1D6+8 x 5 SIZe 1D6+8 x 5 INTelligence 1D6+8 x 5 APPearance 1D6+8 x 5 POWer 1D6+8 x 5 EDUcation 1D6+8 x 5 Choose one of these as your Prime Attribute and that one is rolled 1D6+12. LUCK 2D6+6 x 5 Luck works the same way as it does in Pulp Cthulhu. The same goes for derived characteristics. Then choose a role. The role determines your ‘occupational’ skills as well as the Pulp Talents available to you. Note that none of them are combat talents. While kids can and do fight, they’re not generally all that good at it. (New Pulp Talents are marked with an asterisk). C redit Rating isn’t a suggestion here, it’s what your teen gets. You don’t have t...