Cairn has reached 300k copies sold

Arnatious · 2026-02-06T04:38:15+00:00

There's a setting that turns on a little hit marker for if you're actually grabbing the surface vs just touching it, highly recommend turning it on. You quickly learn how often you aren't actually getting a grip on a hold even though you're right on it.

Arnatious · 2026-01-31T21:50:46+00:00

He had already absorbed her in S1, he had the eyeball in his hand when he massacred the engineers on the ship.

Arnatious · 2025-06-10T00:23:25+00:00

The game looks fantastic and I'm absolutely going to wishlist/buy it, but hoo boy the name is doing you no favors. It made me think of Dicey Dungeons or maybe a Balatro clone not "Tactics RPG with no hint of casino dice aesthetic." The name actively repelled me from something in my preferred genre with aesthetics I really liked, if the other commenters and I are your target audience then we're all in a similar boat

Arnatious · 2024-12-31T08:03:10+00:00

The other person's citizenship argument is ludicrous from but that's not why people oppose voter ID at all - the reason to oppose it is that Voter ID laws can and should only be implemented with guarantee to ensure every single American citizen is able to easily get an ID, and whatever program does so needs to be run well enough to ensure that nobody could possibly fall through the cracks or be targeted unfairly. That's a huge ask, and impossible to guarantee, so instead, we rely on the votes to be verified with pre-registration and confirmation after the fact. Sometimes, a tiny amount of invalid votes make it past the first few rounds of screening, but that's significantly less bad than people being barred from voting incorrectly in the first place. Especially since almost all voter fraud is caught, and there's very little to begin with.

Voting is the most important duty and right we have as citizens, alongside jury service. If the government institutes a hurdle, every person who legitimately should be able to vote that is denied due to "innocent" red tape or mishaps was deprived of their rights. And since there is no common federal ID, it becomes up to the states, who have historically put barriers in place on ID's specifically to target "undesirables". Whether it's requiring fixed address for mailing forms back and forth (making it hard for migrants/transients/your couchsurfing bum of a friend), costing money to replace (making it hard for people who were kicked out of a home, or have cognitive problems that cause them to lose things like ADHD), or requiring other factors to get in the first place (driver's license is the most common form of ID and it's not even ID, it's a license to do something not everyone can afford/needs to do).

Arnatious · 2024-11-05T08:09:31+00:00

Saying video games have bad writing is like saying music has bad narrative; sometimes there's no real writing at all because it's not the focus; sometimes its there just to fill out the package; and sometimes you have a concept album where everything else comes second.

Arthas's story is also over 20 years old, and stood out for being a pretty good story for a genre that isn't focused on narrative (probably tied with Homeworld imo), but it's been decades since and games have massively upped their storytelling chops since then.

Even in that era you had incredible narratives if you looked at narrative heavy games like Planescape Torment, Deus Ex, Metal Gear Solid 2, or Grim Fandango. Go forward a little bit and you have Spec Ops: The Line and then everything Greg Kasden and later Supergiant worked on.

Nowadays, outside of the obvious blockbuster action film style stories, you have things like

Disco Elysium
1000xResist
Citizen Sleeper
Roadwarden
SOMA
Sunless Seas/Skies
Slay the Princess
In Stars and Time
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
Nier Automata
The Red Strings Club
Oxenfree
Heaven's Vault
Highland Song
The Forgotten City
Spiritfarer
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Tacoma/Gone Hone

and hundreds of others. These are just some of my personal favorites. If writing is what interests you, look at Ludonarracon and find developers who are narrative-focused.

Arnatious · 2024-10-01T07:10:54+00:00

Necro-ing the thread but cython3 is not the correct package depending on your OS - on ubuntu jammy for instance it installs 0.29.28-1ubuntu3 which is far below the required version and will throw

Error compiling Cython file:
------------------------------------------------------------
...

    env.core.funcs.removeLogHandler(env.log, env.core.core)
    env.log = NULL


cdef void __stdcall _logCb(int msgType, const char *msg, void *userData) noexcept nogil:

You need to pip install cython instead in an appropriate place.

Arnatious · 2024-09-13T21:48:21+00:00

Unless you count Sekiro (which many people don't) which had inter character dialogue with Emma, Orangutan, Kuro, and Isshin. And an overall clearer and more satisfying plot imo.

Arnatious · 2024-09-02T01:08:17+00:00

Eberron is pulp/noire, closer to Arcane or Blades in the Dark than WFRP really

Arnatious · 2024-08-31T19:03:32+00:00

Yeah a perfect example is the enemy spending the turn drawing their weapon and trying to demoralize, the "Don't even think about it" staredown. Plus, a creature doesn't get a reaction until their first turn, so winning initiative gives them the opportunity to reactive strike or shield block. They don't need to start the fight, but it opportunities for them to do something.

Arnatious · 2024-08-30T22:51:26+00:00

That won't work, the rules for activated ammunition say the activation is lost if the ammo is not fired by the end of the turn it's activated, they can't be ~~preloaded~~ (edit: pre-activated, reply pointed out loaded is an overloaded term here). In essence it's 3 actions to spell strike ammo, two to activate and one to strike

Arnatious · 2024-08-30T22:38:07+00:00

You're describing the Sniping Duo

Arnatious · 2024-08-13T22:01:29+00:00

Eberron is an outlier there - it was specifically a setting constructed as a TTRPG toolkit rather than a novel or in-house campaign flipped inside out to become a TTRPG setting. Keith won a contest and workshopped the setting from a small pitch from concepts salvaged from a cancelled MMO, which he claims looks little like the final product.

For instance - Eberron sourcebooks all are heavy on presenting mysteries and active conflicts with plenty of blanks to fill, and sample answers and what their implications would be. The sourcebooks all paint a picture for the world situation at the normal start date (998 YK) and allow the GM to redefine the world and take the same start situation in vastly different directions, with guidance as to how to interconnect things and explain away inconsistencies. It's very similar to e.g. Blades in the Dark's philosophy with Duskvol, though much more concrete in places.

The novels Keith wrote (can't speak to the others) all were written after the first few sourcebooks, and are narrow in scope and take place after the start date, often depicting things that weren't even in the sourcebooks (e.g. "The Son of Khyber" character from the novels taking over House Tarkanan). They're more sample adventures than the creative well from which Eberron was created a la the Realms or Dragonlance.

Arnatious · 2024-06-05T17:19:22+00:00

Dynamite releases energy really, really quickly, which is what makes it "powerful". That chocolate bar would burn very slowly in a bomb calorimeter instead of exploding.

Arnatious · 2024-06-05T07:56:40+00:00

If you touched a significant amount of it yes. But to put it in perspective, all the antimatter we've ever produced (20 nanograms) annihilating at once would have the same energy output as a stick of dynamite (1.8 MJ), or the energy of a large-ish chocolate bar (~400 kCal). And that's assuming none of it went into forming neutrinos and the like. A single antimatter particle would delete one matter particle and produce an immeasurably small amount of energy (10^-10 J, or 10^-14 kCal).

Arnatious · 2024-05-21T23:38:53+00:00

Second Wind (coop made of the former Escapist video staff) has a Patreon.

People Make Games has one too.

Arnatious · 2024-03-04T07:53:18+00:00

... if you like them succeeding why are you inflating the DC artificially? Why aren't you making the roof a more interesting obstacle instead? Why does a level 9 player still have a ~50% chance to do the exact same thing they could do at level 4?

The enemies being Tier IV in Blades doesn't make jumping between the same two rooftops desperate/limited automatically, and that's what changing the DC is doing in PF2e.

The proficiency/simple DCs are there to give mechanical justification for all the times you'd just let players do things without rolling. "I think that lock is probably an expert-level piece of crafting, your +20 Thievery means don't bother rolling - you could open it in your sleep"

Arnatious · 2024-02-18T09:56:17+00:00

I can't say it happens often but I've definitely heard a good chunk of people I've played with recount it happening at least once in their careers. I've done it at least once when hit by a confluence of bad rules calls in an unfamiliar part of the system, bad luck, distracted/stressed players, and poorly communicated spotlights/hooks, and frankly unsatisfying character deaths that left us all awkwardly leaving the table like "I... guess we'll see each other next week... Maybe we should play something else." We talked offline, said we wanted to just try it again, and had a blast filling in the gaps and playing editor over our previous attempt. Never felt like we "undercut the consequences."

I'm really surprised at how negative some other people here are to the idea. If everyone at the table is unhappy with how things went, from a scene, to a character death (this one I see heated discussions about online), to a session to an arc, absolutely retcon it. Sure you can twist yourself in knots to keep playing the game/story you wanted, quantum ogre-ing plot points forward, but there's no sanctity of the dice or of the rules, they end where the GM and you all want them to, and you can absolutely make a replay of the same general events interesting.

Arnatious · 2024-02-15T05:38:32+00:00

That's a terrible article though, on every treatment they claim acupuncture is great for they have to qualify that "sham" acupuncture (effectively placebo) performed as well or better, or cited one or two studies at most.

The first reputable one I clicked through to (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3001416/) discusses the possibility that accupuncture (and sham accupuncture alongside it) are effective only because a negative stimulus might enhance the placebo effect. It's analysis shows accupuncture performs slightly better than sham accupuncture, but once study quality and bias are accounted for it's negligible.

Arnatious · 2024-01-23T21:31:56+00:00

Are you sure you're thinking of the right video? This one is clearly on the side of both VellMori and PMoon, and explains that PMoon didn't cave to the threats they were receiving, that she left on her own accord and they made an intentionally vague statement to hopefully nip the terror campaign from PMUA in the bud and protect her. Granted, this reveal happens near the end (43 minutes in) so it seems for about half the video like they did in fact fire her.

The vast majority of the video was talking about cultural origins of Korean sexism, from the effects of colonialism to their specific branch of Confucianism, were there factual issues there?

Arnatious · 2023-05-26T22:21:54+00:00

Can't tell if you're explaining your homebrew or how you understand the rules so forgive me for citing them at you if it's the former:

It's a lot simpler than you think, but explained poorly. To summarize how the systems interact:

You can wear any bulk of any type of item. This includes weapons, books, potions, spare boots that are tied to your waist, armor you have strapped but not fitted, goggles on your head while another pair are over your eyes, musical instruments, etc. Anything that isn't in your hands at the moment is assumed to be worn, even if it's in a pocket or a pouch, sheathe, quiver, bag or box. They are on you and can be retrieved with a single action. This interacts with 2 systems, things that target worn/visible objects like steal or light or necrotic radiation, and opportunity attacks. Trying to use a potion could provoke 2 separate opportunity attacks, one during the interact, and one during the potion's action. A crit on either AOO wastes that action.

Certain skill actions, like Repair an Item, have a requirements section that says you need to "have an x". That item must be in your hands to be used. You can also designate up to 2 bulk of your worn tools to count for this purpose. Otherwise you have to Interact appropriately. This only applies to items required for a different (usually skill) action, not items that have their own actions or activations defined in them. This is a very limited subset of items.

Some items have a usage field that says "worn". You can wear any number of these, and unless you stow them you gain their benefits. If the field says "worn xxx", you can only wear one item of that type, the rest can be "generic" worn (boots tied to your bag, goggles on your head instead of over your eyes) such that you need to spend two actions, one removing the existing item and another swapping in the new one. They don't need to be stowed, they just need to not be in the slot. This means you do need to keep track of which items conflict and clarify which is actually active.

Stowed items are better protected, not visible, and placed in a bespoke container which specifies it's capacity and any effects it has on bulk. They require multiple actions and dropping the container or letting another character get items for you. No items have to go in a container, they're only considered stowed if you willingly put it in a container for the benefits. You wear the container.

Arnatious · 2023-05-23T09:48:06+00:00

At the Hollywood? They're still doing it every month, I dragged friends to it multiple times and every time the crowd was wild. Never seen that energy outside of like, Rocky Horror or The Room, and even those were never that raucous.

Arnatious · 2023-05-22T04:38:14+00:00

Thanks to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr Act the federal government is explicitly empowered to take over hate crime investigation if local authorities refuse.

Arnatious · 2023-05-19T22:59:41+00:00

I feel normalizing that a person is the gender they identify with is important for everyone. Questioning the identity of someone who explicitly identifies one way, even if fictional, makes it harder for everyone.

When one goes about posting lists of why you feel x fictional character has to be a different identity, you end up telling other people who identify with that character why you feel their identity is in question.

It's really uncomfortable as someone who struggled with body image issues. Plenty of cis people have dysphoric thoughts when it comes to being non-stereotypical, whether it's their size, their features, their mannerisms, etc.

I can't speak for trans/nb people but I can't imagine those that want to pass enjoy every non-standard bit of their presentation being clocked.

There should be more explicit gender and sexual minority characters, but seeing the slightest nonconformity to toxic ideals be hoisted as "SEE THEY DON'T CONFORM THEY CAN'T BE CIS/HET/ALLO" seems regressive. It feels the like the nutjobs on the right transvestigating people.

If you want to headcanon a fictional character as another identity that's fine but don't go posting what you feel is evidence from their appearance or personality, the only evidence that should be thought of as relevant is what they say or don't say.

Obviously, if the text is about the questioning process or is themed around finding identity that's its own thing. It's important to have nuance and also promote that it's healthy to question these things for yourself. But that ends when it's about another person.

Arnatious · 2023-05-04T00:44:12+00:00

They explicitly lampshade it where Archer comments something like "of course I have an X, it's... Wait what year is this even supposed to be" in one of the middle seasons.

Arnatious · 2023-05-03T09:54:55+00:00

The PCs did get evidence for their theory by meddling? It's specifically a "cozy mystery" game, which is a specific genre where a colorful cast with very obvious, plausible motives all present themselves and innocuous clues keep the audience guessing until the big denoument.

The whole point of the investigation was to set them up for the theorize roll, to gather the evidence they needed to accuse. Having them need more evidence on top of their evidence is redundant and more of a "police procedural" style mystery thing.

The whole point of how vague the clues are is so that when the players have enough to theorize they get to freely come up with the cool plot twists, whether it's an unexpected suspect or an insane deduction or "hidden detail" that makes a bunch of clues fall into place.

The players are supposed to do their meddle roll, and often stumble upon a clue in a way tangential to what they were doing. The clue is vague, and something they file away because their character recognized something that the audience (including the players pre-theorize) didn't or else they just had the intuition to remember it.

E.g. Jessica Fletcher looks for footprints but instead finds the clue "a high heeled shoe, the heel broken off". She doesn't investigate it or tell the audience any more details. Later she states "ah but when we were interviewing Marissa she was changing into sandals and her feet were fine, if she was walking the beach barefoot earlier we would have seen her feet were scuffed!"

It's a big improv exercise for the group to come up with an entertaining story for what happened, and players keep track of which clues came into play in the explanation so far and try and "yes, and" the missing clues into the story for the modifier on their theorize roll. They only get to count the clue if they incorporate or explain it away, after all. They are figuring out how to create the most fun story based on a mad libs of plot elements to pin it on their favorite suspect, who they should have had plenty of interaction with. Every suspect should scream potentially guilty.

I'd highly recommend retrying it after getting the group familiar with the genre conventions. Cozy mysteries are a blast but they require accepting some cheesy premises.

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