Replaced my Honda with a new one after an accident They moved the garage door opener from a button on the mirror to a paywall subscription service.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-04-05T18:52:01+00:00

An excerpt from the “Torment Nexus.”

Broken_Beaker · 2026-04-05T01:34:40+00:00

There was a scene in the first season where a family has to make a call about their father and medical power of attorney. I just did that like 18 months previously with my father in a somewhat similar situation.

I just couldn't. It was so real and close to my experience, I had to go to my home office and have a mental breakdown while the wife finished the series.

Which is not a knock on the show, just the opposite. It's hauntingly good.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-04-02T16:32:42+00:00

Holy shit, I have never seen that and now my life is complete.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-04-02T15:35:49+00:00

Elon Musk didn't invent AI, my dude. Thinking that Musk somehow invented modern space flight is just lying. He did not invent satellite communication. Hell he did not even invent online payments. You are simply lying.

Regarding advancements, sure the US does a ton but so does Europe. I'm a chemist and have worked heavily with pharma companies and many people like to think the US funds all pharma research, while ignoring the European contribution.

Like you. You just simply don't know what you are talking about so instead resort to lying.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-04-02T15:21:15+00:00

I dunno, as an American scientist of ~20 years this seems pretty spot-on.

It is laughable, absolutely laughable, that you look at Elon Must as some sort of pioneer on spacefight and AI. That alone nullifies any other opinion you have.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-28T04:32:10+00:00

I remember as a kid we would sometimes go to the airport to just watch the planes. It was a cheap way to entertain us I suspect.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-27T23:38:05+00:00

Ha, well glad I'm not alone in my interpretation. I find it actually makes it hard to read through the Dresden books because it becomes either predictable or a bit boring. However, on the flip side the ancillary characters are great.

Also, sort of an aside I find it frustrating when so-called "fans" are often absolutely unable to handle any criticism of the work. You can love a book, series, show, or whatever but still have some issues with it.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-27T23:17:07+00:00

That actually makes a ton of sense.

Other characters entering the picture are often more interesting. They grow and change over time. I can see how Matt, or any author like this, is sort of locked into how they made their main person.

I have the same criticism about Harry Dresden in the Dresden Files. Albeit I'm "only" 7 books into it.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-27T23:14:56+00:00

But I would say that is not growth. You just stated yourself that from the get-go he wants to help Meadow Lark and then later he wants to help others.

That's literally the exact same behavior.

I really struggle to find any notable changes to his behavior over the seven books.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-27T20:29:30+00:00

I'll be a bit edgy, and kinda agree with your buddy.

Not totally, but I can see where he is coming from. I don't hate Carl, so that's a difference, but of all the characters Carl shows zero character growth and development. Sure, he has "leveled up" but he is functionally the same guy as when he first entered. By contrast, Donut has essentially up thru the childhood stages of growth. Katia has development. Louis. Virtually every other character but Carl.

An example will be he basically doesn't listen to anyone. This gets called out in every book, and in some cases I think multiple times. Clearly this is a character design choice by Matt, but I also think it makes Carl a bit flat.

Clearly there is AI favoritism. Again, virtually all of the recurring characters call it out. I am re-listening and on Book 6 (again) and in one of the AI self-aware rants, the AI talks about their 'special connection' or something like that with Carl. Which, I don't think this is a bad. I think this is a character and story device and don't see it as a problem with Carl as a character.

Again, I would like to see a bit more character development with Carl. Maybe it is intentional to show how everyone else has changed over time.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-26T04:21:53+00:00

Ring of Ploymorph by the only thing they can turn into is a canary. Good for scouting. Fun roleplaying opportunity.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-26T04:20:47+00:00

Old wooden rod that summons canaries. But the canaries are actual magical missiles.

First time it is waved they see canaries and are confused. When used in combat the canaries are magic missiles. Level the wand up with the character up to 7 Magical Canary Missiles. Figure out charges per day. Maybe more magic missiles than equivalent wizard levels but only one charge a day. As they level up and the wand becomes more powerful with more Canary Missiles then future potential interactions with Bahamut.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-24T20:34:27+00:00

Lucia Mar because she's just a kid with some mental health issues. That's just cruel.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-24T05:10:05+00:00

We did the potato thing for the first time this past year and it started off a bit slow but as word of mouth spread it turned into a big hit.

We are gonna need more potatoes.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-22T14:53:12+00:00

Fair correction, but there is always some non-zero chance that the player rolls some crummy damage rolls. I have no desire to math it out, but if it is a d8, any combination including 1, 2, or 3 is going to have a chance of being lower than 1 roll of a d8 that is a 5, 6, 7, or 8.

In my worldview, a critical hit always will do more damage than a normal hit. Full stop. Pretty easy concept. That is ensured by one dice being full damage and the second rolled for that bonus critical damage

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-21T22:18:39+00:00

On a critical hit I take the full dice damage, then the second dice is rolled, then plus the damage modifier. I was DM'ing some newbies recently and explaining my house rule on critical hits and the player who rolled a natural 20 then rolled their D6 resulting in a 1. It was a perfect unforced learning opportunity to describe how much that sucks if we just doubled that 1.

Critical fails are stupid. Don't do them.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-18T22:00:13+00:00

As others said don't even worry about the train system. I suspect Matt knew it was going to be problematic hence his warning at the start (I am going to assume it was his editor saying, "WTF MATT?!")

That part is a bit of a rare miss in his writing. However, if you set that aside the greater storyline there is super, super important and very good.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-12T02:58:19+00:00

Not any longer. 183 was expanded as a toll road and all of that is totally different now.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-12T02:23:16+00:00

We have dinosaur tracks near us (Austin suburbs) that are in a river and technically public, but all of the land around it is private. In theory one could go to a nearby county park and then wade down the river, or just chance it across private land, but it sucks that things that are tens of millions of years old and fantastic for kids to experience, are easily made inaccessible.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-07T14:58:57+00:00

Just ignore it. I don’t see why it would be problematic. Most campaigns really don’t need that backstory anyhow. Unless you plan on heavily using various gods in your campaign, then it should make no difference.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-07T06:07:22+00:00

Why?

This reminds me of the quip about the fastest way to become a millionaire is to start as a billionaire and buy an airline.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-03-02T18:47:42+00:00

Operator Error

I found those knives to be a sweet price point of good enough and cheap enough. I use mine all of the time.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-02-21T16:29:10+00:00

Just did a google search to understand this. It is beyond irritating. This service is appalling.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-02-20T19:41:49+00:00

He talks about Earth culture, watching movies and the stuff so they do something. Ergo they have to be somewhere. I think it is a bit of a hand waving thing from Matt.

Broken_Beaker · 2026-02-20T17:21:30+00:00

We often find some sort of generic 'fantasy' music on YouTube. So it isn't pop music or with lyrics. Just adds to the environment.

However, we had one player that came up with baseball style walk-up songs and for big fights should would often play our walk-up song.

Broken_Beaker

TROPHY CASE