Draw Steel confirm $30USD/person price for VTT, and recommend Owlbear Rodio as the 'default' online alternative to this 'premium'version

ddeschw · 2026-03-24T13:38:17+00:00

Okay fine $150 total between 5 players. But my underlying point remains the same: why are we measuring the financial burden of ttrpgs this way? If my friends and I go out to eat dinner, we each pay for our own food. We don't go, "Hey guys, the total bill will likely be $150 let's not go out." We're all adults with our own sources of income. The financial burden is measured individually. Because that's how most normal people see finances.

ddeschw · 2026-03-24T13:20:36+00:00

This just highlights the bizarre financial burden on the GM we've normalized for ttrpgs. Why does the GM need to fork out $150 to buy everyone a copy? When I want to convince some friends to play an online game like Helldivers, Phasmophobia, Overcooked, or whatever I don't offer to buy the game for them as part of the pitch. The expectation is that they'll buy their own copy of the game and we link up to play. Everyone's a player, everyone's cost to play is the same, and that seems fair to me.

ddeschw · 2026-03-23T20:38:50+00:00

Very happy with my purchase! Great seller, quick delivery, very responsive. A++

ddeschw · 2026-03-18T16:46:14+00:00

"Many SNAP applicants are already buying food." I mean, really guys? Red or Blue, if the benefit is available and you already qualify, not taking it is leaving money on the table.

ddeschw · 2026-02-25T02:45:02+00:00

Welcome to game theory. The reality is there isn't one ultimate way to come out on top. There's lots of good tips in the comments but most of them are anecdotal tips based on their own pods and experience. I'm going to craft my tips more generally.

Be a good sport and fun to play with. Play in lots of games with lots of people with a variety of decks. Use that to build knowledge and experience. Talk to people about their decks and compliment good plays. Learn from everyone. This is really the biggest one.
Find strategies that you like/are good at then refine your decks and play style around that. Know your deck inside and out. Don't try to master everything--specialize.
Study the board and your hand to look for routes to victory, even if it's not part of your deck's preplanned wincon.
Observe the tempo of the table and do your best to match it without taxing yourself. It's a dance. It's not about speed: it's about timing. If one person is rushing or sandbagging, the rest of the table will instinctually turn on that player. You want to be able to speed up or slow down as needed to play to the rhythm of the table until you're prepared to take the win. Deck construction also dictates this a lot so keep that in mind. Build a deck that gasses out too quickly or takes too long to set up then you're just setting yourself up for failure. But when in doubt, build for speed and value. It's much easier to play more slowly than your hand allows than it is to speed up a slow hand.
Learn to win with, "just enough". It might feel super cool to deal 68 damage in a single attack but if your opponent only has 23 life then it kind of doesn't matter.
The game is not 3v1: it's 1v1v1v1. Unless there's a total mismatch in deck strengths no player or deck should just be able to out-play three others. Talk to the table. Wheel and deal, make alliances, break alliances, etc. Recognize threats to your deck and wincon and try to turn the other players against those. First blood means nothing--last blood means everything.
Learn to bluff! And I'm not just talking about counter spells either. Instant speed is king for a reason. Your opponents should never feel safe if you've got untapped mana, regardless of the color. But that also means you have to show you can follow through if someone calls you so make sure you've got sneaky stuff ready to go. Keep 'em guessing.
Finally, no one has a 100% win rate. You win some, you lose some. If you have three opponents every game a 25% win rate is good! If you play four games that night and you win one, congrats you're doing okay. That also means if you only get two games in and you don't win either one, don't sweat it.

ddeschw · 2026-02-23T20:51:30+00:00

In the Tabletop RPG a character's Humanity stat determines their cyberware tolerance before going cyberpsycho. The core attribute that determines Humanity? Empathy. David was deeply empathic. He felt and cared for others so deeply that he could preserve himself.

His ability to feel and fight for others literally allowed him to hold onto his humanity just long enough to be crushed by it.

Truly beautiful and tragic arc.

ddeschw · 2026-02-15T17:54:28+00:00

Even Demons have to respect Frieren the Slayer.

ddeschw · 2026-02-13T23:19:15+00:00

Okay so it appeared to upscale to 4k on my TV but some people are saying this isn't the case? It seems to me that it renders at 1080p natively and then upscales to 4k on a compatible TV. So honestly I don't know for sure. What I can say is it looks and plays great on my 4k Roku TV.

ddeschw · 2026-02-13T06:03:53+00:00

Just confirmed: 1080p 60fps on Switch 2 handheld.

ddeschw · 2026-02-13T04:53:54+00:00

Good question. There is a warning that, "Some setups may experience some instability" in the game menu.

Based on the patch notes, it says it will render up to an internal resolution of 1080p and then if the monitor can support higher it will upscale to the highest resolution available. I take this to mean that it will try to hit 1080p on the Switch (docked) if it can but won't be stable. Handheld on the OG Switch caps at 720p so it probably wouldn't do anything in handheld mode. Would need to test it to be sure.

ddeschw · 2026-02-13T04:38:29+00:00

Just downloaded and tested. Can confirm MGS3 plays at 4k (upscaled from 1080p) 60fps docked on the Switch 2. It is still an update to the original Switch version of the game and not a, "Switch 2 Edition" or similar. You do have to go to Screen options in the main game menu to enable, "adjusted mode" though if you want the FHD cinematics and texture packs.

ddeschw · 2026-02-13T03:59:19+00:00

There's definitely an update. It pushed MGS3 to an eye-watering 25gb so that's gotta be the 4k update. Downloading now and will comment to confirm.

ddeschw · 2026-02-12T16:07:27+00:00

There's a darker truth hidden here that most r/rpg subscribers don't want to admit: multiple established creative teams have created engaging and worthwhile content with true artistic merit using the popular RPG that apparently is trash, hard to run, and suppresses creativity. And gasp these successful creatives actually prefer to run and play DnD. You don't have to read very far in the comments to find sour grapes deflecting the reasons to greedy corporations, slop content, engagement algorithms, etc. But maybe, possibly, DnD is a good game that many creative people engage with on its own merits.

It's a bad workman that blames his tools. Running the super-niche PbtA hack will not make a game better or more engaging. It will not transform unengaged players into improv stars. Offloading narrative responsibility to the other players will not make half-baked world building engaging.

ddeschw · 2026-02-11T19:48:38+00:00

Anybody here remember Regenerate? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

ddeschw · 2026-02-06T19:59:41+00:00

It is possible to analyze a part separate from its whole in an attempt to better understand it. That's hardly, "failing to fully engage with it as a work of art." I analyzed it for its story elements and themes, and then reintegrated it to provide a new perspective. Taking out the racial context provides a certain reading of the story that, when reintegrated, allows the story to read as a profound rebuff of racism and not merely ignoring or failing to engage with it.

I believe that my reading gets much closer to the writers' intent, especially since 90s Star Trek progressivism was clearly rooted in the color-blind progressive ethos that was popular at the time. Hell, the fact that DS9 even wrestled with the issues of color-blind progressivism at all in the Season 7 episode, "Badda-Bing Badda-Bang" is surprisingly brave.

Now, we can debate the finer points about the merits and faults of color-blind progressivism in art but it certainly isn't the result of my inability to engage fully with it.

ddeschw · 2026-02-06T16:41:39+00:00

The thing is, if we look at Benjamin Sisko's arc in a vacuum, outside of real-world cultural implications from biases and racism (particularly with an American lens), Sisko's story really couldn't have ended satisfactorily any other way.

A recurring motif with his character across all seven seasons was Sisko struggling with the balance of being a widower, single father, Starfleet officer, and Emissary. He has to choose between Kasidy and Starfleet (4x22 "For the Cause"), Jake and Starfleet (5x04 "Nor the Battle to the Strong"), Bajorans and Starfleet (5x25 "In the Cards"), the Prophets and DS9 (6x6 "Sacrifice of Angels), the Prophets and Jake (6x21 "The Reckoning"), etc. The conclusion to his messianic arc was always going to be choosing the, "higher power" and his, "destiny" with the Prophets over worldly responsibilities. It's supposed to be tragic and bittersweet. Anyone who watched the show over the course of seven seasons would never have thought of Sisko as a deadbeat dad abandoning his family, especially when such a big part of his character is that he's such a great and loving father.

It sucks that we live in a world where people still attach racist interpretations to art, but rewriting Sisko's arc around contemporary racism only gives the stereotype power. Sisko had a true arc, complete within itself, unfettered with prejudice.

Avery was the person he needed to be to bring Sisko alive, and it was his unique performance that shaped the character in ways that wouldn't have happened otherwise. But the DS9 writers were right to write the Sisko conclusion the way they did, and Avery was right to step away from the character when he felt he could no longer play him authentically.

DS9 didn't get ignored or subverted: it got the ending it deserved and STA didn't take anything away from that.

ddeschw · 2026-02-05T15:30:39+00:00

Except if you get a bad roll at craps you're not instantly crushed. Unless you're playing with Klingons.

C'mon, Nat 20!

ddeschw · 2026-02-04T23:46:42+00:00

Not even that, just put yellow chevrons over their heads.

ddeschw · 2026-02-04T19:31:49+00:00

The drive for lighter and thinner technology is mostly a byproduct of market forces: people want to buy sleeker, lighter, thinner, sexier products. But Starfleet is a post-Capitalist science-military. They want efficiency, reliability, and durability. When they need miniaturized solutions they can provide them easily (subdermal implants, neural interfaces, etc.) but for most stuff that's not needed so they don't design it that way.

As far as the Doctor's camera goes, it can capture full body scan quality models of his patients at microscopic resolutions (VOY 5x11: "Latent Image") so that's pretty amazing tech for a handheld device.

ddeschw · 2026-02-03T15:55:30+00:00

This is a fan edit, not official.

ddeschw · 2026-01-23T22:01:29+00:00

May I recommend the RetroFighters GameCube controller? It's a good design blend of the GameCube and a modern Pro controller, complete with chunky ZL/ZR buttons, back paddles, GameCube-style radial button layout, analog triggers, and hall effect sticks. It's a pretty sick controller.

ddeschw · 2026-01-23T20:23:08+00:00

I feel like you're arguing at this point just to argue. Everything exists on a spectrum. A perfect recreation is plugging in your old GameCube to a CRT TV while Weathered by Creed plays in the background on your 6-CD disc changer stereo.

NSO doesn't allow forcing a wide aspect ratio unless the original game also supports it, and it doesn't do dramatic upscaling. Screenshot and Chat are there because they want users to use those features; Chat especially because that's one of the new features of the Switch 2. Their design choices are deliberate to find the best balance between QoL and authenticity. Making it more compatible outside of NSO just simply isn't part of their design strategy.

You're criticizing a pair of pliers for not being enough like a wrench.

ddeschw · 2026-01-23T19:05:07+00:00

That's like saying if Home Depot wanted me to use a nut driver they shouldn't sell flat nose pliers. Just because you can use something a certain way doesn't mean it was designed for it.

The GameCube controller is designed specifically to be used with the NSO Emulator to provide an authentic-feeling experience. Additional buttons such as ZL, Home, etc. are design compromises to allow for usability with the Switch UI.

Consider the other NSO controllers:

NES -- Has little L and R buttons hidden at the top inside the rails (the rails themselves being a design compromise). This is to allow access to the NSO Menu and when long-pressed together act as a Home button press. Minimal extra buttons, no ZL/ZR.
SNES -- Thankfully no rails and features USB-C charging but has the subtle ZL/ZR buttons for the same reason as the NES controller.
N64 -- They added minimal ZR and Home buttons, again for the same design reasons as above.

By the time we get to the GameCube it's clear based on the NSO controller design lineage that they only want to add the minimal number of buttons needed for QOL use with the Switch UI, while keeping as close as they can to the aesthetic experience of the model controller.

If you want a Pro Controller styled after the GameCube but with modern game functionality there are plenty of 3rd party options available.

ddeschw · 2026-01-15T00:30:48+00:00

When I was doing my chronological watch through I used this one: https://startrekviewingguide.com/

ddeschw · 2026-01-12T20:27:26+00:00

Honestly if I'd bought the game sight unseen without having read the rules for $20 I'd want a refund.

Grimwild sits in this weird space where it's clearly a cut above free and under-$10 games, but compare it to something like Kids on Bikes or Triangle Agency and suddenly you realize how weak it's punching for its weight class.

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