A Dark Kindle

Say the word Democracy to anyone walking the streets of America and they’ll think you’re referring to our election process.  Unfortunately, this simply isn’t the case, and there’s a very important reason why.  Democracy is the direct vote of the people on all things related to government.  And for a country the size of the United States, this isn’t possible.

Roughly 2,000 years ago, the world was a much smaller place.  Most people knew the world was large, but had little reason to want to travel it.  Greece, birthplace of classical thinking, was one such place.  Most of the peoples of Greece were content to simply live in city-states, individual cities that formed alliances with one another for common defense, but preferred to remain independent and pass their own laws and defend themselves.  Here, cities were fairly large for cities of the time, but most issues regarding the citizenry was voted upon directly, or occasionally voted upon by people acting in the people’s place.

For the most part, when dealing with individual cities and whatnot, direct voting works.  The people can all be gathered in one place, explained the issue in detail, and allowed to vote how they see fit.  It’s neat and simple, but also not very efficient on a large scale.  A city state such as Athens or Sparta might elect to go to war, but the people of another city may choose to remain home.  With no coordination, efforts can fail, and quickly.  A vote between two cities to provide funds for a road may result in different outcomes, leading to a road that leads to nowhere.  Even if all the people voted, would the voters in one city outweigh the votes of another city, leading their voices to be silenced by the vast majority?

Next time: Dictatorships, why they never, ever seem to work.

There are many different types of government.  There are democracies, republics, dictatorships, oligarchies, but some of the most self sustaining ones rely on the use of a modern example of feudalism, which swept Europe during the middle ages and helped redefine government from the centralized Roman Republic and Roman Empire to the modern republics of today.

Feudalism is the practice of subdividing land for people to better manage and control.  The idea is that a country on the whole is governed by the King, who sits on the throne and directs the country as a whole.  The kingdom would then be divided into large swaths of land to be directed by Dukes and Barons, who themselves would have castles and command the people under them.  The land would be further divided until it formed a network that linked individual townships to the king himself through a long chain.  Often, money and troops would flow up from the bottom, swelling until it reached the King, who would use the money and untrained troops assaigned to him from the lower ranks to bolster his army of professional troops during times of war and unrest.

The feudalistic system worked for the most part, giving the people on the bottom a sense of security that they would receive protection from the guiding hand of the King, while it gave the King power and the ability to enforce his rule without having to personally oversee every individual township.  Later, as time went on, the King and the people under his rule would begin to fight over who had the authority to do what.  Today, many consider feudalism dead, but the idea of feudalism lives on in the way government is arranged today, laid out with a central Federal government, state governments, then county and city governments.  It allows for powers to flow between the groups, and keeps the citizenry happy while granting the people we place in power the ability to provide for national defense, trade, and well-being.

Next time: Democracy, and why the United States isn’t one.

When most people say Communism, they immediately think of China or the Soviet Union.  What most people don’t understand is that this is very, very far removed from communism and is merely a type of socialism taken to extremes.  What is communism?  Communism can best be described as a town or village in which everyone works together for the common good of all, sharing all resources equally and that people only take what they need.  This sounds nice on paper, but is quickly squashed by reality.

People are greedy.  I said it, greedy.  It’s not a bad greedy per say, but rather a type of greed that can be beneficial.  I want to have the most resources so my family can do better.  I want more so I don’t have to do as much and can focus on my family.  There will of course be greedy people who are only thinking of themselves, but most people who are genuine will want to care for those in their immediate family first.  And it’s something that is very, very hard to do on a large scale.

Communism is essentially what most tribes operate under.  They don’t pay taxes to higher governments, they don’t work to build roads to other villages, they simply exist on their own as mostly independent groups.  They farm or hunt together, care for the children together, sustain themselves together, it’s all part of a group effort.  And that works, but it has trouble making the transition to a large group.  When you look at someone else, especially someone you don’t know, you can’t very well sympathize with them as much as you could with someone within your village.  John, your neighbor your entire life, means more to you than some random person who moved in just two weeks ago.  That sounds callous, but it’s reality.

On the small scale, when it’s only a village or town, communism can possibly be achieved.  However, there is a threshold at which it begins to break down, and that’s when a new system must be looked to.  So just remember, China and the USSR weren’t communist countries, but are rather socialist states.

Next time: Feudalism, a bridge to modern government

So.  I fell off the deep end and decided I wanted some dice.  Not just any dice though, oh dear God no.  I wanted a special set of dice, and that’s when I decided to get a set like the ones above.  They’re from the GameScience Precision series, this particular set being the smoked quartz.  They’re pricy, at $1.50 a piece plus shipping, but I got a complete customized set for myself, which was 2d4, 4d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d10 percentile, 1d12 and 1d20.  The reason the dice are called precision is because normal dice lose their sharp edges inside the number painter, so they must be hand painted to avoid rounding the edges.  You can buy them pre-painted, but those are $3.00 a piece, plus you only get one color.  If you want to paint them yourself, I recommend Lumocolor permanent markers with the 0.4mm tip.  They’re also pricey, but they are guaranteed to show up good.

#10: The Galaxy Class

The Galaxy Class is the big mama of all the Federation’s ships.  Large, powerful, basically a battleship.  With children used as ballast.  I can understand wanting to take a ship that’s going to be used for long-term exploration and putting families aboard, but personally, ask anyone who actually serves in the military if they’d want their families traveling along on dangerous missions where the ship may be destroyed.  1000 people aboard, most of them civilians, on a ship that may be built for exploration but can be deployed for war.  Sure, the civilians may be off-loaded during especially dangerous missions, but what about situations likeBest of Both Worlds, where there was no time to off-load the civilians?  The design is cool and I like the aesthetic, just not the idea that civilians are sitting around waiting to die.

#9:The Defiant Class

It was SF Debris who described the Defiant as “Ben Sisko’s Motherfuckin Pimp Hand”, and the name is pretty much sums up the Defiant to a T.  Sisko used his 2 years at the Utopia Planetia to design a gun with engines, used to fight the Borg.  It’s small, cheap to build, and a mean little bastard in a fight.  Plus, unlike the Galaxy, it’s a ship that’s built strictly for war, meaning there’s no elaborate science suite aboard, no laboratories, no families.  Just a crew who are there to fight.  Too bad her only on-screen appearance fighting Borg showed her getting owned… damnit Worf!

#8: The Constellation Class

TheConstellationcan be summed up by two words: Four Nacelles.  I don’t know if it’s the concept of More Engines = Faster Speed or what, but it’s nice to see a bit of divergence from the standard two nacelle design.  It seems kind of awkward compared to some of the other ships, but I guess it’s just because we’re so used to the standard two nacelles that anything else just seems kinda silly.  Damn you Pavlov!

#7: The Miranda Class

I remember first seeing the Relianton screen during Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and it always struck me how different it appears to the Enterprise in the same movie.  Both were built by the same people with a similar layout, yet they look very different.  TheMiranda looks boxy, small, compact.  Like at any moment it’s going to get into a boxing match with anything that comes its way.  Plus, the fact that it can go toe to toe with a much larger ship like theEnterprise hints that maybe there’s a reason it looks the way it does.  I can see now why everyone just sort of accepted that it was a destroyer.

#6: The Kelvin

I’m not sure if the Kelvinis the name of her class or not, but the design looks interesting none the less.  The traditional saucer mounted above a single engineering hull, just like the Enterprise, but with a smaller one mounted above as well.  The design was our first introduction to the more industrial, working-class starships of JJ Abram’s Star Trek, and it did a hell of a job.  Especially considering it held off the Naradafor a few solid minutes.

#5: The Constitution Class (Refit)

While I wasn’t a big fan of the originalEnterprise, the first time I saw the ship in, again, Wrath of Khan, I was impressed.  It actually looked like a functional starship that they would fly around and explore the galaxy with, while also possessing clear weapon ports to show that yes, this ship means business.  Considering the ship was meant to be the workhorse of Starfleet for the better part of a century, it’s clear why the image would leave a lasting impression on how starships were built well into the next century.

#4: The Nova Class

If theSovereignclass and theIntrepidclass ever got fused together and shrunk, it would definitely produce theNova.  Small, neat and compact, the Nova shows off the new design of a more angled, triangular prow with the elongated nacelles that were becoming common as well.  The result was a tiny ship that seems to be built mainly for scouting, since that’s the only thing we see her doing while on screen.  Which is fine with me, considering it’s a nice little ship that doesn’t look like it’d hold up much against a big baddie, but could scurry in, look around, and bug out before anyone was wiser.

#3: The Sovereign Class

First sweeping into view in Star Trek: First Contact, the Sovereign is a wonderful looking ship that actually appears to be a warship, something that hasn’t really been seen on Star Trek before.  Her sleek lines and elegance made her look beautiful, and then we saw her in a fight against the Borg.  She took whatever the Borg threw at her and returned it in spades, telling the Borg to piss off back to the Delta Quadrant.  Ah if only that had worked.

#2: The Excelsior Class

I was never a big fan of theExcelsiorin Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, so it came as quite a surprise when she reappeared in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.  Sure, it was the same model, but the change in command coupled with the difference in shots made all the difference.  I’m always a fan of the original though, since ILM sullied the original model with those ugly flaps to make Star Trek: Generations.  Damn you ILM!

#1: The Abram’s Enterprise

When I first saw this ship… I was blown away.  It seemed like there was absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing, that could ruin it.  Soft, rounded edges, big bulky engines, it all just seemed so graceful and elegant, especially after we saw theKelvinearlier.  Again, it goes back to the wholeReliant/Enterprisething earlier.  Same people making the same ships, yet one is vastly more beautiful than the other.  Regardless, I’ll take what I can get, so I’m happy to say the Abram’sEnterprisegets to be the best.

Please send all hate mail to Idontcare@gmail.com

So I recently discovered that there are, in fact, numerous types of roleplaying systems out there.  Some are the traditional tabletop roleplaying games that people think of, others are more specialized.  Regardless, however, I think there are three main types that should be looked at for anyone wanting to get into tabletop roleplay.

BESM

Big Ears Small Mouthis an anime based RPG made for players who want to have the fun of running their own game in a setting that’s fairly familiar to them, such as Ranma 1/2, Naruto, Inuyasha, any of them.  The character sheets are a bit confusing at first but it falls into place quick and easy, and usually it’s a breeze once you understand what you’re doing.  Anyone who’s a fan of anime will enjoy it, so long as it doesn’t devolve into a game of hentai x.x

Pathfinder

Pathfinder is a spin-off of the popular D&D systems everyone’s familiar with.  It takes the rules of D&D’s 3.5 edition and balances them, adding new quirks here and there.  Most campaigns can be run with the standard core rulebook and the accompanying monster manual, and it’s a fairly balanced run.  Newer players may want to find themselves someone to actually teach them some of the ropes for a few games, but the books and character sheets are fairly intuitive once you give it a read.  There are numerous character sheets available online so printing new ones is quick and easy.

World of Darkness

The new World of Darkness (nWoD) takes the rules of the World of Darkness and adds more stability and ease.  It’s a very dark game, great for horror movie fans who want to experience everything from serial killers to vampires to creatures that are only a few steps away from God.  The point system keeps players balanced easily, even at higher levels.  Strangely enough, this is one of the only systems I know of that only uses a single type of dye, a d10.  Regardless, a handful of d10 lets every player have a fun time and experience stuff that’ll send chills down their spines.