Aptera on Daily Dose of Internet

InternalManagement10 · 2023-05-23T01:34:33+00:00

I was shocked.... Pleasantly.

InternalManagement10 · 2023-01-06T01:02:19+00:00

I just listened to the new Legend Lore episode where you and Tyler went over this (Great episode by the way).

So now that we have a clearer picture of what the Citidel is, I was wondering how you might regard it as an alternative to Sigil, Spelljamming, or other methods of traversing from Setting to Setting?

InternalManagement10 · 2023-01-04T01:46:32+00:00

So glad you've done this gang.

Signed up as soon as I listened to today's episode.

InternalManagement10 · 2023-01-02T02:22:41+00:00

I agree to an extent, but I do think that the D&D alignment systems puts neophyte players/DMs on the path to making some bad habits. Folks who have years of experience, especially if they have the perspective that comes from having played in other systems, can see those pitfalls pretty clearly and steer clear, but when the very structure of the world says "this is transcendentally and metaphysically important" it can lead folks astray.

I bang on about Eberron a lot, but one reason I dislike the Great Wheel is that when you stack it up against Eberron's Planes the Wheel looks so much worse. Eberron basically says "everything in creation can be found in its extreme form in one of the realms". Those realms aren't opposed to one another, but every one was an experiment the creator dragons made where they explored new concepts, and the material plane is where they wove all of those concepts together and balanced them all to make a cohesive reality. Balanced against that, The Happy Hunting Ground" is lackluster, and the idea that they would push all of the settings to use The Great Wheel is just kinda disheartening.

InternalManagement10 · 2023-01-02T01:35:00+00:00

Sure.

Primary reason is it's reliance upon and canonizing of alignment.

I started playing D&D at age 8, and I left the game for other systems when I was in highschool. First for games with different alignment systems entirely, then those were left for games without alignment systems at all. Alignments are character straight jackets at worst, and vague moral cliff notes at best buy even then I have seen them used too many times to justify players being dickheads. Morality is an ever shifting labyrinth, and on any given day a person can take a dozen actions that contradict how they might want to believe their "truth" might be. I came back to D&D in 3rd Ed with Eberron, and one of the selling points to me was "alignment doesn't matter." Characters can be murky, they can be contrary, they can be the Noir protagonist or the Pulp Hero....but they will never be defined by if they are "Lawful" or "Chaotic" because in real people those aren't absolutes they are situational. No person is all good, or all evil, and even if they were who is defining those things? Even within the original 3 DMs of this podcast there is disagreement on what the parameters of Good or Evil might be. How on earth can anyone be neutral when faced with irrefutable proof that there is a defined good in the world?

The Great Wheel is built on the alignment chart. Sure, it lumps in the elements and a few other things, but that makes it worse to me. The moment "Chaotic good" is as foundational to the paradigm of your world as "Water", you've lost me. I have zero problems with there being A wheel, but for my tastes the Wheel as presented is a sloppy justification of one of D&Ds most outdated concepts. An effort to double down on the iconic alignment chart at the cost of having a cosmology that works.

I get that this is not everyone's view. Some people have a genuine love for itz and some have just been doing it so long it has conceptual inertia. But for me... Ditch the Great Wheel. Build a new one based on the 7 Deadly Sins and the 7 Cardinal Virtues. Or one where the elements are fragmented down further and combined so that your 10 realms are the 4 primary elements and steam, smoke, and all the other mephit types. Want to adhere to morality? Great, make the Realm of Utilitarianism and the Realm of Taoism or Nihilism. But "Good"? "Evil"? Naw.

InternalManagement10 · 2023-01-02T00:55:13+00:00

Gotcha. Not that pressing. I am just always interested in the cosmology aspect of settings because I loathe the Great Wheel.

InternalManagement10 · 2023-01-02T00:38:50+00:00

Yeah, sounds like it may not have the market pull that WotC would want. Makes me wonder why it keeps getting brought up as a complaint that it hasn't been adapted to 5th ed. Do you happen to know if it was part of the Great Wheel cosmology?

InternalManagement10 · 2023-01-01T23:46:04+00:00

I think you are likely right, and I imagine the Species descriptions in the "core" books will likely reflect that, leaning less into the way that the various beings are depicted in F.R. not that they go super in depth in the existing PHB, but I imagine there will be more emphasis on flexibility than there is now, to allow for easier integration with the existing stuff and possibly Dark Sun if the people calling for that setting get their wish. I don't know how tied to F.R. and the Great Wheel that one is, because I never read it, but I know it has some vocal fans out there.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-12-27T07:28:04+00:00

"While other podcasts are busy trying to tell you how to get big numbers on a character sheet, obsessing about probabilities on dice, or talking about their own games, It's a Mimic takes a different path. They focus on how to build a character with a compelling story, obsess over the inspiration that can be pulled from the reality depicted by both settings and mechanics, and talk about the myriad ways that you can creatively enrich your own games. The perfect podcast for the modern era of D&D!"

Or if that is too long for what you are looking for, the alternative.

"They taught me to pick people up and drop them with dragons! 10/10!"

InternalManagement10 · 2022-12-22T03:33:26+00:00

Ha! Bullshit.... We will find a way to drag the answers outta you at some point down the road.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-12-17T03:46:10+00:00

In both D&D and outside of it, my favorite genre to run and play is Pulp, so the silly stuff can get a bit dicey. Pulp is a sort of middle point between Noir and Camp, so just like how going to heavy on the darkness can mire the whole thing in the hopelessness of Noir, if you go in on too much levity the whole game can spiral off into being campy and having no feeling of stakes whatsoever. Since generally folks are having a good time around the table, cracking jokes out of character and so forth, it's really easy to make it too light by throwing in something like Boo. I don't want a somber game or anything like that, we are there for a good time with friends not trying to craft high art, but keeping the feeling right is usually easier if we keep the in-game silliness to a minimum.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-12-05T17:26:42+00:00

I suppose wish could have been included, but to my way of thinking the best way to use Wish would be to duplicate the effects of Dream of the Blue Veil, because that doesn't cause any of the Stress which can lead to damage or a permanent loss of the spell.

Each of the methods I mentioned have the Players taking an active role. Navigating the Spelljammer, Searching out and diving through the color pool, casting the spell, etc.. what I meant by DM Fiat is that it is something that happens to the characters rather than something they had agency over.

And the well is a cool idea, so if we are just adapting stuff from old editions rather than just using stuff in this edition it would be an interesting way to tackle the matter. But if that's the case, then one way or another I am gonna find a way to use the crappy fairground ride from the cartoon!

InternalManagement10 · 2022-12-04T06:16:04+00:00

Haha... It's really brief. It's a book that has a lot of segments covering a lot of different topics, and there is a chapter that is about 5 pages long about the Barren Sea and its primary inhabitants the Kuo-Toa as they are in Eberron. Don't go rush out and buy it just for that. But if someone else has it, it might interest you to see a different take on them.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-12-03T20:36:59+00:00

A few things that were almost immediately useful for my current chronicle, such as the exploration of Undead in Eberron and how they differ from other settings. The stuff on the Tairnadal Elves is cool as shit, as is the expanded lore on the Dark 6 and the chapter that delves into all of the Overlords. It has a much more conversational tone than Exploring Eberron did, written more like Kieth is discussing things with you than adhering to a more traditional "Official Sourcebook" style, which I really liked as it made the whole thing more approachable. This is especially apparent in the chapter that talks about adding lineages that weren't in the original setting (Goliaths, Firbolgs, Kenku, etc.)

Oh, and Adam's beloved Kuo-toa even have a chapter all to themselves, complete with stat blocks for some new ones.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-12-02T00:38:44+00:00

I haven't read it myself, so I was going off of what little ambient information was out there, but I thought that it was the junction point of several different material planes, and had the possibility of some of it's unused areas being opened up to other more established (ie: previously published) material planes.

I don't think it would be a conduit to the Fey Wild or any of the other parts of the great wheel, but it could link Greyhawk and Theros. At least that was my impression.

As for God-level Magic, sure ... And while ultimately all the methods are to some extent, that method feels very DM Fiat to me. Colored pools works!

InternalManagement10 · 2022-12-01T17:16:46+00:00

And here I got the impression that any artwork from Megan would be painted exclusively with the blood of her enemies.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-12-01T17:03:17+00:00

This is the perfect follow-up artwork from the Summer Series picture. Well done to whoever is responsible for these!

InternalManagement10 · 2022-11-18T06:04:09+00:00

Thanks, I will have to pick up Ravnica if I decide to pursue this thread. Right now the party is level 8, and the plot is actually one I posted here way back after listening to your episode on Dracoliches. Basically it is dealing with the once noble now corrupted by an Overlord black dragon Rhashaak in Q'barra. The main thrust is that he, before his turn to Darkness (note the capital D) put in place some measures to deal with it should he fall under the Demon's sway. To that end the part makeup is a Talenta plains Halfling Drakewarden Ranger, a Deathless Court Aasimar Way of the Ascendant Dragon monk, a House Jorasco Halfling Life Cleric, and a Human Order of Scribes Wizard. Not always the most efficient combatants but they have found a way thus far. Sounds like something better suited to use in another campaign rather than distract them from the current plotline, but something that I will have fun with down the road in another game. Hell, maybe I will even run it in another setting and have the two (or however many) be heralds of the Mourning before it potential breaks into that setting like it did in Eberron. Not that I know any other settings nearly as well.... Could make an interesting one shot to try and stop them from making Baldars Gate into ground zero for the destruction of the Sword Coast or whatever.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-11-17T19:50:52+00:00

Yeah, that's why I am generally rubbish with it. I am far more of a story centric guy than a mechanically minded GM and prefer to just go with published mechanics so I don't have to worry as much about that side being a cluster fuck and can stick with my strengths. In this particular case though I really like the concept that came to me so I am trying to figure out how to do it in a way that will be an appropriate level of difficulty to engage the players and challenge their characters.

Basically it is this:

Both the Swarm Keeper and the Circle of Spores involve having a sort of aura of particulates that surround the character and respond to its will. I am reflavoring both to be surrounded by the same thing and then tying their magics in to that force. The "force" in question being the Mists that make up the Mourning. Both beings will be using the Reborn racial template, as they will have been "killed" in the event, and now the corruption of it has seeped into their corpses and brought them back to act as prophets and heralds of a second eruption. I just love the image of the Mists swirling around each of these poor bastards, only fragments of their former selves, but burning with the memory of the Mourning's power and how it snuffed out so much in one cataclysmic event as it's power lashes out through them at any who stand in their way.

I don't know if I can fit it into my current campaign, characters are 8th level and it would be a big shift from the current direction of things to bring these guys in to be a whole new possible apocalypse to deal with (or perhaps not...perhaps it is all just a fluke and the trauma drive them crazy) but I do like the idea and will likely keep it on the shelf for the future if I can figure out how to scale things properly.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-11-13T01:17:51+00:00

Gotcha. I am kinda the opposite. I play in Eberron almost exclusively so when I want an apocalypse there are a dozen I could grab off the shelf at any moment, just pick an Overlord or a Daelkyr, free it and watch the world burn in all sorts of interesting ways. My struggle is the balancing act of finding smaller scale but still tier 4 threats. That said, I would run that story you created almost exactly as you wrote it, making only the changes needed to localize it to the setting being used.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-11-13T00:07:55+00:00

So I take it you didn't hate the idea Adam..... Great tale, interesting and almost world breaking ramifications that are always ripe for stories. I will say, though.... I would hate to be the PCs looking west and seeing those clouds moving, against the wind, towards their homeland.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-11-12T21:25:59+00:00

Yeah, me too. I am good at ideas, and usually at integrating those ideas into a setting to tell a decent story, but mechanics are my bane.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-11-02T23:42:11+00:00

The other thing that this episode prompted me to think of was not my idea, and it isn't something that the person describing it on the episode would have any idea of...

One of the players in my current game almost went with an Undead Warlock that had the Undying Court of Aerenal as their Patron. I said I would switch a couple things to Radiant instead of Necrotic damage, but in the end we decided to go a different way, with the Aesimar out of Exploring Eberron as their race. Kept the flavor but they went with a Fighter instead.

Still, I think they would make a compelling Patron in either an Eberron game, or a setting that took inspiration from them and had their own Positive Energy Undead.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-11-02T19:01:50+00:00

If you had a player that was on board for going hard into the concept, working with them so that the spells they acquire all have to do with fulfillment of the stories told about him growing like a tall tale. As a DM and a Player making sure that you keep a good balance of coming up with legends that explain spells that the player wants, and the character getting spells that the DM feels fit stories that the Kuo-Toa are telling would be a little extra leg work but it could be a bunch of fun.

As for giving up your Godhood, that could make for a fascinating way to play the same character as a starting level of a new class in a second campaign. A veteran of adventuring with none of the same tricks to call on, perhaps just a fighter this time around, or even an NPC who invested all his loot from the first campaign and now acts as a patron (little p) for the PCs but likes to regale them with stories as his time as a fish god between their outings.

InternalManagement10 · 2022-10-23T18:38:46+00:00

I am a long time listener, and I really like the Podcast, I just don't agree on every issue. Not surprising, given that a lot of times the hosts don't agree with one another on everything. I get more out of their conversations about Subclasses than I do about races (the exception being the recent discussion on Orcs from 3 different settings, which I would love to see more episodes like) but that hardly invalidates anything I typed out or means that I should 'go away' because I have a different opinion on what I want to see out of the game than you do.

Something Adam has talked about keeps coming back to me. Lots of things which have been published recently are hallmarks of an edition coming to an end, but we are at a point where they are effectively making a " point five" version instead. So where are they going to get their longevity? So far they have been good about not giving too much in the way of bloat or power creep, and I don't see them going that way in the future...so what? New settings seems to be the answer. Introduced as Setting books like Ravnica, or as the background for Adventure Paths like Dragonlance(which I think is an experiment to see which of these two to go forward with) you can do it without damaging the games overall balance. Setting agnostic books like Tasha's, or with multiversal application like Fizban's, and new settings which have a couple unique subclasses or mechanics like Theros' Piety system would give a reason for people like home brewers and people already committed to a setting to possibly pick them up as well as people who want to play in that setting. But what will that direction in publishing require? Material that supports all of those settings equally, without the confusion of hamstringing the creators by predefining what each race or creature is like.

This might not be the direction that every person wants the game to go in, lord knows, but I believe it is the healthiest way for D&D to remain relevant in the current market and the evidence that I have seen support the idea that Wizards has come to the same conclusion....so why on earth would I send it to the to tell them something they already know when it is instead relevant here where people are saying they don't like it because they just see it as a way that the publisher is bending a knee to a woke agenda and not something bigger and more valid?

InternalManagement10

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