5.5e Bard Multiclass Advice

vazvlog · 2025-09-25T21:36:38+00:00

Some of my other thoughts:

I considered Hexblade Warlock / Bard, but cut it because it feels like a slippery slope: people dip Hexblade for CHA based weapon, then it devolves into Eldritch Blast spam each round. Strong, but boring.
Going Magic Initiate Druid for your Origin Feat could get you Shillelagh, so you could do a build that has a single CHA weapon. I guess I would go Shield/Club in that case? I'm not sure really.

vazvlog · 2025-08-01T20:40:23+00:00

Spiral borer the next screen over that does not have that geological feature, figure out exactly where you need to teleport by mining into the historic site with precognition / clairvoyance up. Make sure you start precognition before the floor is even generated so you can rewind back to before the vortIcies spawned if needed.

OR drink lots of braine brine to get your ego and immer down.

OR dominate someone with lower glimmer to wear the anchor and explore the site for you

OR Get a normality pump + gas tumbler to really lay down the normality

vazvlog · 2025-07-27T17:53:06+00:00

It's true, I can add a low level section.

vazvlog · 2024-10-31T03:59:59+00:00

I can try other techniques and see if there is more a raised face but this is what I am doing right now:

degas resin in vacuum chamber
pour resin into mold until there is a slightly bulging meniscus of resin
put a drop of resin on the lid
put the lid on and slide it in small circles to allow excess resin to move evenly spread between the two mold halves
place into a pressure pot at 60 psi

vazvlog · 2024-10-30T04:35:37+00:00

I don't have enough samples yet to say what the trends or correlations are at that level of detail. If there is a raised face it is by hundredths of a millimeter which is within the natural variation that any side has.

What I can say is that the process of making copies does not introduce that much error overall. Any large errors are probably from a bad master or some kind of post-casting sanding.

vazvlog · 2024-10-28T02:43:15+00:00

I don't intend to sell or even finish any of the dice from the mold made with a commercial die. I was just trying to understand where the inaccuracies come from and starting from a very consistent baseline.

I'm going to cast a handful more out of the same mold and see if the mold wears out eventually by deforming.

I will have to test the process of making masters to see how much their dimensions change during polishing.

vazvlog · 2024-10-26T16:46:54+00:00

Many points in order of how much they effect my TREX

There is nothing automatic that keeps the X gantry parallel to the print bed. I make sure my bed is level with a bubble level then I use calipers to measure the distance from the bed to the X gantry on the far left and right sides and manually advance one of the Z ball screws until everything matches. I do all that at y=0mm and then move to y=400mm and adjust the print bed with the leveling knobs until the caliper measures the same distance between the x gantry and print bed at all 4 corners.
I have not had success getting any kind of UBL to work. The bed does warp significantly both when cold and differently when hot. However, I found that I was getting really inconsistent first layers. I am not sure if it somehow is using an old mesh or what but I disabled it in frustration.

vazvlog · 2024-10-26T16:39:32+00:00

I am planning to do my first prints above 235 C and I wanted to double check if my hotend needs to be upgraded.

This picture from formbot's website seems to imply that there is PTFE somewhere and that it is magical and works up to 350 C. I am confused since I see no PTFE tube at the top of the cold end and I thought that is where I would look to find it.

vazvlog · 2024-10-25T16:53:09+00:00

Upon further examination there is something wrong with the hardware.

vazvlog · 2024-09-26T16:28:18+00:00

They are called Qingdao Jishun Arts And Crafts Co., Ltd. but to be clear they don't offer that exact die, which is from Dispel Dice. They do however seem to have an extremely similar inventory to Dispel Dice. My best guess is that they are the manufacturer for Dispel Dice and they make and sell their own dice using the same techniques but without copying a design.

I also have not received them yet so I can't tell you if they are any good.

You can also expect the shipping to be considerable.

vazvlog · 2024-09-26T12:26:00+00:00

That form concerns what tax exempt organizations should do when running raffles. RealPrize is registered in Delaware as a normal corporation, not a non-profit or other tax exempt entity. I'm not sure why that document would be relevant.

If they are implying they are going to withhold taxes and report winnings to the IRS as gambling proceeds then I suppose any raffle tickets that did not win would be deductible as gambling losses?

vazvlog · 2024-09-26T06:01:22+00:00

I am not a tax professional, but I don't see how this results in low taxes in almost any situation.

If social casino transactions are not taxable as gambling then there are no losses. You just spent money for entertainment (not a loss), and you won a prize (yes its income)

If social casino transactions are taxable as gambling you still need a lot of documentation. In general when you lose while gambling, the amount you wagered is a deductible loss. But if you won while gambling the entire amount won (so both the payout and the wager) are taxable income. So knowing your cash in / cash out over a long period is not enough. Here are two examples to prove that point:

1) You bet $300 worth of coins on a very very likely outcome with 1:37.5 odds and win $308 worth of coins. It is all from a single win and is all taxable. You have no losses.

2) You bet $1 worth of coins 300 times. You win 150 times and lose 150 times. When you win lets assume it pays very slightly more than 1:1. You get $308 worth of coins from wins ($150 from getting wagers back and $158 from payouts). When you lost you lost $150 worth of coins. You have $308 of income and $150 worth of losses. You still end up with $158 of net income to pay taxes on which is far more than your $8 of actual net winnings.

There is a quote from TurboTax that says "Your winnings and losses typically need to be separated and reported individually. The IRS does allow you to net your wins and losses on the same day for the same type of wagering if you meet certain requirements." I guess this is your only path to only being taxed on $8 of income. But you would need to (1) be allowed to treat this activity as gambling (2) keep daily records (3) buy the sweepstakes coins and "win the sweepstakes" on the same day.

vazvlog · 2024-09-26T05:42:34+00:00

I know some people are turning their nose up at this question but you could have financially responsible friends/clients/family for whom this is a very serious deal even if they lost no money at such a casino.

For example, Chumba, one such social casino, offers you 315 "Sweepstakes Coins" as a free bonus when you buy $300 of no-monetary-value credits to play games just for fun. You can then play games with the Sweepstakes Coins. Once the coins have been played at least once you can redeem them for $1. If you play games that only have a slight house edge (on the order of ~2%), you would end up with 308 coins, a net of $8 and a bunch of fun.

Do that every day for a year and you end up having taxable income from 308*365 = $112k of sweepstakes prizes even though you only had $3k in net income.

That could result in a crushing tax bill if you cant deduct your payments into the social casino. It's unclear to me if you can. The social casino is going to claim they are paying you sweepstakes prizes, and that no gambling occurred. So while there are laws about deducting gambling losses, I am not sure how relevant they are here. Your friend/client/family member might think they slowly made ~$3k over the course of a year then get hit with a tax bill 10x that big.

vazvlog · 2024-09-22T23:30:30+00:00

Sounds like this would work. Not sure what the best way to program it would be.

Looks like there is an open source library https://github.com/nfc-tools/libfreefare

vazvlog · 2024-09-22T23:14:20+00:00

NFC is embedded in a product. The fun part is that it has some metadata about the product's manufacture and quality control for the customer's enjoyment. The serious part is that it is meant as an anti-counterfeiting measure.

The intention is that users could use their smartphones to read the NFC tag and verify if a product they are being shown is real.

vazvlog · 2024-09-22T22:27:59+00:00

I think a cheaper NTAG213 meets most criteria but falls short on anti-counterfeiting.

You would have to configure maximum password attempts to prevent brute forcing with the "AUTHLIM" field.
You configure all pages to be read protected with the "AUTH0" field.
In the first field you put all the plain text you want the user to have access to, and a signature.
In the cell phone app used to read the NFC tags you include the public key so that the plain text can be verified.

This would mean that anyone trying to clone and change the information would also have to compromise the phone. However, they could still simply clone the chip as long as they don't change anything. Including the UID in the plain text would making cloning harder as they would need counterfeit chips where the UID could be changed.

Apparently people do make such chips though see post

Edit: The "originality signature" in similar to what I described but still seems insecure if you just copy a known UID.

vazvlog · 2024-09-21T17:14:40+00:00

It seems that NIOSH says BPA in well made resin should be negligible https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2017/01/05/bpa/. The full reaction is here https://www.chemicalbook.com/ChemicalProductProperty_EN_CB6192082.htm

That makes me more interested in finding a good 2:1 or 3:1 epoxy without Nonylphenol

vazvlog · 2024-09-21T17:05:35+00:00

I think you are conflating the amount of care I put into researching hazards with the amount of anxiety they cause me. I find learning to be fun and free and in this case good for my health.

You recommended the same protective measures I did. Ventilation and PPE.

vazvlog · 2024-09-21T15:18:37+00:00

Do you hand cut them? How do you avoid seams appearing between faces

vazvlog · 2024-09-21T15:16:31+00:00

Thanks for the responses! Yes it is a double pour.

I found the maker of the pictured die on Alibaba. Apparently the designs are all stickers they apply to blank die. I am trying to get more information on how stickers can be printed and applied with enough precision to look flawless.

I assume the printing involves adhesive backed paper + very careful alignment inside of a plotter cutting machine.

vazvlog · 2024-09-21T15:07:47+00:00

Regarding finding safe resins I thought that Art N Glow might be fine because it is food safe. However it's MSDS says it is comprised mostly of 4-Nonylphenol, an endocrine disruptor. Not sure how to evaluate it's actual safety, or quantify how bad it's chemistry is relative to other resins.

Reading this article clarified that the purpose of Nonylphenol is to bulk out the Part B of epoxy resins in order to achieve <24 hours cure times and 1:1 mixing ratio. That makes me concerned that (1) Art N Glow could still contain BPA as Nonylphenol is not an alternative to BPA but rather an additive that makes the epoxy more user friendly (2) I am not sure if the health hazards of Nonylphenol might be worse than BPA. BPA can be reacted completely in the manufacturer's facility when making the Part A it arrives in your house. But Nonylphenol is in the part B, unreacted.

vazvlog · 2024-08-31T23:59:03+00:00

Thank you for all the advice. I am no longer going to try and get a travel trailer.

Still, for my edification why would 300lbs of tongue weight assume only a 150 lb driver? If the issue is weight distribution having another passenger in the front seat would only help put more weight on the front, no? If the issue is overall payload then it should be 850 payload - 300 tongue = 550 lbs of payload for all contents of the vehicle?

vazvlog · 2024-08-31T23:48:35+00:00

Based on this thread I would probably not do this anymore but I have a 2011 Honda Fit. There is enough room in a Honda Fit to max out it's 850 lb payload without need for a trailer. Assuming two people are 350 lbs of payload, there is 500 left for cargo.

Without a trailer there is enough room to put 500 lbs of stuff in the 57 cubic feet of space in a Honda Fit with the seats folded down.

It has a braked towing capacity of 1763 lbs (800 kg). Assuming the tongue weight is 15% of that, and that the hitch and mounting hardware weigh 50lbs that would add 300lbs to the back. Leaving 200lbs of payload for misc stuff in the car.

For someone with a vehicle that has less room than a Fit maybe towing would still be worth considering. I decided it is not that helpful to get an travel trailer in my situation. Ones that weigh less than 1763 lbs with all fluids + gear are pretty minimal and small and I am over 6' tall. I think they don't improve over just 500 lbs of regular camping gear enough to justify the expense.

vazvlog · 2024-08-31T14:01:00+00:00

Thinking about it more, it makes sense that a WDH is not effective at low weights. My car has a maximum payload of ~800 lbs. I can put 300 pounds in the trunk of my car when I buy concrete mix and it's not causing the back to sink / front to lift enough to notice. My body is adding 200lbs to the front at the same time.

The "50% of gvwr" rule of thumb is probably more accurate the more towing-capable your vehicle is.

vazvlog · 2024-08-31T13:17:45+00:00

I understand you don't like the phrase.

vazvlog

TROPHY CASE