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  1. Umbran

    D&D General Weapons should break left and right

    No single game/product can handle all the commonly desired styles of play well - there are too many priorities that wind up in conflict. Designers must make choices about what they want their games to do well, and what they are willing to sacrifice to get it. It is not unlike cars - the...
  2. Umbran

    Which are you, The plan everything out GM, or the Ad lib?

    I frequently use published adventure content, for which I need minimal prep. When I am writing my own, I tend to go into most sessions with sketches and bullet points, a few statblocks ready to go, and so forth. Low-ish prep. When running a more tactically-focused system, I will do more prep...
  3. Umbran

    ChatGPT lies then gaslights reporter with fake transcript

    That's actually a pretty good question. I think you might be setting yourself up for that feeling. I don't know you personally. And what I am about to say is a demonstrable thing about people in general, not necessarily you at this instant... People, once they've put an (even minor) stake in...
  4. Umbran

    What Do You Think Of As "Modern TTRPG Mechanics"?

    Mod Note: Folks, it is time to disengage, before disengagement is provided for you. Stop making it personal, now, please and thanks.
  5. Umbran

    ChatGPT lies then gaslights reporter with fake transcript

    Fine. Junkware. It does not seem to be generating significant value when it gets there. We'll talk about that more in a bit... "Remaining staff". So, staff has been let go. You then replace their productivity with that supposedly produced by AI. To-may-to, to-mah-to. That is actually where...
  6. Umbran

    What Do You Think Of As "Modern TTRPG Mechanics"?

    Why is support of one specific theme the only valid "intent"?
  7. Umbran

    D&D General Oh Please give me some Happy Backgrounds!!

    Spending a year travelling Europe... and slaying monsters and being coated with gore as you go... I think some of the dark backgrounds come along with people trying to square being okay with the wholesale violence many games entail. "I had a happy childhood, but I'm just as happy beating your...
  8. Umbran

    Sequel game systems?

    The Lost Colony game includes an explanation for characters from earlier settings to show up in later games.
  9. Umbran

    Sequel game systems?

    Deadlands, Deadlands: Hell on Earth, and Deadlands: Lost Colony might fit the bill.
  10. Umbran

    What Do You Think Of As "Modern TTRPG Mechanics"?

    There's a bit of a gap between "knowing the difference between them" and "actively denigrating one" though. General purpose tools are not "aimless", and dismissing them as such does come across as pretty condescending or pretentious. Sorry.
  11. Umbran

    What rpg system would you use for a 60+ session fantasy campaign?

    Not a bad choice - especially for an online game. I've been playing a FAE online Space:1889 game through the pandemic, that just wrapped up recently. If I were running a face-to-face game, I might also consider Fate Core, because more of the Fate System Toolkit, and its magic subsystems...
  12. Umbran

    3I/ATLAS

    "Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space." - THHGttG
  13. Umbran

    3I/ATLAS

    There's lots to learn on Mars, but also, Mars isn't going anywhere. Meanwhile, this thing is going by, and ain't coming back.
  14. Umbran

    3I/ATLAS

    Yep. I said why I objected to the "true nature" phrasing - its use in the common parlance has connotations that aren't appropriate - and I gave space to speak about detailed composition. You've given us no sign why this "true nature" language is appropriate or important in this context. Have...
  15. Umbran

    3I/ATLAS

    S'okay. Those books wouldn't have been beamed out into space - "visitors" will not have read them.
  16. Umbran

    What rpg system would you use for a 60+ session fantasy campaign?

    It isn't hypothetical. When my Wild Beyond the Witchlight campaign ended, one of my players stepped up to give me a break and give me some time to work out what we'd do next! I describe myself as a "service oriented GM" - I have my most fun when I am giving payers what they want. So, rather...
  17. Umbran

    3I/ATLAS

    Of course not! Because (duh!) - not much light has been shed on it yet! We use vague categories when we don't know much! The universe, and science, moves at its own pace, not yours.
  18. Umbran

    3I/ATLAS

    That too many of us are too science illiterate to have any freakin' patience.
  19. Umbran

    3I/ATLAS

    Hey. It isn't like they get to pick and choose. We don't get to plan this - the thing showed up, and we have to use what hardware is available. Yep. In most pictures we can take, from anywhere, the nucleus is less than one pixel. That is exactly why we need to take as many pictures as...
  20. Umbran

    3I/ATLAS

    It isn't "heading for Earth". It isn't going to come anywhere near Earth. It's closest approach is going to be some 1.8 AU from us - meaning 1.8x the distance between the Earth and the Sun. It is on the other side of the solar system from us!
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