Recent content by CleverNickName

I was feeling punchy, so I asked AI how much energy it was using:

(checks watch) Hm, he's late. I expected to see ol' eumetopias jubatus several pages ago.

Last year, I started reducing my time spent on social media as a whole, and closing accounts whenever possible. (The hardest to let go of was Facebook, since it's the platform my family back home uses to keep in touch.) As of last Thanksgiving, I had gone from multiple platforms on multiple...

The way my doctor explained it to me: it's a survival reflex. It's triggered by ingesting fewer calories, yes, but also by the time of the year: shorter days and cooler temperatures tell your body "hey it's winter, evolution has taught us that food is going to be scarce for a few months so...

That's all I was trying to say, really. When you make a roll, that d20 doesn't "see" how many attack rolls you have made so far in the campaign, and how many times it rolled a 3 or whatever. It will always return a number between 1 and 20, no matter what the last roll was. The other bonuses...

And let's not gloss over my use of passive voice either ("I think," "I don't think," "I believe," etc.) I was never trying to define a metric.

You lost me here. Which extra bonuses are you talking about? I used an attack roll as an example but I could have just as easily used Athletics checks or Strength saves. It's going to be the same number, adjusted by as much as +/- 20 points completely at random, then compared to a moving...

This is an interesting twist on the Chicken vs. Egg exercise. An RPG book is a game, and games are meant to be played. But it is also a book, and books are meant to be read. So does that mean it was a book ("egg") first, which eventually becomes a game ("chicken") after reading it? or was it...

Here's why I don't think ability scores matter as much as people seem to think. Say that you're playing the role of a 4th level fighter, with an 18 in Strength. When you swing your longsword, your attack bonus is +6---you'll roll a d20, add it to that +6 , and hope it hits the target AC that...

Today I learned that Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, died. I used to enjoy his comics in the mid- to late-90s, when it felt relevant to a young 20-something starting his career in corporate America. His later work, though? Oooof.

Going back to the original post, from @Lakesidefantasy so many pages ago: There was an example given as well: The question was (and has always been) whether or not Point Buy was balanced with itself---in other words, are all 65 possible combinations of ability scores equally effective---and...

I think this is good news, and I think it's a good start. I hope others follow suit, and that it starts bending the trajectory of generative AI use toward assets that are owned/legally acquired, and away from assets that were stolen.

This topic came up in the "Benevlolent DM" thread last year, when someone asked what being a benevolent DM might look like. I shared the story of that time nobody realized they didn't bring any light sources: Anyway. To answer your question, I enforce the rules for illumination in my games...

Ah, but you did click the thumbnail... and that's almost like agreeing to it. (sarcastic, but mostly cynical) Google is almost impossible to use these days if you need real, useful information. :-/