Andrew R's page

Well get mad at white cops and take it out on innocent business owners, way to show the police you are such a bunch of innocent people.
You want "justice" you wait for the facts to come out. You want blood and and excuse to act like an animal you get Ferguson.

Wonder if they PROVE the cop acted appropriately in self defense if any of these "protesters" will apologize.....

Did the Eidolon get the title or the puppet?

Technically both. people do not know what she really is yet

people say pervert like its a bad thing...

Schrodinger's wizard always wins.

Unfortunately, he never shows up to "real" campaigns.

Yet some players seem to have schrodinger's spell list......

Well, if you play with a bunch of 13 year olds...

just like evil. requires maturity to not end badly

I imagine that only oracles will make use of Divine Protection, after all what other divine caster would have a charisma of 14+?

Every cleric i have seen in PF

Regarding an earlier comment on the value of the dollar.

The US Dollar ($) has value because the global oil trade is conducted in US Dollars. When that stops the US Dollar will be worth considerably less than it is now.

Bitcoins are worth something because:
1) They are a transparently delimited "resource", and
2) The users of the Bitcoin contractually agree that it has value.

There are other factors in play but they mostly affect the two just listed. For example, (illegally) mining Bitcoin via cloud computing or, a general distrust of governments the world over or, certain shady enterprises that benefit inordinately from a relatively poorly understood/regulated means of barter, etc.

The bitcoin has value ONLY because someone says it does and someone willing to take them agrees.

Actually, its meant to be more of a society or civilization simulator, of which war is just one aspect.

But war is easiest to troll so guess where most will focus. If i get into this it will be all economy for me...

I am with you that tokenism is bad, but that is not what is happening here. a writer made her because they were drawn to the character, not because they felt the need for her to be a token character.

nah, having recently acquired a noble title they are a little unsure how to deal with the relationship

Ah, finally some one actually bites on the troll.

And really, in a less entitled society, you'd be kicked out of the military when you lost vision in that eye and be begging on the streets.

Poor people getting to go to College just for military service is a exception, historically speaking. College is for elites who deserve it.

Mind you, I think it's a good idea. Though I think free college education for everyone is a good idea, so what do I know.

i would agree that USEFUL college educations being free is a good idea. society gains nothing for a bunch of phy ed and women's studies majors but needs more doctors and engineers.

I receive less than a $1000/month Social Security Disability. Make of that what you will.

I am undoubtably the most critical of entitlements here on this board and even i see no issue with legitimate disabled getting a livable payment

Lamontius wrote:

that...what

dude no

no

Yes. That, in a nutshell, is exactly my reaction to unrealistic and stupidly gratuitous cheesecake and ridiculous boob-and-butt poses. Welcome to the background radiation of my world.

This is why it is No Fun for me to read comics or use most fantasy gaming material. I get tired of giving myself a black eye from all the facepalming that style of art induces.

Same for the unrealistic flexing poses for male characters though

I play my summoner like an anime duo of kinda useless guy and the super powered girl that loves him for some inexplicable reason. Yes they share a room/tent, everyone knows they are a couple. So far they are just now piecing together that she is anything unnatural as she finally got beaten in combat and had to be resummoned. I neither say nor imply anything beyond them sharing space and are obviously a couple, another player however makes occasional comments mostly over weather the scrawny summoner has a choice....

No, the problem is that the phrase is emotion-driven and imprecise. It (the phrase) is designed to evoke that exact image you've painted. The funny thing is that I always perceived the Conan cliché as more of a woman's fantasy preference: big dumb barbarian does all the work (moving boulders, defends against hostile wildlife, etc.) and the wise/literate princess/priestess/whateveress gets to go into vacation mode. Power? Looks more like slavery from where I'm standing.

I definitely see it that way sometimes too. Also look at romance novel covers with Fabio all muscles with women clinging to him. Male fantasy?

LazarX wrote:

Andrew R wrote:

Frankly i do not see why people care so much about how others view and portray themselves if it doesn't effect others

Because we don't live in a society where it doesn't.

Unfortunately I've dealt with this since I've started dating my girlfriend, who is a transwoman. We've been stopped twice by police who assume that she is a prostitute and I'm her client. This is unfortunately a thing that happens across the US to transcouples. In addition, I've lost friends over this and even had a woman at a bar we went to verbally accost us because she thought my girlfriend was "belittling women by pretending".

So, it's easy to say that others shouldn't care about how they are viewed or portrayed, but in reality, it's something that affects us. Whether it's people putting us down or using violence, it affects us. Since I've left home, I've had people spit in my food, verbally accost me, and ambush me with the intent of murder because I'm a minority that tends to date white women. So, when I see a positive Hispanic character in a sea of negative stereotypes, it makes me feel accepted and a lot better about myself. That's why this iconic's background is a focused on her transition. It might not matter to you since it doesn't affect you, but for those that it does, it shows a positive role model in a culture that deems them freaks. And I think that with more like this, we'll get to a point where few will even bat an eye about it.

My point was that all of those people should not care because what you are doing doesn't effect them. not that you should not care about what they think. If THEY followed what i'm saying your life would be much easier....

Andrew R wrote:

[the only problem with that kind of example is that it might lead some to think they are right that transgendered/intersex people are "broken" and need to be "fixed".......

As in this quote from the one just before the last "Masters of Sex" episode?

"I'm not leaving this hospital with an IT!"

The need to force an obvious physical gender on a baby can be destructive. Of course so can circumcision. Maybe we need a ban on all non-function correcting cosmetic operations on children.

Ceres Cato wrote:

Jessica Price wrote:

Ceres Cato wrote:

But concerning the time of her gender awareness: From own experience I just guessed one becomes aware of their own gender when it matters. What happens to be somewhere around puberty, when you can't swim naked with the boys from the neighbourhood anymore. If you're a girl, that is

Erm, are you saying you didn't know whether you were a boy or a girl until you hit puberty?

Uhm, it didn't really matter until then. Hitting puberty at approximately 12 years I never thought of these things. Most of the time stuff like, to which restroom to go, etc. was just something I learned, but never something I thought of. Even more so that more often than not my father took me with him when I had to go to the restroom. Or to the changing rooms in swimming halls.

Hmm... maybe my childhood was a bit weird, I don't know. But I always guessed my friends were raised like that as well.

Sure, but I assume you knew which you were. It "not mattering" is different from not knowing.

And the reason you're able to feel like it didn't matter, presumably, is because the gender you knew you were and the gender people treated you as were the same.

Being able to not really worry about it until adolescence is one of the privileges that a lot of us enjoy as cis people. Kids get gendered pretty hard and pretty early, whether it's being asked to line up in different lines for boys and girls in kindergarten, or being tacitly told which toys are appropriate for them due to their gender, or even how people address them and talk about them within their hearing.

I mean, think about one of the first things people traditionally have said when a child is born: "It's a boy!" or "It's a girl!"

If you're someone whose gender matches up to the gender people assume you are, you don't have to even really notice or think about it. But if there is dissonance there, you may not have the luxury of not noticing or thinking it's important.

(You...

As a guy who hates sports i have heard insinuations that i must be gay or feminine. And worse when i admit that i can sew...

Ceres Cato wrote:

What if it's an ENCHANTED chainmail bikini? If magic is involved, nearly EVERYTHING is possible. Even a thong that is as protective as plate mail.

I dont know about the thong, but you'd hard-pressed to get me to wear any metal armor in a world of magic, unless it was mithril and enchanted for comfort.

I don't have a problem with any of the artwork, but there cases to be made for being over-dressed as much as under. For example, Jirelle looks awesome but i doubt anyone would wear that outfit on a typical day in that part of the world. Especially at sea.

As much as you can say more clothing and armor is better try imagining taking a 40 mile hike (adventure) in that stuff. I'm pretty sure if i started in full plate I'd have tossed most of it on the first day. Metal would be the hottest thing to wear in the heat and coldest in the cold.

On the other hand,if I was preparing to defend a castle/town I'd deifinately be looking to get my hands on some steel protection.

And we haven't taken into consideration cultural influences, which can run from full body cover to only a loin-cloth regardless of gender.

Which makes most criticism, IMO, less objective and a lot more arbitrary.

like classic conan, he might wear next to nothing running around but plated up if he knew he was going into battle

Albatoonoe wrote:

Man, I think a lot of people approach "sexualization" from the wrong angle. The clothes are less important than the stance. Kess and Amiri are clearly aggressive and ready to fight. They are not sexualized, no matter if their stomach is showing. They look ready to fight, and they still wear more than, say, Sajan.

I don't have a problem with a conversation about pathfinder and sexualization, but when you start dragging characters into it that are clearly not sexualized, that's where I have a problem.

Also, There's more to this problem then clothes, and it doesn't exist in a vacuum. Sexualization is a problem when it is a trend, which I certainly don't think Pathfinder has been doing that. A character can be sexy. The answer isn't to ban sexiness, but to have it in moderation, where it is appropriate.

So, in summation, showing skin isn't all there is to sexualization and sexualization is really only a problem with it if it is a trend (which it is not).

I think it depends on the particular image to determine if the clothes or the pose are the most important. I will agree that the character doesn't look like a candidate for the Hawkeye Initiative. Still the mid-drift being unarmored serves exactly no purpose but to be appealing to the male (or other individual who finds the female form attractive) eye.

Don't even get me started on the silliness of Sajan.

The problem with the "hawkeye initiative" is that it ignores the difference between male and female body structure and how we as a whole dress every day. Women in comics wear what looks like modified swimsuits, so of course they look odd on men. But that said do you think women should no longer wear swimsuits at all? i mean since they look odd on men does't that mean they should cease to exist? Of course i see no fault in arguing that they should have whole body suits like the men have, or that neither gender should wear spandex. But to argue that what they wear looks odd on men is an argument to end pretty much all women's clothing...

Sword and board shield basher. Take phalanx fighter if you want to use spears, the sword he used was like a falcata

And while Hamas has been attacking Israel from civilian targets, and firing upon their own civilian targets, what has Israel been up to?

Blowing up markets, schools, bakeries, hospitals, utilities, etc.

Also go to gaza sometime, all they have is "civilian" areas, it is little more than a concentration camp. Isreal learned from it's peoples suffering in ww2, they learned how to inflict it.

having psionics and magic different seems like it would only work well if both were more or less equally common. that way you have people making a choice to protect from one or the other (or try for both) not expecting only one to get sucker punched by the other.

latent psion is a trait from Legacy of Fire AP, implies psionics exist in vudra

Because it is a good, flexible system and some of the classes are rather unique.

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Its a lose lose for the other states. Taking in the refugees would cost money, deprive them of a weapon, and invite retaliation any time Israel decided to snag some more land.

Also, they all look the same to us, but they were already a not so popular ethnic group BEFORE this whole mess started.

It would certainly deprive them of a weapon, because once the Palestinian issue is resolved, people might realize that the only liberally-minded nation in the region was Israel. Way easier to get the world distracted by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than let the world focus on the moral, economic, educational, and cultural failings of the rest of the Middle East (quick: which nation in the region is rated highest by the Human Development Index? Here's a hint: it's the only functional democracy in the region).

The sooner the Palestinians figure that out other interests need them as martyrs, the sooner a real and lasting peace will be forged.

Isreal brought resources and education in from europe that the rest lack and are bankrolled by america. Cannot call that a fair competition.

dave Arnson's Blackmoor, arguably the first world of D&D, had a crashed ship as well

I'm a little confused. What exactly is the point of blowing up a building if they know the bomb is comming? I mean the entire point of those rockets is they DON"T take a base or infrastructure to set up. Its easier to get down the stairs than grandma.

So they can claim to be the good guys while taking houses and infrastructure from the Palestinians. Would be like giving us an e-mail 10 minutes before 9-11 and pretending that makes it somehow less terrorism.

If you make cookie cutter characters then it is your choice. If you roll but put them in the same order what is the difference aside from hoping to get higher numbers?

This thread is better when it is about Masons than when it is about math.

it is better about anything other than math, math is boring

Andrew R wrote:

Molten Dragon wrote:

Andrew R wrote:

The game has basically become rocket tag for many players. i am glad my group is not one

Without trying to derail the thread too much, would you care to elaborate?

Rocket tag, referring to trying to blow up the enemy without getting scratched fighting a foe that fights the same way. 2 glass cannons firing at each other, the first to hit wins. In my view a boring way to do things.

Oh I am quite familiar with rocket tag. My group suffers from it currently. Just don't know how to change it or prevent it in the first place.

For us it was an agreement between players and GM that we are not going to minmax and hyper optimize. I actually switched characters recently because i was too far over the power curve on accident. The GM doesn't feel any need to fight to crush us, we are ripping up the current AP by teamwork and odd tactics

Kthulhu wrote:

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Andrew R wrote:

So how much does a poor person need to steal before you think they deserve punishment?

After they've got food shelter and any pressing medical needs covered.

I'm going to disagree here. The fact that person A does not have any of those does NOT entitle him to take them from person B.

So if someone swipes your car to get their pregnant wife to the hospital or because they have an artery bleeding out you're going to press charges?

Particularly since, in this example, you'd be swiping it from a multicar driveway.

Yes. if they asked i would drive them myself. If a starving man comes to my door and demonstrates how only me feeding him will let him go on i will make him a sandwich, if he breaks in he gets shot.

Andrew R wrote:

The game has basically become rocket tag for many players. i am glad my group is not one

Without trying to derail the thread too much, would you care to elaborate?

Rocket tag, referring to trying to blow up the enemy without getting scratched fighting a foe that fights the same way. 2 glass cannons firing at each other, the first to hit wins. In my view a boring way to do things.

The game has basically become rocket tag for many players. i am glad my group is not one

1 Depends on who they can learn from. they are not stupid
2 depends on what others are playing but immune to mind effects is huge
3 I would never allow that as a DM, the vow is about sacrifice not a reward for what you already cannot do

Still would rather see open alignment paladins, it really ISN"T hard at all

walter mcwilliams wrote:

Reading these posts is crazy! How do GM's who perpetrate this type of insanity keep players in their groups! So thankful for the great GM's I have in my circle of gamers!!

The two I had that were really bad didn't keep their groups ;)

SAMAS wrote:

MagusJanus wrote:

Chengar Qordath wrote:

MrSin wrote:

Here's another one, if you roll too high you do too well and fail. That one drives me a little nuts.

Ugh, that one. It's especially annoying since it usually seems to stem from GMs getting pissy over players doing too well.

Roll too high on Intimidate? The target faints in terror or runs away screaming at the top of his lungs.

Roll too high on Diplomacy to gather information? Instead of getting useful information, you get one useful thing buried in dozens of irrelevant facts.

Roll too well on your attack? You hit the monster so hard your weapon gets stuck in it's hide.

That would get beyond tiring in a hurry. The GM would have to be replaced after doing that enough times.

Actually, "Gone Horribly Right" rulings could be fun if done right. Like that one incident in an Adventure Path where if you successfully used Diplomacy to slip past a city guard, she might pull you aside and ask you out.

But they would have to be more balanced than just auto-failure, though. Like getting your weapon stuck in the enemy is an automatic Max damage roll, but you need to make a Strength test to pull the weapon out.

Gone horribly right is a good one, but never as an autofail.

Funny is using diplomacy on a goblin, getting a natural 20, confirming it, and later being awoken by the goblin trying to sing a love ballad outside your window ;)

My players have learned that when I ask them to confirm a natural 20 on a skill check, things are about to get interesting :D

My Favorite "gone horribly right" was the old Living Death rpga game. If a character tried to use the psychometry (object reading) psychic ability you can get a feeling for what happened with it, on a nat 20 you relive it. My poor guy got a 20 on everything with blood. including the Bastille guillotine.......

I think that means you can be a leader over there.

PS - You can't complain about Ponzi schemes and cheerlead for the free market. Ponzi schemes are free market economics at their most pure!

I cannot say i truly champion a free market. I support honest commerce, the choice to buy and sell as you want in a mutual contract with others. Lies, false products and fuzzy math have no place in honest commerce. The problem is that honesty tends to melt down when you are not interacting directly and completely when making profits becomes the only goal.

The answer to that would not be to make katanas finesse-able but to allow dex instead of str for any weapon

Heh. Of course the police will fight the people grazing goats in abandoned plots. Stands to reason.

'cause detroit has no crime to worry about or anything more important....

Still cannot understand why someone wanting a few chickens or a couple goats is so out of the question when people can have multiple much louder and physically threatening dogs. We cannot have you providing food, but your neighbors pack of baying hounds is OK.....

We need to as a culture go back to teaching people how to handle firearms, how to store them and NOT to fear them. Short of magic removing them from the planet they will be here (see much higher gun control countries) but we can take the fear and mystery out of them. We do not ned gun control we need crazy control, stop them rom getting a gun (if you can) and they will burn and bomb to get the attention they want.

Andrew R wrote:

thejeff wrote:

Kryzbyn wrote:

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Kryzbyn , right now what happens is your electricity meter runs backwards, and the electric company pays you money if you generate more than you use.

Seriously?

If you've got solar installed and you're on the grid? Absolutely. It's rarely enough to make a net profit (and the billing may not allow it), but it's sure better than getting batteries to store the power for when you do need it.

I would prefer the batteries and be free of the grid but some areas are making that illegal

If you've got enough solar to be free of the grid, that's a possibility. Batteries on that scale are expensive though.

Most people won't be able to fit or afford enough solar to cover their needs year round, so they'll want access to the grid anyway. Given that, selling excess to the grid and buying it back when you need it makes a lot of sense.

I love that that is an option, i am just bothered by government action to stop people from being completely apart from the grid and having no dependency on anyone else to supply power. To me the true beauty of solar is not "save the planet" it is the independence it can offer for a shrinking price, even if that independence comes with the need to use less electricity overall

Tcho Tcho wrote:

1, Resenting authority doesn't seem lawful to me.

Doesn't matter if you resent it, only if you obey it. Alignment is about actions, not emotions/feelings.

Wrong, motive counts. I can set up orphanages all day long and still be LE because i have very bad plans for them in the future even if i am taking very good care of them for years first

Shadow Knight 12 wrote:

Andrew R wrote:

And paizo is very much not that at all. Flip that around. a female artist can make a character for a female audience and men will look at it and still see she is attractive. They may or may not care about the story, seem less picky about slight imperfections in the facial expression. People can find "service" where none exists or claim there is none because it is not to their personal taste. And sometimes in art they are more focused on the "do you want to BE this character" more than "do you want to bed this character"

If a female artist draws a female character for a female audience and men find the character attractive, it's not fanservice. Fanservice is a deliberate attempt to appeal to the fans' tastes. That's why it's called fanservice.

Umm, but if a female artist is drawing art that's intended to appeal to female artists, isn't that explicitly fanservice by your own definition?

"If a female artist draws a female character for a female audience"
"Fanservice is a deliberate attempt to appeal to the fans' tastes"

Men also finding the portrayal attractive does not change the fact that an artist created art to appeal to a specific demographic. The referenced example is fanservice for women, regardless of whether or not men find it attractive.

Then we can simply say that most art is drawn for the us to enjoy and not nitpick the details? Because the alternative seems to be no art because no one will agree what is right

Andrew R wrote:

And paizo is very much not that at all. Flip that around. a female artist can make a character for a female audience and men will look at it and still see she is attractive. They may or may not care about the story, seem less picky about slight imperfections in the facial expression. People can find "service" where none exists or claim there is none because it is not to their personal taste. And sometimes in art they are more focused on the "do you want to BE this character" more than "do you want to bed this character"

If a female artist draws a female character for a female audience and men find the character attractive, it's not fanservice. Fanservice is a deliberate attempt to appeal to the fans' tastes. That's why it's called fanservice.

So if a female artist drew seoni because she thinks it would be awesome to be her it is ok and if a guy drew her because he thinks she is sexy it is fanservice and wrong?