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 So far (one session in) the way @frotz runs things it's just attributes. We'll see how this goes. @kensanata @lkh
@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.
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@randomwizard Palladium people are very much used to every skill being a custom mini set of rules... 😁
So looking forward to our next session!
CC: @randomwizard@vivaldi.net @phf@tabletop.social @kensanata@tabletop.social
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@lkh @frotz Agreed! It's also a well-established approach for German players thanks to DAS SCHWARZE AUGE before that odious "expansion set" came out that ruined things for @kensanata with those "holy men" everywhere. 🤣 @randomwizard
Mehr Shitpost per favor
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.)
„Seit drei Jahrzehnten gelingt es rechtsextremen Parteien nicht, in der Wallonie politischen Boden zu gewinnen. Selbst Social Media und Donald Trump ändern daran wenig.“
→ Das Rezept: Eine politische, wie auch mediale Brandmauer (keine Koalition, keine freie Sendezeit).
„Zwar können Journalisten Vertreter der extremen Rechten interviewen, doch nie live, erklärt der Politikwissenschaftler François Debras von der Universität Lüttich. Die Ausstrahlung erfolgt zeitversetzt, mögliche Gesetzesverstöße werden eingeordnet und benannt. ‚Gleichzeitig werden Journalisten ermutigt, über die extreme Rechte zu berichten, ihre Ideologie darzustellen und zu erklären, inwiefern sie gegen das Gesetz verstößt‘“.
#gegenRechtsextremismus #medialeBrandmauer
❝Here’s a thought experiment: what happens if you just... put a computer on the internet and wait?❞ https://arman-bd.hashnode.dev/i-left-port-22-open-on-the-internet-for-54-days-here-s-who-showed-up
@phf I think the Norn bot I run is not a problem, but the Discord -- IRC Bridge @lkh runs (Cuthbert) would fall into the same category as the Matrix bridge @veronica runs. From the point of view of Discord, I bet they see it as a potential data leak for which they are responsible and they don't want that. Which I understand, but at the same time, I also don't care about their feelings. But in principle, they are right. As a user, my messages getting exfiltrated elsewhere is a breach. Where did I consent to that? In fact, I tried to limit bridging to IRC. I wanted people to move to IRC. That means, bridge the channels where some people aren't ready to move to IRC. But new channels don't need bridges. Channels where everybody can be on IRC don't need bridges. I want to encourage people to move. Adding a bridge in these situations would increase the value of Discord, not the other way around. In any case, bridging is a tricky thing and moving from Discord to other infrastructure is tricky, too.
More power to all the people who use bridges to help move the community away.
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⚡ 50th Anniversary of a Legendary Album 🔥
"Ramones," the self-titled debut album by the American punk rock band Ramones, released on this day in 1976, and features the singles "Blitzkrieg Bop" and "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend."
#punk #punks #punklegends #punkrock #ramones #history #punkrockhistory #otd
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.
@neauoire This resonates so much with the cover of the book I'm currently reading, /Les mains vides/ by Elio Possoz (and not just the cover, it's a great eutopia/climate fiction/solarpunk story)
(See https://merveilles.town/@artsun/116159770453103340 :))
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The novel's cover, a drawing by Isabel Loyer. A tricycle, clearly homemade, with a mast and a reefed sail, is depicted in the middle of what looks like a barren plain.
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
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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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If you want any assistance, just let me know and I will take a look.
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We've had this long furling tape from Japan for the longest time, for years!! thinking it was in inches. Causing us lots of mistakes and fuck ups, the whole time we thought it was our own miscalculations, that we must have messed up in converting it to metric or something.
1) The unit on the tape is in tenth of a foot.
2) That's almost exactly 3cm, BUT NOT QUITE.
3) The ruler says FEET, but then breaks it down in 3cm segments each divided in tenth of a tenth of foot.
WHAT THE FUCK RULER
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In comparison with an actual inch.
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@neauoire Perfectly cromulent semi-SI units. Decifeet, centifeet, kilofeet 
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@alderwick here I was hating on the fact that the word "hexadecimal" mixes up latin and greek roots.
We kindda wanna pass it on, but we'll have to put a label on it something, like: CURSED UNITS, experimental uses only.
@neauoire this is very funny, but also what very specific reason is there for this to exist?
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Congratulations, Sruthi!
#Debian #projectLeader #election #SruthiChandran
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Photo of Sruthi Chandran, probably giving a conference talk. Debian swirl in the background.
I had one of those memorable #VancouverIsland days recently. A gathering of friends on the beach, salmon cooked around the fire, oysters (tluqw tluqw) picked off the beach and steamed around the fire, clams (s’aqw) steamed under the sand. Veggies were steamed nettles and maple flowers picked from nearby trees. Being fed by the land with food gathered by friends and cooked in traditional ways on the beach. #pnw #indigenous
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A fire on the beach with salmon on sticks slowly cooking around the edges of the fire.
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Close up of butter clams waiting in the bucket of water before being cooked.
EDIT: best part starts at 00:08:00
CC: @Craig@dice.camp
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Artemis mission screen:
They have 43 cups of coffee on board
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@mdhughes my god the looks on the crews faces are perfect
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All 4 astronauts looking very uncomfortable while on call with the president
I'm currently reading Frank Herbert's "Dune" for the first time.
I was struck by this passage. It comes right after the Reverend Mother has tested Paul Atreides. She is talking with him.
"𝗢𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺."
How apropos seventy years later.
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A book cover. Dune by Frank Herbert. A small circle surrounds the declaration in gold letters on a black background "Soon to be a major motion picture".
It is an image of red and gold dunes. Above, a black sky with golden stars and larger orbs, perhaps moons. A lone figure with a cape walks in the dunes.
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
Also, an Homöopathie zu sparen ist IMMER ne gute Idee.
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@fedithom Artikel gelesen?
„Die Homöopathie füllt diese Lücke; sie ist selbst nur Symptom einer Störung im medizinischen Apparat. Hier jetzt einfach die Kosten zu streichen, ohne diesen Bedarf anzuerkennen, ist im Grunde auch nur ein Herumdoktern an den Bilanzen der Maschine Mensch.“
@tazgetroete
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@ArneBab
Bisher nicht gelesen, bezog mich nur auf den Tröt. Jetzt gelesen. Meine Aussage bleibt unverändert.
Gäbe es andere Änderungen, die sinnhaft wären? Klar, keine Diskussion. Und das Schaffen von (finanziellen) Freiräumen, die Ärtz*innen mehr Redezeit für Patient*Innen gibt, wäre fraglos super und richtig. Die Kürzung bei PT ist katastrophal. Trotzdem ist die Abschaffung von Quacksalberei in sich richtig.
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@fedithom Hast du verstanden, dass das Anamnesegespräch zu streichen (was bei der Streichung von Homöopathie passiert) realen Schaden verursachen würde?
Ärzt*innen können aktuell bei vielen Kassen mehr Redezeit bekommen, indem sie „Homöopathie“ draufschreiben.
Das können sie danach nicht mehr und die Redezeit ist weg.
Nicht ersetzt, sondern weg.
Das heißt, diese finanziellen Freiräume gibt es gerade.
⇒ Vor Streichungen *erst* das erwiesenermaßen Wirkende unabhängig machen.
@tazgetroete
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@ArneBab
Ja, ich hab deinen Punkt verstanden und kann ihn nachvollziehen. Zustimmen muss ich dir deswegen hoffentlich nicht.
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@ArneBab @fedithom @tazgetroete
Also sollen wir jetzt unwissenschaftliche Quacksalberei, die eine unbekannte, aber wahrscheinlich nicht niedrige Zahl an Menschen auf dem Gewissen hat, verteidigen, weil sie ein Schlupfloch in einem ziemlich kaputten System ist, das manchmal auch gute Wirkungen haben könnte?
Ceterum censeo afdem esse damnandum
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@kensanata @phf @lkh For some reason, I want to run a Star Frontiers game, trying to capture that '80s sci-fi aesthetic.
I'm initially thinking simple rules for characters (no skills/PSAs) but using the advanced rules for some equipment and for advancement (essentially just increasing stats).
I don't know if SF ever was popular in Europe - it wasn't particularly popular in the US but I did play it and actually quite like it.
Any interest at all?
I’m feeling like in that joke from Soviet times (or so I heard) about somebody looking at the obituaries on the front page of the newspaper. “They are in the back,” the vendor says. “The one I’m waiting for will be on the front page,” is the reply.
I can’t wait. Sadly, there’s more than one I’m waiting for. And we still have to fix the media ownership, and the tax-free billionaires, and the bought justices, and teach the next generation to choose and vote and decide with wisdom and knowledge.
It’s a big ask, I know. Luckily we have all the remaining days of our life.
Not sure what emoji to use here.
I saw something on a profile that makes good fedi etiquette: “Post reach is at my discretion. Do not alter it by replying public to a private post or by adding hashtags in reply to a public one.”
This is the same sentiment I have about people tagging accounts being talked about when the original post didn’t tag them. If it was an oversight, it is probably no big deal. If it was on purpose, adding it is akin to snitching. Don’t do it.
Das ist einer der stärksten Blogartikel der letzten 10 Jahre, welchen ich gelesen habe. Er spricht mir als GenX so massiv aus der Seele, ich wünschte ich hätte selbst diese Worte gefunden.
Das schlimme, da fehlen noch locker 30%. Aber jenes welches hier in Worte gefasst wurde, kann ich so unterschreiben.
Diesen Link hatte @dde in seinem Blog geteilt.
Yesterday my online #ttrpg group had some major issues with our voice chat, and I thought that might be a good way to get them to move something else. But boy, the sound quality of the Jitsi instance we were using was horrible. Possible that it was just this instance? What are some other decent options for pure voice chat other people are using? (We're doing regular chat etc. in a VTT anyways).
well, good news mostly for me, as I finally managed to get my selfhosted instance of the Convos #IRC web portal running again.
it's available on https://convos.wilderland.ovh and gives access to our little #osr #ttrpg community
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screenshot of irc web portal focused on #talknix channel
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mind you, I say little, but we have a few dozen users and it's more active than most other ttrpg-focused IRC networks I've come across
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now mind you, what I've set out to do before was make a bridge between #minecraft and #irc for my kids' server.
And I still haven't managed that.
Man I get distracted so easily
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but it is actually a bit of an issue as it seems everybody doing IRC plugins for minecraft just stopped ten years ago.
well.
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@kyonshi
Ten years ago? Odd, I've seen a functional IRC-Minecraft chat bridge as recently as six and a half years ago... though that involved a very isolated community I want nothing to do with anymore, full of coders of its own, so they might have done it themselves for all I know.
There was one refreshing exception however: when a pirate vessel was encountered, and parleyed with, a character was confronted with his secret past and the partial reveal that followed was played out to the groups enterainment and surprise.
Still, the result of our flailing around sounds like a decent scenario for our next, final session. The crew, in coalition with said pirates, wants to take their captured drone ship armada, and a hired mercenary landing battalion to finally secure the campaigns prize: the massively valuable rogue planet Satan's World.
@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.
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CC: @frotz@mastodon.sdf.org @phf@tabletop.social @alex@grenzland.club
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CC: @lkh@grenzland.club @frotz@mastodon.sdf.org @phf@tabletop.social @alex@grenzland.club
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
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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@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 🍻
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 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
