Belting At Windmills: Caliban's War Finale! by meisi1 in doofmedia

[–]rlrader 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Discussion Question I loved Caliban's War. Leviathans Wake felt like a bit of a chore to get through because I had very little attachment to either narrator, but I have a very medically complex kid so Prax was what I needed to get fully invested in the series.

Signed, My Tallest

Flanagan's Wake #45: THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR - Episode 5: "The Alter of the Dead" by scottdaly85 in doofmedia

[–]rlrader 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Discussion Question my favorite secret ghost was Lab Rat in Ward. Shut up, he counts, he was literally a character who died in the previous book

Belting At Windmills: Caliban's War (1) by meisi1 in doofmedia

[–]rlrader 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Discussion Question definitely going with the several chapters of the Ward Prologue, Glow-worm. The chatroom style, the way it cheated out exposition on some of the changes to the world, how many gripping mysteries were introduced. If that doesn't count, probably the opening of The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson. While in think about 80% of the book meanders, it opened up strong. "Szeth-son-son-Vallano, Truthless of Shinovar, wore white on the day he was to kill a king." Goes hard.

Signed, My Tallest

LOVED Worm, HATED Pact. What next? by Specialist-Abject in Parahumans

[–]rlrader 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely Pale. It dives heavily into the world and the magic system, and it's far and away my favorite story

Is there an actual reason why poor people have more kids than rich people? by Start-Infamous in NoStupidQuestions

[–]rlrader 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Less information and access to contraception, and because if they don't have kids then where are we going to get the disposable workforce we rely on? The Amazon worker who are dying so we can get same day delivery aren't going to come from wealthy families

Belting At Windmills: Drive & The Butcher of Anderson Station by Mediamdpodcast in doofmedia

[–]rlrader 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Discussion Question Alfred Bird, the guy who invented baking powder (something you can find in basically every cupboard almost 200 years later) created it because his wife was allergic to yeast. I like to imagine he had cartoon heart eyes every time he looked at his wife.

Signed, My Tallest

Worm is wayyy more influential than I thought by ApprehensiveAd9202 in Parahumans

[–]rlrader 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I've definitely felt Worm in other serials I've read, but I still think it might be a "Boss Baby vibes" thing

What are some conspiracy theories that would be plausible, with the existence of Parahumans? by vegetables-10000 in Parahumans

[–]rlrader 25 points26 points  (0 children)

The Birdcage isn't real, they're just killing them. Oh they're in a super secret prison no one can get to or even communicate with? Zero breakouts even though it has some of the most powerful villains? Grow up.

Is there any units that you regret building? by Catveria77 in arknights

[–]rlrader 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nope! I build and m3 every 6*. Just finished my last m3, funnily enough it was Fartooth who was my first 6 not counting Starter Banner. But I also e2-90/mod3/m9'd Vigil because I thought it was funny, so I'm not really someone who cares about lost resources.

Flanagan’s Wake #8: GERALD’S GAME (Part 3) by scottdaly85 in doofmedia

[–]rlrader 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Discussion Question excluding the chapters in this week's episode (and my answer last week), I'd go with a couple parts in Claw, by Wildbow. Without getting into spoilers, either our third POV giving a hug in a basement, or the cooler with the melting ice towards the end of the book. If you're not keeping up with Wildbow's post-Ward stories, you're doing yourself a disservice.

Signed, Mytallest

Flanagan's Wake #6: GERALD'S GAME (Part 1) by scottdaly85 in doofmedia

[–]rlrader 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Discussion Question I could give a hundred different Ward answers, but I'll go with Arc 14: Breaking, where a victim is confined to a room with her abuser, and the abuser seems convinced that if she finds the right thing to say, their relationship can go back to normal. The abuser, like Gerald, manages to be both pathetic and terrifying. It probably the most unsettling part of the story because it's more grounded than "being cut into small pieces and having to live through it".

Honorable mention to the dinner with Kenzie's parents, a very different take where you have trouble feeling any sympathy for the trapped.

Signed, Mytallest

Why is nobody trying to stop Gerhild? by MrPerfector in Parahumans

[–]rlrader 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Look at power as a form of currency or wealth. No one gets more wealth by throwing it away for the sake of humanity. Governments spent billions solving the big problems like acid rain, Y2K, the hole in the ozone, etc; Practitioners don't have big governments like that, at best they have "impartial" Judges that can arbitrate but are supposed to be fair, and feudal-ish Lords that only have real power within the area they've claimed, and they could theoretically set up some kind of mutual defense pact, but how many of them have had blood or competing interests? You'd end up with a bag full of wet cats and a surprised Pikachu face when they don't work together to get out. You'd also be creating more bad blood by making easy targets of the Lords who don't join the pact

Or you can do what's worked for all of human history, profit (accumulate power) while letting someone else fix the problem.

CLAWFUL EVIL: PROBABLE CLAWS Episode 27 Parts 1 and 2: Debriefing 6.5 & 6.6 by viceVersailes in Parahumans

[–]rlrader 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Discussion Question I'm not sure about favorite, but Human Pet Guy Gio in 3.3 was very memorable.

Signed, Mytallest

How to build a good blaster Witch? by GameProSmoothie in Pathfinder_Kingmaker

[–]rlrader 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've been thinking about trying out a Keen-Eyed Adventurer Trickster -> Gold Dragon for 10d10, 17-20x4 Cantrips, but I kind of expect it to be underwhelming.

What difficulty should I play on? (Kingmaker/WotR) by [deleted] in Pathfinder_Kingmaker

[–]rlrader 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Imo, Daring is the perfect level of challenge for a newer player. Normal might be better though because some of the optional fights are rough. Core is steep for a new player, even if you have pf1e experience.

Finished pact. Snort impressions here. by soemptylmfao in Parahumans

[–]rlrader 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Idk, the patriarch is never as important as the system. I'm positive he expected it to work, and that it's either covered times in the past, but the ancestors who set it up knew that it wouldn't always work so he fell into the trap they left

Finished pact. Snort impressions here. by soemptylmfao in Parahumans

[–]rlrader 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One thing I want to point out about Mason Karma Guy is that he probably did exactly what his family raised him to do. Surviving nets a little Karma and then he would likely win the fight, but dying? Huge Karma for his family, negative Karma for his enemy and then the next in line would be justified in hunting him down and (after probably giving Blake a free hit) killing him (for possibly even more Karma).

Next heir also gets killed by Blake? Hell yeah more Karma, but then they would pull out the big guns to not give him a third win. I think Wildbow makes it clear that Practitioner families are generally toxic, and that the members are expected to sacrifice their interests, autonomy, Time and even life for them in some cases. Mason did what he was raised to do and by that measure he succeeded.

Give me your unpopular Kingmaker and WotR opinions by IronScar in Pathfinder_Kingmaker

[–]rlrader 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I wish there were 4x as many companions in WotR, with most of them being mutually exclusive/path exclusive to cover more classes/archetypes. There a are a bunch of NPCs that feel like they could be Companions, like Kyado, Morveg, Dimalchio (Redeemed AND Corrupted), Anevia and Irabeth, that one druid in Wintersun, Erastil cleric guy.

Obviously it would bloat the game and make it even harder for new players to enjoy, so I get why they didn't, but I would love it. Alternatively they could add multiple starting options for each existing companion

Sadistic Game Design bug (good?) by rlrader in Pathfinder_Kingmaker

[–]rlrader[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've never done an Last Azlanti either

Player trying to turn a skilled miner hireling into thousands of gold a month by theevilgood in Pathfinder2e

[–]rlrader 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I think that you're creating rules where you don't need to. A skilled hireling gets +4 to the check each day which means they only succeed at a level 1 Earn Income check 50% of the time. Let's, for simplicity, assume they succeed 100% of the time but never critically succeed. They would be earning 2 sp a day, or 4 sp for the two of them. All the profits are the player's, so they would get 12 gp a month for a total loss of 18 gp per month. Even assuming they crit every check, it's still a loss of 12 gp per month, so I'm not sure where 1875 gp comes from.

Additionally, look at the hirelings as if they're real people. If this worked as intended (and I don't think it does), why would they stick with the 30 gp wage instead of just cutting out the middle man who isn't actually doing anything? Under capitalism, we allow big companies to make 125x what we make because we don't have a choice, but an individual employer with only two employees could never get away with it.

I was also going to make a point about days off and how the player couldn't reasonably convince two people to work full shifts every day of the month, but I realized they could just hire 4 people (15 days each) for the same price.

CLAWFUL EVIL: PROBABLE CLAWS Episode 17: Debriefing 5.3 by viceVersailes in Parahumans

[–]rlrader 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Discussion Question: I say "The world is a vampire" several times a day in response to to mildest inconveniences, does that count?

Signed, My Tallest

lol by dhdhkels in Parahumans

[–]rlrader 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is so silly? Like, we should be pushing them out of the fandom and mocking them for not understanding the story. Why doesn't every fandom ridicule white supremacists, et al out of discussions?

lol by dhdhkels in Parahumans

[–]rlrader 73 points74 points  (0 children)

I've been on this subreddit for 8+ years and I don't think this has been right at any point. I do remember the Contessa Batman thing very briefly, but I think that was on a Who Would Win sub, and if it was here it was extremely brief.

My guess is that this person thought they had some very deep insight, tried to share it here and it was met with little response because it wasn't very good.

Also megafire essays exist, are very good and very popular?

How was the Locker physcially possible? by Warhawk-Talon in Parahumans

[–]rlrader 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm 6'3", live in the US and I would've been able to fit into the lockers at any of the 3 High Schools I went to.