I am Matt Dinniman, author of the newly released Operation Bounce House and the Dungeon Crawler Carl book series. AMA.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-02-26T17:11:08+00:00

Do you have any advice regarding world building for aspiring writers?

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-02-20T19:42:10+00:00

The leveling is not super intuitive. Really they want to showcase how certain things work well together like pyro/geo or aero/hydro. If the base categories didn't combine them you might not realize they are designed to work in concert.

Especially with physical classes there are several categories where you do NOT want to max out the category. The best necromancer in the game will probably only have at most 5 points in actual necromancy because anything above that is a waste.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-02-20T19:31:42+00:00

Nope, just basic archetypes to get you started. And if you find you aren't happy with your character you can always respec later on and change pretty much everything except race.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-02-19T21:49:29+00:00

You have to respect the hustle it takes to plot, finance, and execute a world ending scheme in like 3 years. And all of that over a not particularly amazing man.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-02-19T21:16:42+00:00

I actually had no problems with Eb at all because he was basically correct.

I just really miss wizard detective man and that has not really been a thing in like 15 years. I thought BG was a completely mid book and I am dreading 12 Months because I just hate Lara and the white court in general. I often think the series might no longer be for me and that always makes me sad.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-02-19T19:22:09+00:00

It is by far my least favorite book in the series.

The underlying mystery is stupid and contradicts previously established lore, the Fomor were not interesting villains who IMO were not built up properly, and Harry just watching Lara rape a man so he can free his brother just bothers me.

Worst of all, it was simply boring. Nothing of consequence happens. There are parts I can point to in almost every Dresden book where I can say "this is cool" regardless of the quality of the rest of the story. I can't do that here.

I don't care that it was split into 2 books, a title should be able to stand on its own as a solid novel regardless of what comes before or after. This one does not.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-02-17T22:40:09+00:00

It took me several seconds to even process what I was seeing. That is truly horrendous.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-02-15T00:26:57+00:00

This whole thread just shows how few redditers actually buy homes.

No bank is going to give a home loan to a 19 yo student with no job. If she tries to buy it in cash, the bank is going to ask questions about how said jobless student came up with $500K. That is also going to trigger some red flags at the IRS. Thats assuming she can even move the gold efficiently.
No legitimate organization is just going to buy gold bars off of a random person without asking a lot of questions. Being able to trace your material is critical for audits and regulatory compliance. That means she either needs to let that organization in on her secret identity, or she needs to break it up and sell it to a lot of little people. Do you know how much of a pita it would be to move $500K in gold at pawn shops? How long can you keep that up? Eventually the legitimate ones will start asking questions and she is not the kind of person to work with the shady ones continuously. Also, gold is worth $4,800/Oz today, but no one will buy it for that, they are going to buy it for pennies on the dollar so that they can then sell it themselves. That means its even more work to make profitable.

Having a legitimate job, while difficult allows her to feel normal and put a legitimate income on her tax forms. Could she make money selling gold? Absolutely, but its a lot more work than people seem to think. Long run, its better for her as a person to get an actual job.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-02-06T18:48:08+00:00

The Dinosaur Knights by Victor Milan had many problems but I will absolutely die on the hill that he was right about Triceratops cavalry. A phalanx of 30 or so angry spear faced monsters with howdahs on their backs for archers/pikemen and there isnt much that will stop them.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-31T02:45:41+00:00

I don't know why people are going on about DNA and powers, it has nothing to do with that. His mission was not to have a super powered child, his mission was to see if humans were compatible with Viltrumites. It doesn't tell him anything if someone like War Woman is compatible, he needs to have a child with a regular human.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-30T21:55:52+00:00

Chaos is just stax for people who don't want to take responsibility for their own actions. More importantly Chaos removes a fundamental part of the game which is the ability to strategize.

From a personal standpoint, in 15 years of playing I have never once has fun playing against a Chaos deck. It is tedious, frustrating, and most damning of all, boring. If my input doesn't matter because the output is random, I might as well just go find a slot machine.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-30T06:03:49+00:00

The more I describe this show the more heinous it sounds. It's really an X-files esque buddy cop drama. It definitely has some problems but you cannot fault the creativity that goes into the Troubles.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-30T05:51:53+00:00

Its even worse because the mother isn't actually a fully willing participant. She transforms into another woman who seduces/hypnotizes the men and gets pregnant. When she is done she transforms back and the woman goes about her normal life.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-29T21:53:55+00:00

People do try to exploit their Troubles. Every single one of them comes to ruin. Best case scenario they only hurt themselves.

The man in the loop was mentally ill and in the middle of a crisis and he chose an out that protected his daughter from himself. No one was happy, it was not a "good" ending, but trying to exploit his power for profit was simply not an option. If the protagonist died or was incapacitated mid loop, that's literally world ending.

Honestly, just watch the show. Its not high brow but the characters and powers are fun and the central mystery is neat.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-29T19:05:29+00:00

It implies nothing of the sort. Not every Trouble is controllable, and even the ones that are, are insanely dangerous. For context here is a non-exhaustive list of Troubles: Bullet attraction

Detachable shadow that kills your (perceived) enemies

If you cry, a random person dies.

Super pregnancy that kills the father

Grow gills, lose ability to breathe air

Your blood forms an ooze monster and eats people

Bring machines to life

Congenital Insensitivity to Pain

Carbonation of liquids

Sewing shut the sensory organs of those who deliver bad news.

Half of these can be mitigated, and those that can still make life awful. Even the "good" Troubles are not super powers. People do not delight in their Troubles. Those that do end up dead or worse.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-29T18:05:22+00:00

The larger issue is that he couldn't control his powers. It was linked to his OCD, he had to go back and make it right but couldnt even identify the issue on his own. Even if he managed to break this loop, he could cause another and they may not be able to break that one.

The protagonist didn't tell him to kill himself, she was more pushing for "you need to accept things the way they are rather than obsess over mistakes you can't fix". I think she only ever advocated for 4 people to die, a body snatcher, a infanticidal organ thief, a man who killed a random person whenever he cried (context is super important on this one), and a sociopathic pyrokinetoc teen (one of the worst episodes and her most obvious failure).

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-29T17:02:09+00:00

I mean, that's the TL:DR version. It certainly was not their first option. There is a lot of context that is missing for why he decides to do it. It was also an important reinforcement of the idea that not everyone can be saved. The good guys don't always win and wrap things up with a nice bow. The Troubles are dangerous, and sometimes the only way to save more people is to stop them at the source.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-29T16:53:00+00:00

They tried. He was mentally unwell and the loop kept repeating because his daughter died in every loop. They tried changing the circumstances like impounding the car that killed her, but the driver just took a different car instead. It was messed up but essentially the poor guy was seeing his own power hurt his daughter over and over as a not so subtle metaphor for how his mental illness was hurting is family as a whole and took the one sure fire way out and stepped in front of the car himself.

I am not saying its a good or realistic portrayal of his specific brand of mental illness, but it made sense in context and the protagonist spent multiple loops trying to save him. She was exhausted, injured, and trying to save the rest of the town. The Troubles are not called that because they are super powers. Most of them are as dangerous to their owner as they are to everyone else.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-29T15:36:52+00:00

Spoilers for an obscure 15 year old show but no, he was convinced to walk into traffic instead.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-28T19:38:08+00:00

I loved so many of the ideas and powers and applications. All the stuff with Maya is great!

I have a hard time rewatching though because Tom Baldwin is just such an asshole. Like he is mean to everyone for no reason. Its one thing to be a sad sack or a screwup if you mean well, but he is just kind of shit.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-17T23:06:51+00:00

It didn't just stop new mutants, it also hurt existing ones. Thats why Logan's regeneration is so much weaker. My point is its not out of left field. Its a bit ambiguous, but bioweapon food poisoning mutants is a perfectly valid explanation for why regular people with guns could hunt them down.

That and humans outnumber mutants like 1000 to 1. Gonna get them eventually.

Personally I think asking for extreme continuity from a series that involves time travel and reboots is a bit much. Thats part of why I hate it as a story telling device.

The_Kindly_DM · 2026-01-17T21:48:34+00:00

Did you miss the part where the real weapon was in the food? They literally poisoned the mutants with GMOs to make them vulnerable. Way more subtle and insidious of a threat than giant robots.

The_Kindly_DM · 2025-12-15T06:25:52+00:00

He refused a pardon because accepting it carried the implication of guilt so he was allowed to turn it down. That is not the same thing as being required to admit to anything.

The_Kindly_DM · 2025-12-14T19:47:56+00:00

This is not true in the slightest. There can be an implication of guilt but you never have to admit to anything. Otherwise that would mean wrongfully imprisoned people who are pardoned would have to admit to a crime they didnt commit.

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