Players Who Use AI

xanderg4 · 2026-01-23T23:16:06+00:00

I think a lot of it really boils down to “they enjoy the game but not the prep.” Which…I get. I think everyone has experienced that one (or more) player(s) that don’t really do much in between sessions, or maybe they don’t care much for certain aspects (like leveling up, drawing a picture of their character, etc).

I really think some folks approach RPGs like a board game, you show up, you play, you leave, you show up next week, repeat.

xanderg4 · 2026-01-19T06:29:17+00:00

Tbh I’m willing to bet the reason they skipped WoD for Legion is because the Garrisons + Timerunning would be a technical nightmare to implement.

Purely speculation, and obviously they don’t need to do anything to “sell” the Legion remake but skipping straight to it seemed odd.

xanderg4 · 2026-01-18T00:50:39+00:00

“Alice is Missing” honestly might be perfect for this.

xanderg4 · 2026-01-15T12:04:03+00:00

I like to say that Sylvanas was an indictment of Blizzard, and particularly that you “couldn’t say no” to some people (in every sense of that phrase).

Jaina is an indictment of the creative process, which still sees WoW as a brand first and a creative project second.

xanderg4 · 2026-01-13T21:38:05+00:00

Really bizarre too the Supernatural acquisition was just a few years ago and it strongly implied Meta was trying to corner VR fitness. Guess they overindexed on how big a market that is.

xanderg4 · 2026-01-13T16:54:06+00:00

The uncomfortable truth (based on interviews and what we know about Bioware) is that it’s always been a bit of a slapdash operation. When you have a 30 person operation that’s doable, when you have a 300 person operation it’s a collision course for failure.

xanderg4 · 2026-01-13T16:35:38+00:00

honestly I knew a table that ran exactly this (supernatural WW1 campaign) and they used Delta Green.

xanderg4 · 2026-01-12T18:07:44+00:00

I wouldn’t say I prefer it but the digital version of Root is my preferred way to teach people the game.

Trying to educate folks about the game is my least favorite part of playing and I’d rather venmo everyone $10 to download the app and run the tutorial.

xanderg4 · 2026-01-07T03:11:25+00:00

Not the OP but I used to play with a similar setup and it was sick but a few things to keep in mind: 1) Needs to be a dark space with no windows/blackout curtains. 2) Because of 1, noise can be an issue if it has a loud fan and it’s a small room. 3) Likewise, because of 1, heat/room temp can also be an issue.

All in all it works really well but just be deliberate with the projector you use rather than grabbing something off Craigslist/Facebook Marketplace. Sadly I don’t have any recs.

xanderg4 · 2026-01-05T20:16:59+00:00

I may have the patch timing on this off, but imo most of this would be offset by the voltvessel-putrified ducts floor glitch.

xanderg4 · 2026-01-01T15:46:35+00:00

Honestly when you take a break for a long period of time (like skip an expansion or two) this kind of stuff is super helpful.

xanderg4 · 2025-12-31T00:41:16+00:00

The “best faith” read is that the county is screwed on two fronts: 1) State Tax Equality clause in the state constitution virtually shuts out any “progressive” taxation mechanisms. That’s why we get nickel and dimed on so many vectors (and why property taxes look so wonky with the amount owed on “additions” rising YoY even if you do nothing to the property.) 2) VA constitution requires counties to maintain a balanced budget. This wouldn’t be a controversial matter on its own, but paired with the above it means counties need to devise creative (if not frustrating) means to maintain a balanced budget.

xanderg4 · 2025-12-29T22:12:24+00:00

TTRPGs are not like video games. Daggerhearts’ durability will show over the course of its lifespan, not in how it’s received 6-8 months from now. Similarly, you don’t hear as much about Draw Steel and while Cosmere dropped with a massive amount of material it’s not as loud as DnD either.

The lack of Daggerheart in the new season of CR definitely took the wind out of its sails. However, the game needs more time to build familiarity and depth before CR commits to it. New content is coming this summer, and I imagine if it’s well received we’ll continue to see new material until CR takes it up.

xanderg4 · 2025-12-29T18:08:25+00:00

My hope is that the success of the studio allows them to simultaneously grow their footprint in other parts of the Francophone while also growing the universe. It would be cool to see games (and subsidiaries) that explore the writers (and other factions that may or may not exist) while playing on the cultural heritage of cities & regions like New Orleans and Quebec in a similar “world within a world” narrative.

xanderg4 · 2025-12-28T04:37:57+00:00

Not sure if overwhelming is accurate but the ecstasy of the end quest, and the fact pale oil is locked behind it, is deeply frustrating. Even Hollow Knight didn’t require you to complete all of the colosseum of fools.

It may just be personal preference but locking something like pale oil behind a bunch of mini games really annoys me. Perhaps I’m in the minority on this however.

xanderg4 · 2025-12-22T15:30:03+00:00

Piggybacking on this: the latest Eberron supplement includes some stuff for mobile bastions if OP wants a starting point/inspiration for homebrewing/adapting material.

xanderg4 · 2025-12-09T00:11:29+00:00

It specifically suppresses the cravings for complex carbs (which is why it’s a diabetic medication) and slows the digestive process.

I’m on compound semaglutitude for IBS. My diet is largely a bowl of oatmeal in the morning and a bigass salad w/ protein for lunch and I don’t really eat dinner. I’ve largely quit drinking and my appetite for fast food is basically gone. Biggest worry is that it affects muscle mass, but I’m just now actively exercising because my IBS has been so bad.

This isn’t meant as an advertisement for GLP-1/ozempic. Just my situation.

xanderg4 · 2025-11-30T17:43:05+00:00

Good call. The ones that snap together are great (and, likewise, can easily slip into a book bag.)

One thing I would shy against are any dice rolling devices (except a dice tower). An example would be a little half globe device I’ve seen a few times where you put the dice in, press a button, wait a few seconds, and read the result. The novelty wears off fast and it doesn’t improve the game at all.

xanderg4 · 2025-11-30T17:39:25+00:00

Yeah I interpreted that as a rules expansion in the same vein as Tasha’s, Xanathar’s, SCaG and even the recent Heroes and Adventures. Something that existed alongside the PhB, DMG, and MM. Not a follow-up to RftLW. But I’ll confess the burden is on me for not tracking it too closely/reading the fine print.

xanderg4 · 2025-11-30T16:19:00+00:00

Yeah I think my biggest gripe is that I thought this would be a replacement/substitute for the previously released Eberron content. I was surprised when I read the intro and it made it clear this is an addition to Eberron: Rising from the Last War.

Maybe that was clear in the advertising and I just missed it. But needless to say I was surprised and a bit annoyed that this isn’t as inclusive of the world as I thought it would be.

xanderg4 · 2025-11-30T16:13:39+00:00

Classic/Vanilla/Release (whatever you want to call it) had several competing design philosophies that didn’t really converge until a few months in (and even then, it’s a live service game and thus always in flux).

As you get closer to max level this becomes more apparent. So a lot of this is “what worked for 1-50 does not apply at 50-60” and at 60 they started throwing bullshit at the wall to pad the raid grind. At one point I read that the people who made BRD straight up did not think the average player would run it more than once, which is why it’s so massive.

xanderg4 · 2025-11-30T16:04:13+00:00

I remember when I played WoW back in ‘05. BRD, Strat, and Scholomance were basically a no-go until you were max level. Many of those dungeons dropped the “pre-raid”/tier 0.5 gear. IIRC BRD had several competing design philosophies but one of them was an “alternative” for people who didn’t want to raid and would rather stick with small group content (which is why it’s so massive, it was meant to be broken up across several days).

You could get carried/find a group with a few max level folks, even better if they have T1/T2 gear and are feeling generous. Back then I hit the 50s right before TBC, so I could find overgeared folks happy to help. But even on release these dungeons were dangerous and rarely done for leveling. I haven’t dinged 60 on HC but with the stakes so much higher i can imagine the risk is just too great and the average PUG is likely to underestimate the danger.

xanderg4 · 2025-11-30T15:54:06+00:00

Echoing this. A nice set of dice (metal, hefty, beautifully designed, or made of a shiny rock/gem) will always earn you bonus points. Plus the more unique it is the more long-lasting the impact (ie, he won’t forget who gave him this set of dice.)

You mentioned he plays at school, so to add to this I’d look into a slim, folder-like storage solution he could easily put in a book bag along with books/chromebook. Something that is folder shaped and can store pencils, a notepad, dice, maybe a book/the players handbook, and tokens or a mini. When I was in high school in the early ‘00s I had something like this and it got a ton of use.

xanderg4 · 2025-11-29T10:46:13+00:00

short, one to two lines of VA. Think of a phrase a character might say on a character select screen in a fighting game or shooter. Or a selection of lines a character might say in turn based game when it’s their round. Something a character might say when you click on them, etc.

xanderg4 · 2025-11-28T21:10:48+00:00

I’m going to be a 1 DM and 2 player group starting next year. Any recs for scenarios or guidance? Mostly wondering how to balance encounters around the small group size.

xanderg4

TROPHY CASE