[ericthered]

With the Modern Issue, I found myself wondering "When would I use this?" while reading this issue. some of of it is stuff I think I can use, some of it I know I will use, but nothing makes me start dreaming up games that use the article.

Into the Forbidden Zone: I tell myself I'll probably never use this, but I'm not convinced. These just might come up as useful one day. You never know when you need an old uranium mine. And Once its in your brain, you're more likely to find a reason to use it. I'm not going to rave about this, but its likely to end up useful sometime
The Pheonix Program: A really solid article providing rules I suspect I'll eventually use. The history is really interesting but ultimately I won't use it because I find vietnam carries a lot of baggage. The basic information and rules for running generic counterincergency look really solid, based around that workhorse of the monthly "Job" roll. Strangly, I think I'm most likely to use the rules in an infinite worlds / reign of steel cross over I've wanted to run for a while but has been difficult to structure right.
Three Steampunk Monsters: Not really my thing. I like steampunk, but these sorts of monsters don't interest me very much.
Secret Masters: Not really my thing. I'm also not seeing any new ground being traversed here, more like worked examples.
The Checkpoint: Nice article. The best thoughts are about how the personality of the people in charge matters, along with some examples.
The Company: The organization itself doesn't excite me, and it feels kind of bland and generic. The company BAT, on the other hand, grabs my eye.I love action 4, and I love new toys to go along with it. It also strengthens a thought I've had for a while: that fewer BAT packages with higher base stats make stronger characters.
Derelicts on Ice: Not bad, and surprisingly flexible. I wonder when I'd use it though.
The Hunter's Reliquary: Very specific, but not bad stuff in there. Its suited for Monster Hunters, which is what I run when I'm on short notice and don't have anything more elaborate planned. All of the items seem generic enough to fit into a campaign without being earth-shattering, which is nice.
El Rancho Fin del Camino: too much history, too little floorplan, and its in an area I feel comfortable enough winging. I've been wanting more modern floorplans for gaming, but this article did not scratch that particular itch
Highway Stars: Very simple, very solid. I'll use this.
The random Thought: Its fine. Its mostly advice, but its not bad, and a certain kind of campaign needs it. I have drifted away from that sort of campaign though.


Thoughts on the Technology Magazine:

Putting the Science in Your Fiction: Its good and solid. I know exactly where I want to use this. I was hoping for a work of genius, and its not that, but have no idea what genius on that topic would have looked like.
The Divine Pacific Republic of Datastan: Its a setting piece, and I didn't really get into it. Its a piece of cyberpunk in the middle of nowhere, and while that should have made it feel unique and engaging, it didn't. But if I have to read three of these for each Stilpnotia, City of Lamps I get, I will keep reading enthusiastically.
More Options for Memetronic Generators: I love this article. Especially the knobs for turning cost up and down. That has given me a whole new enthusiasm for Memetronic generators. I realized about two weeks ago that I am already using what are essentially memetronic generators in a game of mine, and with the cost knobs, I can talk about them as such and leverage all the thought that have gone into memetronic generators before.
Space Zombies: I strongly prefer my zombies to be undead rather than "scientific", but the Zeaters made me laugh. I don't think I'll ever use them though, and the other two aren't my cup of tea.
Lord Kelvin's Icebox: I love the seed, and I never would have thought of it on my own. Having official seeds for IW is important, because it gives us a shared setting. I'm sort of ambivalent about some of the decisions made in developing the seed.
Chronokinesis: Narrow, but solid. I like power sets, and this one feels like it did more than list existing advantages. I wish it did more with time travel, but I suppose that's a different powerset.
Ghost Planets: two of these worlds are those weird and beautiful flowers that comes out of gurps periodically. I'm not sure that I'll ever use it, but I'm glad I read it.
Reign of Action: Perhaps this article wasn't for me. I like reign of steel, and I think action is a good fit for it, but the only part of this that I didn't already mentally have is the gear section and the survivor lens.
The Toughest Race in the Solar System: This made me want to run a game featuring an adventure race, or adventure race elements. It took something I had vaguely in my mind and made it something I could use in a game. Great Article.
The Murrines Portals: This edges on weird flower territory, but I design enough world hopping games that I just might use it. The best part is thinking about how different tech levels would interact with the same gate technology.
Play Stupid Games, Win Stupid Prizes: This one wasn't very inspiring for me. There may be some good gems hidden in there, but if so, they are hidden. I don't feel like designing a sport to inflict upon my players, and I'm not sure if I have any more tools to handle classic sports.
The Random Thought: A reread of this made me appreciate it a lot more. Random thoughts should not be read quickly, so you may want to read them first, not after you've consumed the rest of the magazine. It explores a fun and useful idea.