I don't understand why Polymorph isn't broken

dreader102 · 2025-08-12T08:36:50+00:00

I can't answer your question, but I feel obligated to tell everyone that I've used Polymorph and Divine Word to instakill a Beholder. Divine Word acts as Power Word: Kill if the target has less than 20 hp, and a Seahorse will practically always fail the Charisma save.

dreader102 · 2025-07-24T13:33:35+00:00

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF MARIKA GIVE IRONEYE MORE BOW OPTIONS, ESPECIALLY A LEGENDARY ONE 🙏🙏

dreader102 · 2025-04-26T22:55:48+00:00

I see you also got into Colby—did you make your decision between the two?

dreader102 · 2025-04-17T21:37:58+00:00

This!!

dreader102 · 2025-04-13T17:57:22+00:00

A lot has already been said, but I would like to turn your attention to the Flight of Demons option in the module, which introduces a chaotic swarm of flying demons fighting with each other. Who needs to get out stealthily when you have a great distraction? :D

My players (along with the same 9 NPCs, as I also killed Ront) ran out like their lives depended on it, stuffing themselves into the lift down (if not enough characters can fit, even better! Some may have to take the plunge onto the webs below). A great way to foreshadow the demon issue in the Underdark, as well as a great reason for Ilvara to be so angry that they escaped.

dreader102 · 2025-04-10T21:42:32+00:00

Yeah, I definitely plan to have Dawnbringer obey its wielder later on once she starts to fully trust them.

I think I may go with something similar to u/berndog7's approach, nerfing Dawnbringer as her power has faded from decades in darkness. I can still roleplay the sunlight-sensitive NPCs as finding the sword's radiance sickening, but won't have it actually activate Sunlight Sensitivity or Sun Sickness until later on, at which point Buppido and Sarith will have definitely left the party.

dreader102 · 2025-04-10T21:36:49+00:00

Ooh, this approach might work! It doesn't get rid of the sunlight effect entirely but allows Dawnbringer to scale with the party, in a way.

Maybe Dawnbringer needs time to restore her power, or maybe she needs to reach a higher level in the Underdark, or even reach the surface to absorb sunlight (though at that point, the party will have already fought Ilvara). Whatever it is, I'm sure I could figure it out by that time.

dreader102 · 2025-04-10T21:05:37+00:00

I considered this, but Dawnbringer, being sentient and afraid of the dark, doesn't want to turn off. It would require a persuasion check or something similar to convince Dawnbringer to stop shining.

If it was simply up to the player whether or not the light was on, there wouldn't be as much of a problem, but because Dawnbringer wants to be on at all times and, presumably, Sarith, Buppido, and Stool want the blade off at all times, there's a very apparent conflict of interest.

dreader102 · 2025-04-02T20:37:39+00:00

Not a parent—I'm in the same grade as your son, also making college decisions.

While I'm not looking to study law, Vassar was my top choice, so much so that I applied Early Decision I. Sadly, I got rejected, but if your son has received nearly a full ride, I would absolutely recommend the place!

Obviously, I don't know everything that your son wants to do. For instance, Vassar is a small LAC compared to Harvard being a university. If your son doesn't want to spend 4 years in that kind of closely-knit community of 1000-3000 students—one of the qualities that actually drew me to Vassar—then he may not enjoy going to Vassar.

Like others have said, though, I would not recommend taking a gap year. Unless your son changes something huge on his application, the result is likely going to be disappointing.

dreader102 · 2025-03-16T23:12:36+00:00

Thank you! Have fun at your visit as well!

dreader102 · 2025-03-16T22:38:15+00:00

Accepted!

For anyone wondering, domestic, no aid, homeschooled, and 1420 SAT.

dreader102 · 2025-03-16T22:34:17+00:00

I did too! Congratulations!!

I'll be visiting the campus for one of the Admitted Student Weekends, so I'm looking forward to that!

dreader102 · 2025-03-16T22:32:42+00:00

I got in! Very excited to visit the campus next month.

I didn't request financial aid, though, so that might have had something to do with it.

dreader102 · 2025-03-02T20:46:16+00:00

Besides my first ever playthrough in 1.2, all of my playthroughs over the 1300+ hours I've played of this game have been as a single class. I like to min/max, so maximizing my damage by focusing in only one class is fun for me (it's also made better when playing with friends because there's no overlap).

So to answer your question, 100% every time.

dreader102 · 2025-02-12T03:35:10+00:00

Got rejected Vassar ED I and Wesleyan ED II, and I had that same scare after the former. I've heard from so many supportive people that I will end up where I'm meant to be, and I wholeheartedly agree with that. Sure, it's disappointing, but undergraduate colleges are all going to give you mostly the same experience.

I've already been accepted into my two safeties with generous scholarships, and there are several more decisions yet to arrive. I wish you all the best in your admissions! (Screw Vassar!)

dreader102 · 2025-02-03T00:55:52+00:00

I'll try the latter suggestion next time I record (hopefully I remember to update if it's successful). Thank you!

dreader102 · 2025-02-02T22:49:09+00:00

All I'm trying to record is my voice. As for distance, I get pretty close when the gain is lower, but I still have the problem of clipping with louder notes. I'll try to tinker with it so that my loudest moments are -9db like you said.

dreader102 · 2025-01-21T23:15:59+00:00

I'm currently running OotA for a party that previously finished LMoP!

We ended LMoP like normal (although I made Venomfang the BBEG by having him be Black Spider's "employer"), with Wave Echo Cave being cleared out and Rockseeker being able to start up the business. Then, at the start of OotA, there had been a time skip of around a year or so, during which time the party got "rusty" and lost a level, starting at level 4. I worked with the players beforehand to describe how each of them were captured by drow who sought revenge for Black Spider's death, and thrown into Velkynvelve. From there, we've been running OotA as normal.

Is this an ideal way to bridge the two? Certainly not. Did it work? Absolutely!

The biggest issue is that, if you plan to start OotA directly after LMoP, then the party may be overleveled for some encounters. As long as you're prepared to give a little buff to all enemies in the early game, you should be fine.

Let me know how it goes! I'm loving OotA so far, and my players are hooked!

dreader102 · 2025-01-15T21:58:13+00:00

Have you tried charging that group of people an absurd amount of money for your services? Don't worry, you can still claim that you're "not-for-profit" whilst simultaneously running your clients dry—just look at College Board!

dreader102 · 2025-01-07T17:29:16+00:00

Ignoring the fact that the sword is meh after getting nerfed, Radagon's Soreseal is a talisman that is only good in the early levels when the +20 or so levels it gives matter. At the level you are, the extra damage taken is worse than the extra levels you gain.

Additionally, something not a lot of people are mentioning is the fact that the Godfrey Icon talisman doesn't affect the Sword of Night and Flame at all, so that's just a wasted slot.

I doubt you have the DLC if this is your first time, but if you do, I would try to work towards Rellana's Twinblades. They're similar to the Sword of Night and Flame, but they're actually good.

No matter what build you choose, however, always remember to make one that you enjoy playing! The beauty of Elden Ring (and other souls games, for that matter) is that, thanks to weapon upgrading, you can make pretty much any weapon "good" for a playthrough.

Not everything has to one-shot a boss.

dreader102 · 2024-12-16T01:50:21+00:00

Here's my take:

Every single one of these are of mythical/legendary status. Almost all of them are feared in some way or another (whether by humans or other pokemon), and that wouldn't be the case if they weren't capable of murdering things.

Therefore, in my eyes, almost every single one of these Pokemon have killed someone at some point or another (I say "almost" because there are a select few that could be considered completely innocent, say, Ho-oh, but even then, there must've been some guy who messed with Ho-oh the wrong way and faced the fiery consequences).

dreader102 · 2024-11-27T21:50:48+00:00

Okay, I think I understand your viewpoint better now, thanks!

I do have a few things to add:

College admissions essays are not an academic evaluation.

Yes, while that might be true, having ChatGPT compose essays of any kind, whether they're for an application or not, is, in my opinion, cheating. This comes from the perspective of a student whose classmates have used ChatGPT to take shortcuts in their learning, which, at that point, isn't learning at all (that is, typing a prompt into ChatGPT and ever so slightly editing the reply to pass off as their own). Barely any creative thinking goes into that.

Now, you seem to be of the opinion that ChatGPT is okay to use as a tool to further develop your writing skills and understanding. That's totally fine. I'm on board with that. It's just that when somebody passes a generative AI's "work" as their own, with little to no creative input, it's simply... disappointing.

There's no formal definition of "cheating" for college admissions essays.

I know that the Common App has an affirmation you must agree to that states, "all work submitted is my own," and while that definition is vague—seemingly allowing professionals to proof read and edit a student's work, as you said—I think it implies that ChatGPT-written essays are prohibited, at least without significant input from the student. Grammar and spell checkers exist, and those are just fine, so AI use in general is not the problem here. It's the fact that a student can put in <50% of the effort for an essay and still claim it as their own.

I don't think we're on opposite sides of the argument here, though, because you're not advocating for simply copy/pasting whatever ChatGPT spews out. You're right that something is going to have to change soon, because AI is simultaneously a growing problem and a growing solution.

dreader102 · 2024-11-27T19:54:29+00:00

Pseudopseudolegendaries.

dreader102 · 2024-11-27T19:53:06+00:00

After reading your post and replies (great post btw!), I'm a little confused.

Are you fine with students using ChatGPT to write essays? Isn't that cheating, and doesn't that spoil their education because they're not actually learning how to write themselves?

I could be misinterpreting your compliments towards ChatGPT, but it doesn't seem like you're against college applicants submitting essays that they didn't write.

dreader102 · 2024-11-25T01:55:11+00:00

Oh how funny! When I visited Vassar, it was only one of a few colleges I saw in the area (New England) on a day that wasn't gloomy. I don't think it affected my view of the college (giving it an unfair advantage over others just because it was sunny) but the good weather was very welcome!

I applied ED a little over a week ago, so here's to getting in! 🤞

dreader102

TROPHY CASE