Linkfest 2021-04-16: Implied Apocalypse

Brain Leakage: The Implied Apocalypse of Dungeons and Dragons

Where did you think all those ruins came from?

The Ruins of Murkhill: Celebrating Blackmoor Campaign Day “April 17th, 1971”

Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor campaign was a critical piece of the development of the kind of game that everyone now thinks of as a table top roleplaying game, or what basically everyone now calls Dungeons and Dragons.

The Long View: The Grait God Pan

This image from Wunderkammer made me think of John J. Reilly’s transliteration of the Great God Pan into a reformed orthography.

Jon Stokes: Why a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan would be Disaster for China

And possibly for everyone else too.

The Physicists: a history of a scientific community in modern America

Scott Locklin talks about the academic and industrial history of the field of physics in America, and touches on some absolutely fascinating observations about the great peak of intellectual productivity in the 1930s, why physics has good PR, and the nature of innovation.

Michael DC Bowen: The Persistence of 360

The base twelve mathematics of the Babylonians made a lot of sense to them for the reasons Bowen articulates here. A year was considered to have 360 days because it was a number that fit into a schema with all the other important numbers. That it was convenient for doing mental math was a bonus.

Wasteland & Sky: Anatomy of an Implosion

JD Cowan has written another great analysis of the malaise affecting our creative industries. In previous engagements, he talked about books and anime, and now he turns his attention to videogames, the reason why no major studio has made anything new since 2007.

Bloodline Cradle Book 9 by Will Wight Book Review

Will Wight’s latest Cradle book was number #1 in the Kindle store twice, on the day pre-orders went live and again on day of release. Come see what the hype was all about.