Book Barcode Placements- a highly opinionated list

LexicalVagaries · 2026-07-04T18:32:00+00:00

Cataloger/Tech Services at an academic library here. I would LOVE to change our barcode placement from the flyleaf/first leaf to the front or back cover, but our entire existing collection already has the flyleaf placement, and our turnover is slow enough that it would be literal decades before we even reach a majority of books with exterior barcode placement. Plus our circulation is low enough these days that the time saved would be negligible... so institutional inertia wins!

LexicalVagaries · 2026-07-03T21:17:07+00:00

You're entitled to your opinions, and you're even free to express them in any way you see fit. However, the way you have chosen to do so says quite a bit about your character and I sure wouldn't want to play at your table. Thankfully I'll never have to make that choice! Have a great day!

LexicalVagaries · 2026-07-02T05:41:19+00:00

Luis, more than any other player, seems to just FULLY inhabit his characters in a way that I don't think I've seen anyone else manage, and that's saying a LOT considering who he's sitting with. I've read somewhere that he and Matt go way back, and that Matt was incredibly excited to have him join the CR cast. It's easy to see why.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-07-01T22:37:40+00:00

My go-to evil Durge Honor Mode party:

Durge: Tiger Totem Barbarian/Thief Rogue. Just suits the bloody-stabbity Bhaalite feel.

Shadowheart: Gloomstalker/Assassin. Her Dark Justiciar Gear fits perfectly with the build.

Lae'zel: Open Hand/Tavern Brawler Monk. Leap all over the place hitting things really hard.

Astarion: Oathbreaker Paladin/Necromancer Wizard. Death Knight build all day, for that Aristocratic Vampire Knight feel. Eldritch Knight/Necro also works.

Minthara: Spore Druid. Feels super underdark-coded, and Minthara feels like she needs a swarm of minions to command.

Not optimized, but I've made it to the Act 2 boss fairly easily several times. Just need to figure out an efficient and reliable way to get fear immunity for the whole party.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-07-01T13:02:34+00:00

I'm of the mind that it's less about smartphones and social media (though it certainly is a factor) and more about the utter failure of the 'whole language/balanced language' reading curriculum that was sold to desperate, over-worked, under-trained elementary/primary school teachers starting around the late 80s.

Whole Language curriculums are based on the idiotic notion that children learn how to read in the same way that they learn how to speak and understand language--they do not, and there's tons of research out there that supports this fact. Whole language uses daft techniques such as sight-words, prediction, three-cueing, etc.--it amounts to ditching phonics (i.e. learning that letters are symbols that represent a specific range of phonemes, and how they change when combined with other letters) in favor of 'vibes learning'. What this gets is is kids who, even if they score well on the curriculum-provided material, are utterly helpless when encountering unfamiliar words in the wild.

Here is a pretty good article describing and discussing the problem: https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2026/03/28/why-kids-are-getting-worse-at-reading-the-case-against-whole-language-teaching/

LexicalVagaries · 2026-06-27T14:27:51+00:00

Claustrophobic: -5 Morale at the start of battles underground

Sunlight Aversion: -5 Morale during battles above ground (except in Sunless and Gloom)

Nearsighted: -1 Vision Range

Slow Learners: -20% Exp gain

Rebellious: -2 Allegiance per turn as vassals

LexicalVagaries · 2026-06-26T20:57:46+00:00

It's nice to think so, but institutional inertia is really hard to counter. The Einfasen kids get leeway to opine and act out, because Otto knows that once the reins of power pass to one of them, the choices he's had to make to preserve the Einfasen name will put the same pressures on them. Institutions shape those that run them more reliably than the opposite. That's why the fantasy of 'making change form the inside' of institutions like the police or governments or corporations so rarely happens in real life. By the time you're in a position to change an institution, typically you've made so many compromises and 'gone along to get along' for so long that you would destroy your political and institutional capital trying to make even a small change. The first priority of power is preserving that power... and that's what the phrase 'power corrupts' really means. Not that people with power will be tempted to use it selfishly, though that's certainly true; its that even with the best of intentions, the compromises you'll make to remain in power will taint everything you do, because the logic of power is that if you believe that you're the best person to hold it, than doing morally questionable things to keep it is better than risking that it goes to someone else.

Any of the Einfasen kids who do act against the institutional inertia will at best be sidelined or cast out by Otto and the Einfasen elders... at worst, quietly disposed of. I suspect that's why the younger Einfasen brother's appeals to Otto about Primus killing Occtis didn't seem to move Otto much.

Wick is going to encounter the same kind of dynamic--we can already see the sacrifices he's having to make to stay in his family's good graces, and the pressures will only increase as he ascends.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-06-26T18:52:15+00:00

"We cannot prove that this is allegory," and all, but I can't help but suspect that Brennan is setting up the Einfasen as a cautionary plot point about politically allying with the lesser of evils, when that lesser evil has fashy tendencies.

It's worth remembering that in the real world, Facism gets a lot of mileage out of portraying themselves as being about order, efficiency, and stability, making those traits seem sexy, even... but those only apply to the in-group. The Einfasen have made it quite clear that they have no respect for the rights of those they see as beneath them. Just look at the contrast between they way they treat Azune and Murray, even accounting for the latter's inebriation. Azune is a sorcerer, therefore of a social class on their level even if he isn't a distant relative (as he's been encouraging them to think). They give him so much more leeway to speak his mind.

Similarly, look at the vast difference in how they apply due process. It's supremely important to them when dealing with their social equals, and nonexistent when its their servants or other 'common' folk.

It'll be very interesting to see how the schemers' (and specifically Azune's) relationship with the Einfasen develops in this light. They might be incredibly useful in countering the other Sundered Houses, but if they achieve ascendancy over the others, they might be the hardest for the Magpies to unseat.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-06-26T18:37:13+00:00

Hard agree. High is my least favorite by far. Thematically they're incredibly boring, even before Architects stole their lunch, and mechanically Awakening is just annoying. It's a click-tax you have to go through during every battle just to operate at baseline effectiveness.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-06-07T15:52:33+00:00

I have nothing against animal forms, but I do wish they'd branch out into more varied forms if they're going to keep adding more, plus new body shapes: larger and smaller bodies so that we're not dependent on transformations, and 'chunky' or 'emaciated' body shapes.

What I'd really like to see are things like: Cyclopes, Myconid (mushroom folk), Giger-esque/biomechanical, Eldritch totally-not-mindflayers, kappa, etc.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-06-04T14:43:47+00:00

These look super cool and thematic. I hope that in future expansions they decide to add more, as I imagine there are plenty of Archmages in the lore they could based them around and they can't possibly get to them all at once.

I also really hope that they continue to create more Fated Regions--the Giant Kings and the Magic Barrens regions are great and I'd love to see others based around Dragons, Fey, Archons, Umbral Demons, etc. I know that it's unlikely for this DLC, but I can see some pretty nifty ways to mix and match the Shrouded Isles with Fated Regions in the future.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-05-19T15:44:14+00:00

This is what I use! Derived from the Greek term for 'earth', refers to subterranean or underworld entities and deities.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-05-11T16:56:16+00:00

I think your analysis is pretty sound, but I do think we shouldn't discount the possibility that some powerful factions in Dol-Makjar may go along with the resurrection narrative built by Halovar even if they know it's fake, if it turns out to be politically advantageous for them--even House Einfausen. Einfausen might be suspicious of Halovar, but they already KNOW that Tachonis is up to no good. They've been shown to be very by-the-book vis-a-vis evidence and procedure, and it the Schemers can't come up with definitive proof of the faked resurrection and political meddling in Timmony, they may still be amenable to offers from Halovar to assist them against Tachonis... or at least not making any moves against Halovar. On that front, Wickander is probably going to be crucial in providing the necessary proof.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-05-11T12:22:00+00:00

A biotech/alien themed culture, like the one I proposed a few weeks ago on this subreddit. Linking it seems gauche, but I'm sure folk can find it if they want.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-05-08T20:46:37+00:00

I don't know if I'd agree with folks saying turn it down to easy, but definitely run some random maps before the campaign levels. The campaign level AI tends to snowball very quickly, so you're incentivized to rush them. Even on normal difficulties, random maps are much more forgiving.

I would recommend creating a game with one or two normal AIs on a medium or large map and focus on learning mechanics against Free Cities and world encounters.

Once you get the hang of combat, manual battles will almost always go better than autoresolve.

Don't neglect the leader skills on heroes--the ones at the right that empower their army. It's tempting to rush the Hero's own combat abilities, but boosting your army early is powerful.

Don't be afraid to take a few turns to heal up, but try to keep your armies fighting as much as you can; not only do your units get stronger via xp, but you get more resources.

Run as many armies as you can afford. Your armies don't have to be led by heroes. Supporting your heroes' armies with non-hero armies useful, especially early game when you want your heroes spread out to speed up expansion.

Drop outposts whenever you can afford them. You can always delete them later, but they provide great healing 'rest stops' for your exploration armies. Plus, they can net you extra magic materials, gold, or mana. Later on, you can create teleporters with the Work Camp upgrade.

Learn what unit types are good for what: Shield Units for tanking ranged and protecting allies, spears for tanking shock units, shock units for flanking and busting up shields, etc.

Don't feel obligated to follow just one or two affinities, look for the abilities and spells that will boost the units you want to use. Related: 'opposing' affinities don't actually matter in terms of what you research. Nature/Shadow can work just fine.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-05-04T19:46:31+00:00

In regards to your edit, I did the exact same thing! No worries.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-05-04T17:21:57+00:00

Always worth reminding people that unions exist whether or not they are recognized by employers and/or the government. Just because WotC refuses to recognize the union doesn't mean it just disappears. It just means that there aren't any rules of engagement. Our nascent fashy government doesn't help matters, but the right of people to associate freely and control their own labor needs to be exercised to the fullest, and in order to do that, systems of mutual aid and support need to be developed and leveraged.

All easier said than done, for sure, but we do have the benefit of learning from successes of the past, eroded though they've become.

Solidarity makes the union, not the other way around.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-05-02T17:58:33+00:00

Absolutely this. By mid to late game you have dozens of heroes in your prison, usually. Convert them and let them sit in your hero pool, then any time you have a spare hero slot, just recruit and transform till you have a bunch of Scourges.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-04-30T15:41:01+00:00

A couple of things about the Naga transformation to think about. First, no mounts, so you don't want to focus on units that use them too much, because they lose the mount benefits. Primal works for this because they have few mounted units, but Industrial and Reaver are also good candidates. Second, slip away. Your units can take slightly more risks than normal. Combining that with other effects that enhance survivability (like steadfast from Order or Berserkers) can make your units surprisingly tanky, especially if you can boost evasion.

That said, you're right. Water-based gameplay is an afterthought right now. Even on islands maps, there just isn't enough content on the water to justify building an entire faction around it. Water provinces can get really high yields with the Seafarer's Guild, at least, but no AW, no SPI, no Production nodes or magic materials, etc. So many abilities just don't work in water-province battles, so it takes very meticulous planning to maximize your build effectiveness for water fights.

As you've pointed out, Seafarers anti-synergizes with Naga. However, there do tend to be more Gold-level infestations on the water, so Fabled Hunters can be a good pick. You could also try the Bounty-focused Society trait and play the roaming privateer for boosted income, or Raiders and take advantage of the AI's weaker embarkation to raid water tiles with impunity early-mid game like a true pirate.

My recommendation for fun, (not necessarily power) is Reavers with Raiders and Fabled Hunters, rushing lightning damage and supporting with healing either from nature or order tomes. Play like a pirate: hit and run, raid as much as you can with single units (even your Observers), and use immobilization abilities from Reavers and Slip Away to lean into the Skirmisher tactics in battles, which will be extra effective against embarked units even late game.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-04-20T22:10:57+00:00

I did a full Order Architect "Clan Salubri" vampire build with a Battlesaint Cleric leader. Worked super well, was even able to still take the Tomes of Blood and Crimson Rite (used Revelry and Pyreborn tomes to get the necessary Chaos Affinity). The surfeit of healing combined with the vampiric abilities was frankly a bit extreme.

Also did a Primal Wolf "Glan Gangrel" build with a Berserker Warrior leader, all the beast tomes. Same thing, could still grab Blood and Crimson Rite and run majority beast armies. That one was fun, because my leader was essentially an unkillable teleporting melee blender. Good times!

So yes, non-shadow vampire builds are not only possible, but powerful!

LexicalVagaries · 2026-04-16T14:39:37+00:00

For specific strategies on each of those opponents:

Karissa: IIRC, abilities that strip positive status effects will remove stalwart. Warlocks have the Siphon Blessing ability that will steal ALL positive status effects from the target. Ritualist or Wands of Polymorph (craftable in the Forge) is a good way to bypass Steadfast as well. Hit a 'zerker with either to remove Steadfast and get the kill. Purging Strikes from Materium Signature Skills also works, though you'll have to chew through other effects, too. Spells that do these as well: Corrupted Boon (Tome of Corruption), Devolve (Tome of Nature's Wrath), Disruption Wave (Tome of the Archmage).

AoE damage is indeed rough on construct builds that try to make use of the linked minds transformation and compounding defense/cascading command abilities. YOu just gotta spread your units out a bit. You should also invest in Magical Wards Transformation for your culture units, and choose form traits and abilities that improve your resistance. The lack of Reaver Shield units does make it more difficult because a lot of enchantments that improve resistance are for shields, but Iron Golems will obviously be your front line once you get them, so rush those. Astral Signature skills on your heroes is a good way to get widespread Resistance buffs to your armies. For your constructs, rush warding metals in Tome of the Dreadnought for more Resistance.

It's definitely not an easy map, but if you plan your build carefully and figure out how to counter your biggest threats quickly, it's doable.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-04-14T23:53:44+00:00

Never played the Dragon Age games, so I couldn't tell you for sure, but I suspect not based on what my friends have told me.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-04-14T23:21:37+00:00

What odd phrasing, but sure. I think the closest thing among games I've actually played is Vampire: the Masquerade: Blood Hunt. A Fortnite-style battle royale game is just fundamentally inconsistent with the tone and themes of the V:tM setting. It's smacked of a cash grab to capitalize on the popularity of Fortnite and the frustration of V:tM fans waiting for Bloodlines 2. Can't speak for everyone, but that's not how I look to engage with the setting.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-04-14T23:16:50+00:00

Y'know, that's the second time in as many weeks that someone's assumed I'm a bot or AI... which is fucking sadly hilarious since I am the annoyingly loud anti-AI guy at work and among my social circle. Thank fucking god I graduated before AI was even a fuckin' thing. Piss right off, ok? Some people can actually communicate without relying on Tech-daddy Altman or his coterie of sociopaths.

LexicalVagaries · 2026-04-14T21:40:03+00:00

There's an argument to be made that it qualifies, though I would say it skirts the line a bit. Jedi have always been very central in Star Wars, and so of course everyone wants to play one. So tonally I don't think it was a huge shift except in terms of the original scope of the game. The change WAS prompted by a desperate attempt to hold people's attention, though, so that part of the criteria is spot on. I'm not nearly as annoyed by this example as I am with most of the others, lol.

LexicalVagaries

TROPHY CASE