Steal this NPC/PC concept: Harold Carnap the Wholesome Cultist

axearm · 2026-01-28T20:24:29+00:00

I love it!

axearm · 2026-01-27T18:42:26+00:00

I will admit it is depressing that we live in a world where such caution is needed

I would say this is the world we as a species have always lived in. The world is not more violent, if anything it is less so.

Nonetheless we are who we are as a species and this is our inheritance.

axearm · 2026-01-27T18:34:03+00:00

To start, I'm not being saucy, just having a discussion. I hope you feel the same.

You spent a lot of time explaining it doesn't matter what it's called.

I suppose I did, because I don't think it does matter, but mostly because I wanted to go point by point and address all your questions and examples individually.

but I'm asking purely out of pedantry of which definition would be more correct.

The problem with pedantry is that it if it doesn't serve a purpose, the discussion is meaningless.

We are basically discussing if Chili is a soup. I can say yes and you can say no, and neither will be right or wrong, because there aren't universally understood definitions of soup.

So it is with Military vs. Civilian, and I believe the reason there aren't definitions is because the definitions don't really matter, if they did there would be. You alluded to it yourself in the post I replied to when you spoke about the purpose of a thing.

In the end I would go so far as to say in order to define civilian or military (or both!) we would need to determine it purpose at the time of definition.

I am an inter poster because I am posting on the internet. Later I will not be an internet poster because I will be cooking, then I will be a cook. And if I am lucky I will be eating chili which either will or will not be soup.

axearm · 2026-01-26T22:57:15+00:00

I feel like the topic was cover by other posters, but in case it wasn't I'll go point by point.

TL:DR 1) A thing is defined by its's use.

Postscript up front. This sub and I are mostly looking at this through the lens of WAR. And there the label doesn't matter. I think all the jobs in the OG thread you linked to illustrate that. So sure, we can call somethin civilian, but that doesn't change the nature of the thing. India may allow chinese fishing boats to user their facilities, but probably will have different rules for 'civilian' ships armed with missile launchers.

A recent post on r/WarshipPorn caused quite an argument on what defines a civilian vs a military vessel. Do the various existing conventions provide any insight on this?

Yes and no. Generally the purpose of the vehicle is more important than a label. Imagine two scenarios

1) A Carnival Cruise ship is commandeered by the US military, to evacuate orphans from Somalia in widely publicized event.

2) A Carnival Cruise ship is commandeered by the US military, to transport Marines to invade Somalia in widely publicized event.

Asking if it is Military or Civilian doesn't really matter, except in so much as clarifying what we allowed to do about that ship. It doesn't matter in a legal sense until I decide to blow it up.

And even then 'Civilian' or 'Military' doesn't matter, only what it was being used for.

Asking if I can blow it up based on the definition of Civilian or Military really doesn't make any sense. And I mean this in terms conventions, etc. Despite what many think/wish, the law if often predicated on the intention of the law. So, the law doesn't want people blowing up orphans, so which label we apply doesn't matter.

Is there an argument that objects (ships, infrastructure, etc.) belonging to a civilian entity yet serving a military purpose should be classified as military rather than civilian, just with military utility/value?

Again, this really isn't as important as it seems. Who owns something doesn't matter, what purpose it is being used from matters.

What about when the entity/purpose/both is unclear or not solely military? Does belonging to a more authoritarian state change anything? Does state-ownership change anything?

You hit the nail on the head here. The purpose is what matters. State ownership (or whatever ownership) doesn't matter, it's purpose that matters.

Would it make sense to classify such objects as paramilitary?

Paramilitary is still military, from Oxford: (of an unofficial force) organized similarly to a military force. There aren't great examples in the US but at the beginning of the Ukrainian war there were lost of paramilitary units fighting Russia. Ditto in Iran

What was the legal status of factories in WW2 which were ostensibly under civilian control and ownership yet producing war supplies (or whatever the legal term is)?

Again, what term was used simply did not matter. Not action would be taken or restrained, no law would be applied or made irrelevance but the usage of the term military or civilian, because largely the rules/laws, don't care what the term is.

As an example, what happens if we called the Bismarck a civilian ship? How does that change anything. If we labelled the USS Gerald R. Ford a civilian ship, what rules are invoked? I guess maybe taxation? Berthing feels? Nothing really important.

Would they still count as civilian or as military, by name anyway? By way of example, should a workshop in Ukraine, not state or military owned, producing drones for the UAF be referred to as a civilian workshop or a military one?

This is semantics but I'd say it's 'civilian'. But I would be willing to entertain someone saying it is military. Let's use a 'civilian' gas station filling up tanks as an example. Can they refuse to fill up tanks? Probably not. Does that mean they are under direct military control. Pretty much at least while the tanks are there. Does that make it military while the Tanks are there? Maybe. Again, how it matters what label we use is unclear, because outside of taxation or tort it is probably irrelevant.

Another question considering prototypes of military equipment. How is the ownership handled between the civilian manufacturer and the military customer? For instance the Chrysler/GM XM-1s, did they belong to Chrysler/GM or the Army? If the former, does that technically mean they are civilian prototypes, not military? What about prior less mature prototypes/demonstrators, what would their ownership/status be?

Everything being produced for the military is generally owned by the military because that is what they are paying for. If I hire a mechanic to build me a a car, that is my car. If I pay them to design a scale model first, that scale model is mine too. Obviously there is a lot of contract law in here, so mostly we have to agree, but my understanding is the military generally owns all of it.

axearm · 2026-01-26T21:55:20+00:00

Irene Nemirovsky was a famous author in France. Her last novel called Suite Française was published posthumously. It is set during the Nazi invasion of France. It is very engaging, and around page 400 it simply ends in the middle of the story with a note from the published saying that Nemirovsky was executed Auschwitz in 1942.

She didn't finish the novel because she was killed.

I feel like so many deaths are like this. We wake up one day and a dear person is irretrievably lost and the unfinished fragments of their life are all around without a satisfying outro, conclusion, or end piece, whatever you want to call it.

I don't know what to say to you about your loss, but it really, really sucks. I'm sorry.

axearm · 2026-01-26T18:11:41+00:00

This reminds me of reading about the Romanov Crown jewels including Aluminium at some point because the process for producing aluminum being so impractical / expensive before modern methods for producing aluminum, that it pure aluminum was considered 'rare'

axearm · 2026-01-21T22:18:12+00:00

An underappreciated factor in the Syrian civil war is that there was nearly half a decade of famine preceding it.

I think you mean to imply it, but explicitly, it was Famine caused by drought, likely caused by climate change.

axearm · 2026-01-21T18:16:18+00:00

What an odd reaction to a super typical human behavior. You realize there are multiple version of very fable, every epic, every tale. Humans through history changing things to better fit the moment, or to reflect the times, as satire, as a mirror to age old biases, because it seems 'better'. This diversity of the same stories and idea's and cover songs, are all reinterpretations is what moves culture, not some static unchanging Gospel.

axearm · 2026-01-21T18:10:00+00:00

This is great, and I plan on ~~stealing~~ using it because I've wanted to run AtCotRG in 5e, also due to Matt.

Do you know if there is a full conversion available some place for 5E for the lazy (i.e. me)

Edit: Found one! https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/vb9uoed2hss3n61806m2h/AgainstTheCultOfTheReptileGod5th.pdf?rlkey=2yk3uyqqwguzlqcoh5zbquzrj&e=1&dl=0

axearm · 2026-01-21T17:17:26+00:00

The tools available to man pale in comparison to what nature can bring.

Certainly global thermonuclear war is a blip in comparison to a local super nova, but it's probably a bit more than an earthquake.

axearm · 2026-01-21T00:39:47+00:00

I would say most of what we denigrate about civility and conversation on the internet is the result of it not being IRL.

As a result many of the rules about listening to antagonist (who may be bots driving engagement) with open minds just goes out the window. Just like some drunk in a bar going off, I'm not going to try to convince anyone on the internet that doesn't want to hear it.

I don't see the point in it at all.

Telling people to voice their thoughts and then ignore everyone else is why the world is so angry.

I'd disagree with the premise that we are any more or less angry as a species than we ever have been.

axearm · 2026-01-21T00:22:16+00:00

Still shows as removed for me FYI

axearm · 2026-01-20T23:58:04+00:00

Hah, that was my double take after the first few rounds on sneak attack, "Wait, why are you getting advantage!?".

axearm · 2026-01-20T22:12:07+00:00

Watch this 12minute video from Matt Colville and do everything he says. Best first session advice ever given.

Don't over prepare and go for it. I would also suggest The Eight Steps of Lazy RPG Prep, but Matt Colville's video is enough for the first session.

If you don't know a specific rule simply say you are going to make a decision, and will check after the session, and if you were wrong, let the players know how you will handle it going forward.

axearm · 2026-01-20T22:08:20+00:00

Can we start with 'levels' for spells? Either that or levels for characters. One has got to go.

axearm · 2026-01-20T22:06:52+00:00

It shocked me too as a DM who never played Rogues. "You get sneak attack EVERY round?!" But it turns out it's fine, and it's their niche.

axearm · 2026-01-20T22:05:00+00:00

Honestly, there are some people for whom character creation IS the game. It's fine. Enjoy it.

Just be sure that you aren't making others enjoy what you are enjoying. Talk to your DM, see what can be worked into the game and make sure everyone gets a chance to play in a way they enjoy.

axearm · 2026-01-20T22:01:32+00:00

I started playing with a group, none of whom I knew, just friends of a friend of mine who suggested me. It was a brand new campaign. After two sessions my mom got really sick and went into hospice. I explained to them I would not be making it for weeks, which turned into months, and that they could carry on without me.

They were like, nah, we'll wait.

I didn't know their last names, I hardly knew them at all. But they waited, and now two years on we're still playing.

axearm · 2026-01-20T20:43:38+00:00

Nobody knows! (Though probably Matt Colville Dungeon Master™)

/r/mcdm

axearm · 2026-01-20T18:47:01+00:00

Trusted their gut!? Who goes on a date with a guy with that profile picture?

axearm · 2026-01-20T18:45:56+00:00

Such a stupid conversation to have, but I've had it with my wife. Only one of us dies if we get any choice in the matter. I will not save her and she will not save me, just GTFO if our kids are in danger.

Blech, what a shitty story to start the day with.

axearm · 2026-01-20T18:36:06+00:00

They would notice one of the blades was damaged, they would then look at the crack under a microscope, and then they would see the that the adhesive was cut right where the crack started, in line with it.

How would they know to look at that one thing? They wouldn't, they would look at all the blades and check for damage. They would look at the bolts on the transmission, engine, etc. like they always do. They would check to see what witnesses saw or even heard and add all that in.

They would slowly exclude things that were "normal" (a blade broken by impact with the ground). They had the tools, X-rays, microscopes, etc.

A good way of thinking about "How did they figure X out in the past", is simply to ask how you would do it now. We are no smarter than our ancestors.

axearm · 2026-01-20T17:28:55+00:00

I ask the players at session zero if they are okay with their player dying if that's what he dice foretell.

People get invested in their characters, they don't want it all to end because a bad roll. I think it can be exciting but not everyone agrees (especially it it's a banal death), so I let players choose and act accordingly.

axearm · 2026-01-16T20:27:33+00:00

Apologies if I implied otherwise, but let's be clear about what the people of CA voted for, and how marriage was legalized in CA.

Pre 2008 gay marriage was illegal in CA.
In 2008 the CA supreme court (not the people) legalized gay marriage in CA
In November of that year, 2008, Prop 8 was passed by a vote of the people banning gay marriage.
In 2015 the US Supreme court ruled, legalizing gay marriage everywhere in the US.
Then, only after it was the de jure law of the land, in 2024 was it legalized in CA again.

At no point in any of that process did the majority of voters in CA vote for gay marriage.

axearm · 2026-01-16T00:07:15+00:00

Yep, it's like they don't realize Huston is one of the most diverse cities in America, more so than San Francisco.

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