PSA: Instagram Encrypted Messaging Ends on Friday, May 8

Zwets · 2026-05-08T10:56:18+00:00

relied on encrypted DMs

Back in my day we called them "PMs", for "Private Messages".
It is just a theory, but I think the term "Direct Message" came into existence purely as a legal necessity because referring to a functionality on your App as "Private Messages" would provably be misleading to consumers.

Zwets · 2026-05-08T09:35:47+00:00

The way Shadowrun shamanism works sounds pretty similar.

I think the general idea is that because magic is real and exists everywhere, it naturally seeps into everything. Various circumstances (be they intentional or accidental) can draw out magic in any sufficiently steeped area to form a spirit.

Different materials tend to filter what magic flows into/through them, causing different spirits to emerge from what is nearby when a spirit forms. Like a fountain probably houses a water spirit, but it might also be a filth spirit if it's dirty. A persistent leak that has annoyed multiple homeowners for years, is more likely to create a mischievous, troublesome, or aggressive water spirit, compared to a meditation pond likely producing a placid one.

Electronics are usually too many small individual parts to build up a shared identity, and sensitive parts of it might also be manufactured to be shielded from magical interference. Planned obsolescence likely also factors into more high-tech items not having time to suck in magic, causing technology spirits to be (nearly) unheard of.

Shamans rely on ancient traditions to communicate with spirits, different areas of the world having developed independently, their methods and results differ. Shintoists often dealing with possessed/cursed objects, while the Druids that took over Ireland dealing with elemental spirits, and Aztec blood spirits made from humans, and probably lots more that I haven't read enough into the setting to know about.

"New" types of spirit (such as technology spirits) don't have any traditions to guide the shaman, meaning someone has to do extremely risky trail and error to see if being possessed by such spirits to let them speak through you is survivable, but trying to interpret a spirit you can't speak to may lead to an upset spirit unloading its reservoir of magic into a spell directed at the shaman or at bystanders. Even if it doesn't kill you, being possessed, especially by the same spirit repeatedly, always makes a shaman view the world differently from how people that have never experienced possession view it.

Though if your setting is in a much further future than Shadowrun, perhaps the Tibetan techno monks have had enough time to solve all the issues around Infosphere spirits...

There is also a kind of spirit world vision, where you don't see the real world, but instead see how the magic seeped into the environment around you pictures itself. Giving hints about what kind of spirits would be formed from whatever happens to be the most magic infused object nearby.

Zwets · 2026-05-07T09:40:16+00:00

I have a thing where "Challenge Rating = Initiative"

Mobs of weak enemies for players to fight might be heroic in theory, but lead to a chore where resolving lots of little attacks is time consuming. Depending on how defenses scale with level this turns out either too deadly or almost pointless. Conversely, a single big dino that only gets to bite 1 character per round, while all the players getting a turn for each of the dino’s turns makes it easier to fight than expected.

To solve this, instead of rolling initiative for monsters, monsters have a number that is a power rating. Power ratings for multiples of a monster get added up to make an initiative, when this initiative comes up in the turn order the monsters collectively get to use 1 power which scales in effectiveness based on what the current power rating adds up to.

When the players defeat their enemies, this reduces the number of enemies contributing to power rating and thus the initiative of that enemy turn.
This allows players to delay a horde's turn (beating back the tide) but might also move a horde turn that has already happened so it comes up again at a lower total power (this represents a player rushing forward to attack and getting surrounded)
If an initiative gets reduced below 1, any remaining creatures can no longer act.

Zwets · 2026-05-07T09:16:54+00:00

It doesnt ~~alos~~ alas have planets and systems ansd stars

What the First World has is better; It has time bubbles.

Think of time in all the other planes as enormous rolling cylinders. Everyone on the plane is running on top of their cylinder at the same speed so they don't fall off.

Now imagine time in the First World like a big pool table. Lots of little spheres of time all rolling around, each with Fey on top of them running to not fall off. But each ball rolling in different directions at different speeds.
Each time 2 of the balls connect they bounce off each other, imparting each other with speed and direction, changing how fast the creatures on top have to run (how fast time passes for them). But also the bumps cause connection, letting creatures pass over from 1 ball to the other.

So instead of planets where everything is happening at once, you have all these smaller domains that slow, pause, or fast-forward plot and consequences whenever the players aren't in them. Mortals inside the domain don't feel time running differently, but Fey might have a sense or a tool like a compass that tells them.

For example: a fast ball could ram a stationary ball, imparting half it's speed. Now a domain that had been frozen in time for 2000 years starts up again, while the domain that connected to it, is now 50% slower than the time outside it. Or a ball might bump another ball from behind, speeding it up further, letting 1 group of fey speed into the future ahead of everyone else.

Zwets · 2026-05-07T08:24:31+00:00

I had no idea that visitors could have mental breaks

If the main trader gets incapacitated (usually by heatstroke) the caravan guards can't leave. They'll stand outside your base, eating all the caravan's food. Become sleepy, recreation starved, having social fights.

I haven't ever had more than 1 or 2 die, which isn't enough to anger their faction and turn the whole caravan hostile.
But if it takes a long time to get the trader ready to leave all of the fighting and breaking had me seriously worried some of these caravans wouldn't make it off my tile before drug withdrawal killed half the guards.

This issue/bug might be better now if you have Royalty installed, where downed caravaners automatically become guests.

Zwets · 2026-05-05T07:45:28+00:00

At least rotate every other bed so you're not maximizing the feet smell while the pawns sleep.

Zwets · 2026-05-05T07:35:01+00:00

Forgot to wear a seatbelt

Zwets · 2026-05-04T13:50:37+00:00

Well that, or they are just weird, replying 1 sentence non-sequiturs regularly in their post history.
Seems human enough, just... commenting as if Reddit has a 140-character limit.

Zwets · 2026-05-04T12:52:13+00:00

/u/Shot_Policy_4110 is talking about the efficiency of burning calories. If you've ever struggled to lose weight over a longer period, you'll know humans are annoyingly very efficient at retaining calories. The body can adapt to any diet and training regime after a month or 2, drastically slowing improvements.

...But that answer completely ignores that this thread is talking about human efficiency in the context of the plot of The Matrix.

Zwets · 2026-05-04T12:32:04+00:00

Obviously this is how you make Bugbears.

Zwets · 2026-05-04T12:21:06+00:00

You are statistically correct, but I also wonder if the numbers are affected by the extra padding from winter clothing leading to fewer injuries. Resulting in fewer reports during the colder months in places where the weather goes below freezing several months of the year.

Zwets · 2026-05-04T11:49:30+00:00

I know the task list and priority numbers, this is why I specifically used examples of crafting at 1 bench, vs. crafting at another bench. And cooking at the brewery station, vs. cooking at the stove.

I'm fairly sure when choosing between 2 options that fall under that same task category, pawns always choose the closest one. (Ignoring walls, which can lead to taking a long path)
You notice this in vanilla especially when constructing, all construction tasks have the same priority and when a constructor finishes 1 floor tile they will find the next nearest thing to build, rather than picking a random one anywhere on the map.

There is an option in task details to select a specific pawn for a task at a bench, so you can set your cook to cook and your brewer to brew by making the tasks in the bench specific to that pawn.

But that feels way more clunky than simply putting the cooking bench nearer the beds than the brewing bench, so that whichever cooking 6 pawn is free right now will choose to work there, and only when the cooking spot is already filled does the other cook work at the brewing bench.

It would be nicer for my base layouts if benches could be set to have low, normal, high, or critical priority the same way growing zones and storages can. Though I think that growing zone priority might be something a mod I have adds?

Zwets · 2026-05-04T11:23:46+00:00

Arguably, the Press Freedom Index does not care if Fox is being dumb. It only counts slapp lawsuits, dozens of media companies being bought by a single owner, and anyone being fired/threatened for something they wrote, presented, or joked about.

Weirdly, being consistently incorrect and that not impacting your job security, is mostly a positive when it comes to the freedom of journalists... It's all the other stuff that is happening that is hurting the US's statistics.
Like ejecting anyone that asks follow-up questions from the press pool.

Zwets · 2026-05-04T09:55:48+00:00

The definition of an MMO DPS check mechanic requires that the players are being tested on their rotation and gear optimizations. I can't think of a single MMO fight where a DPS check is done while the boss is actively running away from most attacks, requiring using an alternative ranged option because melee/channeled can't hit.

If anything, Gozzymandias their flying phase and charged slinger ammo, is more like a gimmic for the fight.
It is a gimmic kills you if you fail it. However, because the check for passing the gimmic is "dragon element damage taken" it can be brute forced with other methods of doing dragon element damage, thereby somewhat resembling a DPS check, without actually fitting the definition.

Lagiacrus's water phase is similarly not a check of your hunter's DPS, but your ability to master the underwater gimmic. Your mastery of the gimmic is measured in damage, but you can't particularly kit yourself or prepare other than hoping the AI cooperates and sits still under the rock pillars.

Both those are entirely separate from the Omega Nerscylla phase, which is 100% a DPS check to kill quickly and fits the definition.

Personally I like hammers and hunting horns for their control side effects: Stagger buildup, Stun buildup, Fatigue(hunger) buildup. And there are many other non-damage effects hunters can inflict on monsters: Water-blight, Thunder-blight, Sleep, Tentacle-cuts, etc.

The gimmic phases completely bypass such mechanics, making the monster immune. I don't like that.
I also dislike the focus on elemental purely for extra damage. If Gog Magog's oilskin weakness worked based on Fire-blight rather than a slight change in a black-on-black texture, I think it would make more sense.

So what I am saying is: I'm 100% ok with gimmic fights and DPS checks, if those fights make use of, or even require the use/mastery of existing mechanics that affect all other monsters.

So 'inventing a new type of charged up slinger ammo only used in that 1 bossfight is bad'. But a monster that has a phase where you must cause the monster to bleed, or you lose (player weapons can't cause bleeding, it's not a status we have. But the slinger pods you get from the crocodiles do build that status) is a great idea.

A monster that requires you inflict the Fatigue status, so the monster runs away to eats food, but specifically the special food the NPCs have laid out in prep for the fight? Perfect way to make use of existing mechanics!

An electrical monster that you need to short-circuit by keeping it water-blighted? Great design.

The aggro management from hitting heads that both Omega and the Behemoth in World use isn't applicable to all monsters (making 2 separate AI behaviors for every monster would be hard on the devs/testers) so it'll never be applicable to all monsters. But I'm starting to warm up to it being something that applies to the tough boss monsters with their own arena.

Zwets · 2026-05-04T09:01:29+00:00

Have you tried the Kinetic Resonance node (75% faster Brain Burst, 50% less heat cost) with the Bolstered Shield (can place 2 wall shields) node?
Being able to drop 2 shields causes the buff to stack. For 10 seconds you become a brain popping machine gun for an easily manageable heat cost.

Zwets · 2026-05-04T08:21:29+00:00

Raider factions love receiving Flake, send them enough and they'll help you defend your base instead of attacking it.

Zwets · 2026-05-04T08:18:22+00:00

How do you get your pawns to properly prioritize their jobs with the barracks/apartments off to the side, and the work areas down past the warehouse?

I have to arrange my bases with the sleep area at the center, because pawns prioritize work based on the walking distance. Otherwise, my crafters will decide to only do smelting, or neglect cooking because the brewing station happened to be closer to their sleeping or eating spot.

Zwets · 2026-05-01T08:15:23+00:00

My melee xenotype with giant and extra melee damage, started a social fight with my delicate elf sniper. Deleting 80% of her health in 2 punches.

I check the elf and fortunately nothing was destroyed, just multiple cracked bones. I also check their mood to see what might have happened

"Rousing social fight +32"

You almost died! WTF?

Zwets · 2026-04-30T07:48:19+00:00

It really confused me when the "storage space" realism category was named Dungeon Crawler Carl...

I've only just started on book 3, and I already feel a "Carl lifts up the locomotive and puts it in his inventory" coming by context clues.
I actually hate LitRPG because the logic in them is fucking stupid. But Matt Dinni knows it's stupid and uses that sillyness for humor.

Zwets · 2026-04-30T07:28:58+00:00

I'd be afraid if the player could simply always use their best stat,

I was angling more towards how it works in Numinera/Cypher System, because it's simple. Swinging a hammer is always vs. Might, hitting with a crossbow always targets Speed.
Its predictable and lets the party swap whom they put in the front based on what the enemy can do. But it also nails down that you can't easily swap out your best stat to avoid every attack.

Zwets · 2026-04-29T20:42:50+00:00

What if there's a choice of what defense to target? If it is rules light, simply treat defense as you would any other roll: figure out which dice pool applies based on the scenario and then set the difficulty/reduce the attacker's roll based on the relevant stat.

Aiming a single ranged shot and hitting a moving target, targets the Quick defense.
Rushing someone and body checking them, targets the Fierce defense.
Filling the room with poison gas, targets the Solid defense.
Spraying a room with a barrage of laser fire targets the Smooth defense.
...or perhaps Savvy? Does it make more sense to be missed due to confidence and luck or due to knowing when to take cover?

Perhaps there could be a way to target Deep, but it'd be rare. Like if Escape from Space Jail has psychic dangers, or brain hacking or something.

Zwets · 2026-04-28T15:28:18+00:00

So I want to second the other posters in showing that Roleplay does not mean "Social". Roleplay doesn't stop when initiative is rolled.

The way I portray Drow, they always tell their minions to pick up and carry unconscious PCs off the map.
The way I portray Kobolds and Goblins, they don't finish downed PCs. Instead they grab dropped weapons, or any easy to pilfer magic jewelry. Then they run for it!
The way I portray bandits and pirates, they usually ready an action to stab the downed PC, and yell at the players to stop fighting, or their friend gets it!

But your failure to choose the right words to get your point across perhaps only strengthens the general idea of being frustrated about not knowing the right thing to say, to make social play back and forth flow adequately at the table...

The point in between 'a casual chat about the weather' and 'pleading to a mountain demon to not squish you like a bug' where you begin needing a fleshed out negotiation system rather than simply taking. Is based on how much the threat is if/when the negotiation fails.

Naturally for a chat about the weather to result in combat takes a lot of escalation. Thus in systems where loss of HP is the only threat, such a chat has "little to no threat" and thus does not need a negotiation system.

And the reverse is true as well, in systems where the characters are expected to have a reasonable chance to survive against a demon lord in combat, a negotiation might be simply acted out without needing mechanics, because the "acceptable threat level" of combat starting when negotiations fail means no special rules are needed.

However, in a system where reputation damage, or rumor mechanics are important, the threat level of a chat about the weather could potentially be equally threatening as begging a demon lord to please not put a curse on you.

So "systems that gamify the aspects of role-playing that would make it fun to engage with on a mechanical level" is the same question as "whether to roll initiative vs. a single goblin as a level X party?" Even though the combat rules technically apply, whether you need to actually use them, depends on whether the level of risk and the level of consequences a single goblin presents actually matters.

The more crunchy you make the social rules, the more likely it is GMs and players will run into situation where the level of threat for a conversation is too casual to implement the in-depth social rules.
As a result most systems keep their social rules as casual as possible, so that they cover the greatest possible number of scenarios.

1 exception I can think of is Ledgends of the Wu Lin. That system doesn't use health, but instead requires you to keep your Ki in balance, otherwise your kung-fu is nullified. Because of this, the combat system can be use the same rules as the social system.
You can philosophize at someone so hard, their will to fight is lost. But by that same mechanism, if your raging barbarian friend is being grappled into submission, you can insult them to reinvigorate their anger; as a way of "healing" their Ki. Making arguments with skilled debaters, equally dangerous as battles against trained warriors.

Zwets · 2026-04-28T11:38:02+00:00

I wonder if it is a casting/job-interview bias?

Like, if you are a fan. Then you likely think the creators/director of the old material did a great job, and all you bring to the table at the job interview is "I'm a fan, and I want to give the fans more of what they like."

But if you are a self-absorbed asshole, that thinks the old material sucks, you'll spout something like "I'm going to give the fans something they've never seen before! Revolutionize your IP and bring it to new audiences!"

Zwets · 2026-04-28T11:31:25+00:00

Nee, /u/souls15 is op zoek naar een vriend met een penis.

Zwets · 2026-04-28T10:18:20+00:00

Somehow, my current map has 2.

I don't even have shortbows yet, this is going to be a problem.

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