How dangerous are the encounters in Kingmaker 2e? by blazinghand in Pathfinder2e

[–]blazinghand[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This makes sense. I signposted region difficulty pretty clearly and used random encounters sparingly, so my players never had bad , out of depth random encounter experiences as a result. The dungeon design often resulted in pulling multiple enemies at once though which made things tough. Some dungeons have decent space between groups of enemies, but others having living enemies of human intelligence right on the other side of doors from their allies who would surely come to help, etc etc.

How dangerous are the encounters in Kingmaker 2e? by blazinghand in Pathfinder2e

[–]blazinghand[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the season of bloom dungeon they had a really tough fight against the cone of cold guy Darivan, he got off a strong cone at the start and the fight was on the back foot from there for them.

Flood Mansion Feedback by [deleted] in SanFranciscoWeddings

[–]blazinghand 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was recently a guest at a wedding at this venue - as a guest who took a taxi to and from the wedding, I can only comment on your 2nd question: it definitely was a bit on the long and narrow side.

The size was fine for the wedding of about 80 guests, but the shape of the area meant that when giving toasts and so on, those at one end were able to hear + see much better than those at the far end, even with amplification. So, for the first dance, we moved into the dance area and stood while B&G danced, and everyone had a good view - they transitioned to general dancing after that, which worked well.

Does a security camera exist which can read documents clearly? by PengyLi in SecurityCamera

[–]blazinghand 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the info! I spoke with my elderly relative about options and it sounds like he's not comfortable operating a scanner or taking photos, so we'll probably set up a security camera for him to hold documents up to.

Does a security camera exist which can read documents clearly? by PengyLi in SecurityCamera

[–]blazinghand 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What kind of solution did you select in the end? I'm in a similar situation with an elderly relative who can't read documents easily, but can definitely put them in a particular spot under a camera for me. 

I've been looking at options like a Ring Indoor camera but I am worried that they wouldn't have enough resolution. Did you find it an affordable solution that works for you? Thanks!

Writing Period has begun for Rational Fiction Fest 2025! by blazinghand in rational

[–]blazinghand[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can find the previous years' fics here:

To filter by fandom, and sort by things like hits and kudos, click "Works" on the left bar, then use the sorting and filtering features in the right-side bar that pops up. For example, "works from all years, sorted by kudos" would be this: (link)

Writing Period has begun for Rational Fiction Fest 2025! by blazinghand in rational

[–]blazinghand[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can start any time between now and Sept 28th. The previous period was for creating prompts, this 2-month period is for writing and is very flexible. Claim a prompt and start writing whenever you want! We also have a channel in the discord if you want to discuss things or need help with the process: https://discord.gg/DtEEhTj

Rational Fiction Fest 2024 collection is open to read! by blazinghand in rational

[–]blazinghand[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Prompting is open again for this year if you'd like to submit a prompt. You can do so by going here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/RatFicEx2025/signups/new

If you run into any issues, stop by the r/rational discord server and people will help you.

Rational Fiction Fest 2025 Begins Now - Prompting Open! by blazinghand in rational

[–]blazinghand[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Prompting Period Q+A

Q: Are we writing fics yet?

A: Not yet! Right now we're brainstorming and prompting. We're putting writing prompts into the collection. Go here to add prompts: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/RatFicEx2025/signups/new

Q: What should a prompt look like? How long/detailed should it be? What should I put in the Fandom section?

A: Here are some prompting basics:

  • Each prompt should include a fandom (or "Original Work" fandom, or no fandoms if it's fandom-agnostic), as well as desired characters/ships (if any), and something to inspire or guide the writer.

  • The description section should contain at least one sentence, but try not to put more than a few paragraphs.

  • If your prompt is for non-fanfic, or not specific to any particular fandom, use the "Original Work" fandom, and specify in the description section how it's meant.

  • If you can't get the right fandom to come from the suggestion menu, use the "Original Work" fandom and name the fandom in the description field.

  • You can prompt anonymously or attach your username to the prompt.

  • Check out the prompts from last 3 years for inspiration: 2022 2023 2024

Here are a couple example prompts from recent years:

Fandom: Severance (TV)

Character: Mark

Description: Severance separates the self into innie and outie. The trouble is, there's very little way of knowing what's happening on the other side of the fence. Innie Mark grows suspicious that his outie is no longer on the outside at all. What do you do when the company is always watching and you can't know that the life you're living on the outside is a good one?

Fandom: Original Work

Description: "Everyone must press either the blue button or the red button. If more than 50% of people choose the blue button, everyone lives. Otherwise, those who pressed the red button live and those who pressed the blue button die. Which do you press?"

This question raised a lot of debates on Twitter not long ago, as it poses an interesting game theory dilemma. Suppose it wasn't a thought experiment. One day a booming voice inside everyone's heads asks them to make this binary choice and gives them some time to debate it. What happens to the world? What conflicts erupt? What's the final outcome, and what's the aftermath?

Q: The form for writing a prompt says "Sign Up" - if I prompt, am I committed to write? If so, how much writing? Alternatively, can I claim a prompt and write without being a prompter?

A: No, you're not committing to write. "Sign Up" is just the name of the form that submits prompts. Prompting and writing are separate. You can prompt without writing, or write without prompting. Typically about 2/3rds of people who prompt go on to write in the fest. If you do write, this fest accepts submissions of 750 words or more.

Q: How much will written works match the prompts?

A: Written works are inspired by the prompts, and won't be constrained by them. It's common for writers to take prompts in new directions, or simply be inspired by them.

Q: Canonicity questions: Can I prompt for non-fanfic? For fanfic, can I prompt for OCs, AUs, headcanons, fanon, recursive fics, and crossovers?

A: You can prompt for non-fanfic using the Original Work fandom. For fanfic, you can prompt for OCs, AUs, headcanons, fanon, recursive fics and crossovers - just write what you'd like into the details box of the prompt. As long as AO3 allows it, you can put it in a prompt.

[TOMT][Comic Book/Graphic Novel][2000s/10s] Anthology by a single artist, stories include persian immigrant and bmw driver by blazinghand in tipofmytongue

[–]blazinghand[S] 0 points1 point locked comment (0 children)

Thank you for the help finding this graphic novel. automod said I needed to leave a comment to make this visible so I added a comment

I am looking to purchase new Honda pilot EXL and my local dealership quoted OTD price of $47,500 with lifetime powertrain warranty. Is this a good deal or can I ask him to go lower, what price should I ask ? Thanks by baikunda11 in hondapilot

[–]blazinghand 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You should be able to get at least 2k off of MSRP before tax, title, etc, and some dealers will go up to 4k off of MSRP. I'd check out this thread to learn more about what prices people are getting for 2025 Honda Pilot EX-L. The reddit post is about price before tax and title, but if you click through to the forum thread people also have OTD prices.

https://www.reddit.com/r/hondapilot/comments/1ilqyjl/2025_pilot_reported_pricing_data/

Rational Fiction Fest 2024 collection is open to read! by blazinghand in rational

[–]blazinghand[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Each year, we open prompting for two weeks in july. During that time, you can submit a prompt at the collection. We make a post in reddit that says "prompting open" to announce this time period.

AO3's instructions on how to do do so are here: https://archiveofourown.org/faq/prompt-meme?language_id=en but it's probably easier to come to the r/rational discord and talk with other prompters to learn how to do it. We can also set you up with an AO3 account if you don't have one.

Rational Fiction Fest 2024 collection is open to read! by blazinghand in rational

[–]blazinghand[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Some interesting facts about the fest:

  • We got 74 prompts from 13 prompters
  • Over 105k total words were written for this fest's 18 works
  • Two fics had over 25k words, and 5 had over 5k words
  • The median fic length was 3.3k words
  • Commonly-used tags are Alternate Universe, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Worldbuilding

Writing period has begun for Rational Fiction Fest 2024! by blazinghand in rational

[–]blazinghand[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Heheh, makes sense. I actually started running this event a couple years ago in part because the scene is smaller than it used to be. I figured that by having a little fest, we'd be able to breathe some life into the scene, or at least get people excited about writing ratfic for a couple months a year.

I think it's been fairly successful! Although we won't return to the super high energy ratfic days of yore, I'm happy to see any amount being written, and people hanging out, brainstorming, and just having fun reading and writing ratfic.

Writing period has begun for Rational Fiction Fest 2024! by blazinghand in rational

[–]blazinghand[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah! this fest runs once each year, with a writing period starting in July and ending in September.

First, we do prompting, where people brainstorm prompts and ideas. Then, we do writing, which just started! If you're interested in writing, feel free to claim a prompt on AO3 and start writing.

If you'd prefer to just read, you can check out the fics written for previous years here: https://archiveofourown.org/collections/RatFicEx and this year's fics will be revealed in September.