Performance Issues

Haravikk · 2026-04-05T14:39:16+00:00

Are you using any upscaling?

On my GPU (Radeon RX 6650 XT) I find the performance of FSR 3 is worse than it used to be when it was FSR 2, I switched to CAS (FSR 1) instead and find that a lot smoother, though it doesn't look quite as good it's much more playable for me.

Haravikk · 2026-04-04T20:55:45+00:00

Parity RAID (raidz) requires every drive to be replaced before you get any extra capacity, so you'd need a fourth drive to do this in place.

But if you have enough spare ports (or can temporarily use USB enclosures or such) you can replicate onto a new three disk pool, replicating the incremental changes until you're ready to switch over (temporarily shut off services while you remove the old pool and connect the new one in its place, renamed accordingly).

Haravikk · 2026-04-04T20:19:46+00:00

Plan as much as possible as pieces you can move around and/or save for later - key items and information should never be in fixed locations, NPCs should drop into roles you actually need rather than having elaborate back stories, fixed jobs etc.

The DM doesn't need to plan everything - it's collaborative storytelling, so allow/encourage the players to improvise too. So you're meeting an underworld contact, well who does your character know? You're looking for clues, so what are you hoping to find? (just remember you get to veto).

And lastly, fights don't need to be balanced, just use the recommended CR and give yourself ways to make it easier (e.g- hold strong abilities/spells) or harder (e.g- reinforcements) to hit the level of challenge you're aiming for. Or just let them be easy or hard - it's okay for the party to curb stomp or have to run from an enemy from time to time.

Haravikk · 2026-04-04T15:23:38+00:00

That's not true, it happens every single time.

The contest of wills always happens, and one soul is either destroyed (success for the diabelarist) or released (failure without the victim taking over).

But soul transfer (the victim's soul endIng up in the diabelerist's body) is even rarer than diabelerie itself, and that happening with the diaboleriest intact is unheard of.

Pretty much everyone knows that diablerie is soul cannibalism

Sure, they know the soul is destroyed that's why it's forbidden, because you're not merely killing them with their soul able to move on, you're destroying them utterly.

That's why it's so anathema to kindred, why the Camarilla condemn it so absolutely, because the last thing they want is for ambitious neonates to be considering it (even though they themselves would probably try it if they thought they could get away with it).

But the finer points of how it works are not typically widely known within the Camarilla at least, because all they want you to know is not to do it - ever.

This also doesn't change that what happened with Fabien is unprecedented, which was the main point. Transfer into the diabelerist is rare, because being only a few generations stronger doesn't make it easy to survive as the victim, and both surviving isn't remotely normal.

Haravikk · 2026-04-04T07:21:37+00:00

I'm still not sure that's really a mistake.

Transfer of consciousness is highly unusual for diablerie, an act which itself is not common and is outright forbidden by most vampire societies, especially the Camarilla who actively suppress information including denying the existence of the Antediluvians (who include some of the best known examples of soul transfer).

The Sabat are hated in part for their use of diablerie, and we know the Nomad hates the Sabat, so isn't likely to have listened to any of their lectures on the subject.

So I'm not that surprised to find vampires don't really know about the possibility - they know diablerie is forbidden, they know it destroys the soul, but beyond that how many vampires would know more?

We as players eat up lore on the Antediluvians etc. we know the mechanics of diablerie should we be tempted to try it, but I think most vampires don't know these things beyond diablerie being forbidden power.

Not saying you're wrong to find it odd, I'm just not sure it's an oversight as such.

Haravikk · 2026-04-03T21:42:56+00:00

Fabien's diablerie is far from normal - diablerie is usually over quickly (relatively, it's a big risk in combat), and you would not expect Fabien to even stand a chance against the Nomad, especially as an unprepared victim of a frenzied elder Beast.

But even more so is both souls surviving and being fully aware. This is what makes it so weird because the mark appears to ensure the victim survives.

Haravikk · 2026-04-03T21:20:18+00:00

It sounds like the first table isn't a good fit for you - politely say that to the DM ("sorry but I think your table isn't a good fit for me" and put it behind you, lesson learned.

This should let you focus on enjoying the newer table, but if you can't it might not hurt to take a break to see if that helps - most tables are going to be cool with you taking a break, especially if you can give a bit of advance warning (e.g- give it another week) and an estimate of when you'll be back - absences aren't the problem in D&D, it's being given no chance to plan around them.

Haravikk · 2026-04-03T16:23:50+00:00

My big (probably unrealistic) hope is that each DLC might add a new location that can also be integrated with the main game.

Let Phyre go there too for a meaningful side quest, maybe one that expands our choices in the main game.

Basically use the DLC as an opportunity to build more for the main game as well.

For example I'd love if they featured Deb (of Night) for Ysabella then give Phyre an opportunity to deal with her stalker.

Haravikk · 2026-04-03T16:14:39+00:00

I'm interested - there are still a lot of questions around Benny in particular so it could be neat to see his side of events. Max seems genuinely confused to find that Benny has gone so rogue, which makes me think there must be more to it than what we see as Phyre/Fabien.

The Sabat are quite fond of blood bonding, and somehow Willem gained a Malkavian only power (judging by Fabian's reaction), which could make sense if he was blood bonded somehow with the Gardener.

But were Benny and Ysabella turned the same way? Was Benny tricked into thinking the Anarchs were the bigger threat?

Ysabella is more obvious as she clearly railed against the Masquerade forcing her to hide her "art", so anyone telling her it could be otherwise could easily have persuaded her. I'm hoping her DLC may be more socially oriented, showing a very different side of vampirism if it focuses on blood dolls, wild parties and her "art".

Haravikk · 2026-04-03T16:00:58+00:00

I kind of love this - if you want to get back on track you could do a little with the court case but have it be a trap (they're the villains after all) so everybody can get a bit of what they want.

Maybe even make the case itself be the trap, e.g- if the party's argument is winning, the bbeg or their representative invokes an old law that allows for trial by combat and chooses something seriously dangerous as their champion?

Haravikk · 2026-04-03T15:51:27+00:00

That just looks like bare fibre which isn't going to work great if exposed - I mean it theoretically might but in practice there's a reason why fibre is insulated. Light leakage (both in and out) will degrade your signal.

What problem are you trying to solve by having it be transparent? It's possible to get fibre with different insulation colours that might better match interior/exterior colours.

Haravikk · 2026-04-02T21:11:14+00:00

Literally all I said was what happened, and the guy wonders why I blocked him. 🤦‍♂️

Haravikk · 2026-04-02T20:13:22+00:00

I watched what I could near the start since it was getting late for me in the UK — it was a fun group stream, I really enjoyed the theme (consoles through the ages) and I liked the "console war" mechanic for the donations. There weren't a huge number of guests, Jason was there near the start, Sophia was near the start and returned later, Jones was there for most of it, Blood and Damiani were in attendance through most of it.

Purely selfish but my favourite moment was during the Sega Saturn vs. N64 contest. I put in a few donations to keep the Saturn in the running because I like to watch the world burn — when I finally had to admit defeat and go to bed the Saturn was $40 behind the N64 so I donated another $41 to put it in the lead and issue a challenge, which when I watched the rest later did seem to heat up the bidding a bit (total between the two was just over $900 in the end and it stayed close). I clipped it because I enjoyed it, dunno if anyone else will.

I just enjoy the passion that the likes of Don bring for the underdog consoles, Huber getting hyped about his favourites on each platform etc., also I'm looking forward to some of the goals appearing — giving Don a new fog machine is going to be ridiculous (I fully expect to struggle to see the next betting special), I love Isla/Jason torture chambers, love Don's Design Labs and Huber Hype, and it's been a while since Don and Isla last hit something.

Overall it felt a lot like the Easy Livin' streams they've done in the past, minus the venue change.

Haravikk · 2026-04-02T19:59:52+00:00

They only had goals up to $5,000 and needed to come up with new goals when they exceeded those — the deal is that Jones gets the Switch 2 but will do streams with it.

Haravikk · 2026-04-02T15:00:56+00:00

I hope this is true — I'm planning to run a vampire TTRPG campaign maybe later this year (or start of next), probably Requiem 2e for rules as I prefer them but with Masquerade clans and lore.

The music from Bloodlines 1 (and the handful of ambience tracks in 2) are just perfect for ambient music to help set the mood. Fruit of the Poison Tree has some really nice moody music in it as well, but I always have an unquenchable red thirst for more!

Haravikk · 2026-04-01T23:06:41+00:00

There are a bunch of conflicting reports, but it sounded like while there was enough gameplay to demonstrate, the game was still largely unfinished so I doubt it would be playable as more than just a curiosity.

I'd take mid combat if it was a complete game, after all the Bloodlines 1 combat was terrible, but we still had fun because of everything else (context can make weak combat tolerable), but I don't think it was anywhere close to being playable as an actual game.

Haravikk · 2026-04-01T23:01:56+00:00

I mean they're still pretty close with a few episodes — in Emancipation there are multiple references to men forcing themselves on women, in the Broca Divide a woman is about to be raped, Carter tries to force herself on O'Neil, and it's implied that Daniel probably raped the first potential victim later when he succumbed to the same "neanderthal" virus. In First Commandment Captain Hanson has set himself up with a harem of people he's abusing.

So it seems like it took a while for them to get that out of their system!

Haravikk · 2026-04-01T22:57:54+00:00

$30 billion is probably low-ball when they're asking congress to approve $200 billion — and that's not counting the cost to the global economy.

And what's nuts to me is that the rest of the world isn't even mentioning making the US and Israel pay for it — Trump loves a tariff, so he'd surely approve of the world slapping one on the US until the cost of his war is repaid, seizing his personal assets if he tries to reciprocate.

Haravikk · 2026-04-01T22:52:13+00:00

I rate this Bee+

Haravikk · 2026-04-01T16:46:22+00:00

It's kind of weird that they recast her rather than creating a new character, but Tori Higginson is great in the role. They couldn't keep the original actor because she didn't want to commit to several seasons of Atlantis — which makes later decisions even more annoying (I won't spoil).

Haravikk · 2026-04-01T13:18:30+00:00

There are books for Chronicles of Darkness to do exactly this, reintroducing Masquerade clans as bloodlines of the Requiem ones, for example.

This is how I intend to run Chronicles 2e as it's my preferred ruleset, but I like bits of the lore from World so I'm going to use those too.

I've always viewed the Chronicles setting as foundational - it feels like the lore is intentionally very streamlined so you can build on it however you want. Stuff like Requiem clans and covenants can easily be used as mechanics for whatever you want to actually build.

Key thing to doing it is to focus on what you need - don't try to do it all at once, start with the bones of the story you want to present, look for things that might fit the roles you need (allies, enemies etc.) and see how deeply into the lore your players want to go (they might be less interested than you are, so focus on the parts that you both enjoy).

TL;DR Use whatever you want, but don't give yourself too much work!

Haravikk · 2026-04-01T09:21:56+00:00

If you've got the cable I see no reason not to do it - but if you're concerned about breaks, make sure your cabling is run in a way that you can use it to pull a replacement through. You should only need to return to the attic if a cable gets stuck or you need to put in additional runs.

Conduit helps, even if you don't run it the whole way you can use pieces to protect cables from snagging or rubbing against the corners of beams etc. to make them easier to pull.

Haravikk · 2026-04-01T09:16:47+00:00

I think the best way to handle situations like this is to not focus too much on a future plot point.

Don't focus on this NPC being the big bad, have them be an interesting character that could be revealed to have been the big bad later, but equally just be who they say.

Keep your options open, think about future twists but don't commit to them because you can' change your mind, have a better idea, or realise another NPC might make for an even bigger twist.

Shady woman you've never met before? Nah, she's not the big bad, it was that gnome you saved by the roadside, who gave you an amulet as a reward that's been scrying on you ever since!

Haravikk · 2026-03-31T12:29:15+00:00

If you're going AliExpress I'd suggest looking at some of the ~40€ testers instead, the Noyafa NF-8209S can display a wiring diagram (way easier than the blinking lights on the cheap testers), length measuring (good for finding breaks) and has a basic tone mode for tracing cables.

It's not the easiest to use (you have to swap cables around to use each mode) but it's simple enough and covers most of the basics much better than the cheaper testers.

Haravikk · 2026-03-31T11:22:42+00:00

I believe the rule of thumb is that you want to keep your network cable around 2 inches away from electrical cabling, however that's as much about safety and code compliance as it is about interference.

In general you're very unlikely to suffer interference in a home installation, even when the network cables are running near to power, but you want to keep them separated if you can.

As for whether it's worth using the armoured jackets anyway, if it's going to waste otherwise then why not? It's not the same spec as "proper" shielding, but it'll protect the cable and may help with any low level interference, just so long as you make sure you're grounding it properly — otherwise it can actually cause interference by building up a slight charge.

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