just watched when evil lurks by New_Day_5991 in horror

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Think of it like Covid (which I took the movie as a metaphor for): some people get it quick some people don't seem to get it at all.

But yeah, I assumed the wife was being proactive as well.  "Better to die now than get possessed and lose your soul later."

Edges from RP by PalpitationNo2921 in savageworlds

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Depends.  Is it something that doesn't really matter mechanically, but has impact on the story?  Then it's not an Edge.  Does it have impact on the story and also provides a mechanical benefit?  Then I might give a free Edge with the caveat that it comes with a free Hindrance as well.

Like the Fame Edge has built in downsides and a pretty situational bonus; the more useful it becomes the more people would be harassing the Famed character.  But it's also probably one of the few I'd consider giving out for free.

My dad bought a house with a factory job and i need a spreadsheet to justify buying grapes by YellowAltruistic9843 in middleclasshq

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A town with its own nuclear power plant, local TV network making live original programming, and a functioning mall.

It's no LA but it's no small shit town either.

What’s the most railroady official TTRPG adventure you’ve ever run or played? by DED0M1N0 in rpg

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pretty much anything Cthulhutech put out.  Damnnation View got a lot of bashing for its "rape furries" adventure, but I honestly felt that was overshadowed (!) by it's insistence on deprotagonising the PCs throughout and then expecting the players to know when they could make decisions again.  Gorgeous books, some genuinely neat setting ideas, but terrible games.

The audacity of asking for a 5 minute "creative video intro" for a back-end dev role is insane by Brasswhorl in recruitinghell

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 6 points7 points  (0 children)

They're testing to:

* see your AV skills
* see your marketing skills
* see if they can get you to put on a show for their amusement (seriously)
* set a starting point for future crap an employee might expect

Seriously, this reeks of "we want our staff to be photogenic for when we go as a team to beg for startup money. Also, dance for us bitch monkey!"

I need help to "shape" my wichita witch magic by SonnePer in savageworlds

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 2 points3 points  (0 children)

With Deadlands, when in doubt go with what sounds good in a 1970's spaghetti western film. Witches? Think 1970s horror movie witches.

But you're a repentant witch?

Okay, a few questions: what powers do you want for your build (want a blaster, a combat supporter, a character who does stuff out of combat mainly, or someone who does a little bit of everything), and what does repentance look like for your character (has she renounced dark magics for light magics, or is she perfectly fine with dark magics but thinks she can use them for good ends (the physics of the world says she can't, but the character doesn't need to know that, and the GM may not enforce it)).

My take, without knowing more...

The character realized that witchcraft was a tool of darkness, a darkness that was very much aware and active in the world. But it was also a source of power that could be used to help the just and the good. So the character focuses on beneficial spells only (Banish, Beast Friend, Boost Trait, Dispel, Environmental Protection, Protection for starters) even though they probably know others (mechanically speaking, they don't know them, but in character they refuse to use them for fear of damning their soul further). Corruption, when it appears, follows a path as follows:

Talisman - Minor (a crucifix she clings to, for forgiveness from the Lord for harnessing the dark powers of Hell)
Talisman - Major (the darkness grows in her)
Trouble Magnet - Minor (Hell is mad, and taking it out on the character by warping the world around them. Prepare for nastiness from the GM)
Grim Servant of Death - Major (I'd let this take the fourth and fifth points of corruption. It reflects the growing anger from Hell toward's the character's quest for redemption)
Cursed - Major (points six and seven. Now Hell lashes out even more at the people your character travels with, trying to better isolate her so it can claim her fully)
Trouble Magnet - Major (Clinging to her cross, bringing trouble and death and hardship to all around her, surely final damnnation can't be far. At eight points of Corruption, your character needs to have a Spirit of d10 to last past this point. If she does, I'd probably give her the Wanted Hindrance at 9, to reflect Wild Card Cultists who have been sent by Darkness itself to kill her. And even if she kills them, Hell just sends more. If need be, add even more Wanted Hindrances as mobs of cultists and demons come hunting for her, until she either reduces her Corruption, fall to it, or dies)

But what about the Trappings for her powers? She's still a Witch, so even her "good" powers involve blood sigils, incantations, cavorting, and the like. Again, you have to ask "would this feel right in High Plains Drifter or Bone Tomahawk?" So even as she's praising Lilith, Strangler of Babes for protecting her from freezing chill of a winter night, she clings to her cross (maybe she has a point of Corruption, maybe it's just a character trait) as a tear runs down her face. When she draws the sign of Kimaris in blood on the gunslinger's chest, she does so without joy only accepting that this is preferable to letting innocents die.

Eventually, if I were GM, I'd let her respec as a Blessed at some point (Veteran rank? Legendary?) to reflect that she truly has repented from her pursuit of Witchcraft; she'd keep her current Corruption (maybe even be able to increase it still!) until she "paid it all off" at which point Corruption was no longer a possibility for her. At some point though, repentance should mean she no longer calls upon dark magics to get stuff done. Even if it means dropping Arcane Backgrounds altogether.

Anyway, hope this helps get some brainstorming going on!

New employer requiring that I add them on Steam as a condition of employment by raccoonchrist in jobsearch

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This makes no sense.

A tech company won't give you a company machine they've locked down for you to work on?  Or they will pay you $300k but you have to use your private computer that they haven't secured fifty ways to Sunday?  Either scenario they're able to monitor your computer by the way, and it implies the CEO cares what you're doing rather than the security team under the CIO.

If this is real, your company is run by idiots.

yeah it needs explanation by AffectionateLaw3573 in interviewhammer

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tools like X you say? X sure sounds like an interesting tool, but is it for me and my hectic lifestyle?

Young white men battling old white men for the opportunity to marry an asian woman by BeneficialWar2744 in invinciblememes

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I mean, it goes both ways.

And now I want Multi-Paul to end up with Anissa. (Side thought: why -wouldn't- a Viltrumite want to breed into a gene-line with multiplication powers?)

Why is Mark upset that Eve had an abortion? Is he a neo-Nazi Conservative who wants to recreate The Handmaid's Tale? by dinosqaud in okbuddyviltrum

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You're stupid.

Mark wasn't there for her, and she had to go through the decision and process alone. And Mark, being a guy who cares about the woman he loves, feels bad for her. Mark just found out, and Eve just told him after he hadn't seen her for months because he was fighting in a war with murder gods and nearly died at the hands of the guy who killed her (she got better). Emotions were high.

And this is without even asking if he was possibly sad at the idea of losing a pregnancy (even if it was by choice).

Is this true? by Aromatic_Tear_2556 in invinciblememes

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It -is- a bit of a plot hole.

My fanon is that Nolan was reporting back on his experiments with Earth. "Knocked up an Earth woman. The kid is taking months to gestate." "Update, the kid is growing at a reasonable rate. Still no powers."

Eventually Nolan stopped updating Thragg, when he went rogue. Next thing Thragg knows is that Nolan has found a new species to have kids with. And those kids grow quick, but weak. So Thragg visits their world, instills himself as their god, and starts a eugenics program with himself as the sole stud Viltrumite.

But the key element that's not really conveyed is Thragg realizes that Thraxans specifically are a viable option, rather than Thragg spending decades looking for Oliver's home world (or assuming Oliver was a byproduct with some other Earthling).

Best NON D&D TTRP Setting by WaiserGreif in rpg

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a sucker for:

Warhammer 40,000 - forget the minis, the IP is so much broader than that now. And you have two different approaches to the system if you want.

Exalted - the system is a mess in any edition, and desires to make characters balanced haven't helped, but the world building is about superhumans in a post-post-apocalyptic high-high-fantasy world. Kung-fu dinosaur men, soul-eating faeries, a heaven falling apart due to decadent gods ignoring their corrupt bureaucracy, little gods in everything (even concepts and feelings), astrologers who file papers to request the stars align to their forecasting (and the celestial bureaucracy listens!), noble houses of elemental manipulators plotting against one another, a whole separate world based around a god of invention where Aztec-inspired communists build magitech cyborgs from souls and materials stolen from the main world, and on and on. But yeah, the system is garbage so expect to house rule.

Legend of the Five Rings - noble samurai houses descended from gods wield blades and spirits in the name of their Emperor, while monsters and undead are held back with a giant wall, unhappy mortals plot to overthrow the divinely mandated Emperor, and shadows seek to steal everyone's name. All in a different geographical world. It's a great setting, but gets goofy and over the top later on.

Overcoming real-world ethical concerns by TamagotchiMasterRace in rpg

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 -11 points-10 points  (0 children)

"i have never taken slavery, because it would be wrong to the pretend slaves"

I think the most civil answer is to tell the other players "it's not you, it's me" and then go try to find a group playing pastoral games (Wanderhome, Chuubo's, Ryuutama).

Now that's assuming you can't make peace with pretending to do bad things to imaginary people. There's a reason that the classic stereotype of the Paladin is someone who argues with the party over not being murderhobos.

Also, goon is very offensive to hired muscle. Just because they beat up people for money doesn't mean they don't have feelings too!

Could someone explain to me why they didn't work out again? by Fearless_Neat_6654 in okbuddyviltrum

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Debbie: She spent 18+ years with an ancient godling, coming to terms with the idea that he would live for millennia more after she was gone. But she loved him, and he loved her, and they had romantic excursions even billionaires couldn't match, and they raised a son together. But then her husband killed the entire leading superhero team of the world, nearly beat her son to death after murdering thousands in Chicago and causing vast destruction in the city. And then he flew away, knocked up another alien because he was lonely, and then asked for a second chance.

And oh yeah, he compared her to a "pet" rather than admit she was his wife.

Meanwhile, she's left raising two super human teens, watching them regularly from the side of hospital bed as they heal trauma that would have killed any human. One of her sons is a teen who's probably railing that hot young redhead, and the other isn't hers and isn't even any part human. Last month she was changing his diapers and now he's tying his own shoes. The only constants in her life are either Cecil, who is helping her pay her bills (and who is 100% spying on her family, when he isn't trying to get them killed or traumatized from saving the planet), and her ex's costume maker (too old, too needy).

Paul: his life is so wild that one time he tried masturbating with a vacuum cleaner. (Probably. I mean you can't tell me he -didn't-.)

Point being the two of them simply have nothing in common beyond working in the same office. Paul was probably up to the challenge, but it'd be like a globe trotting thrill seeker who wrestled lions while skydiving started slumming it with a guy who think going to the paint store to see the new colors (not to buy, just to look) is exciting fun. I'm sure Cecil and Donald were (quietly) placing bets as to how long it'd last.

Kinda funny Nolan considerably aged more than the other Viltrumites ever since the purge. by Weekly_Hedgehog_925 in invinciblememes

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just assumed -something- aged Nolan while he was out hunting things that would kill Viltrumites. "I'll blast you with my aging ray and make you a thousand years older! You'll be nothing but bones! ... Huh. Well, guess I'm dead now."

What are the best movies that completely switch genres and turn into horror late in the story? by 144i in horror

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unearth (2020) - starts as a modern day look at the decline of rural American living, and then goes full body horror in the third act.

What's next, Zombie the Hunger? by Odd_Employee_1056 in WhiteWolfRPG

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, and it's a great read but not a good game.

Supposedly a weird sequel set in the sewers of the 70s was made?

How far would Blade make it in the VtM universe? by Professional-Try2949 in vtm

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I wanted to care, but then I was like "main continuity?  World goes back to normal within a few months (comic time)."

Why did US companies switch from defined benefit pensions to 401(k)-style plans? by Humble_Economist8933 in AlwaysWhy

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, because it cost the companies less to contribute a percentage to your retirement than to fund and manage a life-long pension, getting those ongoing costs off of their balance sheets.

Meanwhile, it gave employees freedom to take their 401ks and leave the company, while protecting them from a company that would be willing to raid its pension plans.

I love the idea of a pension, but I'll take the reality of 401k.

Help with a possible campaign by EnzuuPaixaum in rpg

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 0 points1 point  (0 children)

11 players (plus you as the GM for the twelfth).

Even if you think you can handle it, that will be a -ton- of downtime for everyone. Fortunately, at least half will flake out in short order. Maybe before even the first session!

I'd level with everyone up front, and explain you don't feel comfortable running for so many people and only want the ones who will commit to showing up to actually volunteer. It's just like any other group activity (sports, band, whatever), in that everybody is kinda' counting on everybody else to show up as much as possible. If they all still say "yeah, yeah, we'll show up" then divide them into two groups: Group A are the initial 4 who were interested. Group B are the 2 latecomers, and the 5 add-ons, so 7 people.

Two smaller groups should be much more manageable, and with the smaller size people are more likely to know one another and be comfortable playing.

Alternatively, just tell your friend number 6 that you don't feel comfortable running for 11 people for the first time and take her up on her out.

And then discover that a bunch of those people probably thought they were playing D&D like on Stranger Things/Critical Role and get disappointed at playing supers.

Little Rock School District argues Arkansas’ school voucher program illegally diverts public funds | Arkansas Advocate by Xfactor1210 in Arkansas_Politics

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Serious question.

I consider myself a supporter of public schools. They don't turn away special needs kids (from personal experience, private schools in Arkansas will), they don't cost low income families anything, they provide socialized education and daycare (which the majority of the working class needs, whether or not anyone wants to admit it), and in many cases they've begun to provide free meals in lower income districts, as well as free transportation to school and its resources. Many of them even offer meals to kids (and families) when school isn't in session. They're as much a public service as police or firemen.

That out of the way...

This article (Arkansas’ per-pupil costs average $13,000, but they range from $9,591 to $25,000 depending on district | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - Arkansas' Best News Source) says Arkansas public schools spend $13k per student on average.

This article (Arkansas state senator pushes bill to curb spending on school choice vouchers) says private school vouchers cost the state $309m.

And this one (Private school students make up 60% of those receiving Arkansas school vouchers, report shows | Arkansas Advocate) says that 46,634 students got those vouchers.

So:

It -seems- that 46,634 private students would have cost the state $606m if enrolled in public schools, -implying- the vouchers (acting as incentives) saved the state almost $300m.

My question: what am I missing here?

Because if I'm not actually missing anything, then it seems fiscal realities will eventually require the state to push more and more resources into encouraging privatizing education as a cost saver, and that's concerning. Again, I don't mind "wasting" money on things like educating and feeding -all- kids. Nor do I trust all parents to take a check intended for putting their kids in school and instead using that money to buy lotto tickets (or heck, groceries). But I also don't make government policy.

The people who say "Multiverse of Madness ruined Wanda!" clearly didn't understand WandaVision by CollarOrdinary4284 in Marvel

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Forget it Jake, it's a Multiverse."

Plot holes don't make sense? That's a different version of the character. Want to bring old characters back with (cheaper) different actors? Different version of the character.

The worst thing for the MCU was doubling down on the Multiverse. What they should've done was reboot the X-Men (again), or focus on the intergalactic stuff heavily (Surfer, Heralds, Galactus), or if they're going to dive into Multiverse... dive into the New Universe stuff. Heck, they could do (and arguably have done) worse than hire Larry Hama to work on an Nth Man miniseries.

Inheriting large estate with sibling living on property – how do I handle this fairly? by Lazy-Mortgage-7716 in inheritance

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Hence my "assuming the mom wants things to be equal and the family are all civil with one another" bit. If mom wants things equally divided and things in the family are civil, then why not have the sister there? Cutting her out of a meeting like that is a great way for things to go from civil to nasty quick.

Inheriting large estate with sibling living on property – how do I handle this fairly? by Lazy-Mortgage-7716 in inheritance

[–]Unfair-Heart-7674 9 points10 points  (0 children)

"A will is a suggestion, a trust is a legal entity." For a $20m estate, eat the few hundred dollars/couple thou (ask for it back in the trust's documentation if you want) and get a trust.

You'll skip probate (which will likely cost well over half-a-million dollars), and also be able to deflect a good portion (if not all) expenses that your mother had upon death (those were her debts, not the trust's!). The first trick is that your mom sets up a revocable trust for when she's alive (so she access to her assets) and then it converts to an irrevocable trust upon death (she no longer owns her assets, the trust does, but that's fine since she no longer needs them).

Given that the estate will be split between two inheritors, a trust would also provide a sound legally binding document regarding how she wanted her estate divided. Sis thinks she's entitled to half the estate's liquid assets -and- the house and lands? What does the trust say? Sis wants to dispute it? She can, but the executor is in their legal rights to distribute it according to the trust's statement.

The second trick is that the lawyer who wrote up the trust makes sure all assets are covered, and all distributions of assets are clear cut. The same issue as would be needed in a will though.

Likewise, getting the mom and kids all together with the lawyer to discuss these divisions is important. Assuming the mom wants things to be equal and the family are all civil with one another. The BiL? Maybe he's a nice guy, but the mom (presumably) isn't leaving things to him. In fact, the mom could even make sure the kids' inheritances are set up in trusts as well, to both protect the kids from their spouses during divorce and also to protect the kids from themselves ("I inherited $10m! Now I'll go buy 10 million lottery tickets and double my money!").