@CatDad@mas.to cover
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

CatDad

@CatDad@mas.to

Disoriented modern ape. Leftist Luddite working in GovTech and CivicTech. TTRPG enjoyer since Basic D&D. I have many cats. Be patient with me, I’m from the 1900’s.

ᓚᘏᗢ

#nobot

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Originalism interprets the law, strictly based on whatever the originalist jurist originally thought the law ought to have meant.

The best way to understand originalism is to get in your RV (after decking it out with your favorite flags, real & imagined, Vergonha! Vergonha!) and go for a long drive across this beautiful country, take in the natural beauty of America, talk the simple people of the land. (Just kidding, you can take a private jet too. Just don't tell anyone.)

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@futurebird We need to stop pretending that the most valuable insights and ideals were dreamed up by dead white men.

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

I'm not really a fan of what Modipheus has done with a lot of IPs, but since Star Trek Adventures 1e is free for Free RPG Day I'm taking a closer look.

Admittedly my main exposure to the 2d20 system was Conan, and that was bad. Seems they learned some important lessons from that for STA.

It... doesn't seem too bad? Mechanically not as obtuse as Conan, and the ship as almost another character approach is consistent with Roddenberry's ideals. I don't think Modipheus butchered this one.

CatDad OP ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@SJohnRoss Maybe? I'm just looking at the latest 1e (I guess 2e is in the pipeline due later this year). From a mechanics POV it is way less fiddly than Conan was, so that's a plus.

Thematically I think it's fine, aggressively average but not terrible. Which I'm ok with given how some IPs get treated. I can see running an entertaining Trek game, but I can also do that with minor tweaks to Stars Without Number or Traveller or Cepheus.

Take a look at see I guess. You may or may not like it.

CatDad OP ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@SJohnRoss What parts were the worst for you?

CatDad OP ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@SJohnRoss That's fair. 😁

dysonlogos , to random
@dysonlogos@chirp.enworld.org avatar

Neoclassical Geek Revival time!

Been playing this weekly for nearly a decade now (on our 13th or 14th campaign now, I've lost track).

We also refer to this game as the Misery Simulator.

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@dysonlogos What do you like about it? I browsed the basic 2e rules a while back and it really didn't click with me.

Tim_Eagon , to random
@Tim_Eagon@dice.camp avatar

I don't know about . Episodes 3 and 4 have displayed stilted dialogue, somnambulist acting, indifferent plotting, and a complete lack of dynamism in terms of visual direction. I'm not sure it can pull it all together in the last four episodes based on these trends.

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@bwebster @Tim_Eagon Andor was great. The rest of the Disney shows, not so much.

thoughtpunks , to random
@thoughtpunks@dice.camp avatar

What kind of are on your mind this Tuesday morning? What sort of design puzzles are you pondering? Games you're reading? Sessions you're planning? Tell us what's on your game brain today.

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@thoughtpunks Over the last couple weeks I've taken a tour of all the cyberpunk TTRPGs I own (which is quite a few), sorting out what I do and don't like about each of them. The last few days I've been taking a closer look at Cities Without Number, which might be my favorite and I hadn't had time to dig into before.

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

The problem I have with many "fiction-first" games: they force a certain playstyle through playbooks. Here is the narrow way your character can advance mechanically. You can pretend the fiction offers other options, but that's illusionary.

I like the ideas behind a lot of "Powered by the Apocalypse" or "Forged in the Dark" games, but when I actually start digging into them the playbook approach is what loses me, except for one-shots.

CatDad OP ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@thoughtpunks Oh yeah "moves" make it even worse for me too.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

I decided to find out if any progress had been made on the science behind why some ants are attracted to electrical fields. After filtering out exterminators (it's so demoralizing to search for information on creatures you love and find nothing but people who know nothing about them boasting about how they will kill them all) I found what looked like a blog. But, who the heck is "James Brown"? Never heard of the dude. Maybe he could be my new friend if he likes ants enough to blog about them!

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@futurebird @mistergibson @wa7iut @wmd Here's my sure-fire way to help by planting trees:

  1. Kill a billionaire.
  2. Take all their wealth and invest into green power, repairing damaged ecosystems, etc.
  3. Plant a tree on the billionaire's grave.
futurebird , (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

A student asked me “If I really wanted to do something about climate change & all this injustice do you think I should just try to become a billionaire so I’d have real power? Or should I be a judge so I can make the big decisions? or president? Who has the most power? who can fix it?”

me: Listen if I knew the answer to all that I would tell you. I think it matters what you are good at? What you think you can do well.

student: whatever it is I need to do well I will learn it.

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@futurebird All of those are part of the problem, not a solution. If there even is a solution (which I strongly doubt at this point).

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

is a really good lightweight D&D alternative. I think I like it better than as it strips the system down further but not as minimalist as some others in the or space. I’m still kinda tired of class- and level-bound games though, with the usual stats, HP, AC, etc.

thoughtpunks , to random
@thoughtpunks@dice.camp avatar

What common animal would you be most afraid of suddenly gaining full sentience and reasoning?

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@thoughtpunks As a child-free by choice person, with six cats, it would be cats, definitely.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Have you ever stopped listening to or trusting a person who posts information in media, or online because of a "red flag" ?

That is are there certain topics, habits, actions etc. that instantly decrease your trust in a person you might have otherwise listened to on a podcast, article, or video?

Are there any "green flags" that build trust?

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@futurebird Absolutely. Plus a similar set of red flags feeds my block list here. Hell, there was one respondent to this thread that hit that threshold (after decades of toxic social media my bar is low).

One big green flag is the ability to admit mistakes and make corrections.

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

I'm in that annoying mental space where there is something about every in my library that annoys me.

futurebird , (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

These AI SEO spam operations have used lists of common searches to ensure that their pages come up first in searches in the “long fat tail” the kind of search where it used to be about 50/50 if you’d find a page addressing your needs. But, it used to be if you found something like “The top 15 smallest ants in the world” it wouldn’t be nonsense. It’d either exist and be the work of another person who cared OR you found nothing. Not so now! I can’t possibly over-stress how bad this is! 1/

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@futurebird You've touched on one of the more pernicious aspects of LLMs, and that's lack of sourcing. With an expert, you can look at their education, their writings, their sources, and make a judgement about trustworthiness. LLMs don't cite sources for anything. You have no idea what they've been trained on, and sometimes they can't even replicate their own results. It's impossible to create any sort of trust or reputation outside of "trust me bro".

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

I've been looking at various settings a bit more in depth than I have in the past, like Eberron. I think I prefer more compact or brief setting descriptions rather than giant tomes of description or stories that have already come to pass. I like more open ended settings with a few major factions, not dozens.

I also have no interest in many of these settings as integrated with their systems, like Eberron in D&D. At least in some cases there are fan conversions if I ever wanted that.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Official campaign video says "unified reich" to describe Trump victory.

Campaign blames the intern.

I guess we should be happy they aren't just doubling down and saying "what's wrong with unity" or whatever.

The Intern.

That doesn't explain anything!
Why do you have lil nazi interns? (we know why)

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@futurebird It's absolutely not an accident, or an incompetent intern. They know what they are doing.

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

One thing that bothers me an inordinate amount in a is example characters that break the character generation rules. Come on folks, it shouldn't be that hard to apply your own damned rules and give legal character examples.

CatDad OP ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@SJohnRoss I blame sloppy editing. I've seen it from time to time in earlier games too, but it's still annoying when you run into it.

luckytran , to random
@luckytran@med-mastodon.com avatar

"So this bill will protect the Ku Klux Klan to wear masks in public, but someone who's immunocompromised like myself cannot wear a mask?"
— North Carolina Senator Sydney Batch, who is a cancer survivor

Unbelievable.

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@luckytran Oh no, it's totally believable. This is what Republicans in NC are.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Get ready for a host of awful commentary about the Flynn Effect (the general tendency, since 1930 to about 2000 for test scores and IQ test scores to increase) "reversing"

I'm certain no one will use this data to make nefarious or evil political points!

OK, but what is really going on? Since there has never been consensus about the origins of the Flynn Effect in the first place who knows!

(It's education. People are better at tests when they spend time getting educated and taking tests)

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@futurebird @light @zens Sometimes parents are some of the worst judges on what is best for their children. Children are people, not property, and parents should not be petty dictators over a child's growth. Seems like only recently in human development we've shifted to this nuclear family dictatorial approach and that needs to be questioned.

Tim_Eagon , to random
@Tim_Eagon@dice.camp avatar

Oh shit, the Canadian wildfire smoke is back!

#Wisconsin

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@Tim_Eagon Yeah, unfortunately we're feeling it in MN too. I wish whole countries would stop catching fire.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

"Joe Biden fascist marxist prosecutors"

Like... how do you even unpack a phrase like that?

The prosecutors aren't--
Biden's not--
Marxism isn't--
Fascism doesn't--
It's New York State not--
Those aren't even--

This is beyond a Gish Gallop (lies so thick you can't sound sane as you counter them all)

It's like information anti-matter and it's not even the whole sentence.

What do we call something that is "beyond untrue" ?

CatDad ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@futurebird Immediately discarded due to nonsensical word salad. It's on them to explain what they mean, otherwise ignore it and anyone parroting it.

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

A friend of mine is thinking of starting up a Mutants & Masterminds 3e game, which I'm excited for because he loves the supers genre and puts a lot of thought and effort into the games he runs (albeit rarely as he doesn't have the time to do it much).

Which superhero #TTRPG is your favorite?

CatDad OP ,
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

@SJohnRoss Aha, that's good, because I wasn't really a fan of what I saw in GURPS Supers either way back when I was into GURPS. I haven't looked at I.S.T.

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

The system is what it does.

(This is both a political and #TTRPG post)

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

Have you ever come across a #TTRPG where you love the concept and/or setting, but the actual mechanics are not at all what you expected or seem dissonant to the tone of the game?

Did you cannibalize what you liked for some other system, or is it languishing on a shelf?

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

Call of Cthulhu published adventures and campaigns -- which are your favorites and why?

#TTRPG #CallOfCthulhu

SJohnRoss , to random
@SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    CatDad ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @SJohnRoss The first point is what I can't stand about a lot of TTRPG design lately. There are entire systems that are designed to play like a videogame, and I'm like... why?

    SJohnRoss , (edited ) to random
    @SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    CatDad ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @SJohnRoss I don't know too much about Modiphius games, I played Conan and did not care for the mechanics at all. That was enough to put me off of anything else in their 2d20 line. What else have they butchered?

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    Generational ranges are kinda bullshit, but it's funny how many younger folks mistake Gen-X for Boomer. We're pretty used to being ignored but misidentification is getting annoying.

    I suppose it goes the other way too, where lots of folks think the low end of Millennials is much younger than it actually is.

    Tim_Eagon , to random
    @Tim_Eagon@dice.camp avatar

    New #TTRPG arrived from @NerdBurgerCraig!

    #CAPERS #SuperHeroes #CyberPunk #Kickstarter

    CatDad ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @Tim_Eagon @NerdBurgerCraig Mine too!

    luckytran , to random
    @luckytran@med-mastodon.com avatar

    This was avoidable.

    CatDad ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @luckytran Was it though? I'm starting to assume that humanity just isn't all that intelligent. American humanity particularly.

    SJohnRoss , to random
    @SJohnRoss@dice.camp avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    CatDad ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @SJohnRoss Capitalism rears its ugly head. If you can convince players that they NEED the Official Rules (tm) for playing [whatever], you'll get their money.

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    folks: do you use cards for prompts or sparking ideas? If so, what set(s) do you like? Looking for cards with good evocative art for this purpose.

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    One of my guilty pleasures is medical dramas. Although often contrived and not wholly accurate, the situations drive me to look up the reality of a lot of conditions and learn more about how these silly flesh sacks we're cursed with actually work.

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    I like this a lot.

    (from Relic by Lonely Adventurer, https://lonely-adventurer.itch.io/relic-v3)

    #TTRPG

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    What is your go-to lightweight #TTRPG? That game you toss in a backpack or in your luggage or otherwise have close at hand for a quick pickup game with friends or random folks?

    CatDad OP ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @SJohnRoss I am not familiar with Sherpa

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    Oh, nice, here's a link to a #TTRPG that's looking for players and looks really interesting.

    It's a startplaying link.

    They're charging $20 per session.

    GFY. Seriously.

    Rolistespod , to random
    @Rolistespod@dice.camp avatar

    Anyway, I recommend to check both shows.

    I watch one of them with my 6yo and it's slowly opening his mind about food.

    #DeliciousInDungeon #Hannibal

    CatDad ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @Rolistespod Just started watching Delicious in Dungeon and it's really fun.

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    Whelp, opened up a can of generative AI art drama on a Discord, we'll see if it gets me booted. Honestly if you're a small shop and you can't afford artists, no art is perfectly acceptable. I don't buy games for their art. It's nice if there is evocative art to go along with it, but it doesn't make or break the game.

    Promoting gen AI bullshit is a dealbreaker though, and I don't believe that's an extreme position to take in late-stage .

    chgowiz , to random
    @chgowiz@dice.camp avatar

    They said that I couldn't run Battlestar Galactica with Traveller and couldn't be consistent with BSG canon.

    A year, campaign and several successful convention games later, I think I might have proven my point....

    CatDad ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @chgowiz Who said that? Traveller is flexible enough for most any sci fi spacefaring game.

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    I could never make it as a #TTRPG author or designer because I have too many ideas that pop in and out of my head demanding my attention. My brain chases each of them like a cat and a laser pointer, then something new appears and I start all over again.

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    Ever read a new #TTRPG with rather flexible rules and want to hack it to every setting you've ever loved?

    Does this happen to you at least once a month?

    If so, how many half-finished ports are littering your notes?

    LeviKornelsen , to random
    @LeviKornelsen@dice.camp avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    CatDad ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @LeviKornelsen Imagine that. I'm not sure which of the many initiative systems I prefer, but individual initiative ain't it. Takes too much time to sort out.

    What does Daggerheart even do? Players go first? I can't be bothered to look into it.

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