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    1. As a DM, I kinda hate Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

      I hate that enemies have so low armor class. In earlier editions, you had to be tactical, use flanking manoeuvres and charge attacks, prepare the right support spells, maybe even pick the Weapon...

      I hate that enemies have so low armor class. In earlier editions, you had to be tactical, use flanking manoeuvres and charge attacks, prepare the right support spells, maybe even pick the Weapon Specialization feat for your favourite weapon. In 5e, no need; just stand wherever, roll an attack, you'll probably hit. In addition to removing much of the tactics from the game, this makes it basically impossible for enemy spellcasters to use duration spells. Good luck succeeding on 4 concentration checks per turn.

      I hate that enemies' proficiency bonus is based on their challenge rating. No high-attack low-damage monsters here. Don't worry; the tank in your party will never need healing, any level-appropriate monster needs to roll ridiculously high on the dice to hit them! Everyone else just stay in the back and lob your bloody cantrips, and the battle will be over in 3 turns.

      I hate that attack cantrips do as much damage as a weapon attack (or more). Why even have weapons at all, when your cantrips do more damage than a longsword, with better range than a crossbow.

      I hate that cantrips scale with character level. No need to learn anything new for the rest of the game, your trusty Eldritch Blast will be your most powerful attack throughout. Especially when you get access to Greater Invisibility and don't need to rely on your bloody familiar for advantage on attack rolls.

      I hate that familiars can do help actions in combat. Advantage every turn! And since they're no longer a class feature but a spell, they're also available to fighters and rogues, no multi-classing necessary. And unlike in earlier editions there are no real consequences of losing your familiar. All you lose is 10 gp worth of incense to get them back, a pittance at higher levels.

      I hate that a long rest fully restores hit points. No need to ever stay in one place for longer than 8 hours, no need to conserve spell slots to do end-of-the-day healing, heck; no need for a healer at all really! And it gets worse when they reach 3rd level and get access to Leomund's Tiny Hut, and don't even need to find a safe spot to camp.

      I hate that wild shape is basically useless in combat, due to challenge rating restrictions and the lousy selection of beasts in the Monster Manual.

      I hate that the only logical combat use of Polymorph is turning into a dinosaur. Prepare for the inevitable discussion around the table: Can my character turn into a tyrannosaurus rex, even if they've never seen one? No? But, uuuuuh, they saw a picture of one in a book at the library!

      I hate that you can use Counterspell to counterspell someone else's attempt at counterspelling your own spell.

      I hate that any character can use any skill. No need for a rogue, just hand those Thieves' Tools to the character with the highest Dexterity, they'll get that door open.

      The worst thing is that this game went through lots and lots of play-testing before it was released. The developers must have known about all of these issues and chosen not to change them, meaning that none of these are bugs; they're all features! This is how the developers intended the game to be!

      Did I forget any of your peeves about the game? Add them in the comments. Alternatively, comment with what you love about 5e, let's add some positivity to this rant.

      13 votes
    2. Exhaustive Markdown test

      This is a post in ~test about Tildes! (See also: the ~tildes group.) The author is @zlsa. Oh, I almost forgot to link to the Wikipedia article on Reaction Control Systems. Click to view the hidden...

      This is a post in ~test about Tildes! (See also: the ~tildes group.) The author is @zlsa.

      Oh, I almost forgot to link to the Wikipedia article on Reaction Control Systems.

      Click to view the hidden text

      Here's all the hidden text.

      It can have markdown in it too.

      H1: This is a very long header.

      H2: This one is just as long.

      H3: Short.

      H4: How do you even tell these apart!?

      H5: come on, this is nuts
      H6: Six levels deep. You need professional help.

      Blockquotes

      let x = 42;
      
      function transmogrify(value) {
          return value * 4
      }
      

      Now, if you run transmogrify(x), you get 167 168. Removing the strikethrough is left as an exercise for the reader (that's you.)


      There's some pretty advanced stuff going on here. The cars are almost self-driving; but full autonomy is at least 3 months away, if not 6.

      • Markdown unordered list support: check.
        1. Ordered list support: check.
        2. Yep, this works.
      • And back to the unordered list, as expected.

      Mountain Height of Summit
      Mount Everest 8,848m
      K2 8,611m

      And now for some minor features:

      • I forgot a word.
      • E = mc2 and H2O

      And now for something completely different.

      I'm baby craft beer vape freegan sriracha. Jean shorts chicharrones trust fund, 90's gochujang la croix cold-pressed. Pinterest kinfolk slow-carb green juice, street art wayfarers quinoa jianbing organic edison bulb. Semiotics craft beer tumblr bushwick organic affogato lumbersexual crucifix direct trade dreamcatcher echo park kinfolk. Selfies green juice chambray helvetica iPhone snackwave master cleanse.

      Drinking vinegar live-edge four loko, chambray edison bulb blue bottle stumptown etsy snackwave la croix activated charcoal fingerstache shaman hot chicken locavore. Fixie twee godard offal. Ramps echo park beard kogi mustache deep v everyday carry DIY heirloom. Forage poke vaporware whatever, man bun chicharrones fashion axe disrupt. DIY kickstarter 3 wolf moon you probably haven't heard of them drinking vinegar authentic narwhal, 90's pug taxidermy pitchfork next level.

      Artisan palo santo blue bottle hashtag squid asymmetrical XOXO ennui craft beer readymade cred mlkshk 8-bit. Forage celiac woke, kickstarter hell of normcore chartreuse try-hard cray. Food truck edison bulb PBR&B cloud bread vegan leggings pug dreamcatcher cardigan intelligentsia. 3 wolf moon hashtag palo santo migas cardigan ethical bespoke chartreuse tote bag godard truffaut man bun. Celiac brunch echo park mustache thundercats cornhole raclette chicharrones meditation hammock kogi vegan sustainable. Raw denim vape affogato slow-carb meh iceland food truck kale chips health goth gastropub migas chillwave.

      Viral pug kitsch, celiac aesthetic kickstarter small batch chicharrones. Direct trade health goth viral chia actually meh cronut chicharrones. Thundercats man bun scenester VHS. Mumblecore mixtape kickstarter chartreuse pinterest cold-pressed. Leggings retro vice tumeric distillery jean shorts flexitarian, chicharrones narwhal.

      Copper mug gluten-free pickled, you probably haven't heard of them banh mi roof party pop-up coloring book brooklyn vexillologist 3 wolf moon keytar. Enamel pin chambray tbh taiyaki cardigan tumblr cold-pressed. Yuccie activated charcoal ugh, wolf chicharrones literally trust fund aesthetic tattooed vice cornhole polaroid. Selvage XOXO sriracha tacos +1 hashtag everyday carry.

      Dummy text? More like dummy thicc text, amirite?

      A1 B1 C1 D1 E1
      FANCYPANTS AWESOMELY COMPLEX TEXT FANCYPANTS AWESOMELY COMPLEX TEXT FANCYPANTS AWESOMELY COMPLEX TEXT FANCYPANTS AWESOMELY COMPLEX TEXT FANCYPANTS AWESOMELY COMPLEX TEXT
      5 votes
    3. How would you feel about companies releasing "game concepts" for you to test?

      What is a "game concept": visually-unpolished but functional game costs little compared to the full product only basic UI and UX solid, release-worthy mechanics released publicly in order to test...

      What is a "game concept":

      • visually-unpolished but functional game
      • costs little compared to the full product
      • only basic UI and UX
      • solid, release-worthy mechanics
      • released publicly in order to test a particular kind of gameplay (standalone, not part of any other game)
      • retracted once the testing period is over
      • testers get 50% off purchasing or updating to the polished, complete game (possibly also in-game perks)

      Pros:

      • game design team gets to test quirkier ideas without the investment of a full game
      • mostly prevents flops (idiocy and hubris can still lead on)

      Cons:

      • players have to pay in order to participate (fewer players will want to join)
      • game is retracted after testing is over (may cause player discontentment)

      The essence of early access. Relevant to titles anywhere between AAA and indie (though more suited to AAA). Good early tests generate publicity. Bad tests are not as bad a publicity due to disclosed status.

      Thoughts?

      14 votes
    4. Who else is baking bread, or beginning a starter?

      I'm now T-1 to 2 days from having my sourdough starter that was created from nothing but natural yeast around where I live (and obviously generous amounts of flour or water) to being ready to...

      I'm now T-1 to 2 days from having my sourdough starter that was created from nothing but natural yeast around where I live (and obviously generous amounts of flour or water) to being ready to bake/cook with. This is my first time working with starters, and dough in general, so I'm really looking forward to baking my own sourdough bread in the oven, or making a classic sourdough pizza with mozzarella and a marinara sauce (this is first on the list!).

      I've been feeding it twice daily for several days now, and am getting close to the doubling-within-a-day metric many use as a baseline for when it's "ready", although I haven't tried the float test quite yet It's got an almost fruity, alcoholic aroma to it—with no funky, displeasing notes.

      Here's the first recipe I'm planning, unfortunately our oven barely goes above 500°F, and I don't have any handy sources of thermal mass to properly cook a pizza, so I'm hopeful a cast-iron approach to really crisping the base on the stove first will pay dividends.

      Seamus Blackley has also been a bit of an inspiration.

      Anyone got any tips? Recipes to share? Surely I'm not the only person on Tildes trying this (for obvious reasons).

      21 votes
    5. Mass testing is the best hope for normalcy after quarantine

      I'm sure something everyone has wondered at this point is simply what the plan is after the lockdown. Out of what's circulating in public policy circles, Paul Romer's plan is the probably the one...

      I'm sure something everyone has wondered at this point is simply what the plan is after the lockdown. Out of what's circulating in public policy circles, Paul Romer's plan is the probably the one with the most appealing results

      https://paulromer.net/covid-sim-part1/

      Basically, mass random testing--specifically, 7% of the population is tested every day, or 21 million, selected randomly.

      Of course, 21 million random tests is an absurd number. But if it could be done, people could to some extent resume life, if the simulations hold to reality.


      On the other hand, plans like

      https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/national-coronavirus-response-a-road-map-to-reopening/

      https://ethics.harvard.edu/covid-19-response

      Have a few things in common. For one, they all involve incredibly advance and detailed contact tracing. They rely on the proliferation of mass surveillance similar to HK, where all US citizens would have to install apps, for instance, that track their location and ping them when they have been in contact with a COVID19 positive patient.

      They also involve extreme limitations on travel, and one of them even has the forced drafting of immune citizens into the medical and food industries.

      It's estimated about 80% of the economy could continue, and they will last until the minimum of vaccine (18 months - 2 years) or 14-20 months (herd immunity is achieved).


      What does everyone else think? What do you think we should do after the lockdown?

      17 votes