Best posts made by The Sands

@Gnome said in Altered Carbon Style MUSH - Eclipse Phase 2e:

I'm also interested in possibly going down a System Exploration/Planet Colonization/Base Building path, one main player grid a megalopolis planet, very gritty, extremely high tech.. and one (or a few) fairly non-colonized planet(s) that still has lots of unexplored areas, lower-tech.. lots of natural threats, etc.. I wouldn't want to open two grids like that at once, but eventually at least.

Eclipse Phase has these things called Pandora Gates which are sort of like Stargates (passageways built by long gone aliens that move you across vast distances). There are colonies at some destinations but most are unexplored.

Mage support for C.O.D.E.S. has now been added.

Additionally I was able to resolve the issue with @Rucket being 'locked in' while in CG (default for EvMenus is to do this, but it can be overridden).

At present I am probably going to take a short break on 'adding splats' since Prometheans is the only published 2.0 material remaining to be added and I want to go through and give the character generation and xp menus a bit of an overhaul (making cg bi-directional and able to resume where you leave off as well as better help explanations on the nodes). I also want to work on a couple of 'support' functions such as paging, implementing a bulletin board system, and creating a +request system (which should be helpful with bug tracking).

@thatguythere said in Dark Ages Vampire -- Terra Mariana:

the it should be like physical combat, doesn't take into account that there are certain principles people and character won't cross, the agency side of things doesn't take into account these principles tend to be quite a small number of things.

Yes and no. On one level I would be much happier with a system that is able to take into account things like a character's principles. The issue is that on a more practical level enforcing it becomes very problematic. You run a real risk of the people who want to avoid social combat simply stacking up any mandatory social combat with 'principles that must not be violated', even when it becomes something trivial like trying to go ahead in line, at which point the system is so broken that its no fun being forced into it.

The principles a character 'absolutely will not violate' might be relatively small, but there's a larger number of issues that a character 'won't violate without a very good reason' (and an even larger range of 'resistant to violating). If Sarah looks like a strung out drug addict and she begs Joe not to take her in and says she's only robbing the store because otherwise her pimp is going to have her son killed then Joe might actually go along with it. He probably won't let her take anything (or if he absolutely has no choice he may limit what she takes), will force her to tell her who her pimp is and then makes her agree to a plan so that they can rescue her son and then she turns herself in, but he could conceivable go along with the request under those conditions.

In this context it isn't that he simply won't allow anyone to commit a crime. His principles recognize that the world is not black and white and sometimes rules have to give. However, just because he hasn't taken the absolute 'no exceptions to the law' stance doesn't mean an alternate Sarah should have a hope in Hell of convincing him to allow her to make off with all the loot in exchange for a kiss. In fact, given Joe's 'drive for justice' personality something like that should not only fail outright but it should probably make it -more- difficult for Sarah if she realizes that is a hopeless avenue and moves to some other form of manipulation (such as intimidation), because now Joe is pissed at her.

The Good Place is awesome. It is amazing that someone in TV Land was allowed to create a show that ended the way the first season ended and then run as the second season ran. It is so 'unsafe' compared to most other shows, but that is exactly part of what makes it so great. It isn't Big Bang Theory where 10 seasons later the big change is that Sheldon lives across the hall from the apartment he started in.

@Gnome It is an amazingly versatile setting. Earth is an apocalyptic horror wasteland, most of the inner systems are a cyberpunk Corporatocracy with ruling oligarchs. Outer systems are more like what Runescryer was talking about and then you have the alien systems aspect provided by the Pandora Gates.

In all honesty it is probably too vast a system to tackle all at once and anyone setting up a game should look at restricting the setting a bit more, at least initially, sort of like how the grid for most games tend to be a city rather than 'North America' or 'Earth'.

@jennkryst said in Dark Ages Vampire -- Terra Mariana:

So... I just have to make Sally's concept 'Unbeatable swordswoman who can never be killed,' thus making losing physical combat or death a violation of my concept! Easy peasy.

Earlier I mentioned the implicit aspect that any character can be overwhelmed by force. You can't simply decide that your character concept violates implicit concepts.

If you want a world where the idea of characters having any sort of personal core violates implicit concepts you can certainly do that but I don't think I particularly want to play there. I'd rather play in a game where a player can decide on aspects of their character's personality, and I think that's part of the issue. I'm unbeatable isn't an aspect of personality. I won't accept a bribe is. Mandatory social combat provides excessive limitations to my character's personality.

@thatguythere said in Good TV:

MCU has always been closer to early Ultimate Marvel than Regular Marvel so my guess is you are exactly right, they will kill off the family for pathos most likely sicne that is exactly what happened to Hawkeye's secret family in Ultimates series 2. (Yes I just spoilers part of that story but it has been out for a decade so I have zero guilt over it.)

Also, the Titanic hits an iceberg and Jack drowns.

@pyrephox Additionally, the game can take advantage of the fact that it is being run on a computer. Yes, it is headach-y sitting down with a calculator and crunching up all the numbers.

Sitting down and telling the system you want to buy a 10d6 Blast Armor Piercing Blast with 16 charges on an OAF and having it immediately charge you 31 points is an entirely different thing.

@thenomain said in Dark Ages Vampire -- Terra Mariana:

Then what is it about the Doors system that is being hotly contested, here? I get the feeling that there is an argument going on in this thread that is only half-informed.

No. The argument is about mandatory social combat, not any particular system (Doors or otherwise).

I so badly want to make a joke about the fact that the person who said people are only half-informed didn't understand what the argument was about but I'm worried it will come off as a kind of mean/nasty snark rather than joking/teasing.

@bobotron said in Social 'Combat': the hill I will die on (because I took 0 things for physical combat):

If I blow out your kneecaps with called shots that are recorded by the system and you have Conditions or whatever from those, that should be no different than me making a successful Lies roll to get you to speak out of turn and reveal some type of information

Yes and no. To blow someone's knees out you at least need a gun and ammunition. To just say 'well, I lied to you, so give me the information' is like saying 'I use my Medicine skill to make you sick'. You've got to provide more than that.

And we haven't even touched the issue of how critical this piece of information is. What's the consequence of letting it slip? Embarrassment? Life in prison? I'm going to be much more resistant to releasing the information in the second case than in the first. So how does a system handle that? Allow the opposing player to set the difficulty? You're pretty much right back where you started with the bad actors able to set up their resistance unreasonably high.

Just to be clear, I am not a person who plays lots of combat monsters with no social skills. I'm not opposed to the idea of social combat systems that players can opt into when they want to compete (and maybe even compulsory social combat when there are reasonable limitations to what can be achieved). However, if you're going to argue for a social combat system that will force me to like your character while you act like a complete douche-nozzle then I'm going to argue against it, pretty much in the same way I would argue against a combat system that lets you heal someone while shooting them with bullets.

@lithium said in Social 'Combat': the hill I will die on (because I took 0 things for physical combat):

Nobody has said that social skills should change core concepts of your character with just a single dice roll.
Nobody has.
Except the people who are advocating against Social Combat. The ones who try to strawman the conversation by saying that because someone has so much dice they should be able to break the rules.

In fact when I've expressed concern about social combat and used examples for why I dislike the concept of 'mandatory social combat' the reply has 'but people can be manipulated'. You yourself tried to counter-argument that you would just make a character whose core concept is 'I can't be defeated in combat'.

Not once do I recall you (or any of the other people who seem strongly in the pro-social combat group) saying 'yes, that's probably not something social combat should be allowed to do'.

@Macha Not exactly dishes but I've got a couple of accessories. Hard boiled eggs come out great (you can get rings that hold about half a dozen eggs) and get a vegetable basket (not the little thing that came with the instant pot but a full basket with legs). Throwing broccoli or cauliflower in and steaming it is great. I'm still trying to get artichokes right.

It also does great rice (that doesn't take any accessories). I've been using mine to make yogurt but that can be a bit hit and miss. I'm still trying to figure out the variables. Sometimes the yogurt sets up nicely and sometimes it doesn't set at all.

(edit: I'm going to be using it tomorrow to do a basket of steamed clams. I'll copy down the recipe and let you know how it turns out)

@derp said in Social 'Combat': the hill I will die on (because I took 0 things for physical combat):

Space Cowboy might be a masochist according to your story, and he might have a deathwish. But in this scenario? His 'Masochistic Deathwish' stat just got beaten by Johnny B. Goode's 'intimidating jerkface' stat.
If you want the kind of character that never blinks in the face of such things, then -invest in the stats that make sure you rarely lose those rolls-, and then when you do lose one, figure out why this time is different.

So this is one part of my issue with how some people seem to want to handle Social Combat (and once more, there are certainly people say they don't want to handle it this way. I'm not trying to raise a strawman argument and say everyone on the 'pro' side wants this. I'm saying that there certainly are people who want Social Combat to be this way). I firmly support the idea that Space Cowboy should now be intimidated. You don't get magical resistance to intimidation just because of your backstory. I absolutely support that position.

However, context is still important and you're running on the assumption that Johnny is intimidating Space Cowboy with physical violence (since we are talking about Space Cowboy's masochistic tendancies). If Johnny had decided to threaten Space Cowboy with getting fired from his job and Space Cowboy is the owner of a starship that does odd jobs then I still support Space Cowboy laughing in Johnny's face because as intimidating as Johnny's threat is it is completely meaningless (n.b.: If Johnny was threatening he would keep Space Cowboy from getting work that's a different issue but his threat was that SC would be fired which shows to SC that Johnny doesn't have the capability of carrying out his threat because Johnny doesn't even know that SC is self employed).

Now, let's assume that Johnny is dressed like your stereotypical murder hobo and he threatens to get someone fired. This is clearly an Intimidation roll but shouldn't Johnny have penalties? After all, he doesn't seem to be particularly well off. In fact, he doesn't even look like he's got ties to the community. Sure, he's got a high intimidation skill but he still seems to be trying to use that in a way 'unsupported' by his current situation. What if Johnny's threat is that he works for the IRS (he claim he is currently off duty) and he's going to get the person audited, however the person he's threatening actually is an IRS agent (Johnny doesn't know) who knows that not only is Johnny not an IRS agent but who is also pretty unconcerned even if he did get audited?

Context has to be taken into account (incidentally, this can lead into a whole second question because if Johnny is threatening physical violence but only has a 2 Strength, 1 Brawl, 0 Weaponry and no gun and he's threatening someone with 5 Strength, 5 Brawl, and a boatload of Fighting Styles shouldn't Johnny have some situational penalties? The person being threatened is a skilled fighter who can probably tell from how Johnny holds himself that Johnny talks a good game but seems to lack the ability to back it up)

@Auspice I've used a couple of different cultures, but basically once I've gotten a successful batch I use it as starter for the next. I'll check the yogurt in the store to let you know the exact strains.

One thing I've been told is that anything you are going to add has to be added after you've made the plain yogurt. You can't add vanilla or sweetner to the milk and then make the yogurt. Instead just make plain unsweetened yogurt and when you are done mix in the other ingredients.

Other bits that I've sort of picked up and learned (but see below):

Let the milk cool down normally after you've boiled it. I saw a lot of people talk about ice baths to bring the temperature back down faster and did that several times. The problem (as I understand it) is that there are proteins in the milk that you want to let break down. They'll inhibit the coagulation. I think once I started doing that I had more success.

Let the starter warm up for a bit before you add it. When the bacteria is sitting around for a couple of weeks under refrigeration I think it can go into a sort of hibernation and it will take several hours to wake up and begin doing anything after you've added it to the boiled milk. I haven't read anything talking about this but I know something similar happens with yeast when you are brewing and since I started doing this I think I've been more successful.

The caveat that I mentioned above is that I'm still a bit hit and miss as well. I'm getting it right more often than not but just recently I made a pot where almost nothing at all seemed to happen and the final product was pretty much the consistency of water. At the end of the day, though, it isn't like regular baking or cooking. Like brewing the material is being changed by microorganisms rather than simple chemical processes and sometimes it seems like they've got tiny little minds of their own.

@goldfish said in Social 'Combat': the hill I will die on (because I took 0 things for physical combat):

Y'all just totally fucked up my WoD high social character. I'm like, What's the point? He's a good liar, persuasive, and is expressive in various ways, namely music and writing.

But why bother? I should just dump them points into combat and call it a damn day.

Hang on. Is your character suppose to be a good liar, persuasive, and expressive in various ways or is he suppose to make other players do what he wants? Because in the first case no one has done anything that said you can't do that. There's just arguments being made than you can't 'force' characters controlled by players to do something. If it's the second case the problem isn't other people fucking up your character. You fucked up your character when you made them.

Skills aren't magical abilities. They have limitations. If you want to be able to walk up to someone and slap them in the face without having them know you were there you have to buy Obfuscate, not Stealth. Likewise, if you want to control the actions of another character you need Dominate, not Persuasion.

Now if you want to propose an idea so that Persuasion can be modelled without co-opting player agency (e.g. a player who is 'persuaded' has the following modifiers) I'd like to hear it. Otherwise all I'm hearing is 'Wah! I can't make everyone else do whatever I want with my social skills!' and that makes you part of the group that makes me so nervous about ideas like 'mandatory social combat'.

@Macha Instant Pot Steamed Clams in Wine, Garlic, and Butter

• 3 pounds of clams
• 1 cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigiot)
• 1 stick butter
• 1 medium bulb of garlic (about 35 grams)
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 pinches of Old Bay Seasoning Recipe
• 2 pounds of small potatoes (I used creamer potatoes about the size of radishes)
• 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup chopped flat leaf parsley

1. Chop up garlic
2. Slice potatoes in half
3. Turn the Instant Pot to High Saut\e and wait until it says 'Hot'
4. Add half the butter and potatoes. Saute for two minutes
5. Add garlic and saute for another minute.
6. Pour in white wine and add salt. Continue to saute another three minutes.
7. Turn off Instant Pot while you perform the next step.
8. Make a bed out of the potatoes and place clams on top. Sprinkly with Old Bay Seasoning.
9. Lock on Lid and close Pressure Valve. Set to High Pressure for one minute.
10. It still takes about five minutes to heat and build pressure. Vent to release pressure when the cooking cycle is over.
11. Turn cooker off again and remove clams and potatoes with a slotted spoon.
12. Turn the Instant Pot back to High Saute and simmer for five minutes.
13. Take the stainless steel liner out of the Instant Pot and turn the Instant Pot off.
14. Melt remaining half stick of butter in the liquid.
15. Add parsely.
16. Mix and pour over the clams and potatoes.
17. Squeeze lemon over everything.

So I just made this and it turned out pretty well. It took me probably about 45 minutes start to finish (not counting a couple of early prep steps like washing the clams). It makes enough for two people to get pretty full. If you need to stretch it out more you can add some more of the potatoes. I also bought some kielbasa sausage to add if I needed to extend it but I didn't end up using it so I can't say for certain how that final product would come out, though I suspect it would be delicious (I'd probably leave out the lemon at that point, though).

@thenomain said in Game Design: Avoiding Min-Maxing:

There's a reason people who take the the Crafts skill push staff to let them use it to make cool stuff, because that's why they took the bloody Crafts skill to begin with.

My character has Crafts-5, good attributes, and Professional Training with Crafts as an asset skill (along with several other related merits) and I've never 'pushed' staff to let me make cool stuff. I have actually made two swords for my character that have increased Durability and a couple of cold-iron weapons for other characters who wanted them, but I have never tried to push for anything I would consider extraordinary (I did ask at one point if I could increase the Durability of a cold iron weapon by requiring more successes but when I was told no that was it).

I took Crafts because it was appropriate for the character, not because I wanted to 'make cool things' (he's a Professor of Medieval History who is focused on medieval techniques of construction and manufacturing).

The real thing that causes min-maxing is people wanting to be 'better' than everyone else, so they search for the best way to shave points to get some kind of advantage over the other players (and while my skills might look like that's what I'm trying to do with Crafts I don't think so. Yes, I have an outrageously good roll to Craft mundane items, but if I really wanted to be 'the guy' everyone came to to make swords I would be taking merits that allow you to make better than normal weapons such as Relic Maker).

I'm a big, fat dummy. The container I use for sous vide is 12 quarts, not 12 gallons.

So I'm pretty sure an awful lot of the cooking I do could be done in the 8 quart liner for an Instant Pot. You would probably want a smaller immersion circulator than the one I use, but the one I linked up above which is made for the Instant Pot is almost certainly in that category.

So if you've already got the pot it wouldn't take up very much more of your kitchen space to do sous vide, at least in a limited fashion.