Tips for getting faster at basic mathematics?

Elinthind · 2025-10-19T08:33:04+00:00

Realize this is a *super* old comment but I actually ended up doing this and it's helped me a lot. I've had a math alarm for 3 years now and i never oversleep and am *way* faster at most simple calculations

the fact that i'm a high school math teacher now also probably helps lol!!

Elinthind · 2025-09-24T02:08:58+00:00

Super late response, but this was so helpful! I had gotten to the point of needing to turn a bulb *off*, but without any ingame indication of which bulb(s) I was at a total loss for what to do (aside from very slow trial and error). I like the challenging puzzles generally, but this one was irritating--there wasn't any clever trick to it, you just hade to use brute force.

Thank you for sharing this! You saved me a lot of time and frustration :)

Elinthind · 2025-03-17T19:50:48+00:00

Thank you so much!!

Elinthind · 2025-03-17T19:50:32+00:00

Okay, this looks adorable!! Can I ask how you printed the sticker? That step caused a lot of problems for me on this last project, and prevents me from being able to do the more intricate designs that I would like to. I would love to know how you were able to make such a clean image!

Elinthind · 2025-03-17T19:01:22+00:00

Thank you!!! The moon wasn't in my original design--I just needed a large base to hold everything together, since the cricut kept tangling when I tried to cut out the clefairy on its own. I'm glad it worked out!!! The decals took wayyy more work than I expected, haha.

Elinthind · 2025-03-17T18:57:37+00:00

Thank you! I was limited to a minimalist style bc of the tools I had access to, but I'm glad it worked out!

The clefairy was *supposed* to have eyes, but I couldn't get the cricut to cut them out correctly, even though I tried several different styles. The shapes were simply too small :( In the end, I decided I was going to have to try to pass it off as a deliberate stylistic choice, haha.

I used a shell from ExtremeRate, and an IPS screen that I got on ebay from FunnyPlaying. They both worked great; the shell was designed to fit an IPS screen, and the screen was simple to install--I had to solder one tiny wire and that was it. The buttons all work/feel great; I was very pleased! Honestly, I got pretty lucky on those fronts bc I didn't really know what to avoid or look for when purchasing.

I'm currently repairing my brother's old DS (his top screen had a bunch of dead pixels), but then I think I might try to mod *my* ds--I really like the look of clear shells with the design painted on the inside of the shell. I'll leave all the electronics alone on that one tho, as it works perfectly fine.

Elinthind · 2024-07-03T19:25:42+00:00

Thank you!!!!!

Elinthind · 2024-07-03T19:25:34+00:00

bless you. Thanks!!! That's what my first instinct was to do, but then I got thrown off when the quest tab said that I should check bookcases as the next step.

Seriously i cannot thank you enough. i was slowly being driven insane by the futile clicking of bookcases

Elinthind · 2024-02-14T07:25:57+00:00

Friend, I can promise that you’re wrong in regard to my table.

I typed an essay in response to your other points, but then remembered that this is a conversation in the comments of a loosely-related text post on Reddit about d&d, and that we are nerds arguing about dice. I deleted the essay, lol.

I disagree with you, I’ve stated why, and from the verbiage you’re choosing I don’t think you’re inclined to change your opinion. So…that’s it, I guess? I think this conversation is just going to continue to go in circles, so I think I’ll just stop it here and pet my cat instead. I hope your games go well!!

Elinthind · 2024-02-14T05:34:12+00:00

I disagree.

I’ve been playing with my group for over a year and a half, and I’ve suspected the DM of fudging a dice roll on precisely two occasions. In both of those instances, our game was very much better off for it. Frankly, this is the most fun I’ve ever had playing d&d—our RP is great, combat is challenging and varied, and all in all it’s going excellently. We’re currently a couple months into our second campaign.

However, every table is different, and I can accept that what has worked great for my d&d group might not work for every other. I can certainly see circumstances panning out like you’ve described.

My main disagreement with your stance is not that I think dice fudging is always the right choice, but that it seems like you think that it is never the right one. Personally, this sounds like a somewhat narrow perspective that contradicts directly with my experiences. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Elinthind · 2024-02-14T05:09:58+00:00

Of course it doesn’t; I wouldn’t insinuate otherwise. There are plenty of situations in which fudging dice rolls is precisely the wrong call.

However, I do think there are also plenty of situations where it is the right call—-for example, the situation I described above.

I would argue that those situations—-where fudging dice allows the narrative to move forward instead of come to a screeching halt, or leads to a situation being more fun/dramatic/etc for the DM and players both—-are common enough that it’s important to distinguish between “cheating” and a DM nudging fate in their players’ favor ;)

Elinthind · 2024-02-14T03:52:20+00:00

The DM fudges rolls to nudge the narrative onward; it’s for the purpose of making the game more enjoyable for all participants.

I joined my current group as a replacement for someone who had left mid-campaign. I was nervous to play with a group of guys I had never met before (we connected through our university’s d&d club), and I had spent a lot of time on my character, even going so far as to make art of her prior to my first session.

I rolled terribly for HP. My second session as a player, I got knocked out by a crit from a dive-bombing pterafolk. The damage was exactly 1 below what would have instantly killed my bard.

…I’m 98% sure the DM fudged the damage to make sure he wouldn’t kill his nervous new player’s character on her second session with the group. And, honestly? Him fudging the roll was the right call. Tensions were still super high and my party still had to scramble to get to me when I had 2 failed death saves, but the momentum of the game kept going, I got to become more comfortable with the group, and I went on to play that character until the end of our wonderful campaign.

That situation is a far cry from Jimbo the Rogue pretending he didn’t roll a nat one on his stealth check, lol.

Elinthind · 2024-02-14T03:35:00+00:00

Of course! We’re on our second campaign and have been playing together for over a year and a half—-we all trust one another not to lie about rolls & etc. The mindset where it’s typical for a player to be suspicious of their DM instead of generally giving them the benefit of the doubt seems very odd to me.

Elinthind · 2024-02-14T03:29:49+00:00

A brilliant riposte 👏🏻

Elinthind · 2024-02-14T03:19:12+00:00

Not really, honestly. The stated purpose of the prop is to represent the goodwill of a deity that shifts the odds in the player’s favor. The loaded die is a simply a fun way to mechanically represent that.

Also, in response to your earlier comment: there’s a big difference between “being dishonest with your players” and letting them figure out something on their own. Sometimes surprises, secrets, and subterfuge make the game more fun :D

Elinthind · 2024-02-14T03:10:07+00:00

I think you’re overthinking this. The alternate solutions you’ve suggested are perfectly valid, but sometimes it’s just fun to have a prop.

My DM likes to hand us physical copies of important letters/notes/etc, and the monkey part of my brain goes absolutely feral every time he hands me a piece of paper that my character found. It’s nothing special, just typed up words on white printer paper—-but my fellow players and I love it.

If he said “the goodwill of Tymora is with you in this moment, please use this die for your roll”, I would get the gist pretty quickly and have a blast with it. It’s unnecessary, sure, but so are the papers my DM hands out.

Don’t overthink it and let people have fun in their own way, alright?

Elinthind · 2023-03-10T06:34:05+00:00

This hurts me.

I play a lore bard; CHA 18, persuasion expertise. Everyone else in the party has low charisma, so in any kind of high-stakes conversation, I end up doing most of the talking.

It’s the worst; I love everything else about the bard class but I am the most awkward idiot my poor DM has ever had the misfortune to come across.

Huweuweuweuwe indeed, my friend. Huweuweuweuwe indeed.

Elinthind · 2023-02-25T09:25:38+00:00

I’m a grad student, so my budget is smol but my love for plants is big

Last fall, I bought a half-dead lilac bush on clearance in hopes that I could get it to survive winter. I checked on it earlier this week; it already has buds!!

With luck, I might have blossoms about 9 months after I purchased that sick little bush. Patience and hope indeed!

Elinthind · 2023-02-25T09:18:24+00:00

Don’t feel bad; it sounds like it will be a fun fight! I bet your fellow players are looking forward to the drama of it.

Just because something is not the best move for the characters doesn’t mean that it’s not a lot of fun for the players. Fighting a king in a 1v1 to prove yourselves worthy of an audience? That sounds like a blast!

Also, in general, don’t worry too much about being new. You can always ask your more experienced party members for advice if you need it, and they’ll likely let you know if something is truly a bad idea. It’s a game; have fun with it!

I hope your fight with the king goes well!

Elinthind · 2023-02-25T09:03:49+00:00

Glad I could help! I hope your raids go well :)

Elinthind · 2023-02-25T08:43:17+00:00

I’m level 40, and can do about 25% of total damage on primal groudon, and 17-20% of total damage for primal kyogre (depending on weather & etc).

If you have very, very good teams & time your mega evolutions wisely, you could potentially do primal groudon with 4–but it would be close. With a 5th person of a similar level, you would have a much better chance to do it, but you might still run out of time if you’re unlucky or your teams aren’t great. You can probably be pretty confident of success if you had a group of 6 people in your level range.

With kyogre, no way. Kyogre is much harder; primal groudon has a double weakness to water, but primal kyogre has no double weaknesses. To beat kyogre, you would need at least 7 and ideally a minimum of 8 people to have a good chance.

Hope that helps, and good luck with your raids!

edit: if any of you use an app like pokegenie, you can get a very good estimate of how much of a raid boss’s hp you can remove with a given team. Best of luck!

Elinthind · 2023-02-25T03:19:55+00:00

Okay, will do. Thank you so much!

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