The Unseen Servant forums

I read that one and really liked it. High quality research and writing, I thought. The Comanches were fierce. The ran all of their enemies off of the buffalo range. Their last war chief Quanah Parker was brilliant and had an interesting life.

Grog, I'm a Harlan Ellison fan too. He was so different than other SF writers of the time. Pretty radical.

I like the brutal honesty of the history on both sides.

Thinking of reading “War Before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage” after “Power to Save the World” next.

No Comanches, but on the nonfiction side I am reading



On the fiction side…



On TV I’m watching The Boys on Amazon.

My favorite sci-fi anthology from the 70s is Dangerous Visions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangerous_Visions
Fritz Lieber's story "Gonna Roll the Bones" is an amazing classic, I think. A real gem.

I'm still reading the Time-Life Old West series for homebrew ideas.

I can't say what I'm watching, because I'm also using it for homebrew ideas. Don't want to reveal any spoilers. But Dune 2 is up next.

I remember reading Dangerous Visions and some of Again, DV in my early twenties. I’m a Harlan Ellison fan. A third volume is finally coming out.

I’m curious, Jemmus. When you write about “rangy Texas” horses, are you referring to Mustangs?

I have a book by Frederick Remington where he describes his travels in the West. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/564 ... -remington He painted the horses he saw in various areas, included what were called "Texas horses." I can't find the specific image, but the horse looked similar to this vaquero's.
https://www.artic.edu/artworks/97907/a-mexican-vaquero

Remington describes the horses as:
Not very tall
Narrow haunches
Long neck
Intelligent.
They weren't the fastest horses in a sprint, but they could cover miles and miles faster than other horses, especially in hot weather. And most importantly, without much water. If I remember correctly, Remington speculated that they were descended from wild mustangs that were well- adapted to the Texas climate.

I figured there was a connection. Mustangs are known for most of the same traits, except they are rather beefy and muscular rather than thin and rangy. I broke a mustang once, as a kid. It certainly wasn’t a bucking bronco breaking. More like…tie his head down between two trees and go really slowly getting a blanket, then saddle, then me on him.

Wow. I don't know anybody else with experience breaking a horse.

Grog, I'm a Harlan Ellison fan too. His stuff was really different than the other writers' of the time stuff. Pretty gritty, and it must have been pretty radical at the time.

Oh no, July 15, 2024 will be the second anniversary of this dadgum old game. Yes, that's right two years. Bonuses are probably coming. After all fights are done.

Happy 4th of July to all y’all!

Happy 4th! Blow something up!

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!

Not sure it counts as blowing things up but I did some shooting (couple of hundred rounds) in the back yard yesterday and today.

jemmus wrote: ↑Tue Jun 25, 2024 2:59 am Oh no, July 15, 2024 will be the second anniversary of this dadgum old game. Yes, that's right two years. Bonuses are probably coming. After all fights are done.

Thanks Jemmus for running. I enjoy the narrative nature of the game and your effort in creating the old west detail.

jemmus wrote: ↑Thu Jul 04, 2024 9:42 pm Happy 4th! Blow something up!

Yes happy 4th cowboys.

Rex wrote: ↑Fri Jul 05, 2024 12:36 am Happy Fourth of July Everyone!

Not sure it counts as blowing things up but I did some shooting (couple of hundred rounds) in the back yard yesterday and today.

Jealous! Been a month or so since I smelled gun smoke. I did smell fireworks and cannon smoke tonight!

The neighbors supplied some fireworks tonight. They love any excuse for fireworks, LOL.

The valley I am in becomes one with the fireworks every 4th. It's awesome, I can see the show from each and every window!

Oh, and I will be on vacation from the 8th though the 24. I'll be driving the 8th - 11th. I should be able to post most evenings, but please feel free to have William do something at least somewhat sensical if I'm holding up play!

Cool! Just got back from a show at the Empire State Fair in Long Island, NY. First time there, we didn't know how to watch it without buying $40 wristbands for a pass to ride all of the rides for the half hour until the carnival closes. (Heaven forbid! ) But we spotted the pros, who were calmly unloading and setting up lawn chairs facing a direction one would least likely to expect for the show. They weren't at all wrong.

(redwarrior, I expect that we can wait a few days and not need to NPC William. It will give me some time to all plot positions out and iron out the details of the PCs' and NPCs' actions. Combat in Boot Hill is crunchy enough, as we've seen, and getting things right requires some back and forth.

(Also, the stakes are pretty high in BH. We don't have fantasy RPGs' overnight healers. A hit on a character can take weeks to heal, even when medical treatment is available-- and also successful. So things people need to fully understand the situation, and every turn needs to be done right).

Sorry for the delay in posting, especially in the Strange Pursuit thread. I'm almost done plotting out the combat for Turn 4 in that one.

Yep, waiting to get shot at is never fun.