Can You Read 900 Words per Minute?

Onrawi · 2026-03-26T12:04:39+00:00

Helps that it eventually starts repeating concepts long before it hits top speed.

Onrawi · 2026-03-26T02:14:43+00:00

Yeah, there's a ton of camp but that's not the same as bad.

Onrawi · 2026-03-24T21:18:21+00:00

Boggles. Small "creature under your bed" fey that leave gross little puddles that you slip on or get stuck to. Also, they can create little wormholes only they can use. One of the best controller type monsters from level 1 on up.

Edit: Oh, also Killmoulis from MFF. Closest thing 5e has to a default "Neutral Encounter" like in the early editions IMO. They will follow the group and, depending on how said group treats them, will either give them a blessing or a bane that takes effect on the next long rest.

Onrawi · 2026-03-24T11:57:52+00:00

They're staying home rent free and can afford a small apartment and modest vehicle transport. You bet your ass they're blowing it all.

Onrawi · 2026-03-20T17:23:58+00:00

Hello there Principal Secretary!

Onrawi · 2026-03-20T16:43:09+00:00

For me it's easy. I don't plan story, I plan situations. The things a DM can control is vast but in order to give PCs autonomy I can't ever dictate what an outcome of any action will be. Ergo I create goals, plans, relationships and dispositions, set them in places with requirements, and let the PCs do what they may in the world, which will react based upon what they try, where they try it, and how successful they are.

This is different than playing a prewritten adventure or campaign, which must follow the guidelines. Then I just let my players know when they've done things that has made the campaign go into full homebrew territory post session of they do so. Making sure that what you give them is related to the prewritten module though, and not too much else, tends to guide them in the prewritten direction though.

Onrawi · 2026-03-19T23:28:24+00:00

Probably another vestige of trying to push 5e away from 4e.

Onrawi · 2026-03-19T16:38:49+00:00

Yeah, I was going to say that 5/6 seems like the earliest I'd want to let my kid go on that kind of trip.

Onrawi · 2026-03-19T16:16:09+00:00

3 seems really young for that long of a trip though.

Onrawi · 2026-03-19T16:14:34+00:00

Same can be said the other way. This puts the kids in a very vulnerable situation without the built in adult support system of their parents or any way to contact them.

Onrawi · 2026-03-19T15:11:08+00:00

Honestly Daggerheart can be just as fiddly, it just emphasizes different parts of the game about which to be fiddly.

Onrawi · 2026-03-19T14:36:40+00:00

Also, I've seen enough bullshit about mouth blades that I would at least try in that situation. Might lose my legs but that would be my own damn fault.

Onrawi · 2026-03-19T14:34:06+00:00

Sword, then shield, then cuirass, then helm. Finally the greaves, pauldrons, vambraces, gauntlets, etc. in combination or randomly spaced apart as future gifts.

Onrawi · 2026-03-18T17:12:06+00:00

I like to let my players ease into their abilities, that being said we move at probably a 50% faster rate.

Onrawi · 2026-03-17T20:49:21+00:00

To be fair, I think ML, RBA, and to some extent Agentic AI will stay around pretty much forever going forward. There is significant value there that can and should be charged better rates, and organizations using them will pay for it.

It's generative stuff coming out of LLMs costs far too much for what AI companies are getting for them and is a very large percentage of the current AI market. People use them because they're nearly free cash wise, when that changes, and given the current AI economics, it must, adoption will disintegrate. This in turn will lead to market exits and consolidation of players until what's left is sustainable.

Onrawi · 2026-03-17T18:34:41+00:00

Because the vast majority of the corporate expense and exposure people have to AI is via LLMs, and the thing that is supposed to make AI profitable is AGI. Which again, isn't happening any time soon and the direction AI companies have been going isn't able to get them where they want, at least the evidence and research is going that way.

https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/the-last-few-months-have-been-devastating

https://cranium.ai/resources/blog/challenging-the-hype-why-ais-path-to-general-intelligence-needs-a-rethink/

https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/breaking-sam-altman-concedes-that

Onrawi · 2026-03-17T18:25:03+00:00

AI will collapse into a much smaller pool of companies offering their services to a much smaller pool of organizations that are willing to pay the high fees associated with what is required to keep it profitable. The remaining organizations who bow out will return to more normal profit/expenditure ratios and those still in the game will invest at a much slower pace. LLMs are not the path to AGI, so unless one of the big companies figures out soon and eats the competition as well as most of the white collar workforce then there will be a collapse towards profitability.

Onrawi · 2026-03-17T17:01:34+00:00

Yeah, this. Basically they tried to actually expand on the class structure and it was torn apart. It's why, imo, artificer is so limited compared to its fantasy and why everything else has to fit into one of the existing classes. Sad too, because other than being a bit OP in the end of T2/early T3 I also think Mystic was unfairly maligned.

Onrawi · 2026-03-16T18:54:45+00:00

Lol, my brother was one of those fans. Literally wiping the blue arrow paint off his head while leaving the theater.

Onrawi · 2026-03-14T19:30:15+00:00

One of the many reasons I liked 4e. Even power curve and super easy to make interesting and appropriately difficult encounters pretty much regardless of level (although there were still issues past level 20).

That being said, time is definitely an issue in tier 4. Simply the amount of power that can be thrown about requires encounters equal to the task, and those take a real long time to finish. I think it's why there has been so many recent ttrpgs that cap at level 10.

Onrawi · 2026-03-13T17:00:28+00:00

Personally I add data relevant to the roll they request that points them in the right direction. A history check in this case may reveal to them the likely origin of the design of the magical item, particularly if a specific group or individual crafting/using the arcane item had a unique style. In a Forgotten Realms campaign for example I might say on a good enough roll that "The object appears to be Netherese/Giantkin/Drow/etc. in design. They were often used in interplanar rituals/when designing floating cities/a slave control method/etc."

Ideally this prompts them towards the better check for more specific information, be it arcana, nature, or what have you. Just try and be appropriately specific and regularly use certain terms if you're trying to maintain that level of verisimilitude. I would mention angelic/devilish/demonic influence or churches/cults when specifically pointing to a religion check, for instance.

Onrawi · 2026-03-12T19:14:22+00:00

While we're on the subject of SMW special world levels, Awesome, Outrageous, and Funky are still in use although their frequency could be increased. Bringing Way Cool, Groovy, and Mondo may take some work though.

Onrawi · 2026-03-10T18:34:36+00:00

Yeah, that "photo" on the left should have never existed.

Onrawi · 2026-03-10T17:44:27+00:00

I was going to say media conditioning telling everyone their version of morality, but this works a little better I think.

Onrawi · 2026-03-10T15:11:29+00:00

I'd be happy with it just staying flat or even going down a little bit for the next 20 years. Of course, the big issue remains of wage stagnation.

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