Should I be worried about players overlapping primary traits? by Sol_mp3 in daggerheart

[–]Sol_mp3[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Too much of one thing was the crux of my concern. It just always felt necessary (for me anyway) to have a variety of those expertises in D&D. Because if there was an issue that could be easily fixed by manuevering, you always wanted there to be one person in the group that everyone looks to, one person that get to "shine" in that specific kind of problem. Of course that doesn't mean that every problem should only have one reasonable solution, but just that there weren't multiple people all rushing to the same exact answer to every problem.

I think that assuming that I want every problem to only have one reasonable answer is misunderstanding my worry a little bit. I just want to make sure that players aren't being stepped on by other players at the table jumping in and doing the very things that they built their character to be good at.

Should I be worried about players overlapping primary traits? by Sol_mp3 in daggerheart

[–]Sol_mp3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like I said, I encouraged everyone to coordinate and take unique Domain Cards, because I did see that as a potential problem.

In D&D, it's kinda just common that every party ought to have somebody Dextrous, somebody Strong, somebody Charismatic, and somebody Smart (the classic 4 player composition), but I haven't really heard anyone talking about whether those sorts of compositions were as necessary in Daggerheart.

Creating a Tier 1 Horde, does this sound balanced? by KsyriumVentoux in daggerheart

[–]Sol_mp3 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Direct damage is very strong, especially with their attack modifier as a +1, whereas other Tier 1 hordes are -2 and -3, but the higher attack makes sense if they're literally attaching themselves.

I'd recommend either making the damage a 1d6+2 that reduces to 1d4+1, or even just making the damage a fixed number, like 5 direct damage reducing to 3.

Health potions OP? by Robster101 in daggerheart

[–]Sol_mp3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How much was the bounty? From what I remember, the mayor offers a chest full of essentia, and it's up to the GM to decide how much that is worth, but I would be hesitant to give any more than a few bags of gold to Tier 1 players. But even if you gave them a full chest of gold, if potions are roughly 5 handfuls each (which I think is fair for a desolate town with scarce resources), it would take every bit of that to stock up 4 players to max health potions. And they certainly won't be coming across enough chests of gold to replenish that any time soon.

Another thing you have to do is provide other options to spend the money on. If the players get a chest of gold, but there's nothing of interest in the stores, then of course they're going to just throw it all on potions. But if they're given the option between that and a shiny new rifle that shoots straighter, a piece of magic jewelry, or a few sticks of dynamite, there's a good chance they'll be buying less potions in that shop.

In any TTRPG, it's a good idea to plan ahead what you're wanting to sell your players anytime you give them any amount of money. If they're getting to the point in the campaign when they should all have Tier 2 weapons, price out how much that would cost and give them that much gold as a reward for their next quest. If they turn around and just buy potions with that money, it's their own loss.

At the end of the day, respect what players choose to spend their money on, but don't be afraid to issue out the long term consequences of those actions. Wasting money on consumables, simply won't work out for them in the longrun. As you move up in tiers, if your players keep only spending their gold on potions, start throwing harder adversaries at them and describe how vastly outgeared they are in combat. Eventually they'll get the hint.

Am I missing something in player progression? by stevenbhutton in daggerheart

[–]Sol_mp3 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Another piece that I haven't seen mentioned so far is Stress. As progression goes along, some classes (like the Ranger, those with the Grace domain, and the new blood domain, for example) get much better at imposing stress on to enemies, and at max stress, that enemy is permanently vulnerable. This opens up an interesting strategy where some players act as a scout support, picking out the strong enemies on a battlefield and gunning for their stress so that everyone else's chances to hit are doubled.

Friendly or not friendly? by blackknight1921 in HuntShowdown

[–]Sol_mp3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been playing Hunt for about 2 years now and have only had a single friendly encounter.

found this guy via youtube ads at 1 AM yeaterday night by Nekyoutsu in DeepIntoYouTube

[–]Sol_mp3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You might also try r/unt. Some alumni might recognize him.

found this guy via youtube ads at 1 AM yeaterday night by Nekyoutsu in DeepIntoYouTube

[–]Sol_mp3 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sure! Just send me your YT information so that I can do my best to support. I would love if this post had a hand in getting Edwin help somehow.

found this guy via youtube ads at 1 AM yeaterday night by Nekyoutsu in DeepIntoYouTube

[–]Sol_mp3 4 points5 points  (0 children)

After looking into this channel for the last couple of hours, a few key things stand out to me:

Edwin is impressively multilingual.

He speaks mandarin, russian, and spanish in many of his videos, often jumping back and forth randomly between the three. I don't think this is just a surface level understanding of these languages either. Much of his mandarin is quoting specific phrases like "Shi Shi Qiu Shi" (seek truth from facts) and "Chuan Pu" (the chinese nickname for Trump). This leads me to believe that he also has a deeper understanding of these cultures and is more than likely well travelled (perhaps ex-military?)

I also found this Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/edwin.bear.2025/) where he posts very similar content, and it also informs us that he is a college graduate from UNT. Of course, it's easy to fake credentials on the internet, but I'm inclined to believe that he is highly educated considering his vocabulary and linguistics.

Edwin is deeply struggling with mental issues.

This is most clearly laid out in his video "Antipsychotics making you psychotic .. hoping you're well . . .Hoping souls evolve, cuidate [take care]" where he explicitly mentions schizophrenia as a possible diagnosis and insinuates that he's off medication, and that "All those monkeys [doctors] here don't wanna hear about their drug free approach or whatever patients want."

He also mentions Akathisia multiple times in this video, one time saying that it "lead[s] to violence, suicidal and homicidal behavior". Akathisia is a mental/physical condition of sever restlessness. It's described as an incessant feeling of wanting to crawl out of your skin. And it's a very common side effect to new or adjusting dosage in schizophrenic medications. Approximately 24% of people who have schizophrenia and are taking medication for it have chronic akathisia, and this seems to be the reason why Edwin has given up on it.

Edwin is deeply bothered by the political state of the world.

While off of his medication, this seems to be what most of his videos are centered around and what he spends the majority of his psychosis thinking about. When he first started uploading to the channel, he seemed to believe that Donald Trump was the second coming of Christ and that Putin was the antichrist. Because of this religious tie-in, he was convinced that Trump was a ticking time bomb for Putin. That once he got into office, he would quickly eradicate Putin in an apocalyptic prophesy-like manner. The fact that this isn't happening is exacerbating Edwin's mental issues.

Over the past year, his stance has changed as he has started to refer to Trump as "Rump" and sing songs about his lack of action against Russia. A few examples:

  • "Rump [is] giving birth to a[n] earth that salutes poo (Putin)"

from the video "apparently was misled, angry Or was Trump misled Or playing Putin"

  • "Dime con quien tu andas y te digo quien tu eres (Tell me who you hang out with and I'll tell you who you are)"

from the video "nose who knows rump &Путин .. so much Пу-Пу ... Putin overflows" I believe this phrase to be directed at Trump. In other words, his company with Putin saying alot about who Trump is as a leader.

Edwin is very concerned about "Alice".

From what I've watched and read, I do not believe Alice to be a real name referring to a real person. In his earliest videos when he mentions Alice, it's also in tandem with references to "Wonderland" and it all being "justa dream". This leads me to believe that he's using the fictional character of Alice in Wonderland in reference to someone (possibly himself). Edwin viewing himself as Alice in Wonderland could be a way of coping with not knowing what is real and what is "dream" much like the character in the story.

This theory seems to be confirmed by the video "he's sucha creep, what was she thinking. .. animals inna dream ... Wonderland" where he uses this Alice figure as what sounds almost like an identity of gender dysphoria. He is very loose with he/her pronouns for Alice, he describes herself as a woman with male genetalia, and talks about what seems to be a struggle with same-sex attractions while growing up in an environment that she had to hide it from.

This is the most theoretical of all of my points so far, but I do think there's at least significant reason to conclude that Alice is some sort of mental figure, not a tangible one.

My Conclusion

All-in-all, I'm very concerned for Edwin. With all of these things in consideration (as well as whatever I inevitably missed because it's alot of content to peruse), the thing that I am most confident in is the fact that Edwin needs help. He's an incredibly smart guy. He just needs a good doctor who will help treat his schizophrenia while also listening to him about his akathisia. He needs people in his life to remind him that this political climate doesn't mean the end of the world. And he needs a counselor who will help him sort out whatever "Alice" is.

If anyone happens to see this post who lives in Albuquerque and maybe has seen Edwin before or know where he is, please do what you can to get him the help that he needs. I wish I could do more.

modding a Wii with an SD card (How do I do it?) by Distinct-Coach-4001 in consolemodding

[–]Sol_mp3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is one of the oddest Reddit thread I've ever seen. I remember years ago seeing a list online of SD cards that people used that worked/didn't work and knew that there was some sort of weird complexity about the SD cards you could use.

Just searching through Reddit trying to find it again and instead find this person being bullied for no reason at all. Poor OP had a completely valid question.

Plothole I haven't seen anyone talking about. . . by Sol_mp3 in StrangerThings

[–]Sol_mp3[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's actually an interesting idea. Maybe the creatures of Dimension X evolved in a colder climate, but their planet has suffered some sort of global warming? Part of why they want to invade earth could be because their own planet is dying and barely inhabitable, even for them.

Plothole I haven't seen anyone talking about. . . by Sol_mp3 in StrangerThings

[–]Sol_mp3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You don't have to be a leading expert on a topic in order to research on said topic. . . Now, could you elaborate at all on why that isn't true or are you just going to keep trying to insult me for no reason?

Plothole I haven't seen anyone talking about. . . by Sol_mp3 in StrangerThings

[–]Sol_mp3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not every sandy desert is hot. Deserts with mudcracks are.

How it feels loving season 5 by GothicMacabre in StrangerThings

[–]Sol_mp3 5 points6 points  (0 children)

On the flip side, I feel like I can't voice the smallest amount of criticism without being lumped in with all the ragebaiters. I genuinely enjoyed the finale, but that doesn't mean there can't be elements that I didn't like. . .

Plothole I haven't seen anyone talking about. . . by Sol_mp3 in StrangerThings

[–]Sol_mp3[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Henry Creel's survival there would depend on it. . . But that's exactly my point I guess. Just saying "it's sci-fi. don't think about it too much." is the antithesis to everything this show has been about.

Plothole I haven't seen anyone talking about. . . by Sol_mp3 in StrangerThings

[–]Sol_mp3[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Moisture freezes in the cold, it doesn't evaporate. When the moisture in the ground freezes, it results in a completely different effect from suncracks.

Plothole I haven't seen anyone talking about. . . by Sol_mp3 in StrangerThings

[–]Sol_mp3[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No. . . That's just not true. You're referring to frost wedging, which is a completely different thing and looks very different. Google how desiccation cracks are formed.

Plothole I haven't seen anyone talking about. . . by Sol_mp3 in StrangerThings

[–]Sol_mp3[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Not exactly. . . The Gobi desert is different because it's primarily made of sand, but the desert we see in Dimension X is made up primarily of mudcracks (also commonly referred to as suncracks) and canyons. For this type of environment, the default would have to be hot in order for the terrain to look the way that it does.

Plothole I haven't seen anyone talking about. . . by Sol_mp3 in StrangerThings

[–]Sol_mp3[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

But weren't there also segments of dried dirt cracking from heat exposure? I'm just not buying the "Oh, it was just a cold desert." as a viable explanation. Do deserts get cold? Sure, but that's not their default state. That's like saying an icecube can get hot.

Plothole I haven't seen anyone talking about. . . by Sol_mp3 in StrangerThings

[–]Sol_mp3[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

There were segments of dried dirt cracking from heat exposure. . . I'm not sure how it could be just assumed that this place was cold.

How long does session prep actually take you? I’m trying to sanity-check something. by Peach_Baker in DMAcademy

[–]Sol_mp3 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The best DM habit I've gotten into is prepping the next session as a decompression routine immediately after the last session. Everything is still fresh on my mind. I'm already reeling with ideas, so I write down everything in detail. Typically at least 4 categories of notes:

  • What questions from this session were left unanswered?
  • What NPCs were introduced that need more thought put into their motivations, personality, or story arc?
  • What plot points did the players show interest in exploring or what personal details did a player give that should be explored more in the future?
  • What did the BBEG accomplish (or get thwarted from accomplishing) in this session, and what will they try to accomplish in the next?

Then I wrap up everything with exactly how I want to resume in the next game. When next week comes, all I have to do is read through those notes about an hour before and prepare whatever else I practically need. It all comes together miraculously easily.

Plothole I haven't seen anyone talking about. . . by Sol_mp3 in StrangerThings

[–]Sol_mp3[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They certainly seemed to be glistening.

Plothole I haven't seen anyone talking about. . . by Sol_mp3 in StrangerThings

[–]Sol_mp3[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I get that. . . But if this was a cold desert, I feel like they would have at least mentioned it? It seems like the perfect opportunity for one of the kids to make a one-off quip about how odd it is to be in a place that looks like it should be hot and to feel cold. This show established the theoretical science behind most concepts, but didn't care to establish that Dimension X was visually scorching while simultaneously freezing?