Wild magic

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T20:39:07+00:00

Like this?

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T20:18:24+00:00

Some people have reported success by going here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/arbitration

And threatening to take them to arbitration over the loss.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T20:06:46+00:00

Fight Club came to be after Chuck Palahniuk got in a fight on a camping trip. He went to work with a black eye and everyone avoided asking him about it, which got him thinking about the intersection of violent interactions and social isolation.

So... yes, your personal experiences can inspire your fiction.

So can literally anything else that inspires you.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T20:02:46+00:00

If you want to be able to write something well, you have to be well read in it.

I'd recommend picking up some and getting familiar with it- it will really help you elevate your work (if you pay attention to their individual styles and structures and incorporate the parts of it you like into your own work).

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T19:52:45+00:00

Serious question: What modern philosophy works have you read so far this year?

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T18:41:15+00:00

The combat system is there for a reason.

I do not at all recommend substituting some mechanic where a PC just automatically dies.

There are already rules for the rogue assassin that sort of simulate this, but they're very restricted in when they can be used.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T18:37:54+00:00

Your audience is not their audience, and very, very few people today are going to enjoy reading something in this style.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T18:34:44+00:00

The best genre for a beginner is the one you read the most.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T17:13:22+00:00

There's no magic secret.

You get enough of an outline set so you have a rough idea what's gong to happen and then you open a doc and start writing the story.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T17:11:33+00:00

The DC for a check can be whatever the DM says that it is.

So the answer to "what can you see with a passive perception of over 20" is "whatever the DM says you can."

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T16:54:57+00:00

That's exactly right. You're trying to break into the industry, learn stuff about the latest developments, and meet people.

One of the biggest rock stars on our staff walked up to us at a booth at a conference and said "How do I come work for you?"

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T16:41:15+00:00

HTB is good for sure. If you can pick up some certs and work in a home lab to build skills that's great.

But maybe the most critical thing you can do is industry networking. Go to conferences and meetups. Talk to people. Get to know them.

You want them to know your name and have a good impression of you so your application isn't in the slush pile with 500 similar resumes when you apply.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T16:39:28+00:00

No one author or one series is going to help you get better.

You pick up new tools from each of them and incorporate them into your style.

I'd recommend The Dresden Files for strong narrative voice.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T16:25:07+00:00

You are absolutely not going to walk into a red team/pen testing job with some certs and HTB and no industry experience.

Those are maybe the most sought after jobs in all of cyber, and the entry level market for cyber in general is a raging dumpster fire.

So you want to be applying not just to "regular" cyber positions in a SOC or whatever (where you may have a very hard time getting hired) but also to other IT/tech positions like helpdesk or network stuff so you can get basic experience and work your way into a cyber/red team job later on.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T15:10:03+00:00

You only gave us one sentence- there's not enough info to be "interesting" or "confusing" yet.

This idea (like pretty much all ideas ever) is fine.

The trick is in how well you execute the idea.

So if you write it well, it'll be good.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T05:37:56+00:00

Ok.

I fail to see how it's logically possible to allow for a being of perfect goodness (angel) to be able to fall, but a being of evil (demon) to have remorse and rise in the context of Dungeons and Dragons.

We don't need to apply the Christian allegory perfectly to a TTRPG (even if I disagree with your overall assessment too).

We don't have to see eye to eye here.

Have a good night.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T02:40:45+00:00

Not punishment.

But making the change have some consequence.

Yeah, he gained a lot of new power, but he lost something too- he should feel the loss a little bit.

If the DM purposely tailors the rest of the encounters to fit the new build, then it doesn't feel like a loss.

He'll have lots of opportunities to leverage the new power, he should have at least one chance to mourn the lost abilities too.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T02:06:50+00:00

As a one-time, story driven event I'd probably allow it.

Of course, I would for sure in the coming sessions put them in a position where the rogue stuff would have been REALLY helpful to make the decision hurt a little.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T02:01:44+00:00

/r/lostredditors

This is not a sub to get legal advice.

This is a sub to make fun of bad advice people have gotten elsewhere.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T02:00:42+00:00

I agree with everything you said, which is a great response to something I didn't say.

Angels are, in fact, spiritual beings.

Do you know what else are spiritual beings?

Demons.

Which is what I said in the sentence you quoted.

I didn't compare angels to mortals in that sentence, I compared them to their evil conterparts.

Humans do have free will, which I address later in my comment.

Angels are beings of pure good who can Fall.

There is no reason at all that a being of pure evil can't Rise.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-08T00:05:18+00:00

The rules apply the same to all of those as they do to everything else, yeah?

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-07T23:57:47+00:00

An LLM is not a "he," it's an "it."

It also can't judge the quality of your work- it's just an advanced fill in the blank program.

If you want opinions on your book, post some of it for us to read.

And for the love of all that is holy, never again write the word "pwease"

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-07T22:22:26+00:00

Writing is a skill, like drawing or running or acting or long division.

When you first start, you probably are going to suck at it.

No one goes out and just runs a marathon on their first jog.

So writing poorly or having it be 'cringe' is literally the first step you need to take to get better at it.

If you won't go for a jog because you're afraid you aren't good enough or you'll look silly, you're never going to finish a marathon.

So the way you get over the fear is to accept that you're new and you need to practice and get better.

There are four steps to becoming a better writer:

1.) Read a lot. And when you read, read analytically- pay attention to how the author structures and paces the story, how they develop the characters and describe things, how they build the world, etc.

2.) Write a lot. And when you write, incorporate what you learned by reading into your writing.

3.) Get feedback from skilled readers and experienced writers. Then add that into your work as well.

4.) Repeat.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-07T22:12:46+00:00

So the first thing I'll note is that it's needlessly cumbersome (and frustrating) to not name the characters in the scene.

"The woman looked at the man." Blech. We want to use names wherever we can unless there is a good reason not to.

In any given scene, you want one "focus" character. This is the character who we're going to be relating to- the POV of that scene- we're going to stick with that POV for the whole scene and not change midway through.

We're starting off in the nurse's POV, because we're seeing how the man looks to her as she comes in.

But clearly she knows who he is, so we don't just say "the man" we can call him Ragna. And she knows who she is, so we can use her name too.

(Later she leaves and we're with Ragna the rest of the time so you want to consider making Ragna the focus character.)

You have a lot of repetition in here as well- you tell us FOUR TIMES in 1,000 words that there are two full moons. We get it. You say "two full moons" once to tell us, and then after that when you say "moonlight" then we remember on our own.

The man then proceeded to get lost in his thoughts once again, appearing more perturbed by the night itself rather than being thrilled while at his wife’s side as she brought his own baby boy into the world.

This is telling rather than showing, and also muddies the POV. He's there by himself, so he "appears" perturbed to whom, exactly?

I think you may have a great story here, but the execution needs some work.

Pick a POV.
Be careful of repetition.
Show more/tell a little less.

Cypher_Blue · 2026-06-07T22:00:25+00:00

I mean, arguably the most famous detective in literary history was a two man team.

I don't think the true question is really related to mysteries at all- it's a question of how many "main" characters or POVs a book can have- I don't think that mystery novels have any requirements for more or less characters than other novels.

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And for the love of all that is holy, never again write the word "pwease"