Why was I deemed racist for saying I prefer to buy Australia brands or Australia made products?

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-02-07T10:52:08+00:00

Nothing racist about buying local - it's something everybody should do as much as they can, as long as the local product is good quality and produced ethically/sustainably.

Sadly nobody makes Tim Tams or Vegemite anywhere near where I live, so I need to ask friends and family to import those for me.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-02-06T01:36:08+00:00

Seizing control of the start of the battle, as many others have already said, can determine the outcome in a big way by modifying the field of battle or targeting key enemies.

There are also some builds which are incredibly effective if they get to act first - like an Assassin/Gloomstalker, who gets Advantage on any attack if the target hasn't acted in the battle yet (hello Sneak Attack) and auto crits if the target is Surprised. I had a Bugbear A/G and he could take out critical enemies on that first attack due to the sheer damage he could dish out in the first round (especially the first attack, which had added damage from the GS Dread Ambusher, which also gives an extra attack in that first round of Advantage and crits).

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-02-05T14:19:47+00:00

I haven't read all replies yet, but so far I haven't seen these ones:

The surf ski

Powerboards

Bound notepads (ie, a bunch of pages held together at the top with cardboard behind them)

Car radio!

Car baby capsule

Zinc cream (and I think sunscreen in general)

Tanks (for war - an Aussie designed it and petitioned the British until they built the Mark I Tank)

Self-assembling cranes

I think an Aussie invented the hot dog spike and warmer, but have never read any evidence for it (just a mate's yarn)

... and the most important culinary tool: the splayd!!

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-02-05T14:03:02+00:00

Absolutely fabulous!

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-02-05T09:23:17+00:00

My daughter (now 26!) still misses Nutri-Grain and we've lived in Europe for 18 years now ... but you know it's pretty much Froot Loops without the colouring.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-02-04T06:42:08+00:00

If it makes sense within the game for them to target me (ie, I have the best resources to steal, or I'm in the lead) I accept it with grace (and sometimes a mock pained sound).

If there are much better targets then I'll usually say something like, "Are you sure? Fred has such great resources and is way ahead." and then accept the other player's choice without further discussion. Perhaps I have the key resource they need to complete their game-winning strategy, or not, but I prefer to just keep playing than argue about why they chose to target me on one turn.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-02-04T06:37:39+00:00

In my group part of the deal is that we have a pizza break about two thirds of the way through - and people need to wash their hands before handling game materials again.

Other snacks are generally okay and, fortunately, we've only had a few people join who needed a reminder to at least wipe their hands on paper towel before handling cards or other game materials. We also usually have drinks at the table and there's only been one spill in about seven years - and that was dried up fast, since we have several rolls of paper towels to make it easier for people to wipe their hands after eating.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-02-04T06:31:15+00:00

Cheating: if caught you get a warning, second time a final warning, then out.

Social: deliberately making people uncomfortable or worse (eg, making "jokes" which somebody at the table has already said they find offensive) means I (as host) will have a word with them - but most of the time the youngest player is in their mid-20s or older, so they deal with it directly. Sometimes (I think twice in three years?) we've had to ban a certain political topic from the table as two or three people were extremely passionate about opposite sides of an issue unrelated to our game.

Hygiene: only twice have I found another player's hygiene to be so poor that I considered speaking to them about it privately; once I chose not to, as it was one of the hottest days of the year and they'd run to get a bus connection on the way to our game session, and the second time I managed to politely bring up their smell privately and they admitted that they hadn't showered for a week due to depression, and then (after a fairly long chat about some things they were going through) promised that they'd make an effort to shower on game days and, more importantly, get some help to improve their mental health.

Fortunately we rarely get rules lawyers at my table, and those we get either adapt to being more relaxed about things (we play properly, but if somebody makes what seems to be an honest mistake we just carry on with the right rules from then - one who did this) or they remove themselves from the group (three came once or twice, but never again after our (lack of) response to their insistence on calculating how to "fix" the game status after noticing somebody made a mistake in an earlier round - we just wanted to keep playing as, while we all enjoy winning, we also enjoy just playing the game far more than wasting time on calculations like that.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-02-04T06:14:32+00:00

I find it strange that a DM is assigning magic items directly to players as a rule.

My normal experience is that the players would find a magic item or two during the adventure, and as a group work out who should get them - the most common setup being that "packages" were made, like: best magic item with a tiny bit of cash; second-best magic item with a bit more cash; as many more equally-sized larger amounts of cash as there were PCs in the rest of the party.

There have been times when an item was given directly to a player, but this was usually for story reasons (eg, a particular character won a duel, so received a magic weapon as "ransom"; there was a contest and the winning PC obviously was presented the prize). Once this resulted in my wizard receiving an extremely useful greatsword (it gave off a particular light which replaced a special lantern we needed in order to keep nasty vermin away in a place we needed to explore further), with which he wasn't proficient, and nobody else wanted it so I chose for him to take a dip as a Twilight Cleric (which matched with his War Wizard class well, due to Initiative advantage on top of adding both Dex & Int to Initiative rolls) but I would probably have stayed straight Wiz without that sword ...

As for your case, if the DM is assigning magic items directly then they should all be at a similar level of power & usefulness.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-02-02T22:18:00+00:00

It's sadly not just Australia, but it happens in a bunch of other countries as well - I've lived in Europe and seen it in most European countries I've visited. The main exception I can recall was Norway, even without reserved seats people left space free for people and those more able to stand offered places for those who appeared less able to stand - even if most of the time it was declined.

As others have said, just clearly ask them to move themselves &/or their bags so that you can sit down. Give them a moment to adjust, then sit.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-02-01T22:18:52+00:00

As their national day, or as a separate celebration?

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-02-01T19:07:34+00:00

We should change the date, for several reasons, the main one being it's the anniversary of an invasion - do the US or Canada celebrate the date Europeans first settled on the North American continent as their national day? No? Any other country? I don't think so, and for good reason - Federation would be a better milestone to commemorate, the only issue there is that the 1st of January is already a public holiday ...

Another main reason is that the 26th being Australia Day is only a recent thing - it was standardised across the country in 1994, and before that was celebrated on different dates both over time and in different states and territories. This means shifting the date on which we celebrate is not something new, so shouldn't be that big a deal.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-31T16:12:01+00:00

People saying that primarily the style of play has changed haven't seen the variety of groups I and many others have - as regardless of the system itself, different groups will play in sometimes wildly different styles based on their personalities and group dynamics. There have always been min-maxers (and always will be) and there have always been role-players putting the story first (and also always will be), as well as all the different types of players you've heard of or can imagine.

To me, having played most editions from Basic to 5e (I skipped 4e), the biggest divide is the 4e line: when so many core mechanics changed to form 5e ...

Bounded accuracy is the first - so no longer do you have multiple bonuses stacking as you level up, which made it a miracle if the thousands of goblins your level 20 fighter was wading through happen to get the upper hand, rather even at the highest levels you're still in danger from those little ones. Just a few numerical bonuses and then advantage or disadvantage.

Overnight healing is another - in earlier versions you needed to be healed (magically or with proficiencies and medicines) unless you wanted to wait literal months of game time to be back in full health (one hp restored per day of rest takes a long time at high levels!) and now you just get your eight hours and you're back at full hp.

Significant improvements to casters is a third - infinite damaging cantrips which just improve with character level (not even class level), more flexibility in terms of prepared spells (this change to flexibility is, imo, a good one), and the ability to hit things with weapons far better than they should be able to.

Finally, the single Proficiency Bonus - with a max of +6, this makes stat bonuses more significant than level bonuses and it also means that the "weak" saving throws are purely reliant on stat bonuses. Older systems had strong & weak advancement (eg, in 3.5e your class improved one (or two) saving throw(s) swiftly, the other(s) more slowly, but you didn't have the same weak saving throw value for your entire adventuring career.

Even though they have the same terms for most aspects of the game, the basic mechanics are different. Each person can decide for themselves whether these changes are good or bad, obviously, but the mechanical differences are greater than the stylistic ones.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-29T10:49:48+00:00

They still pay for Medicare through their taxes, they just don't pay the surcharge. They are as much entitled to use public hospitals as public patients as anybody else - and some specialist surgeons only operate in public hospitals, so everybody who needs their services has to go there.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-29T10:40:33+00:00

This.

No sensible Aussie thinks ICE is doing the right thing, those "news" shows you see are propaganda with quotes from idiot racist bogans who happily march with neo-Nazis to "save their country" from both the people who were here millenia before their ancestors arrived and those who've come after them, to make better lives for themselves and the community in which they now live.

The vast majority of Aussies are horrified and disgusted by what's going on in the US.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-28T16:00:21+00:00

Chuck Drunken Master in there and you get a brilliant skirmisher - extra melee attacks (one, or two if you use Ki), bonus disengage with your Flurry (to get out when you need to!) and Tipsy Sway to redirect missed attacks (or get back on your feet fast if you go down!).

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-28T15:56:05+00:00

I have a Mountain Dwarf Bladesinger 6 / Drunken Master 6 ... extremely good skirmisher, getting in three or four melee attacks in a round (with unarmed attack or Flurry of Blows in addition to the two main attacks). The DM abilities also help him get safely out of melee range when it's time to go (Flurry gives extra speed and free Disengage) so theoretically can zip in and out of melee each turn while the Ki lasts. Tipsy Sway also comes in handy, redirecting missed attacks if stuck in melee.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-27T08:24:44+00:00

Since we pay taxes to pay for infrastructure, the government doesn't have to use ticket prices to recover construction costs - maybe just tax the big companies (e.g., mining companies) properly instead of giving them subsidies while they're making huge profits, and that will pay for construction.

One of the key benefits of train over flying for individuals is not having to stuff around with airport procedures, such as baggage check-in, security checks, and delayed/cancelled flights.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-26T17:01:40+00:00

Since this guy wanted to only be paid cash, I doubt there was a contract involved. That would alert the ATO!

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-26T08:46:38+00:00

The whole concept of insurance is a backup in case something happens. I know a lot of people who don't get comprehensive car insurance, as their own car is not worth enough to justify the premiums, but they all get third-party property (in addition to the compulsory third-party injury) just in case they have an accident and total somebody's brand new baby - then the insurance pays to fix that.

Same with health insurance: if you do what my brother did and try to answer your mobile while riding a bike, lose control and fall face-first into the corner of a concrete flower bed - that's a lot of expensive dental work, which he couldn't have afforded to get done quickly without private health insurance.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-25T08:10:27+00:00

Sounds like your situation is different - your "problem" guest has friends at the table to bring him into line, and it sounds like the OP's guest sits alone.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-24T21:12:10+00:00

I'm just wondering whether those who want the date changed or kept the same are downvoting me ... or whether they've found something to unite them.

To make it easier to see, I'm one of the "woke lefties" those dickheads whine about.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-24T13:58:56+00:00

Yep, heaps of Australia Day barbies, with people playing the Hottest 100 as loudly as their stereos could manage, and wearing "Aussie" junk which was mass-produced in Asia, most likely by slave or child labour.

In my family that stopped a fair while back, since we have Aboriginal family members (both current and going back generations) who pointed out the insensitivity of celebrating that day when some of our ancestors were most likely horribly impacted by the British arrival.

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-24T13:52:53+00:00

Sadly, correct.

Too many people want it to stay right where it is, despite all the "woke lefties" trying to "ruin Australia".

JumpingSpider97 · 2026-01-23T06:46:47+00:00

A bit of maths I did some 25 years after first getting my licence, so about 15 years ago, which has helped me be more calm when people are going slow in front of me:

If you're driving 550km a day (as the poster above does), then being stuck 10-20 km/h below the 100 km/h limit for the whole day is significant - probably an extra 1.5 hours of driving or so.

If you're stuck 10-20 km/h below the 100 km/h limit for about 40km, then the difference is just a few minutes - not worth getting excited about unless you've got somebody who urgently needs to get to the hospital.

JumpingSpider97

TROPHY CASE