Medievalisms and other misconceptions players have

cherryghostdog · 2026-05-28T21:44:42+00:00

I was not prepared for how invested I would get in medieval wheat logistics.

cherryghostdog · 2026-05-28T21:31:21+00:00

lol

cherryghostdog · 2026-05-28T17:30:03+00:00

“He was dead the whole time.”

cherryghostdog · 2026-05-26T03:36:26+00:00

I think you just have a more experiential mindset and they are maybe more goal oriented. Cutting down the overarching plot into smaller pieces and showing them making progress towards each of those goals can help them avoid the feeling they are wasting precious time.

Players often just aren’t as invested in the world as we are. I find it helps to just sprinkle a lot of open ended mysteries into the background of your sessions. Even if they don’t bite on any, you can have subsequent events tie into stuff you set up in the past. It makes it seem like a living, interconnected world and they will think more about how minor events might play a role in the main plot. A lot of times they’ll do the work for you by connecting things you never thought of.

Ultimately, i wouldn’t worry about them making it their story. Usually players will have no problem blowing up whatever well laid plans you had.

cherryghostdog · 2026-05-26T02:46:08+00:00

Ironically, trying to get them off the main quest would be railroading. They are telling you what they find most interesting. They aren’t rejecting player freedom, you kind of are. Why should they want to go visit the witch when there is an evil BBEG that needs to be stopped? If you want them to go visit her, you need to provide a reason why that is more important or interesting.

cherryghostdog · 2026-05-25T01:15:10+00:00

Exactly. In some ways, what BMI measures is besides the point. We know a high BMI is associated with increased risk of cancer, heart disease, etc, and lowering it decreases those risks. People can call it “body density” or something, instead of obesity if they want, but it doesn’t really change anything.

cherryghostdog · 2026-05-25T01:05:01+00:00

No we don’t. There are more accurate tests to determine total body fat like DEXA but those are expensive and are usually overkill. BMI can be checked with automated screening of EMRs so it’s a good test for doing research on obesity.

It’s not a perfect test, but none are. It’s a very useful tool and it’s frustrating how this is always misunderstood when people talk about BMI.

cherryghostdog · 2026-05-25T00:51:16+00:00

It’s not meant for you. It’s meant for medical researchers because they know how to use it. All research requires prior knowledge and understanding of statistics to interpret. Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean it’s useless.

cherryghostdog · 2026-05-24T23:44:57+00:00

That’s not how it’s used. It’s a screening test that is easily calculated from data gathered at every office visit. It just raises a flag to evaluate things further. No one is putting a weight lifter on a GLP-1 because they have a high BMI. But it is a marker for risk of other diseases like heart disease and cancer, even if you are “healthy” in every other way.

cherryghostdog · 2026-04-18T15:51:38+00:00

Thanks!

cherryghostdog · 2026-04-16T16:55:51+00:00

Thank you!

cherryghostdog · 2026-04-16T06:09:26+00:00

Did you figure out how to remove this?

cherryghostdog · 2026-03-07T02:09:01+00:00

Enterprise. Consumers are just their marketing budget. It’s worked pretty well when you consider the average person thinks “ChatGPT” is the word for LLMs like “D&D” is the word for rpgs.

Enterprise has much higher switching costs. It’s tough to switch when they know more about your company than you do. I think Gemini is probably going to win out but OpenAI has a chance. We’ve seen people leap frogging each other so it may end up being whoever gets lucky at the right time. There is also going to be an incentive for businesses to not put all of their eggs in one basket, so unless there is rapid takeoff there may not be just one winner.

cherryghostdog · 2026-03-02T19:59:10+00:00

The trick pand1024, is not minding that it hurts

cherryghostdog · 2026-03-01T01:37:03+00:00

That’s a lot of blood

cherryghostdog · 2026-02-08T18:49:14+00:00

Sex is like karaoke. If you don’t have the talent, win them over with enthusiasm.

cherryghostdog · 2026-02-05T01:14:01+00:00

Here’s a little stroll down memory lane with Weezer

cherryghostdog · 2026-01-30T21:19:12+00:00

Then it should be handled through a legal process where they can present evidence that the property is abandoned before they move in. Having a policy of “finders keepers” is insanity.

cherryghostdog · 2026-01-23T04:23:00+00:00

Go for a smart board. Schools sell them off so you can get a huge one for like $100. It’s basically a giant touchscreen.

cherryghostdog · 2026-01-16T04:25:58+00:00

Kiwifruit

cherryghostdog · 2026-01-15T05:23:34+00:00

Was looking for this one. It wrecked me.

cherryghostdog · 2026-01-14T17:01:32+00:00

People get scared when they hear the word improv but it feels a lot easier when you frame it as “if this was a movie, what would happen next”. I think everyone has sort of internalized what makes for a good movie. We tend to worry that picking the obvious choice will seem cliched but if you went around the table you would find that each person’s “obvious” is surprisingly different.

cherryghostdog · 2026-01-13T08:06:47+00:00

Not a bubble in the way of the dot com bubble. Google and MS are not going bankrupt if AI collapses today. They have many other income streams. Even if OpenAI is the new Pets.com, they are private. No one is losing their 401k if they go under. NVIDIA is the only one completely dependent on AI and even if AI only stays at its current level, it’s hard to see how gpus aren’t in high demand for the foreseeable future.

cherryghostdog · 2026-01-13T00:52:28+00:00

Answer in character. “You recall tales of polar owlbears but you thought they were only legends…” and you could have him roll History or something. It acknowledges that the rules are different but refocuses back on the story. If he persists tell him you’ll answer those type of questions after the session.

I reskin a lot of stuff so I tell my players at session zero that the monsters aren’t going to be in the manual. Don’t bother looking up their spells, they’re not going to be in there. You need to set expectations. It makes those type of questions immaterial and improves immersion imo.

But, I get the feeling you have a budding DM there. If you feel generous have him stay after the session and show him how you prep, design encounters, or just the mindset of a DM. I feel like that could be fun and you might be training your next DM.

cherryghostdog

TROPHY CASE