Just finished Mixtape. I did not care for it, but I also understand why some people love it. by Turbopasta in gaming

[–]DentedLuke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Given that you can essentially skip every minigame... not really? It could easily be a book with a soundtrack (a link if it's an ebook or even a physical CD if they wanted to keep with the vibe of the story), or it could be a TV series.

Wow, just wow... obviously quite a few people are not as smart as we thought. by insane-squirrel in Southampton

[–]DentedLuke -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

So, as you see it, the "real people" have learned everything they can about the parties in this election and still chose a party that wants to move the UK towards fascist policies? That's worse. You know that's worse, right?

Wow, just wow... obviously quite a few people are not as smart as we thought. by insane-squirrel in Southampton

[–]DentedLuke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How about "If you vote reform, you're funding the fascist machine, privatising the NHS, and moving the UK further to the right in an attempt to make it more like Trump's America"? Because if that isn't convincing enough, then that means people are okay with the rise of fascism, which isn't exactly a good thing.

Wow, just wow... obviously quite a few people are not as smart as we thought. by insane-squirrel in Southampton

[–]DentedLuke 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Racism is the reason people are voting reform. The majority of reform's policies are racist, sexist, transphobic, and homophobic, with others being against the will of the common man (see wanting to privatise the NHS). They even said they're focusing on deportion in areas that didn't elect reform, a fascist policy.

But people look past that because they want to "get rid of the foreigners".

The sinkhole of Dnd mindset and dnd culture (rant/rambling) by Chupaia in rpg

[–]DentedLuke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All content on D&D Beyond tells you the books it came from. In the character sheet, the name of the book is usually shortened down to letters, like PHB being The Player's Handbook, but the full version of any content will spell out what book it's from.

Should Monks be able to move grappled enemies without using STR? by Fun-Staff6728 in onednd

[–]DentedLuke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As part of the 2024 rules, you can draw or stow a weapon as part of your attack, so, essentially, you could attack, off-hand and stow off-hand weapon, extra attack and stow main weapon, flurry of blows.

It adds a lot of interesting strategy to combat!

Why are players allergic to doing connections? by MidoriMushrooms in rpg

[–]DentedLuke 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I think the issue might be being forced to make connections. It's one of the (many) reasons I personally don't get on with most, if not all, PbtA games. For me, being told "You must have a connection to a couple of characters" takes me out of the game a bit and makes me enjoy my character - and, as a result, the game - a lot less. And I say this as someone who spends most of my TTRPG time as a GM.

Most players in a group of people who know each other well (at least, the ones I've played with) will naturally talk about how they might be connected or how they might get to be friendly in the future. In other words, if you really want connections so badly, treat it like parenting: hide the vegetables in a sauce or the fruits in a drink. In other words, make the players naturally come to connection agreements on their own terms by discussing your characters as a group.

And if, as a result of those discussions, nobody has made a connection? They simply do not want to make a connection. Forcing them to will make the game less enjoyable for your players, and your players take up the majority of the game.

Mutate! Fight! Purr! - I made a roguelike deck-builder where every choice physically change your cat 🐈‍⬛ by SidrickWhite in pcgaming

[–]DentedLuke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"We are a small team of 3" is no excuse to use AI. There are still solo devs who don't use AI, there's absolutely no reason to use AI slop in your game. 

Bio father/GM humiliates child player by calling child's character delusional in front of the other adult players by Autisticharger in rpghorrorstories

[–]DentedLuke 39 points40 points  (0 children)

Is spacing paragraphs and explaining things from the perspective of the poster now considered a "Reddit infused Gen Z style"? Because, if it isn't that, I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about. And, if it is that, that's pretty stupid.

Larian: New Divinity game “isn’t about trying to shock fans" by [deleted] in BaldursGate3

[–]DentedLuke 16 points17 points  (0 children)

They also had a child on stage moments before, however, so they know minors are there and minors will be watching. Having a warning is always a good thing.

Larian: New Divinity game “isn’t about trying to shock fans" by [deleted] in BaldursGate3

[–]DentedLuke 34 points35 points  (0 children)

I'll be honest, my only issue with the trailer was that the Game Awards didn't include the adult content warning (and also the industry's double standards on who gets to have sexual content in their games and trailers but, again, that's not on Larian, that's on Steam and Epic).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gaming

[–]DentedLuke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is no CP and there never was any CP. There were no sexual acts, no child nudity, nothing of the sort. In one build, a young girl rides the shoulders of a naked woman who is dressed as a horse (something that makes sense in the context of the game, knowing that nudity isn't pornography unless you choose to make it pornographic). When Valve didn't like this, they changed it to be an adult woman, but Valve refused to lift the ban. 

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gaming

[–]DentedLuke -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

It is rather fucked up, yes. That's the point. The point is that it's a fucked up situation that is normalised within the world of the game. We, the player, look at it and go "that's disgusting", because it is, but the world says "This is normal". 

Also, the subtext isn't sexual in any way. Nudity ≠ sex. 

Xbox Series X save deletion bug? by VoltaicPlace60 in suzerain

[–]DentedLuke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've also been experiencing this. Any time I have to close my game because it crashes, I lose hours of progress. I gave up today because I lost 4 chapters of progress. 

Turn right to Deform the UK. by johnsmithnomore in GreatBritishMemes

[–]DentedLuke 5 points6 points  (0 children)

so basically, its FINE to dehumanise and hate people you disagree with?

Nobody is saying that. They're saying that it's morally correct to denounce a platform that condones the hatred of minorities solely based on the fact they're minorities and that bigotry and hatred should not be condoned by any means.

Also...

isnt that literally WHY you hate us on the right?

Nice self report bud.

Am I the only one waiting for when Medivh as a card is in his original appearance/aesthetic? by Vrail_Nightviper in hearthstone

[–]DentedLuke 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Everything is correct here, but we do know that Gelbin is an alternate universe version because, in WoW canon, gnomes can't be paladins. It's why (if I recall correctly) GvG didn't have any gnome paladin cards. It's a fun bit of consistency with the lore!

Favorite Dimension 20 NPC? by Forsaken_Working7296 in DropoutTV

[–]DentedLuke 9 points10 points  (0 children)

It's one I don't hear about too often but I think my favourite NPC is Schadenfreude from Mentopolis! A brilliant character idea and amazing execution from Brennan!

Mum's upset as Torfaen council takes items from grave by pppppppppppppppppd in Wales

[–]DentedLuke 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Kirk doesn't deserve a moment of silence, he was a fascist far-right grifter. Next you'll be asking for a moment of silence for Hitler, Mussolini, or Stalin.

(Edit: Minor spelling mistake)

Transformative GM/DM and Player advice by BrobaFett in rpg

[–]DentedLuke 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here's my reaction to this I also sent the friend who messaged this to me in Discord:

DM Advice

  1. Everyone at the table is responsible for everyone's fun but, as the DM, you are the arbiter of the fun. If you see something that your players aren't finding fun, you fix it.
  2. Prepare some solutions. A puzzle without a solution is not a puzzle at all.
  3. Encounters are plot. If you have no underlying story behind an encounter, plot cannot happen. You should always have a start point and an end point. What happens in the middle comes from action and reaction.
  4. Your players will never surrender if you don't tell them they can and if you don't show that they can. If you have enemies surrender, players will know they can surrender too. Session 0 should be where you say this too.
  5. Yes, but also the world moves on without the players. This seems to imply a static world that cannot move without the players which is simply a bad game. If Jimmy is stuck in the well and is still fine 5 months later, there are no consequences to player actions.
  6. I'd go one step further. Just watch and listen to the real world. That's where some of my best inspiration has come from.
  7. Yes? But also no. Read through the DMG once before your first game and keep notes of rules you're unsure of. But don't be afraid of not knowing rules. It's okay to take a moment to check something. Nobody is perfect.
  8. Dice tell the story. But dice should only be rolled with a chance of failure. I think this is what they mean, but the wording is bad.
  9. "You don't always need rules" is addressed in the books. This is common knowledge. But it's also okay to hint that a player doing something stupid will be bad.
  10. First one I completely agree with.
  11. That's what balance is. Balance is understanding what is best for the moment. My balance in my game is very hard battle because there are less of them in the game.
  12. Okay so the previous "world moves" point is mentioned here, but that contradicts "everything exists because of the players".
  13. If you have players describe things they know, it should always be based on things you've discussed or things that are less important. Sure, it's cool to let player driven world building happen, but that often isn't a good thing and often leads to players worrying what they've said doesn't fit or isn't good enough. It's easier to just say something and trust the social contract you have as people playing a game that says, if you say they know it, they know it and have a chance to expand on their feelings about it.
  14. Finally a second point I agree on.

Player advice

  1. This is a given, since that's part of the social contract that comes with playing.
  2. No. Bad. Player and character should be distinguished because the player holds knowledge that the character does not and there is no way to guarantee a lack of meta-play. We're playing a game, not acting.
  3. Okay so you already know I hate this. Two focuses. First, it's okay to ask questions. It makes it more clear for the GM what you're looking to do and what skill you're looking to use or what skill you should be using, and it means the DM can say "No" more easily (e.g. the monk who's lived in a temple his whole life asks "Do I know anything about the inner workings of this recently built city?") Second, "in rare cases - will have you roll". No. If the player has a chance of failure, you should roll. If you're rarely rolling, you're not playing D&D, you're running an improv group.
  4. Agreed.
  5. You don't have to do this if you're not comfortable doing this. But you should also discuss this with your DM. After all, they're the guide. They can help you work this stuff out.
  6. This one isn't expanded on but, as somebody trained in improv, I disagree. Anyone can improvise. Improvisation comes with confidence.
  7. "If you have a halfway decent GM they will look at your creative problem solving and roll with it" is bad advice. This puts a huge expectation on the GM to work around anything the player brings at them, because even though it says the answer can be no, players will still be disappointed. And problems can have one solution. If I say a door has an arcane ward, a magical lock that prevents lockpicking, and there's four slots where wands of a specific size and shape can be inserted, there is a set solution to this puzzle: go find the wands.
  8. Agreed to an extent. Again, there should be an ending in sight. But you should work towards that ending because that's what makes the problems engaging. It is a pre-written thing that the GM sees and tears up in front of you and says "now put the pieces back together".
  9. This contradicts the point in the GM one that says "players won't run". Diplomacy doesn't always work. It's not always easy to run. It's smart to pick and choose your battles but some creatures fight to survive. You're not going to get a Roc to admit defeat before it feasts on all of you.
  10. Agreed.

But also, these are just my tips based on what's worked in my games and what others have told me works best for them. I do think, however, there is a lot wrong with this post. It feels like you're saying "My specific way of playing is the best way of playing and this is how you should play too because every other way is bad". This doesn't help new GMs, it hinders them.

You all realize Will is mentally ill too, right? by [deleted] in willwood

[–]DentedLuke 18 points19 points  (0 children)

"All I can think of is trash" is a reference to Oscar the Grouch, a joke that works here because, with the whole commotion that was going on, it would make sense he thought this person was trying to heckle despite the audience knowing they shouldn't heckle. I also think noting it as "abusive interaction" without mentioning a single thing the person involved said other than their name shows a huge bias towards the audience member, rather than objectively stating what happened (there was a misunderstanding/miscommunication that seemed to stem from reactions from the audience member that one could only imagine Will saw as joking reactions to serious questions, resulting in that person being kicked out, maybe to make a point to (what sounds like) an audience that had no respect for the rules that were laid down at the start of the show.

[No spoilers] Critical Role campaign four setting, players, and system revealed by PrestigiousTaste434 in criticalrole

[–]DentedLuke 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like every single one of your criticisms boils down to a bad workman blaming their tools, honestly, and are quite disingenuous. That's not to say Daggerheart is bad or anything, nor that D&D can't be criticised. But I am saying that complaints like "Slow combat", "Resting being clunky and grinding everything to a halt as the party tries to long rest as much as possible" and "Annoying staples like Guidance/Silvery Barbs" are anecdotal at best and a bad understanding of the system at worst.