TacticsConsort

joined 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago

Megalovania

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Alright. That's a perfectly reasonable concern. Do the Democrats have a concrete plan prepared to ensure that this doesn't turn into Bush v Gore round 2? Because if Trump manages to legally contest this to the Supreme Court, then little problems like 'Justice' and 'Truth' certainly won't get in their way of installing a dictator.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 days ago

The news certainly isn't new, but there's a difference between knowing something that is 99% likely to be true and having hard, factual evidence, and just having a formal report on it.

We all know that Epstein didn't kill himself. It was the most blatant political murder of the century. But there's a difference between knowing Epstein didn't kill himself, and a major investigatory body releasing a report that analyses all available information and confirms accurately and without bias, that Epstein didn't kill himself.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I've had some issues with Invidious being unable to play specific videos once or twice, but the issues tend to go away after a couple of days.

I mean, we know Google and Youtube are both multi-billion-dollar corporations that are absolutely enraged by the idea that there could be any possible way for a commoner pleb like you to NOT have your online experience absolutely crammed with as many privacy violations and hyper-targeted ads as possible. Invidious having to constantly stay ahead of such powerful entities' attempts to block them out means that some errors and periods of downtime are perfectly excusable- what's important is continuing to support them in their fight.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Nobody's ever accused me of being smart! But hey, at least I'm honest

[–] [email protected] -4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (3 children)

Insanely true, I didn't give a shit about 90% of the features on my new phone once my old one broke down and I got a Pixel 8, but I was delighted to go from a worn-out 12 hour battery life to a 64 hour battery life. I would actively like to uninstall any sort of current AI function from my phone if it could increase my battery longevity by even 1%.

Also: ew, Apple.

Edit: Really annoyed it doesn't have a headphone jack though

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 week ago (2 children)

People really need to understand that for 3rd party candidates to actually be viable then they need a dedicated support base within the existing government structure.

You can't realistically vote in a 3rd party president until you've first built up an actually effective support structure of 3rd party mayors, senators, and other politicians to prove that your party can function effectively in government rolls and that it has the reach, policies and platform to actually appeal to voters at large.

(On god we need Ranked Choice voting though. Here in the UK and in America. Fuck First Past The Post, all my homies hate FPTP)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 weeks ago

Today, we're dancing for no reason. Someday, we'll disappear for no reason.

[–] [email protected] 48 points 2 weeks ago

"Roll a death save."

"No."

"...No? You can't just not do that?"

"I don't care."

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Too bad." Gets back up with 50% HP

[–] [email protected] 35 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You know, I feel like it might be more cost effective to use all these fighting-age men to grow your economy rather than ban birth control?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Oh yeah, I wouldn't say that Nintendo are paragons of virtue or anything. But they are far, FAR better at making games that offer a wide variety of experiences (edit: when compared to Sony/MS. Indies are king). Similarly, sure the Switch control scheme isn't something nobody had ever conceived of before, but it's very distinctly different from the Xbox/Playstation controllers.

They've got like... what, 7 or 8 IPs that they actively maintain, right? And about 10 more derelict but still iconic IPs. Plus some stuff made by other companies that's exclusive to their hardware.

-Mario -Zelda -Pikmin -Splatoon (Hey look a gun game) -Fire Emblem -Donkey Kong Country -Super Smash Bros

Dedicated 3rd party: -Xenoblade -Pokemon

All these games have really different themes and gameplay styles and aesthetics, and that is the reason why I'm convinced that the Switch 2 is perfectly positioned to just completely take over the market the way the Wii did- Nintendo is large and competent enough to avoid the issues that plagued the PS5 launch and later life, and fresh enough to get people interested, unlike the Xbox.

Where Sony/MS have uhhh... Looks at the PS5 exclusive games... Looks at Halo/Call of Duty/Fortnite...

[–] [email protected] 24 points 2 weeks ago (6 children)

Pffff. The AAA industry is notorious for being about as stale as a three week old french baguette. If it isn't a Gun Game made for chasing the most recent trends, then chances are they don't even want to sniff at it. To say nothing of the absolutely egregious thirst for Profit that plagues a lot of titles. It's one thing to be a $70 game, and another thing entirely to be a $70 game with a subscription, ingame puchases, and day 1 DLC.

Sony and Microsoft can have their pathetic little 'arms race' about processing power and framerates and 150GB+ games.

In the meantime, Nintendo is likely going to step right up with something that has a nice fresh, intuitive control scheme like the Wii or the Switch, with a solid release library that covers a variety of styles and appeals, and promptly curbstomp the living shit out of the competitors. The market is absolutely wide open for a smash hit console in the near future, coming off the backs of the PS5's no-games failure and the fact I haven't even heard about the Xbox in about 3 years.

 

Credit to VexAtlas from the Lancer community for the meme format

Here's the homebrew this is based on, in case you hadn't seen it here before! The art is still being added, but mechanically it's in a pretty refined state now.

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/liOJvZSBDaur

 

Ha, you know, I forgot this community was a thing!

Anyways, here's my contribution: a homebrew for levels 11-20, which should be great for your Eve of Ruin game if you're running that, or just your custom world~

It's not perfect but I've carefully refined it and balanced it for the last 9 months, it's in the best state it's ever been and should feel fair at any table that uses more than one encounter per Long Rest.

https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/liOJvZSBDaur

 
 

By me~

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eFc2qQTY9P3ym9fyMNYHC_mIogpt9kNrOdm5n_yj1cs/edit#heading=h.6xjrgcowqrbb

This is a large homebrew that has the primary goal of allowing you to play as actual true dragons in a DnD setting without being unfairly overpowered.

To accomplish this...

A) I've included some guidance on how to better balance high level content

B) I've designed eight dragon-only classes, which are equivalent in power to the existing bard and wizard classes.

C) I've re-introduced a simple mechanic that allows martial characters to function much more effectively in combat; Flat Damage Reduction.

D) I've playtested it and refined it constantly for months

Also it contains a few new feats and spells that are suitable for use by humanoid characters! Complete with my personal guarantee that all of this stuff is at least as well-balanced as basic 5th edition DnD.

 

I offer you this meme. It isn't much but it's mine.

By the way here's my dragon homebrew. It's still undergoing playtesting and balancing, and it assumes that you're willing to start your game (or oneshot) at 11th level, but I'd be honoured if you'd use it.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eFc2qQTY9P3ym9fyMNYHC_mIogpt9kNrOdm5n_yj1cs/edit

Why do I not simply play a different system? Because I like the DnD dragons. Next question.

 
 

I can also give a 5 hour class on the matter if you're interested.

 

Spoilers below, I want to complain, not ruin anybody else's experience with the game.

Okay, so. The main reason I play dungeons and dragons? Aside from the sense of adventure and the ability to write my own story? It's the dragons.

Now my problem is that in any and all official DnD content (and most other media tbh), dragons get absolutely fucking screwed, ESPECIALLY the good ones. It's why the ability to write my own stories with DnD appeals to me so much.

I didn't go into Baldur's Gate 3 with high expectations. I know that the idea of having a powerful force of good that isn't under player control or completely useless is beyond the comprehension of most game/show/book writers (It's really unimaginably fucking easy to have one that doesn't destroy character agency btw, just putting that out there. I can write a whole god damn essay on how to have Big Good forces that aren't fucking useless while maintaining narrative tension).

All I wanted, in the game that advertises itself on how lets you approach every problem from your own angle and with your own methods, was to be able to share a little conversation with a dragon and make sure they were okay. I didn't have unrealistic expectations. I know games aren't made around what one man wants, so I didn't hope for more than maybe three lines of dialog and an ambiguous ending where they're free and alive. I'd have been happy with that.

And Baldur's Gate 3, despite allowing you to spare, or befriend, or protect, save, speak with or at least bring some hope to EVERY OTHER ENTITY IN THE GAME, doesn't just give none of that to their one dragon that can speak. It actively goes out of its' way to make it so that the dragon has the absolute worst fate possible, significantly worse than death, will never speak to you (only to another NPC), is killed pre-adventure, has their spirit tortured for eternity, and cannot be saved, helped, or even given a ray of hope. Just. Like. For FUCKS SAKE.

I wouldn't be so pissed off it this wasn't such a common thing in games like this! But I sunk 70 hours into this game intending a little interaction with a dragon as my reward, and as far as I'm concerned, I got a flaming pile of shit thrown in my face for making it to the end. It wouldn't sting so much if they weren't the only character to get screwed to anywhere near this magnitude. It wouldn't sting so much if shit like this didn't also happen so ridiculously frequently.

Please tell me I'm not the only one frustrated with how dragons (ESPECIALLY good dragons) get treated in any form of adult media. Is it really, really so much to ask for a story where dragons don't get the deck stacked against them so unbelievably hard that even actual gods would be pretty much screwed?

 

So which kind of dragon is your favourite, anyways? Sapphires are my favourite Gem (although Amethysts have some epic tail going on), Bronze for Metallic, and Chromatic is a tough call, I actually really like four of them... But I'll have to pick Green.

 

For the uninitiated, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBLdQ1a4-JI

 

cross-posted from: https://yiffit.net/post/337017

Not just to share the characters and the stories with a wider audience, but also to get worldbuilding tips from likeminded people, and more ideas on how I can be creative. Let's see if I can get your attention with this opener...


Welcome to the world of the Two Collided, also known as Castoria.

This planet was of a bizzare shape maintained by a cosmic reaction; as it was not one sphere of rock hurtling through the void, it was two. They were their own distinct landmasses, however their extremely close proximity along with some magical intervention allowed the oceans of the two planets to link, creating a stream known as the River of Deaths.

The two planets that now make up Castoria are Pherica, the world of Skin, and Geodeus, the world of Hide.

Recently, humankind and its' relative races had fallen on hard times. Elvenkind's individualism was used against them by a creeping curse that required collective action. Dwarvenkind's life below the rocks was shattered by an earthquake the likes never seen before, further disasters growing only more intense. Humanity's livable territory was all but wiped out by a huge internal war. The Tieflings have been afflicted by a dire famine, all the lands they own turning to barren dust. The list is endless, with one great calamity after another striking each race- None on Pherica seemed to be safe.

It was though the planet itself was determined to kill everyone who lived there.

As a result, many nations of Pherica launched exodus ships along the River of Deaths. These settlers had two purposes... Firstly, to scour the lands of Geodeus to see if there is a root cause of Pherica's affliction, and secondly, in the event that Pherica really is doomed, to ensure that the races will live on.

Many ships were lost along the violent tides, astral winds, and extreme magics of the River of Deaths, but some have reached shores on Geodeus to establish settlements, where their adventures would unfurl...

Of the initial adventures, one of them was of particular note. In the chaos of the exodus, Chromatic Dragons attacked, and they destroyed a ship that wasn't meant to carry refugees, but to transport something never meant to see the world again. A Deck of Many Things. Obtaining the deck, an actor who only the surviving gods know undid the cosmic reaction that held Geodeus and Pherica apart, sending them crashing into each other. Through the intervention of the god of Metallic Dragons, Castoria avoided total extinction... But with almost all of Pherica having aggregated around the River of Deaths, then the impact all but wiped out Phericans entirely.

Now, the survivors of Geodeus need to weather the storm and rebuild. Whether they come from the old and mighty nations that were founded by the first of their kind, or the newer and more far-sighted offspring nations- all will be tested, in the World of Two Collided.

[Current common Races]

Official DnD

-Dragonborn (Metallic, Chromatic, Gem)

-Aarakocra (Birdfolk, normally eagle-coded)

-Tabaxi (Catfolk)

-Leonin (Lionfolk)

-Minotaur

-Giff (Hippofolk)

-Kobold

-Owlin (Birdfolk, normally owl-coded)

-Centaur

-Kenku (Corvidfolk)

-Harengon (Rabbitfolk)

-Tortle (Turtlefolk)

-Yuan ti (Serpentfolk)

-Lizardfolk

-Warforged (Constructs with their own intelligence and will)

Homebrewed

-Kitsune

-Wolfkind

-Gnoll

-Avali

-Felkin


Fun fact, in my original plans for campaigns on this world, then the campaigns as a whole were meant to be about saving humanity and the other refugees by ultimately preventing Pherica's impact and destruction, and a general lesson on compassion. However, I gave the players one chance to get one card from the Deck of Many Things, the wizard promptly obtained The Fates and undid the cosmic reaction that was keeping Geodeus and Pherica held apart, not realizing what they were doing until Impact, resulting in The Derailment Of All Time.

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