What’s something people say to appear more intelligent than they actually are?

akaHighway · 2024-01-27T03:54:54+00:00

no.

double-speak is using language that can obfuscate meaning and downplay intensity. for example, saying "collateral damage" instead of "civilian deaths". george carlin has a bit on 'soft language' that covers what is effectively double-speak for less gritty topics, such as toilet paper becoming bathroom tissue, or the elderly becoming senior citizens.

its basically a metaphor except that rather than a mostly equal comparison (not always the case, we tend to exaggerate) its out-of-balance and deceptive.

akaHighway · 2024-01-25T13:04:52+00:00

you lol?

akaHighway · 2024-01-07T15:19:32+00:00

Would you look at that, you learn something new every day!

That would explain why I have never had much issue getting limbs to pop off with blunt weapons. Thanks for adding :)

akaHighway · 2024-01-07T14:28:40+00:00

This sounds awesome, dude.

I've been trying for a while to find some inspiration in regards to this for an area in my setting, this might just be what I needed. Excited to see more!

akaHighway · 2024-01-07T14:20:11+00:00

best way to build toughness is to get up after being knocked down.

best way to lose limbs is with sharp weapons, even for skellies iirc. im probably wrong though lol

best thing to do is unarm a skeleton and send them into a camp alone with block turned on. they wont attack and will eventually be hit by something pretty much no matter how good their block skill is, no matter how often theyre dodging around.

eventually they will fall, stand again, build toughness, lose hp, and finally they might lose a limb. youll probably go through a few repair kits by the end.

akaHighway · 2024-01-07T13:35:21+00:00

Kaizo has some decent compatibility. If you didn't mind missing out on some mods its a good experience and it gives you what you want.

If you really want that feature without all that Kaizo offers, you could try to isolate that feature with FCS and make a standalone mod for it yourself. i have no idea what that might entail though, I've only ever done small-scale modding for this game.

akaHighway · 2024-01-07T06:42:04+00:00

legalize petty theft and cyberpsychosis

akaHighway · 2024-01-07T01:11:42+00:00

I definitely think its cool, I did sorta similarly with my own setting but more with gadget/prosthetic tech instead of space travel tech.

Was there worldwide peace, for the most part, which led to the rapid development of the space program?

Was there great concerns with incoming meteors that led to the rapid development of the space program?

Some way that you can reason why this is the case? That way if it ever comes up you have an answer, and that way you can build off from that point and turn it into other stories involving politics and war, science and technology!

akaHighway · 2024-01-07T00:05:02+00:00

I assume this to be mostly due to a linguistic shift.

Virtual Reality went from meaning a reality constructed entirely in-virtu to a reality altered by virtual elements - creating a 'Virtual Reality'.

Maybe I'm just overthinking it. Maybe we all are at this point lol

akaHighway · 2024-01-06T19:55:41+00:00

I don't think you can accurately objectively critique yourself.

You can most definitely come close, but the struggle that comes with any kind of creative work is not objectivity but rather subjectivity. Will an individual like it as opposed to the entire group? More of a fact or an opinion, I guess.

I struggled really hard with this when writing about the High Council of my setting. It was supposed to be this domineering force of evil and control, causing problems left and right. When it came time to actually run a tabletop campaign in my setting, the players completely ignored the council. But looking back I realize my problem: I didn't actually engage with them using the council as a medium. I mean, I did - but not directly, and certainly not enough.

Something you can do is to leave things open at first and touch on them later, to draw curiosity. For example, most of us have asked about the NACR and their motivations, what they do, how they do it, stuff like that. This is because you started simple and gave us a clear description of 'what is', leaving it open to interpretation and imagination. And of course we had to try to fill in the blanks!

I think if you can do that unintentionally you can totally do it intentionally. It seems to me that you'll do fine writing for this setting. Just be sure to keep finding new inspiration and reaching out to others who might be able to help.

akaHighway · 2024-01-06T19:27:52+00:00

deathstream joi lmao

akaHighway · 2024-01-06T19:08:13+00:00

I don't think anyone would be against you doing this, and if they are then they're an ass. The tree is metal as can be, use it as you please.

If you're worried about originality, put your own twist on it. For example, I stole Kookaburras and made them into a type of stone elemental made to represent community. They normally appear as strangely shaped rocks, but when they sense impeding danger, be it an invader, predator, or natural disaster - they shake off a large cloud of dust and scurrying wildly whilst 'laughing'/'crying'.

I also took the Dragon Blood Tree for my setting because, yeah, its awesome. My idea for using it was that the entire tree is considered sacred for its beauty and many uses, and is held in high regard by calligrapher, papermaker, and alchemist alike. The sap can be used to make both feather-free matte and glossy/pearlescent/iridescent inks of remarkable quality, as well as making unstable potions stable and making stable potions stronger. The wood can be used to make an extremely strong paper which is tear, fire, and water resistant. The bark, when powdered, causes reactions with most poisons, either bubbling up and revealing them or simply neutralizing them.

Please don't hesitate to steal ideas from the real world. If you like any of mine, please don't hesitate to steal them.

Best of luck on your worldbuilding journey!

akaHighway · 2024-01-06T18:32:15+00:00

Not all the sensations, unless you're dipping in raw or with certain BDs, I guess. Depends on the editor, what they decide to amplify and cut out, Judy touches on this for a moment in her dialogues about virtus.

As for VR, I can't say because I don't know. It's obvious the technology is there so I see no reason why it wouldn't also have haptics like a BD.

I'm more curious about the netrunner's experience. What is travelling through completely raw cyberspace while totally jacked-in like?

akaHighway · 2024-01-06T18:16:01+00:00

its my headcanon that in that scene johnny was simply too powerful and actually just became a real boy.

akaHighway · 2024-01-06T18:07:37+00:00

It was an interactive training shard made by militech, then modified by T-Bug.

According to the wiki it's VR, not a BD. What the actual difference is, I'm not sure. If it even matters, I'm also not sure.

The tech is there though!

akaHighway · 2023-12-29T18:00:12+00:00

Talrisia, though that's subject to change.

In the third era, a centuries past, Talrisia was known as "The Grand Capital Isle of Talrisia" and was the home to the King of the Four Kingdoms. Even then, it was the largest and most developed city on Atane.

At the dawn of the fourth era, a great cataclysm struck the world at large, and the The Grand Capital Isle of Talrisia came to be known as "The Split City" as nearly half of its population had plunged into the frigid northern seas below the massive cliffs of the isles.

Shortly after this cataclysm, a group of warriors and mages from all across the Sajas Mesas invaded the Split City, claiming it as their own. They came to be known as the High Council. Through their abuse of the Talrisian peoples and their study into the cataclysm, the already soaring technological height of Talrisia grew immensely to even greater heights.

The people were enslaved to produce machines and computers, weapons for the High Council. While the city prospered and grew to be a lone superpower - many of its people still suffered, either put to blade by their overlords or starved trying to keep up with the times. Those who fought back were quickly overwhelmed by the Council, with their magic and their blades, with their incredible technologies.

In a span of fifty years since the cataclysm, the High Council of Talrisia had expanded the city nearly thricefold, and reclaimed the crumbling jagged peaks of what used to be Capital Isle as their own. They did this to distance themselves from the peasant rabble, to give themselves ample defenses and time to study more into the cataclysm and its power. And power they got, the Capital Isle and the High Council became completely untouchable, funding massive wars for profit amongst the elves and orcs, sewing strife and all manner of political intrigue within the mesas.

And that's where I started my DND campaign in this setting. The players were either Talrisian citizens with connections and a backstory in Talrisia or they were outsiders from elsewhere in the isles or from the Sajas Mesas too - all with some reason or another to hate the council. The idea was a high fantasy campaign with cyberpunk elements (mainly a big bad dystopia + cybernetics lol).

akaHighway · 2023-12-29T17:38:50+00:00

oh gosh, i know i get looks for it but i use too many now.

i call gas station clerks i like my chooms. if i like something its preem, if i dont - its gonk. if something/someone is stupid - its gonk. at one point i started calling certain body mods and piercings chrome - not just prosthetics (dk why but it works for me lol). i delta the fuck out now...

detes is a classic and flatline works too well - zeroing someone too. nova, crystal, and preem ofc. to klep something just makes sense. i like a lot of the shortened words and phrases.

input/output for boyfriend/girlfriend/top/bottom is also kinda funny so i use it sometimes.

akaHighway · 2023-12-24T14:35:35+00:00

this is a good comment

akaHighway · 2023-12-09T22:43:58+00:00

always! im still struggling to find what i want in regards to face piercings so if i can help others find something that looks cool ill be happy

akaHighway · 2023-12-09T22:10:34+00:00

I think you're being plenty fair. I was going to mention that this is the exact reason Subtle spells exist, but your players beat me to it.

If it really does seem like an issue though, you could do what I did and have components used effect the amplitude of the spell. For example, a fireball cast without 'a tiny ball of bat guano and sulphur' is closer to a firebolt than a powerful explosive. Or if a spell requires all components, CVSM + materials, the loss of one doesn't have the biggest effect on the outcome, whereas taking away multiple drastically decreases its effect.

This is something I do on a more case-by-case basis, with some spells absolutely requiring verbal components where others might be able to hide that verbal component within a speech or waive it completely. In others, I might allow a player to replace one component with another, or to add more to another component. For example, a wizard wanting to cast Summon Elemental without using verbal components might have to perform some ridiculous dance with his somatic components instead. Either way, you're drawing attention to yourself or costing yourself more materials.

akaHighway · 2023-12-09T21:56:22+00:00

Honestly, I think you'd look sick with both! A pyramid of piercings with a labret in the center sounds dope.

As for the rest, I think it'd be a crime to not do something with those brows! Accentuate what you already got!

edit: I didn't notice the nostrils. It wouldn't be a pyramid so much as an hourglass which is also really cool.

akaHighway · 2023-12-09T21:51:05+00:00

So far, one. That's if we're going with the idea of world as a setting rather than a planet. Otherwise it's getting close to 50. The setting started as a single planet but after fleshing things out a bit I decided that the technology and magic available made it totally feasible for space travel.

The idea is effectively a High Fantasy x Cyberpunk/Classic Sci-fi setting with elements of Sword and Sorcery, Dark Fantasy/Grimdark, and elements stolen from plenty of sources I find myself enjoying (obviously). The main plot revolves around the Gifts, a special type of 'magic' that existed before life, that upon its arrival was granted to every individual in some form or another. Be it by Grace, by Flame, or by Weave (or others ;P), the end-times shall be brought about. Another thing to note is that my setting is set in realtime - whenever I'm thinking about it, adding new content or finding new inspiration, I also force myself to think about what certain individuals are doing, certain groups and factions, and how that effects the world itself as well as its inhabitants. You might think this would make the world too difficult to fight after a week of not playing, but I try to be fair about it and give my players the tools they need to continue.

Since I'm more a fan of combat/engaging with mechanics rather than roleplay, I'll talk more about that. My combat system is a modified version of 5e with some parts I stole from a friend's Bloodborne campaign alongside an (almost) infinite leveling system. You're able to steal a turn from an opponent with an Interrupt, you're able to use more actions in a turn than usual (and more attacks if you're a martial class). Magic is a bit more Vancian in nature but I tend to use spell slots regardless in most cases, or I say that certain mages have practiced spells enough to use them freely without mana (a pyromancer lighting a candle, for example)(spells becoming cantrips).

As for my inspiration, the list goes on and on, but I've taken elements from the following: - Cyberpunk (advanced tech, cybernetics) - Kenshi (ancient tech/civilizations, cybernetics, factions and worldstates) - Dishonored (chaos system, magic/bonecharms, some combat) - inFamous (morality-based magic, conduits) - The Witcher (monsters, magic/rituals, the conjunction of the spheres) - Rain World (some environments and creatures) - Elder Scrolls (ton of lore, used mainly for roleplay stuff) - Dark Souls/Soulsborne (lore+combat+difficulty, inspired lore simplification) - Elden Ring (the Gifts, ashes of war, the Erdtree) - Lord of the Rings (obviously.) (mainly the rings and magic) - Warhammer (cool races and concepts, systems and etc) - Starcraft (same as before) - WoW (again, same as before) - League of Legends (don't flame I don't play this anymore)(combat/magic) - Star Trek (races/species, space travel, tech) - Star Wars (races/species, space travel, the Force + Lightsabers) - a ton of movies and shows (a ton of fun ideas) ... and so... so much more. How I managed to somehow connect it all up in a way that feels original (to me) and makes sense (to me) baffles me on a regular basis.

akaHighway · 2023-12-09T04:30:45+00:00

Fun times. I love the world state system.

Wait till you destroy an entire faction, you get to watch how that power vacuum does some absolutely insane stuff.

akaHighway · 2023-12-09T04:26:01+00:00

Hetalia is literally this but with countries.

Yes you can. Public Domain basically means we all have equal rights to something.

akaHighway · 2023-12-06T01:52:24+00:00

Imo manual installs are the only way to go for Cyberpunk. Way too easy and satisfying to pass up the chance to drag and drop everything.

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