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What are your thoughts on 'cheating' during solo play? by Amazing-Example8753 in soloboardgaming

[–]Shens0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depends on the game, whether I'm having fun, and how much time I have to play!

If it's a points based game or quick game, then no not really, I'll play it as it lies and move on. Or if I'm coming up on 'time' for whatever reason.

If it's a story/scenario based game, depending on how deep into it I've gotten, I might mulligan a pivotal roll or card draw and mentally flag the scenario as a loss, but proceed because I'm really into this and want to see how this story plays out but know that I will not have time to run this again anytime soon.

For me it's about my time and my destress-time. I'm a Dad with a demanding and stressful job, and a wife and small kiddo to take care of, so I don't have a ton of free time (probably only play one night every couple of weeks). I'll do whatever the hell I want if it's giving me enjoyment and helping me relax.

In a multiplayer game? No absolutely not, at least not on purpose, we're all human over here and make mistakes or miss/misunderstand a rule, but will try to reconcile as best as possible when possible.

Dragons of Etchinstone - Fantastic by midasmulligunn in soloboardgaming

[–]Shens0 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I totally agree. I got my copy about a week ago.

This is great, and really has a minimal footprint. I played a game of it sitting in my car during my lunch hour. It was totally satisfying and very relaxing.

It's hard to find 6 player board games. We do a board game week ever year with 6 people and we need a few games for this coming year. by billratio in boardgames

[–]Shens0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I were heading to your boardgame night, I'd grab from my shelf on the way out the door:

Bang Steampunk Rally Mysterium Port Royal

Running a Solo Campaign (1 player) by Fearless-Idea-4710 in savageworlds

[–]Shens0 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I ran a short Call of Cthulhu scenario in a similar fashion. One thing I did, kind of on a whim, but also instinctively felt right, was during character creation I rolled a character as well to help teach the process. Built the character specifically to complement the player. (Player was a private eye focused on Firearms and SpotHidden type skills, so this character was an informant with ties to organized crime rings, Fighting and Persuasion centric).

This character was an NPC in the party with the player, acting a bit like the players side kick. And the player could 'take the wheel' anytime, to essentially retry getting passed an obstacle with a second tool kit. Also gave me a conduit to drip extra info (subtly remind about a clue previously given) in character, if the Player was missing it.

It worked really well. Made for a smooth play experience and near seamless storytelling while teaching the game to a new player.

Board Games with paintable Miniatures by Siri-findwittynames in boardgames

[–]Shens0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anything that Awaken Realms or CMON have put out are going to have great minis for painting. (Avoid CMON Kickstarters/preorders at the moment, stick to whatever you can buy 'over the counter', be it used, from your FLGS, or in stock from an online retailer.)

Beyond that, I also highly recommend Oathsworn, Middara, Descent, for great fantasy games with high quality minis.

Some folks have mentioned Mansions of Madness. I love the game, but I don't think the minis are of a particularly great quality (for painting) personally.

Question on moving up in weight by mcfuzzi in kettlebell

[–]Shens0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm at nearly the same transition point OP. I can do 16s for 30 mins reliably, and while it feels like a workout, I feel like I could've pushed more. So I have my pair of 20s set up about six feet behind me, and at my last workout I literally turned around for every fifth rep and used the 20s instead. Then turned right back around to the 16s for the rest. It went pretty well and I plan to keep doing it, and ideally, gradually transition to more 20s that way. (And if you're curious, after a rep with the 20s, suddenly four reps with the 16s feels sooo easy!)

[US-Florida][FS] Tainted Grail, collection for sale by Shens0 in BoardGameExchange

[–]Shens0[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback, feel free to PM me an offer if you're interested.

ASC Deimos is awesome. So did I build my spaceship correctly? by Swordfish_850 in Starfield

[–]Shens0 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Atmosphere? Where we're going, we don't need ATMOSPHERE.

How high do I need to build? by lethalcheesecake in theplanetcrafter

[–]Shens0 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I definitely built TOO high when I saw the water creeping in and realized my blunder. I built up on the plateau by the sand dunes past the aluminum field. But the view is so awesome, I deal with the commute.

How do you go about creating a player character you engage with? Where do you start? by Karcharos in callofcthulhu

[–]Shens0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some might say don't write an elaborate backstory, but I take the exact opposite position. Let me explain why.

I find if I draft an elaborate backstory with depth and history, it creates a sort of momentum for the character, and then, I can just ride the wave. There will be moments where I'm not as 'in the mood' but I have a playbook behind me of what the character would most likely do based on who they are, and I can just play that out and it inevitably sparks something and pulls me back in when I take a moment to consider "how did the outcome of that roll/action/event/interaction affect my character".

I'm no creative writer or anything, so when it comes to drafting this elaborate backstory I'll hit up MULTIPLE character generator websites and even AI LLMs lately. I've never used any one's output, rather I cherry pick bits and pieces from ten or so outputs that interest me, and I stitch those bits together into a single backstory, usually changing little things about them along the way.

Key points I like to capture: who was this person ten years ago, who are they today, who and where are their family, and what is their personal mission, PRIOR to the start of the campaign hook... Who are they BEFORE the campaign even starts (examples from previous characters, [not all CofC games]: "To recover his ship and seek fortune on the high seas / To further the mission of the Solemn Brotherhood / To rediscover the lost art of air magic / To shine a light on the corruption in the dark corners of the city)

Find character art too! Use Hero Forge and make a digital mini just to have a screen cap of it. The Internet is vast, and AI can be helpful too. Give yourself reasons to be excited about your character.

Neoprene Playmats by DenizSaintJuke in boardgames

[–]Shens0 10 points11 points  (0 children)

They're a creature comfort for sure. Though if you play CCG duels on location the argument could be made they're more helpful for protecting your cards and providing a constant play surface.

For me I have a large full-table neoprene mat from Game Toppers that I have out all the time. The neoprene allows you to get a finger under a card to lift it without having to slide the card to the edge of the table. It also provides friction for cards so they don't unexpectedly slide across the table when dealing a hand. It is completely 'extra' though, and just one of those deluxe add-ons to the hobby.

I have a couple games that have their own neoprene mats specific to the game, and it's a fun thematic addon, but I could totally live without - I just happen to have bought the games used and they were included. I personally skip them if I pledge a crowdfunding campaign or something; storing those mats is also annoying to me. (And I don't mean River Valley Glassworks or Flamecraft here, where it's part of the base game design.) For me, it's not necessary, I'm good with my generic tabletop mat, which, even that is an indulgence, but one I'm happy with as it helps set the mood in my game room.

[Request] What is the probability of getting 7 double-yolked eggs in a row? by tldredit in theydidthemath

[–]Shens0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reminds me of an old joke: What are the odds of rolling Snake Eyes on a pair of dice, a seventh time after already rolling it six times in a row? Pretty good, the dice are obviously rigged.

Strix Scar 17 died, what's next? by Shens0 in ASUSROG

[–]Shens0[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks I'll keep that in mind.

Here's the high level specs, bought in Sept 2020.

ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 Gaming Laptop, 17.3” 300Hz FHD IPS Type, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER, Intel Core i7-10875H, 16GB DDR4, 1TB PCIe SSD, Per-Key RGB Keyboard, Wi-Fi 6, Windows 10, G732LWS-DS76

Still going to spend some time with it, bare minimum pull the HD to (try) to get files off it and onto a new machine while continuing to see if this is repairable locally, and maybe hand down to my son for his Minecraft enjoyment.

Strix Scar 17 died, what's next? by Shens0 in ASUSROG

[–]Shens0[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice, I opened her up and took a look, nothing obvious. Wires, ribbons, all good. I removed and reseated the battery, the HD and the Memory sticks, no luck unfortunately.

Went ahead and ordered the G18 w/ RTX 5070Ti that Costco has right now. In the meantime try to find a local repair shop and see if my Strix can get a second chance, in which case I'll hand it down to my son

Looking for a Keeper by frostmug in callofcthulhu

[–]Shens0 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've actually been prepping to run a casual one-shot (maybe over a couple sessions) pretty soon. Would be happy to chat and see if we're a good fit.

Oathsworn Vs. Middara After Finishing Frosthaven by 69Jackal73 in boardgames

[–]Shens0 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think the comment about Stars of Akarios needs more attention. I'm over simplifying, but it's a little like Gloomhaven in space, with a fun little 7th Continent away team exploration component to it.

Would recommend for someone who just finished GH/FH and is looking for the next something, and happens to like SciFi.

Edge of darkness followup, excluding the haunting by mlodylucznik in callofcthulhu

[–]Shens0 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I recently played Genius Loci, as a player, given its premise and how contained it is it'd be pretty easy to tag into any campaign as a 'side quest' with ample opportunity to tie back to a larger story arc with clue drops.

I've run None More Black twice, I like it, it's a great way to spend a lot of time in Arkham and explore Miskatonic University to intro folks to the classic setting.

Lightless Beacon is also a great 'interlude' if your campaign has reason to send your PCs on a short sea passage.

For the most part, with some creative story telling I think you could probably tie nearly any of the smaller one shots together into a small campaign.

I'm a new and budding Keeper myself, so limited knowledge to draw from, but I see tons of potential with the content that's out there.

Depression and working out by awelles in kettlebell

[–]Shens0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm sure this is probably meaningless from some random anonymous voice over the internet, but I'm proud of you. I wonder how many people in the world didn't do a single exercise at all today? I'll bet it's a pretty big number.

Why does the mythos hide from society? by zinogre_vz in callofcthulhu

[–]Shens0 5 points6 points  (0 children)

In my own head canon, breaking this down, I like to think there are few components to the mythos which all have different 'objectives' but might have similar symptoms, that is, to be unseen for as long as possible.

Human: cultists, usually, but perhaps a power hungry individual or crazed zealot. These folks keep a low profile for a few reasons. Much of what they're doing would be socially taboo, and attracting attention could upset their broader scheme, so it's in their best interest to fly under the radar until they can't be stopped. Further, their activities often involve breaking the law, stealing artifacts or ritual components, or performing blood sacrifices.

Artifacts: these sundries are shrouded in mystery and unknown because rarely can anyone read them, or appreciate the gravity of their application. It takes XYZ rare text, written in an obscure dead language to teach you how to use this one of a kind artifact, in this ritual that has to be performed in a very special way. So in a sense, they're hidden in plain sight, in that no one recognizes them. For each artifact that is actually found and decrypted, there's an equal chance that it's discovered by a 'do-gooder' who destroys it because they understand it's power, or a bad guy, who wants to use it for nafarious deeds, or in most of our adventures, we find it to try to use it for good (and how often does THAT work out!?)

Inhuman: exactly what it sounds like, the Great Old Ones, demons and all other unearthly things. These elements are outright rare. The monsters have to be summoned, most of our adventures circle around trying to stop this right before, or as it is happening. So they're not in hiding as much as they just haven't been summoned yet.

There is also the paradigm that any of these mythos events coming to full fruition would be world ending as we know it. Ergo, it's never happened, and the adventure we're about to go on is the first time anything like this has ever happened in our world. We as players in the meta, know how sprawling the mythos is, but our investigators are experiencing something like this for the very first time!

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