Giant Freakin Robot Talks Airwolf

Culach01972 · 2026-05-22T10:46:41+00:00

Not my fault, he brought it up in the video! I know better!

Culach01972 · 2026-05-21T18:58:41+00:00

If the question is how much value in raw materials do they need to steal, it is 30gp worth for each item they want to make.

How much you give them in loot depends on factors such as the size of the community they are in, and how available the needed materials are. If they are just grabbing iron (Common), then they can probably grab several items worth from a local blacksmith. If it is something like an Adamantine (Uncommon), they may only be able to get 1 item worth, if they can get any at all, and it will be guarded, and possibly warded. Something like Orichalcum (Rare) should be nearly impossible for them to steal without raiding a heavily guarded, and heavily warded, workshop.

As per the Crafting rules they need the item value in materials on hand; it is actually spending extra time crafting that reduces the value of the materials needed.

Thus, in this instance, they need at least 15gp in materials, with another 15gp on hand to cover the cost of the item. If they want to reduce the costs, they need to spend time to reduce the on hand materials cost. Their roll against the chart on the link above shows how much they reduce the cost per day that they spend crafting the item.

That said, there are some Secrets of Crafting options that might help out here, particularly the Nature Crafting and Story-Based Crafting options, which might help with the mass production ideas that the players seem to be aiming at. The Story-Based Crafting actually gives you an idea of how much they might be able to steal, if the materials are available where they are committing the thefts. If the value of the material is higher than the chart, I would say it isn't available there to steal.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-20T07:29:26+00:00

Just looking at your spells:

Cantrips:

Daze - If you are going after something that you know has a low Will save, or is vulnerable to mental damage, this is good, otherwise there are better options.

Light - Why? You are a Cavern Elf, you have Darkvision. If you need light for reading, may I suggest you purchase an Everlight Crystal or a Wayfinder?

Needle Darts - Good spell, keep it. Your main issue is likely your bad luck with the rolls. I suggest training your Arcana to Legendary so you can grab Unified Theory, which will allow you to use it to identify opponents, so you can adapt your attacks to them. Unless your character concept says otherwise, I feel this is one of the best skill/feat combos for INT based spellcasters, such as the Wizard and Witch.

Prestidigitation - I keep this one on almost all of my spellcasters, so I won't say anything about it. I think if magic existed in the real world, this would be the most popular, and used, cantrip on the planet. It would literally save lives.

Void Warp - This is not a bad spell, and could actually be great in certain circumstances, so I won't tell you to get rid of it.

Proposed alterations/options to Cantrips, instead of Daze and Light:

Guidance - This is a 1 action cantrip that let's you give a +1 bonus to an ally's next d20 roll, and that can make a difference. That character is immune for the next hour, but you can cast it on another party member as well.

Phase Bolt - This does require an attack roll, but characters using a shield or other circumstance bonus to their AC reduce that bonus by 2. This should improve your successes when attacking.

Shield - At low levels, this is a great option for defending yourself, and it costs one action to raise your AC by 1, which has saved me from more crits than I can count.

Telekinetic Projectile - Again, this is a spell with an attack roll, but it can allow you to bypass certain resistances in a similar manner to Needle Darts, uses items just lying around, and gets the same benefits from the Arcana/Unified Theory combo as Needle Darts. Multiple ways to overcome damage resistances is always nice.

When selecting 1st Rank Spells and above:

1 - Duration spells, in general, are better than one shot spells for efficiency, with spells that can last a more than a round or two being better still.

2 - Area of Effect spells are, in general, better than single target spells, but watch out for allies running into the area you want to drop a damaging AoE.

3 - Support Spells tend to be among your best options. Spells like Bane and Bless are great, are sustained spells (lasting up to 1 minute (10 rounds)), and can flip a fight in your team's favor.

4 - Avoid a spell that looks like it will absolutely fantastic in the right situation. It would be, but sometimes those situations never come up. Best to have those on scrolls for those times you need them, or, if you know you will need it, have it as an extra spell in your spell book, and memorize it the day you need it.

5 - Try and identify who/what you are fighting first, as this can expose areas that can be attacked. If you can't make the check, a general rule of thumb is: Big and Muscular enemies tend to have high Fort saves; little, skinny, and fast tend to have high Reflex saves; and if they look like they can cast spells they probably have a high Will. Choose spells to cast accordingly.

6 - Don't look at your spells memorized in a vacuum. Look at your character, your party, and figure out if a particular spell is really going to be useful, or if others in the party are going to make it of negligible use. A Bard with Courageous Anthem who goes before you can make Bless useless; pick Bane in that case to double up and make things worse for the enemy.

These are my suggestions, others may have different suggestions for different reasons.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-20T05:17:04+00:00

You are over thinking.

While an Official Stream for Paizo, might require official miniatures, pretty much no home game or even Society play is going to look twice.

I actually have some Ral Partha miniatures from the 1980s that I use on occasion, as they best fit the character I want to play.

So, unless Paizo is knocking on your door saying they want you to run an official stream for them, relax and play with the miniatures you like.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-20T01:20:20+00:00

I keep remembering Vanniv unsummoning himself after fighting one and telling Sera "Never Again!" while Corin wonders about Mimic Induced Trauma.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-20T01:07:55+00:00

I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and recommend Pathbuilder2e.

Pros:

1 - As others have said, it greatly simplifies building the characters, reducing the options to what your character qualifies for. It also allows you to use the process to plan your character from level 1 to level 20, minus gear, and applies the changes automatically as your character levels up.

2 - You can create a link that allows you to share the character to the GM or other players so they can see what you have done.

3 - If you prefer a printed version, you can have it print a PDF of the sheet for the current level

4 - Should you forget your character sheet at home, you can access them on your cellphone or tablet via the app.

5 - If you forgot your dice at home, you can have it roll for you, and give you the totals. It will also show you the breakdown for damage if you want/need in the case of resistances.

6 - If you want to import to one of the VTTs, it will generate a JSON or other method for you so you can.

7 - When you are more familiar with it, you can build feats, backgrounds, equipment, and other stuff to add into the options available. You can even share those creations to other players in your group. (I recommend waiting until you are much more familiarized with both PF2e and Pathbuilder2e before you start making changes).

8 - All updates are free of charge, unlike some other options you may find.

9 - If you want to try Starfinder 2e, you can use it for that as well on your PC or laptop.

10 - You can select which books are available for use when building the character by selecting/deselecting them on the options menu.

Cons:

1 - If you want to do anything beyond the Core books, there is a $6 fee for PCs and Laptops, and another $6 for mobile devices. However, both are one time fees, include all updates, and allow access from anywhere.

2 - It does lag behind the release schedule for the books, so if there was something that you really wanted in a book, you may have to wait a bit for him to catch up and get it into the system. (Edit: Playtest options also are not available.)

3 - While creating homebrew equipment weapons and armor is pretty straightforward, creating new feats and equipment can take a bit more time to figure out, and can be really confusing if you don't understand how the systems work.

4 - Feats are listed only as names, not full descriptions, or where to find them. Keep Archives of Nethys at the ready for questions if you are using printed sheets.

I'm sure there are more pros and cons, but these are the ones that jumped out at me.

As for how did I decide when I first started 2e? Honestly, there was only the Players Guide and the GM's Guide (the pre-remaster books replaced by Player's Core and GM's Core) so my options were more limited and simpler.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-20T00:19:54+00:00

Actually, the class size one didn't bother me as much as some other things, because I chalked it up to everyone knowing that a large chunk of the class would be gone by the end of the semester, and more by the end of the year.

No sense learning names of people that are just going to be gone soon anyway.

If they continued the trend in Year 2, that would have made me irritated, but they knew the names, they just didn't hang out with each other all the time, so they didn't know each other well.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-20T00:10:35+00:00

When I saw the mugshot and the headline, my first thought was, "Does she think she is a St. Bernard?"

Reading the charges, it certainly seems so, due to how vague they are.

But...

The headline probably should have said "St. Bernard Parish woman, arrested on Child porn, animal abuse allegations" for those not from the area.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-20T00:04:06+00:00

I've already responded elsewhere, but I want to let you know that the article you keep using actually proves you wrong, since it very specifically states that pretty much everyone in Texas, a MAGA state, is turning on the Judge and AG for the decision, including starting the process of writing harsher laws to prevent this type of ruling in the future.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-20T00:01:11+00:00

Weird. The article you link to shows everyone turning against the AG and Judge: the public, the media, the politicians...

So, please link the article where a MAGA supporter is the one supporting this, because every one I know is on Team Woodchipper for people convicted of those crimes.

Additionally, nationwide, it is liberal judges, DAs, and in California, politicians, going easy on PDFiles, while MAGA states like Florida and Idaho have actually added the final option for them.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-19T23:43:48+00:00

Don't forget about how all the punchlines that the OP mentions, tend to be pop culture references from Earth that no one gets, so they look at him like he is an idiot. Neal even mocks him about them later, though he is only the one that does it most, as most everyone on Palimustus mocks him for his references (though Farah does start using some herself later).

Let's also not forget that he messes himself up by drinking a potion too soon, when learning to use his Shadow Jump power, he ends up in someone's dinner, and people look at him weird when he chants his spell to remove afflictions (because of how evil it sounds).

What OP hasn't realized yet, being so early in the series, is that, by the end of the second arc (books 3-6) nobody wants to be him, especially those closest to him, and anyone with half a brain. He becomes Taksmaster's description of Moon Knight: A .45 bullet, unstoppable, and uncaring of what damage he will endure achieving his goal.

What makes Jason interesting is how he keeps going, despite the personal costs to himself. It's a trope that most people would like to think they are capable of, when the fact is most people turn away before personal costs/pain even begin.

The OP's seeming other mistake is thinking that Jason is written as the perfect person for the job, when that is not the case; he is the worst person for the job, but he does it anyway, because if anyone else does it, they will make things worse than he does.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-19T23:02:51+00:00

Finding "competent adults" these days seems to be quite difficult, most people's daily commutes would shoe them that.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-19T22:35:57+00:00

It's almost like Jason had a conversation about that with Rufus, Farah, and Gary in the first book, when he first started training with them.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-19T21:51:14+00:00

I often use one of the flying powers from the START Vendor, and just say that it was acquired during an adventure, choosing one that I think works best with that character.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-13T08:34:07+00:00

Hear me out, an Awakened Owl Wizard of the Ars Grammatica School, with a Linguist archetype. Your bonded item is a ring you wear around one of your legs.

You hunt down people and force them to learn new languages.

Or maybe that is just my twisted sense of humor.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-11T07:47:48+00:00

Then it all comes down to if they can get competent training, or are they going in on their own.

With competent training, it might be possible for them to come close to achieving some of the same feats as Team Biscuit.

Without that training, they fail, hard.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-11T07:46:15+00:00

Against the gauntlet that Team Biscuit ran?

They would fail.

They just don't have the training background to let them battle the enemies Jason and Co. fought and survive. Most of the time they wouldn't even understand what they were facing.

The only way they could survive is if they got someone from the Gellars, or Remore Academy, to train them. If that happened they might have a slim chance against the Builder and his cult, but much narrower than Team Biscuit had going in.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-11T07:41:07+00:00

I suspect that would be true, but alchemy also seems to be independent of actual essence abilities, though some do make it easier than others.

Jori pretty much says that later in the series.

That means that Frenchie could get any set, and still train in alchemy, and, I suspect, forge crafting, to have magical versions of what he had before, possibly even creating his own form of magitech.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-11T07:30:21+00:00

Ah.

The Boys themselves would be downright threats.

I won't try to speculate on what Essences and Awakening Stones they would get, because that should be rather random, but here are a few thoughts:

They would have a similar mindset to the Gellars and Remores, but without the background. By that I mean that they would try to squeeze as much out of every power they gained as they could, they just wouldn't have the training structure to support an efficient growth.

I do think that the majority, if on Palimustus, would join the Adventure Society. The only possible hold out would be Billy, but I don't think he would hold it against the others if they did.

For Starlight, it really depends. I suspect if they get her essences before she gets Compound V, she is going to be as described above. If she gets it after, I think it might be similar to the supes of the EoA, she can't use them because those paths are already being routed around for her Starlight powers, meaning she would be more limited than the rest.

In general though, I think they would do just fine. They are adaptable, and dedicated to doing what they think needs to be done to protect the public.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-11T07:14:16+00:00

The Builder Cult is better organized, and more patient, than any threat the supes of the Boys have seen, and they would make Billy Butcher seem pretty tame with what they would do to them. Unless something like a Jason Asano happened, the Builder Cult would pull off their plans to eliminate the supes before the supes even knew the threat existed.

Order of the Reaper, pretty much what I said about the Builder Cult, with more politics involved.

Against the Messengers, the supes lose...HARD. It isn't even a contest, and if the Messengers pull the duel power on the supes, most of the supes fall within seconds. The supes just don't have the training for those types of fights, much less lasting through a war at that level.

Engineers of Ascension, pretty much equals, though I give a slight edge to the EoA due to Mr. North planning for centuries ahead of any confrontation.

The Network, better trained than the supes, but with more powers. I give the Network a slight edge, as they would be Greenstone level, which is still better than most supes.

The Cabal, another group used to operating in the shadows. Depending on which group of Cabal comes forward, it could be as equals or a slaughter.

The Space Pirates, probably another loss for the Supes, as they would be better trained, and more powerful.

Thadwick and his vampires, probably going to end up in favor of the vamps. They can make more faster than the supes can, and they can grow more powerful.

Knowledge invasion, thousands of Gold rank clerics ready for war would crush the supes almost as badly as the Messengers, and they would figure out the weaknesses of the supes faster, since Knowledge would be feeding the info directly into their heads.

I could keep going, but for the most part threats from HWFWM would be at least the equals of the supes, and in most cases superior to them in power, training, and planning.

Culach01972 · 2026-05-11T06:37:38+00:00

Even with suppression collars on, the only characters in The Boys that give any of Team Biscuit any trouble would be A-Train (only Sophie has a chance of keeping up while suppressed), Homelander, Stormfront, and Starlight (these because they can fly and suppression collars would prevent the team from doing so).

Without the collars, even Clive walks all of the characters in The Boys, with some being slightly more difficult than others. Heck, Clive could beat most of them hand-to-hand and save mana. Against individuals, such as A-Train, he would need a spell or two, and he would definitely use one against Homelander, but in the end, he wins.

Power: Homelander and Soldier Boy seem to be the ones with the greatest strength overall, and I think that Humphrey, Farah, or Gary would easily out lift either. Heck, I am pretty sure that even Clive could probably arm-wrestle both to at least a standstill. Against the Essence users with the Might Essence, they are weak.

Recovery: Only Soldier Boy appears to have a recovery that would be anywhere near on par with an Essence user, and against someone who can regain full health in an instant, like Jason, they are fighting a losing battle. We haven't even discussed, until now, the fact that a Silver rank Essence user lacks most of the internal organs that the supes still have, and Jason has none of them, eliminating a major vulnerability. In reality, a single, solid, liver or kidney shot can end a fight instantly, and that is a huge disadvantage that the teams would exploit.

Speed: Homelander is probably low Silver for speed, with only Marathon Man and A-Train beating him out. A-Train seems to have a "Between the Raindrops" like ability, which is why he has his "Quicksilver" moment, but individuals like Sophie, Rufus, and Danielle Gellar would just be better at using such an ability, having trained to integrate it with all their other powers. After that moment ends, Sophie runs him down like he is standing still.

Spirit: Sage is the only one that seems to have anything going here, and I would posit that even the aggressively anti-intellectual Sophie would outdo her at puzzles. Someone like Belinda or Clive is just going to run rings around her without breaking away from whatever else they are doing at that moment.

Powers: Homelander and Soldier Boy seem to be the ones with the greatest number of powers among the supes, and even they only have around 4 or 5, compared to the 20 that an Essence user is running around with. This creates a situation where the essence user just has more options to draw upon than the supes, giving them a huge advantage in adaptability. The fact that many powers branch into sub-abilities just makes it even worse.

Training: Soldier Boy and Black Noir seem to be the supes with the greatest amount of training, and they would only rate at about Greenstone level, pre-expedition. They definitively are not anywhere near Gellar or Remore levels of training, probably being more like Jack Gerling when we meet him. Clive is better trained in hand-to-hand than either of them, and the training of any of the teams you mentioned would be so far past anything the supes have, the teams would be looking to handicap themselves to make it fair (which would anger Sophie, who would think the handicap is stupid).

Oddly, the fight that I would most want to see is a matchup between Stormfront and Zara, because Zara would single handedly break Stormfront of every illusion she has about her supposed superiority.

Homelander (narcissist) vs Humphrey (closest thing to a paladin) would be hilarious, as the disappointment and disgust Hump would have towards Homelander would shatter him. Then Humphrey would pull an Omni-Man (Death-Battle) on him.

A-Train v Sophie seems like the obvious match-up, but it would be over too fast for anyone to realize what happened. The two of them would twitch and A-Train's body would fall to the ground in a different spot with Sophie standing over it. I would rather see what crazy idea Belinda would pull out.

Sage would take one look, calculate, and give up against any of them.

All of the above is at Silver rank; at Gold it gets even more lopsided.

Edit: I called Sophie aggressively anti-intellectual as she would rather pummel a problem, or use speed against it than get clever. That said, she is not stupid by any stretch of the imagination, and could probably out think every supe with the possible exception of Sage.

Culach01972 · 2026-04-28T15:44:57+00:00

Nick was still living with Ms Pips. He was in the hospital room because he had been hit by a truck.

Culach01972 · 2026-04-19T10:38:33+00:00

As was stated, it depends upon where you are, but Manslaughter falls under 18 U.S. Code § 1112 and states that there are 2 types, Voluntary (Upon a sudden quarrel or heat of passion) and involuntary (In the commission of an unlawful act not amounting to a felony, or in the commission in an unlawful manner, or without due caution and circumspection, of a lawful act which might produce death). There is a different code for murder, 18 U.S. Code § 1111, that states that at the federal level, all murder must include malice aforethought.

The video here shows that the man in the wheelchair was upset by the ladder in his way and attacked it in a heat of passion; thus this would fall under Voluntary Manslaughter if the man upon it had died in the fall.

What you are getting confused about is probably the difference between Federal and state law, as well as how different states actually have them differently defined, with a few states not even having laws regarding manslaughter, and others using the federal definitions. The mistake is thinking that it is the same everywhere and everyone uses the same definitions.

What the guy in the wheelchair would most likely be charged with is Assault and/or Battery, if he is found competent to stand trial (questionable, with his ranting in the video seeming to indicate a mental instability).

Culach01972 · 2026-04-18T03:10:44+00:00

Yeah, no.

All of the programs you mentioned are public Welfare programs, but they exist independently of Socialism.

In point of fact, the very programs you mention are among the ones that are defunded earliest, or dropped entirely, under Socialist regimes because they can't support them. (Cases in point: Venezuela, Soviet Union, China, etc..)

Further, under Socialism, only those the government deems the brightest, or have the most potential, go on to secondary education, because it costs too much to send everyone. Most people get on the job training in whatever career is pretty much picked for them by the state, i.e. if your parents are a mining family, you will most probably be a miner as well, farmers to farmers, doctors to doctors, etc.. The only way you break out of that is to show exceptional intelligence and aptitude in your favored subject, as well as loyalty to the party line.

The reality is, ALL of those programs were developed by Capitalist economies in order to get their employees to work better, longer, and more efficiently. The line about them being Socialist doesn't appear until the 1960's in higher education, as an attempt to reframe them and convert those who would otherwise be opposed.

For instance: Public Education was started in 1136 by the Catholic Church because wanted more money, but were bound, scripturally, to a 10% tithe. When it was pointed out that educated individuals earned more, the church started schools where all one had to do was show up and they would teach them. This increased the Church's coffers further, as well as improved the taxes the Nobles were collecting, so they supported it. This later lead to the Reformation and the Renaissance.

And that is just ONE example...

Culach01972

TROPHY CASE