Real-Life Weirdness

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by tanksoldier

In Colorado there have been reports of wolf-coyote hybrids for a few years now.

Red Wolves appear to be "just" very very thoroughly mixed wolf-coyote hybrids - albeit as a self-sustaining population you get into the "... is it a subspecies yet?" question.

"Several things grabbed my attention when I saw the pictures," Ty Smucker, wolf management specialist for Montana FWP, told the newspaper.

"The ears are too big. The legs look a little short. The feet look a little small, and the coat looks weird.

Smells like wolfdog to me. Particularly after they mentioned the teeth are too short, that's the easiest way to tell an early dogs skull from a wolfs skull. Coyotes don't have particularly weird coat textures, but dogs most definitely do (looks a little wolf-hound-y to me, ironcially)

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Red Wolves appear to be "just" very very thoroughly mixed wolf-coyote hybrids - albeit as a self-sustaining population you get into the "... is it a subspecies yet?" question.

It's not 100% clear if Red wolves were already a distinct wolf population beforehand; coyote and wolf ranges have been overlapping a lot more since the late 19th due to habitat/enviromental changes.

Smells like wolfdog to me. Particularly after they mentioned the teeth are too short, that's the easiest way to tell an early dogs skull from a wolfs skull. Coyotes don't have particularly weird coat textures, but dogs most definitely do (looks a little wolf-hound-y to me, ironcially)

Yeah, that's a wolfdog.

[Daigoro]

Suddenly we're being swamped by time travellers. What is it about this year that's bringing them to it? And why are their time machines all breaking down at this juncture?

A man who claims he’s from the future passes ‘lie detector test’ with flying colours
From 6491-
Mr Oliver claims his time machine has broken down and as a result he is stuck in 2018.


‘We’re talking to aliens’: ‘Time traveller’ man from 2030 makes wild predictions
From 2030-
This morning, he turned up on Kyle and Jackie O, and told them he’d time travelled multiple times in the past but was now “stuck” in the present day.

“I usually went from like early 1999, to like 2018 — around here — but when I got stuck, I was in the year 2017,” he explained.


2nd link for Mr 6491
Includes video, where for some reason when they say the year it seems to be overdubbed.

[William]

The Kilauea eruption is a fascinating display of raw elemental power that should be inspirational for gaming in many ways. The latest hazard? "Laze," lava haze, caused when lava interacts with seawater. The description is astounding: a mist of hydrochloric acid (with a little hydrofluoric) carrying tiny shards of volcanic glass!

Well that just sounds nasty. Let's make some! It's a big area effect, so how about making it in line with the new spells from GURPS Magic: Artillery spells?

This little magical bauble has the distinction of being an interaction between all four elemental forces: fiery earth hitting seawater and rising up in a cloud in the air. What should be the benefit of that? Let's say that it does its damage in a lot of different ways, so parts of it bypass various defenses.

Laze (VH)
Area; Partially Resisted by DX

Produces a roiling cloud of dangerous gases that attack targets in multiple ways. Anyone in the area suffers multiple types of damage. Few targets will be defended against all of them!

Anyone in the area takes 1d-3 burning damage per second as large area injury. This cannot be blocked or parried, but may be dodged by escaping the area. DR effective against burning attacks will also suffice.

Anyone in the area must roll vs. HT-4 every second to avoid 1d-3 toxic injury. Sealed and Immunity to Poison prevent damage; Resistant to Poison benefits the HT roll. DR does not prevent damage.

Anyone in the area takes 1d-3 cutting damage per second as large-area injury. DR protects normally. However, if the victim inhales the gas (DX roll to begin holding one's breath quickly enough if one does not have Doesn't Breathe or Filter Lungs), ignore DR and treat the damage as being done to the vitals -- specifically, the lungs -- for x3 damage.

The mist produced by this spell obscures vision, for -2 to vision rolls per yard filled with laze between viewer and object.

Duration: 5 seconds
Base cost: 8. Minimum radius 2 yards. Cannot be maintained.
Prerequisites: Magery 4 and Create Acid, Create Fire, and Stench.

[vicky_molokh]

Texas man nearly dies after being bitten by severed snake head. Friendly reminder that if you really really need to spring a nasty surprise on the party, you don't need to invoke slain monsters being undead, and can instead invoke their reflexes. Also works with cephalopod tentacles to a lesser extent. Of course, an adventurer with proper skills will know to be wary.

[ericthered]

This is really old news, but it still feels game worthy:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85o_OX3-_dI&t=18s


the Goeben and Breslau where two German ships stuck in the Mediterranean when World War I breaks out. They get sold to turkey, and rather than re-manning the ships with Turkish citizens, the sailors are given fezzes and Turkish uniforms: they are essentially sold with the boat. They then are given orders to violate the turkish neutrality by bombarding russia so that russia will declare war on turkey.



The legal gymnastics here are hilarious. My bet is this was someone's RPG group.

[Flyndaran]

It seems like every false flag war crime is weirdly unique.
I too imagine those kinds of things would work wonderfully for the more strategic of players.

[vicky_molokh]

So by now everyone surely knows about the fictional parachuted military bears, but turns out that parachuded beavers are a real thing. Perhaps that's just testing before actual applications - ecological warfare through use of invasive species, or perhaps launches of animal spies (uplifted, chipped, with a spirit rider etc.).

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

So by now everyone surely knows about the fictional parachuted military bears, but turns out that parachuded beavers are a real thing. Perhaps that's just testing before actual applications - ecological warfare through use of invasive species, or perhaps launches of animal spies (uplifted, chipped, with a spirit rider etc.).

Of course, from the beaver's viewpoint this is alien abduction.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

... turns out that parachuded beavers are a real thing.

See also the Bat Bomb, and the well-known anti-tank dogs, although the US project is less famous than the Soviet one.