Screw AI-generated "art" right in the head with a chair. I spent long hours perfecting the talent I was born with and learning how to make the sketches I did as a child look good enough to grace the covers of a few books (when I had the time for such things - before uni and my career). Now some numpty with a programme can plug a few words in and generate a pic which forces talented and trained people, already taken advantage of, further into the periphery of the work they do?

Utter bollocks.

Fragility, mainly (I've been having bad luck the last couple months).

Star Wars Saga system started you with 3x starting HP to deal with this. I've considered giving player 2 levels of HP and not having 2nd level get HP. That way you start stable, but don't out pace the system. Given Pathfinder's generally expanded power level, you could just give players 2X HP and not really skew the system much.

Monte Cook’s World of Darkness does the same thing. Level 1 characters are about the same as a level 4 character.

In reply to tmagann (msg # 2131):

That's a common problem with level based systems.   At low levels, a bad roll can kill a character; which leads to GMs either glossing over the first few and/or simply skipping them.

Personally, I'm more a fan of keeping to challenging yet fudging dice rolls if necessary.   Having the characters sweat a little until they get some experience under their belt is a good thing, imo.

Some of this is also calibration. A goblin raiding party should do 1-2 points of damage per hit. That's a perfectly reasonable threat for a first level party. Don't start with the warg riders. That's a TPK for level 1.

I can't stand entitled players who want to join a game but expect the rules not to apply to them.  You can't have 18's for every attribute and low scores often give rise to outstanding role playing from good players.  It is the players with zero imagination who need to max out all their dice rolls, how boring!  Role Playing Games that use dice to create characters are essentially a game of chance.  If you want to 'win' every time then maybe RPG's are not for you?

In reply to Galen (msg # 2135):

Yeah, knowing how much a party can take and then finding an appropriate challenge is the trick.

Or, as a player in a new campaign, you could make interesting choices.  A dragonborn sorcerer with a decent strength and con doesn't need to lean entirely on their spells.  Using the ol' golf swing (both hands), the quarterstaff does 1d8 damage.  That'll learn the gobbos...

It's looking like I'm going to have to give up my Driver's License; which puts me well into the realm of "unhappy".  It's mostly a money issue but given that I haven't had the resources for a car in the first place....

Yeah, I'm understanding why people say it's such a hard thing.  It's that final step to becoming almost completely dependant on others for pretty much anything outside your home: groceries, entertainment, and even the hair salon.

Ugh...   -.-

In reply to Hunter (msg # 2138):

I can feel what your saying. I am to the point where I can barely drive, though my problem is medical. Advanced neuropathy is causing my legs to stiffen up with added nerve pain. I am to the point where I need others to help me get things done, like going to the grocery, or having someone else pick up my meds cause I Can't drive myself (well I can, its just I am now one of those old folk who make normal drives scream 'drive faster' or something like that.) This keeps up I will lose my license as I will be listed as not safe to drive. Truthfully his all scares the bejeebers out of me.

In reply to ShadoPrism (msg # 2139):


 You will never find me behind the wheel of a car.   This is as much for everyone else's  safety as mine.

The overly vocal blind guy has nothing else useful to add, save, that  the PDF of Savage Worlds for Pathfinder, and Eberron are both not screen-reader friendly. The customer service Rep had no idea why either, so there were to mortals scratching their heads.  This is the third PDF from DriveThrou that has been that way, although most have not.  A little thing, compared to most, but if any of the other visually impaired folks I know on RPOL, hear this, then they shall be forewarned, and forewarned, is forearmed.

G. I. blindguy.

In reply to Sightless314 (msg # 2140):

I suspect that it's because someone simply put a paper edition on the copier and scanned it in that way.

 I didn't think DriveThrou did something like that, since they are supposed to be an actual vender. Shows what I know.

In reply to Hunter (msg # 2141):



Its certainly possible, since I think that is what happened with the Exalted second edition  core rule book, but since I can't prove that, and since they claim they sell "Only electronic copies straight from the vender." I have to act as though I don't suspect that at all.    It does provide me with the excuse to do my own spin on Eberron for Savage Worlds though, whether that's good, or bad, is anyone's guess.

I should note, this, nor my previous post is much of me venting, as me more having a chit chat of no consequence.

Dear Big Box home improvement store with the orange logo:

Why, oh WHY, do you bother showing an in-store inventory on your website if it's not actually accurate, and why do you leave on-line purchased items on the floor to be sold?

/headdesk

I've been eying a set of $5 12-inch terra cotta pots (which, as anyone who does any container gardening knows, is a steal) for a week or so, trying to decide how many I needed while steadily watching the in-store inventory dwindle. On Wednesday, when it hit '7 units in store' I said 'Crud, I should go ahead and order these to be delivered and just eat the delivery charge, so that I get the four I definitely know I need'...so I did. And promptly, the # of units in store went down by 4 as soon as I completed my order, and I said 'Whew!'

...cue the phone call I just got from them saying that they couldn't fill my order, they were sold out, because no one went to actually pull the four I ordered when I placed the order (delivery was supposed to be tomorrow), and someone else came in and bought them all.

Grr. Now I have no idea what do do with my front flowerbed, which gets smothered enough with rain that planting seedlings is probably a recipe for disaster, which is why I was just going to put potted marigolds around it instead this year.

In reply to SunRuanEr (msg # 2144):

I have a similar problem with services like Instacart.   And to add insult to injury, Amazon just sent out an email informing us that they'll now be charging (starting March) for grocery deliveries.  Amazon was my go to choice because of free delivery for Prime members, but with the upcoming change...Instacart will actually be cheaper.

And just when I thought things couldn't get worse....

I am royally pissed that my own damn body has been trying to kill me in recent years. Often times I feel like a tired captain commanding a mutinous vessel. Blood clot in my lungs, hip replacement, alcohol backlash to damn recovery, and now something in my lower GI is bleeding.

I am annoyed that I must disrupt my life and entertain this damn issue.
I tell you once you hit 50, going to the doctor is like going to a bad mechanic. You go for one thing, or a check-up, and something else, usually bigger comes up for you to fix.

Yeah I'm a brain trapped in an effen jalopy.

The appointment is tomorrow and Im more pissed than scared. Pissed that I even have to do this. What a crock.
This message was last edited by the user at 15:48, Mon 30 Jan 2023.

In reply to RPGuru92 (msg # 2146):

Maybe if you were spending 2 million a year you could maintain a "18 year old" body like the guy in the news. I suspect the ones that are paying 20 million can stay out of the news and not need the "low budget" care.
This message was last edited by the user at 18:12, Mon 30 Jan 2023.

In reply to RPGuru92 (msg # 2146):

I just want to say this is an excellent vent. There are gaming vents and RL vents, and as far as the latter category is concerned, this is top notch. I really mean that. I'm 50+ so I can totally relate. Hang in there brother.

In reply to 1492 (msg # 2148):

Thanks for the word. Funny thing is, we discussed it decided since it was during damn Mardi Gras, postponed until after Ash Wednesday.

I'm a 50+ Desert Storm veteran.  I know what you mean.  Things I came into woth 30+ years ago are trying to kill me now.

Not to detract from the health issues, those can be serious, but I'm in game mode and right now I am kinda pissed by players whose post don't seem to interact.

In one game I am in, posters are suddenly responding to posts three and four steps back by the GM. If you want to add something about an older post, fine, but also respond to the current situation/location/activity.

Also please, try to include other players posts to some degree with yours. Anything else feels like a snub at best. Criminy people, if you don't want to interact, go write a book!

Sorry, back to the health issues thing. I know mine is falling apart too, and I got a decade head start on people in their early fifties. I take seven different pills a day, and the only reason it's not more is that I can't afford everything the doc says I should be taking.

Health is always an issue for us all.  I need to go to a body shop and get my body overhauled!  Ah but what about mental heath and its illnesses.  My heart goes out to all of you.

Back to the gaming issues I agree with Piestar and hate when players are absent for days a week or more and come back and post in a thread that is an old part of the storyline as if it were waiting on them instead the story and characters have moved forward.  Not only is theirs redundant but doesn’t fit at ALL and would change the whole actions of others and the current actions of the story!

Why can players not realise if they’ve been away that they need to read all threads that would be lit for them alerting them it has new posts.  But besides this they don’t read PMs or even Rmails!  I am talking about sighted players of course.  I have some lovely sightless players that are keeping up, reacting accordingly with good game etiquette!  They are a blessing.

Also players not reading from their last post down and responding to the characters actions and speech that include them is just rude.  As Piestar said then go write a book cause you are not contributing to the game!

In reply to ladysharlyne (msg # 2152):

Ditto!

Meaningful contributions are absolutely desired. Your post should not disrupt the continuity of what has happened before.

As a side note, GMs should be able to set a time limit on how long after a post is made for a player to go back and edit their post (Feature if Jase is reading this!). I've watched players completely rewrite a post in an attempt to negate the actions that followed. This isn't a computer game with save points. This is even worse in OOC where drama and tension can flare up but then edits with no logs make it hard to adjudicate anything.

Fades back to lurker status!

It’s not AI-generated "art", it’s AI-"generated" art =)
I mean, it’s demonstrably (as its nature in general, if not in specific cases) derivative. Which is why it’s not a thing that can run amok for long (legally) IMHO.
I’ve heard about “clever” pointy-haired bosses who contracted an artist, got samples, fired the artist and began AI remixing. But ultimately the contract either:
A. includes right to possible remixes — then it sucks for the artist either way, but AI streamlines the process and takes the jobs from a bunch of tracing hacks, or…
B. does not — in which case PHB’s company… does not legally own derivative art, whether it’s made manually, using complicated filters, or using AI.
So, eventually some “big fish” will get upset at being ripped off big time. Or someone will start mass-producing NFTs this way. And then lawyers will be on it like flies on… syrup.
Seeing how the courts work in the Only Place That Matters™ (especially after the case of Anas Abdin), a class action is unlikely to happen sooner than either of these.