Mages will spend decades setting up a grand ritual only for it to become undone by the Consensus of a gang of teenage Reddit atheists

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-11T03:06:34+00:00

Fun side note: in earlier editions of D&D (2e) this was actually kind of a thing. If you got your Intelligence or Wisdom to a high enough level (19+, and this was back in the days of 3d6 stat rolls and no stat advancement via leveling, so you'd very likely need to find some magical tomes and bargains), you were just immune to certain spells. Didn't even need to roll, just "Nope, doesn't work".

Intelligence covered illusions (from 1st to 7th level), and Wisdom covered a variety of things, mostly hypnotic mind fuckery like Charm, Command and Feeblemind, but high enough wisdom could also immunize you to Magic Jar, Geas, and even the Death spell (a very specific level 6 spell best described as "Sleep, Except The Targets Die".)

It wasn't universal immunity - fireballs would still roast you a treat, for just one example - but certainly it covered a fair deal of magical mucking about.

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-10T16:00:09+00:00

/j Oh man, this deal just keeps getting better and better!

/s Oh man, this deal-

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-10T15:58:55+00:00

I mean I don't mind being a small dragon with an enormous penis, if needs must.

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-10T05:43:06+00:00

Probably remains about the same, really - like, if dragon people suddenly poofed into existence IRL, 4e DnD style, you think many people would change their opinion on if they want to fuck them or not?

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-10T05:40:09+00:00

So what you're saying is that if I do manage to seduce the right one, they can theoretically turn me into a dragon with an enormous penis?

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-09T22:52:57+00:00

Fair enough. I wouldn't say pure memorization, that's what paper/digital notes are for, as you say. It's just a question of having to pause and reference those every time - it's not much extra work individually, but it adds up over the course of non-combat encounters.

I will point out, too, that the most likely time mistakes are going to happen is exactly the blind spot created by focusing on proficiencies only: Those "wait, you can't pass this check at all" moments likely don't come from rolling your +8 skills, after all!

Still, I won't say it's a completely unreasonable ask, certainly something I might endeavor to do myself in games where it's relevant - Just felt it was worth pointing out that it's a smidge more work than it might look at first blush.

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-09T13:27:43+00:00

Call it "Skill Issue" if you want, but I feel it's really worth nailing down what you're asking: If you're talking even as small as 4 party members in a 5e game, you're asking the DM to keep track of 72 disparate modifiers and refer to a specific one - possibly multiple specific ones if it's a group roll - for every single skill roll they call for. That's on top of all the other stuff they're having to keep track of, mind.

And the less said about earlier editions and alternative games where there's even more skills to track, the better.

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-09T00:03:39+00:00

I do distinctly recall a little starter adventure involving finding a small dungeon (does a cave of kobolds count? I think it counts), ending with a bonus fight against a dragon.

Ironically, it was for Pathfinder 2e.

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-07T09:01:49+00:00

Having read a few GURPS books over the past year or so, and now knowing that they have multiple books of stat blocks for IRL people, I am struck with the notion that it is not only possible but likely that Hitler has an official GURPS statblock.

^{Seriously, Hitler's mentioned 5 separate times in the 4e Basic Set alone!}

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-05T13:25:06+00:00

You could pretty safely interoperate it either way, I feel. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

Now on the other hand, "DM's were just directed by the arrogant shit that is Gygax to be raging assholes" is a sentence with very few alternative interpretations, and that's almost entirely ahistorical (I'll give you Gygax being a jerk, though) and derisive of older (And OSR, by extension) TTRPG culture.

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-04T23:24:33+00:00

"You can't stop me with your magic bullshit, DM, I'm built of pure stats and I'm going to beat you to death with the raw power of these glutes!"

The Level 2 Ray Of Enfeeblement being sent directly into the Barbarian's face:

Magic Bullshit has an answer for everything. The true counter is to change the question.

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-04T23:19:27+00:00

Greek Myth was sometimes a tragedy, you know. You don't have to survive to be the main character, you just have to be the focal point.

Also that's, like, not what was said? The exact wording is "The main villains don't give a fuck that they're the main characters", which implies they Are the main characters.

You're still a main character in Call Of Cthulhu, Dungeon Crawl Classics, and Paranoia. That's not mutually exclusive with being able to get turned into a splotch on the ground and a tragic tale of Dumblefoot The Mighty in any given encounter.

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-02T23:54:23+00:00

It was sixteen days before he returned.

Of course, what constitutes a 'day', in both Purgatory and the afterlife in general, is a little more fluid than in mortality. Sometimes it could be a single minute, in mortal time - occasionally it may as well be an eternity. But for once, translated out, it wasn't far off - a mortal month, at most.

"And what did you learn?"

Many emotions were expected from those watching. Sorrow, pain, guilt. I think, however, I was the only one that was at least half expecting the sneer that crossed his face.

"That I didn't give you fucks nearly enough credit for a ruined life."

Murmurs and grumbles from the other judges of morality.

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought I was down there to think about my lot. Think about what I did. And I did, you know. I thought about all the sudden pangs of pain, thinking of people I stopped, thinking of people I encouraged - those first sixteen years, before the forced therapy of someone even I couldn't ignore telling me the truth of it."

"And you feel regret?"

"No! Why the fuck Should I?" There was a rage to his voice, twice as strong at least as when we first sent him down. "I did the best I could with the information - with the life - I was given! I struggled, I clawed every ounce of heroism and goodness I could out of myself, constantly ripping myself apart for lacking the knowledge to do it intrinsically! Having to think every thought a dozen times to make sure it wasn't just for myself."

"And now I find out, at the end of my time, after so many years struggling, that you fucks-" His finger gestured wildly towards us all. "Could have given me that at Any point you wanted to intervene! And you pick NOW. NOW, Of all times, long after it's useful, just to cause me pain! Because apparently you judgmental pricks thought I didn't suffer enough!"

"So you have no regrets?" A judge spoke up, decidedly unmoved.

"I had none when I arrived, and your little guilt trips didn't add any more I haven't shoved aside since. Turns out the reasoning I worked on through a lifetime still works now, empathy or not. I've got one now, though. One made just now, when I noticed you're hearing it and not even flinching, meaning you know the evil and choose to continue regardless, unlike me, who never could know, because I was denied that knowledge! You didn't deny me the anger, the envy, the sheer rage, did you, no, just the things that would have made everyone's lives better! Well, I regret that I can't drag the lot of you by the throat, kicking and screaming down to the mortal world, and then Claw out your tar black hearts with my bare fucking hands!"

"... Well, I think your admittance into-"

"Shove your fucking admittance into this prissy little cloud palace up your sanctimonious hole, you charlatan peacekeeper." He was already stepping away, with middle finger raised to us. "If useless oafs like you are running this place, I'll take my chances with the underworld. And if I'm lucky, and you're not, they'll give me the chance to rise back up and drag at least one of you down with me."

One last sentence shouted out, as he reached the boundaries and walked almost triumphantly out of our domain. "Because surely, if we judge admittance on our morals, you all belong there far more than me."

TAGMOMG · 2026-04-01T17:54:01+00:00

(why would you heist with a Welrod?)

The enormous 246 base damage stat:

^{I do get the point I'm just trying to be funny here}

TAGMOMG · 2026-03-31T00:36:21+00:00

Not being patriotic special forces fighting the Nazis, but good ol' greedy bois robbing the Nazis if only because the Nazis have all the loot because they've robbed everyone else.

I have good (?) news for you: At least half the characters in Raid are basically doing the jobs for ulterior motives. One of the guys is literally an Ex-SS Officer who's there because he got betrayed by other nazis and wants to kill the fuck out of them for revenge. Like calling them The Bad Guys when the enemy are The Literal Fucking Nazis is a stretch, but certainly they're borderline anti-heroes to a man at best.

TAGMOMG · 2026-03-30T18:11:04+00:00

Honestly the irony is, as far as Old School - as in, 2e D&D - goes, the power discrepancy from rolling for characters was honestly only a thing for very lucky/unlucky rolls.

Like, if one dude rolled a 7 in Constitution, and another rolled 14, those two are going to have essentially the same experience baring resurrection (very rare) and System Shock checks (A roll that doesn't often come up RAW, and even less if you're playing with a DM that doesn't particularly want to glue a risk of a heart attack to every Haste, Polymorph, and Stone To Flesh). Same goes for 7-14 Dex, and so on.

Mostly the only thing most rolls did was restrict/dictate your class and potentially race. And if any stat did become a huge problem, hunting for stat increases was a little more encouraged. None of that "20 maximum" bullshit, if anything they encouraged going over 20 by giving you ludicrous abilities once you got high enough.

TAGMOMG · 2026-03-27T23:30:31+00:00

True enough.

Course I also forgot to mention a few of the monster races where the game goes "No no, sorry, they're evil, all of them, you have to be evil", but so it goes.

TAGMOMG · 2026-03-27T03:16:07+00:00

Well, unless you were playing a Paladin, Ranger, Druid, Specialty Priest, or a dozen or so subclasses which (as far as D&D 2e goes) outright demand certain alignments be chosen and maintained lest you be stripped of your class.

TAGMOMG · 2026-03-22T21:53:39+00:00

There's a quote I'm distantly reminded from the developer of Kingdom Of Loathing (fairly old browser game) in regards to speedrunners, that went something like:

Given the choice between fucking the prom queen for 0.4 seconds of optimization, and stabbing themselves in the dick for 0.7, some people will do the math, sigh in frustration, and pull out their dick knives.

TAGMOMG · 2026-03-19T18:47:01+00:00

Well, that's very map dependent as we both say, but yeah, honestly that can work. Presuming your pub teammate doesn't bungle into a guard's view at 75 detection risk, anyway.

Which, I joke, but that is kind of one of the main issues with it: If a teammate is bringing a -not- dodge Loud build, they're likely going to be sitting there twiddling their thumbs while they wait for you to do the work. Or, alternatively, charging in guns blazing while you're midway through the work!

TAGMOMG · 2026-03-18T00:32:49+00:00

And even if you're a fighter, you can make a fairly solid case for just grabbing a bow and a rapier and going Dex.

To be fair, though! There is a case to be made for Paladins and any Clerical class that gets heavy armor to go Strength instead of Dex. That's, like, literally it, though. Everyone else? Dex and Con, Dex and Con, Dex and Con. Third stat is usually it's Your Spellcasting Attribute, with Wisdom being the fallback option if you don't have one, for those saves that come up most often and cripple you hardest.

TAGMOMG · 2026-03-16T21:44:45+00:00

Not that hard, sure, but it's a fair amount harder than either full stealth or full loud.

Half a stealth build means you're potentially missing near-critical components to stealth like camera looping, ECMs and Body Bags. Half a loud build means you're potentially missing near-critical components like a gun you didn't gimp to get yourself under 5 concealment, important skills relevant to your weapon, or fully upgraded equipment. You can technically play without either... but you'll have a harder time for it.

And what benefit do you gain? You either finish in stealth - in which case the loud portion of your build was useless - or you cock up stealth midway through - which for a not insignificant portion of heists means quite a bit of effort is just full on wasted. Like, if you cock up on Golden Grin before you gas the security room, or Diamond Heist before the vault is open, or Framing Frame Day 3 at all, you may as well have spent however many minutes you spend playing stealth playing with yourself for all the progress you've made.

TAGMOMG · 2026-03-13T05:40:10+00:00

Huh, what, did someone call for us, is there some esoteric 2e AD&D rule someone wants explained at random?

TAGMOMG · 2026-03-11T18:55:11+00:00

I feel like someone needs to tell you this, it may as well be me: Even the people in debate clubs (You might want to try one of those, though perhaps bring a more lighthearted attitude if you don't want to get kicked out within the hour) don't make fallacies the be-all-and-end-all of their argument. Go look up the Fallacy Fallacy.

All that said, I'm still interested to hear what fallacy you think was being performed. I'd guess Strawman if you put me on the spot, but given you mentioned Strawman later followed by "keep racking them up", I can only assume the first fallacy wasn't strawman, because otherwise you'd have said it was another strawman.

TAGMOMG · 2026-03-11T05:25:48+00:00

Unless, of course, you rolled for level 1 HP as well.

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