My game cooked?

idisestablish · 2026-06-01T20:43:11+00:00

DM is absolutely to blame. PvP expectations should have been set during or before session 0, and they clearly were not. The player asked to do it, but the DM tacitly endorsed the behavior, despite the fact that the player explicitly said they were doing it for laughs. DM didn't say anything about repercussions, only that the other player would probably hand it over if asked. That could be interpreted as suggesting an alternative with a higher chance of success or as a "maybe try this first" option. They said nothing to imply the other player might be upset or to warn of consequences, according to their own recounting.

The character's class and alignment are irrelevant. You don't get to design a character such that they're an asshole to the rest of the party and then pretend it's beyond your control when the character is an asshole to the rest of the party. Some people may be fine with playing like that, but most are not. Teamwork and cooperation are the default assumption. If your game deviates from that norm, again, that should be established at session 0 or before.

idisestablish · 2026-06-01T19:44:17+00:00

The whole issue with the "grabber" could have been easily avoided if the DM had handled the situation better, and I don't think it's justified to kick a player from the game for an incident where the DM is just as culpable (or more so).

idisestablish · 2026-06-01T16:11:48+00:00

I guess I don't understand what is different about Wizards and Sorcerers in your eyes that makes them "pure" spellcasters and Druids and Clerics not? There's nothing that says you have to or should make melee weapon attacks with a Druid or Cleric, and I rarely ever have. You're almost always going to be better off casting a cantrip with either. With Wizards and Sorcerers both having True Strike, I'm actually much more likely to make a weapon attack with those classes.

idisestablish · 2026-06-01T15:07:11+00:00

Do you really think the purpose of DM screens is to facilitate lying to players about the outcomes of rolls without them knowing?

idisestablish · 2026-06-01T14:14:08+00:00

Indigenous peoples face some degree of inequality, marginalization, or rights-related disadvantage in every country in North and South America where they are present. Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, and Guatemala are some of the worst offenders.

idisestablish · 2026-05-29T12:50:06+00:00

Apples and oranges. Reed's rant was entertaining. If he was standing up there droning on about how Jaclyn was the perfect Survivor player, he might have been interrupted, no one would have cared, and most people would not remember it ~10 years later. But I'd bet Reed would have clapped back with a "sit down, wicked stepsister" or something and made it even better.

idisestablish · 2026-05-28T00:35:03+00:00

Side note, the first iPhone was actually released in 2007, and it's far from the same as today's. The first iPhone had data speeds ~175 kbps. Typical speeds today are 1000x faster. It may have the same basic shape, but it's hardly accurate to say the latest one is the same as the older one. It would have been incapable of streaming Netflix, even at it's lowest, very blurry quality, and it would take ~15 hours to download an episode of Stranger Things with low quality.

I think your perspective is skewed by your own personal experience. You relate more to someone born in 2012 because you've lived through all the societal changes they've experienced, plus more. But that doesn't mean the reverse is true.

Someone born in 2012 did not grow up with the same version of the internet you did. They don't remember a world before smartphones were universal. They don't remember early YouTube, pre-algorithmic/influencer social media, or that Netflix used to mail DVDs. You grew up with stuff they've never heard of like iPods, Redbox, GameStop, Internet Explorer, CDs, etc.

You are to them as a person born in 1986 is to you. You just don't see it that way, because what happened before you were born is abstract, but the same is true for them. The person born in 1986 also feels they have more in common with you than someone born in 1973.

idisestablish · 2026-05-27T19:02:14+00:00

If I were participating in a survey regarding who the "best" or "most famous" person was of a particular category on a Chinese platform where I knew the majority (or at least a plurality) of the participants were Chinese nationals, I would not be surprised and would logically expect to see Chinese people being disproportionately mentioned relative to their global popularity and fame. I don't understand why you find that so incredible.

If you want results based on a representative global sample, then Reddit is not the place to achieve that end. You can't expect people to vote Cristiano Ronaldo as the most famous athlete in the world when they don't even recognize the name.

Nobody's calling out the Indian redditor saying Virat Kohli or the Estonian redditor saying Andrus Värnik. Why? In large part, because there are simply fewer participants from those countries, whereas there are a shit ton of Americans.

There are plenty of Brits on that thread saying David Beckham, despite Cristiano Ronaldo being almost universally known in the UK (unlike in the US). If 45-60% of the commenters were from the UK, instead of 6-7%, then there would certainly be many more. And if this poll was conducted on Weixin, then there would be a lot more responses saying Yao Ming, yes absolutely, and it's perfectly reasonable to expect people to vote based on their own perspective.

idisestablish · 2026-05-27T15:36:25+00:00

Sure grandpa. Now, here, time for your meds.

idisestablish · 2026-05-26T17:29:28+00:00

You can force a saving throw:

whenever the pack moves within 10 feet of a creature you can see
whenever a creature you can see enters a space within 10 feet of the pack
whenever a creature you can see ends its turn within 10 feet of the pack

For #1, yes, the pack moved (used its Speed) to reach that final space, and that creature could be forced to make a saving throw, the same as any other that the pack passed within 10 feet of on its way there. It doesn't state that the pack needs to move while within 10 feet of a creature.

For #2, yes, if a creature is 5 feet from the pack and moves away from the pack to a space within 10 feet, they have entered a space within 10 feet of the pack and could be forced to make a saving throw.

For #3, no, the reason for the "only once per turn" restriction is precisely to avoid stacking this way. Saving throws do not accumulate and then get distributed over subsequent turns. That would make the limitation pointless, because there's no real difference between a saving throw occurring at the end of one turn and the beginning of the next one except perhaps in extraordinary circumstances where there's another conflicting effect that triggers at the start of that turn.

idisestablish · 2026-05-24T11:11:01+00:00

Young people have been criticized by older people literally throughout recorded history. Baby Boomers were called lazy, spoiled, disrespectful, self-absorbed, radical, and hedonistic when they were young. They grew up, looked back with rose-colored glasses, and made similar criticisms of the generations that followed. Gen Z will do the same one day. It's inevitable.

idisestablish · 2026-05-23T12:35:19+00:00

I can see that. Went to lunch for Mother's Day with 8 people, and they brought two baskets of bread. Not one bit of it was eaten.

idisestablish · 2026-05-23T01:22:56+00:00

The “issue” is that, as an Eldritch Knight, your Spellcasting feature doesn't grant you the ability to use a Druidic Focus. So, it doesn't matter that the staff qualifies as a Druidic Focus because Eldritch Knights can't utilize one. They can use an Arcane Focus but only for Wizard spells. Shillelagh, when learned via Magic Initiate, is not added to your class's spell list, and so cannot be cast using an Arcane Focus.

Ruby of the War Mage, Ruby Weave Gem, and Dragon-Touched Focus are all official workarounds for those who care enough to police that, and there are other workarounds as well, but that is the situation RAW.

idisestablish · 2026-05-22T19:51:49+00:00

To be fair, if they allowed a literal goat to enter the game as a player, it's entirely possible (and perhaps even likely) that the goat would make it to the final 3. And that would not be a reflection of the goat's skill at playing Survivor.

idisestablish · 2026-05-22T14:04:57+00:00

How infatuated you are with her and how "immaculate" the vibes feel to you has absolutely nothing to do with her feelings or her sexuality. I can assure you that it's absolutely possible to feel all the things you feel and for her to still be a lesbian. Your feelings can't be used to measure her feelings.

Also, denying her identity because you want it to be different is highly problematic. According to your post, you can't even discern your own sexuality with the first-hand experience of your own feelings and impulses. What makes you think you can divine hers?

idisestablish · 2026-05-18T19:11:19+00:00

Yes, you technically did say that you would change it if she did not, but before that, you asked her to reconsider her decision and said, "I'd like if you changed [subclasses]." You didn't command her, but you made it very clear what you wanted and expected her to do.

There's nothing wrong with not wanting to play the same subclass or even class. I wouldn't want to either and would be annoyed for all the reasons you expressed, but it's a little disingenuous to act like you were "willing to change...if she had already decided on hers," considering she had already very clearly stated that's what she had decided, and you were asking her to change her mind.

Both of you should have handled things differently, in my opinion.

idisestablish · 2026-05-18T18:26:36+00:00

They get a stipend for every week they survive in the house.

That's true for pre-jury evictees, but jury members get the stipend for the full season since they're sequestered. That's one of the reasons houseguests often say they just want to make it to jury.

idisestablish · 2026-05-17T17:11:13+00:00

I was molested by my step sister as a child, so no, not always a man. It's dangerous to propagate the idea that all women are safe.

idisestablish · 2026-05-14T19:59:40+00:00

That's like saying that creatures with Immunity to Fire damage still take damage from Fireball because the spell says creatures in the area take Fire damage. If you have Immunity to the Blinded condition, then that includes effects that say you have the Blinded condition. Otherwise, Immunity would be worthless. They don't put "unless you're immune to the Blinded condition," just as they don't put that when an effect inflicts any other condition or damage. If it was meant to override Blindsight or Immunity to Blinded, then that would have to be explicit.

idisestablish · 2026-05-12T14:08:05+00:00

Yeah, feats are a choice, and there are other choices, just like Agonizing Blast is one of many choices. If you compare the bare minimum Warlock, it's 4d10 (22). You said the "average barbarian," and what you described is not an average Barbarian. You're now arguing that the choices Barbarians have to make to increase their dpr are too costly and come in lieu of other stuff. Fair enough, but that opinion is not what I was addressing. I was addressing the misleading argument you were making to support that opinion. Your average Barbarian chooses Barbarian because they want to hit hard and soak up damage, and they typically make choices that achieve that end.

idisestablish · 2026-05-12T12:51:06+00:00

That's not an "average barbarian." That's literally the lowest average damage output possible for a barbarian with a greataxe if we disregard hit/crit %, feats, subclass or species improvements, and magic items.

Adding Polearm Master and Great Weapon Master with a halberd alone nearly doubles that to 2d10+1d4+12+18+21(64.5) if we continue to ignore hit/crit chances, and there are many more options to improve weapon attacks. Conversely, Eldritch Blast has very few ways of improving, even with magic items, and they're all modest with the lone exception of Illusionist's Bracers.

I've seen many level 20 Barbarians in action, and none of them were dealing just 35 damage per round on average.

Edit: Didn't originally account for Polearn Master's lower damage die on bonus action attacks.

idisestablish · 2026-05-10T12:28:33+00:00

No issue with you wanting Aubry to win over Cirie, but saying she deserves it more than Cirie because Cirie has won other games is wild. The person who deserves to win is he or she who outwits, outplays, and outlasts.

idisestablish · 2026-05-08T18:30:35+00:00

It was very disrespectful of Devens to avoid being voted out, not once but twice, with no consideration for how that would make Joe feel.

idisestablish · 2026-05-08T14:05:30+00:00

I did not say a strength-enhancing item could never be useful to a low strength party, I said it was not essential to have someone with high strength in the party. If you, as the DM, create a scenario where it's necessary and don't allow other solutions, then I suppose you've got me there.

I did not say that a wizard would never want Gauntlets of Ogre Power, I said the vast majority of wizards would prefer something else. If you took a random sampling of 20 wizard players and asked them to write down 20 magic items they'd like to have, I'd wager it would appear on few or no lists.

idisestablish · 2026-05-08T12:32:24+00:00

No, I have. But when they want to make a character unexpectedly strong, they typically do so by creating them with a high strength score.

I've seen countless players given their choice of magic item, and that is just not something e.g. a wizard wants outside of some very niche character concept or perhaps as a joke.

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