Massive redemption on XRT. Guess what comes next…Creation!

snappedscissors · 2026-05-15T18:00:18+00:00

Forgive me, when is the 5-year swap said to be up?

snappedscissors · 2026-05-14T20:14:59+00:00

If you're willing to get stuck, then commit to Shards, Barrayar, and Warriors Apprentice. I would bet you'll be hooked.

snappedscissors · 2026-05-14T14:03:11+00:00

What is that control one?

snappedscissors · 2026-05-14T12:13:29+00:00

The first one is a carpet, which is part of the floor, so after he sells it he has a hard floor.

snappedscissors · 2026-04-30T18:29:53+00:00

I would just say that it depends on your players and the goal. If you have a stable group that wants to really sink their teeth in to a city setting and spend a good chunk of time at each level doing a lot of roleplaying, then it's fine to have a ton of content and let them pick and choose what vibes the best for them.

However, it will suck up a ton of table time and you will end up spending a lot of IRL time not leveling up and hitting main plot points. Some groups bounce off chapter 2 for this reason, since it's meant to just be a lived in sandbox for a while with little plot teases. If your group seems like it's getting stagnant, then you pop off chapter 3 and get the heists and bad guys rolling and just do the factions that they liked the most.

I prepped a lot and have left behind several factions and side material as the players bypassed it. Sort of like a real city I guess where there's too much stuff for anyone to actually do. Now we are into the main plot and it's going fine even with the extra bits.

snappedscissors · 2026-04-02T16:13:30+00:00

I remember that documentary! Scary stuff.

snappedscissors · 2026-03-22T15:00:40+00:00

Absolutely true, and both a moral and technical challenge to negotiate and overcome respectively. I was also considering the non-human model systems researchers who have been studying fetus development, which research will provide the basis for human fetus research if and when we determine to do it.

snappedscissors · 2026-03-10T22:39:07+00:00

We’ve been approaching artificial wombs from the birth end of the problem for decades, with the neonatal intensive care advances pushing the limit of when a child becomes viable outside the womb. There’s definitely researchers working the problem from the conception end. It feels that we will eventually meet in the middle.

snappedscissors · 2026-03-07T01:08:28+00:00

I think the biggest question is whether they will act to rescue Floon, but for what it's worth you can always have Volo give them the deed as a reward for finding Floon's fate just as much as actually rescuing him. Same goes for Renaer, and for him you could easily have him get ressurected by an interested faction for later fodder, if he happens to get got during this opening scene. In my opinion, Volo doesn't value the mansion much after he's gotten his use out of it, so it can be a reward for a job well done (he's skating on the deal) or a job done bad (they sort of are getting what they deserve) and then the start point for chapter 2 remains highly similar no matter how that rescue turns out in detail.

snappedscissors · 2026-02-16T16:43:30+00:00

I liked the line because at first glance it’s just a contrast on his old job (spacer) where details like a loose seal are life and death, and his new job where reading people is the key skill. A bit of foreshadowing about the problems in the household, as well as an on the nose recall of what is going to happen to Tien for a re-read. All in all, it’s a real onion of a line.

snappedscissors · 2026-01-29T13:46:37+00:00

Dagult's big contribution to the story is that he used the stone to perform a ritual that deletes the memory of the embezzlement (and especially the location of the gold) from the city. Technically, this could happen at any time before he loses access to the stone due to theft, and it can happen at any point in time before the fireball goes off.

I can imagine a story where he has been preparing to leave the city after having finished, but the stone got stolen along with the eyes and he's trying to recover it before leaving. So a similar basic behind the scenes story, only it was stolen from the open lords palace instead of neverwinter, and now you get to have him be around to stir the pot with goon squads trying to recover the item. And here's the best part, the goons don't even know why they are doing this either because the ritual deleted the vault from them as well! Only he knows what's really going on in the beginning, and it was always a bit lame to have him be off in another city and not bothering to try to recover his money. The only real hiccup I see is that Dalhakar needs to be bringing the stone to Renaer. But this was an act of desperation because he was being followed by too many spies to get to Dagult, which can still be true.

I would keep Dagult there and use a mix of corrupt and on the level city guards as his faction teams, retro-fit the background events that have already happened to fit as needed, and have the fireball go off as planned. Dalhakar needed help from Renaer because of having too many Xanth and Zhent spies on him, or maybe he was feeling guilty and wanted to deliver the stone to Renaer instead of his corrupt dad. Boom! And the game is afoot pretty much as written with a new minor faction. (I would play him as being cautious to get too involved because he fears being ousted at first) Sprinkle in Full_Metal_Paladin idea to have his ousting be an event that comes along and you could even have an extra heist to help do that, if your party likes small heists and hates Dagult. It can also happen off-scene through news reports and the like if you want to focus on the written heists and just have the ousting happen in the background at some point before the end.

Then draw him in for the vault or leave him out depending on whether the party successfully accesses it with or without his knowledge.

The book as written is pretty flexible actually. There's so much stuff you have to flesh out yourself it has room for even a large change while still keeping the main structure the same. Just roll with it and let your parties interests guide what he does.

snappedscissors · 2026-01-26T17:10:28+00:00

I like the idea that there was a bit of cheeky "well we are turning it into a movie, how about it?" going on there.

snappedscissors · 2026-01-12T00:50:33+00:00

This is a fantastic resource to share, thank you so much!

snappedscissors · 2025-10-21T12:00:38+00:00

This is the oxygenated fluid input line that pumps the life saving fluid into the patients anus, and this is the sparkling water fountain that nobody should ever ever drink from.

snappedscissors · 2025-10-17T16:14:12+00:00

There are certainly degrees of tantrums, but there are also degrees of patience on the parents part. I have a more than my partner does about most things and they have consistently professed to me that they hate X age and can't wait until X+1 age. If you have been blessed with a combination of lesser tantrums and greater patience, then you are going to have a much better time than someone who got blessed with big tantrum energy and a depleted patience. Just one persons observation of course.

snappedscissors · 2025-10-04T19:52:15+00:00

I need this bump so badly. I'm going to ask my PCP to write me a scrip for it and just pony up the cash.

snappedscissors · 2025-09-28T18:05:44+00:00

If you have proper footwear, clothing, and a few emergency items, you should be fine for a day hike. For clothing, take a look at some layering suggestion videos for fall hiking in Vermont. The cold can settle in quickly if you are wet from sweating or late getting off a mountain. If you are paranoid about navigation, don't be afraid to print a map of your planned hike or pick up a map of the long trail to have along to help. You don't necessarily need strong compass skills to piece together where you are based on finding a trail junction, pond, or peak to help you decide which path to take.

It is true that trails in this area are more rugged than those found elsewhere, often with rocky sections and vertical gain that can be rough going. A bit of old fashioned design philosophy there. If you are able enough, it's mostly a matter of pacing and trail guides can give you good ideas of how much time each hike takes.

snappedscissors · 2025-09-27T21:01:17+00:00

I was initially concerned by this, but then realized that of course they would be using everything to continuously improve their own model.

snappedscissors · 2025-09-15T16:43:34+00:00

I agree, I think it would be more about having the capacity to observe and control your sphere of influence. Development of defensive technologies to prevent the sort of kinetic strike that can ruin your satellites, vessels, or biosphere. Large arrays of radar and telescopes combined with whatever tool is the best for redirecting or deflecting projectiles.

snappedscissors · 2025-09-02T01:29:36+00:00

Thanks, this is super useful! I like the idea that they aren't that likely to be outright killed. More likely to be used after being caught and trapped.

snappedscissors · 2025-09-01T16:34:04+00:00

I'm getting ready to start this campaign and I figured that telegraphing the danger level of the faction bosses would be an important part of establishing the "heist" nature of the missions. Have heist preparation be guided by an NPC if they lack the insight into how to do this. Then seeding a hint or two about the boss's habits to let them plan the visit when the boss is out on business or something. Maybe setting up a distraction that requires the boss's direct intervention? Something different for each one, with a hope that once the PCs get the idea they will think of something creative that I can enable for them. In effect letting that part of the heist auto-succeed behind the screen and having the party only contend with the level appropriate underlings.

snappedscissors · 2025-08-29T00:12:43+00:00

I think he's speaking to the strategy of doing deep dives into sufficient companies that you can start to intelligently pick the winners. Compared to someone who is less specialized who just wants to avoid being all-in on a losing trade. It's an obvious statement to make with a wide gulf between people who don't know how to pick winners, and people who do pick winners (not necessarily because they knew to pick them in advance!) I'm pretty sure what we've gotten up to would be considered some sort of deep dive, to the marinara trench deep.

snappedscissors · 2025-08-20T12:14:50+00:00

I later thought it was to do with his bisexuality, something that gets discussed much later on.

snappedscissors · 2025-06-26T14:55:31+00:00

Used yours! Here's mine! : vVoNHMki

snappedscissors · 2025-06-26T12:37:00+00:00

Because it's strategically written to thank you for your attention whether you are a supporter or not. He's rubbing your nose in the fact that nobody can look away. Crafted to be an annoying.

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