This is beautiful. Comfortably Numb reimagined as a song of hope for Gaza, in Arabic and English.
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Blick über das Vordeck der Wanderschaft. Vor uns sieht man die Einfahrt in den Hafen des Düsseldorfer Yachtclubs. Im Hintergrund sieht man die Theodor-Heuss-Brücke.
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Man sieht die Wanderschaft auf ihrem Liegeplatz beim Düsseldorfer Yachtclub. Auf beiden Seiten weiße Motorboote ...
Was man auf dem Foto nicht sehen kann: vor dem Binnenschiff liegt noch ein weiteres Binnenschiff in der Kammer ...
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Die Schleusenkammer II in Uelzen von ganz unten auf der Nordseite. Der Schacht ist riesig, 220 m lang, 23 m hoch. 12 m breit. Vor uns liegt ein Binnenschiff.
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Blick über das Heck der Wanderschaft. Etwa 30 Meter unter uns, sieht man Schiffe an der Wartestelle liegen.
Ein paar Angebote habe ich im Internet schon gefunden. Jetzt muss auf Montag gewartet werden ...
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Detailaufnahme von einem alten Bootsmotor. Die Oberseite des Zylinderkopfs ist korrodiert und durch einen feinen Riss tritt Wasser aus.
posting from #irssi via znc, bitlbee, and the bitlbee-mastodon plugin by @kensanata #irc
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@kensanata works
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@kyonshi amazing!
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@kensanata well... you made it
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@kyonshi I have not used in what feels like years.
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@lkh @kensanata yeah but I kinda moved backwards. I wasn't using irc quite that much when I was younger.
but it's kind of the lo-fi chat I dig nowadays
Some of my formerly ... English-challenged? ... colleagues have become surprisingly ... eloquent? ... recently. At least when chatting in Slack. Gee, I wonder who I am talking to. 😬 🤖 😬 🤖 👀 😬 🤖 #noAI
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I am also seeing a similar development among my formerly ... programming-challenged? ... colleagues? And everybody around me seems to be using fancy characters all of a sudden! Things like "→" are especially popular, both in Slack chats and in code. 🤷 😬 🤖 😰 🤖 I think I am surrounded!! #noAI
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@phf Hey, arrows and en dashes are my favourites!
✅ Emacs users know how to do it.
🚀 It's not rocket science.
⚖️ Have some balance.
🔫 Don't fucking emoji-list me.
No, really. In my case, I have two things that I hate: Emoji-listing stuff, and starting posts with "pssssst – "
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@alex Wait ... what? Nobody was able to → in my world just a few short months ago. Unless they were TeX-savy and/or you! 🤣
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@phf at work I even have a shortcut set up that translates ar into a right arrow. 😅
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@phf The emoji picker of Windows 11 to the rescue… with Command + period. So it works fine even without Emacs.
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emojis and gifs
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ASCII art or whatever this is called? Emoticons??
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Regular stuff that is maybe Unicode or maybe some Windows Code Page 437 or whatever.
We're wittnessing the industrialisation of thought ...
What will be left? direct, immediate human encounters ... unamplified, unrecorded talking, singing and music ... witnessing live performative art ... grow your own crop ... build your own stuff.
How to stop time: kiss.
How to travel in time: read.
How to escape time: music.
How to feel time: write.
How to release time: breathe.
-- Matt Haig
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A player is expressing unhappiness with my house rules regarding magic-users and I’m not sure what to say. I wrote them this way on purpose and I guess the two of us don’t like each other’s vision. If we both agreed that they’re bad, we could just change them but now it feels like one of us will have to play in a game or run a game they don’t like (in a tiny corner of the rules). And sure, usually playing with each other is more important than standing up for aesthetic choices. The work and the art is different from a social activity. I still feel frustrated.
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@kensanata What are they trying to get out of it your rules don't allow, or vice versa?
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@mdhughes I use the "strict" interpretation of the B/X magic rules: casters can only have as many spells in their repertoire as their spells/day limit. So at level 5 that gives them spells 2/2/1, for example. They want more spells at their disposal, being able to swap them in and out, like AD&D magic users or D&D 3+ magic users. The argument is that such a limited selection limits their character too much.
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@kensanata Ha, nice! Some of us are even stricter about Vance emulation, where you can't have duplicates memorized, either.
Greyhawk & Holmes let OD&D types have long spell lists to choose from, but I dislike the way that's done.
In any case, scrolls are the easy solution if they want a library of different spells.
@kensanata now I’m curious about your MU houserules!
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@HeyeBodo "Repertoire: The list of spells in your spell book make up your repertoire. It’s size is determined by your level. The table below shows the maximum number of spells in your repertoire and the number of spells you can cast per day. … So, as a second level elf you have two spells (”of the first circle”) in your repertoire, and you can cast two spells (”of the first circle”) per day, without having to pick anything ahead of time. The drawback is that you can neither cast more spells per day nor can you learn more than given by the limits in the table above. If you want to learn a spell without gaining a level, you need to lose one of your existing spells in your repertoire. And you always need a mentor to teach you new spells."
https://alexschroeder.ch/view/2020-01-05_Spellcasters_and_Spell_Lists
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@kensanata actually like this a lot. Takes the homework aspect out of the game (= good for spontaneous games e.g. at open tables) and introduces a layer of necessary PC-NPC interaction which increases social embeddedness of MUs - this does something interesting with the setting! Trade-off is an decrease of tactical flexibility on the player‘s side. Was this the point of complaint?
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How about moving the issue inside of the game world? Would there be an in character price to pay to magically gain the capacity to memorize multiple spells? Would said characer be willing to pay this price? (probably somewhere on the order of selling one's soul)
CC: @kensanata@tabletop.social
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@HeyeBodo@rollenspiel.social
@HeyeBodo “I love my mages to accumulate spells, but you completely removed that option from the game with your rules.”
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@kensanata I still don't get this. Just play more magic-users, each with a different spell list. @HeyeBodo
@kensanata a player who wants a "magic shop" where their character can buy a bunch of scrolls and transcribe them. How boring.
@kensanata @HeyeBodo I find that interesting as I often dislike certain aspects of character classes, but I take that as a given for the game I'm playing and I choose to play a class that I enjoy. This feels written by a person who either only likes to play magic-users (fair enough), isn't practically unhappy with the rules beyond character creation, or chose to play MU anyways and is unhappy with it now.
I suppose if someone thinks their magic-user is only useful when they can solve 'problems' with spells it would be unsatisfying, but I had fun with him. His memory after he died made him into a larger than life figure for a time, and I was pretty satisfied with that.
I've been trying to put my thoughts in order, once again, by writing a blog post. It's probably redundant but I also didn't find a good formulation of the rule and the indented consequences anywhere so I wrote it again.
https://alexschroeder.ch/view/2026-06-04-magic-house-rules
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@kensanata Interesting rules and thoughts. It's always neat to see how others navigate this space, how far they're willing to deviate from common practices (I'm not going into the "proper reading" arguments, I'm out of that church, too).
The big problem I have with a lot of this that quite often it doesn't feel diegetic, i.e. you can see the strings where the GM is trying to evoke a certain feeling and/or just be "right", but also with sufficient handwaving and insisting on Vancian spells being weird/intelligent, anything can be diegetic.
In your example, it really helps that you're clear about your intentions, I've seen some house rule posts that really read like either slavish adherence and "originalism", or just the GM not liking what some players did.
Generally I'm not fond of situations where spell management comes down to too much delayed gratification ("I better not switch to Lightning Bolt before I get the 500 XP I need for the next level, otherwise I have to pay for Fireball again!") or remedial accountancy. I'm all for making contacts to magical beasts and weird wizards, though!
I had two ideas in the past that I didn't follow up and that have a little bit of overlap with your ideas:
- You can't just copy spells. Spells are unique, or at least your connection to them is unique. You can accumulate bits and pieces of them, but need to work on it to make them yours. The first sliver is the hard thing. There might be talent involved (i.e. spells you get "for free" when leveling up), there might be a special occasion or even artefact (a phoenix feather, fighting an elemental, deals with devils etc). After that, it gets more normal, and other wizards can help. So you're not learning fireball at the feet of Beardy McWizardface, but as he's a famous pyromancer, he can, erm, feed that initial spark. Or go to a Wizard's Academy. That's why they're specialized, and fireballs are best fully reified in the Battle Magicians Brotherhod of Bruntford, or in the Elementalists Circle of Nur'Shabbar.
- A related, but way more fiddly idea was inspired by the way too complex The Dark Eye system and would work well if level progress didn't go too fast: Spells as seen in the books are basically the "journeyman" version. You don't get that when you initially learn them, but something with reduced parameters. Half-radius, half-damage fireball. Charm Person that only works on human males, after dark. Floating Discs that let metal just pass through them and occassionally require a good push. You can then upgrade them to the full version, and even go beyond if you care enough.
In both cases, scrolls could add a missing piece.
@kensanata I increase the cost to write a scroll to Level^2 x 100 GP (retail will be higher), & potions are similar but a bit cheaper (I use Bard Games' Compleat Alchemist as a guide). That's how you get an arsenal.
Detect Magic & Read Magic are skills not needing a slot, which frees up some slots, could do the same to Extension etc. at appropriate Levels.
I don't make MU forget spells, the slot's just exhausted until next day, so there can be non-literate shamans etc.
@kensanata I have many thoughts and not much energy for a blog post. But this is incredibly helpful.
I've always treated Vancian magic like a limitation of pen-and-paper and inherently silly-- if you're trying to depict a versatile magic user in a high-fantasy setting, mana points make more sense. But this does convey a sense of wonder and mystery that's perfect for low fantasy. Which is what I want as GM. I'd have saved so much time if I'd used this instead of AD&D 2E.
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@kensanata I think I am coming around to this: If you WANT people to adventure for spells, thereby "distracting them" from what you've actually prepped as "the adventure" then it's great to have all these casters living elsewhere and rumored to be able to do this or that. If you don't want that but want people to still get new spells, the research option seems better. It keeps people in the dungeon/on the plot yet offers them a thing they can do during down time. I guess it's clear where we each fall with our preferences. 😉
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@phf "This magic school only serves certified Barrowmaze delvers, so get your filthy little feet out of here and go back into the wilderness where you belong!!"
@kensanata You could also give a bonus to learn the spell If that particular caster has experienced it before, either by casting from a scroll or by being the recipient.
And you could make scrolls usable for all characters, not just magicians - have them roll a save vs magic, on a failure the scroll fizzles with Sparks and Fireworks.
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@belchion Have you tried making scrolls usable by all characters? How did the game dynamic change?
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@kensanata That rule was inspired by a similar rule that allowed thiefs in AD&D2 to use magic scrolls under certain conditions. It did not change much: Mainly it gave a little incentive to hand back-up scrolls to other party members, so that the annihilation of the main caster did not rob the group of all its magic. They were used very sparingly, only in a pinch.
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@belchion That sounds very encouraging. I had the brief vision of all 14 party members in full armour reading lightning bolt of a scroll.
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@kensanata The "you have to roll a save vs magic to successfully use the scroll" probably prevented that - put the minimum spell level as penalty on the roll, and even dwarves won't nilly-milly risk that.
I’m going to side with your player here. Imo your house rule unnecessarily increases challenge of the already challenging vancian magic system even further, drawing tight a corset, that’s already unnecessarily strict.
Your blog entries suggest a heavily GM-centered approach, constantly referring to your vision/concept of how the world should work. I don’t see a lot of consideration with playability or enjoyment for the players.
What value does your house rule add for the players?
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@Morgunin The blog post lists the things I like as a player, too. I play a magic user using these rules in @phf ‘s Barrowmaze. So my guess is that the things we enjoy are different. I happen to like “unfair” games where the goal is to make do with what you get. In this case, if people don’t like magic-users, I’d suggest that people can play some other class that suits them better. This position is fundamentally different from games where it seems that you can play “whatever you want”, of course. In that sense, I think the system is “interesting” and I’d like to avoid changes that make it “boring” – boring as in: there is no decision to make, if there are fewer consequences to bear. Anyway, that would be the philosophical argument, here.
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Maybe I’m misunderstanding something here, but I don’t see how introducing a house rule, that negatively affects a single player’s class/character, without player input or consultation, or hanging on to one such house rule after the player objects, adds any value to the game.
I mean, it’s cool if you’re up for it in that other game and all, but your player obviously isn’t. So, why keep it? Because you as a GM want to?
Do you really want to force your player to like the same thing?
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@Morgunin As @phf explained in a different thread, the rules had been written down since the beginning of the campaign but it's only now that people are running magic-users on level 5 and realizing all the little things like no learning new spells except through teachers; no casting from scrolls unless you have read magic; no retraining unless at least somebody in the starting village retains knowledge of that spell you're giving up; etc. Now -- as you say, with the necessary experience available -- they discover that they are unhappy. I'm writing down the arguments I have for the existing rules, and I'm ready to consider further rules that weren't written down, namely spell research, scroll scribing and potion brewing. Those new rules wouldn't solve the original complaint, however. So there are two threads in this discussion: What would be good extra rules to have for mid-level spellcasters, and what should be done to address the original complaint? And I'm starting to think that the answer to this second question might be "nothing". Like the two players in your campaign that left, it might turn out that the spellcaster rules are just not a good fit for that player in our game. Although I'd be sad to see them go after so many years, to be honest.
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@kensanata @Morgunin @phf I'm not going into players drifting away, as I don't know the specific situation and it's often not a very fruitful discussion in an arena like this…
So, regarding the mid level spellcasters: The way I understand it, your central goal here is specialized casters. Mid levels is where a lot of the powerful, iconic stuff comes into play, and I can see this go either way: Players who get to see how, well, special their characters are, or player's really feeling the pain the first time – not having Melf's Arrows is one thing, but having to pick between Dispel Magic and Fireball is another.
This would be easier if it's clearer from the start. If you're a evocation specialist or even a Pyromancer of Grand Thwyrr, you've got your path set out for you. But if it's just availability and price, there's no choice that was made, it's just a matter of convenience, price and getting the rest of the party to go to Fireball-Mart.
This could be made into a fun game of world-building and politics even then, if buying your first level spell from sone source means having issues buying from others because they're pledged to temples, are rival sects or/and just Mazirian-style weird rivaling wizards. But that's not something that can be introduce late in a game, either. (It would be fun to do that with a very limited set of spells, though, and no ancient scrolls/tomes cop-out most of the time.)
If it's just price and limited spell slots, this can take you out of the game quite easily. It can feel rather artificial and feel like an optimization game for adventuring purposes, not in-world specialization.
On the other hand, if you've established rules like that, "Now we’re just haggling over the price", aren't we? You can switch with those house rules, it's just costly. Offering an even more costly way to bypass this, doesn't seem out of place, could be done for one caster, probably with a quest, and not change any rules. A "staff of missing spells" or "ring of spell I don't have right now" is basically built in some variations of the game.
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@kensanata @Morgunin @phf If progress is slow and thus having fewer spells at lower levels already was that noticeable, mid levels might also be a place to go both deep and wide.
You've got some pretty high slots, so giving them up for lower level effects is now quite possible. Most groups value being inventive with spell effects, and one could extend that to fixed "buying down" variants. I mean, you probably have to be a quite weasely player to get to Charm Person from Fireball, but Floating Disk from Levitate should just be a matter of a bit of mago-babble.
This again works a bit better for specialization from the start, not "tiny quiver" scarcity, where you've got highly thematic wizards that way, and not the danger of running into "what's the best Swiss Army Knife spell to buy?".
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@mhd I am pretty sure you didn't mean this but ... I now see a TOTALLY "wild" kind of rule that says
"You can use a level n spell slot to cast ANY 1 <= level <= n-1 spell you have experienced yourself. You cannot use it to cast merely observed spells and you cannot make up spells on the fly!"
A total nightmare to track of course, but I am not sure what else to tie to except having been a target of the spell.
So once Zappy the Dunce casts "Fly" on me, I can from then on use a level 4 spell slot to cast "Fly" as well. No learning, not in my spell book, nothing. 🤷
PS: I might have come up with this because I got vaccinated today. That's sorta like having a spell cast on you and from then on you're immune to it? 🤣
EDIT: Maybe THIS is where you need to roll a save vs. magic to actually make it happen? Regular spells just work, but these "improvised" spells have a habit of fizzling?
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@mhd @kensanata @Morgunin Just imagine all those wizards casting magic missile on each other just to be able to improvise it later with a level 2 slot... 🤣 "Ouch, ouch, ouch!" "Take it, it's good for you!" "Ouch!"
@phf I'm getting images of Jackass-style "sorcerers" forming their own circles: "Zap me, bro!" "Dude, I'd like to learn Charm Person from him, If you know what I mean"
Not the worst OSR-ish spell gain idea, though. (Which would probably be my "Instead of a spell book, you have to travel with a retainer bard and all your magic acts reflect the story they told you!")
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@mhd And from this day forth that wondrous exclamation "Zap me, bro!" resounded loud and clear across the entire multiverse! Amen! 🧙
(The only acceptable alternative is, of course, "Pull my finger!" 😲)
@Morgunin What value does ANY rule add for the player? I mean why can't they succeed at all their checks? 🤷
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Off hand, I’d say rules constitute the consensual framework everyone trusts to prevent arbitrariness in the game. What’s your view?
If any one player, including the GM, modifies, expands or subtracts these rules without group consensus or input, aren’t they essentially playing Calvinball?
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@Morgunin Everybody signed up to play roughly by those rules. So ... pretty darn consensual. The fact that they are not put out by company XYZ should hardly matter.
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What does „roughly“ mean?
Edit: I don’t know what “roughly” means in this context, but if they knew and had a copy of the rules, then I guess it’s on them.
On the other hand, I suppose people may have to experience something to judge it for themselves. Does this mean they should be forced to play a game they don’t like?
A while ago, two friends walked away from our The One Ring campaign after more than a year. They didn’t like the rules. We found two new players and everyone is happy.
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@Morgunin Nobody "pulled a fast one" and changed the rules without them knowing. The rules have been around for a very long time, publicly available and so on. Admittedly some aspects of the rules have changed over the years, but not this one regarding spells and how they work. Like with every set of rules there are plenty of things one can disagree with (I certainly do disagree with some things) but as per usual once you agree to play by the rules, well, they are the rules.
The "roughly" means that some aspects of the rules are handled differently by different DMs. So @kensanata doesn't care about positioning in combat AT ALL while I care A LITTLE BIT which means combat runs slightly differently according to DM preferences.
Nobody complains about the fact that it's very hard to actually have a character die in these rules. Nobody complains that magic-users need fewer XP to level up in these rules (though admittedly thieves need more). Everybody has played with entourages of characters because that's easily supported and encouraged by our campaigns, yet here they insist on a single character being able to learn ALL SPELLS when it would be easy enough to just add another magic-user to their entourage and try to have that one learn different spells.
So ... I fail to be convinced that the rules or the DMs are at fault. But I will readily admit that one probably only notices this aspect when one has spent some time leveling up a magic-user. Take them to an AD&D game I say. 🤷
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@kensanata Oh wait, they ARE in an AD&D game, right? Do they play a magic-user there as well, one that's POWERFUL and to their liking?
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@phf They played a pretty high-level fighter/magic-user (that has since died) with a collection of old books and a library to their name…
@kensanata Wait, don't you allow "arbitrary casting"? I thought you did. So that's already no "Vancian corset" is it? It's thick 3e Sorcerer sauce. 🤣
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@phf Yeah, that is correct. But most of all, I'm not using Vance's magic system as seen in the books because that's even crazier. 😂
Die Ausgabe 109 der #datenschleuder (Interner Name: Die Feminismusschleuder) hat zu einem Mini-Austrittswellchen beim #ccc geführt. Lauter enttäuschte Männer, die zu wenig Technik bekommen, sich als "cis" beleidigt fühlen und das erste Mal die Unvereinbarkeitserklärung gelesen haben.
Als Teil der Redaktion stelle ich mich meiner Verantwortung und stehe auf der #gpn zum Anstoßen mit Tschunks bereit.
Well, warsaw airport has all these gigantic ads for a new Samsung phone plastered all over the place which helpfully remind me that it's not what I would want if I want an AI-free phone.
So... I assume the #Fairphone doesn't have AI automatically?
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@SDF@social.sdf.org @SDF@social.sdfeu.org Any idea why SDFeu's gopher server has been down since (according to a bboard post) at least the end of March?
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CC: @SDF@social.sdf.org @SDF@social.sdfeu.org
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@lkh @SDF@social.sdfeu.org Interesting. The gopher server had been restarted a few days or hours after that post of mine, but I didn't get the time to comment here on that. But indeed now at least some services are unreachable again, including IMAP, as I'm getting a connection error rather than the expired certificate error.
Was there some issue with social.sdf.org, seeing that your mention of @SDF@social.sdf.org does not show up as a link, even though I can load social.sdf.org right now? (that said, issues with social.sdf.org aren't exactly rare, perhaps a bigger issue here is mastodon just not handling these issues better and not handling it as a mention even when (I presume) the remote server is not reachable)
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@lkh @SDF@social.sdfeu.org @SDF@social.sdf.org Seems to be back now - or at least IMAP and gopher are working. Also, it seems the IMAP certificate has been updated.
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@honze_net gar nicht 😅 Das Coole ist doch, dass #dnd so groß ist - und ich rede jetzt von Spielen mit dnDNA, nicht einfach von anderen Rollenspielen - dass wir uns nicht von WotC-ihm-seiner neuesten Monetarisierungsstrategie ärgern lassen müssen. Es gibt moderne dnd-Klone, großartige Hacks und Weiterentwicklungen verschiedenster Editionen, Old School DnD (♥️). Die WotC-Leute machen ihr Brand-/Monetarisierungsgedöns. Wir: Let‘s play some dnd!
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@honze_net Ich hab zu der Zeit, als 4e gerade vor die Wand gefahren ist und 5e noch nicht da war, ein eigenes System geschrieben als Mischung aus AD&D, 3e, mit Einflüssen von LotFP und dem damaligen the gamin den Forum. Das verwende ich als Regeln für Module und Monsterhandbücher jeder Edition. Ich benutze die Sachen einfach so, wie sie jeweils da stehen. Hat bislang super funktioniert, aber meine Gruppe ist nicht über Stufe 9 gekommen bis wir was anderes gespielt haben. Irgendwann spieltesten wir weiter. =)
https://www.wilde-lande.de/wilde-lande-download.php
Vielleicht kann das auch mit 5e klappen? Einfach die Module aller Editionen so verwenden, wie sie geschrieben wurden?
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@dereisenhofer Hut ab. Das sieht sehr solide aus. Gibt es auch ein Abenteuer zum Starten?
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@honze_net Jedes Modul für Stufe 1-3 😁
Ich hatte damals mit ein paar AD&D-Modulen von Dragonsfoot angefangen, dann sind wir ziemlich zügig zu Death Frost Doom gegangen. Adventures at Rainbow Lodge ist ein gutes Einsteigermodul, das ist auch auf meine Kampagnenkarte gelandet. So wie unzälige andere Module von Pathfinder, 3e, etc.
https://www.dragonsfoot.org/ad/
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@dereisenhofer Oh, verstehe, aber hättest Du auch was auf Deutsch?
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@honze_net Auf Deine andere Anfrage hab ich Dir was verlinkt. Ansonsten gibt es noch das hier:
https://der-eisenhofer.de/2012/abenteuer-labyrinth-lord-goblins-von-lon
im echten Leben bin ich ja Hausarzt, und möchte Euch heute alle bitten, an dieser Kampagne teilzunehmen. Und bitte boosten für mehr Reichweite!
👉 Unter www.hausarztpraxen-retten.de können sich Patientinnen und Patienten, Praxisteams sowie Hausärztinnen und Hausärzte - also wir alle - mit wenigen Klicks per E-Mail an ihre Bundestagsabgeordneten wenden, um deutlich zu machen, dass wir das Kaputtsparen unserer hausärztlichen Versorgung nicht akzeptieren werden. 📩
Danke für's mitmachen!
PS: gibt doch bestimmt noch mehr Hausärzt_innen hier, oder? :D
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Kampagnenplakant des Hausärztinnen- und Hausärtzeverbands. Inhalt: "Das Spargesetz bedroht auch Ihre hausärztliche Versorgung. Jetzt Ihren Abgeordneten schreiben!
Wenn Pflegeheimbetreiber nur noch 23% Gewinn anstelle der 25% im vorherigen Jahr einfahren, dann ist die #Pflege wirklich zu teuer!
Himmel Arsch und Zwirn! Begrenzt die Gewinnentnahmen nach dem niederländischen Modell! Nur 3% dürfen dort an die Investoren ausgezahlt werden. Der Rest muss in Ausstattung und Gehälter reinvestiert werden.
Wie BLIND ist unsere Politik nur??
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Kartenausschnitt von Nordeuropa. Es ist eine ca. 1400 km lange Route markiert, von Hamburg über die Kanäle nach Düsseldort, dann den Rhein runter und über Ijsselmeer und Wattenmeer wieder zurück zur Elbe.
Morgen übergeben wir die Unterschriften gegen #Digitalzwang.
Es fehlen nur noch 572 Unterschriften bis zur 70.000.
Jetzt nicht aufgeben! Ihr kennt sicher alle noch eine Person, die sich noch überzeugen lässt.
Link zum Mitzeichnen:
https://digitalcourage.de/petition-dz
Barometer zum Mitfiebern: https://digitalcourage.de
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Endspurt: Leben ohne Digitalzwang ins Grundgesetz!
Fahrkartenautomaten verschwinden, Arzt-Termine gibt es nur noch online und die Regierung will „Digital Only“. Digitalisierung ohne Alternativen wird zum Zwang und schließt Menschen aus.
Mit unserer Petition fordern wir deswegen, das Recht auf ein Leben ohne Digitalzwang ins Grundgesetz aufzunehmen. Bis zum Tag des Grundgesetzes, am 23. Mai 2026*, wollen wir 75.000 Unterschriften erreichen und sie Abgeordneten übergeben. Jede Unterschrift zählt!
Jetzt Petition unterschreiben.
Daneben Ladebalken mit 69428 bisher erreichten Unterschriften.
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🧙 Alte und neue Freund treffen
📍 Hamburg
📅 12.–14. Juni
👉 Termin vormerken und Freund einladen!"
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Ein rosafarbener Flyer mit drei Bildern, der Aufschrift "NORDCON 2026 - Deutschlands größter unabhängiger Con für phantastische Spiele und Literatur"
12. - 14. Juni 2026
Brüder-Grimm-Schule, Steinadlerweg, Hamburg
Jetzt zum Helfen anmelden! https://www.nordcon-wizard.de/anmelden
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Ein rosafarbener Flyer für den NORDCON 2026
Deutschlands größter unabhängiger Con für phantastische Spiele und Literatur
Veranstaltungsort
Brüder-Grimm-Schule
Steinadlerweg 26
22119 Hamburg
Eintrittspreise
ab Freitag 10€
ab Sonntag 5€
Gewandete 5€
(Wir verkaufen nur Dauerkarten)
Kontakt
2026@nordcon.de
ab Freitag, 20 Uhr
48 Stunden nonstop
Jetzt zum Helfen anmelden! https://www.nordcon-wizard.de/anmelden
Informationen zum umfangreichen Programm und aktuelle
Meldungen findet Ihr im Internet auf www.nordcon.de.
Veranstalter
Die Loge e. V. | Rollenspielclub Tornesch e. V.
Fotos: www.legrandblond.com, www.fotografielebensart.de
#pnpde - Was ist euer „Rollenspiel Gral“ - etwas wonach ihr im Hobby sucht, eine noch zu füllende Leerstelle?
DAS passende System für ein spezifisches Setting vielleicht? Eine passende Prozedur für eine spielmechanische Herausforderung (Investigation, Raumkampf…)? Eine Neuauflage / -übersetzung eines alten Spiels? Eine bestimmte Spiellultur?
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@HeyeBodo Ich möchte einmal eine Sandbox-Kampagne mit einer total engagierten Gruppe spielen, die sich selber Ziele setzt, bei der Lore am Ball bleibt, kreativ ist.
Ich hatte das mal hier und da, teils in Ansätzen, aber noch nicht als Kampagne. Alles was ich dafür bräuchte, wäre eine Supergroup der richtigen Spieler:innen.
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@HeyeBodo Scifi hat tolles Sandbox-Potenzial - viel Glück damit!
Eine Traveller-Runde ist auch eins der Beispiele, die diese Träume mit ausgelöst haben. Vier sehr gute Spieler, alle selbst erfahrene SLs, spielten sich gegenseitig die Bälle zu und kamen auf sehr kreative Lösungen für ihre Probleme. Einmal haben sie eine Bank auf ihrem Schiff eröffnet, um bei einem komplizierten Konkursbetrug mitmachen zu können...
Super Frage. In Bezug auf Settings ist mir aufgefallen, dass es kein besseres gibt, als das eigene.
Ich habe dann lange nach einem System gesucht, das zu meinen Wünschen einer Spielmechanik passt.
Letztendlich habe ich aufgehört danach zu suchen, wenn ich ehrlich bin.
Ich nutze meine Erfahrung und Tools als SL, um die Bedürfnisse/Kultur meiner Spielenden zu erkennen, und schaue was ich besser machen/anbieten kann, und nicht zwangsläufig anders.
Funktioniert besser für mich.
@HeyeBodo Erwachsene Menschen finden die Zeit haben und die gleiche Art von RPG spielen wollen 🥲
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@nachdemsturm was wären aktuell von Dir favorisierte Spiele?
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@HeyeBodo Top 5:
5. DSA1. Spielhaltung: innige Liebe mit Augenrollen.
4. Ars Magica, Bund in einer coolen historischen Epoche, Päpste, Pest und antikes Erbe.
3. Hexcrawl from rags to riches, bei dem SC sich zu Kultleadern und Herrscherinnen aufschwingen, Schlachten per Tabletop.
2. RIFTS. Mehr von allem.
1. "Twin Peaks", Kleinstadt-Soap mit ganz viel Slice of Life, plus dem Grauen in den Wäldern.
Alles übrigens gern auch mal per Post. Stelle mir Briefspiel so schnurpsig vor.
@HeyeBodo Ich hab's ja in der englischen Version schon allgemeiner beantwortet (Simu-3w6 mit guter Lizenz, besserer epub support), aber mal als deutsches Schmankerl:
Dass die ganze DSA Spielkultur sich nach meinen Vorlieben richtet. Ich wäre schön und entsetzlich wie der Morgen, tückisch wie die See, stärker als die Grundfesten der Erde!
@HeyeBodo Ich hoffe immer noch auf ein Star Wars RPG Regelwerk, das perfekt zu einem Weltraum-Kampf-Brettspiel passt!
Mit Star Wars X-Wing x FFG-Regelwerk wurde das voll verpasst. Armada und X-Wing und das Rollenspiel sollte einfach kompatibel sein!
Damals mit dem WEG D6- Rollenspiel und dem Star Warriors-Brettspiel, wir waren fast da! Hat so viel Spass gemacht, die Rollenspiel-Charaktere in ein ungeeignetes Cockpit zu setzen.
@HeyeBodo
Ich möchte gerne eine Kampagne leiten die sich um ein Gegenstand dreht den die Spielenden in der ersten Sitzung bekommen - also einen physischen. Etwa ein Tagebuch oder noch cooler so ein Kuriositätenkabinett im Koffer oder Kiste. Spielende basteln daraus dann die Kampagne. Ähnlich die The Armitage Files oder Dracula Dossier.
Want to estimate the read-time for your text file in ed(1)?
Assuming a 200WPM reading rate
$ ed file.txt
3141
w !awk '{i+=NF}END{print i/200}'
Secured our future! @frotz @kensanata @lkh #StarFrontiers #DralasitePower #WobbleWobble
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A roll of 26. That's under 40. That's under Wuglug's PER score. Which wins.
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Interested to hear what you think of 1d100 game system. Star Frontiers is why I tried my AD&D but with roll low with percentages campaign.
I have to say though, I think the skill system in Star Frontiers is a little wonky, just some of the categories.
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@randomwizard @phf @kensanata @lkh I'm not planning on using the PSA system in the Advanced rules. We're using the Basic rules, (essentially roll under Stat check), with some modifiers from Advanced added in but trying to keep the dice rolls simple and fast. Maybe if players get a Stat to max I might let them specialize, but that's a long way off, if ever.
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@randomwizard @phf @kensanata @lkh with that being said, if there's a novel way of making the skills in PSAs worth something (aside from the default 1/2 of your base ability, plus 1 point per point invested) I might consider it. Like if adding points in gyrojet granted +5, with the max bonus equal to the stat (just off the top of my head so likely a terrible idea). Mainly with the original system it was "penalize everyone, and mitigate the penalty by using skills" and I don't prefer that.
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@frotz @phf @kensanata @lkh Wow! This is amazing that I can actually talk to someone else who is pondering the Star Frontiers main game mechanic. Same exact thought.
Say if a player has a DEX of 50.
And they want to throw a mug of beer at someone. The basic rules are sort of like, just pick their DEX and apply a bonus or penalty based on situation. But then, you might think, oh, is this a weapon? A weapon skill? Most weapon skills are like 1/2 DEX plus skill.
But then, it is all over the place. Some skills are just 30% chance! plus skill.
I see it as a weakness of the system. Who wants a huge list of skills with different ways of figuring out what the chances are.
So looking forward to our next session!
CC: @randomwizard@vivaldi.net @phf@tabletop.social @kensanata@tabletop.social
Vom Patientengeheimnis zur umfassenden Gesundheitsdatennutzung mit erheblichen Mängeln: Datennutzung soll Vorrang vor Vertraulichkeit haben https://www.heise.de/hintergrund/Medizinregistergesetz-zwischen-Gemeinwohl-und-Fremdbestimmung-11274184.html
"You gotta help us train
a machine from which we gain
only once we got rid of you
still that's what you gotta do"
"You gotta help us train
of course there'll be some pain
but just think what we can do
when we no longer have to pay for you"
"And if you see a Luddite
report him or her at once
those stupid dirty Luddites
with them we can't advance"
(I am accepting more verses for the song. And improvements to these verses. Feel free to share. Eventually I'll sing it with some badly imitated Bavarian Blasmusik in the background. Be very scared.)
The human-powered handcart is the oldest of vehicles, and it will likely be the last one around in the future. Of all vehicles, it’s the cheapest and least complex to build and use.
https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2026/04/rediscovering-the-handcart/
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The handcart, equipped with a sail. Photo by Kris De Decker.
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@neauoire I was flicking through that thinking "duh, obviously" because the below is probably my most used machine 😆
It's an exceptionally well designed wheelbarrow. Light aluminium construction, steel frame underneath so it can handle heavy loads and two east-german motorcycle (Simson) wheels, so it doesn't sink into the mud/snow like bicycle wheels do.
I use it pretty much every day.
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The mentioned wheelbarrow with a medium size rock in it. It's got arched wheel covers to avoid flinging mud in your face and once upon a time they even had reflectors on them. It's decades old and the tyres are tired, but keeps working anyways.
And here's a treasure trove of alternate earths mapping material: https://zenodo.org/records/10659104 check out 3c. Global Elevation Source Maps.zip in particular!
edit: more maps: https://zenodo.org/records/10659112
If you want any assistance, just let me know and I will take a look.
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@lkh This is what happens when amateurs are let lose on the internet! 🤣
I hope you know that I am very much kidding because it's only all that solidly amateur stuff that keeps me going technologically these days. 🤓
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@phf But how do they compare to Moldvay-Cook-Marshal combat?
(<- doesn't know what he's talking about, has just absorbed some words from Daddy Rolled A 1 youtube channel)
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@thorgrit B/X = Moldvay/Cook/Marsh 😬
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@phf I stand corrected! For some reason I thought there were three branches of Basic D&D. I might've been thinking of OD&D or the modified Rules Cyclopedia.
I have listened to a lot of history of D&D, for entertainment value, but might not have even retained as much as I might've thought.
The youtube channel I mentioned is fascinating to me, but his preferred playstyles are definitely not my own. Which is fine, a fun game is a fun game regardless of edition/ruleset!
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@phf @frotz I get my half remembered info from this channel, an old video (that Martin wants to redo with better presentation) where he describes the 18 different editions (by his count) of D&D
https://youtu.be/RgoyqfPoMnw
his list:
0E Original
0.5 Edition
Holmes Basic
1E Advanced
Moldvay B/X
BECMI
1.5 Edition
2E Advanced
Black Box Easy-to-Master
Rules Cyclopedia
Classic D&D
2.5 Edition
3E
3.5 Edition
4E
Essentials
5E
5.5 Edition
I had forgotten some of these (I've never had an opportunity to play anything earlier than 3e, including retroclones, so the TSR stuff doesn't have a foundation in my mind; but that's more accident of never finding myself a group)
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you might actually be very close to finding that group 😀
PS: we need to update that page. The Discord's still there, but it's no longer needed to join and play.
CC: @phf@tabletop.social @frotz@mastodon.sdf.org
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@lkh I appreciate the offer but I'm not an online player; I meet face to face, so that if anyone disruptively says "It's what my character would do!" I can glare at them threateningly ;)
no really, I just have certain sensitivities that prevent me from enjoying a lot of things that other people enjoy in life, no shade to people who don't have my limitations
Probably should run an "all Holmes" game to savor the differences :)
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Abenteuerliches Mittelerde, OSR, Ravenloft, Sprawl Goons, Tunnel Goons, regelleichte Rollenspiele
Falls wer Interesse hat, sich in #Fluxer, einer Discord-ähnlichen Umgebung, über obige und andere regelleichte Rollenspiele textlich zu unterhalten, hier geht's lang: https://fluxer.gg/YQXDE7rI
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@thorsten tja ... geht schon gut los ... Konto lässt sich nicht beanspruchen ("Service nicht verfügbar") ...
EDIT: best part starts at 00:08:00
CC: @Craig@dice.camp
@phf I found the messiness of AD&D led to a lot of unexpected situations (in a good way) that we still talk about decades later. That said, we had a completely revised segment-based initiative/round system rather than turn-based. It made a lot of rules like weapon speed and casting time more interesting. It also made it a lot crunchier, so YMMV. Not sure how'd I feel about it without that change.
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@Craig @phf @DM_Zeppelin @kyonshi I was a little bit surprised that Labyrinth Lord was not as popular as some of the other retro clones. It seemed to mirror how I played D&D back in the day...
Basic D&D with a mix of AD&D elements.
"The Advanced Edition Companion is a handbook of advanced player and referee options. Play the race and class possibilities from the "advanced" first edition 1978 rules. Introduce the essential first edition monsters, spells, and magic items to your Labyrinth Lord game. All of these options are fully compatible with the core Labyrinth Lord rules"
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/78523/advanced-edition-companion-labyrinth-lord
But, I should add, I do not run that either these days. But I will play in anyones edition of D&D if they are running a game and I have the time.
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@randomwizard @phf @DM_Zeppelin @kyonshi How did I miss Labyrinth Lord? Thanks for sharing. My group is currently playing a 3.5 campaign, but considering a 2e campaign for next time. As for edition, I have my favorites, but I'm with you. Are there dungeons? Are there dragons? I'm there. 😂
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Still I think AD&D is an interesting set of rules, and I find it delivers a somewhat different gaming experience when compared to B/X as well as to OD&D. At this point I'm doubtful of mixing those rules sets however. I know it's been done "back in the day" and I tried it myself, but I think they each work best with their own material and in their own play styles.
I once tried a head to head comparison of OD&D vs. AD&D, rolled up 6 Characters and ran them through a bunch of wilderness encounters in a solo game, trying to honor every rules bit I came across. First of all, OD&D and AD&D both work very well for this kind of play style, just like Classic Traveller does. However doing this with OD&D went so much quicker than with AD&D. It starts with character creation and doesn't end with Composition of forces ... honestly I kind of lost interest doing this with AD&D but would always love to run yet another game with OD&D.
Anyway, I love to play "full stack" D&D with castles, serious party sizes, naval battles and also dungeon crawls. These systems (A/OD&D) are true campaign games, and that's why some of their seemingly weird or superflous rules are what they are. I don't think B/X and friends can deliver on this broader scope, even if they easily win the award for best edited edition of classic D&D. That's why OD&D is my favourite D&D and AD&D can only be second.
Alright, sorry for ranting, game on!
CC: @randomwizard@vivaldi.net @phf@tabletop.social @DM_Zeppelin@dice.camp @kyonshi@dice.camp
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@lkh @Craig @phf @DM_Zeppelin @kyonshi
Super interesting experience. The world is a varied place.
In my little corner of the world, in the 80s, we played Redbox D&D, and then slowly incorporated things from AD&D as time went by as we discovered AD&D. There was also this "air of condescending looks" from AD&D players on our little endeavors. But we were young and everyone was stupid.
When I got older, I am practically the only one who will run a game and I have always been tinkering, so it is like a continuation of the old days... AD&D has rangers! using that! AD&D has races and then you can pick different classes. using that! AD&D has weapon speed factors. Well, uh, ok, maybe not using that.
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@randomwizard @lkh @Craig @phf @DM_Zeppelin I mean, I came to DnD later than to other games, but I am forever chasing that sort of pure DnD experience that I never actually had at the time (we played DSA back then). And it's a lightweight kind of DnD that's almost, but not quite B/X with ADnD bolted on.
I think inspired by some of the early crpgs I played when I was a kid.
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So far just about every DnD experience I had seemed just a bit tangential to what I was looking for, and so the quest goes ever on.
CC: @randomwizard@vivaldi.net @Craig@dice.camp @phf@tabletop.social @DM_Zeppelin@dice.camp
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@lkh @randomwizard @Craig @phf @DM_Zeppelin it's not ADnD 2e, as I played that and it never was quite what I wanted
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@kyonshi @lkh @randomwizard @Craig @phf @DM_Zeppelin For me, starting with Holmes & OD&D, I hated AD&D 1E, 2E was a little better, but B/X & BECMI were also too far another direction, taking away options. OSR has been a huge help.
Swords & Wizardry, Blueholme, & Basic Fantasy are a spectrum from very like OD&D to very like B/X, but more flexible. Old School Essentials & Shadowdark are much more variant, but still have that tone of little guys against a very hard world.
#ttrpg #dnd #osr
@kyonshi Coming from DSA/TDE, too, AD&D 2E felt quite similar, strong focus on settings, while being a lot more powerful. But the Forgotten Realms and I will never be truly friends, and Dark Sun is more a sometimes setting. We didn't use a lot of adventures back then, and that meant going with my default DM style, which – especially at that time – couldn't really be described as D&D-ish.
So, as with many others, I'm also still looking for my perfect D&D-ish style, too. There's some really good essence there that I want to extract for myself, some style of my own that's still tied to the "gestalt" of the sub-genre. It certainly isn't torch-counting or name level project management, that I'm sure. Simple classes, yes, too simple "universal" rules, no. Hexploration, Wilderlands style, yes, but with some more bones to the setting. That puts me in an odd spot in the hobby right now, there's enough check every item there, but not in the combination I want, usually. I probably should build more myself instead of just browsing through retroclones, heartbreakers and settings…
Die Kassen sind leer. Statt das System zu reformieren, wird an Details gespart, wie zum Beispiel an der Homöopathie. Das hilft niemandem. https://taz.de/!6167338
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@tazgetroete
Homöopathie hilft auch niemandem, außer dem Hersteller.
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@Mastodoentchen Artikel gelesen?
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@ArneBab @Mastodoentchen @tazgetroete Homöopathische »Medikamente« helfen auch niemandem, außer dem Hersteller.
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@proedie Artikel gelesen?
Um die Mittel geht es im Artikel nicht.
@Mastodoentchen @tazgetroete
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@ArneBab @Mastodoentchen @tazgetroete Werden aber auch gestrichen und das ist gut so.
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@ArneBab @Mastodoentchen @tazgetroete Außerdem sollte es kein Kommentar zum Artikel sein, sondern zu deinem »Artikel gelesen?«. 😘
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@proedie dann hast du ihn also nicht gelesen.
Schade.
@Mastodoentchen @tazgetroete
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@ArneBab @Mastodoentchen @tazgetroete Doch und ich stimme ihm sogar teilweise zu. Das an der Homöopathie aufzuhängen halte ich aber für ungünstig, denn, wie schon gesagt, homöopathische »Medikamente« helfen niemandem.