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@phf @alex @lkh I'm also curious - asking for a friend >.>
::EDIT:: the server is running snac, so someone would have to create a user for us. I ran snac a while ago - I'm not really impressed with it so I'll pass, I think. 🙁
::EDIT (2):: what the hell - since snac is really about the local timeline, if @lkh is willing, I'd be happy to get a snac account on grenzland.club too.
Poking around the AD&D GM’s Guide definitely has advice I feel is very counter to a lot of neo-old school thinking.
“The final word, then, is the game. Read how and why the system is as if is, follow the parameters, and then cut portions as needed to maintain excitement.”
1/4
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“For example, the rules call for wandering monsters, but these can be not only irritating - if not deadly - but the appearance of such con actually spoil a game by interfering with an orderly expedition. You have set up an area full of clever tricks and traps, populated it with well-thought-out creature complexes, given clues about it to pique players’ interest,“
2/4
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“and the group has worked hard to supply themselves with everything by way of information and equipment they will need to face and overcome the imagined perils. They are gathered together and eager to spend an enjoyable evening playing their favorite game, with the expectation of going to a new, strange area and doing their best to triumph. They are willing to accept the hazards of the dice, be it loss of items, wounding, insanity, disease, death, as long as the process is exciting.”
3/4
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“But lo!, everytime you throw the ”monster die” a wandering nasty is indicated, and the party’s strength is spent trying to fight their way into the area. Spells expended, battered and wounded, the characters trek back to their base. Expectations have been dashed, and probably interest too, by random chance. Rather than spoil such an otherwise enjoyable time, omit the wandering monsters indicated by the die.” AD&D GMG
How very not OSR that is. 🤣
4/4
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“A few brief words are necessary to insure that the reader has actually obtained a game form which he or she desires. Of the two approaches to hobby games today, one is best defined as the realism-simulation school and the other as the game school. AD&D is assuredly on adherent of the latter school. It does not stress any realism (in the author’s opinion an absurd effort at best considering the topic!). It does little to attempt to simulate anything either.”
5/6
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“ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is first and foremost a game for the fun and enjoyment of those who seek to use imagination and creativity.”
6/6
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@deinol I use to bring this point up to osr enthusiasts back in the day. They are pining for a game that was rarely, if ever, played the way they expound upon.
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@randomwizard it has been interesting to revisit the book I learned from 40 years ago. Certainly my tastes have changed.
“An example of the use of wisdom can be given by noting that while the intelligent character will know that smoking is harmful to him, he may well lack the wisdom to stop (this writer may well fall into this category).”
7/7
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@deinol OSR people can be a bit like "Thought for the Day" ministers on the radio. They're terribly prone to "What I think Jesus meant to say was..." type thinking. They're devoted to a concept, but it wasn't actually the concept they were devoted to.
Older...
@deinol It's amazing how many old-school gamers haven't actually read the book properly.
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@golgaloth to be fair, a lot of the old school crowd focus is on B/X or OD&D. AD&D is kinda a minority of play. But it is a weird beast.
I’ve seen quotes from Gygax that says if you aren’t playing AD&D as written, you aren’t playing his game. But his own advice is cut what isn’t fun. 🤷🏼♂️
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@deinol @golgaloth I mean, AD&D was developed purely as a cash grab to screw Arneson out of his royalties, and written by a man who couldn't organize his thoughts even on his best days (and I believe this was before he could blame that on his cocaine habit). So of course it's incoherent. 5/5 for inspiration, though. Reading that book won't tell you *how* to run a game, but it damn sure made me *want* to run one.
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I somehow stumbled through figuring out how to play. Although I quickly moved to Palladium Fantasy. It had skills! And ascending AC [AR] 19 years before D&D. 😅
I can see how a lot of people go back to B/X, written by someone who can make cohesive and comprehensive rules!
AD&D GM Guide is a mess organizationally.
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@deinol @golgaloth I had played Basic before, and it was what taught me how to play.
What the DMG did was make me want to build worlds.
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I started in 1984 with 4 products. I was 7.
AD&D Player’s Handbook
AD&D DM’s Guide
B1-9 In Search of Adventure
Middle-Earth Role-Playing [MERP]
One of these things is not like the other, and even more incomprehensible than Gygax.
I think it was the B modules that really taught me how to run.
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@deinol @pooserville I started with the old Red Box, which was an excellent distillation and sparked my imagination to the possibilities. Then Traveller because I like space stuff. I quickly moved onto my own homebrew world and my own homebrew system that worked off rolling competing D30s for everything and gave some really swingy and interesting results.
@deinol
I have always stood by the principal that the "rules" of any roleplaying game are, at best, "guidelines".
Anyone who says otherwise is missing the point.
This is also why "RPG" video games always fall so flat. There is no nuance to them, no flexibility, no (dare I say it) soul, no matter how good the storytelling.
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Oftentimes, especially with older rules sets, it can be hard to guess what a particular rule might do, but it usually comes together when applied consistently at the table and as far as the classic D&D's are concerned especially so in the long form, multi-faction campaign game. Consistency is probably the key here.
I know I have been disappointed as a player when I noticed rules being disregarded, when they could have been applied easily and it would have made sense to apply them. And I don't mean this in a rules lawyery way. When I know the GM is making a conscious choice - or ruling - in a way that's consistent and supporting the diegetic reality, I'm all fine with it. That's the GM's job. But when e.g movement allowance or shall we say fictional positioning doesn't even have a meaning, what am I here for? That's breaking immersion, and ultimately taking away degrees of freedom. Aren't those games about choice and player decisions?
Pulling off an amazing feat because we all thought it's a fun idea is one thing (and not to bad a one really), but pulling it off within the bounds and constraints of the rules, that's a game for me, and quite a story to tell.
Trust is also an issue, when it comes to my own GMing. I'm tired of rules futzing. I want my rules system to work out of the box, so I don't have to question everything when I try to apply the tules. That's why I'm so fond of GURPS - it eases my mind, I know I can trust it. What Gygax was writing in parts of the DMG might have been an effort to add consistency and trustworthiness to the hot mess that OD&D had become at that time. I think he succeeded for the most part, but failed here and there.
So yeah, consistency, trust, maximum degrees of freedom within a dependable framework of boundaries.
Alright, I could go on, sorry didn't mean to rant. And I don't mind if I'm missing the point here. Happily so I guess, cheers 🍻
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Trust and consistency is definitely important. But role-playing isn’t magic. And even magic there are sets of rules you can decide to play. Magic commander and standard and draft all operate differently.
Or GURPS is an even more perfect example. GURPS is a toolkit to build a game from. Every time you run a GURPS game you leave more than half the system off the table. Are you using space ships? Psionics? Magic? Super powers? Martial arts?
@lkh @rdm @deinol Indeed. That reminds me of the people who say that the reason by Monopoly takes so long and causes so many fights is because of all the house rules.
The rules were written for a reason, and when you think it's fun to add things like "Landing on Free Parking gives you all the money in the middle" (it doesn't; it just means you don't have to pay anyone, which is a godsend in the late game), or landing on Go means collecting double, you're asking for trouble.
The game is carefully balanced to play in a certain length of time, and anything that increases the amount of money in circulation will automatically increase the length of time that the average game takes, which will naturally increase everyone's frustration and irritability.
If you understand that, and you still want to add those house rules, then go ahead, and do it with your eyes open.
It's the same with TTPGS. Rules are *rules*. And they've been carefully and thoroughly playtested and the designers know all the reasons they exist and the implications of them being there. Before you houserule, understand exactly what and why and what effect it's going to have on your game.
In my opinion. :-)
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"in the example above it is assumed that they are doing everythingThe author does not suggest to generally dispose of random encounters. Also:
possible to travel quickly and quietly to their planned destination."
Know the game systems, and you will know how and when to take uponWell, I don't dig that babbling about ultimate power to be sure, but he definitely is onto something with "know your game systems".
yourself the ultimate power. To become the final arbiter, rather than the
interpreter of the rules, can be a difficult and demanding task [...],
for your players expect to play this game, not one made up on the spot.
Also, I do have experienced bad vibes with Monopoly RAW. To my mind it still serves best to demonstrate how disruptive capitalism can be, and if I'm not mistaken, this was the original intent of Elizabeth Magie's "The Landlord Game".
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@lkh @rdm @deinol you're right. And it does so brutally effectively. Particularly the "all properties must be auctioned" rule, which is designed to make the game flow quicker. Unless you get really unlucky with your rolls, it only takes a few goes around before all the properties are owned. At which point, the fate of the one who owns the least of them is generally sealed.
It's not all that much fun, and someone on the old Dicebreaker YouTube channel once commented that the reason he doesn't like it is because there's literally zero player agency; it's all luck. But I put it to you that that's kinda the point. ;-)
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Try my Monopoly Legacy variant!
After each game, record which player owns each property. Next game, you play your children. Start with $200 and the deeds to your parent’s properties.
Enjoy!
@deinol The Old School Renaissance IMO has a lot in common with the original Renaissance, where in an effort to recapture the glories of an earlier era they accidentally dramatically improve on the original, but also reject a lot of innovations from the intervening era that were worth keeping.
Warum ist das nicht in den Schlagzeilen: In Offenbach a.M. hat die AfD ihr Ergebnis HALBIERT. Wenn sofort "AfD stärkste Kraft!" kommt, wenn sie in einem Wahlkreis knapp mit 25 % auf Platz 1 liegt, warum werden ihre Niederlagen verschwiegen? Warum sind es nur News, wenn die AfD gewinnt? https://www.volksverpetzer.de/analyse/kommunalwahl-ergebnis-ioffenbach-halbiert/?utm_source=mstdn
Default administrative users on a system should be named
| root: | 6 |
| Administrator: | 3 |
| baron: | 6 |
| supervisor: | 0 |
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Just learned about these two (UK-only?) miniature sets. Loving the cover! One can almost see that Games Workshop was on the cusp of releasing Warhammer Fantasy Role Play, no? 😉 (Picture stolen from some Japanese site, sorry!) #citadel #miniatures #RetroDnD #UKDnD
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Two boxes of miniatures with a cover that goes together: Adventurers to the left, monsters to the right. I hear there's a poster of this image somewhere as well.
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@randomwizard @lkh
Hexes still missing. A good map has to have hexes.
Just kidding. Looks awesome. What tools do you use?
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@FrankBlack78 @lkh Just GIMP and a mouse.
I maintain a plugin to generate hexes but I have not tried in GIMP 3.x yet. This reminds me I need to work on it.
@randomwizard @lkh So one line is a rather high but mostly gradual increase? Or is most of the maps rather low hills (or steep cliffs)?
Anyway, you could pick up a few "prime fortification spots", where you have both a source of water and some high defensive position nearby and place some settlements and/or fortifications.
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50 oder 100 m per elevation line might make sense.
Btw, where did you find this map? I really like the approach!
CC: @randomwizard@vivaldi.net @FrankBlack78@social.tchncs.de
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@lkh @mhd @FrankBlack78 I copied the lines from topagraphic maps available at
https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/#4/39.98/-100.06
Although, I did not copy the all the lines, just the major ones. And I did not copy them exactly.
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@randomwizard @lkh @mhd @FrankBlack78 I wonder if there's a way to configure Open Street Map (e.g. via OsmAnd) such that it produces a map without streets, without buildings, etc.
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@kensanata @randomwizard @lkh @FrankBlack78 I'm not sure how much OSM etc. pre-render into their tiles and/or how easy it is to render your own without that.
I do know that some people are using the (quite complex, IMHO) GIS tools like QGIS for mapping, e.g. this one https://idraluna-archives.bearblog.dev/a-tutorial-for-making-hexcrawl-maps-in-qgis/
(They also made a few real-world maps including a high-res version of Antarctica: https://idraluna-archives.itch.io )
Am Wochenende haben wir in Mainz die #PinkPonyOfDeath No. 2 Mini #osr Con ausgerichtet. Es war total schön, mit Leuten aus der ganzen Republik, ein Wochenende lang old schoolige #pnpde zu spielen. Es waren etliche Leute dabei, die ich über Mastodon kennen gelernt habe ❤️
Hier reift derweil der Plan, die PPoD 3 vielleicht mal etwas größer aufzuziehen? 1/2
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An Systemen gab es auf der #pinkponyofdeath con:
#Adnd1e #SwordsAndWizardry #Shadowdark #LiminalHorror #BlackHack #Odnd (LBB + Chainmail + Outdoor Survial), #Warlock #Mothership #StayFrosty #Mausritter #Cyborg …und ich hab bestimmt was vergessen (?)
2/2
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Outdoor Survival Spielbox
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Auslage auf der Pony Con mit selbstgedruckten „Tattoos“ und Zines
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@HeyeBodo klingt gut, ich hab leider zu spät davon mitbekommen, Mainz ist von mir aus gut zu erreichen. Wenn da nächstes Jahr was größeres kommt hätte ich da nix gegen.
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Those three valleys to the northwest of that bend in the river look interesting, kind of like a claw. There are two islands a bit downriver, too. The river may be fordable at the larger island. A likely place for a settlement.
It's a days hike to get from Riverford to the Three Claw Valleys, a place of worship for the three forces of creation. Mystics say, this is where the Ur-Dragon left it's footprint in the landscape.
Auf der Suche nach einer Discord-Alternative sind wir bei pnpde.social grade dabei ein Forum auf Basis von Discourse zu etablieren.
Unser Ziel: kleineren #pnpde Communities ein selbst verwaltetes* Zuhause ermöglichen
Wir glauben, dass diese gemeinsame Plattform Raum für Individualität gibt und gleichzeitig den Austausch zwischen Communities beflügelt.
Wir suchen jetzt Leute, die sich vorstellen können, dort mit ihrer Community einzuziehen. Lust auf Unabhängigkeit von Discord? Schreib uns!
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@dnddeutsch Ich melde mal Interesse für „Rollenspiel in Münster“ an. Wir haben zZ 80 Menschen in der Signalgruppe.
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I’m trying to find a hard copy of “Commodore 64 Whole Memory Guide” by Tim Arnot. I know… hard to find but if anyone has any leads, please pass them along 🙏🏻
#c64 #RetroComputing #RetroProgramming
Another clue that may indicate that the Temple of Elemental Evil was linked to the Drow series and the Eldar Elemental God.
In G3, there is this passage
"If the drum is beaten, the chimes rung, and the triangle struck while the altar is changed, a glowing golden eye will swim into view from the stone's writhing center." and "If a second summoning of this Elder Elemental God is made within the same day, it will act as follows (d 12):"
Now compare the symbols on the chests of the warriors on the original cover of T1 The Village of Hommlet.
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@randomwizard One of the players in my Barrowmaze game has a shield like that... 😇 Took it off of a zombie they found who wore an outfit like that... 🧟 @lkh
Hey all, I've moved on to @lkh
grenzland.club is a small pubnix system we've set up for friends and friends of friends :)
Thanks to tabletop.social!!! Good times! 🎉 ♥️
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@wandererbill @lkh I hope it'll work out for you! I think some people found out that as small instances they stopped seeing most of the network. But maybe that's no longer the case.
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I really dig snac2's threaded view.
As a side effect, I see the need to unfollow a couple of accounts to uncrowd the time line. Which doesn't mean I don't like those people anymore. I'm still seeing what they're posting in reply to other people's posts and when their posts are boosted by people I follow.
Like, on reddit (while I was there) you don't follow every user you're interacting with, neither on G+ (while it was there).
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- follow: show me everything a person posts, boosts and every thread (in it's entirety, with all its participants) they're interacting with 🤗
- neither follow, nor block: we're good, I don't see everything you post, but still a lot if you're interacting with my friends, and I will happily interact with you 🙂
- block: for whatever reason, I don't want to see anything you post or boost 😞
@phf @wandererbill @lkh I think that’s why it’s good to move to a small instance if you have a big list of people you already follow. In that case, discovering more people to follow is easier. Or keep an alt on a popular instance to find people.
on grenzland.club. I like it so much, that I'm in the process of
migrating my tabletop.social account to this snac2 instance.
I'm writing this post in ed(1) on the command line btw. 🤓
Uhh, Samstag und Sonntag ist wieder die #PinkPonyOfDeath-#Con, diesmal in Mainz.
Ich werde den Dungeoncrawler #Grotten anbieten und freue mich wie ein Schnitzel, Leute vom #OpenTable in Person wiederzusehen und Leute wie @madmoses , die ich auf der #LoFiCon letztes Jahr kennenlernen durfte. Ich werde aus Kostengründen über Nacht fahren und Samstag Morgen wahrscheinlich ziemlich verknittert da ankommen. ^^ Da werd ich dann auf reinem Adrenalin auf der Con fahren :D
Biete nur eine Runde an, damit ich bei den anderen viel mitzocken kann. <3
Thanks goodness for RSS.
When I wake up, I get the joy of reading a while range of blogposts, distraction free, written by people whose writings I choose.
All there, in one place.
The best of the web, and an underrated technology.
(With many thanks to @freshrss!)
Recent discussions got me to thinking back on the Gazeteer series again. Every now and then, I lament the point that Basic D&D was looked down upon in the 80s. Everyone cool was playing Advanced D&D.
But Basic had a lot of stuff going on in it. It tried all kinds of crazy rules, settings. It was a more open canvas.
The Five Shires finally gave halflings their due. Written by Ed Greenwood. Lot of interesting ideas for the setting.
In addition, it provided a way for halfing's to become the protector of the forests. They got a mix of druid and magic-user spells, as well as some completely new spells.
This idea was like prestige classes before 3e ever existed.
Ed Greenwood has hinted in the past that the Five Shires would fit comfortably within the Forgotten Realms, within the halfling kingdom of Luiren.
https://www.dmsguild.com/en/product/16980/gaz8-the-five-shires-basic
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@randomwizard no one really cared about the separation of the two product lines. it's all just stuff to use at the table.
@randomwizard Coincido. La línea de Gazeteer era genial, te llenaba de ideas incluso para la propia ambientación que uno podía crear.
Don't know exactly why, but I really love this.
Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/mapmaking/comments/1rr6sxd/upside_down_mediterranean/
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A map of the region stretching from just above the British isles to the Ghana/Nigeria coast from north to south, and from Cape Verde to Afghanistan on the west-east axis.
But here's the twist: The Mediterranean region is flipped upside down, so the Italian "boot" is emerging out of north Africa etc.
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So today, I spent hours figuring out how to build an AI character in GURPS. This character will be able to upload themselves (literally) onto other computers of high enough complexity. It can have duplicates, which can share memory when they make contact, however it's also reprogrammable which is an inherent danger, and it's got no manipulators, no legs and depends on electricity - daydreaming about transhumanity 🤯
I feel I'm well prepared for tonights chargen session 🤓
What the HECK is this? I have NEVER heard of this before!
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A copy of "Classic Warfare" apparently another wargame written by Gary Gygax.
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If you've ever wanted a more relaxed, contemplative place to talk about TTRPGs, Alarums & Excursions' legacy continues with https://everanon.org/ _Ever and Anon_ -- a free collective/collated fanzine (also known as an APA), compiled once a month! We've been getting a lot of OSR new contributors over the last month, but APA hacking isn't really about nostalgia; it's a different flow and approach to conversation and creation, and I'd love to see more people trying it! #ttrpg #apa #rpg
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Glimmermark session 45: first time since 2024 they dared to go further down into Castle Dyson. That is, after finding the goblin castle encroached by rather nasty undead at night.
(Which they caused but they don't know that)
A fight with gargoyles turned out to be much more difficult than they had hoped (4 attacks per round!), but it was a surprise attack by a wererat on the rear during the fight the nearly saw two of them go down.
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Actually two of them DID go down, but some lucky rolls on the death and dismemberment chart only knocked them out.
(Funnily just before we had a discussion of how soft my game is having that at all, in stock odnd these would have been deaths)
And then the wererat decided to abduct one of the KOd characters.
Not that this character doesn't have issues anyway, according to the rules poor Sturlo contracted lycantrophy from all that.
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RSS
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GIVE ME YOUR FEEDS
i want to subscribe to your blog
i will read it, and every once in a while i will even email you to let you know i enjoyed your blog post
give! me! your! feeds!
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about not using a smartphone: https://lkh.sdf-eu.org/flipphone/
rss links provided 🙂
@dozens sorry it took me a while but here is ALL of my feeds
https://alifeee.net/rss/#my-feeds
"my" expanded to mean both "ones I publish" AND "ones I consume"
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@lkh Remember that every fedi instance install “burns” a domain name because other instances remember the public keys and a new instance install changes. So don’t switch lightly!
I also like how the list of people (followed and followers) shows their bios by default. Of course the list becomes much more wordy like this, but also more informative at a glance. And I feel somewhat encouraged to think about who I really want to follow :-o