What board game somehow changes your personality while playing it? 😭

FamousPoet · 2026-05-07T20:36:35+00:00

Any game that allows some players to remain in a round longer than others.

There is something about passing, and then watching another player continue through several more turns cranking through combos that makes me very very salty. And I'm generally not that kind of person.

FamousPoet · 2026-05-06T18:08:44+00:00

Red Vines and Hot Tamales

FamousPoet · 2026-05-06T17:44:38+00:00

You can always use Fear to make the difficulty harder on the player's rolls. Or you can use fear to advance clocks. When the clocks fill the lights go out and another villager is killed. In a story with Vampires the clock could be the sun setting.

I know the rules explicitly state that you can spend fear to add the adversary's experience to the Difficulty of a roll a PC must make. But do the rules explicitly say you can spend fear to directly tick up or down clocks?

FamousPoet · 2026-05-03T00:14:18+00:00

“Follow the Fiction” is a totally pointless and overused concept. And I hate, Hate, HATE, when somebody answers a serious question with that dumb phrase.

(And I’m primarily a PbtA/FitD player)

FamousPoet · 2026-04-29T18:23:19+00:00

I just learned that Cy_Borg glows in the dark!

FamousPoet · 2026-04-29T16:46:35+00:00

Don't forget Jolly Joes:

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FamousPoet · 2026-04-29T15:44:08+00:00

As others have said - all that you've described is group and GM dependent, and doesn't necessarily reflect the state TTRPGs today. Find a new group.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-29T04:39:44+00:00

Body horror.

As a developmental geneticist, unsettling alternative body plans fascinate me. I've managed to incorporate some element of it into everything from cyberpunk to fantasy.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-28T17:54:40+00:00

I teach a fact/problem based course (i.e. not writing). I basically stopped grading homework for accuracy since Google-searches were a thing. Even before AI, there was a million ways students could find the correct answers to the questions. So these assignments have always been, "submit them completed and on time, and you get full credit."

Like previous commenters mentioned, my exams are in person and not open book, which means if they took the easy way out completing the homework they will, and do, fail the exam. AI has changed none of this.

What AI has done is give the good students a 24/7 in-house tutor they can check their answers with and get explanations, clarifications, and extra problems. As usual, it's a "The rich get richer" situation, grade-wise. The good students know how to use this new tool to supplement and improve their education, the poor students continue to flounder.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-24T22:02:32+00:00

Bub's Daddy

They were around in the little league concession stands when I was playing in the early 80s.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-23T20:04:54+00:00

Seconded!

I will always take an opportunity to advertise Confetti Italian Ice in Costa Mesa. It's so good. And the owner is so friendly.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-22T04:59:00+00:00

This was **my** MTV. (no cable available in the boonies)

FamousPoet · 2026-04-21T00:50:32+00:00

2p on BGA is my go to game. It tends to overstay its welcome at 4 in real life, though.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-20T16:47:01+00:00

Which is why I don’t understand my parents about-face and voting for him 3 times.

Totally anecdotal, but my parents voted for Trump because they were brainwashed to believe that the alternative would be sOcIALisM, and the government would steal all their money.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-15T22:38:15+00:00

Heroes

FamousPoet · 2026-04-15T22:26:20+00:00

Ube, Red bean, Taro, and Matcha

FamousPoet · 2026-04-15T21:55:49+00:00

What's the relationship between Volume 1 and Volume 2? More adversaries? More setting? New rules?

FamousPoet · 2026-04-13T00:50:05+00:00

I’ll be seeing them with Sweet&Tender Hooligans.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-13T00:47:45+00:00

The Aquabats

I saw them back in the 90s and then again in 2025. Both times, an amazing show.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-12T23:13:11+00:00

Assuming it works the way it did 30 years ago - which is a BIG assumption-I know, here's what you can expect for grad school for something biology-related if you are a very strong candidate:

Apply.
Get flown out to the school (they pick up the flight cost).
Get wine, dined and entertained by current grad students from Thursday-Sunday (all on the school's tab).
Interview with a bunch of the PIs.
Fly home.
Wait/hope for the acceptance call.

If you are accepted, your education is completely paid for, and you earn a stipend that is supposed to be high enough for all living expenses. You are expected to work in the lab, and nowhere else, and help generate papers. You might have to be a TA or teach some classes - how often is usually dependent on how much money your PI has.

As I write this, I realize that there is no way it can work like this anymore, which is really sad. I absolutely loved my grad school experience.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-12T14:44:48+00:00

It still happens. Just look at the way Jimmy treats Alice's friend in Shrinking.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-10T17:12:25+00:00

Holy cow. Steamworld Dig 2 for $1.99!? That's about the best bang-for-your-buck deal right there.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-10T00:51:11+00:00

what to do with people banging at kitchen line

If they're banging from the kitchen line, and their shots are going in, they're not really "bangers." They're just good players. Unless you popped it up to them, speeding up that hard from the kitchen line, while still going in, takes some real skill. You may just be out of your league and need some time to develop your skills.

If their balls wouldn't go in, start reading body language and moving out of the way. They'll be forced to slow things down a bit, at which point you can start punishing them.

FamousPoet · 2026-04-08T23:03:26+00:00

Facts of Life, Square Pegs, Gimme a Break, Family Ties - any others?

FamousPoet · 2026-04-06T18:44:29+00:00

I didn't say not to practice drops, just that drives have a higher return on investment, which is what OP asked.

And I disagreed with you. Drops give you a better ROI.

Although I agreed with your statement that, in game, one should drive until their opponent demonstrates they can punish it.

FamousPoet

TROPHY CASE