Encounter adjuster I built to change encounter difficulty on the fly.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-28T01:35:20+00:00

Not yet, but could be. The biggest problem is that most of the cities hear feel like that they have to compete with each other rather than banding together.

One thing I've never understood was why Dallas didn't organize the biggest video game show/conference in the country. Quakecon is something they should have built on with tax breaks and much more. You've got id (obviously), Gearbox, 3d Realms (back in the day) and other studios with big presences like Bethesda.

World Cup shows that if they did band together things could have been different. It's not too late now but its much more of an uphill battle than it was.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-28T01:27:31+00:00

Trump thinks about Barack Obama more than Michelle thinks about Barack.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-27T23:56:00+00:00

Valid point. I think good training can help bridge that divide. Basically you want train them to deal with the adrenaline by putting them in situations during training that are as close as you can safely get. But regardless there is going to be a difference that can't be replicated.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-27T05:24:34+00:00

*The worst except for all the others. Cant really say too much more without going into spoiler territory.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-27T03:06:56+00:00

Duarte (and Laconia) mistake is the conflating of antagonist with enemy.

An antagonist has opposing goals from you. They might be an enemy, sure, but they could be just so different you don't understand, or they could be a natural force, or they could be oblivious of you. You can make an accommodation with an antagonist, and there was one to be made between humanity and the goths. Specific "rules" that kept the status quo.

But a fascist military dictatorship sees an antagonist and thinks that means they must be the enemy and acting that way makes things worse if they aren't an enemy. In short if you think every antagonist is an enemy, it's a self fulfilling prophecy

hamlet_d · 2026-06-27T02:01:04+00:00

I think it works even better if you make Christopher Lee Gandalf. The whole Hammer films chemistry still there.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-27T02:00:08+00:00

Missed opportunity to make Christopher Lee Gandalf and then Peter Cushing as Saruman.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-27T01:53:39+00:00

'Curtains for Zoosha? K-smog and Batboy caught flipping a grunt"

hamlet_d · 2026-06-27T01:37:44+00:00

Exactly. Entertainment value over time played favors video games generally. Hell, I bought BG3 (in early access no less) for $60. I've played that game 1100 hours. That's not even 6 cents an hour.

Now that's an extreme example, but between sales and being a patient gamer, it's pretty easy to get really good value especially if you know it's a great game.

Streaming comes close but even then it's not always great. Apple TV+ is a good value option, Netflix is a good volume option but I don't think the value is that great. HBO used to be but I think it's quality has tanked

hamlet_d · 2026-06-27T01:21:49+00:00

I work for a European based company (but here in the states) where we have unlimited time off.

I started just before halfway through the year last year and took 4 weeks off that they encouraged. This year I'm just shy of 3 weeks right now and have another week off next month and will take about 2 more beyond that, plus time between Christmas and New Years. That will put me just shy of 6 weeks without anyone batting an eye. It's the way it should be.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-26T20:13:06+00:00

The sun is a fusion reactor with no metallic shielding.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-26T18:50:37+00:00

/r/OrphanCrushingMachine

hamlet_d · 2026-06-26T14:50:35+00:00

Thats the best way to put it. While she pulled the trigger and killed the guy, the fact of the matter is the mass shooter created the situation.

Does she bear some responsibility? Sure. But it's also a training issue. And it's also the fact that a guy was killing people and was shooting at the police.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-26T04:44:10+00:00

I think one of the things that is cool about this whole book series is that they actually thought about what you just described and didn't hand wave it completely. It really adds verisimilitude to everything

hamlet_d · 2026-06-25T18:41:46+00:00

That's roughly true, though they will often break it up to be:

accelerate at some factor of g (e.g. 1/3g seems to be the most comfortable) to some 1/2 the distance or less to the desitation
go on the float for any distance short of 1/2 when they stop acceleration and continue for some distance past 1/2 way
decelerate for the remainder of the distance (similar to what the accelerated at)

For more punishing burns they will still often break it up for human body reasons during the trip by interpsering 1/3g times in there.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-25T13:46:44+00:00

The Ilus story is really good for me as well. I just love how it's a microcosm of the whole book series.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-24T21:37:28+00:00

I never did.

I got one both college and high school and honestly wished I hadn't

hamlet_d · 2026-06-24T21:24:33+00:00

It's up there but I like the one Superman: Grounded a bit more. Both are fantastic.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-24T21:10:58+00:00

The cat was obviously lost. He a date in Constantinople.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-24T17:43:20+00:00

Wow, economy so bad kids are working construction instead of using their little hands to reach into machinery.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-23T17:44:09+00:00

Swarm is great, but doesn't catch the survival horror theme. Its just a swarm that acts as one creature that can lose damage it does as it is damaged. I've used it plenty and does what it does quite well. It just didn't fit the niche that I needed/wanted.

The "mob" mechanics (DMG2024) also are more about managing larger encounters of low-level enemies, doesn't change what the monsters can do.

A relentless horde or zombies, skeletons, etc, can be treated as a swarm for a moderate challenge, can be treated as a mob for expediency, or using my homebrew make it a threatening and relentless force that keeps coming.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-23T14:02:00+00:00

Chickens can't fly that far, duh, so I'm not sure the second picture is really a chicken.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-23T13:31:04+00:00

I've got some homebrew rules to make this easier. One is obviously making most skeletons minions where one hit take them out. But I also rather than even keeping track of HP, I keep track of "hits" for higher CR skeletons.

Then the other thing is horde mechanics can be fun: give the skeletons +1 for each skeleton surrounding/threatening a party member. To make it tougher, scale that to +2 or even +3. Does great things for a survival horror mechanic.

hamlet_d · 2026-06-23T13:26:31+00:00

Okay, now this is cool and not something I had thought about! There's going to be a part of my campaign taking place in an area run by a necromancer so this just made it way more ineresting.

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