Optional Rule

@travelingflying I had the honor of meeting Mr Hitchen's at a small event at a University I worked at in the 90s. He was one of the most gracious and generous people I've ever met. He talks on TV, but in person he listens, intently to people and seemed genuinely interested in them.

Christopher Hitchens: ”In 1786, when the United States was barely a country, it was having its sailors taken as slaves by the Barbary states, the states of the Ottoman Empire and North Africa. Tripoli, shores of Tripoli. Ships stopped, its crews carried off into slavery. We estimate 1.5 million European and American slaves taken between 1750 and 1815. Jefferson and Adams went to their ambassador in London and said, why do you do this to us? The United States has never had a quarrel with the Muslim world of any kind. We weren't in the crusades. We weren't at war with Spain. Why do you do this to our people and our ships? Why do you plunder and enslave our people? The ambassador said very plainly, Mr. Abdul Rahman said, because the Quran gives us permission to do so, because you are infidels, and that's our answer. Jefferson said, well, in that case, I will send a navy which will crush your state, which he did. Islamic fundamentalism is not created by American democracy. It's a lie to say so. It's a masochistic lie, and it excuses those who are the real criminals, and blames us for the attacks made upon us.”

@dungeoncraft @james_xond however, it is enough to invest and basically have a nice retirement waiting for you. It take some stress away for sure.

@james_xond No. After taxes it’s 1.3 million. That’s enough to generate $65k in dividends a year. Not bad, but not mansion in Bahamas, Lambo money.

Be honest for a second: would you quit your job tomorrow if you won $2M in the lottery today?

In retrospect, this is probably the spiciest thing I've ever posted.

@Nobleshield ENWorld is Temu Reddit

Me: *posts on ENWorld about the new Greyhawk thing, saying I hope they go back to like no Orcs or Tieflings as PCs* Them: GREYHAWK WAS ALWAYS DIVERSE *points to one line saying that humanoids were "tolerated" in metropolitan areas

For various definitions of the world "collaborating"

@newbiedm you have to have an identity to have a crisis.

I feel like #dnd is having an identity crisis. Now they are reaching out to Luke Gygax to work on a Greyhawk. But a few years ago they were ready to push out the old guard. I don't know. Something's going on.

It's so sad to see someone whose work brought joy to so many people struggling so hard with personal challenges like he did.

Just like last time.

@YoDanno I'm so sorry for your loss and hope you find what peace you can.

Dad passed away last night. Thankfully he’s longer suffering, and was with family. Thank you all for the prayers and reaching out. Cancer sucks.

I'd still watch it

@DungeonNoir Pointy top since I'm not a godless savage.

Flat top or pointy top?

@BlasikRandy @MatthewBerman It does though. When google reads as 40%, it's because they add an AI summary to all searches. This is not reflective of a user choice between LLMs

@MatthewBerman Data doesn't lie all these tokens are paid for... openrouter.ai/rankings

What’s the best open source model for coding right now? Any size 😆

I don't know how it's at all possible Sinners didn't sweep the Oscars.

This game was released two days ago. It has mixed reviews on Steam and is already 10% off. Games are so screwed. Most of the mixed reviews cite poor optimization, bugs, and sluggish pacing.

@DungeonNoir That's a devil, not a Demon. Check-and-mate

TSR in 1989: "No more demonic imagery on book covers." Also TSR in 1989:

Modern D&D isn’t built to run easily for the DM. Monsters are predictable piñatas unless you rebuild them. Action economy hands fights to the party. Social and exploration challenges get bypassed by class features. And the entire industry of DM tools, supplements, and fixes? That’s not a feature. It’s a sign the base game expects DMs to do the real design work.

You can clearly see the massive cultural impact KCD2 has had from the high number of medieval-style games now announced. I love seeing the gritty medieval genre make a comeback.

@MichaelTLawhorn @DonAlle14811898 "he deactivated him and moved him to long term storage"

@DonAlle14811898 The best part was her saying immediately afterwards: “I don’t know another way to say that.”

“Rendered him no longer alive.” Have to remember that.

@RealmBuilderRPG It should make internal sense.

I believe an “old-school/OSR” D&D setting doesn’t have to make perfect natural/geographical/geological sense. In fact…I think it shouldn’t. I view these worlds as mythological, shaped by divine beings, demons, and magic. Rivers can flow in odd ways. Mountains can be hollow and unnaturally tall. Glorantha is the best example of a mythological setting for RPGs. ⚔️ #DnD #OSR #ttrpg