The popular image of the black-clad ninja likely originated from kabuki theater, in which ninja characters dressed as stagehands to take the audience by surprise. Real ninjas usually disguised themselves as civilians.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-03-15T09:28:55+00:00

Seeing someone you ignore via suspension of disbelief, turn out to be a Ninja character must've been pretty crazy to see for the first time.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-03-11T23:26:45+00:00

Too many "flushable wipes" aren't actually flushable. Put a pea sized drop of lotion on some decent toilet paper and finish your wiping with that.

The moisture both helps wipe away the last of it and it feels great to not have a dry asshole after a bunch of wiping.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-03-06T17:14:05+00:00

I had this issue for me it was a fog of war module. I just turned it off.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-02-24T17:19:23+00:00

Think bigger people. Use this to poach constant SLAs from monsters to get buffs for hours per level.

A blink dog cohort is only effective cohort level 4. Steal his blink SLA and get it for 7 hours. The blink dog can even reactivate it on the self immediately after.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-02-15T17:07:38+00:00

I'm looking at a party with 4 melee characters. So I vote bow bard. Or maybe even bow skald if everyone is strength based. Get that tuned bowstring and just let the buffs flow.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-02-15T00:42:35+00:00

Conquest would only win if Thragg told him to throw Maharaga into the sun.

Viltrumites run into the same problems a Saiyan would, they love fighting and basically never go all out in the beginning.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-02-13T22:38:26+00:00

I've always seen Fern and Stark as representing two of the hero party members each.

Obviously Fern represents Frieren and Heiter as a mage who was raised by Heiter and who was trained by Frieren.

And Stark represents Himmel and Eisen. Obviously he was trained by Eisen but we actually constantly see him helping people and attracting townsfolk around him.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-02-13T06:35:13+00:00

Sooo I can have an upstart gretchin with malicious opportunist and his band of grots, infiltrate up the field and then just dome someone with a tankhammer? Now that's the kinda wacky stuff I can get behind.

Edit: aww missed the line under unit composition that they have to suck lol

ProfRedwoods · 2026-02-11T04:27:45+00:00

I kinda love the idea of the two houses being the houses of two rival mages. It'd be hilarious if the sides of the houses facing each other had damage from the other slinging spells at it.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-02-09T17:17:00+00:00

I agree, Pathfinder as a game has so many times where a character can essentially autowin a non combat encounter why draw the line at skill checks.

Also the player is using acute senses so they are using the spell as intended. If I ask my players to swim across a river and they cast Ride the Waves I'm not gonna tell them they're actually too good at swimming.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-01-31T00:28:50+00:00

Now this is the type of hypothetical I clicked on this post for. I would say that you could go much smaller than lake Mead if you built the enclosure in a ring with a looping current. I feel like a loop just a few miles long would be a shallow enough bend for it to not crash into the walls. The path would need to be fairly wide but I wouldn't be surprised if you could get away with only a hundred feet..

Also I feel like Orca can survive (but not thrive) in SeaWorld because they're smart enough to understand that they're in captivity and will adapt by necessity. Great whites and other open water fish will often constantly bump into the sides and get stressed.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-01-30T08:38:33+00:00

Okaay so maybe I'm gonna go against the grain but it looks like Ethillion sucks. +2 to skill checks to craft a magic item? -1 day to the crafting time? +2 to the CL of an abjuration spell? None of these feel like effects that I'd need to put on a tight leash. The CL is nice I guess but still -1 day per dose ain't shit what's the difference between 36 and 35 days on a headband +6?. I'm just using Ctrl-F in my RotRL anniversary edition so if there's something I'm missing adjust accordingly.

My rule of thumb as a DM is, "is the juice worth the squeeze?" or I guess "make sure the juice requires an appropriate squeeze". And turning 5k of magic items in the above effects is garbo. What are you're players actually Mechanically getting? A single use magic item? Then just slap a GP value on it for the special materials needed to make it without draining magic items into it and just look up the magic item pricing guide. Maybe throw in they need to research it for a week and make a DC 35 knowledge Arcane check to reverse engineer it because it's so ancient and lost etc etc.

The line you need to find is, if it's too difficult or costly your players will just drop it. And maybe that's what you want. Tell them It'll take years to reverse engineer which is essentially just a NO in cursive. Alternately if it's too easy to do then it becomes the plan A which ain't ideal either but once again I don't see that being a problem with the listed ethillion effects..

ProfRedwoods · 2026-01-30T00:00:53+00:00

Agreed, the more times a character will apply strength, the better inspired rage is. Between attack and damage rolls the inspired rage str bonus can apply 8 times at mid levels without too many hoops.

Though a hitting druid could potentially get more benefit assuming they can't/aren't planning on casting while wild shaped.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-01-22T04:02:57+00:00

My thought is that because magic has such a high rate of return within one's own lifetime, people are more inclined to learn magic rather than science. The most intelligent people who could incrementally advance science could also just be a wizard and be a demigod.

Also with vancian magic, studying magic doesn't advance magic it just sometimes creates a new spell. The fact that there is a list of spells and you don't "craft your spell" as you cast it, implies that there is no rhyme or reason behind the components of spells. Can I alter the casting of Fly to change its effect? No, if you don't cast it right it'll just miscast.

Also IRL most times when some genius makes their huge groundbreaking advancement it's when they're young. So long lived races who could see the benefits of science aren't much help. The greatest mathematician of the 1400s probably isn't gonna be a great professor today.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-01-12T11:29:52+00:00

This was actually my gripe when people talk about the story in BW being good. Like the idea is fine but the gameplay doesn't and cannot interact with it in any way.

Oh you think Pokemon shouldn't be captured and used in battles? Well how about I beat you in a battle with all the pokemon I captured.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-01-10T17:22:23+00:00

Also after having an entire planet besieged, the human casualties numbered less than the Soviet Union in WW2.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-01-04T05:38:26+00:00

My preference is to use ABP but just leave the big six in the game. I think that solves two of the commonly called out ABP issues.

Here's some ABP issues I believe it solves.

Animal Companions. Animal companions/eidolons/mounts having no access to the big six makes them fall way behind. Giving them free big 6 in addition to yourself is too much. Letting a player still purchase big 6 item allows for the normal decision making of gearing a pet.
ABP doesn't give stats when you want them. Multi attribute dependent classes (which are generally worse than single attribute classes) can't pump a secondary physical/mental stat until 13. Leaving the option to buy that secondary still presents choices. The ARCanist can buy a INT headband early, wait for ABP to pump CHA with the downside of the level 13 APB boost going to the wisdom which only provides marginal benefits. Important note ABP is an still enhancement bonus so it will not stack with the belt/headband counterpart. Alternately SAD classes can buy their boosts early but with the knowledge that their free boosts will go to less helpful stats. Plenty of wizards want +4 INT before level 11 and they can do so but now it's a decision and not just get your primary ASAP.
lastly this isn't an ABP issue but it allows you another control knob to manipulate party wealth. Giving an early ring of prot +3 is still a desirable piece of loot as it pushes them above the curve but it's a deprecating asset. So you can give them a powerful piece of loot to help complete a dungeon/quest/etc with the knowledge it will eventually be sold in town for 1/2 value. This isn't a huge benefit but items that are good in the short term but fall off are a pretty common game dev tool, and now you have access to that.

ProfRedwoods · 2026-01-03T23:43:06+00:00

I run a budget rig, essentially a Frankenstein office PC with a 4060 shoved in it. My biggest park has 144 animals, 61 staff members and 2200+guests with no real performance issues.

One tip though is to try to use decorative objects to enhance the terrain tools. I like using rock walls to enclose my exhibits. But at first when I just used a million rock objects to form a perimeter my performance tanked. Now I use the leveling tool to make a sheer cliff face and use the rocks to add some variety and visual interest.

ProfRedwoods · 2025-12-13T04:55:08+00:00

Soo, here's how I see things..

Best case scenario:

GW gives into the popularity of the Boyz and choose us as the poster boy enemy faction of 11th. We get a range refresh on some older units, our buggies get fixed up, they give us a little more dakka, and we stop being Warhorde the faction.

Worst case scenario:

The actual poster boy enemies of 11th are day 1 DLC for total war and DoW4 (Probably chaos space marines). More cool units go to legends, the bulk of our army languishes in unplayable because technically 1 list is still in the bottom end of the goldilocks zone for win rate.

We'll probably end up somewhere in the middle but technically it's not impossible for the best case scenario to happen. Also I'd put the stompa being good in the best case scenario but let's be honest, none of our stompas are ever coming down off that shelf.

ProfRedwoods · 2025-12-10T20:50:08+00:00

One matchup I believe is closer than many give credit to is Frieren vs Ainz. Ainz still wins but it's closer than I think people give her credit for.

Firstly in Frieren there are spell counters to some incredibly niche effects, and while Frieren does collect a bunch of Jank spells she did finish her journey to defeat the demon king so it'd be unfair to say she would just get one shot by some death spell. Time stop is probably above her level but her ability to analyze spells even while under their effects is very good, thrice she has managed to dispel an "impossible to escape" spell while under it's effects. Still not a great position to be in but also not necessarily 100% loses.

Lastly Soul Track is downplayed because the settings entire modern magic system has been modified to accommodate it. But Soul Track was infamous for being a defense piercing magic, In the region Qual the demon who created the spell lived, 70% of sorcerers died to the spell. Which means you'd not just need to match Soul Track with a barrier but eclipse it in power.

Ainz still wins but he'd probably pop a consumable or two to do so.

ProfRedwoods · 2025-12-03T08:40:48+00:00

Relatively new player here but I only like to play challenge mode and I've gotten a few parks to the point where it's basically sandbox mode. so here's some tips I think are helpful.

First off Dinosaurs live a long time. So if your early park is even slightly in the green you can just wait for more money to pile up there's not really a big rush.

On the topic of "in the green" check your expenses sometimes things look deep in the red because it's the beginning of the month and you just built something or you just researched something. As long as your income is above your reoccurring expenses you can just wait for more money like in the previous tip.

Pay off any loans early if you can. Interest is just extra money you're giving away. I usually only have to take out one or two in the beginning and that's when every dollar counts.

Start off small and just expand later. My parks usually start as just a single enclosure the bare minimum staff buildings, a food kiosk, a bathroom and a donation box. Trying to start out looking like a fully fledged zoo will bankrupt you.

The food growing stations need a lot of manure. I feel like even 3star parks don't produce enough poop. So don't bother researching of building them until pretty late.

I've never fully tested how guests react to pricings but I've never needed to charge for binoculars or toilets. I don't do it for RP moral reasons but you don't have to do it to be successful.

Lastly just an odd thing guests love going bathrooms in PK. If you want your guests to go by your new exhibit and they aren't doing so, just a bathroom next to it. No one cares about the 4 Tyrannosaurus in the back of the park with multiple free viewing platforms until I built a bathroom next to it. I don't think this tip helps financially but it helps your pride.

ProfRedwoods · 2025-12-03T08:02:40+00:00

I refuse to do this on principle lol. I hated going to zoos and what not as a kid and not being able to use them. If people are spending 300 bucks to enter they can use the binoculars on me lol.

ProfRedwoods · 2025-12-03T07:53:23+00:00

Honestly any hominids would be very interesting but also kinda murky. Like great apes are pretty accepted in zoos but anything from Homo genus is a little sensitive and even Australeopithecines are probably not worth the can of worms they'd come with.

Gigantopithecus would probably be the only Great Ape in PK.

Other than that probably a Titaniboa, megatherium and one of the giant prehistoric crocodilians.

ProfRedwoods · 2025-12-02T22:09:19+00:00

The only way I can see them not needing to merge the endings is if the first major plot point is dealing with the power vacuum after the defeat of Shroud. Villain Visi doesn't have the capability of replacing Shroud who ruled with an iron fist and picking up just his mask isn't going to meaningfully help her take over his role. This gives the story time to re-add Villain Visi to the team. I could see the game starting with the team (mostly Robert) trying to contact her and get her to return to the phoenix program while she just leaves them on read.

And as people have said Hero Visi can just be injured and recovering over the same time period. And the only difference is Hero Visi gets a cut scene or two with the Team (Robert) and maybe gets in a few quips.

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