@nudraxon.bsky.social
Everything about his "redemption" was calculated to piss me off. When he came back from over the ledge, I briefly got excited, because I thought it meant he was going to survive, thus forcing them to confront some thorny questions they could otherwise sidestep.
Then he died 10 seconds later.
Then he died 10 seconds later.
November 18, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Everything about his "redemption" was calculated to piss me off. When he came back from over the ledge, I briefly got excited, because I thought it meant he was going to survive, thus forcing them to confront some thorny questions they could otherwise sidestep.
Then he died 10 seconds later.
Then he died 10 seconds later.
The biggest wtf moment for me was the suggestion that Yoda chose to live near the cave on Dagobah because its "dark side energy" and his "light side energy" would cancel out, so that the Emperor wouldn't be able to sense him.
November 18, 2025 at 3:30 AM
The biggest wtf moment for me was the suggestion that Yoda chose to live near the cave on Dagobah because its "dark side energy" and his "light side energy" would cancel out, so that the Emperor wouldn't be able to sense him.
Love the switch from "Rousseau was right about human nature" to "Hobbes was right about human nature...and that's awesome, acrually".
November 18, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Love the switch from "Rousseau was right about human nature" to "Hobbes was right about human nature...and that's awesome, acrually".
Although Total War tends to vastly overestimate how high the casualties would be.
November 17, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Although Total War tends to vastly overestimate how high the casualties would be.
Does the fact I laughed at this mean I'm going to Hell?
November 17, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Does the fact I laughed at this mean I'm going to Hell?
IIRC, the main message of ASoIaF isn't "the lords declare war and the peasants fight", it's "the lords declare war and the peasants *suffer*", which is much more defensible, IMO.
November 17, 2025 at 2:11 PM
IIRC, the main message of ASoIaF isn't "the lords declare war and the peasants fight", it's "the lords declare war and the peasants *suffer*", which is much more defensible, IMO.
I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure Agincourt and Crécy were notable in part because they were so fatal to the nobility, so they shouldn't be considered the baseline.
November 17, 2025 at 1:03 PM
I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure Agincourt and Crécy were notable in part because they were so fatal to the nobility, so they shouldn't be considered the baseline.
My brain refuses to believe this is real.
November 16, 2025 at 4:32 PM
My brain refuses to believe this is real.
The fact that people have to specify "the original" for a game with a 2 on the end will never not be funny to me.
November 16, 2025 at 4:31 PM
The fact that people have to specify "the original" for a game with a 2 on the end will never not be funny to me.
IIRC, it was 3/3.5e where D&D really went insane with the belt porn.
November 16, 2025 at 4:25 PM
IIRC, it was 3/3.5e where D&D really went insane with the belt porn.
I wouldn't actually mind orcs as nomadic pastoralists (I have an image of an orc shephed watching over his flock from atop a tame warg living rent-free in my head), but even that feels more distinct than what they currently are.
November 16, 2025 at 7:54 AM
I wouldn't actually mind orcs as nomadic pastoralists (I have an image of an orc shephed watching over his flock from atop a tame warg living rent-free in my head), but even that feels more distinct than what they currently are.
*This is assuming you ignore how world-breaking spells like goodberry are, but the vast majority of D&D media is profoundly uninterested in addressing those kinds of questions.
November 16, 2025 at 7:45 AM
*This is assuming you ignore how world-breaking spells like goodberry are, but the vast majority of D&D media is profoundly uninterested in addressing those kinds of questions.
But like...the art should reflect the primary activitues you're going to be doing in game. Sure, the settings may be trying to evoke historical periods where 90% of the population were subsistence farmers*, but if 90% of the artwork was of farmers, something would be wrong.
November 16, 2025 at 7:44 AM
But like...the art should reflect the primary activitues you're going to be doing in game. Sure, the settings may be trying to evoke historical periods where 90% of the population were subsistence farmers*, but if 90% of the artwork was of farmers, something would be wrong.
Yes. I'm tired of people acting like it's gatekeeping to acknowledge that certain rules systems are designed with certain activities in mind.
November 16, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Yes. I'm tired of people acting like it's gatekeeping to acknowledge that certain rules systems are designed with certain activities in mind.
Only tangentially related, but once someone compared different TTRPG systems to languages, then someone else said that made D&D 4e the Esperanto of RPGs, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since.
November 14, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Only tangentially related, but once someone compared different TTRPG systems to languages, then someone else said that made D&D 4e the Esperanto of RPGs, and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since.
Reminds me of playing chess in elementary school, where the kids who knew how castling worked got to endlessly torment the kids who didn't.
November 13, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Reminds me of playing chess in elementary school, where the kids who knew how castling worked got to endlessly torment the kids who didn't.
A work of art.
November 13, 2025 at 6:18 PM
A work of art.
What happens when you make "facts have a well-known liberal bias" the entirety of your epistemology.
November 13, 2025 at 1:00 PM
What happens when you make "facts have a well-known liberal bias" the entirety of your epistemology.
A porcupine may not be able to stop a wolf from eating it, but it can at least make it very painful for the wolf.
November 12, 2025 at 6:40 PM
A porcupine may not be able to stop a wolf from eating it, but it can at least make it very painful for the wolf.
Because they always imagine themselves as the ones doing the violence, and never the ones having violence inflicted upon them.
Many such cases.
Many such cases.
November 11, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Because they always imagine themselves as the ones doing the violence, and never the ones having violence inflicted upon them.
Many such cases.
Many such cases.
Problems can arise if half the players want to use all the supplements (and the inevitable power creep that comes with them), and half want to stick to the PHB. It can be hard for the DM to craft challenges that allow them to feel like they're all contributing.
November 10, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Problems can arise if half the players want to use all the supplements (and the inevitable power creep that comes with them), and half want to stick to the PHB. It can be hard for the DM to craft challenges that allow them to feel like they're all contributing.
Isn't that just every edition of D&D?
November 10, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Isn't that just every edition of D&D?
I'm thinking that a genuine grand strategy game pretty much has to abstract away the operational and tactical levels (i.e. a card-based game like Twilight Struggle) because, once you give the player miniatures they can move around on a map, that will inevitably usurp everything.
November 10, 2025 at 3:58 PM
I'm thinking that a genuine grand strategy game pretty much has to abstract away the operational and tactical levels (i.e. a card-based game like Twilight Struggle) because, once you give the player miniatures they can move around on a map, that will inevitably usurp everything.
I'm reminded of Absolute Destruction where Hull talks about how in WW1, the German High Command increasingly hand-waved strategic questions by micro-managing things on first the operational, then even the tactical level.
And that's basically the kind of thinking war games encourage.
And that's basically the kind of thinking war games encourage.
November 10, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I'm reminded of Absolute Destruction where Hull talks about how in WW1, the German High Command increasingly hand-waved strategic questions by micro-managing things on first the operational, then even the tactical level.
And that's basically the kind of thinking war games encourage.
And that's basically the kind of thinking war games encourage.