EarlyWords's recent activity
-
Comment on What are some professions, crafts, competitions, or activities in which being older is considered advantageous? in ~talk
-
Comment on What are some professions, crafts, competitions, or activities in which being older is considered advantageous? in ~talk
EarlyWords Link ParentI’d agree that it is. I began as a teenager writing poetry and acting on stage. Then I slowly accumulated more and more skills. Costumes. Script analysis. Lighting. Editing. Voice acting and sound...I’d agree that it is. I began as a teenager writing poetry and acting on stage. Then I slowly accumulated more and more skills. Costumes. Script analysis. Lighting. Editing. Voice acting and sound engineering and color correction… One of the best parts of middle age is this giant toolbox at my disposal.
I create 45 minute videos each month, ancient history episodes on YouTube. I would’ve never been able to do this 20 years ago.
-
Comment on What are some professions, crafts, competitions, or activities in which being older is considered advantageous? in ~talk
EarlyWords LinkIn the hiking community it is believed that the optimal performance window is from the ages of 38-58. Those years you have the best stamina, strength, and mental discipline. As a 55-year-old, I am...In the hiking community it is believed that the optimal performance window is from the ages of 38-58. Those years you have the best stamina, strength, and mental discipline. As a 55-year-old, I am focusing on the stamina and strength and doing everything I can to minimize injuries.
Also, writing novels. Authorship is so fucking hard that for nearly all of us it takes decades of training and preparation to be able to generate novel-length manuscripts of any quality. In World According to Garp, when the protagonist is a young struggling writer he is told that it is like training for a marathon. Stamina.
The eventual pitfall for most novelists is sustaining their creativity. When I think of some of my favorites, like John Irving himself or even Kurt Vonnegut, their last few novels were generally fine but they read like echoes of their best work.
It is important to me to keep writing about new material and new issues in new ways, so that I don’t turn into an echo of myself.
-
Comment on Observations on DM styles in ~games.tabletop
EarlyWords Link ParentThe way I have usually approached the game is that most of my characters don’t have complete knowledge of all the spells in the world as a level one wizard. I really try to be sincere about how...The way I have usually approached the game is that most of my characters don’t have complete knowledge of all the spells in the world as a level one wizard. I really try to be sincere about how imperfect my knowledge is.
The other players at my table are more pragmatic. They talked me into chill touch as a cantrip when mind sliver wasn’t doing anything.
-
Comment on Observations on DM styles in ~games.tabletop
EarlyWords Link ParentThanks for the advice and guidance. I generally try not to play strategically, but rather with verisimilitude. But I have to be more clever with this sub-class. So I do play themes. Making sure to...Thanks for the advice and guidance. I generally try not to play strategically, but rather with verisimilitude. But I have to be more clever with this sub-class.
So I do play themes. Making sure to take most of the illusion and illusion adjacent spells but I have also taken up a second identity as a mentalist with mind sliver, mind spike, and Tasha’s whip.
But I know when things look rough my fellow player wishes I just had fireball. Although our most potent move so far is casting haste on his fighter and then, like, hiding for the rest of the fight.
-
Comment on Observations on DM styles in ~games.tabletop
EarlyWords Link ParentWe are running 2014. My table isn't interested, I guess, in switching until we're forced to. Yeah, I keep hearing that Illusionist becomes game-breakingly powerful at level 14 with Illusory...We are running 2014. My table isn't interested, I guess, in switching until we're forced to. Yeah, I keep hearing that Illusionist becomes game-breakingly powerful at level 14 with Illusory Reality. But making it there might be tough lol.
-
Comment on What are your predictions for 2025? in ~talk
EarlyWords LinkNext year the bill for the climate comes due. What this specifically means for storms and droughts and temperature swings is impossible to predict but the days of having the climate catastrophe...Next year the bill for the climate comes due. What this specifically means for storms and droughts and temperature swings is impossible to predict but the days of having the climate catastrophe “ahead of us” are now over.
Hiking my favorite woods in the Sierra of California this last year I finally gained a bitter acceptance that they should burn. The poor forests are so unhealthy. What isn’t terminally overgrown is diseased and dying, with an informal count of up to 20% of trees in many places already dead.
No more time for nostalgia or attempts to rescue the past. We are now in survival mode.
-
Comment on Observations on DM styles in ~games.tabletop
EarlyWords Link ParentWe are three sessions into Shattered Obelisk and so far it’s hard to tell about the success of the module. We just broke into a room filled with mobs—about 300 hp of them. Both my cleric and...We are three sessions into Shattered Obelisk and so far it’s hard to tell about the success of the module. We just broke into a room filled with mobs—about 300 hp of them. Both my cleric and wizard fell, not for the first time.
I am trying my damnedest to succeed with an Illusionist but this is maybe my fourth attempt and I sure do spend a lot of time making death saves. It’s indicative of my trouble with D&D combat. Nearly every illusion spell is an INT save and if it is successfully made then poof there is no effect at all and the turn is a waste. As an improv veteran who hates when the response is “no!” (silence) this is bad game design.
My fellow player, the fighter and rogue, says his attacks can miss too and the solution is fast gameplay, which certainly helps. But it still rankles. If I can just survive a few more levels, the promise of a powerful Illusionist awaits but I don’t know if I’ll get there.
Have fun with the module and let me know how it goes.
-
Comment on Observations on DM styles in ~games.tabletop
EarlyWords Link ParentThat’s excellent. How many players does your table have? Or is it just the three of you?That’s excellent. How many players does your table have? Or is it just the three of you?
-
Comment on Observations on DM styles in ~games.tabletop
EarlyWords Link ParentI think I would very much like playing with you. My favorite system now is something I came up with called bids and negotiations. No DM and no rules, just a deep familiarity with tabletop...I think I would very much like playing with you. My favorite system now is something I came up with called bids and negotiations. No DM and no rules, just a deep familiarity with tabletop statistics and dice lol.
Example: “I charge through the door kicking at the first goblin and slashing at the face of the second goblin with my axe. I figure, with the increased difficulty, I would probably need to roll a 14?“
“No. That’s at least a 16. The second goblin is behind the first.“
“And I think it’s two separate rolls, a 12 and 15 to succeed.”
“All agreed. Roll!”
-
Comment on Man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO is ordered held without bail after brief court appearance in Pennsylvania in ~news
EarlyWords LinkSo 100 years ago we had the first Gilded Age and we also had violent Italian anarchists. Remember Sacco and Vanzetti throwing bombs? I guess the historical lesson here is don’t fuck with the ItaliansSo 100 years ago we had the first Gilded Age and we also had violent Italian anarchists. Remember Sacco and Vanzetti throwing bombs?
I guess the historical lesson here is don’t fuck with the Italians
-
Comment on Observations on DM styles in ~games.tabletop
EarlyWords Link ParentFunny… Dungeons of the Mad Mage was the last module we ran and… yeah… Little to no coherent gameplay to be had. Honestly I’m tired of D&D myself. If I could convince my friends we would try a new...Funny… Dungeons of the Mad Mage was the last module we ran and… yeah… Little to no coherent gameplay to be had.
Honestly I’m tired of D&D myself. If I could convince my friends we would try a new system or go back to my homebrewed campaigns. But my friends are less experimental than I am and busier in their daily lives. So the extra work doesn’t appeal to them.
If anyone here wants to start a new campaign of something unique and strange, let me know!
-
Comment on Observations on DM styles in ~games.tabletop
EarlyWords Link ParentYeah 20 years ago I was running only homebrewed campaigns with friends I had in town. Now everyone is all over the place and so busy that the appeal of prepackaged artwork and structures got us....Yeah 20 years ago I was running only homebrewed campaigns with friends I had in town. Now everyone is all over the place and so busy that the appeal of prepackaged artwork and structures got us.
When my daughter was three we developed Princesses & Palaces together. The princesses only had three stats (strengths, smarts, sweets) and they had a giant castle they lived in that was under constant attack.
More recently, I developed trailgoblins , a rules-light RPG meant for 5 to 10 minute encounters while hiking. I’m always looking for new ways to tell stories.
-
Observations on DM styles
After many years of Roll20 D&D campaigns, we have whittled the process down to the bare essentials: there are only three of us now, with one DM and two players running two characters each. Having...
After many years of Roll20 D&D campaigns, we have whittled the process down to the bare essentials: there are only three of us now, with one DM and two players running two characters each. Having completed many of the classic modules of our youth, we are now tackling an extension to the Mines of Phandelver - Shattered Obelisk. Because this is golden age D&D from when we were teens, we chose a classic lineup. My friend is playing a half orc fighter and wood elf rogue, while I'm playing the dwarven cleric and high elf wizard.
What is new for us this time is that the DM is brand new to the position. He's been a player forever but has never had the time to run a campaign. These pre-packaged modules make things quite easy though so we're delighted to finally get the forever player behind the screen so that the two normal DMs can really play this team to its potential. It's been a blast.
But what I realized yesterday is how different his style is, and that's what I'd like to discuss here. I come from a theater and Hollywood background as a screenwriter/playwright and character actor. I also have a ton of improv comedy experience. I'll throw out a number of story elements or NPCs and just cut loose, completely fine with where the dice and the player decisions take me. Our other usual DM is also a Hollywood guy, but he's a producer. So for him it's all about marshaling the resources, optimizing the setting, and conducting the grand scenario. He cuts right through all my roleplaying to get to the tactical play as soon as possible.
Well our new DM is a senior medical doctor at a teaching hospital. I just realized as we played last night that he isn't narrative in the slightest because he is presenting each of the scenarios or NPCs as if he's on his rounds with a knot of junior doctors, giving them a brief outline or quick synopsis of each patient's condition before moving on to the next. It's such a different way of approaching this kind of data that it took me a few months of this before I realized what he was doing. All of us are trained to our own methods, that's for sure.
How do you and your tables present information and move the game forward? I fear that the success of Critical Role, etc. has given too many newer players the idea that there is only one way to conduct these kinds of games and I'd like to hear of more original approaches.
32 votes -
The World History Encyclopedia and AI
I received an email this morning from the good folks at the WHE entitled: Perplexity AI Partnership to Improve History Education In it, their CEO Jan van der Crabben, writes: As the most-visited...
I received an email this morning from the good folks at the WHE entitled: Perplexity AI Partnership to Improve History Education
In it, their CEO Jan van der Crabben, writes:
As the most-visited history encyclopedia globally, World History Encyclopedia is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Perplexity.ai.
…
As artificial intelligence (AI) tools based on large language models become increasingly accessible to the public, growing concerns have emerged regarding the quality of information provided by these tools. These AI systems are typically developed and trained using publicly available internet information, often without robust verification processes, and frequently generate inaccurate results.
There are also significant concerns about the business models of AI companies, which utilise content developed and meticulously checked by providers like World History Encyclopedia —a non-profit organisation— without obtaining proper consent, without providing compensation, and without offering appropriate attribution.
Perplexity.ai is an AI-powered search and answer engine that combines the capabilities of a search engine with artificial intelligence. Unlike most other AI systems, Perplexity clearly cites its sources, providing users with an easy way to verify the accuracy of its answers.
In alignment with our goal of being a trusted resource of accurate and objective historical information, we are excited about this partnership. It will allow us to develop tools based on the Perplexity API to make the content in World History Encyclopedia easier to find, browse, and access. We aim to develop educational AI tools for history learning in close collaboration with teachers to augment the World History Encyclopedia website for students.
The partnership will also enable World History Encyclopedia to use artificial intelligence to enhance our human review processes more efficiently. This includes improving tasks such as fact-checking and plagiarism detection.
Additionally, Perplexity is the first AI service that allows providers of information like World History Encyclopedia to be compensated fairly for the AI use of that information. We will receive a share of advertising revenue generated on the Perplexity platform whenever Perplexity cites World History Encyclopedia to answer a question.
I have worked with Jan and his staff many times over the last six years and I find them eminently trustworthy and dedicated to education.
What does everyone think of this kind of partnership moving forward? I understand Perplexity might have a slightly different approach that certain folks find promising.
And what kind of content do we think this might be able to generate? I look forward to your comments.
6 votes -
Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
EarlyWords LinkYou know, these are tough times and I’ve been trying really hard to take care of myself. So I’ve been listening to a lot of Yusef Lateef. Food for the soul.You know, these are tough times and I’ve been trying really hard to take care of myself. So I’ve been listening to a lot of Yusef Lateef. Food for the soul.
-
Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
EarlyWords Link ParentMy off days are creative days when I am writing novels, history articles, or narrating audiobooks. This is really what I need my energy for. The exercise is in service of the creativity, so I have...My off days are creative days when I am writing novels, history articles, or narrating audiobooks. This is really what I need my energy for. The exercise is in service of the creativity, so I have to find an organic process that works. It can be tricky and sometimes changes with the demands of each project.
The benefits of working alone…
-
Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
EarlyWords Link Parent2-3x/week I ride my bike to the gym. 30 minutes of floor and strength training then rowing machine. 1000m to 2000m in the pool then back on the bike home. After that I walk two packs of dogs so I...2-3x/week I ride my bike to the gym. 30 minutes of floor and strength training then rowing machine. 1000m to 2000m in the pool then back on the bike home.
After that I walk two packs of dogs so I have to leave some gas in the tank. This is how I end up as a zombie by 4 PM.
Then I try to do something mighty on the weekend. Usually climb a mountain or hike 15 to 20 miles.
I’m 55. I’ve been walking the dogs for 32 years.
-
Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
EarlyWords Link ParentYeah, exactly. I need to find more rest days. Good luck on your own recovery. It is such a cruel fact of life that it takes two weeks to fall out of shape and six months to regain it. Usually I...Yeah, exactly. I need to find more rest days. Good luck on your own recovery. It is such a cruel fact of life that it takes two weeks to fall out of shape and six months to regain it. Usually I find I haven’t really gotten back to my previous level until a year has passed.
It’s only then that I just can’t handle being so fatigued all the time and other priorities assert themselves.
-
Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
EarlyWords LinkWell I’ve done it. I’ve achieved fitness. Now it’s just maintenance until I get inevitably injured or sick again. Then I’ll have to start the cycle all over. Having done this countless times, I’ve...Well I’ve done it. I’ve achieved fitness. Now it’s just maintenance until I get inevitably injured or sick again. Then I’ll have to start the cycle all over.
Having done this countless times, I’ve learned that my metric for fitness is when I have reached the point in my regular exercise where I am tired of being tired. In other words, the returns I am getting from increased performance are less important to me than regaining some time in my days where I don’t feel like a zombie.
Also, I’ve already surpassed previous metrics for my fitness this time like swimming a mile in half an hour or the ability to hike 10 miles uphill in the rain at 2 AM with a head cold. After that I’ve learned it just becomes abstract goal posts.
Thanks! Certainly isn’t the first time I’ve shared The Study of Antiquity & the Middle Ages here but I’m happy to keep sharing it!