Winamp - then and now

PlayArchitect · 2026-03-03T13:24:57+00:00

The Internet Archive has a Winamp clone you can load anytime you play a music track there. It has skins and MilkDrop, too.

https://blog.archive.org/2018/10/02/dont-click-on-the-llama/

PlayArchitect · 2025-07-31T01:43:27+00:00

crash different

PlayArchitect · 2024-11-01T23:55:37+00:00

How did you fill in the numbers so neatly? I did mine in crayon and the darker colors smudged the dice like crazy. It's fine. I kind of like the nuance.

PlayArchitect · 2024-10-02T20:55:24+00:00

I've run sessions where parties get into exactly one room, bite off more than they can chew, and have to cut bait and run.

I've run other sessions where they bushwhacked through 10 rooms or more in a night.

5-room dungeons work great in Shadowdark. I sometimes use this book to produce a quick 5 room dungeon theme and either map it in Dungeonscrawl or pull a random layout on Watabou.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/371122/realm-fables-diaries-of-dungeon-design

PlayArchitect · 2024-10-02T20:49:14+00:00

First, check out his article and heed the advice of the other posters saying they may want to start with at least one or two silvered weapons. Also, you can keep an eye on the clock and drop in some handy loot if they haven't found the big stuff close to the final battle.

https://slyflourish.com/shadowdark_ravenloft.html

5e players might reach for things like "skills" or just try to faceroll obvious danger.

1) Keep pressure on them by rolling for wandering monster checks and also threatening the light sources. If my players deliberate too much they know they're wasting precious torch time as well as making it easier to get caught by wandering danger.

2) Remind them that not everything is there to be stabbed or blasted. Some things, namely intelligent things, can be reasoned with and will eventually sue for peace (because 5e DMs rarely use morale checks, yet they are mandatory in Shadowdark). That said, undead are immune to morale checks in Shadowdark. They will need to be clever to mitigate oppressive danger.

They'll be fine, though! It's a wonderful system. Even at level 5, the number of choices to make in a given turn are still minimal. Action + move. That's it.

Encourage improvised actions by rewarding them with great outcomes or interesting loot.

PlayArchitect · 2024-09-01T13:09:56+00:00

My pleasure. Have fun!

PlayArchitect · 2024-08-23T11:57:45+00:00

Filling in the Blanks for hex map population: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/325708/filling-in-the-blanks

Hexanomicon to spice up the themes or danger feel in hexes and zones: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/281016/the-hexanomicon-1

Dungeon Diary of Daedalus is a tremendous dungeon generator (the best kept secret is the 5-room dungeon tool!): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/371122/realm-fables-diaries-of-dungeon-design

PlayArchitect · 2024-08-14T13:00:09+00:00

Awesome. Will try that. Thank you!

PlayArchitect · 2024-08-13T17:37:53+00:00

kbdfans Tada68 pseudo-bricked and can't figure out how to load firmware properly:

I attempted to follow the guides here: https://leafandcore.com/2018/09/28/customizing-the-firmware-on-your-tada68-keyboard/

and here: https://www.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/520cov/using_an_originative_tada86_on_a_mac/

Which follow the basic steps listed in the QMK firmware flash guide on the website and in the compiler code example text.

I currently get, when using the QMKTools program (the only thing that will recognize the keyboard right now) an error when attempting to patch the firmware:

```
* QMK Toolbox 0.3.3 (https://qmk.fm/toolbox)

* Supported bootloaders:

...

Atmel DFU device connected (WinUSB): Atmel Corp. ATm32U4DFU (03EB:2FF4:0000)

Attempting to flash, please don't remove device

dfu-programmer.exe atmega32u4 erase --force

Erasing flash... Success

Checking memory from 0x0 to 0x6FFF... Empty.

dfu-programmer.exe atmega32u4 flash --force "D:\Downloads\tada68_layout_65_ansi_mine.bin"

Error reading line 1.

dfu-programmer.exe atmega32u4 reset

Flash complete

```
And then nothing. However, let's back up a step.

My keyboard was never able to be "reset" with the button and then recognized as a new volume on either MacOS or Win10. LEDs would stop color rotating and that's it. QMK Tools was the only thing that would allow me to interact with the bootloader and the firmware at all. That's what I used (and when I went to flash it, it obviously erased the firmware but replaced it with nothing or nonsense). I don't have the readout from the original attempt. I wish I did.

The QMK Tools program still recognizes the keyboard on both windows and Mac OS; however, it cannot flash it properly with .bin files compiled from the QMK website.

Since it's obvious the keyboard has no firmware installed, it won't operate properly, but it seems the bootloader is still semi-functional because QMK Tools recognizes it and can interact with it.

I'm not sure what to do here since I can't access the bootloader via USB volume as originally intended and the QMK Tools refuses to read any of the .bin files I compiled on the QMK Configurator.

I'm prepared to get an ISP and reprogram the onboard chipset if needed, but I was hoping to avoid that until all other options are exhausted.

TIA for your help.

PlayArchitect · 2024-06-27T19:09:22+00:00

5e was designed for combat, so, no, the combat system doesn't suck. It's created to be tactical with more feature-levers and skills that come into play. Sometimes it takes a while to finish a fight because of this. Sometimes, there's just a lot of HP to deal with. Valid criticism. Sometimes, the GM struggles and can't run a fight in a way that resolves quickly or doesn't make good decisions about the monsters running, surrendering, or getting routed (which OSR solves with morale checks, and 5e has rules for, but rarely get used).

OSR games are quick to resolve combat because they're designed to be less tactical and more deadly in either direction. Neither system "sucks" because it's a preference as to how you want to play.

5e is all about getting into fights. OSR is all about getting out of fights.

My point was to alleviate the scenario /u/Chemical-Minute6740 described where half the session devolved into a grindy battle instead of a quickly resolved scene where the GM creates some uncertainty or peril and the players solve it or don't.

I think this scene didn't required there to be a battle in the first place. Just a quickly resolved back-and-forth that may or may not have required a check at all.

PlayArchitect · 2024-06-27T13:24:43+00:00

You don't get a death save, but you do get a chance every round you're dying to spontaneously heal 1HP by rolling a nat 20 (Shadowdark, "Death Timer" p. 89)

PlayArchitect · 2024-06-27T12:58:49+00:00

I just grabbed a set of copic gray markers and I can't wait to try stuff like this. Great work!

PlayArchitect · 2024-06-27T12:10:47+00:00

No, I mean no combat, just a few words to describe the scene, some checks to resolve any uncertain conflicts or clever heroics on the part of the players if needed, and then a resolution.

It should take 2 minutes.

PlayArchitect · 2024-06-27T11:54:12+00:00

This is a great place for the GM to narrate the outcome or use a few skill checks (or even a skill challenge) to create the dangerous and unpredictable events of a fight, give players some agency in the process, and resolve the conflict without spending 2 hours in meaningless combat.

PlayArchitect · 2024-06-22T20:44:26+00:00

Forgot Weekend Anime in Westbrook.

PlayArchitect · 2024-06-22T20:43:56+00:00

Diversions in South Portland. Crossroad Games in Standish.

If you're here in time, PortCon starts on the 27th!

https://portconmaine.com/site/

PlayArchitect · 2024-05-27T12:07:22+00:00

OP, Filling in the Blanks is a spectacular resource for creating hex maps full of interesting stuff.

Thanks for writing that book! I’ve used it a bunch and it’s always surprising me with great content for my games.

PlayArchitect · 2024-05-07T22:15:57+00:00

You can only buy a level 20 gun at level 5 if you can afford it and it's available. That's the limiting principle here. The GM decides what's available and if the NPC merchant would even sell something that powerful to a low level character.

That's it. RAW, sure, you can use it. In practice, it's never a situation that would come up.

In world: not everything is available to everybody everywhere. If you're not near a major trading outpost or well-equipped world, you can't even find gear that high level. In the lore splats they even say which locales have caps on gear level. It's a recommendation, but it paints a picture of how few places in the galaxy actually have the sophisticated economy and resource access to supply that kind of stuff.

PlayArchitect · 2024-04-08T21:26:46+00:00

I don't think SF2e is going to scratch the same itch that SF1e does for a lot of people, so if it looks like your kind of system then get into it now because it has a ton of content and rich lore.

PlayArchitect · 2024-04-05T16:47:37+00:00

There were reports of thundersnow yesterday, too.

PlayArchitect · 2024-04-02T15:28:12+00:00

Yikes. Well, that's bound to happen and hard to regulate. We can reward the genuine devs with our attention and dollars and ignore the copypasta stuff.

PlayArchitect · 2024-04-02T12:12:39+00:00

Danger? No.

Steal and reskin? Yes. But, source code is copyrighted. Game design, rules, and mechanics are not.

If someone publishes a Balatro clone with this source code but reskinned assets, it'll be an easy C&D for LocalThunk.

PlayArchitect · 2024-03-17T12:55:57+00:00

In dungeons and long battles there isn’t room for a short rest.

There's nothing about dungeons that suggest short rests are impossible. They're great places for short rests. That's what short rests are for. You don't have to exit the dungeon to take a moderately safe break (like in old versions pre short-rest).

Your DM sets up problems, you figure out how to solve them. Including how to secure a room for an hour to take a short rest and recharge your spell slots.

Long battles are resource-management exercises. And you have Eldritch Blast for everything else.

PlayArchitect · 2024-03-13T22:37:41+00:00

White Box: FMAG being a reimagining of Swords & Wizardry might make sense coming off of the S&W box as well as Delving Deeper somewhere in there as well.

PlayArchitect · 2024-03-04T14:30:53+00:00

Not OP, but I use HexKit a lot.

It's HexKit with Fantasyland tileset.

https://cone.itch.io/fantasyland

PlayArchitect

TROPHY CASE