Ragitsu

Do you ever feel like screaming at everyone to stop the minimization? I do.

Never forget to mention long-term health effects (and accompanying psychological trauma) when talking about COVID-19 survivors; deaths are tragic, but they aren't the only part of this ghastly equation.

Our healthcare infrastructure is fine....for making a profit. Sigh....   grumblegrumble

Never forget to mention long-term health effects (and accompanying psychological trauma) when talking about COVID-19 survivors; deaths are tragic, but they aren't the only part of this ghastly equation.

Do you ever feel like screaming at everyone to stop the minimization? I do.

That is one of the stronger selling points that made AD&D 2e appealing to me when I discovered it about a year ago; even low HD monsters can be armed with save-or-die attacks or no-save non-lethal incapacitating effects. You're forced to engage in more lateral thinking compared to later versions of D&D when players caught onto the fact that the marionettes and shadow puppets are incapable of breaking from an accountant's script. It is amazing how these games of yesteryear feel less like games and more like fairy tales/legends (that didn't cling to "statistical balance"). Increased competition with video games/massively multiplayer online roleplaying games has hurt the evolution of tabletop roleplaying games.
 
If a DM/GM is competent enough (through natural talent, experience or some combination of the two) and the players are largely on the same page as far as "common sense" and genre conventions go, there are going to be fewer bumps in the road when it comes to judgment calls made by both sides.

Encounter balance is hard to nail in the absence of a point-build system, IMO. And even point-based games aren't perfect in this regard either. One of the benefits of "old school" RPGing is the general disregard for encounter balance on a mechanical level. It is up to the players to use common sense and realize that their party of 3rd level characters are no match for the two stone giants they just stumbled upon, and judiciously try to slip past undetected rather than engage them in combat in the mistaken belief that the GM (and/or the published module) has arranged the encounter to be "winnable".
 
I primarily blame video games (MMORPGs in particular) for establishing this mentality in players.

That's what I like about these boards, the clean humor.

Am I the only one here thinking "be sure to follow it with a bleach chaser!"?

WE NEED MORE INTERVIEWERS LIKE JONATHAN SWAN.

The second paragraph is the key:
 
 
NO.  This is why I talk down Scottish Fox's optimism...mind, the data for the last several days is showing a nice decline in new cases, and that's a LOT better than it was, I completely agree...but that "beaten the coronavirus" is the issue.  IT ISN'T BEATEN.  It's held in check.  
 
This is crucial in the US with utterly haphazard policies, not even close to sufficient testing, and fundamentally no contact tracing support.  I get that we can't remain in tight lockdown.  We can loosen things...in principle.  IF people abide by the recommendations from the experts.  (Altho even then, if governments are waffling, that allows employers more room to waffle, which can be a big issue for employees.)  
 
I hope the numbers drop  a lot.  We all do.  I don't think they will *stay* down, tho;  we'll have another serious increase because too many people won't behave.

Anyone with a drop of sensitivity to conspiracy theories can also argue that Trump's been slow to react because the virus has tended to avoid His People, even in the red states.  
 
Also seen a fair amount of economic analysis pointing out that the pandemic is stressing the big companies...but it's wiping out local businesses who don't have the resources to stay the course.  Which, of course, means the big companies will be poised to expand their grasp once things start settling.

I've found a new name for the right-wing: "crybully".

Never before have I encountered a system that is quite as simultaneously simple and complex as Pathfinder 2nd Edition. I prefer a Chime of Opening that just...opens locks. End of story. PF 2e makes damn near every magical item so very granular and overly mechanical in how it interacts with the world.
 
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition ->
 
 
 
Pathfinder 2nd Edition ->
 
 
I don't hate granularity (you're talking to someone that enjoys GURPS and HERO), but I do expect my Dungeons & Dragons or D&D-flavored games to be on the chunky side.

I just went to a memorial. The service was performed outdoors because indoor gatherings were not allowed. Since my county has a new lockdown in effect, social distancing rules were in effect. Others couldn't come to the memorial. The eulogies were performed via smartphone.

Sadly, I cannot wield the lightsaber for you in your mind. Or, I guess I could, but then you’d have to dream me too, and I’m sure neither of us wants that. 

Hi.
 
I have a thing I wrote about 3 years ago as an occasional  distraction from my wife's medical condition. Don't mistake me. I was there for her. Like mad. As in it drove her mad. She's fine now, by the way. But I digress. I wrote this. It was originally 62 pages+the cover, but a lot of stuff in that document could get me in a lot of trouble, so I trimmed it down to 9 pages.  It does not include my usual style of humor. I respect Tolkien's work too much to add Pleet Roodlepleen-style funny bits. 
 
The bits about magic come from The One Ring, an official Middle Earth product. I do not know if I would do it differently. You probably would tone it down a bit. 
Middle Earth Templates and Stuff.pdf

Every time I think about how we got here, I realize that there are no easy answers on how to get out. There are generations of families that teach their offspring the most vile interpretations of community, philosophy and religion; additionally, some of these families are passing on characteristics that make paranoia, xenophobia and plain old stupidity more likely to manifest. There are environmental pollutants capable of causing brain damage that won't be removed until whatever structure/infrastructure they are part of is completely demolished. There are politicians that know how to manipulate those people who are disadvantaged from Day 1 and they have enjoyed the benefits of a system that was rigged long before most of us were born. There are powerful individuals - politicians, sure, but they're not alone in this - that are dedicated to ensuring that public education is abolished or at least corrupted. On top of all of that, we're causing problems abroad that eventually end up creating enemies whose very presence justifies the aforementioned paranoia and xenophobia those people are cursed with.
 
It's all a mess.

I've found a new name for the right-wing: "crybully".

I've found a new name for the right-wing: "crybully".

I've found a new name for the right-wing: "crybully".

Mail-in balloting has worked for decades without any discernible problems. Further, if someone did commit mass mail theft, they would go to jail for 1000 years and all the affected people would be given the opportunity to cast new ballots by the election commissioner.