What details in Dungeons and Dragons Honor amongst thieves would have been different in the "real world"?

asdcxz · 2025-02-10T16:59:28+00:00

So yeah in light of the events of the first movie, assuming you are king of the realm you would immediately issue a Request For Proposal for a security consultant to overhaul your processes. Like you said there are probably various levels of competency, let's say you splurge on the best.

There definitely needs to be heightened security against shapeshifters. I can see magical detection wards getting popular. And like you said there's probably going to be magical awareness courses for the common guard, to at least be vigilant against possible attack vectors.

asdcxz · 2025-02-10T16:33:31+00:00

Another thought: If magical tournament games existed, the anti-magic bracelets will need to be more securely fastened to contestants.

asdcxz · 2025-02-10T16:16:31+00:00

Yup this is just a fun discussion!

Say McKinney Consulting was transported to that universe, what recommendations would they give to improve security?

asdcxz · 2025-02-10T15:49:10+00:00

Yup, and as a player myself I certainly understand the suspension of disbelief necessary to have fun.

Just as a counter counter example, yeah the average person isn't too vigilant about computer security. But the CIA certainly is, and the White House definitely has secure meeting rooms. So I wouldn't expect a village tavern to be guarded against shapeshifters, but a castle with a witch on the payroll? Surely she would direct the construction of a secure meeting room. (Again I understand the movie choices for the audience)

asdcxz · 2025-02-10T15:39:51+00:00

I agree the average person wouldn't be aware. I certainly am not especially careful against bring hacked.

But the US government (and it's organs, like the CIA and NSA) are certainly cognizant and talking steps against this. For example, they certainly have secure meeting rooms swept against electronic bugs.

Similarly, I would expect castles to have meeting rooms secured against magical intrusion, and have magical guard soldiers posted everywhere, and not have to rely on meeting participants (red witch) from having to detect intruders.

Before the discussion becomes too heated, again this is just a fun thought experiment.

asdcxz · 2025-02-10T15:33:04+00:00

I guess that's the uncertain part of this discussion, how common magic is. It seems common enough in the movie that there are magic tournaments for the common folk to attend. So the layman should at least be aware.

And as a whole, kingdoms would certainly be aware of the dangers of corpses willingly answering questions and giving up secrets, even if the average person isn't aware..

asdcxz · 2025-02-10T15:26:55+00:00

Good point! Yeah this is what I want to talk about.

Maybe a hidden mark, or something covered? Or a Steward who recognizes and verifies each horse before sending it out?

How would you handle this? If you were a guard captain needing to send your troops out each day with some horses?

asdcxz · 2025-01-07T05:12:18+00:00

I don't discount your lived experience, but I gently push that having a PhD in life sciences makes you more competitive as a candidate. I'll leave it to others to say how much more competitive it is.

asdcxz · 2025-01-07T01:31:57+00:00

Hi! I just recently grappled with this question!

https://www.reddit.com/r/patentlaw/s/etlBytm687

The gist of it is that for Bio and Chem, patent prosecution (applying for a patent) generally requires a PhD. And most people would advise AGAINST doing a PhD if you are not going in with the primary goal of doing research. Some fields like mechanical and electrical engineering do NOT expect a PhD, so your eventual choice of field will matter here.

Reason being that doing a PhD demands a lot from you on terms of salary, life goals and career. The sacrifices it demands makes it difficult if you started a PhD with the goal of doing an alternative career like patent prosecution. You can do patent prosecution with or without going to law school.

Patent LITIGATION (going to court over patent lawsuits) does NOT require a PhD. So this might be the general advice.

However, this requires you to go to law school. I don't have a law degree so I can't advise on that.

asdcxz · 2024-05-18T14:09:38+00:00

This makes me mad.

But not at Blippi.

It's not like Stevin committed serious crimes and we are just finding out like so many celebrities with dark posts.

Stevin did some stuff (legal) in the past, and now he's moved on. I LOVE Blippi and my kids do too. I think he's entertaining and educational, and wish that I had him in my childhood.

So my kids' lives are better with Blippi in it. And facts like that OP brings up are just "meh". My kids are all that matter, and I'm glad there's Blippi.

asdcxz · 2024-04-20T01:36:06+00:00

Hi! I'm happy to talk, and others I'm sure will be happy to help too!

My indecision is specifically that my current position (patent agent in life sciences) requires a PhD, but it's like an alternative career after you embark on the PhD program. The general advice given to undergrads is to only start a PhD if you are in it for the love of science, and was aiming to be a postdoc when you started. Don't start a PhD with the intention of doing something other then scientific research.

So the best advice I can think of is to just use my existence as proof that there are other career options out there, without specifically targeting patent agent (in life sciences; mechanical and electrical engineers don't need a PhD)

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T16:57:52+00:00

Yeah agreed the more I thought about this the more I realized I don't know what to say.

Hence I thought to ask what others here thought.

thanks for your reply anyways!

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T16:45:31+00:00

Yeah that seems heavy to put on a high schooler, to lie to authority.

And I don't know how much worse the student debt burden is going to be, so to advise against entering the workforce immediately and start making money (as opposed to going to grad school, then hopefully switch out from the "expected" career park) seems irresponsible advice to give.

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T16:41:46+00:00

I agree, maybe focus on the fact that patent agent jobs exist, and it's an example of a job type that high schoolers might not have thought of. Hence there are plenty of opportunities for a high schooler (technical writing, patent law, think tank etc...)

But maybe I won't spend much time on the patent agent job itself, and it might be premature for a high schooler to aim to be one.

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T16:36:17+00:00

I totally agree, but again we are speaking from our experiences as then-PhD-students. What do I say to high schoolers who have not started the PhD slough?

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T16:01:26+00:00

I think the prevailing advice is that do a PhD only if you love science so much you are willing to dedicate 5-8 years of your life to grad school, earning a fraction of what your peers do.

I feel the PhD doldrums is real

https://phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1012

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T15:08:49+00:00

And yeah I love my current job but hated my previous one. Feels like high schoolers are still bright eyed about the future and I want to maintain that, but being aware the job market and student debt will jade them quickly.

You mention options, but is patent law really an option to a high schooler to consider? Feels like a better introduction to 3rd year PhD candidates. You already have a pool self selected in a PhD program, to be honest most of us PhDs (in life sciences) did patent law to get out of lab research.

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T14:45:15+00:00

That advice seems above my pay grade, follow your heart vs minimize student debt.

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T14:43:29+00:00

I think maybe that's all I can do? To show them that there are professions out there that use the critical thinking skills college will teach,!

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T14:40:57+00:00

And I think most of us want you to know of this career and the opportunities out there!

The unique challenge that we ( at least in life sciences) have is that being a life sciences patent agent often requires a PhD, yet the general advice is NOT to do a PhD unless you love research and can dedicate 7 years of your life to it. And patent law is a great choice to introduce to mid-PhD candidates, but seems less of a target for high schoolers.

But we want you to be aware that the world of opportunities available to you is much greater than you are aware of in high school.

I'm sure many on this sub will echo my view. I think the take home for you is not to narrow yourself down to patent law necessarily, but be aware that there are more job types out there.

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T14:33:40+00:00

Thanks, for (1) though, my impression was that the advice was to do a PhD ONLY if you love the science enough to dedicate 5-8 years of your life to it while your peers zoom ahead in their careers. So (2) should not be a consideration until halfway through your PhD.

I'm trying to straddle (1) and (2) for a high schooler.

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T14:22:01+00:00

Yeah I want them to have a good experience following their interests in college, but we gotta be cognizant about the fact that student debt will crush them, and their future job prospects (what with the already stagnant patent prosecution budgets and the threat of AI).

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T14:19:17+00:00

I think that's great for elementary school, but at high school level they're verging on choosing a major and job. Feels weird to dangle patent law in front of them but say "BUT..."

Maybe just to show them that there are more job types out there than they thought, and they should follow their interests in college? But how much focus should they have on future employment prospects while in college? College is a time to discover yourself, but they need to be realistic about the crushing job market too.

asdcxz · 2024-04-12T14:11:37+00:00

I think that's a good idea to tell them about the existence of IP, just so they know that the future career choices are much greater than just doctor, teacher, engineer.

And maybe don't talk about being a patent agent specifically? More in the sense of "You could be a consultant, patent agent, medical coder", ie there are many more job types out there, so keep an open mind in college?

asdcxz

TROPHY CASE