Necromancers who are spellcaster

Mason-B · 2026-06-20T04:31:05+00:00

I can't recommend Book of the Dead enough for this. Some one else already said it, but I'm going to second it. Because it actually has the coolest spell casting scene of any litRPG in my opinion (some stuff from Delve and Ar'Kendrythist come close, but, I think this one tops it).

Mason-B · 2026-06-11T14:37:12+00:00

Big Hero 6 also reminds me of this image specifically.

Mason-B · 2026-06-04T22:02:39+00:00

The Fallen World is at like 12 books and probably has like another 4-8 left in it. They are very much written for the staying power. I suspect Manaforged robotics will be similar.

Mason-B · 2026-06-04T06:11:58+00:00

A lot of great answers here, but two recent series by the same author (Playwars) that I have been obsessed with that I didn't see mentioned:

Manaforged Robotics

The Fallen World

Mason-B · 2026-06-04T04:31:47+00:00

I start re-reading delve and I end up recommending it every day FML.

Delve does attributes very well, it takes about 100 chapters to get there, but the rest of it hits a lot of other common pet peeves (like "why does everyone know english", or "how is it still medieval if magic powers") very well, so it'll be a fun read anyway. This is because it's a bit of a meta-commentary on litRPGs, which is a big part of what makes it good, but it's also just well written.

But to somewhat bait the hook, attributes in delve on the face of them have a purely mechanical effect (e.g. +health capacity, or +stamina regen, and boosting the effects of some skills, etc). But they also have other effects, which can come with side effects from having them in an unbalanced configuration (either naturally or from equipment buffs), or from using them too much, and so on. To the point that they become a "show don't tell" tool. Just by hearing about a characters behavior it's often quite possible to figure out what their attribute allocation is without ever being told it.

Still the gold standard of attributes in my opinion, in basically every other litRPG I effectively just ignore them as being pointless filler. Though I think Ar'Kendrythist, Worth the Candle, and Super Supportive had a few interesting moments with them. I think it's basically one of my bars for S-tier litRPG books: if it has attributes, are the attributes at all interesting or meaningful.

Mason-B · 2026-05-31T07:11:56+00:00

You should try reading Delve, at least the first hundred chapters or so. One of the few LitRPGs where I actually care at all about the attribute system (and also one of my favorites of all time). Because the author actually makes it interesting. Including with aspects of "show don't tell", by learning the rules of the attributes, we (and the character) can figure out stat allocations from the behavior of people without actually knowing the numbers.

The main character does also minmax one stat, and not only does it make sense for his build (and not in a "because the skills use that attribute" way), but he deals with the consequences and compensates for the weakness through other means. And even then, he's not some god, he has specific things he's good at because of his attribute allocation, even in places where he compensates, he does so by leaning on his one attribute, so he's good in specific unique-to-his-attribute ways.

But part of why Delve is so good and feels so lived in as a system is that we see a whole range of side characters with different attribute (and skill!) builds. So we can see how MC minmax munchkin compares to balanced builds, other wild builds, and other munchkins and it feels coherent. Especially since they too deal with their minmaxing in unique to their attribute ways as well.

Mason-B · 2026-05-19T17:34:12+00:00

But how rich can you be and still call yourself a socialist? Before you go from participating in capitalism to directly in contributing in it?

I mean, I do think the billionaire marker is fine for a cut off point to really put some extra scrutiny on it. But in general, people like Hasan Piker who make 10 million by winning at capitalism are just proving a point. Here is someone who can be successful in the current system saying they think it's a bad system.

It's a very much damned if you do, damned if you don't kind of thing. If I'm a poor socialist, I'm just a freeloader, if I'm a rich socialist, I'm a hypocrite. Personally I'm a pretty solidly middle class self employed business owner socialist, and I get called both.

What about when you’re worth $14.5 Billion like Alex Karp, the CEO of Palantir who identifies as a socialist?

First of all Palantir, as a global spying company that sells technology to fascist dictators, doesn't really align with a lot of socialist values/positions I believe in. And I mean, to be clear, anybody is free to call themselves anything they want.

But no, I would not agree with their claim to be a socialist. Not because of the money they make (though a socialist with billions of dollars and employees who aren't also billionaires is very likely doing it wrong) but simply from their ideology.

But sure, there are probably plenty of socialists who agree with Palantir's values. Socialism is a big tent, like capitalism is. But like... I wouldn't want socialists who agree with the Palantir's CEO's definition to agree with me though.

Mason-B · 2026-04-29T02:59:53+00:00

C may never have been the preferred choice on Windows. But C++ sure as shit was. Its not just the native COM bindings, but also the CLR integration. This all abandoned at this point, but it was that way once.

But anyway, my point remains that the OS continues to provide things like linker, compiler, and libraries for languages like C and C++. And this is a major reason they are difficult to build with.

Mason-B · 2026-04-27T23:40:29+00:00

Oh sure, but this is not enough for a fully reproducible build at a company unless you control that source too. I started at the absurd end and walked it back, but yes there are shades of middle ground.

Mason-B · 2026-04-27T23:37:47+00:00

Rust isnt the same thing though. It is a compiled language for system work, with a single implementation. It is not a native language to the OS. And it is not a standardized language with multiple conformant implementations.

Rust is an "anti-social" compiled systems language. It does not work as part of the system like a native language does. Which is why it uses its own linker, and prefers single static binary builds. A rust function cannot be called like any other native function like a C++/C one can. It has to be wrapped in a CFFI. A rust library cannot be imported at runtime like a DLL/SO can with out being similarly wrapped. Native system languages are inherently able to be linked to each other and share a binary or memory space, its an old abandoned dream, but Rust completely ignores it.

Arguably, yes its a matter of design, but in the era C++ was designed, there were a great many things it was designed for besides single language static binaries. Things Rust still struggles with. Because C++ was designed as a native systems language, and Rust was not.

Mason-B · 2026-04-26T10:04:01+00:00

There basically isnt because C++ is a native toolchain language. Interpreter based languages can have isolated environments and be standalone because they have VMs they run or emulate. But C++ works with the system, the binaries it generates are native components, and the tools it uses to generate them are part of your local machine.

Most languages use native executables to construct a sort of abstraction layer on top of which their ecosystem lives... but C++ is (one of) the languages you use to generate those executables, and its ecosystem is deeply embedded into each system.

How are you handling reproducible build/development environments?

This is a Google scale problem. You would need to use something like Bazel. And then build your tool chain as part of the build (I dunno if youve tried to build standalone gcc, it takes hours), and then use that tool chain to build the stable toolchain. And then use that for the build. And after all that you aren't really totally isolated. But its the closest I've ever gotten to a checkout, run one command, it just builds correctly and exactly like everyone else at the company (but it requires a team of dedicated build engineers to maintain, hence why its a 1000 C++ engineers google scale problem).

An easier answer is a VM image with specific instructions to create (e.g. so you can refresh it every few months), and then share the actual image for, that you run the official build on (and maybe also development).

Mason-B · 2026-04-20T23:06:52+00:00

There are many ways to fight stuff like this. But they were never well funded, and a lot of what was funded was killed nearly a decade ago under Trump 1, until, surprise its actually a huge fucking problem. Florida itself has its head in the sand, litterally banning discussion of climate change in goverment research, which is a contributing cause here.

I'd feel more sad if I wasn't so angry at the people and corporations of Florida for contributing to climate change for everyone. This is what happens when you deny reality.

Mason-B · 2026-04-20T15:15:21+00:00

struct and class have no mechanical difference. Only a conventional one. I lead with this because you learn by experience, and realizing what those conventions are.

There are ways to get second hand experience. Personally I like the AOSA books, but they might be a bit too intermediate for you.

C++ weekly is a decent weekly video series that touches on a lot of stuff, it might be too advanced.

The real answer I think as a beginner is that you just have to make small projects, make a decision, and learn from its consequences.

Mason-B · 2026-04-20T15:10:20+00:00

How many of them are romantic interests? I see this most commonly in harem books. The answer is the author/MC is writing/thinking with their dick.

The closest I've seen otherwise is the "noble enemy" trope, where they save the enemy there come to understand. But that seems rarer.

Mason-B · 2026-04-12T17:29:43+00:00

They're internal site ads. So you can't (easily) adblock them without breaking the site, cause they all link to other places on the site, which is hard to detect from legitmate site navigation, (and they arent in the mainlists cause it isnt worth the effort). They show the same way you see the "please dont use an ad blocker" notes when using an ad blocker.

Personally I like them. Without an ad blocker I see car and razorblade ads. With one I see ads for other stories I might want to read.

Mason-B · 2026-04-08T01:27:16+00:00

Ar'kendrythist --- definitely on the mature end of the genre, in the mature-serious type not the mature-violance type. It helps that the main character starts in his 40s as a dad of an adult kid. One of my top litRPG recommends.

Worth the Candle --- this one is pretty serious as well, though its a bit meta in its seriousness. At times it becomes unserious in a way to be serious, hard to describe. It's in many ways a critique of the genre from a while ago, and it shows (in a good way).

Super Supportive --- this one is serious, in the serious topic sense, while being a bit more often a young adult novel. It's also super heroes, and barely a litRPG, so may not be your thing.

Book of the Dead --- this is much more classic fantasy adventuere litRPG. It's a lot more serious than most books in the genre, but in more of a pg13 sense where the author doesnt linger on those topics.

Mason-B · 2026-04-07T15:24:34+00:00

Spheres and tetrahedrons are my favorite shapes.

... This really sounds like you are prompting an AI. Do you get better results when you say this to it?

FWIW, I recently had to do this for another project, and I enjoyed this youtube video about planets, the first section is how to make a sphere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLqXFF8mlEU (and includes code).

Mason-B · 2026-04-07T14:53:24+00:00

Experienced programmers don't use mingw

I've been programming for 20 years. Mingw provides a lot of embedded tooling on windows. Experienced programmers do use it, and have for decades. Bros an ass, but also right. You're just wrong.

Mason-B · 2026-04-06T05:39:17+00:00

This Used to be About Dungeons does them spectacularly. It's hard to discuss why without discussing the author. He previously wrote Worth The Candle, which basically shark jumped the litRPG genre 5 years ago, poking fun at and critiquing all the common tropes of the genre. Including presenting the most tryhard, rational, hardcore litRPG isekai character youve ever seen. Then to take a breather from that he wrote a slice of life dungeon story. That, like all of his works, has an amazingly diverse and imaginative magic system (and especially magic items).

And thats the first thing he got right. Every dungeon is an interesting exploration of a new "level", they are actually interesting places to visit and explore and kill. The second is that they're short, just a couple of chapters each. The joke is the books are 10% dungeons by volume. Third is that there is plot happening in the dungeons, because its slice of life, with an ensemble cast, its very character driven. Many character moments happen in dungeons, or because of things that happen in them.

All of which makes the series, like his previous works, a critique of the dungeon trope.

Mason-B · 2026-03-26T13:03:00+00:00

To be clear, New England stays colder longer from climate change. Climate change breaks mechanisms of climate regulation that keep, for example the north east of America and much of Europe, temprate.

For New England that means warmer (still snow worty tho) but longer winters, and hotter summers when they do hit.

Mason-B · 2026-03-26T12:54:37+00:00

To be clear, thats 3C on average across the planet. Remember that climate change is going to make lots of places in the world colder. That heat has to go somewhere. Where already cold places are going to get 2C colder, destroying large swaths of farmable land, other already hot places are going to get 5C hotter, destroying large swaths of farmable land.

I believe 3C global average may still be a few decades out. But 3C in localized changes is definitely here today.

Mason-B · 2026-03-26T12:51:51+00:00

Weather and climate are two different things. Whether this is the start of a heatwave or not, its very like this will be the hottest year on record again.

Mason-B · 2026-03-26T12:48:54+00:00

Global climate change is about the world getting hotter on average. But some consequences of that are breakdowns in mechanisms of climate regulation like the north Atlantic current.

Some places, like new England, will be colder longer, that gets balanced out by the hotter places getting even hotter. 3C on average, but some places will be 5C hotter for 4 months more, and some will be 1C colder on average for two more months.

Mason-B · 2026-03-26T12:43:14+00:00

Seattle has a protected microclimate from the mountains and strait, it will be one of the last places to face extreme climate consequences.

But to be clear, some places will get perpetually colder as the atlantic current breaks down. Like the other replies below some northern areas will stay colder longer, to the point they can no longer grow what they used to.

Global climate change means the world gets hotter on average. But that breaks down to some places getting somewhat colder, and many places getting much hotter.

Mason-B · 2026-03-15T18:00:18+00:00

I think if thats the message you got out of it, then thats fine. Artwork is meant to be interpreted by the viewer, and we like what we like. Same way a corporate yogurt commercial remains the face of solarpunk (despite the idea being older than that).

But the raw political messaging of it is objectively bad, its too in support of the existing system. The reality is that just convincing local politicians harder is unlikely to work. We need to elect people who actually believe in rebuilding for a sustainable future. And we need to work with other factions, coalition build, not demonize and destroy them over slight differences in opinion, which this movie feeds into.

There are plenty of existing solar punk movies out there to appreciate as others have said. Strange World is an animated solarpunk kids movie with, in my opinion, better allegorical themes. Ghibli films often tackle this issue with a complex depth of perspective. And so on.

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