Messages

1

RPG Ghetto / Re: Official D&D 5E Announcement

« on: September 04, 2018, 05:52:40 pm »

I've never played Pathfinder, but I understand it to be rooted in D&D 3.5

What are the new bells & whistles in the new pathfinder? How does it compare to D&D 5?

2

Apple Talk / Re: Hi, it's me.

« on: August 31, 2018, 10:59:27 pm »

Roger is dead, long live Roger

 

3

Apple Talk / Re: Trust No One

« on: August 31, 2018, 06:08:30 pm »

"Trust No One" is the motto of science. In the big picture, it means that I don't have to believe your results. I can do the experiment myself. In fact, it means that I don't have to believe all of your detailed conclusions either. Although I do need to trust and believe your results. I don't mind reading your conclusions and I respect that you're probably the best person to interpret your results - in a well-regarded peer reviewed journal that is. However, I reserve the right to think about what your results mean in my own twisted vision of how things work. It's a complicated, messy and beautiful world and you're not going to figure anything out by taking someone's half-baked conclusions for granted.

I like all of this


it's like there's two tiers of knowledge - what's given to you, and what you create in yourself

4

Bring and Brag / Re: Deliver Me From Cool

« on: August 31, 2018, 06:05:16 pm »

inspired by the above, someone on tumblr wrote this


Prayer to Eris
by we-are-nightwalker


Eris, free me from greatness.

Free me from wholesomeness, honor and duty.

Free me from sacrifice, valor and glory.

Free me from pedestals, from hatred, from worship,

from grace, from elegance, from being good enough,

from justice, from virtue, from measuring up,

from burnings-in-effigy and V for Vendetta,

from starfish, from coins buried in earth,

from today’s new outrage and yesterday’s heroes,

from trumpanzees, trannies, niggers and kikes,

from angels and devils, from saints and sinners.

Free me from serving in Heaven and reigning in Hell,

and let me be as common as rich earth.

Free me from mending-with-gold and the beauty of flaws,

and let me be an ugly rock fallen off some mountain.

Cast down the heroes, the saints, the models,

the lords and the ladies,

the kind, good-hearted, noble and virtuous:

let them all dwell in the mud with me.

Cast down the villains, the tyrants, the killers,

the pedophiles, gangsters, bigots, abusers,

the wretched, the petty, the awful, the cruel:

let them all grow in the mud with me.

Free me from fear, and tell me

that despite it all, the ones I love will be with me.

Free me from fear, and let me become

as weak, selfish, sickly and monstrous as I am.

From my own love of beauty, please liberate me.

For my ugly, disconsolate heart, please liberate me.

5

RPG Ghetto / Re: Official D&D 5E Announcement

« on: August 27, 2018, 03:26:19 pm »

Their campaign books are all over the place--very different styles in each one. Like I hear Out of the Abyss is more of a sandbox campaign, where PCs can wander all over the map with little guidance. Whereas Tyranny of Dragons is much more linear. We played through Curse of Strahd -- probably the best pre-packaged campaign I've ever played, owing in part to an awesome group who really got into the story.

When we were running the old playtests, I was really struck by how old 1970s D&D design didn't tell you how to run your game, it mainly just gave the DM tools to run their own story. Like, Caves of Chaos has no inherent story, it's just a sprawling map with different monster factions. The DM has to figure out how the factions relate to each other, and what stories could take place in this setting.

Personally, I found that super empowering. Like, when you run most pre-printed modules, you're just following the instructions. If the players had fun, it was a good module. But with Caves of Chaos, I got to do some authoring. When the players had a good time, I felt some ownership of it, like my ideas are being celebrated too.

And a lot of the campaign books seem like they follow this format... they don't tell you how to run your game. They give you a framework and you figure out how to implement it for your group. When I hear other people talk about Curse of Strahd, their experience is totally different. It was a good module, but our DM made it great.

The flipside of the coin is that it also means that the DM has the responsibilty to make the module work for your group. During Curse of Strahd, there's a lot of places where our DM tossed the pre-written suggestions and came up with his own scenario. It took more prep than a lot of pre-written mods I've seen.

6

Aneristic Illusions / Re: Now that the DNC has reduced the power of superdelegates...

« on: August 27, 2018, 02:07:06 pm »

This is great news, the DNC needed a good shake.

But ugh,

The changes didn’t come without drama, however. Cries for unity, claims that minority members were being disenfranchised, and accusations of secrecy circulated among members at the three-day gathering in Chicago. The meeting, which included starstruck Democrats cooing over Stormy Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti as he worked the event for two days, culminated in a tense general session where the full committee voted on the proposed reforms.

Avenatti's trying to launch a political career, yeah? here we go...

7

Aneristic Illusions / Re: John McCain is dead.

« on: August 27, 2018, 02:02:20 pm »

Back in 08 I was registered as a republican. Not ideologically -- In 2000, I had volunteered to work a polling center in Connecticut, and state law requires a minimum of 2 dems and 2 republicans. They couldn't find a second republican, so they asked me if they could register me red "for the day", and then we could change it back. It never changed back, and I got the privilege of voting in republican primaries -- which are almost always more exciting and fun than the dem primaries.

At the time, the dem race was between Obama and Clinton, and I felt that I'd be okay with either of them winning. The republican race was higher stakes, I really wanted Romney to get bumped out. (at the time, he was doing a religious right shtick).

I remember this moment in 2008 when McCain went on The Daily Show. I don't remember what they talked about, but I remember he came off as earnest and intelligent, and Stewart took kinda cheap potshots at him which he endured stoically. And I thought - that composure, that ability to roll with the punches and not get baited - that's a good presidential quality. Of the republican choices, I thought he was the best.

And he tapped Sarah Palin as VP. Ugh, what a dumb mistake, activating the tea party like that. She really thought SHE was running for president.


Obviously I don't agree with a lot of McCain's politics, but today in 2018, the courage to say No to your own party is something I respect.



Wait, don't we have a McCain emote? ahhh yes,

8

Or Kill Me / Re: I Am A Nihilist

« on: August 24, 2018, 02:34:49 pm »

I think you could say the Situationists rolled that way

9

Principia Discussion / Re: The entire tradition of Western Occultism is just a giant troll

« on: August 24, 2018, 02:15:15 pm »

Change my mind 

Okay, I'll try.. but let me give you the context that I'm a materialist; I don't believe in woo.

The occult/spiritual texts with any value are usually interpreted way too literally. We modern people have the context of science as a powerful explanatory principle, and it's materially incompatible with concepts like heaven, soul, demons, et cetera. I think a lot of that stuff is worthless if you read it as a material explanation. Like, clearly there are no demons whispering in our ears, tempting us. But if you read demons as an internal force, a part of the self that must be struggled with, you are in a place where you can make personal sense of these writings.

Let's get a bit more concrete,
let's take one of the world's oldest occult maxims, found on the Emerald Tablet of Hermes: "As above, so below"  (the line continues, "With this knowledge alone you may work miracles.")


I could unpack my own understanding of this line, but it might be better if I just mentioned that "above" might not refer to "the heavens", so much as "the zoomed-out universe", (ie macrocosm) and "below" could refer to "the zoomed-in universe" - maybe we're talking about microorganisms, or fine material like molecules, or maybe we're talking about the microcosm, the "inner world".

In some traditions, it's seen this way - when a world is big, it looks like galaxies and nebulas and black holes. A smaller world looks like a sun with planets orbiting around it. A smaller world looks like a planet. A much smaller world looks like an individual person. And within that person maybe there are worlds too.

In that context, "as above, so below" gives us a key to appreciating the structural similarities between macro and micro, which in turn gives us a direct and personal connection to the Big Picture.


I could elaborate more, but probably best to stop there before I get carried away

10

Apple Talk / Re: The Age of Eris

« on: August 24, 2018, 01:50:52 pm »

I'm glad to hear you're not feeling MAD anymore Dok, that must be ... relatively pleasant? I find being mad saps a lot of my energy. There's a personal freedom attained by letting go.

11

Apple Talk / Re: The Age of Eris

« on: August 22, 2018, 12:43:25 pm »

60 years ago, she was "waking up"

I want to remind you that the planet Eris' period of orbit is 558 years - so if she was waking up in the 60s, she was last awake in the 15th century (notable events: invention of the printing press, fall of Constantinople), and before that, roughly the year 844 (notable events: rule of Charlemange, volcanos speaking to worshippers globally, China reunited).

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Literate Chaotic / Re: Unofficial What are you Reading Thread?

« on: August 21, 2018, 06:16:35 pm »

Loved Jodorowsky's Dune! (enjoyed Lynch's dune too)


I do not intend to read any more of the series. I mean it might be great, but I read fiction sparingly and really don't have time for a 10k page saga.

13

Apple Talk / Re: The Age of Eris

« on: August 21, 2018, 02:14:08 pm »

They said the Greeks were just victims of indigestion, and that's why they described her as a scowling crone with a hidden dagger.

These days, I've got indigestion too.


But that's why She doesn't ask for our worship.

In my 20s I was excited for All That Is to finally end.
Now in my 30s, I'm part of All That Is, and its demise disturbs me.

14

Literate Chaotic / Re: Unofficial What are you Reading Thread?

« on: August 21, 2018, 02:08:49 pm »

That Peter Coffin book sounds interesting. I really enjoyed the Coffin talks you linked me to. he has the right melange of commentary-about-culture while not coming off like some preachy beardo sitting on a mountain judging everybody.

Speaking of Melange, I'm finally reading Dune.


it fuckin pwns


started off slow, but I'm about halfway through and I'm loving it

15

Bring and Brag / Re: WEIRDOVERSE

« on: August 21, 2018, 01:18:47 pm »

awww sorry I missed you in NYC!