dumples @ dumples @midwest.social

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1 yr. ago

Dealing with the afterlife and the planes is really up to you. I think making this a little unclear, vague and inconsistent leads to a little mystery to the game. In my game I would follow something similar to what you had laid out above. Here is how I would run this for my campaign.

• The players would have to find out where their soul went. This would be some adventure to find this out by petitioning Kelemvor or another method to ensure they find the correct location
• The players find a method to travel to the plane (I would do olympus because it would have some fun fights). I would either have some quest to get a planar aligned tuning fork (if they have plane shift) or some kind of planar tunnel to get there.
• Once there they will have to find the soul (who I would treat as a different creature for spells like scrying / divinations). I would have them continuously fighting and dying from the same fight.
• After they defeat this boss again, I would have some RP / skill check to convince the soul to come with them because their memories would be wiped / reduced. I would have time move very differently for the part vs this player.
• On the way back if the soul dies outside their fight arena I would have it dissolve into the essence of the plan (a.k.a. DEAD except for wish) or return back to their fight arena.

This sounds like a fun series of adventures.

Everyone has a different criteria to "win" in this game called life. People just assume that everyone is playing the same game with the same rules so start judging people on these criteria. People usually set it up so they are "winning" and others are "losing". So play your own game and judge yourself by your own criteria. If you feel you are doing good (which I think you are) stay the path. Don't listen to what others think of you.

Want to see something sad look at the divorce rate for women who are diagnosed with cancer. Its so common that most doctors and support groups talk about it after the diagnosis. So I am not surprised but still disgusted.

Here is my favorite technique:

"First treat a woman like a person, then a princess, then a Greek goddess, then a person again." -Shawn (Psych)

Treating some like a person first is really the most important thing. Everything else is optional but people like to be treated special for a while before being a person again.

This makes a lot of sense because as we have been seeing over the last decades or so is that digital only socialization isn't a replacement for in person socialization. Increased social media usage shows increased loneliness not a decrease. It makes sense that something even more fake like ChatGPT would make it worse.

I don't want to sound like a luddite but overly relying on digital communications for all interactions is a poor substitute for in person interactions. I know I have to prioritize seeing people in the real world because I work from home and spending time on Lemmy during the day doesn't fulfill.

Never.

Exactly. Dating apps just digitally what people used to do in meat space. Casual dating has always been common and there has always been a point that it becomes "Exclusive" or monogamous.

Its better and healthy than being serial monogamy where you jump from serious commitment to serious commitment.

There are a lot of discussions about polyamory which is all valid. That usually means for more serious relationships. However, I would like to point out that casually dating multiple people is very common and has been for a while. Especially early in a relationship this was always a thing. There have been multiple names over time about this "going steady", "exclusive", "boyfriend / girlfriend", "pinning" etc. which has gone back decades.

If you look there was a lot of parents of teens from the 50s complaining that their son/daughter was only dating a single woman/guy. So take that into account

If you would like to live there someday I would recommend that as your goal. I would recommend you start doing some research on permaculture which is about building wholly sustainability. Part of this sustainability is financial and piecewise building and investment. So if you want to build and live on this one day you will need the money for it.

So start with leasing the land for at least 1 year to get some cash and for you to better understand where you might want to build a structure and what you need. This allows you to plan and see what part would fit a dwelling the best. This also lets you figure out what you need for this house (i.e. water, electricity, waste removal etc.) as well as figure out how this investment can make money for you. Start small and build modularly. Your dwelling may start on as shack or even a place to set up a tent and grow larger. Same with whatever you end up doing with the land.

Permaculture talks about building food forests which are sustainable year round sources of food, goods or materials. Some of which you can sell or use yourself. These are typically perennial plants, vines and trees which all grow off each other and make a beautiful space. This can be your space for "remote working" either for yourself or visitors.

While planning on starting on this you can continue to lease your land to farmers as you slowly take it over yourself for your bigger vision. This is suppose to be small, slow but sustainable growth to your final vision.

I always feel nervous preordering anything. I got a new Fitbit so I think I have some time before it fails so I can see how this rePebble works out. If it is as good as it looks I might just get it. 30 day estimated battery life is amazing

Same.

To combat this you can fill a heat tolerant water bottle with some boiled water, wrap it in a shirt or sweater to prevent burning, and put it into your sleeping bag to warm it up quickly.

The first time I did this I ended up so hot that I had to take it out. Its a wonderful trick and I have woken up spooning the cool water bottle in the morning

Role-playing game isn’t about miniatures

I feel like miniatures is a separate and interrelated hobby. I don't really enjoy it but its nice to have something physical for combat. That being said free VTTs do so to replace the need for that.

It’s not about the ogre, it’s about whether choices have an impact on the story.

This is exactly my point is that by relying on it constantly there is no actual real choice and its just lying about railroading the players. If I have the choice about going to clear out the undead in the forbidden temple or clear out the bandits on the outskirts of town and behind the scenes its the same dungeon map I will never know nor will I care. But if I go to kill the undead at the forbidden temple and end up at the bandit camp why make this choice? I love being able to re-use material like this, (In fact I had a dungeon that was an extra-dimensional space where the players got to choose between monsters and demons which used the same map). Same thing if a group of assassins is coming to attack the party and they are deciding between going shopping or the spa. The assassins will find them either way at whatever place they are doing. This is a great use. But if I heard rumor about these assassins and attempt to hide from them but no matter what I do they will always find me that is removing choice.

I think its more of an advanced technique that given as some beginner friendly advice. Its easy to use it all the time to reduce agency instead of using it sparingly.

If you are dungeon mastering I would recommend avoiding the Quantum Ogre as much as possible. The idea here is to use the same encounter depending on whatever decision the party chooses. This is tempting because this reduces prep work and can reuse information. However, if the decision doesn't have any consequence why make the players make this decision? TTRPG are about collaborative story telling so decisions so matter and if they don't why am I even playing. If you want to reduce your prep maybe have the same monsters but at least change the terrain or starting criteria.

If there is decision lead clues about what might be different between the options if it is important decision. These clues might not be obvious but that is what skills checks are for. Make decisions worthwhile so players feel engaged

Also helpful.

There is something magical about seeing that little green starting up. I have been staring at my yard to see if anything is coming up.

I like Minnesota Progressives anyway

I have been a big fan since its less confrontation and quieter than either coastal politics or southern politics. Its boring and effective

He is definitely not an appealing to conservative candidate except for being white and not super young (He is 60).

But look at what Minnesota did under his governorship was all simple none flashy midwestern progressive values. Free school lunches, trans refuge status, abortions rights into law (as well as a supreme court case), funding for schools and legal weed. He is a progressive just not very flashy about it.

AOC would be great as a VP pick