TheRtRevKaiser's recent activity

  1. Comment on Meet the UK's Eurovision entrant: 'The BBC is taking a risk on me' in ~music

    TheRtRevKaiser
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    I've been following Look Mum No Computer since the Furby Organ days and this seems like a really cool opportunity for him!

    I've been following Look Mum No Computer since the Furby Organ days and this seems like a really cool opportunity for him!

    7 votes

  2. Comment on D&D Beyond will label the 2024 rules as "5.5e" to match the community's naming in ~games.tabletop

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    I've had some of my best sessions in PbtA games, along with some of my absolute worst. They definitely require a certain mindset that sometimes veteran tabletop players struggle with, especially...

    I've had some of my best sessions in PbtA games, along with some of my absolute worst. They definitely require a certain mindset that sometimes veteran tabletop players struggle with, especially more munchkin-leaning players. Folks sometimes bounce off the concept of fictional triggers and and playing in fiction and just want to be able to say "I do the thing it says I can do on my sheet", which is fair, tbh. But PbtA games really don't want you to do that, and they shine when players are just playing their character in fiction and the moves are flowing from that. But I've never played a PbtA game that had satisfying progression across lots of sessions, so the typical rewards for play feel absent for folks used to leveling up instead of leveling sideways or whatever.

    2 votes

  3. Comment on D&D Beyond will label the 2024 rules as "5.5e" to match the community's naming in ~games.tabletop

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    I've wanted to run a "monster of the week", supernatural style campaign for a while, so maybe SW would be the way to go for that. I have run Monster of the Week, which I think is a decent example...

    I've wanted to run a "monster of the week", supernatural style campaign for a while, so maybe SW would be the way to go for that. I have run Monster of the Week, which I think is a decent example of PbtA but I've never really found those games to work all that well for extended campaigns, they're best for shorter campaigns imo.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on D&D Beyond will label the 2024 rules as "5.5e" to match the community's naming in ~games.tabletop

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Very cool, thank you! No idea if I'll be able to persuade my group to give it a shot. I may have to ponder what settings/genres are available and see if I can come up with something that might...

    Very cool, thank you! No idea if I'll be able to persuade my group to give it a shot. I may have to ponder what settings/genres are available and see if I can come up with something that might hook them.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on D&D Beyond will label the 2024 rules as "5.5e" to match the community's naming in ~games.tabletop

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Are core rules laid out in the different setting books as well, or is it a Core+Setting situation? I don't have a ton of experience with generic systems so it's always seemed a little hard to...

    Are core rules laid out in the different setting books as well, or is it a Core+Setting situation? I don't have a ton of experience with generic systems so it's always seemed a little hard to figure out what all is needed.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on D&D Beyond will label the 2024 rules as "5.5e" to match the community's naming in ~games.tabletop

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    I've liked the idea of SW but haven't really been able to get into it. Are you using it for fantasy RP or one of the other genres? Is there a particular mix of books/supplements you'd recommend?...

    I've liked the idea of SW but haven't really been able to get into it. Are you using it for fantasy RP or one of the other genres? Is there a particular mix of books/supplements you'd recommend? It seemed a bit overwhelming when I looked into it a few years back.

    4 votes

  7. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    TheRtRevKaiser
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    I've been playing Dice a Million, which is a fun Balatro-like (is that a thing we're calling games?) but with dice rolling rather than card mechanics. It's got a lot of fun items and synergies,...

    I've been playing Dice a Million, which is a fun Balatro-like (is that a thing we're calling games?) but with dice rolling rather than card mechanics. It's got a lot of fun items and synergies, although I haven't quite figured out how to break the game quite like I had with Balatro, so I'm still in that middle phase where I'm figuring out the best synergies.

    3 votes

  8. Comment on How far back in time can you understand English? in ~humanities.languages

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Yeah I lost the thread pretty much where you did. I was slowing down by 1300 but not struggling very much, but in 1200 only had enough knowledge to be able to get probably 2/3 to 3/4 of it and...

    Yeah I lost the thread pretty much where you did. I was slowing down by 1300 but not struggling very much, but in 1200 only had enough knowledge to be able to get probably 2/3 to 3/4 of it and mostly gleaned the meaning, but it was definitely an educated guess. 1100 pretty much lost me right away, I could puzzle out a few words but couldn't catch the meaning.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on Transgender youths are targeted in Scouting America changes pushed by the Pentagon in ~society

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    I definitely understand where you're coming from, and if the only consideration had been my daughter then I would have been happy to have my daughter in the GSA troop at our church, but the...

    I definitely understand where you're coming from, and if the only consideration had been my daughter then I would have been happy to have my daughter in the GSA troop at our church, but the reality of being able to have all the kids in one program was very appealing, lol. And Scouting America has been a really good experience for them - the cub scout pack we joined is very progressive, especially for our part of the country (I suspect it's because all the conservatives left for Trail Life years ago) and even had an openly queer cubmaster.

    Nobody is asking for birth certificates when we register kids, and frankly I suspect my unit won't be following this policy. The point is, like you said, the cruelty of it and to be create a difficult situation around youth protection policies.

    8 votes

  10. Comment on Transgender youths are targeted in Scouting America changes pushed by the Pentagon in ~society

    TheRtRevKaiser
    (edited )
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    I am absolutely gutted by this news. My sons and daughter are heavily involved in scouting and have a lot of really close friendships in their troop/pack. I'm deeply frustrated by this...

    I am absolutely gutted by this news. My sons and daughter are heavily involved in scouting and have a lot of really close friendships in their troop/pack. I'm deeply frustrated by this capitulation, and the statement from the National org does little to reassure me that other, worse changes aren't coming. I've always been leery of BSA/Scouting America's close ties to the US Military (our Troop de-emphasizes some of the more militaristic aspects of scouting and is much more heavily weighted toward outdoor activities) and I've appreciated the relaxed but progressive vibe of our local council, and I'm worried that those things may be less of the norm that I had hoped.

    19 votes

  12. Comment on California’s new bill requires Department of Justice-approved 3D printers that report on themselves in ~hobbies

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    sure, my apologies for the pedantry and for any frustration.

    sure, my apologies for the pedantry and for any frustration.

  13. Comment on California’s new bill requires Department of Justice-approved 3D printers that report on themselves in ~hobbies

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Not all guns are rifles, rifling is not an essential component of something being a "gun".

    All barrels are tubes, not all tubes are barrels. An actual barrel is chambered for a specific cartridge and has rifling

    Not all guns are rifles, rifling is not an essential component of something being a "gun".

  14. Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books

    TheRtRevKaiser
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    I remember there being some pretty weighty theological metaphor in the book, but it's a lot more subtle and less direct than everything else he wrote. It's been years since I read it, though, so I...

    I remember there being some pretty weighty theological metaphor in the book, but it's a lot more subtle and less direct than everything else he wrote. It's been years since I read it, though, so I don't remember a lot of specifics.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on What's an obscure book/series that you've read that you would like to recommend? in ~books

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    I never see people talking about Til We Have Faces. I loved that book when I was in college, I always thought it was Lewis' best writing.

    I never see people talking about Til We Have Faces. I loved that book when I was in college, I always thought it was Lewis' best writing.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on Fix your hearts or die: The path to liberation for lonely men is feminism in ~life

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Thank you so much for these kind words - they feel kinder than I deserve, and I truly appreciate them. I think what you're saying about the "survival response" kicking in with discussions like...

    Thank you so much for these kind words - they feel kinder than I deserve, and I truly appreciate them. I think what you're saying about the "survival response" kicking in with discussions like this makes a lot of sense. I think many of us have an immediate, instinctive anger response to topics that are emotionally fraught, and the speed at which we can communicate certainly doesn't help temper that any. It feels like our whole society has bent around these really unhealthy ways of taking in information and communicating with others, and I think it has distorted so many important facets of life. I wish I knew how to put the genie back in the bottle.

    Edit: I got a chuckle out of your comment about my username, it sounds very Scooby Doo the way you think of it, lol.

    4 votes

  17. Comment on Opinion piece: I am a 15-year-old girl. Let me show you the vile misogyny that confronts me on social media every day. in ~life.women

    TheRtRevKaiser
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    I'm not altogether sure that fully developed humans should be exposed to algorithmic media at the level we currently are. I feel like (if we make it as a society) in a century or two we're going...

    I'm not altogether sure that fully developed humans should be exposed to algorithmic media at the level we currently are. I feel like (if we make it as a society) in a century or two we're going to look at this time in history the way that we look back at the early 20th century and smoking/tobacco companies.

    6 votes

  18. Comment on Fix your hearts or die: The path to liberation for lonely men is feminism in ~life

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    Sorry to insert myself into this conversation, but I just wanted to express how grateful I am for how much empathy you display in so many of your comments on this site, and on this topic in...

    Sorry to insert myself into this conversation, but I just wanted to express how grateful I am for how much empathy you display in so many of your comments on this site, and on this topic in particular. Your contributions here are the best of what this site could be.

    It's interesting to me that your reaction to the other article posted yesterday was anger toward men. I definitely had some of that, as well as some really deep anxiety as a parent to an 11 year old girl, but a lot of my frustration was directed at the platforms that are pushing this content into the feeds of this girl, are using every available psychological trick to make her feel she has to keep exposing herself to this kind of abuse, and that are pushing men and boys into algorithmic silos that amplify the kind of thinking that would lead to this type of harassment. I'm not naive enough to think that the author of that article wouldn't experience misogyny without algorithmic social media, or that the boys and men that are perpetuating it wouldn't learn it without social media, but I also can't help but think that these tech companies are actively making our society worse in the pursuit of more money and control. We know this, and yet even on a site like Tildes there's this constant feeling that we can't do anything about it - that we have to allow these companies to keep making things worse, and that it's impossible to do anything about it on a societal level.

    I don't know where I'm going with this, except to say that I'm increasingly done with the modern internet, but I really appreciate people like you and OP who are trying to make this site a better space, as imperfect as it can sometimes be.

    11 votes

  19. Comment on Fix your hearts or die: The path to liberation for lonely men is feminism in ~life

    TheRtRevKaiser
    Link Parent
    I'm not engaging with everything you wrote here, because it's a lot and I'm not really equipped to address a lot of it, but I don't think the idea of "toxic masculinity" is that masculinity causes...

    I'm not engaging with everything you wrote here, because it's a lot and I'm not really equipped to address a lot of it, but I don't think the idea of "toxic masculinity" is that masculinity causes men to be toxic. I think the idea is more that patriarchal ideas and structures, and the culture that is taught consciously and unconsciously to men (and women) around gender are toxic in and of themselves. That "ideal masculinity" is harmful both to men and to women. I know that I struggle constantly with not really fully taking care of myself, partially because of attitudes that I attribute to the way I was raised to be "masculine", and I didn't have an abusive father, just a normal guy who was trying to do his best. In a lot of ways my dad was making an effort to take care of his (and my) mental and emotional health more than a lot of fathers, but there are so many fucked up notions around being self-made and confident, and little attitudes and signals that discourage vulnerability or self-reflection when you grow up as a boy that it makes it really difficult to connect to people on more than a surface level. Men have trouble making real friends because we're all so damn scared of being vulnerable and talking about real shit, and we're afraid of other people being vulnerable because we don't know how to respond to it. As a result, a lot of men wind up leaning on whatever women are around them, mothers or girlfriends/spouses, to take on all of that emotional labor themselves.

    Plus, it's not like society as a whole is doing all that well when it comes to friendship/community/connection in general. We've systematically dismantled every support structure we had, and we've replaced them with capitalist dehumanization/exploitation algorithms. It's no wonder everybody feels like shit, frankly.

    23 votes

  20. Comment on US Supreme Court strikes down Donald Trump's tariffs in ~society

    TheRtRevKaiser
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    I think a large part of the problem is that whatever suffering most of these folks will undergo because of Trump and the Republican party will be disconnected enough in time or have enough...

    I think a large part of the problem is that whatever suffering most of these folks will undergo because of Trump and the Republican party will be disconnected enough in time or have enough complexity in cause that conservative media will be able to shift any blame for that pain to common scapegoats: immigration, "liberal" policies (Trump is still blaming his own economic woes on the Biden admin), "decline" of "western culture". His adherents are immersed in a web of alternative "information", so even when they touch the stove and get burnt they are told that it is someone else's fault, not their own. I've lived around that conservative bubble enough to have an idea that every single area of their lives is supporting and reinforcing the alternate reality that they live in.

    12 votes