#AtoZChallenge2022: G is for Global Warming

The A to Z of Conspiracy Theories: G is for Global Warming

One of the biggest conspiracies out there today is the one that Global Warming is fake or somehow a grift to get more money out of us.

Honestly, I can't even start with these morons. Though they are not as bad as the Flat Earthers.

Human-caused climate change is a fact. We have too much data from too many different sources to argue this.

But yet the Climate Change deniers and conspiracy theorists are always shouting "follow the money!" or ... whatever the hell else they say. Likely blaming George Soros or the Clintons.

You want a conspiracy theory on climate change?  Ok I'll give you one.

Climate change is being caused by Demons.

For NIGHT SHIFT

Or maybe the Reptillians.  Let's look at both since both are active in the various worlds of NIGHT SHIFT.

Demons did it:  The thinking here is that as the world gets hotter resources begin to dry up, water is more scarce, food is more scarce, and horrible things like England exporting wine to France now become a reality, and it all points to evil intent.  

We know that the world's average temperatures have risen by about 1.8°F (1.0°C) since the 1800s.  At this rate, the world will be unsuitable for humans in a few more centuries.  But in a thousand years, it will be perfect for demons for a literal Hell on Earth!

Reptilians did it: Ok, Demons too far-fetched?  What about the Reptilians? They are after all reptiles and like the warmer weather.  Also if they are breeding human-reptile hybrids maybe it is because they can stay on Earth (or our dimension as some authors claim) and need to Terra-form the Earth to something more suited for their own liking.

Crazy?  Yeah, but no crazier than some of the things I have heard passed off as truth.

Now it is entirely possible that these ideas came to me from Doctor Who, in particular the 3rd Doctor era which was heavy on environmental themes.  The serial "The Daemons" even featured a large demonic-looking creature that could generate heat over vast stretches of land.  I am sure that somewhere along the way the Silurians or Sea-Devils even wanted to warm up the Earth a little for their return.

So next time someone comes at you with the idea that climate change is fake, turn back on them and say "oh it's not fake and the reptoids are all behind it!"  

The NIGHT SHIFT RPG is available from the Elf Lair Games website (hardcover) and from DriveThruRPG (PDF).

Test Post: More Larina Art

Testing a few things on my social media manager, but I figure this is also a good time to show off the latest art I had commissioned from OdinDoesArt.   I am quite pleased with it, to be honest.

Now to see how far and wide this one went!

#AtoZChallenge2022: F is for Flat Earth

The A to Z of Conspiracy Theories: F is for Flat Earth

Over the years I have seen and read about some really interesting conspiracies.  The movie JFK starring Kevin Costner really made you think that maybe Lee Harvey Oswald didn't act alone, or maybe that Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna could be alive somewhere, or maybe Roswell was about aliens.   

While thought provoking, all of these are dismissed once the evidence is carefully examined.  Oswald did act alone, DNS proved Anastasia's death, and the government did lie about Roswell, but not about aliens.

But the dumbest conspiracy theory ever has to come from the lead-paint chip-eating crowd behind the Flat Earth Theory.  I even hate to call it a theory since no part of it acts like a true theory.

Essential this brain trust believes the Earth is flat and NASA has been covering up to support the notion of "Globeists."   They are all invariably ultra-religious and start with the claim about God and the "four corners of the Earth" that they take literally.

Let's ignore the poet license people are allowed to take. Or the fact that the Bible was originally written by people that honestly had no idea where the sun went at night AND it was translated, rewritten, re-translated, and so on for centuries.  OR even that Greek mathematician Eratosthenes not only showed that only the earth was round, he also calculated its circumference with an astounding degree of accuracy prior to 200 BC.

They have all decided that not only is the Earth flat, but NASA has been lying to the entire world to...well I am not sure why they think NASA is lying.  Normally in a coverup there are reasons. Money. Power. But the Flat Earthers think NASA is hiding something. 

Let's be 100% honest here.  Flat Earthers are morons.

But what can to give me when it comes to running a NIGHT SHIFT game?

For NIGHT SHIFT

The biggest gripe that Flat Earthers seem to have is that NASA and all the world governments are conspiring together to keep information out of the hands of the ones that seek the truth. 

Let's ignore the fact that such a vast conspiracy would be impossible to pull or let alone maintain, what does NIGHT SHIFT have that the world's governments want to hide?  Easy.  Magic.

The governments of the world, or at least sections of it, know all about magic and their job is to keep that knowledge out of the hands of the unwashed masses.  To that end, they have magical practitioners that help clean up everything and erase memories.  Something akin to an Arcane Men in Black or even like the Cleaners from Charmed (who, interestingly enough wear all white and not all black like the MiB).  In some ways, they are also a bit like the  Technocracy from Mage: The Ascension, but are "pro" magic and "anti" people getting their hands on it.

This group's job is to protect magic, but more importantly, their job is to protect magic from all the "mundanes" and mortals out there.   I am thinking of calling them "The Guardians" or something like that.  They monitor all magic in the world and keep it out of the wrong hands and the wrong minds.

The Guardians either appear as angels, devils, fey creatures or tall humans as the need arises.  In truth they prefer not to be seen at all.

--

Now I should note that one of my favorite games, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea assumes a Flat Earth and it works fine there. In fact a lot of the "reality" of AS&SH is built on a lot of the ideas I have been talking about all this month.

Really there is only one Flat Earth worth talking about and that is the 1984 album by Thomas Dolby.

The NIGHT SHIFT RPG is available from the Elf Lair Games website (hardcover) and from DriveThruRPG (PDF).

#AtoZChallenge2022: E is for Extraterrestrials on Earth

The A to Z of Conspiracy Theories: E is for Extraterrestrials on Earth

Getting back to some of the aliens I want to talk about some of the aliens found on Earth and how they can be used in the game.

There are some generally accepted aliens in UFOlogy (yeah that is a word I typed). Let's go over them here and then see what we have.

Nordics

These aliens are called this because they, generally speaking, are tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, human-looking aliens.  Seriously I can't help but think about how many of these ideas are so steeped in racism and these are the Poster Boys.  Though, and to be fair, maybe they are more like the Asgardians of the Marvel Universe? Nah, that is giving them too much credit.  

The Nordics supposedly come from the Pleiades star cluster.  They seem to have a more benign nature that the other aliens. 

Reptilians 

OR Reptoids I have mentioned already this month and they have a much more sinister motive here.  They have infiltrated various levels of government (more on that later this month), but their true purposes are still unknown.  They can shape-shift and appear to be human and are believed to be somewhere from the Alpha Draconis system. 

Greys

These guys are jerks. They visit trailer parks in the middle of the night and abduct people.  Ok that is a bit glib.  These aliens are some of the most seen and are responsible for many of the close encounters. Indeed they were featured in the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (one of my favorites), Roswell, Strieber's "Communion," and the various "Alien Autopsy" movies. 

Popularly they are considered to be from Zeta Reticuli.  This is based on a drawing from one of the most famous alien abductees ever, Betty Hill.  

While generally believed to be benign, there is the opinion that they see humans as little better than animals to be experimented on. 

LGMs

The Little Green Men are common in Sci-Fi but have not featured much in conspiracy theories or alien sightings for a while.  They were commonly believed to have been from Mars.  

As their name implies they are shorter than humans, even shorter than greys.  

Insectoids

These aliens are spotted far less frequently than the others.  The Selenites are often depicted as insectoids.  Because of this, I am tempted to give them a temporary base on the moon. It was just set up.

Alien Species Concepts by Deimos-Remus

For NIGHT SHIFT

These five alien species all are active on the Earth of NIGHT SHIFT, in particular Weirdly World News.  Their motivations are pretty simple.  Nordics are observing and helping where they think is best.  Greys and LGMs are abducting humans and trying to figure out what makes them tick.  Insectoids are new to Earth and are rivals with the Reptoids. Their true motivations are still unknown.

That leaves the Reptoids.  They are going to be detailed in more posts here, but basically, they are here to take control of the Earth and its people. There is a lot of speculation on what they want here from human slaves, or they are draining our psychic energy, to needing a new home after their world was destroyed.  

Like the Ophidians I mentioned on Monday, the Reptilians/Reptoids can't use magic. Nordics do use magic, or at least they do something that seems similar to magic.

There are a couple of good game resources that cover all these aliens.  First, there is the DARK PLACES & DEMOGORGONS - The Cryptid Manual (review) a great resource on all sorts of cryptids and aliens.  And secondly an old favorite of mine, The Unexplained (review) a Fudge-based RPG. 

Both are excellent resources.

The NIGHT SHIFT RPG is available from the Elf Lair Games website (hardcover) and from DriveThruRPG (PDF).

This Old Computer

I interrupt this A to Z Blogging with my newest acquisition/restoration project.

Over the winter break, I worked on my new Color Computer upgrade to a full retro gaming machine.

Well, I am moving on to a larger project now.

It is the case for a TRS-80 Model III, the first computer I ever used.  

The cabling for the CoCo mod was tight, but this is so roomy on the inside.  Not to mention 2 full-height 5.25" drive bays.  I still have drive rails and even a hot-swap chassis for USB to IDE drives.  I even have DVD and Blu-Ray drives I could put into this.

Honestly, I am high with anticipation about what I could do with this.  The monitor is the limiting factor of course and I would need to design a bunch of new parts to 3D print, but those are just details, and minor ones at that.

Nothing it happening though for a bit.  That case needs some serious care.  When I UV bleached my other one it was recommended that I just paint it.  I might do that here. It is frankly a wreck, but not so much so that I can't make it work.

Now to decide...Windows, Linux or TRS-DOS?  Nah just kidding, this will be Windows I am sure. 

#AtoZChallenge2022: D is for Demon-Haunted World

The A to Z of Conspiracy Theories: D is for Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

A slight shift today.  I CAN'T talk about Conspiracy Theories and not talk about Carl Sagan's last book, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark.

I have mentioned before that Sagan and his book Cosmos had a deep and profound effect on my thinking coming out of the "extra hippie shit" coming out of the 70s into the 80s.

This book is now 25 years old but reads like it could have been written just 2 years ago.   So many of the Conspiracy Theories I am going to be talking about here have been so masterfully destroyed by Sagan and his "Baloney detection kit" that I do feel a tinge of professional guilt talking about them here when they should be ignored.  But that is not the point to these posts this month is it?

Listening to the Demon-Haunted World recently (on Audible with Seth MacFarlane and Cary Elwes) I am impressed that so much of what Sagan had to say still is appropriate today and, sadly, how much things had not changed since he wrote it in 1995. 

I really cannot recommend it enough.

For the conspiracy and pseudoscience minded it is worth a read/listen to put some of these ideas into perspective.  It is a bucket of ice-cold water on the idea of magical thought.

For NIGHT SHIFT

So how do I use this for NIGHT SHIFT?  Simple.  In many of the worlds (Night Worlds) of NIGHT SHIFT, it is assumed that magic is NOT real, even if it is.  So maybe unlike our world, the average man takes the point of view of Sagan and his Baloney Detection Kit.  It helps explain the world a little bit better. 

It is also great to help create obnoxious arguments when your characters are to convince someone that magic is real.

If there is a pet conspiracy theory you are expecting to see here and don't it is likely for 2 reasons. First, and most likely, it is because I did not find a good game application for it. The other reason, and it is not a small one, is because this book so convinced me they can't happen that I am not even considering it anymore.

The NIGHT SHIFT RPG is available from the Elf Lair Games website (hardcover) and from DriveThruRPG (PDF).

#AtoZChallenge2022: C is for Cryptoterrestrial Hypothesis

The A to Z of Conspiracy Theories: C is for Cryptoterrestrial Hypothesis

(and a Special Monstrous Monday!)

The Cryptoterrestrial Hypothesis is the "hypothesis" (really just an idea, it's not a good hypothesis in the scientific sense) put forward by Mac Tonnies and based on, among other things, the writings of Richard Shaver.  

The idea is that all the so-called "extraterrestrials" on Earth are all really natives.  Not cryptids per se, but whole other species. They have existed, in theory since the dawn of time.

Exploring the Shaver aspect, we have the "Deros" or his "detrimental robots" as a possible Cryptoterrestrial species. If we use the D&D versions, the Derro, then we have more to work with.   I think I would also like to take another page from Shaver's book magazine and have the language the Derro use be Mantong. 

Another species that fits this idea for me is the Ophidians.  This is a species that I have used in the past and really enjoy them.   

What separates cryptoterrestrials from extraterrestrials are their origins. While both can seem "alien" to humans, cryptoterrestrials are Earthlings.  They evolved from the same processes that gave us trees, lobsters, and humans.  Generally speaking, the same things that affect us, will affect them. They need to eat, breathe, and even sleep. They can be affected by poisons, just different ones, and bullets still hurt them. 

For NIGHT SHIFT

Since today is also a Monstrous Monday I think I should have some monster stats here.

Derro
No. Appearing: 8-80 (8d10)
AC: 4
Move: 20 ft.
Hit Dice: 3
Special: Pack tactics, Can fight in complete darkness, vulnerable to sunlight, madness.
XP Value: 60

Derros are a race of subterranean human-like creatures.  Their skin is a dull gray, their hair is typically a few shades lighter, and their eyes are a uniform white.  They speak an unknown, guttural language, but a few (1 in 10) can speak any surface language that is common nearby.  

Common Derro Abilities

• Pack tactics. Derro are ambush attackers and will set traps and snares to incapacitate interlopers into their realms.  The derro will kill any they suspect is a threat, usually the largest, and keep the rest as slaves. 
• Fight in Complete Darkness/Vulnerable to Sunlight.  Derro fight in complete darkness as if it were dim light. They take no penalty in attacks.  In any light greater than torchlight/flashlight they take a penalty of -1 (-5%).  In anything brighter, the penalty is -3 (-15%).  In full sunlight they cannot attack at all.
• Madness. A full 25% of all derro suffer from a form of racial madness.  This usually manifests as a form of delusional behavior where they feel they are the superior species of the planet.  Their layers are fill with giant machines they refer to as "The Death Ray", "The Sun Destroyer", or "The Gravity Enhancer" that are designed to end the world, but never work.  Derro spend decades building these, or more to the point forcing slaves to do it, only to have them end in their own destruction.

Derro are cruel and delight in torture for torture's sake. 

Ophidian
No. Appearing: 4-24 (4d6)
AC: 6
Move: 30 ft.
Hit Dice: 1 to 4
Special: Cold-blooded, enhanced senses (sight, smell), poison, magicly impaired.
XP Value: Varies

Ophidians are snake-like humanoids that have existed on Earth since the time of the dinosaurs.  They remember the great age of reptiles.  They hate humans, and really all mammals, and seek to destroy them so they can reclaim the Earth as their own.  If they hate anything more than humans it is the Extraterrestrial Reptoids. They feel the reptoids caused the great blast 65 million years ago that destroyed the dinosaurs (they didn't but the ophidians are not convinced) and they fight them for control of the Earth.

Common Ophidian Abilities

• Cold-blooded. Ophidians live in deep rain forests, inhospitable deserts, and even underground near magma pockets or anywhere that is warm.  They prefer temperatures that are 75 °F / 24 °C or warmer with places of variable temperatures.
• Enhanced Senses. Ophidians have superior senses of sight and smell.  Their sight extends into the infrared spectrum.  They are only surprised on a roll of 1-2 on a d10. 
• Poison. The bite of some ophidians (1 in 6) can paralyze or (2 in 6) painful death (take 4d8 points of damage).  A Constitution-based saving throw can reduce this to 2d8 hp of damage. 
  
• Magicly Impaired. Whether due to their reptilian brains or the fact they evolved from different progenitors than humans ophidians are incapable of magic.  They can, and many do, have psychic powers, but never magic.

Ophidians and Derro hate each other, often encountering each other and fighting great underground battles below the feet of unknowing humans.   It is possible that the only keeping these species from taking over is their hatred for everything and everyone that is not themselves.

--

Both Derros and Ophidians have a nice long history in my games.

I have to admit they did grow out of a lot of fringe theories and weird fiction from the 80s.  But I will admit that the Snake People were really sold to me from the Duran Duran video "Union of the Snake."

It was the 80s, I took my ideas from where they came.

The NIGHT SHIFT RPG is available from the Elf Lair Games website (hardcover) and from DriveThruRPG (PDF).