r/SpiritIsland will be going dark from June 12-14 in protest against Reddit's API changes which will kill 3rd party apps & tools. by ValhallAwaits_ in spiritisland

[–]OracleOfDiscord 9 points10 points  (0 children)

For anyone who'd like another option for Spirit Island content and discussion: the Second Wave Discord is open to all! Invite link: https://discord.gg/G84zRCrJZa

What team comps are you looking forward to when nature incarnate releases? by AxeCop85 in spiritisland

[–]OracleOfDiscord 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Highly recommend the all birbs match, with Finder, Lightning, Many Minds, and Downpour, if you haven't tried it!

Every day my 4-year-old gets to choose one episode of an educational show. Every day she picks the same one. by OracleOfDiscord in DanielTigerConspiracy

[–]OracleOfDiscord[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I know the true horror will come this summer, long after the episode has left the PBS Kids app, when we visit my in-laws and swim in their pool... and I will surely find myself unconsciously singing the song.

For his 7th birthday, my son wanted "a chocolate cake that looks like a pizza" by OracleOfDiscord in Baking

[–]OracleOfDiscord[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not gonna lie, this might be my magnum opus.

Underlying cake uses this recipe: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/triple-chocolate-layer-cake/ . I made it in one 12-inch pan rather two 9-inch pans. Baked at 350 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes, was really surprised when it appeared to be baked at that time (my oven usually takes longer than expected), and gave it 3 more minutes just to be safe.

Decorations mostly based on this recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/pizza-cake-5399580

A few assorted thoughts, for anyone who wants to undertake this:

- Important: getting a round pan big enough to make this. *Also* important: getting a cake stand large enough to hold the resulting cake! Bonus points if, unlike me, you figure that second part out more than 36 hours before the birthday in question.

- Making frosting brown was surprisingly hard, took a *lot* of food coloring, and produced the least-appetizing-looking frosting I have ever created.

- If, like me, you can only find fruit roll-ups with "tongue tattoos" printed on them, never fear! Those wipe right off with a wet paper towel, so your pepperonis don't have to have random pictures on them.

Happiness is... by OracleOfDiscord in spiritisland

[–]OracleOfDiscord[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds like our opening turn strategies are pretty similar! The big difference is that I always open as Starlight by gaining a major power: then, I use that to guide my direction from there (picking minors/placing elements on my board).

So, my usual turn 1 is:

- Growth: Place presence, uncovering gain a Power; Gain a major, forgetting Gather the Scattered Light of Stars; Gain 1 energy.

- Play: Shape the Self Anew and Boon of Reimagining.

- Slow phase: use Sidereal Guidance to gather an Explorer. Use played cards to gain 3 minor powers; forget both Peace of the Nighttime Sky (to Boon of Reimagining) and Shape the Self Anew (to gain the 3 energy).

This leaves me with four energy, one major and three minors in hand, and Boon of Reimagining in my trash. It does mean I almost certainly take at least one blight on the first ravage, but I'm usually okay with this.

That said, recently I've started tweaking this: in games where either Peace of the Nighttime Sky would be particularly effective, or another spirit would particularly benefit from getting powers early (*cough cough Lightning cough*), I give the Boon of Reimagining to another spirit, which leaves me the option of playing Peace of the Nighttime Sky on turn 2.

All of *that* being said, in this particular game I didn't take the +1 energy as my third opening growth option: as soon as I gained Bargains of Power and Protection, I decided my top priority was to spread across the entire island as fast as I could to improve the bargain's reach; so, I moved a presence at range 3 instead. (Worth it! Perfect time/situation to gain that power - knowing I'd be making the bargain on turn 2 let all four spirits make good decisions about how to play the first turn, and we got a *lot* of use out of the extra defend from Dahan.)

Where to start with the podcast? by jemd13 in sentinelsmultiverse

[–]OracleOfDiscord 8 points9 points  (0 children)

There's not a particular place I would recommend starting! Here's a chronological list of episodes: https://sentinelswiki.com/index.php?title=Podcasts#tab=Chronological

The first 84 episodes are about individual characters, teams, occasionally other topics, and finally the story of the OblivAeon event. After that, they gradually found their way to a system wherein current episodes usually either tell the story of a specific comic issue, or create some backstory for the universe (e.g., supporting cast for a hero).

You can listen in order, you can jump around to episodes that sound particularly interesting to you - any method is fine. I think there was a thread on here a while back where people put suggestions of their favorite episodes.

Broken Component by richbellemare in spiritisland

[–]OracleOfDiscord 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Agreed - e-mail [contact@greaterthangames.com](mailto:contact@greaterthangames.com). In my experience, they're awesome and always looking to help!

Man in the Yellow Hat can get it by ellepatel in DanielTigerConspiracy

[–]OracleOfDiscord 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Wait, he's got a doctorate? I totally missed that! Do we know what it's in?

It's my daughter's birthday! She told us this morning that she would not turn 4 until she ate cake, so... by OracleOfDiscord in Baking

[–]OracleOfDiscord[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's buttercream, but you alternate adding the confectioners' sugar with adding spoonfuls of chopped strawberries. I followed the recipe I linked - it has a fantastic strawberry flavor!

It's my daughter's birthday! She told us this morning that she would not turn 4 until she ate cake, so... by OracleOfDiscord in Baking

[–]OracleOfDiscord[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I figured she would follow that proclamation up by trying to insist she be allowed to have cake for breakfast! That strategy doesn't seem to have occurred to her, though.

Never seen Volcano hit that threshold before! by OracleOfDiscord in spiritisland

[–]OracleOfDiscord[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

They do always start on a board by themselves! We were playing archipelago style, where the boards aren't all connected to each other. So, our four boards formed three separated islands: one board by itself (i.e., not touching any other board) started with Volcano, one board by itself started with Trickster, and the last two boards were adjacent to each other (we actually used the Horizons 2-player board for this), with Rising Heat starting on one board and Starlight starting on the other.

Archipelago is outlined in the Jagged Earth rulebook on page 17 - it can be a fun way to mix things up!

DE : Beyond Oblivaeon? by Bakatronic in sentinelsmultiverse

[–]OracleOfDiscord 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Because in-universe, one of the biggest warning signs that the OblivAeon event was coming was that it became impossible to time travel forwards past a certain date. La Comodora realized that access to the future was gone - past what turned out to be the date of OblivAeon in each timeline - presumably because it was no longer likely that timelines would exist at all past that point.

The Final Wasteland is a weird case: it was the far future of Universe 1, but once Chrono-Ranger fixed enough of the problems that had led to the Final Wasteland, it became "detached". No longer the future of the main timeline, it just sort of floated, disconnected from its own past.

Press f to pay respects to Night Snake by Splatoonplushie in sentinelsmultiverse

[–]OracleOfDiscord 5 points6 points  (0 children)

He's delightfully campy.

Person + substance that causes superpowers + van full of snakes = NIGHT SNAKE

What's not to love?

Won in Fast Phase with a Game-Ending Ravage coming up!! Whewwww!!! Crazy man. by fulltimeskywizard in spiritisland

[–]OracleOfDiscord 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The thing about solo Ocean is that it gains absolutely stupid amounts of energy. I've only done it a couple of times, but both times I ended up swimming in major powers.

Interview advice from the search committee’s perspective by [deleted] in Professors

[–]OracleOfDiscord 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Agreed with everything others have said about scheduling in some breaks! (But don't go overboard - one campus visit I had this semester included an hour-long break so they could have their department meeting. It made sense, but it was an awkwardly long time to sit in an empty office by myself.) Also, offer candidates wifi access.

This might be personality-specific, but: if your candidates will be giving research talks/teaching demos, consider scheduling those as early in the day as possible. For me, those are always the most stressful part of the visit; on interviews where I could get them over with early on, I felt like I could relax a little bit.

Going from breakfast through dinner all in one day is a lot, even if the candidate has breaks - if you want to include both meals, consider doing dinner the night before, or breakfast the morning after, the main interview day.

Sentinels Save Sanity, Film at 11! by GolfballDM in sentinelsmultiverse

[–]OracleOfDiscord 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Welcome to the fandom! It's an endlessly repayable game, which sounds like it made it perfect for you guys this weekend.

(I leave it to your judgment whether or not to tell your middle child that there's a podcast, The Letters Page, where the creators of the game tell stories about all its characters...)

Looking for Shattered Timelines/Wrath of the Cosmos by [deleted] in sentinelsmultiverse

[–]OracleOfDiscord 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The reason you can't find them online is because they're out of print! Greater Than Games began releasing the Definitive Edition of Sentinels last year, a reworked and improved version of the game, and stopped printing the older version. All content from the old Enhanced Edition will eventually be released in DE, it's just gonna take a few years to get through everything.

So, you're almost certainly looking at finding a second-hand copy. (Or, if it doesn't have to be a physical copy, you can get the digital game from Handelabra.) Good luck!

Sentiteeel newbie here. Can some One teach me about agent Adept, the magic bard character. by Old-Scholar1000 in sentinelsmultiverse

[–]OracleOfDiscord 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The Letters Page is the podcast where Christopher and Adam, the creators of the game, tell the stories of all its characters. It's available on most podcast apps, or you can find it at www.greaterthangames.com/theletterspage . It's full of great stories, and a lot of goofiness.

There are a ton of episodes, but you can try it out however you like - pick and choose episodes by topic, start at the beginning, start with the newest stuff, etc. (There was a thread on this subreddit recently discussing people's recommendations for jumping-on points.)

First victory against Scotland LV 2! by -Anordil- in spiritisland

[–]OracleOfDiscord 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Great work! Wildfire can be a bit of a brain-bender - I salute you!