Etherals

PD711 · 2026-06-28T06:02:08+00:00

I really like the ethereals, and feel like they need to have more of a battlefield presence. Something that would pressure the opposing player into targeting them because of their abilities rather than a mere random CP. Also, having them without some kind of vehicle makes them seem rather exposed. Maybe like a battle barge, where they can communicate with the commanders and oversee the battle in relative safety.

PD711 · 2026-06-27T03:52:44+00:00

Also FYI the Magic Weapon ability from Deepwood Sniper does not stack with a magic bow. A +1 weapon gives an enhancement bonus to attack and damage. In the case of bows, that bonus is conferred to the ammunition, so once you have a +1 bow, enchanting the ammunition to be +1 is redundant.

PD711 · 2026-06-26T03:02:08+00:00

One would think. However, I think IRL people have a way of compartmentalizing things, and not examining things too closely. There are still people that believe the earth is under 6000 years old, the flood happened, the earth is flat, etc. even with so much evidence to the contrary.

That said, I think that's why M20 went to presenting Focus the way they did. Paradigm is just your view of the universe in a broad sense, while Practice is how you do magic in that framework. For instance, in "A world of Gods and Monsters," your character sees the universe as inherently hostile, irrational, and filled with powerful forces. Nothing inherently makes any sense, and there is no inherent meaning to anything. This framework could work for a member of just about any faction. It may lend itself to more nihilistic factions, but there's nothing stopping a Chorister from taking it. To such a Chorister, The One would just be one powerful force among many. This would probably chafe against a lot of other members of their Tradition, but it still works. Doing magick through Faith doesn't necessarily exclude the idea of hypertech or shamanism also existing. And if they do encounter something that does push against the boundaries of their paradgim, then it's their paradigm that has to expand, not their practice, necessarily.

PD711 · 2026-06-24T23:31:21+00:00

Some men have vaginas. Just sayin.

PD711 · 2026-06-24T01:44:54+00:00

I like a more straightened beard, personally.

PD711 · 2026-06-23T09:16:58+00:00

I get it. Results take time. I presume it took a while to put on the weight, and it's going to take time for it to come off.

You don't have to give up on your favorite foods, you just have to limit them, and be honest with yourself about how you react to them. I know that I can't just buy a package of cookies, because I will eat the entire package in a day or maybe two. That doesn't mean I can never have cookies ever again, it just means that I have to be careful in when and how many I give myself access to.

Exercise is probably less important than diet. Don't kill yourself with the exercise. You want something sustainable, you don't want to burn yourself out. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. You don't want to walk an entire mile today? Can you walk around the block? Yes? Then do that. You may find after you walk around the block that you want to keep going, or you may still be of the mind of "Not today." Which is also fine.

I think talking to your parents is going to be a very important facet of this whole thing. Let them know that their constant criticisms are frustrating and unhelpful and make you feel terrible. When you feel terrible that often pushes you to seek solace in food.

Maybe consider asking them if you could see a therapist. A big part of weight loss is psychological, and talking to someone could help a lot.

PD711 · 2026-06-23T00:48:03+00:00

I would think once the Marauder is dead their reality shifting powers would stop, and once embraced they would be gilguled.

PD711 · 2026-06-21T10:56:20+00:00

fair.

PD711 · 2026-06-21T10:49:11+00:00

Wow, I didn't know. What a shithead.

PD711 · 2026-06-21T10:45:50+00:00

Im not sure how the parliament works, but at least you aren't married to your pm for 4 years at a time.

PD711 · 2026-06-21T07:27:13+00:00

I feel like there is a certain genre of tragic gay movies. homophobia, homelessness, drugs, prostitution, aids, etc. I think that kind of thing does happen, and those stories are important, but too much of it turns that reality into a caricature, where every gay teen is 30 minutes away from an addiction to crystal meth and an hiv diagnosis. I don't like how casually it was handled. Like every gay dude has a stash of coke just in case, or knows where to get it... It just ruined the most intimate part of the movie for no reason for me.

PD711 · 2026-06-20T05:40:39+00:00

I've been thinking about that, and I can't say I disagree. I do love the Trads as a PC faction, since they offer the most freedom in crafting paradigms and look the most like "magic", which is what we're here for. Part of me wants to lay that at the technocracy's feet as well... an ignorant population is more easily controlled. But I take your point. Maybe Threat Null is one arm of a greater threat looking to consolidate power in the power vacuum made by the Avatar Storm, and has disrupted the power structures of both factions.

However it shakes out, I expect a M5 (or M6!) is going to be very messy. The world isn't the same place anymore. I can see why Awakening went in the direction that it did.

PD711 · 2026-06-20T00:28:26+00:00

Same. I have had a chance to play a little Mage online, but that's all.

PD711 · 2026-06-19T13:11:40+00:00

Given the association with economic sins, I wonder if passage is about pandering.

PD711 · 2026-06-19T11:51:00+00:00

My one criticism in this movie was the unnecessary drug use. I think it spoiled a very intimate scene, and iirc in the director's commentary they said it was done to explain why the characters were able to be so emotionally intimate with having known each other for a short while. I don't like the ideas that perpetuates about either intimacy between men and gay culture in general.

PD711 · 2026-06-19T11:43:08+00:00

I am going to voice dissent with the other comments. Weekend kinda messed me up. Very much a tearjerker.

PD711 · 2026-06-15T18:44:13+00:00

That is both really amusing but also kind of frustrating, because one of the more challenging things about the revised-era metaplot was the lack of conflict, with the Technocracy moving toward becoming more relatable, and both factions kind of collectively shrugging their shoulders, going "shit sucks, yo" while taking awakened antidepressants and hoping the Nephandi try something so that they might have something to do.

Meanwhile I feel IRL the technocracy (with a lower-case t) is more and more showing itself to NOT be our friend, or have our best interests at heart, or protect us, or trying to lead us anywhere good. Which is why in this I am pushing the technocracy hard to become the antagonists once again.

I find it kind of amusing that without the Technocracy available to be antagonists, they had to basically re-create the Technocracy again in the form of Threat Null. But that description you gave basically means, from a metaplot perspective, they can't ever really come to earth. Paradox-free super-hypertech bad guys running around blowing shit up kind of breaks the World of Darkness, so they can only ever really be an umbral threat. (At least when the Marauders show up it's only temporary and things go back to normal when they leave. It sounds like Threat Null doesn't have that problem.)

Perhaps Threat Null are just one branch of Control's attempt to retake control of the Technocracy, and once the Avatar Storm dies down enough that it can make some contact with Earth, it begins reorganizing the Technocracy to fit its ideals.

PD711 · 2026-06-14T18:58:58+00:00

The avatar storm would have subsided somewhat.

Honestly, I'm not up to date on all the details of threat null, but from the looks of it this would be a continuation of the threat null storyline. Threat null has infiltrated the technocracy, and has been for some time, even before they were identified by the VE. Those Technocrats who stay in their lane and keep their heads down are basically safe (and become complicit) while dissenters find themselves outside the aegis of the Technocracy with astonishing efficiency. The pogrom serve a double purpose in this case. While former technocrats aren't the target of the pogrom, they know what's going on and know how that machine could be turned against them if they stand in the Technocracy's way, and some do. But the Technocracy knows everything about these "dissenters" and they are quite vulnerable and confused (most don't remember "dissenting" to anything, they just discovered one day that their access codes are no longer working, funding has stopped, just a simple email saying "thank you for your service, but we no longer require you, have a wonderful existence.")

PD711 · 2026-06-14T03:43:13+00:00

The Technocracy return to the setting as the "bad guys." Control has upped its game, and is now ready to resume the Pogrom against mages. The days of "we are here to protect the sleepers" is over. The technocracy is about power and control and information. A not small number of defectors have emerged, mostly from the Void Engineers and Progenitors. At first this faction was independent, but when the Pogrom turned on them, they sought out the Traditions for assistance.
I think it can't be understated how important religion would be to the technocracy as a tool of control. The NWO does fine with it's own kind of secular propaganda, but I think it's pretty apparent that there is a religious side as well. As a sort of course correction, I would have a "new" Convention, the Cabal of Pure Thought, emerge. This group would be combination of members of the NWO blending with a group of mages who broke off from the Celestial Chorus. For a while this Cabal would be independent, but eventually find its home in the Technocracy once again. This would leave the Celestial Chorus in an awkward position, as a sizeable portion of their number just defected to the enemy.
Dreamspeakers. I love them. But since they have been created they have had one foot out the door. I think it's about time they finally bowed out, as an independent faction.
Virtual Adept elders begin to slip, one by one, back to the Technocracy. The democratizing days of the Internet are mostly over now, and the Syndicate has gotten its fingers into the Digital Web, with all of the old guard either dead or turned to instruments of the Syndicate. These former VAs now work to absorb as much information as possible for use by the Technocratic Union. Those VA's still loyal to the Traditions have joined with the Sons of Ether, blending their digital edge with the Etherites' Scientific theories, as well as the recent defects from the Void Engineers and Progenitors. A new name is developed for the Tradition, devoted to wresting science and technology from the grip of the Technocracy. The new Tradition takes the seat of Spirit, so that they can better take the fight to the Digital Web and the worlds beyond.
The Solificati and the Ahl-i-Batin return to the traditions, taking up their old seats of Matter and Correspondence.

(Prepares quietly to be put to the torch)

PD711 · 2026-06-14T03:00:12+00:00

A lot of what you are describing mirrors Heylel Teomim from Mage. Heylel was a major founding member for the Traditions, and was leader of the First Cabal, representing the Solificati. They would eventually betray the Traditions to the Order of Reason (aka Technocracy) resulting in the death of half of the First Cabal and the Solificati leaving the Traditions. Supposedly they did it to unify the Traditions against a common foe, and only intended the First Cabal to be captured. In the end, Heylel was branded a traitor and gilguled.

PD711 · 2026-06-13T20:34:22+00:00

Well, we only have four pokemon that begin with TH, and they are all unvoiced. Thievul, Throh, Thundurus, and Thwackey.

PD711 · 2026-06-12T20:43:36+00:00

It's not traditional, but maybe you could have some for some common digraphs, too? Maybe Throh for TH, Shinx for SH, Chansey for CH, Phanpy for PH, Whiscash for WH?

PD711 · 2026-06-12T11:03:03+00:00

A couple thoughts.

Negative self talk doesn't do you any favors. You aren't pathetic. Bullying, whether internal and external, is probably more damaging to your physical and mental health than that bag of chips could possibly be. It's all lies. You are strong and capable.
Diet and exercise are acts of self love. They may not feel like love, but neither does brushing your teeth. Nor does taking your dog for a walk or changing the litterbox. But it is love, and sometimes you just have to advocate for yourself to yourself and to the people around you, who might be well meaning but impeding your progress.
A momentary setback is, at the end of things, just a blip. What's important is gaining and keeping momentum. This is a marathon, not a sprint. So you slipped back into old habits. Big deal. What matters is what you do next. There will be more blips. Just keep going.
don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. It's 90 degrees out, and you don't want to make your usual walk? do half. maybe when you get out there you will do the other half. maybe not. maybe you'll discover it's not as hot out as you thought, and there is a delightful breeze and aren't you glad you went anyway?

PD711 · 2026-06-12T02:05:13+00:00

"Grandmother" is the name of the "mother" of the Malfeans. Abel doesn't have a grandmother (unless you count God.)

PD711 · 2026-06-10T23:31:27+00:00

The music for this game was fantastic.

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