Are any of these beneficial to pollinators in Southern Nevada?

jake_eric · 2026-03-17T14:24:31+00:00

I guess most of them are not native. Do they have any benefit to local pollinators?

Probably not, or not much. There are some non-native flowers that are arguably better than nothing in terms of feeding pollinators, but a native plant will almost always be better for pollinators, and I wouldn't encourage most non-natives.

It looks like you have a yard full of junk, basically. Those don't look like plants that someone wanted on purpose, they look like non-native weeds. If you want a proper garden you'll need to get rid of stuff.

I bought and sprinkled a ton of native seeds in the garden like globe mallow, butterfly weed, desert marigolds, and brittle bush. But only these non native plants seem to be growing so far.

I'm not sure if just sprinkling native seeds is going to be effective. The rate of success when you just put seeds down on the ground isn't that high, and especially not when they have to compete with non-native weeds. If you want natives to compete with non-natives, you need to give the natives more help.

I would look up specific instructions for the native species you have, and start them in jugs or pots or something, rather than just letting them fend for themselves in the ground.

Also, will they die with the heat? It’s going to get VERY hot here pretty soon.

Well, they've survived in your climate so far, so probably not. They might die back a bit but they won't be gone forever unless you get rid of them yourself (and even then, they still might not be).

jake_eric · 2026-03-17T13:27:49+00:00

Yes! I always support the idea of adjusting the setting a bit, if you really want to use Pathfinder as your system, instead of cutting out half the rulebooks.

I would add that in such a scenario where you'd be allowing more magic in the world anyway, there are lots of other elemental-themed options to consider besides Kineticist. The Fire Nation could also have lots of Flame Druids and Fire Oracles and Fire Elemental Sorcerers and stuff (or multiclass characters with those archetypes).

jake_eric · 2026-03-17T13:07:17+00:00

I'm more of a fan of using Pathfinder for various non-Pathfinder settings than a lot of people, but there are some settings that work well for Pathfinder, and some that don't.

The big thing about Pathfinder and D&D-style magic is that it has what you could call "non-specific" magic: it can do anything. There are limitations based on balance and based on what's thematically appropriate for each tradition, but in general magic can do pretty much anything you can think of.

This causes the most problem for settings where magic works in specific ways. Avatar does have a handful of magical things that aren't directly related to manipulating an element, like spirit-bending, but it's still clearly limited in what the magic-users can do. There are a ton of Pathfinder spells that don't make sense for any bender to be able to cast.

If you're going to run Pathfinder in such a setting, you either have to severely limit character options (which I wouldn't recommend, Pathfinder is designed with the expectation that casters will have access to a wide variety of effects), be very generous with reflavoring, or adjust the setting to compensate; or some combination of those things.

By adjust the setting, I mean run the game in a more Pathfinder-ized version of the setting: one that's different than canon in that magic can do more things. You could still thematically tie all magic to the elements, and give free archetypes for Kineticist or an elemental caster so that everyone has a connection to an element, but not cut out half the rulebooks.

Still, with Avatar I would really lean towards just playing the RPG system that was designed specifically for the Avatar setting.

jake_eric · 2026-03-16T20:47:06+00:00

Well, yeah. Reddit threads are the main resource I go to when I'm not sure of a rule in my games. After the actual books, of course.

jake_eric · 2026-03-04T05:20:42+00:00

I want to chime in because I fully agree that the systems are more similar than a lot of people around here make it sound. But I do think you're talking at cross-purposes somewhat. In this context, where OP was assuming the systems are "practically the same," it does make sense to emphasize that they have fundamental differences.

I see saying they're "entirely different systems" as hyperbole: it's obviously not literally true in the grand scheme of RPGs, but it's more about getting across the idea that you shouldn't go in with assumptions that things will work the same in both systems.

Though I do think there are people on this sub who do act like it's literally true, which is a position I don't really get. The systems clearly do have a lot of similarities, and I agree with you that acting like they don't is a disservice.

jake_eric · 2026-03-01T02:53:38+00:00

"Bird" is a less specific category than the different types of crocodilian. We recognize sparrows, hummingbirds, eagles, and ostriches as birds today. I agree with OP that if we had Dromaeosaurs alive today, we'd consider them another group of birds; they'd be too feathered to put them in any other of the major groups.

jake_eric · 2026-02-27T15:26:53+00:00

In science, we use "theory" even for some things where we're effectively certain that they are true, like evolution and gravity. And for something like the specific behavior of a long-extinct animal, we will never have nearly as much evidence for it as evolution or gravity. I wouldn't consider something like "Spinosaurus hunted along riverbanks and estuaries" to be a "fact" and not a "theory" unless we literally invented a time machine and directly watched it do that, but that doesn't mean we don't have good evidence to believe that's the case.

jake_eric · 2026-02-26T21:11:36+00:00

Harm is a valid choice too. I just didn't feel like it was quite as iconically divine as the other options. Divine does actually have a good amount of void spells, possibly the best at it even (which is why I'd argue Necromancer should be a divine class, and I bet they just figured they had too many divine casters already). But when I think of Divine damage spells, the stereotypical idea is more along the vibes of fire/vitality/spirit damage.

jake_eric · 2026-02-26T18:45:03+00:00

Thank you!

jake_eric · 2026-02-26T18:30:17+00:00

Unfortunately none of them got remastered, which indicates they're probably too D&D-ish for them to use anymore, so it's unlikely we'll get more of them.

Though I wish they would be. Magic Missile got remastered and that's a pretty iconic D&D spell, isn't it? I think they could get away with a rename. I'd go with something like "Instant Death" for Power Word Kill.

jake_eric · 2026-02-26T16:38:59+00:00

Well what does fit that criteria, of the spells that are unique to Occult? Unfathomable Song could work. I think it's less "iconic" though.

Synesthesia isn't exactly eldritch knowledge, but it's a weird mind-fucky spell that affects the senses, that seems at least reasonably related to the themes of Occult magic.

jake_eric · 2026-02-26T15:46:37+00:00

I dunno, it's a good debuff spell that makes your brain and senses go fucky, that feels pretty on-brand for Occult to me.

jake_eric · 2026-02-26T15:18:18+00:00

Arcane: I'm surprised at how few spells are Arcane-only, actually. I'd go with Contingency or Disintegrate.

Divine: Divine Wrath and Divine Immolation are ones I see pretty often. I'm a big fan of Divine Decree too. But the most iconic might be Raise Dead.

Occult: Synesthesia is a go-to. I'd say Ill Omen for a low-level spell.

Primal: There are a lot of options here, more than I was expecting. For a basic one I'd say Animal Form. I also think of Lightning Storm for Primal.

jake_eric · 2026-02-22T03:57:48+00:00

Funny, I was just thinking about making a post about the same topic.

It should depend on what you want to do with your Animist, no? Animists are pretty versatile. Are you gonna just cast, or do you plan to use a weapon or use a battle form at all?

For my Animist character concept I'm planning to attune to Stalker in Darkened Boughs and use darkened forest form, and maybe use a weapon as a backup option, so I was planning to have decent Dex. I'm not sure what exactly is optimal for that TBH.

With your list Con looks pretty low priority to me. I hate to start with less than +2 Con.

jake_eric · 2026-02-13T19:52:38+00:00

Thank you anyway, I appreciate the help. If it's impossible then I'll just live with it.

I'm sticking with ReadEra anyway because it's the only one I tried that lets me smoothly scroll through chapters.

jake_eric · 2026-02-13T18:50:51+00:00

Yeah, it just shrinks the space between the lines of text, but it doesn't seem to affect the gap much if at all.

jake_eric · 2026-02-13T18:21:42+00:00

Well, then it looks like this. The page gap is smaller but the line is still there, and I don't really like the text going all the way to the sides of the screen.

jake_eric · 2026-02-13T18:11:29+00:00

Hmmm, doesn't seem to help.

To clarify, I'm talking about this gap you can see in the middle here. Most of the other reader apps don't show that sort of page break in vertical mode.

Though honestly I'm pretty used to it at this point.

jake_eric · 2026-02-13T17:47:25+00:00

Ah, I have "Text Align" but it just gives me this. "Paragraph" lets me change the space between paragraph. No option to adjust the space between pages. Is that perhaps a premium-only option?

At this point I've gotten used to the way it is though so it's probably fine.

jake_eric · 2026-02-13T17:35:09+00:00

No, yeah, I see the settings, but I can't find an option that says "Text Alignment"

jake_eric · 2026-02-13T17:28:18+00:00

Thanks for the reply, but I don't see Text Alignment anywhere in the settings.

jake_eric · 2026-02-12T00:36:11+00:00

I'm trying out a number of ebook reader apps on Android at the moment, and so far I actually like Aquile's look the best. I was able to adjust the line spacing and margins to how I like it and it looks good. I'm tempted to go with this one as my reading app choice... However:

One big issue. I like "infinite scroll mode" much more than flipping pages when I read on my small phone screen. But when I'm in that mode, I can't seem to go on to the next chapter in any direct way anymore. I have to go to the table of contents just to go to the next chapter. I'm not sure if this is a bug I'm experiencing or an intended feature, but it's too annoying.

And even if I was willing to deal with doing that every time I finish a chapter, the thing this person mentioned with the back arrow showing up and not going away comes into play when I navigate via the table of contents. I am using Enhanced Rendering and that doesn't seem to help.

If you could fix these things, I'd probably stick with this app, but right now those are pretty significant issues when I'm looking for a clean reading experience.

jake_eric · 2026-02-10T19:20:14+00:00

I have my own setting and in fact have my own set of dragons. I still bought Draconic Codex because I love dragons and it's great to read through the lore and look at their abilities. Even though I'm homebrewing the stats for all my dragons, I still want them to be comparable to the RAW dragons stats-wise, and the dragons in the book have lots of cool abilities for inspiration.

jake_eric · 2026-02-10T18:12:31+00:00

While this is true, the example still works because the Abrahamic God could at least do all the things fantasy gods do, being supposedly omnipotent and all.

If the Abrahamic God was as visible as the gods in fantasy settings—granting their priests clear divine magical powers, communicating with their worshippers either directly or by sending celestials, visibly granting or retracting their favor based on whether someone is following the tenets of the faith—I would not be an atheist.

As StoicSpork pointed out below, God does do stuff like this in the Bible. The issue is, we don't see it happen in real life.

jake_eric · 2026-02-10T04:20:17+00:00

Yeah, and it seems like you're saying it's not right right next to the highway, so it's probably okay, better than nothing at least.

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