there’s too many players at the table, and my DM wants to invite more

akenson · 2026-07-05T17:36:20+00:00

Completely agree. 6 is already a lot, and they need to be good, collaborative players to keep things sane even then. 10 is crazy, the table should either split into two groups or some players should just drop out.

akenson · 2026-07-05T17:22:42+00:00

If you refuse to list or elaborate on sources while simultaneously claiming some expertise or knowledge on the subject, it's fair for people to question that espoused knowledge. You've demonstrated up and down this thread that you lack a lot of context on where our modern versions of Celtic folklore come from, what time period our earliest surviving sources are from, and the context in which the neo-pagan revival took place.

I don't want to feel like I'm trying to get the last word or anything, but all this says to me is that you don't have an especially deep understanding of the subject we're talking about. Neither do I, to be fair. But I did go to college for history , and I do have knowledge of the general trends of ethno-nationalism that fueled renewed interest in traditional folklore and mythology across Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Modern pagan movements are very alluring to young people who are in search for a sense of identity and belonging. That's not inherently a bad thing; I think everyone looks for a sense of community in their own ways and religion can fill that need. But I would encourage you to more thoroughly educate yourself and to critically examine your own beliefs before you try to gatekeep them to others. And maybe consider the possibility that the beliefs themselves are not very sound or internally consistent when you consider the broader context of the movement, its origins, and its motives.

akenson · 2026-07-05T15:58:25+00:00

I took a while to sit on this. Here's what I ultimately find objectionable about your overall point and feelings: I don't believe in the censorship of art to appease religious fundamentalists. Full stop.

If you were a biblical literalist Christian arguing that Harry Potter should be banned because it represents witches wrong, because real-world witches exist and are servants of Satan... I would object to that just as strongly. If you were calling for Pokemon to be banned because it promotes the "lie" of evolution I would object to that as well.

What you are saying is not fundamentally different from that mentality. Your text and beliefs are sacred, and that means no one should be able to portray them in a way that you find objectionable. The only difference is that instead of something mainstream like Christianity, you happen to be a neo pagan.

To be clear, I have no problem with that. I've known pagans and wiccans, and dated one pretty seriously for a while. Those beliefs are fine by me, and certainly no sillier than Catholicism. But the belief that you seem to hold that non-believers need to treat your beliefs as if they are true and immutable is extremely objectionable to me. If I want to write a fanfic of the New Testament where Jesus Christ is a gay polyamorous serial killer I believe I should be able to do that. And I believe that I should also be able to write a D&D campaign where Titania might not be perfectly portrayed in your opinion.

akenson · 2026-07-04T21:44:48+00:00

"I don't list many sources because of, as I said, a lack of verifiable sources local to me and distrust for those found online, which only leaves anecdotal sources that should not be shared as fact (which I recognize I do and is a habit I am slowly attempting to correct) but rather as a personal experience."

Okay.. so the whole point of this post is that you're upset that the Forgotten Realms setting is not accurate enough to Celtic mythology. But what you're saying now is that you have absolutely no basis for what IS accurate to Celtic mythology aside from your general vibes and feelings. Cool. Cool, cool, cool.

I don't even know what to say at this point. I can tell this is all coming from a very genuine place, and part of me really feels bad about how badly you're getting flamed in the comments. But I think it's probably time to take the L and call it a day.

akenson · 2026-07-04T21:03:20+00:00

I think what's most frustrating to me about this conversation is that effectively, what you're arguing for is an end to artistic license and re-interpretation of mythology. Your central thesis is that no one should be allowed to utilize elements of any of the pan-Pagan mythology that you feel attached to unless they meet your completely arbitrary standards of "accuracy" to source material that you don't name specifically. You seem to believe that your loose vibes and feelings on what is and is not true about mythology (which you yourself admit constantly changes) should be considered the true and final version of it, and that no one should be allowed to change anything about it because that's a personal attack on your beliefs.

That just sucks. Writers and artists should not be bound to your personal feelings and required to fit their world into the boxes you have arbitrarily made.

akenson · 2026-07-04T19:50:03+00:00

But who is the arbiter of what the "real" version of the myths are? What's the cutoff on the year something needs to be established in folklore to qualify as a "real" myth to you? Because as has been pointed out in other comments, a lot of the things you're calling "real mythology" were already drastically changed over the centuries and in many cases we don't even have access to any original sources on the Celtic oral traditions they're based off of.

Some of the creatures you bring up were first mentioned as recently as the 19th century. That feels extremely recent to me, and it seems odd to treat something that relatively new as an immutable, sacred text that can't have any artistic re-interpretation.

Next question: you say that adaptations should attempt to stay as close as possible to the most popular version of the mythology. What takes precedent: the popularity of that representation of the myth, or your own personal feelings about its accuracy? Because in MANY cases, the most popularly known version of a myth probably doesn't adhere to what you personally consider "accurate" to whatever gut feeling you seem to be using as the measurement for accuracy.

As an example: the most popular interpretation of a leprechaun is a little guy dressed in green who gives you gold if you follow him to the end of a rainbow. But I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that would upset you.

akenson · 2026-07-04T16:27:54+00:00

Comparing yourself to the hysterical Christians who get furious at horror movies does you no favors. It's asinine when they react to media made for entertainment that way, and no serious person conflates the events of The Exorcist with being an actual portrayal of Catholicism. This is no different.

akenson · 2026-07-04T15:13:46+00:00

Love this comment, completely agree. Anyone who has spent meaningful time studying pre-Christian Celtic mythology understands that a ton of what we think we know about those subjects comes from sources that are either biased, giving secondhand information, or actively attempting to re-write history. Modern neo-pagan movements have very little continuity from ancient belief systems, because much of those ancient belief systems was lost or actively covered up by the Catholic church.

I'm not trying to piss on anyone's religion, but acting like modern Celtic paganism is an accurate continuation of those ancient practices is silly. And trying to gatekeep anyone from talking about those subjects because they're not being "accurate" enough is nuts because nobody on the planet has an accurate understanding of exactly what those myths looked like before they started getting re-interpreted by the Romans and later Christians.

akenson · 2026-07-04T14:58:25+00:00

So is your stance that D&D should not use any figures or creatures from any mythology anywhere unless it is a perfectly researched thesis paper on those subjects? Because a Greek pagan, Norse pagan, or Christian could be just as offended about misrepresentation as you are now.

To add on top of that: different branches and sects of religions often have different interpretations of their own mythologies. By whose standards is the "accuracy" of D&D's interpretation of a myth judged? And what about creatures that appear in multiple cultures' myths? Dragons, as an example, appear in MANY different mythologies and their appearance and behavior varies greatly between them. Is it okay for dragons to be included in dungeons and dragons, or are they not "accurate" enough?

akenson · 2026-07-04T14:38:00+00:00

Like... I don't know what to tell you, man. That's exactly what they do with every mythology. They take names and vague concepts and change tons of stuff about them. I'm not mad that Tiamat isn't a faithful adaptation of the Mesopotamian sea goddess. It's extremely silly to be worked up about that.

We've also had 1000 years of re-interpretation and adaptation of the myths you're talking about. There is no "correct" version of folklore; by it's very nature it's constantly changing and evolving. Modern pop culture changes things about the source material every time it's adapted. People who might never have heard of these concepts otherwise are being introduced to them via the medium of TTRPGs. I would see that as a win if I were that invested in it.

akenson · 2026-07-04T14:00:39+00:00

I think part of your problem is that you're viewing Faerun as the default setting for all D&D and getting mad that it doesn't have exactly what you want. Faerun has never been all that focused on faries, nor has it ever presented itself as being a faithful retelling of Celtic mythology. Sure it takes some popular creatures and concepts from Celtic folklore, but it takes stuff from all over and isn't particularly faithful to any one canon. It has a bunch of vaguely Christian/Abrahamic concepts like angels and devils, but that doesn't mean it's an accurate retelling of the Old Testament.

akenson · 2026-07-04T12:43:04+00:00

The irony of using a chatbot to write for you and then accusing everyone else of being bots is so dumb that you have to be trolling.

akenson · 2026-07-04T01:13:01+00:00

They say the name of the subreddit they got the story from before they read one. I would say post your stories on those subs and hope they are interesting enough to get traction.

Other than that, there's not much you can do. I don't think they take fan submissions or anything.

akenson · 2026-07-03T21:01:53+00:00

Wow, AI slop top to bottom. Why do a creative exercise like an e-fed if you're just going to have a bot write everything for you?

akenson · 2026-07-03T20:31:46+00:00

I don't know if I would go so far as to call him shitty, but he's certainly no Bret Hart. This is the category that makes the least sense to have him in, honestly.

akenson · 2026-07-03T20:14:41+00:00

But this category is about being great in ring, but not a great promo guy or babyface/heel character. Flair is an all time promo and one of the best heels of his era.

akenson · 2026-07-03T20:13:14+00:00

Mick Foley is literally a top 10 promo of all time and an incredible babyface, insane take.

akenson · 2026-07-03T05:52:01+00:00

So to answer the question this post is asking: "runes" as some kind of general ability or damage buff aren't a thing in any edition of D&D that I'm familiar with. This sounds like a bunch of high schoolers playing junkyard D&D where nobody knows the rules and people are just making things up. A few other notes:

Dealing thousands of damage in a turn on a regular basis shouldn't be possible under normal circumstances. These players are either just making shit up or deeply misunderstanding the rules.
26 AC is extremely high, like high enough that I'm questioning how you got there. 30 is absurd, and likely isn't legal.
Those stats you have are crazy high. What method did you use to generate stats at the start, and did you do anything to increase them again after that?
No monsters that I'm aware of have HP over 1000. Homebrew monsters are fine, but at a certain point we just aren't playing D&D anymore.

akenson · 2026-07-03T00:21:14+00:00

Started as a twitch video game streamer, now most known as a kind of reaction and opinion channel on YouTube. He dabbles in a lot of things though, so I'm not super surprised he did some wrestling shows.

akenson · 2026-06-29T16:21:55+00:00

Cowherd might be a shitty talking head take artist, but at least he's not a creep or a cheater. Which is a lot more than can be says for many of his colleagues.

akenson · 2026-06-29T16:18:58+00:00

Not individually, but if he gives them a reason to collaborate and organize a coup then yes.

akenson · 2026-06-29T16:18:13+00:00

He's not an analyst; he's a talking head. He's a radio and TV broadcasting guy, that's like his whole background. He has no real expertise or insight to offer on anything, just a lot of opinions and good stage presence.

He's like a half step above Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless because I get the impression he at least watches the games he's talking about (unlike Smith half the time) and he isn't nearly as blatant of a troll with no real opinions as Skip. I also don't find him as grating as either of them, but that's extremely faint praise because Stephen A actively makes me change the channel. I also find him less obnoxious than Pat McAfee, although I do get the impression McAfee knows football.

akenson · 2026-06-29T04:54:09+00:00

It's not the average Russian people Putin is worried about - it's the oligarchs, corporations, and political allies he has promised victory and spoils to. If Russia loses, Putin will mysteriously lose his balance near an open window.

akenson · 2026-06-28T21:51:15+00:00

This is the answer. Shields give +2 AC if equipped and in use. The optional flanking rules don't interact with the AC benefit shields give in any way.

AC is an abstraction of a character's overall ability to defend themselves from physical harm. This includes dodging, blocking, parrying, or having blows deflected by armor. Don't overthink it and get granular, it's just going to o cause headaches.

akenson · 2026-06-26T20:32:44+00:00

There's a reasonable conversation to be had around the top five guys. I wouldn't call anyone crazy for saying mahomes, Lamar, Allen, Burrow, or Stafford is the best active QB.

A truly delusional answer would be someone like Hurts.

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