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theresattrpgforthat · 8 months

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(Preferably fantasy) games with a school setting, and a focus on non-fatal violence and mystery solving?

THEME: Magic School Mysteries

Hello friend, so I have a bit of a wide spectrum of options for you today, some of which are more focused on magic, some more focused on mystery, and some more focused on violence. I hope you find something that hits what you're looking for!

Lofi Bards to Study and Relax To, by Ross Eaglesham.

You and your friends are students at a magical high-school, college or university and exams are coming up! Go on magical adventures, reveal ancient secrets and forge deep bonds with your friends - just make sure you don’t miss class!

To help you on your journey, you’re equipped with one of your most prized possessions - the Notestrider. When a reel of magical tape is placed in this small, arcane box, it plays a recording of whatever is stored on the tape; usually through a strange pair of mechanical earmuffs. You and your tight-knit group of friends all put together a mixtape of your favourite songs for studying - 'lofi bards to study and relax to' - and the relaxing beats and chilled out vibes might just be enough to see you through the crazy world of arcane education.

With many secrets to uncover while you’re at a magical institution, Lofi Bards to Study and Relax To looks to have quite a significant capacity to really sink you into the skin of your character. Music can be very good at helping you tune into your emotions and put you in a specific state of mind, and since the Notestrider is meant to help your characters prepare and focus for all of the struggles ahead, you’ll be using that music to put yourself into the shoes of your character.

This is another game that doesn’t seem to prioritize violence at all, but it can make whatever mysteries you decide to unravel incredibly personal. There's also an expansion that includes Artifacts and character options for you if you want access to a broader span of game elements. If you want to really emphasize the student experience in a slightly more magical setting, I’d definitely recommend this game.

The Osterman Academy of Magical Arts, by Wheels Within Wheels Publishing. @ostermad-blog

Welcome to the Osterman Academy of Magical Arts, the premier school for spell craft. Our faculty are leaders in their fields, our staff unparalleled, and our students extraordinary.

All OAMA students are required to reside on campus for the duration of their studies, but the wide variety of campus events ensure that students always have many ways to spend their time, including student-run clubs, a bustling student center, athletic meets, and trips to nearby urban centers.

OAMA also boasts two unique educational opportunities: the class trip and individual projects. Every year, students in each class go to a special destination for a more hands-on educational experience. Furthermore, at the end of each year, all students pursue an individual project tailored to their specific interests and supervised by one of our esteemed faculty.

The Osterman Academy of Magical Arts has a sliding scale to determine how popular magic is, and how entrenched it is in the world around you. It comes with a grand total of 66 backgrounds to choose from or roll randomly for, including Clown-gician (you thought this was clown school) and Fun Guy (secret colony of fungi masquerading as the life of the party in human form). You’ll also choose your character’s class schedule, create friendships with other characters, and take exams to determine how well they did in their courses.

There isn’t much that allows you to do violence, but if you want to solve mysteries in this game, I think the various character strengths and school classes present in this game give you a really diverse set of approaches to finding answers and solving problems.

Mystic Punks, by mysticpunks.

Students have gone missing at Star Valley High School and no one seems to care. You determine that their disappearances are the result of an otherworldly invasion.

As a teenage misfit, you’ve only ever used your mystic powers to perform dark rituals, but now those powers are the only thing that can save your classmates and stop a supernatural legion from consuming you and your school.

Based on the solo RPG Mystic Punks: The Collected Edition, Mystic Punks Tabletop RPG invites you and your friends to delve deeper into occult mysteries and explore beyond Star Valley High School.

With supernatural threats abounding and dark threats surrounding you and your peers, Mystic Punks probably has a big chance to bring violence and conflict to the fore. The original game appears to be devoted to a solo roleplaying experience, but the Quickstart appears to allow for group gaming as well. I can’t guarantee that the violence is non-fatal however; this game is sold as a horror experience, so the threat of death probably looms over all of your characters.

Student Protectors of Malaysia, by Aaron Lim / @ehronlime

You are a 17-year-old secondary school student with extraordinary powers. You’ve connected with friends in your school who have similar powers and have been working together to protect your town from supernatural threats. It’s been hard juggling your commitment to use your powers for good with your responsibilities to your families and your studies, but it’s been rewarding.

Now, you’re almost done with school and you really should be focusing on your preparation for the SPM exams, but threat has surfaced that could mean disaster for the entire town if you do not act quickly. Your final year awaits…

Student Protectors of Malaysia probably best fits all of the criteria that we’re looking for here. There are three phases to the game: Student, Protector and Marking. In your Student phase, you’re using your abilities to investigate mysteries in order to figure out what exactly the threat is, and to prepare for whatever your big action scene is going to be. In the Protector phase, you’ll be targeting the threat, whether that be a roaming monster, a rogue magic user, or a more mundane (but powerful) threat. You’ll have to do this while balancing schoolwork, family obligations, and just daily teenage life. Finally, the Marking Phase reflects downtime, assessing how smoothly you solved the problem and how your adventure affected your journey towards personal goals.

The system for this game is influenced by Powered by the Apocalypse, with moves written out for specific situations, like Take Decisive Action, or Recall information. You’ll roll 2d6 and add modifiers up to a maximum of +3. There’s also bits and pieces from Forged in the Dark, most prominently in the Downtime phase and the Stress that your characters accrue through adventures and relieve through hobbies. The game definitely skews more towards secret superheroes than it does towards a magic school, but you could restrict the electives available to your students to make their powers seem more magical and otherworldly than technical or genetic.

The “Gardening” Club, by Wizard of Ox.

Welcome to our very legitimate high school club where we don’t actually do a lot of gardening! We are open to everyone: cheerleaders, talking vegetables and even people who actually garden. We only have one rule: keep our true agenda a secret. Grab a nice cup of herbal tea, water the cacti and search for clues. We must get to the root of things!

You are a group of high school students who, despite being different from each other, have an interest in common: solving mysteries. Since a detective club would be too on the nose, you made a “gardening” club as a front. Each one of you has different abilities you can use to get to the root of things, as well as codenames that give special powers. Can you work together and find out what is going on?

I’m very intrigued by this game. It feels like it would be very easy to modify to fit a setting of your choice. The instruction sheet is only 5 pages, and all of the character concepts are charmingly plant-themed (with a little bit of magic on the side)! The group will set out on missions to discover clues, hoping to piece together the answers to a larger mystery. You will collaboratively fill out a Deduction Tree to figure out how all of the clues connect. If you like collaborative mystery solving this is absolutely the game for you!

Games I've Recommended in the Past

Breakfast Cult, by Weird Age Games.

My Magic School Post

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #dnd #game recommendations #asks #magic school #mysteries

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blueiskewl · 9 months

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A Rare 7,000-Year-Old Clay Figurine Found in Italian Cave

Archaeologists from Sapienza University of Rome discovered a figure with female features in the Battifratta cave, near Poggio Nativo in the Sabina area, Lazio.

That is a clay figurine dating from around 7000 years ago, from the Neolithic period, when the peninsula’s first farming communities existed.

A press release from the Sapienza University in Rome says objects of this kind are “very rare in Italy.” Furthermore, the release said such artifacts are “almost absent” in the archaeological record of the Tyrrhenian slope.

The Battifratta Cave is located in the municipal territory of Poggio Nativo, in the Casali locality, on the left side of the valley of the Riano River, a minor tributary of the Farfa. The Battifrata cave is distinguished for its maze-like configurations and layouts, graced with stalagmites and stalactites with a transient spring at the entrance of it.

The modern research at the Battifratta Cave is part of a larger project being conducted by the Sapienza Grand Excavations Fund on the prehistoric settlement of the Farfa Valley and its surrounding territories.

A multidisciplinary study coordinated by the Department of Ancient World Studies of the Sapienza University of Rome is looking at “the technological and stylistic aspects” of the figurine to better understand how it was made.

The doll’s facial features, according to the archaeologists, are only schematically hinted at. The researchers, however, stated that the artisan who created the artifact took “greater care” in representing the hairstyle and body decorations.

Dr. Cecilia Conati of Sapienza University said when the presence of ceramics is combined with faunal and botanical finds on several stratified levels, and the discovery of a human skeleton beside the doll, secrets are revealed. This all suggests the spring at the mouth of the cave was not only used for water supplies, but also for “burial and ritual purposes.”

The Battifratta Cave provided shelter and protection for early human inhabitants who relied on hunting, gathering, and rudimentary agriculture for survival around 7000 BC. While specific evidence of ancient rituals in Battifratta Cave is limited, the clay doll strongly suggests it was used for ceremonial purposes.

#A Rare 7000-Year-Old Clay Figurine Found in Italian Cave #Battifratta cave #Sapienza University #ancient artifacts #archeology #archeolgst #history #history news #ancient history #ancient culture #ancient civilizations #ancient art

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germanpostwarmodern · 2 years

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Loutit Hall of Science (c. 1964) of Grand Valley State University in Allendale, MI, USA, by Meathe, Kessler & Associates

#1960s #university #steel #architecture #usa #architektur #meathe kessler & associates

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lonestarflight · 1 year

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Columbia XJL-1 coming down to land, likely near Patuxent River, Maryland. The XJL "was large single-engined amphibious aircraft designed by Grumman Aircraft but built by the Columbia Aircraft Corp. It was intended to replace the Grumman J2F Duck but the type did not reach production status."

Recorded October 1, 1947.

Grand Valley State University Digital Collection: RHC-50_320

Information from Wikipedia: link

#Columbia XJL-1 #Columbia XJL #XJL-1 #XJL #floatplane #united states navy #US Navy #u.s. navy #USN #navy #October #1947 #post war #my post

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mathhombre · 2 months

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Summer Math

As usual, great work from OURFA2M2.

REU Programs

Discrete and Continuous Analysis in Appalachia

Program Runs: June 3 - July 26

Application Deadline: March 4th

Undergraduate US citizens who expect to graduate AFTER July 26, 2024, and especially such students attending university in the Appalachian region apply for the DCAA REU. The projects center around probability and data analysis, as well as linear algebra and combinatorics.

Participants will receive a $4,800 stipend and paid housing for 8 weeks during Summer 2024.

Participants funded by DCAA must be US Citizens or Permanent Residents of the United States. Students who are women, underrepresented minorities, first-generation college students, and those whose home institution have limited research opportunities in mathematics are encouraged to apply.

Applied Mathematics and Computational and Data Science

Hosted at University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Program Runs: June 13th - August 12th

Review of applications will begin on March 15, 2024 and offers will be made by April 1, but competitive late applications may be considered until April 15.

Students will work collaboratively on group research projects in applied mathematics, mathematical modeling, and computational and data science, including applying theoretical models to physical and biological phenomena. In the application the student should choose one of the two possible research topics:

Wave Phenomena and Mathematical Modeling

Mathematical Modeling of Spatial Processes and Deep Spatial Learning

Only US citizens or permanent residents are eligible.

Women and underrepresented groups in Mathematics are encouraged to apply!

Stipend $5400 plus $900 meal allowance and $1000 travel expenses. Housing will be provided.

Computational Modeling Serving The Community

Program runs: June 10th - August 16th

Application Deadline: March 31st

Held Virtually in 2024

The focus of this REU is computational modeling to serve and enhance communities. Students will be involved in multi-disciplinary, community-based research projects and trained in computational thinking across different disciplines. In doing so, they will gain an understanding of the potential and limits of these tools and how they can serve diverse communities.

The activities of this virtual REU Site will involve a 2-week training followed by an 8-week research project completed under a faculty mentor’s guidance and with the involvement of a community partner.

Only US citizens or permanent residents are eligible.

Students from institutions with limited STEM and research opportunities (such as 2-year community colleges) and tribal colleges/universities are specifically encouraged to apply.

Stipend $7000 + $1400 meal allowance and $2200 housing allowance

REU Program in Algebra and Discrete Mathematics at Auburn University

Program Dates: May 28 - July 19

Application Deadline: March 25th

See the program webpage for more info on problems and ares.

Participants will receive a stipend of $4,500 and will live near campus at 191 College with housing paid.

NSF funding is restricted to US citizens and permanent residents. Other self-funded students are welcome to apply.

Polymath Jr.

Program Runs: June 20th - August 14th

Application Deadline: April 1st

Application Here

The Polymath Jr program is an online summer research program for undergraduates. The program consists of research projects from a wide variety of fields. For more information go to the website linked above.

The goal of the original polymath project is to solve problems by forming an online collaboration between many mathematicians. Each project consists of 20-30 undergraduates, a main mentor, and additional mentors (usually graduate students). This group works towards solving a research problem and writing a paper. Each participant decides what they wish to obtain from the program, and participates accordingly.

MathILy-EST

Program runs: June 16th - August 10th

Application Deadline: April 2th

In 2024 the MathILy-EST topic will be combinatorial geometry of origami, an area that mixes discrete mathematics, geometry, and analysis, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Hull.

MathILy-EST is an 8-week intensive summer research experience for exceptional first-year college students. MathILy-EST provides early research opportunities each year for nine college students who are deeply but informally prepared for mathematics research. The focus of the program is on first-year students, with second-year and entering college students also considered for participation.

Stipend- $4800, housing and meals included.

Internships

Jet Propulsion Laboratory Summer Internship

Programs Begin: May and June

Registration Deadline: March 29th

Summer Internship ProgramThe JPL Summer Internship Program offers 10-week, full-time, summer internship opportunities at JPL to undergraduate and graduate students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. As part of their internships, students are partnered with JPL scientists or engineers, who serve as the students' mentors. Students complete designated projects outlined by their mentors, gaining educational experience in their fields of study while also contributing to NASA and JPL missions and science.

Conferences

Women in Data Science Livermore

“WiDS Livermore is an independent event organized by LLNL ambassadors to coincide with the annual global Women in Data Science (WiDS) Conference held at Stanford University and an estimated 200+ locations worldwide. All genders are invited to attend WiDS regional events, which features outstanding women doing outstanding work…This one-day technical conference provides an opportunity to hear about the latest data science related research and applications in a number of domains, and connect with others in the field. The program features thought leaders covering a wide range of domains from data ethics and privacy, healthcare, data visualization, and more.”

Hybrid, free event: In-person at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, or Virtual

Registration Deadline: March 1, 2023

Date: March 13

The International Mathematics and Statistics Student Research Symposium (IMSSRS)

Date: April 13, 2023.

Location: Virtual

“IMSSRS is a free conference for all mathematics and statistics students (high school, community college, undergraduate, graduate) to share their research with the rest of the world, to learn about current research topics and to hang out with like-minded math and stat enthusiasts. Presenters must be students, but everyone is welcome as an attendee. Please feel free to share this opportunity with other students who might be interested.”

Abstract submission and registration deadlines: March 22, 2023.

To learn more, please visit the the IMSSRS website.

OURFA2M2

Online Undergraduate Resource Fair for the

Advancement and Alliance of Marginalized Mathematicians

Ashka Dalal, Gavi Dhariwal, Bowen Li, Zoe Markman, tahda queer, Jenna Race, Luke Seaton, Salina Tecle, Lee Trent [email protected] ourfa2m2.org

#mathblr #OURFA2M2 #REU #research

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