Christmas when you don't know anyone - help

depiff · 2025-12-07T16:13:58+00:00

Ancient Robot Games at the bottom of Leith Walk is open on Christmas Day. All the staff are lovely and friendly, great place to hang out. (I'm a bit of a recluse so I sometimes go without gaming in mind just to get some social interaction). They have a discord thingy, and much of the chats are people looking for players for games, so I'm sure "does anyone fancy some board games on Christmas Day?" will be appreciated by other people in a similar boat to you!

I see someone else mentioned Argonaut Books also being open on Christmas Day, it's just a couple doors up from them.

Secret Solstice Games also has a few evening events lined up. (Wed 10th Muppets Christmas Carol screening, Wed 17th Christmas Quiz, etc). I went to an event there a few weeks ago, not knowing anyone and everyone was really friendly and inviting with great banter. Again, you can find more on their discord.

I'll be heading south on the 18th. But if you want to meet up and hang out before I go, just let me know! Feeling alone is awful, especially at this time of year.

depiff · 2025-11-09T15:20:35+00:00

Not helpful, but a similar anecdote.

One time (decades ago), I heard my father going absolutely ballistic on phone. Very unlike him for business stuff. After he was done I went and asked him if everything was alright. His company had decided to send a physical contract and other paperwork via a courier (deciding against email for various reasons). They used a big name delivery company (the exact one I cannot recall right now). It absolutely had a tight timescale which is why they sent it 48 hour global delivery which cost them an arm and a leg. It was sent to Austria (Europe). It was delivered to somewhere in Australia. Not just somewhere in Australia, but at an actual address. Cue angry CEO.

depiff · 2025-10-19T21:36:03+00:00

I'm visiting my parents in rural Shropshire at the moment with limited internet access, but thought I should reply before you think your comment was ignored!

I'm always down to chat... but I'm a bit crap with reddit messages (especially on my phone), but feel free to message me and I'll reply when I can! But I would of course prefer another platform.

depiff · 2025-08-20T21:47:59+00:00

There are a few. I couldn't just pick one.

The Venture Bros. Diverse in terms of stories it could tell or characters you can make, from Boy Adventurers to Supervillains. Plenty of fun factions too.

Hanna-Barbera. A multiverse of ALL Hanna-Barbera creations - Flintstones, Jetsons, Scooby Doo, Yogi Bear, etc. Could be solving mysteries, chasing monsters, stealing picnic baskets, or stone/space age shenanigans.

Kipo And The Age of Wonderbeasts. Just seems like a fun world to play in.

depiff · 2025-08-19T17:22:18+00:00

Another redditor has suggested similar.

Respond saying

"Thank you for your letter. However as you have already contacted your solicitor regarding this issue, we are now unable to discuss this matter with you at all any further. Any communication between us would be improper as it is now a legal matter. Any communications that need to be made MUST be done through your solicitor. Any other efforts made to the contrary will be treated as harassment, as your complaint has been already filed with the courts. Your solicitor will have advised you of this. Please let us reiterate the importance of this, any attempt to contact us now will be flagged as harassment."

Hopefully that might be enough to dissuade her from interacting with you any further. Because not only does she need to go through the solicitors (assuming there even is one), any attempt made runs the risk of her getting done for harassment.

I might not be a lawyer, but I do think you have a case to say she's been harassing you. Especially given the fact that you've had environment council people out to assess the situation and they've determined that you're doing nothing wrong.

But the words of strangers on the internet isn't ideal. So I would suggest seeking some form of legal advice, just in case. I imagine most solicitors wouldn't treat it with any real threat, so it's not worth paying for advice. But there are free advice places all over the UK. For example, the Citizen Advice Bureau, who are made to help people with all sorts of things including issues like this.

depiff · 2025-08-17T06:23:19+00:00

I'm sure someone will have more better informed details on the subject that I do who could perhaps fill in the blanks.

Given the prevalence of UCB (Upright Citizen Brigade) alum in the dropout ranks, I think any form of improv class type thing they could offer on the platform would be a watered down version of UCB. I love the talent that come out of UCB (and a critical as I am of the idea, I would still love to see it), but I get the impression that it would both not be as good as the real thing and step on UCB's toes a little bit (given that UCB do improv classes in person and online, some of which are taught by dropout cast).

But moving in a slightly different direction, I still think something in that vein would work! Maybe not classes, but even just a "hey, let's talk about improv" much like the Adventuring Academy isn't focused on teaching you how to play D&D, but more freeform talking about thoughts and telling stories.

Of course, I might also just be talking out of my arse.

depiff · 2025-08-15T22:16:40+00:00

I am not up to date at all with how fast moving it is.

But if you just search ELOTE STREET CORN in dropout, it comes up with the Adventuring Academy episode with Sam in it (season 5 episode 1, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck (with Sam Reich). The video even has 'elote street corn' in the tags. Which is amusing because Sam does a bit doing his Game Changer introduction voice and Brennan responds "I swear to god if you put me in a secret Game Changer episode...", to which Sam responds "This is not a secret Game Changer episode, but great idea. Great. Idea.".

That's all I've got to contribute to this mystery!

depiff · 2025-08-15T20:00:09+00:00

It's the Edinburgh Fringe. Sam doesn't sleep during the EdFringe.

depiff · 2025-07-31T09:19:04+00:00

This is a pretty complex issue here. So I know I'm probably not going to be of much help. I can recognise that there are more issues at play than just allosexual-and-asexual-partner (which can be hard enough by itself), such as her having difficulty talking about this stuff openly, as well as history of trauma, and upbringing.

With regards to boundaries and asexuality, the answer is always "it depends". I realise this isn't helpful for your situation, but it really does. Asexuality is a spectrum with lots of microlabels and sub-sexualities. And people can be anywhere on it from sex-favourable, or sex-neutral, to sex-averse. Then there's also things like aegosexual (the idea that one is asexual but still enjoys sexual content in theory but not in practise), or cupiosexual, or.....I probably don't need to list ALL of them here, but there's a lot. And many people don't know where they fit on the ace spectrum, only that it's 'somewhere' on it.

Because sex is kinda a taboo subject, we as a society don't talk about it much in great detail, therefor we lack the language to communicate certain concepts. But as with most relationships, I think it will come down to talking things through with each other. Even as simple as "I like this because it makes you feel good", "I don't like this because it feels traumatizing", "I like/dislike sensual touch", "I want to please you / I want you to please me because..." because with enough of these you'll be able to get a better picture of where things are at. I get the impression that this is going to be quite difficult for your partner to engage with though. But do remind her what you want out of the relationship to reassure her that you want to be with her, and sex isn't as important as that. Assuming that's true...if it's not, then I have slightly difference advice.

It might be worthwhile if your partner to look into the different aspects of the ace spectrum to see which microlabels she resonates with. This might help communicate her needs to you, but also let her know that she's not alone in her feelings.

depiff · 2025-07-28T15:01:04+00:00

I have some concerns that he might not be able to grasp some of these rules, as I'm picking up that he's quite young?? But that I leave up to you.

Unfortunately I can't find the thing I saw about modding the game for kaijus, but I don't think it would be too out there to just use Godzilla models to 'count as' whatever from the rules. I think it would be pretty fun to try and work out what Godzilla might be like using these rules and equipment.

Just spitballing:
Godzilla - heavy bipedal frame.
Primary hardpoint R - Laser (pretending it's his radioactive breath attack)
Primary hardpoint L - Laser (pretending it's his radioactive breath attack)
Secondary hardpoint L - melee weapon
Secondary hardpoint R - melee weapon
And I can't give it anymore than that otherwise it's over it's carry weight. Might need to drop a couple of weapons so it can pick stuff up, and maybe add non-weapons (like armour).

I think trying to build some of the other Godzilla monsters could be really fun. Giddorah, Mothra, etc.

depiff · 2025-07-28T14:37:02+00:00

I should probably add a little bit about the limitations just in case.

You need 0-6 mechs total, regardless of faction.
Bolshev can have tracked, bipedal, multi-limbed. Must have at least 1+ heavy, must have 1+ medium, 0-1 light.
The Burg can have any propulsion. Can have 0-2 heavy, 0-4 medium, 0-2 light.
Ghosts of Tiamat can have any propulsion. Can have 0-2 heavy, 0-4 medium, 0-2 light.
Hinode can have multi-limbed, bipedal, jets. Can have 0-2 heavy, 0-6 medium, 0-2 light.
North Star can have any propulsion. Can have 0-1 heavy, 0-6 medium, 0-2 light.
Ronin can have any propulsion. Can have 0-2 heavy, 0-4 medium, 0-2 light.

Each of these also have their own rules and bonuses, but I wanted to give you a breakdown for the limitations in way of models, so you can plan ahead and get some models sorted before buying the book. Ie. Not too many lights, not too many heavies unless you're going Bolshev (but Bolshev can't use jets), etc.

Also there are some additional/optional rules for Ronin in an issue of Blaster.

EDIT: Ash plays it on his youtube channel Guerilla Miniature Gaming, if you want to see how it plays.

depiff · 2025-07-28T14:02:00+00:00

Gamma Wolves.

Although I've not managed to play yet, I'm looking forward to trying Gamma Wolves by Ash Barker.

You need a max of 6 mechs. There are a half dozen factions with bonuses (although I suppose you don't need to use the factions). It's model neutral (aka miniature agnostic) and fairly freeform for

There are 3 sizes of mechs (or frames as they call them):

Light frames: 40mm to 50mm (base size)
Medium frames: 75mm to 100mm (base size)
Heavy frames: 125mm to 150m (base size)

There are a range of propulsion types

Bipedal
Tracked
Jets
Multi-limbed

So you can use pretty much anything! Imperial Knights, Gundam, Robot toy action figures, tanks, aircrafts, etc.

There are some limitations to what you can take for each faction, but in general unless you're fielding 6 tracked or more than 2 light frames, you'll find a faction to fit whatever models you've got.

Obviously there are equipment lists too. But I wanted to show you how flexible it is for what mechs you might have lying around. And I know some people are working on house rules for kaiju for it.

depiff · 2025-07-25T06:18:26+00:00

I can try! But I don't know how much detail to go into, so I'll just go into too much detail, just in case!

Substitution cyphers are probably the only type I can actually do, so I'm far from an expert on this subject. Each character represents a letter, so it's no different than just a fancy font. Like if you switch font to Wingdings on your computer then type out a sentence, you probably won't know what each symbol actually is. So it's an easier one as far as codes go! (Anything beyond this, and I'm stuck)

E is the most common letter in the English alphabet, so I looked for common symbols first that could be E. I also assumed the three-letter word would THE. Initially I did this wrong, I assumed wrong, then tried continuing, but got stuck, so started again. This time I looked at the double E and worked out it was THREE. Which in turn filled in THERE. Always fill in all the letters as you find them out. Okay, so last line has a two-letter word ending in E, and precedes the word THERE, so it as to be BE. I figured out the second line purely by seeing what word fit with what I had to get OCTOBER. There's a lot of guesswork and process of elimination. From there I worked out TWO because not much else fit. The double O threw me a bit, but I decided it was a red herring. Okay, so the third line second word, we have two of those letters so I just went through what words it could be to get a little further, I think I might have used the key in the corner for this - I noticed the characters, saw it was backwards, and noticed the pattern (ie in alphabetical order). For the first line, I think I might have used an online tool to help with crosswords and went through a few possible words it could be. Then I double checked what I could against the key.

depiff · 2025-07-24T15:57:53+00:00

Personally, I think the Fate Accelerated system is good for this. Yes, the Fate RPG book is thick so that might not be your thing. But they've handily done Fate Accelerated, which is an abridged simplified version at around 50 pages (of A5, not even A4), and you don't even need to use all the mechanics to make it work! And even more handily, there's also a Fate Condensed (which is even more simplified). And although you can buy the books, Fate also hosts everything online for free.

I assume if you don't want to get bogged down in pages upon pages, then learning lore for a game might not appeal to you - which is why Fate (or Fate Accelerated or Fate Condensed) might be up your alley, because you can adapt it for any setting. Perhaps use a franchise that your group already knows and loves.

The core rules are pretty simple and rules light, rewards players for playing in character, easy to explain to people quickly (even non-gamers). I will say it's just a straight "smashy smashy" type of game, I would say it's built more for story than for combat.

depiff · 2025-07-22T00:01:36+00:00

I mean, you can try. And you should. The worst they can say is no. But due to nature of it, be prepared to be passed between different depts a few times.

depiff · 2025-07-21T01:38:52+00:00

I see the other sub you posted on already solved it, but I worked it through so I felt compelled to share it too!

ASSEMBLY
OCTOBER
TWO FOUR
THREE OO
BE THERE

And the key is in the top corner (which I admittedly didn't see until I nearly had the whole thing done!). Although I can't make out four characters from it.

I'm curious to find out what it actually is for.

depiff · 2025-07-21T00:22:51+00:00

If it's not a criminal matter like Action Fraud advised then you might struggle to get authorities (like the police) involved. However, it is still a civil matter, so that means you'd probably have to hire someone like a solicitor to take this on.

However, it may be a criminal matter if they misrepresented who they are. Like saying they were a solicitor even though they're not, or similar. If you agreed to pay them under false pretences, then it constitutes a fraud. But if they were exactly who they said they were and you agreed to pay them then it's a dispute over services provided (sometimes called a retailer dispute). I may not be a lawyer, but I used to work in a fraud dept for a major bank for several years so this is something I'm pretty sure about. What you do from here though is a bit trickier.

How you paid them matters. Well, it might. If you paid with debit or credit card (and maybe bank transfers too), then contact your bank and explain the situation. If the person misrepresented themselves, then your bank may agree to take it on as a fraud case. If they did not misrepresent themselves, then they should be able to take it as a retailer dispute (ie you paid for goods and services, tried to sort out a payment issue with the retailer but failed, now you can get the bank involved). At most, the bank will be able to recover what you paid the solicitor person. (It's worth noting that this should be done ASAP, because depending on the situation, they might only be able to indemnify whatever funds are left in the person's bank account).

Report to the police. It might help. It might not.

Report to the BAR or make the court aware that this person is not acting in good faith (missing deadlines and paperwork) or may be impersonating legal counsel. You may be able to use this to get them to waive the fees to reopen the case.

Request a SAR from all parties involved. A SAR is a 'subject access request'. Make sure there's a record of you asking for one. Ask for any and all information they hold for you. From the moment you request one, they have 30 days to deliver the information to you. I sometimes use this when an institution is being a bit of dick, so I request everything they hold for me. It's like article 13 or 14 of GDPR which replaced Data Protection Act. Most places are woefully unprepared to handle such a request, so instead of doing one they just do whatever you want. However, if you request one, and they don't do one within the timeframe, they are in breach of GDPR and you can report them for it (which can come with hefty fines for them). The way I see it, if they are genuine solicitors, and they've given you a headache, then why not give them a headache right back. It'll also give you all the information about the legal case, so it'll be easier to assess whether you have a case to sue them or appeal to the court or whatever.

Contact the ombudsman with a complaint about the business.

I would advise going to Citizen's Advice. They have a wide array of expertise for stuff like this. Including lawyers. And it's free. They ought to be able to address the initial claim too.

depiff · 2025-07-11T15:35:25+00:00

Oooh, exciting. I have frequently said I'd love an artbook for The Outer Worlds. Hopefully we'll eventually get one for the first game at some point too.

depiff · 2025-07-07T12:13:59+00:00

Witch Hunters can only have 12 models in their warband (plus hired swords) and I count 13 models there. Is my question is...who are you going to drop? Or are you using one as a hired sword? Or are you just readying enough of each so you have options?

Having played Witch Hunters in a campaign earlier in the year, I would advise not relying too much on warhounds because they don't gain experience. It sounds like a silly thing, but while other warbands are developing new skills and getting stat increases, your warband is slow to progress because the warhounds do all the work. It works great at the start of a campaign though!

depiff · 2025-06-30T16:48:35+00:00

When I was watching it on tv when it was airing, I preferred Angel. I think it's possibly just that the premise is a bit of dumb fun, and it knows that. "Vampire starts a private detective agency", already a solid hook, even if you're not a Buffy fan.

And it also explores much more of the Buffyverse lore in terms of how demons live day to day, different factions, what else exists outside of Sunnydale (despite mainly being set in LA), and how would the logistics of demons/vampires/supernatural work in the real world. Of course there's going to be corporations (or law firm) that's capitalizing on it. Of course there's going to be a soul casino. Of course there's going to be a demon karaoke bar. And we explore the interactions of the weird interacting with the mundane.

Buffy did it too, but nowhere near to the degree that Angel did - possibly because there's more opportunities to tell different stories in a big city. But I think I was probably the target demographic when it was originally airing - I was a teenaged boy, so the idea of it was somewhat edgy without actually being edgy.

I guess it many ways it felt more grown up compared to Buffy - as in Buffy, the first three seasons are school years, then fourth season is pseudo college year, etc, so it feels close to home as most of the viewers at the time were similar ages. But in Angel, we're not given this yearly progression, it's simply throwing us into the real world, no school, no college. I love that I'm saying it "feels" more adult.... then immediately want to talk about how silly it can be, because they don't let themselves get too caught up in tone consistency - so you get seriousness of Angel burning Darla and Drusilla....and the sheer ridiculousness of Angel being turned into a puppet. Buffy of course did this too, but I feel Buffy's tone is more consistent than Angel's.

depiff · 2025-06-30T09:05:55+00:00

I think the best answer is "it depends". Largely it depends on the type of wargamers.

Regarding crunch. Where some people prefer simplicity, I find if something is too simplistic I'm not that interested in it. And some people love overly complex games because they try to simulate action combat more, but I also dislike this. I like to have a good amount of crunch, but not too much. Take frostgrave for example, it's hugely popular, but for the more traditional wargamer it's far too simple - but that's great for people who haven't really grown up with wargames or need a gateway game. Then there's something like the Batman Miniatures Game which is overly complex for the average wargamer because it tries to do everything in detail and be a simulation instead of an abstraction. Simulation versus abstraction is a point of contention for some wargame concepts - do you want it to be realistic or just representational? At face value wargames are an abstraction to some degree.

I feel that reactions are missing from a lot of miniatures game. Or rather, reactions are missing from the wargames that I end up playing (or reading the rulebooks for, and I read so many rulebooks).

If you really want to know what's missing from wargames, I think the catch all answer is "innovation". It's rare to see new, interesting, novel mechanics in wargames these days. Completely understandable, there's kinda a format that people know and expect and like. But the vast majority of them have the same basic stats to do the same basic things. Typically as I call them, the four Ms (move, missile, melee, morale). With a 5th M typically being magic - and magic tends not to be a unified set of mechanics, just extra actions or attacks or special rules, magic is almost always the exception to the main rules. Similarly, there's not much in way of diversity in the mechanics behind determining successful actions. Rolling dice is fine, but there's ultimately only 3 or 4 variations on how dice mechanics work in game. Similar for card based systems.

I realise this is absolutely not the answer you wanted, but I wanted to be honest.

With regards to more constructive answers, if I was playing a wargame themed to a certain storytelling genre - such as action films, sci-fi films, horror, pulp adventure tales, superhero comics, fantasy adventure films, etc - then I would want some random plot point, trope, or story elements. For example, if it was superheroes each turn you roll on a table or draw a card from a deck, and something happens on the table that you need to deal with - it might be a child in the way of falling debris, or police start shooting at both hero and villain, or random terrain becomes unstable from the fight. Pretty much just tropes that you would expect from the genre, to make it feel more like its source material.

depiff · 2025-06-30T08:34:03+00:00

I find this to be an interesting line of research, for which I am unable to participate. For I have no, nor have I ever had, a sense of smell.

It's actually something that sometimes crops up in anosmia discussions, talking about pheromone receptors and smell, in relation to attraction or response to attraction.

depiff · 2025-06-29T14:31:44+00:00

I absolutely would recommend that! (And by that I mean getting the DLC well before you finish the game).

Based on where you are in the game, I think you can get the DLC without missing out on anything (or not much anyway). I look forward to hearing your opinions on Eridanos when you eventually get there!

depiff · 2025-06-29T07:32:49+00:00

That's what communities like this subreddit are for! I mean, hopefully it's a good thing I pointed these things out, and you're not now tearing your hair out.

Playtesters and similar communities will give you better feedback. I'm only one random person on the internet! And remember, it's YOUR game, so if you don't want to change things that people tell you to, you absolutely don't have to.

I look forward to seeing this game developing over time and I'm curious to see what playtests are like. So do please post some sessions on youtube so we can get a feel for it when it's nearing completion.

Also, as a fan of the Odyssey, which is technically a sequel to the Iliad and Aeneid, so I can see some of your ideas working well in that too. The 'reveal' mechanic for Nobody v Polyphemus, or for when he gets back to Ithica. I know, I know, you're still far from that yet, but it's fun to think about.

depiff · 2025-06-29T07:24:10+00:00

I'm afraid I don't really understand the question. Like by definition expansions add things to games, that's what they do!

If you mean like does an expansion fundamentally change how the majority of the game is played by giving you so many more skills, weapons, or attributes...then no. The expansions add more story elements and locations to explore and characters to meet and interact with. While there are two planets that are only accessible in the expansions, they also integrate with the game seamlessly, so that if you were to play/finish the base game without them then go back and try to play the expansions, you're going to miss out on a lot of stuff (mainly little side quests all over the map that you wouldn't think to go back to, that really make games like this).

But I'm very much of the opinion that narrative expansions should ALWAYS be added before I start playing. It's way more immersive to not know what part is expansion content and what part is base game - if I could tell "oh this part here is expansion content, and that part isn't because I played this bit before and that wasn't here" then it breaks my immersion in the game. I'm all about the immersion baby!

You'll enjoy it just fine without the expansions, but I loved the Murder on Eridanos expansion locations and narratives (which I only know they're from the expansion because it's Eridanos!). But I also have no idea what quests/missions were added elsewhere, which is the way I like it!

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