The Adventures of Captain Geek

IT'S HERE!!!!!

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:05:51 GMT

Hero Games - new 6th edition Hero Games releases :
Hero System 6th Edition Book 1 : Character Creation - $39.99
This hardbound 460 page book has everything you need generate a character, define powers, make up gadgets and get set for the campaign.

Hero System 6th Edition Book 2 : Combat and Adventuring - $39.99
320 hardbound pages of combat mechanics, interacting with your world, genre and game mastering ideas and more. All set so you can get your Hero 6 game going quickly.

Hero System 6th Edition Basic Rulebook - $ 19.99
This softbound book has all the basics you need to play the Hero 6 system, all boiled down to it's core mechanics. Nothing extra - just what you need to play the game.

Hero System 6th Edition Advanced Players Guide - $ 24.99
Advanced, expanded, optional and and variant rules for the Hero 6 game system. New powers, skills, combat maneuvers and much much more. 196 softbound pages of fun.

Not in my geeky little hands yet, but it's here.

See?!?!?!?!?

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:34:55 GMT

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6516323/Comic-books-are-good-for-childrens-learning.html

44!

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:26:05 GMT

Today's my birthday.

Forty-Four years.

And still a kid at heart. 8-)

Dragon Poker (LONG post)

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:58:10 GMT

Copied from Wikipedia.

Dragon Poker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Dragon Poker is a fictional card game from the "MythAdventures" series by Robert Asprin, featured primarily in the book Little Myth Marker. The game is an absurdly complex Poker variant, with the same basic rules as stud poker but with different names for the suits and face cards and the added concept of conditional modifiers. A conditional modifier is a modification to the rules based on variables such as the day of the week, the number of players, chair position, which hand of the game it is, etc. As a result the game quickly gets ridiculously complicated.

Asprin has never provided the full rules for Dragon Poker; it is used in the book only as a plot device in a parody of professional gambling, and not as a fully developed game. This has not stopped fans from creating a set of Rules For Dragon Poker.[citation needed]

Contents [hide]
1 The deck
2 The deal
3 Hands
4 Betting
5 Conditional modifiers
6 Odds (natural deck)
7 Dragon Poker Hands (4-Jokers deck)
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] The deck
Dragon Poker is played with a standard 52-card deck with the usual four suits: clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. However, the Dragon Poker deck's face cards are Elves, Ogres, Unicorns, and Dragons, corresponding to jacks, queens, kings, and aces, respectively. (Like aces in poker, Dragons can be either the high card or the low card in a straight, but not both.)

[edit] The deal
Dragon Poker is a kind of stud poker. That is, each player plays the cards he gets, with no chance to draw better cards. Unlike most poker variations, the scoring hands are made up of six cards rather than five, and a total of nine cards are dealt to each player. Thus, a total of five players can play for each deck.

The game is played with all cards on the table, with four face-down hole cards and five cards face up. The hole cards are the first three and the last one to each player. (Down - down - down - up - up - up - up - up - down).

[edit] Hands
With six-card hands, the variations of possible hands are far more numerous than in standard poker. Thus, the standard order does not necessarily apply.

The hands, with descriptions, from lowest to highest:

High card: Same as in normal poker
One Pair: Same as in normal poker
Two Pair: Same as in normal poker
Three of a Kind: Same as in normal poker
Three Pair: Just what it sounds like
Full house: Same as in normal poker, a "Three of a Kind" plus a "Pair"
Straight: Six cards with consecutive face values, of any suits (see below)
Four of a Kind: Same as in normal poker
Corps-a-corps: see below
Flush: Six cards of the same suit, with any values
Full Belly: Two sets of "Three of a Kind"
Full Dragon: A "Four of a Kind" plus a "Pair"
Straight Flush: Six cards of the same suit, with consecutive face values
A few hands require some explanation:

Normal hands — One and two pairs, three of a kind, full house, and four of a kind are exactly the same as in five-card poker, with an extra, "don't care" card. Flushes, straights, and straight flushes are similar to their counterparts, but that the sixth card must fit with the same rule as the other five.

Added hands — Three pairs is as it would seem: three pairs of cards put together. A full belly is two sets of threes of a kind, and a full dragon is a four of a kind plus a pair.

Note: The position for straights is out of order in regards to the list given in Little Myth Marker. This is because the number of possible straights is higher than that of flushes and fours of a kind.
The Corps-a-Corps hand — The "corps-a-corps" hand was given no official definition in the book Little Myth Marker, but it has been given an unofficial definition by fans.[citation needed] The unofficial "corps-a-corps" hand is a "Three Pair" in which the three pairs are also two three-card flushes. An example would be the 2, 7, and ogre of hearts, along with the 2, 7, and ogre of spades.

[edit] Betting
Dragon Poker has six rounds of betting: once after each round of up cards is dealt (the fourth through eighth), plus a final betting round before everyone shows their hole cards. As in traditional poker, the person who starts each round is the one with the best hand "showing", that is, from just all the face-up cards.

[edit] Conditional modifiers
What makes Dragon Poker so intriguing (and confusing) is the concept of conditional modifiers. These are a standard set of rules that, depending on the day, weather, number of people playing, and other factors, determines what cards are wild, what cards are "dead" (unusable), and other subtle changes in how the game is played.

In the books, the rules delineating conditional modifiers vary as well, depending on the dimension where the game is being played. It is not known if there exists a set or rules for modifiers that applies to Earth's dimension, nor, if they exist, what they are.

If a player makes a mistake in his interpretation of the current hand's conditional modifiers, so that he undervalues his own hand, the opponent is not required to point out the error (although he is not forbidden from doing so, either).

A few of the modifiers mentioned in Little Myth Marker:

Red dragons are wild on even-numbered hands.
Once a night, a player can change the suit of one of his cards.
Every five hands, the sequence of cards is reversed, so the low cards are high and vice versa.
Once a four-of-a-kind is played, that card value is dead and treated as a blank card.
If there's a ten showing in the first two face-up cards in each hand, then sevens will be dead (Unless there is a second ten showing, then it cancels the first).
If the first card turned face up in a round is an Ogre, the round will be played with an extra hole card, four face up and five face down.
[edit] Odds (natural deck)
Hand Combinations Odds (6 of 6)
All 20358520 1.00000000
High card 4203876 0.20649222
One Pair 9884160 0.48550484
Two Pair 4942080 0.24275242
Three of a Kind 732160 0.03596332
Three Pair 360360 0.01770070
Full House 164736 0.00809175
Straight (6) 36828 0.00180897
Four of a Kind 13728 0.00067431
Three Matched Pair 10296 0.00050573
Flush (6) 6828 0.00033539
Full Belly (3+3) 2496 0.00012260
Full Dragon (4+2) 936 0.00004598
Straight Flush (6) 36 0.00000177
[edit] Dragon Poker Hands (4-Jokers deck)
Here "N" means "natural" (that is, without any wild cards), and "W" means "using at least one wild card".

Hand Combinations Odds (6 of 6)
All 32468436 1.0000000
High/Pair (W) 4817536 0.1483759
One Pair (N) 9884160 0.3044236
Two Pair (N Only) 4942080 0.1522118
Three of a Kind 5125120 0.1578493
Three Pair(N Only) 370656 0.0114130
Full house 1153152 0.0355160
Straight (6) 4231116 0.1303147
Four of a Kind 947232 0.0291739
Flush (6) 902196 0.0277868
Full Belly (N Only) 2496 0.0000768
Full Dragon (4+2) 49608 0.0015278
Five of a Kind 34944 0.0010762
Straight Flush (N/W) 7560 0.0002328
Six of a Kind 364 0.0000112
Straight Flush (N) 36 0.0000011
Notes: --At least 1 Wild ==> 13,915,044 (43%) --exactly 1 Wild ==> 10,395,840 (32%)

Notice that certain hands (2 pair, 3 pair, full belly) will be natural-only hands, because wild cards can make better hands. (For example, two pair using a wild card is no longer two pair, but three of a kind.) This effect boosts the probabilities of some high-scoring hands, such as straights, at the expense of lower-scoring hands.

Maybe we can get the Asprin Estate to authorize an official Dragon Poker Deck and a book of rules one of these days. Please!

Vacation Spot

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:18:31 GMT

http://pandemoniumrealestate.com/

Will NEVER Happen In America

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:55:53 GMT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091022/od_afp/germanysocialtaxoffbeat_20091022124459

I like the line about having a bunch of money he doesn't need. I'll take it off his hands.

Pathfinder Bestiary

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:26:12 GMT

Pathfinder is what D&D 4th Edition SHOULD have been. The Pathfinder Bestiary expands on that. Each monster gets at least a full page. No more of those simple stat blocks. Some of the monsters have additional rules for using them as Animal Companions. (Fido, put down that warhorse. It's NOT a chew toy!) Templates for some of the monsters. (Undead & a few others.) And rules for using monsters as PCs, although a few have PC rules in the main text.

I particularly like how they handled dragons. Instead of printing a whole new stat block for each age category for each color/metal, they simply have a chart of modifiers for each age category and one stat block for each species.

I do hope they plan on another Bestiary soon, though. There's still a whole bunch of monsters I'd like to see.

And they put Vegepygmies in!!!!!!!!

Three-Day Weekend

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:32:58 GMT

Starting Sunday 10/25, I get THREE days off in a row. WITHOUT asking for them. I won't know what to do with myself.

Happy Anniversary!!!!!

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:30:59 GMT

13 years ago today, I adopted Annie. She was a shelter dog who still had the scar on her neck from the rope that someone had used to tie her up. The couple who had brought her in had found her walking along the road with the rope still tied around her neck. The shelter had named her Annie and I kept it, not want to confuse her. I took her for a car ride to Petco to get her used to being in the car and to get her her first bowls and a new collar and leash. Plus lots of treats.

She is my greatest success, and sometimes I think my only success, because I still get lots of compliments on how weel behaved she is. And I honestly did nothing special but walk her everyday and treat her with a love and respect any pet should receive.

She's no longer a puppy. She's not as fast. Doesn't jump as much. And there's a few gray hairs on her ears. But she will ALWAYS be My Puppy. she's the first dog that's exclusively mine. I've raised. I take care of her. And no one can claim her as theirs.

No I've just got to find her a gift. Maybe a new bowl. It HAS been 13 years.

Cosmo Strikes Again

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:16:45 GMT

http://www.cracked.com/article/156_7-sex-tips-from-cosmo-that-will-put-you-in-hospital/?virgin

My question: why is Cosmo allowed to be right at the check outs where any child could grab one and have headlines about sex and yet Playboy has to be kept FAR away from innocent eyes. I either want Cosmo taken off the shelves or put Playboy up there with it.

Stupid People

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:04:56 GMT

http://rawstory.com/2009/10/n-c-church-to-burn-satans-books-including-works-of-mother-theresa/

Hitler burned books too.

YIPPEE!!!!!!

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:27:18 GMT

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50526&filters=540_0_0_0_0

SKUNKS!!!!!

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:14:53 GMT

http://www.slate.com/id/2232163/

2012

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:29:13 GMT

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091011/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_apocalypse2012

So, can we end this bullshit insanity now?

Stupid Customer

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:19:43 GMT

Earlier this week, a ccustomer followed an employee into the employee break room. The custoemr was male, the employee was female. I happened to be in the break room at the time. We both told him he wasn't allowed there. He had the nerve to be offended. He is a regular customer. And now he is officially a creep. We got management involved. But the female employee was NOT impressed with the AMS's reaction to the incident.

Neither was I.

Legos & The Bible: Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:26:41 GMT

http://www.thebricktestament.com/

Uh Oh

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:19:38 GMT

http://news.aol.com/article/hitler-dna-casts-doubt-on-suicide-story/690447

It's a good thing Captain America is not dead.

Games Plus Auction

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 18:15:19 GMT

Starts Wednesday.

If you've got things you want to get rid of, I suggest going up there THIS weekend. They'll be taking stuff up through close of business Tuesday.

Wednesday: Collectibles
Thursday: night off
Friday: Family Games/European Games/Board Games
Saturday: RPGs
Sunday: non-collectible minis (some people put home-made terrain in here)

I'll be working the auction every day. I get store credit. And with Hero 6th coming out, I need it. 8-)

Finally!!!!

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 17:44:19 GMT

Well, I had my review yesterday. Apperently, I'm NOT a perfect employee. 8-)

But I DID get a raise this year. A whole 2.5%. Not much, but MUCH better than nothing.

Senseless Census Death

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:20:47 GMT

By now, everyone has heard about the poor part-time census taker who was murdered in Kentucky.

I have an answer for all those who do not want to be counted. You don't get police protection, fire protection, unemployment benefits, access to public hospitals, libraries. You are no longer considered a citizen. Get the fuck out of my country.

Glenn Beck

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:14:12 GMT

Has anyone seen the cover of his new book? Does he look like a Nazi or what?

Holy Shit: The Finale

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:42:19 GMT

Well, had my day in court. I'm out $390 for the old checking account. They seized it. But, they aren't garnishing my wages. I still have to pay the rest @ $100 per mobnth starting 10/5. But they left me in a better position financially thazn I was when this started. 8-)

I'm gonna pay them their $100 a month with the next paycheck. And then pay them $50 every time I get a paycheck. So I should have this cleared up in far less time than they expect.

I'm Going To Be An Ass Here

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:35:55 GMT

http://www.palladiumbooks.com/press/press2009-09c.html

My only comment is that if you'd print some of the stuff you've been promising for more than a year, I'd spend more money on your products.

I'm not a fan of the Palladium system, but I do enjoy reading their sourcebooks. But the only line of theirs I REALLY want is Heroes Unlimited. Armageddon Unlimited is HOW late? And I won't get the tie in bookd until THAT comes out.

Here's an idea: license the Palladium system to small publishers. They can't print any new rules but they can publish adventures or character catalogs or whatever. I think the OGL and the M&M Superlink did wonders for the industry and those two parent companies. People would still have to buy the core books, but would have TONS (I think in my case literally) of material to play with.

Palladium FINALLY got into the RPG market. I don't know how that's working but I bet it's helped. A Palladium license might be just what they need.

Hero 6th Edition

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:26:24 GMT

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/14/14500.phtml

Don't have it, but here's a review of the Character Creation book.

You were right, Debbie. They took out Comeliness.

I'll have to read the book myself to judge it. But I'm a Hero Geek. I'll use it.

Too bad they got delayed in shipping. Probably won't get here until next month.

This Explains EVERYTHING

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:39:55 GMT

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/15/human_brain_like_us_elections/

Okay, everything stupid in human behavior.