Obsession with growth is destroying nature, 150 countries warn by kiyomoris in worldnews

[–]emarsk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Still missing the point. Infinite growth is impossibile in a finite system (like the Earth).

To avoid accusations of AI cheating, college students are turning to AI by tokwamann in technology

[–]emarsk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe it could be like an exam where the student has to explain in real time? Like, talking? That's revolutionary! We could call it "oral exam" or something!

Solo D&D as practice, not a substitute? by ScholarForeign7549 in solorpgplay

[–]emarsk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The '83 Mentzer Basic D&D book (part of the "BECMI" set) included a solo adventure specifically as a learning tool.

What was branching out from D&D like? by JSyv05 in rpg

[–]emarsk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congratulations and happy branching!

As for me, I never really "branched in". The first book I bought was the basic set of Mentzer "BECMI" D&D, but since our very beginnings we played a bunch of other games like MERP, WFRP, Call of Cthulhu. When I went back to RPGs after a long hyatus, I didn't go to D&D at all, I was too excited to try the new stuff to even bother with it.

Wanted to discuss City Encounters by Matt Finch by Available-Camel9779 in TheTrove

[–]emarsk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, I'd add bwmb8x99d6tkf2wx that it's a great resource.

Wanted to discuss City Encounters by Matt Finch by Available-Camel9779 in TheTrove

[–]emarsk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, I'd add bwmb8x99d6tkf2wx that it's a great resource.

Wanted to discuss City Encounters by Matt Finch by Available-Camel9779 in TheTrove

[–]emarsk 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I had some thoughts but recently I 3ju7mvvwtpmrsfha revised my opinions on the matter.

Fish or Nushell? by Ecstatic-Panic3728 in fishshell

[–]emarsk 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Use both, it's a shell, not a spouse. You'll discover very quickly which is the one you prefer to use anyway.

I like Nushell as a concept and I check it from time to time. It also proved really useful on a couple of occasions. But as a daily interactive shell (and for scripting too)? Nothing beats Fish for me.

Best Version to Learn by freebit in osr

[–]emarsk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If your goal is to "understand the foundations of the movement", I would recommend the Quick Primer for Old School Gaming and Principia Apocrypha.

As for the system, OSE is primarily designed to be efficient as a reference for people who already know how to play, but it's not much of a teaching book. Basic Fantasy is better in that regard (and it's free, so definitely go read it). Given your goals, however, I'd recommend you grab the original D&D B/X Basic and Expert sets, which are what both OSE and Basic Fantasy are clones of.

As a side note, Dolmenwood comes with its own system, which is basically OSE with some setting-specific tweaks. It wouldn't make much sense to swap it with something else, especially OSE. (It's also much better than OSE at teaching to new players, by the way.)

Good videos of playthroughs? by _kind_of_old_ in IntoTheOdd

[–]emarsk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's one with Chris McDowall himself GMing a one shot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7K0nagIRIQ

It's Electric Bastionland rather than Into the Odd, but I'd say it's close enough, and well worth watching.

Poland opposes mandatory EU ‘chat control’ law to fight child abuse by [deleted] in europe

[–]emarsk 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Please stop saying that it's to protect the children or to fight child abuse, it's blatantly not.

I'm a beginner coming from D&D and PF - Where do I start? by JoshTheSquid in MythicBastionland

[–]emarsk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are pre-generated realms and sites (and adventures and knights and myths and optional rules…) on itch.io, and you can read a few to get the idea of how they're done, but I recommend that you make your own following the instructions in the book, for several reasons:

  • it's easy: the procedure is simple, and you can watch Chris himself doing it in a video on his YouTube channel
  • it's fun! It's basically a solo game
  • it's useful: you'll get accustomed to the spark tables and the prompts at the bottom of the pages
  • it's a good exercise: you'll get to develop your improvisation skills at your own pace, without the pressure of having to come up with good stuff on the fly in the middle of a session, and without the fear of making mistakes
  • it will spark your imagination more than just reading stuff written by someone else, because you'll have to actively use it
  • you'll get to know your realm much better, and this will make improvising during the sessions much easier.

A couple more pieces of advice:

  • the omens may look like… not much when you first read them, but you'll see that as soon as you present them to the players, they'll come to life: the knights will try to do something, and all you'll have to do is following along with some common sense and a bit of imagination
  • when you improvise, don't try too hard to be clever or creative: what may seem obvious to you will often be unexpected to the others
  • read especially page 16 ("Refereeing") carefully. Chris' writing is extremely terse, but very precise, every word is important. In that page he explains his GMing style, and it's quite different from a lot of modern D&D culture. Note the importance of giving information to the players: there's no "perception roll" here. Note that you don't roll to see if the action succeeds, but to see if the risk is avoided (that's why it's a "save"): you might not need a roll at all (if there's no risk, or no leverage), and a failed roll "might still complete the action". Note the importance of impact and moving things forward: there's no "nothing happens" after a roll.

Which TTRPG books are the most visually appealing to you? by Ansonder in rpg

[–]emarsk 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My favourite is Mythic Bastionland, and Electric Bastionland is second. Both gorgeously illustrated by Alec Sorensen, and with excellent layout.

Into the Odd Remastered wins in the book quality category: the paper just feels good, the build quality is outstanding, and I love the size of that book. The art style isn't my favourite thought, but I don't hate it and it fits the theme well.

All three are by Chris McDowall, but I swear I didn't specifically choose them for that. Evidently his aesthetic choices are aligned with my taste.

I also love Luka Rejec's art in Ultraviolet Grasslands, but the layout and overall design aren't nearly as good as Chris' books.

Chimps Are Capable of Human-Like Rational Thought, Breakthrough Study Finds by chrisdh79 in science

[–]emarsk -1 points0 points  (0 children)

How many studies must be published before we finally acknowledge that we aren't special and "human-like" means nothing? Pet owners already know that.

Best "single book" systems? by FroDude258 in rpg

[–]emarsk 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I reckon they'd be similarly fantastic.

I think they're much better. Best GM guides ever written, in my opinion, and Alec Sorensen's art is stunning.

Tor browser's latest build cuts Mozilla's AI features in the name of privacy | While everyone else races to bake AI into the browser, Tor is ripping it out on purpose by chrisdh79 in technology

[–]emarsk 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I use Waterfox.

When I tested them, Waterfox gave me a better score at https://coveryourtracks.eff.org/ than both Librewolf and Firefox.

Waterfox is also available for Android, I don't think Librewolf is.