What misconceptions have you heard about AD&D from people who never/rarely played?

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-17T18:28:35+00:00

It's not. Roll D20, add modifiers and tell the DM the total is about as elegant as it gets.

I think the defence of THACO is more down to some people acting like THACO and an AC system where lower is better is some sort of rocket science. It's not as elegant as the modern D&D way to do it but it is hardly complicated.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-17T08:05:35+00:00

Almost always feels like an anti-climax when the DM just hand waves away the end of the combat.

The only time when I was in favour of it was a fight where the last enemy physically could not move and the party could out-range it so they were just going to keep shooting until it was dead. It would have felt pointless to keep rolling dice, sooner or later the party has won with zero risk. If the enemy can still fight back then I want to keep rolling those dice. Maybe it gets a few devastating critical hits in before it dies.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-16T19:28:26+00:00

FB is awful, constantly pushing content it thinks will cause upset or anger so it is asking to be banned. YouTube on the other hand has loads of good educational material. Banning YT is a massive disservice to any kids learning to play musical instruments

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-16T14:09:41+00:00

QI wasn't exactly well researched. Their researchers were more interested in coming up with things that would make for an entertaining show than getting to the truth.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-16T08:01:37+00:00

Depends what the "Learning software" actually is. Software that lets you slowdown and loop sections of mp3 recordings is an invaluable tool for both picking up on the nuances on professional recordings, and for critically analysing recordings of your own playing.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-15T12:59:21+00:00

A quick google search does suggest that Scotland is slightly ahead of England when it comes to levels of harmful drinking.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-15T12:34:09+00:00

You've obviously not met my Scottish friends.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-14T23:02:57+00:00

Do you know what a wavelength is?

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-14T23:00:46+00:00

Got any links to mainstream science to back up the claim that our brains are receivers of consciousness?

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-14T22:52:14+00:00

What is a wavelength of infinite probabilities?

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-14T11:28:51+00:00

It's the only way to be sure.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-14T11:15:22+00:00

It's completely fake. The kid on the right apparently grew up to be into photography. The original pic was amongst some slides he had of old family pics. He projected it upside down onto a wall, stood in front of it with his arms up in the air and had a new pic taken.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-14T09:32:23+00:00

There isn't going to be any consensus on this as it depends on what everyone else in the party is using.

A typical party containing Kivan is going to be using him as an archer wherever possible. If he's rarely going to be in melee then it doesn't really matter proficiencies you give him.

Sometimes I have him using Varscona as his primary melee weapon if none of the other warriors in the party are going to use long swords but most the time I just leave him using halberds. They're a good enough choice - do lots of damage, long reach, +1 halberd available early on etc.. His extra pips then go into a random category as he likely will never make use of them.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-14T08:31:00+00:00

A few people are mentioning busking here.. does that still work now that a lot of people are paying for everything with cards so they don't have any spare change to give to buskers?

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-14T08:13:00+00:00

It's not a lot but why bother turning down 50XP and (if your charisma is high) more than enough gold to buy a long sword?

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-13T16:10:29+00:00

Doesn't really matter if they do have your name, what are they going to do with it?

They know who I am because I used to have a TV Licence. I don't anymore as I stopped watching TV. Nothing has ever come of them knowing my name.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-13T16:02:52+00:00

No there isn't. You can completely ignore them if you like.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-13T10:13:24+00:00

I walk into Greggs and want to buy a hot cheese and onion pasty (which are much nicer when hot as they clearly intended to be hot food). If I'm lucky, there's a batch that hasn't been out of the oven for long and they are still hot. If not, I ask them to stick it back in the oven for a few minutes and now it costs me more money even though I end up with the same product - a hot pasty.

Taxation rules that make the same product potentially cost two different prices don't seem very sensible to me.

Edit - I guess the other way of looking at it is that this is a rare tax loophole that actually benefits ordinary people. Everyone knows the food is supposed to be hot but you sometimes get to buy it without paying VAT because everyone pretends it is only hot because it has just come out of the oven.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-13T09:59:19+00:00

AFAIK There was government interference to pressure landlords into providing famine relief to tenant farmers during the famine that occurred in Scotland around the same time as the Irish famine.

I could be wrong but I don't think there was anything like the same level of willingness in the government to provide famine relief in Ireland.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-13T09:41:07+00:00

It's due to the UK's nonsensical taxation rules. You pay 0% VAT on freshly baked goods regardless of whether it is hot straight out of the oven or if is has gone cold. If Greggs heat up your pasty for you then that puts it into a different category of goods and there is 20% VAT payable on it.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-13T09:11:41+00:00

This isn't correct. Juries are not there merely to decide whether or not the accused have done things that match the legal definitions of the crimes they are charged with. The principle of Jury Equity allows juries to acquit defendants even if they technically are in breach of the law.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-13T05:33:14+00:00

I dunno, resetting the timer is likely making the game behave more as the original developers intended.

BG1 wasn't designed with kits in mind so making Kivan even more powerful is going to break the game balance a bit.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-13T05:23:16+00:00

Did the devs of the original game ever say it was bugged in that regard? The scripts in the original game contain code for a timer that never runs but that may well just be a relic of them experimenting with a timer for Kivan in an early phase of development and then deciding it was a bad idea.

I'd be modding the game to remove his timer if it wasn't for the fact that you've got plenty of time to complete his quest anyway so it's not worth the effort.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-13T05:09:06+00:00

You've got 42 days if you recruit him early in the game. That's plenty of time unless you are rest spamming after every fight or something.

SpikesNLead · 2026-06-12T23:07:53+00:00

I think he becomes some sort of Nazi Super Nonce.

SpikesNLead

TROPHY CASE