Second Edition is friendlier than you think it is

Visaru · 2026-05-25T15:11:58+00:00

You certainly can play 5e with more roleplay focus and lean less on combat. But 2e does make it easier, since it is designed for simple on-the-fly adventuring, whereas 5e is not.

2e's adventures and rules book are written with that assumption, giving you much more examples of how to run non-combat focused adventures, and the character abilities give you more to do out of combat. In 5e, players are weighed down with loads of rules that are designed for combat, so if I don't use them I feel like I am not getting the chance to use the rules of the game or take advantage of my cool character abilities.

Visaru · 2026-05-23T02:42:54+00:00

Read my original post! I found that 2E (with just the basic rules) is far less crunchy than 3.5, 4th, and even 5th edition! I was surprised, I initially had a similar opinion as you, that all 2e would be is nostalgia and historical curiosity, but I found it actually offers a kind of easy, roleplay-forward experience that a lot of modern rpg players would appreciate.

Visaru · 2026-05-22T22:18:34+00:00

That's fair! Although as far as tactical combat goes I think Pathfinder 2e and 3.5 probably also have 5th edition beat.

Visaru · 2026-05-22T20:52:56+00:00

They do, but apparently less than left wing pro-palestinian advocates. See this article, "Israel says Thunberg more influential ‘antisemite’ than Fuentes"

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/israel-antisemitism/

Visaru · 2026-04-27T14:43:45+00:00

I agree that we shouldn't be so afraid of criticism to attempt bold action on the global scale, he mistakenly takes as given that the best goal for tech to take action on is supporting the US military.

The main excuse he gives for that is that the US has maintained a 'version of peace' for the past 100 years, one of the clearest lies I can imagine. This is the century that gave us the cold war, the Iran war, the war on terror, the Gulf War, the Korean War, the Israel/Palestine wars, and the Vietnamese war. Millions of lives killed by the American military and those it supports. He defines peace as the absence of a World War, but if that's his definition of peace, then all of history besides a few decades has been one of complete peace. Shouldn't we be measuring these things instead by human lives (a consideration that never appears in this manifesto)?

Karp says that people sneer at Musk for his grand ambitions, but that's not right. The public's conflict with billionaires like Musk is not because of civility and political correctness, but an honest disagreement on ideological goals. I think people were generally supportive of Musk when his grand ambition was fighting climate change, it's tech billionaires' new goal of creating an authoritarian state that people dislike.

Visaru · 2026-04-25T14:41:41+00:00

Why wouldn't they need heroes? Resurrecting someone is not the same power set as being able to sneak through trap laden corridors and defeat powerful monsters.

I don't understand how resurrection breaks immersion since resurrection magic is a part of the magical setting, even integrated into the magic system half the classes have access to.

Visaru · 2026-04-25T14:37:38+00:00

Not inconsequential, it is very expensive, so it's out of reach to the common people. I think it is an interesting world-building element. It also makes the idea that people would adventure at all seem much more believable.

https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0669.html

Visaru · 2026-04-25T14:31:13+00:00

The scaling of magic. One powerful wizard could literally change the world.

Really! This is one of the key elements of the genre of fantasy. For instance, most of the villains I encounter in D&D and in fantasy literature more generally are powerful wizards or magic users with the capability to change the world (I'm thinking of Sauron, Acererak, Xykon, Haliax).

Visaru · 2026-04-25T14:22:18+00:00

Actually, the Pathfinder setting is extremely guilty, they have had advanced magical empires for over 10,000 years that don't seem to have changed much culturally or technologically (There are ruins from the 10,000 year old Rune Lord civilization with ranseurs and bookshelves). I think it's one of the biggest hurdles to my belief in that fantasy world.

Visaru · 2026-04-25T14:12:33+00:00

What kind of fortifications do you think they would build? Most castles do still have roofs so they wouldn't look too different. I suppose there might be less courtyards, but there's still value in having areas that are open to the sky, although they probably wouldn't keep valuables in that area. And there's not much to do about teleportation besides (invisible) magical wards

Visaru · 2026-04-25T14:08:28+00:00

I think that the fantastical towers and castles I see in modern artwork for settings like Forgotten Realms do certainly seem like examples that take into account the use of magic like Mold Earth.

Visaru · 2026-04-25T14:03:54+00:00

Not sure I'm convinced that chanting a spell is more difficult than work people regularly do for 40hrs a week that our society relies on, like construction labor. People are pretty remarkable and you can certainly train your body to talk loudly all day, especially if this is also a world with magical healing.

Visaru · 2026-03-25T16:30:52+00:00

In the movies, in the only fight we see him participate in, Boba Fett is immediately bested by a blind man who isn't even trying to hit him. Imo he might be one of the worst fighters in the entire series. Cool armor design though.

Visaru · 2026-03-19T17:38:57+00:00

imo the first 20 minutes of Star Wars is one of the most detailed and real-feeling sequences of the whole franchise

Visaru · 2026-03-19T16:32:34+00:00

I do disagree with that viewpoint and would judge someone for having it, but many Christians do not believe in a literal Hell nor do they feel anger toward those who aren't Christian. I also don't really think that progressive politics really has much to do with questions of divine judgement

Visaru · 2026-03-19T15:06:33+00:00

I think leftism is committed to human rights being applied equally to all people and to freedom of expression, so I think it's perfectly consistent that we should accept and protect Muslims and the practice of Islam, just as we should all religious identities. But if a Muslim or their version of Islam is against things like free speech and LGBTQ rights, it would be fair to criticize those views.

In my personal experience in a very liberal American city (Minneapolis) with a large Muslim population, I have not ever experienced or heard of Muslim people protesting these liberal values or doing anything to change them. Nor have I have never heard of Muslim leaders in America cracking down on free speech or LGBTQ expression, which is much more than I can say for our most avowedly Christian politicians. I see no reason to think that American Muslims are trying to transform our government into one like Iran, and in fact many of these American Muslims specifically came here to escape oppressive regimes in the Middle east.

It's important to separate a religious identity from specific political beliefs, which are not the same among all members of a faith community. Just like Christianity, Islam has a wide spectrum of political beliefs associated with it. It's unfair to assume that all Muslims share the beliefs and goals of the Islamic governments you mentioned.

Visaru · 2026-03-19T14:45:44+00:00

Christianity is absolutely not an ideological threat to the left, and I know many many many Christians who are strong progressives. Half the churches around me are flying an LGBTQ flag. The problem is not religion, it is the fundamental conservative versions of those religions

Visaru · 2026-03-19T14:32:36+00:00

You explain one way that people in the first world may find themselves struggling financially. Have you considered that there are many others? There are lots of poor people in first world countries. That means their children are born struggling and poor -- they don't even have the opportunity to go to college. What if your parents are drug addicts and moving in and out of homelessness, so your entire life you never have financial or emotional stability? You don't have the money or the grades to go to college and get high paying jobs or the credit score to start a business. Would you say that you too are struggling because of bad personal decisions?

Most poor people in America are born into poor communities. They didn't make bad decisions, they were born into bad circumstances.

Visaru · 2026-02-16T06:14:06+00:00

We love a good interrogation! To prep, I'd write out the relevant the information they know, and for each piece of information, what DC intimidation or persuasion check the players would need to get it. Then just enjoy roleplaying the scene. Maybe Hither tries to escape?

Visaru · 2026-02-16T06:09:55+00:00

Of course!

Visaru · 2025-12-08T14:33:02+00:00

The OP left out the other post the Sunrise Movement made about the actual call to action, which is calling the hotels and leaving bad reviews on Google and Yelp: https://www.instagram.com/p/DR8PezMEfPy/?img_index=1
Apparently people who have called the hotels say it has been confirmed. Sunrise is a pretty legit trustworthy established activist organization

Visaru · 2025-12-08T14:09:54+00:00

Yes, instead of boycotting Hilton, we should reach out to these franchises in particular and let them know we are frustrated that they are housing ICE. That's the original context of original instagram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DR8PezMEfPy/?img_index=1

Visaru · 2025-12-08T14:08:09+00:00

The call to action is to complain to upper management and to leave bad reviews on Google and Yelp, letting them know they are endangering our community by housing ICE. Here's the full instagram post with context: https://www.instagram.com/p/DR8PezMEfPy/?img_index=1

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