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    Ahsoka - SPOILERS

    Yeah. The episode failed to present how ludicrous the situation appeared to the captain. And to give the captain enough bluster and arrogance to make it believable that he would want to go to the dock to be on hand when the simpleton fools were apprehended. I think the scene can be made...
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    D&D General Jargon Revisited: Why Jargon is Often Bad for Discussing RPGs

    Isn’t the problem here “pseudo-jargon”? In professional fields, jargon is precisely defined. Local variations are discussed and resolved early in discussions, and professionals recognize sub-field specific practices as a professional requirement. I think with table-top RPGs we haven't yet...
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    D&D 4E Ben Riggs' "What the Heck Happened with 4th Edition?" seminar at Gen Con 2023

    This is true, but from the perspective of what can companies do, it might be debated. If an economic actor thinks they can make more from an input, they will outbid another thinks they who would make less. There seem to be instabilities that drive maximizing behaviors. TomB
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    D&D 5E (2014) Glory of the Giants' AI-Enhanced Art

    Using the example of the car spokes, is it really a mistake? The image seems to work even with incorrect spoke details. I’m thinking technical inaccuracy doesn’t matter as much as whether our perceptions accept an image; or whether an image is evocative. We are not counting ships in an aerial...
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    D&D 5E (2014) Glory of the Giants' AI-Enhanced Art

    Although, isn't that the case with a lot of art? In particular, painters seems to do a lot of providing just enough form and just enough detail and relying on our perception and our brains to fill in the rest. TomB
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    Aliens: Yes Or No?

    Current evidence is that the rate of expansion is increasing. I’m intrigued by two follow up questions: For a time-like curve that is continued indefinitely in to the past and future, for every other such curve, is there always at least one light-like path from a point of the first curve to a...
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    Aliens: Yes Or No?

    You might not be able to visit an entire single bubble. Non-observable regions are not reachable, if expansion continues at at least the same rate, since the distance to a non-observable region gets bigger faster than it can be traversed. TomB
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    Aliens: Yes Or No?

    I think the consensus would be be that the question is a-scientific. Absent data via a test / experiment that can be repeated, there is no science to be done. There is somewhat a basis for the universe being larger than we can observe, and that the parts that we cannot observe are about the...
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    Aliens: Yes Or No?

    Consequently, if we did receive evidence of intelligent life. Evidence, not scientific or cultural information, just the most basic proof of existence, other than challenging philosophical ideas, what would be the practical difference? Having evidence would seem to be profound, but is it? We...
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    Aliens: Yes Or No?

    Heh, you are correct. I was thinking afterwards, what practically would be resolved by the answer. There might be dragons off the edges of the map. I can’t get there anyways. TomB
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    Aliens: Yes Or No?

    I think their point was that the probability of alien life cannot be stated with any certainty. We are speculating in the absence of meaningful data. Edit: Also, I’m not sure that “Most folks would agree …”. But even if they did, does it matter? “Most folks” can be rather misinformed on a...
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    Whistle blower says non-human bodies recovered from crash

    Eh, I suggest calling it a win and stepping away. The topic is way too politics adjacent for such speculation to turn out well. TomB
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    D&D 5E (2024) Asians Represent: "Has WotC Fixed the D&D Monk?"

    Eh, heavy armor is restrictive in the sense that it leads to overheating. Not represented in the game, but a big problem in real life. Heavy armor is restrictive in the sense that certain athletic actions (e.g., jumping) simply cannot be done as well, because of added mass. Heavy armor is...
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    D&D General Data from a million DnDBeyond character sheets?

    Yeah. I wonder how to match up "Player Sheet" to "Time Played". Also, there are different ways characters might be used which would impact the analysis: What characters are NPCs? How many are for one-shot sessions, or for organized play, or for campaigns? How many are for beginner players...
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    D&D General Rules, Rulings and Second Order Design: D&D and AD&D Examined

    Upon reading the first paragraph I was ironically drawn to thinking about a recent review, by the good folks at shutupandsitdown of Frosthaven, the successor to Gloomhaven. A point that I was drawn to was that Gloomhaven has a lot of rules holes. Enough that in a typical game some player...
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    D&D General "that you can see", "line of sight", glass, mirrors, ~clairvoyance, blindsight, and anything else.

    That's a hold-over from 1E. Magic missile has a skein of specific considerations: Shield explicitly blocks magic missile. The missiles always hit, in contrast with other spells such as Scorching Ray. As a force effect, magic missiles ignore damage reduction and hardness. Allowing magic...
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    D&D General "that you can see", "line of sight", glass, mirrors, ~clairvoyance, blindsight, and anything else.

    Is Roll20 accurate? A perusal of a few common spells seems to indicate that the requirement that the target be seen will be explicitly stated when it applies. I'm in doubt of the general PHB text based on this perusal. Sunbeam and Lightning Bolt don't seem to need the targets to be seen...
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    D&D General "that you can see", "line of sight", glass, mirrors, ~clairvoyance, blindsight, and anything else.

    Except, there are many exceptions: Should a sunbeam type spell work through glass (I'd say yes). Should a sound based effect work through a closed wooden door? (I'd say it depends on whether the sound reaches through the obstacle). Many damaging effects which can overcome the hardness and hit...
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    D&D General "that you can see", "line of sight", glass, mirrors, ~clairvoyance, blindsight, and anything else.

    Ah, ok. But then: Bringing concealment into the discussion just seems to confuse the discussion. A wall of force is an obstacle which does not provide concealment and which provides total cover to physical attacks. Then, a better question seems to be: What types of obstacles are barriers to...
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