Vengeance of the Downtrodden (Inactive)

Game Master DM Mooshybooshy, "the Foolish"

Now now, I don't think you have to worry about it too much. If it really bothers you that much, give Greas 2 levels and he'll be able to concoct something for whatever problem you're having.

Except if it's with him. In which case, things get more complicated.

It occurs to me for reasons outside of this campaign that the best name for the metal orphaned Kobolds' blood turns into is cobalt.

I don't know if it should be funny, but I find that funny. Also, wonder how nobody drew this conclusion before now.

I had no idea cobalt was a good forging metal. I just knew it was blue.

I've made the joke in a shadowrun game that government systems run COBOL (and are therefore lousy with Kobolds) before.

2 things: 1) Calling me "our little murder gobbo" is rude. Doing it Out Of Character is insulting. Please watch your language in the future. 2) If Mooshy allows it, on Smoog's roll I promise to treat it like a Discern Realities and answer X questions with all honesty. The catch is that on any number less than 10, I get to spring something, even more on 6-. Sound fair? =)

Are you serious? I was unaware that anyone was taking all of this so seriously. But, I apologize if I upset you. Not my intent.

ok i feel like we are at a point where Retzak is kind of trying to make his own empire. That is directly at odds with what the rest of us are doing. That is all well and good character wise, but it distinctly puts you at odds with the rest of us. That might be fun for you, but it is definitely not for me.

as I mentioned before I really do not like PVP, but if he can't take Greas's suggestion then that is what will have to happen. Im a compromising type, and I think Greas's is a decent one, but without it there will be combat now, because if not it will definitely be later when Retzak attempts to make Tanard an undead minion or whatever the plan is-I am not pretending that I know.

I think all of us need to chime in with what kind of game we want here, because speaking honestly, we are about to head down a path that is no fun for me. Seeking our revenge on those that wronged us. Awesome. Building an empire of evil? Awesome. Having to deal with one of our on stabbing us all in the back later on and having to be aware of that all the time? Stressful and not fun.

It may be that I am in the minority here, in which case Thunk will win or will lose and that will be that. But if I am in the majority then I think it is a valid conversation to be had. I certainly do not get to be the arbiter of what is fun, and right for this game, but that said neither should Retzak. All of us are pretty cool people, I think, and I am sure that none of us is keen on just killing him, in fact we are probably trying not to do that as much as we can, I know I am there because as a player its really not cool when another player kills you. That sucks. So I know that I have been kind of ignoring the sub plot when it was just that, but now it is on the path to becoming the plot.

Yeah, I agree that PvP is stressful and less fun than setting our sights on the Big Baddies we need to be chasing.
If this is being RP'ed for character development that is cool.
-
Also I hope we are all clear this is an in-game conflict and NOT us busting on a player.
A while ago, Smoog was set upon by some other characters and it felt a little personal but then I saw that it was just in-game and not players trying to run me off.
I tried to become a better role player and Smoog became a better character because of it.
-
I like Retzack as a character and enjoy the different perspective he brings to the game but sometimes a character's story arc takes them to unexpected forks in the road.
If Retzack is destined to become a Zombie Master with hordes of undead wading across the Aqir Wildlands toward The Splendid City of Bastion that is cool for him and he will make a great ally in our final fight against the Paladin.
Whether he stays with us or heads his own way is up to him I guess.

Aren't WE the Big Baddies?
...well, maybe not by our perspective, but you get the idea.

PvP really can be a source of stress. I mean, it can also be fun as well, but that requires a lot of care and an accommodating system. As much as I love DW, it really doesn't like PvP. At least, not on a direct level. Making it work cleanly requires either a lot of subtleties, or DM fiat. At least AW had a flowchart.

Let's just get on with this. With our options laid out earlier, I've been DYING to take the tiefling I spotted earlier with me on an assassination mission while everyone else starts raising hell. Options 4 and 3, respectively. I've got a reconnaissance team awaiting their first job too.

EDIT: As for "our little murder gobbo"...if you were comparing Greas to one of these things I'd be pretty insulted too.

One thing I can promise as your queen.

Sees-Death / Retzack the Black 2016, "I wouldn't kill you before I've killed Tallest-Silver."

I'm afraid we know all about how campaign promises tend to go. Especially once we're caught keeping her safe so that we may live.

That aside, is your post supposed to cut off like that?

Greas: No. I'd been fiddling over the wording so long, I left a dangling bud of rhetoric.

Thunk: He doesn't respond well to "swear or die." And I'm not sure you'd find the whole party on Thunk's side if he started swinging now. Sees does have a +3 to interfere rolls against him. I don't want to start all out PvP either, but Sees will not let you ruin her little kingdom because Thunk woke up saved. If you do not back off on this, you become the one driving the party apart. I play fiction first, and Sees just changed her alignment to start rebuilding bridges.

So you get to play the fiction but I don't? That's ridiculous.

If I was truly playing the "fiction" I would have smashed the goblin the first time he raised something from the dead, but that's called being an a@!%~*$. InsteadI have put out tons of options, to move on with some kind of assurance. I made it clear ooc, that I'm fine with greas's solution. I am actually fine with your solution but let's not suddenly put the strife on me because you want sees to be a queen.

I brought attention to a situation that is putting my character in a pvp spot and that is making the game not fun, and I'll note that I am not the first character to say so.

So I really do not appreciate the implication you are making

I will put it out there again. If the party has a majority of folks that are fine with the way the game has shifted then fine. I will deal with it or withdraw from the game bc my personal pleasure does not outweigh everyone else's.

And for the record thunk is not suddenly saved. I actually started talking w mooshy about being a battle caster MONTHS ago

Sorry, but Sees is right on this one. Everyone in the party is finding diplomatic solutions to all the fuss. Yet after all that, Thunk reiterated the "swear or die" demand.

have you read any of my posts? i have said SMoog's option is fine, Greas's option is fine, and See's option is fine.

You have chosen to continually antagonize and insult Thunk

notice he stopped saying "swear" and using "word". using "word" right after Greas suggested he needed your "assurance", because he can't say a three syllable word.

Now for the first time I am actually upset. I tried to be honest and open about something that is concerning me, in the discussion thread because it is hard to speak as thunk. I even said that all these options presented are fine with me, and rather than have a moment of "ok lets figure this out so everyone can continue to have a good time", I find myself being vilified by two other players.

That is beyond not cool, so now that I am actually upset about an online game I will take a page from Retzaks book from two weeks ago

Does the party want me to just leave?

NO!

Whoa whoa whoa. Let's just take a sec now.

Okay, the fastest and most surefire solution here is for Thunk to look contemplative for a moment and then say something to the affect of "Okay. Sees smart. You good for now. But you try hurt red nard and you get thumped dead!"

Retzack will of course be most amenable and joyous that a mutual understanding has been reached.

How's that sound?

Look, if you leave, we may never have to opportunity to relocate and convert judo crab. I do not want that at all. Recent events aside, Thunk's far too much fun to have around to lose him.

You don't have to do an about-face in attitude. Once we have enough to assure us IC that Retzack isn't going to turn on us, that's enough to letter the matter drop for now...but Thunk doesn't have to be happy about it. Greas is going to be plotting anyway, "just in case". You can still try to work him over later too. As a "Fanatic of Tanard", I wouldn't expect any less. Something along the lines of "You not get thump now, but Red 'Nard be you God one day." Besides, any good preacher should be able to notice when the room is turning on them.

We don't want you to leave. So please don't.

i have said a dozen times all i am looking for is the assurance, yet no one seems to see that. I even explained the thunk speak above illustrating that point. I said it OOC as well.

What I don't appreciate is being vilified here by two of our players, and patronized by another when I simply raised a concern.

So I am going to take some time off from this game. a day or two and see where I sit then. The moment people start being rude I have to check out. I am fine with arguing some or disagreeing, but when you are insulting that has to go. Hell I even apologized for the murder goblin comment, and that was not even intended to be insulting, my phone just kept autocorrecting Retzak so I wrote that instead.

So I will check back in a day or two and see where it all stands.

We aren't trying to antagonise you, or patronise you. And you really seem to be taking this personally, which is pretty terrible in any case. It's bothering me too.

The thing is, you seem to be pushing for more immediate gratification. Which isn't exactly a good idea normally, let alone in PbP. Things are being worked through, but you've just said that it feels like nobody's listening to what you're saying. Which isn't true! We're trying to work this through, but it's not an immediate thing. We're going through a process, and I feel like you're pushing for the result.

If I had to make any guess, it'd be that IC and OOC concerns are getting pretty muddled. You're taking comments on Thunk's behaviour as attacks on yourself, which really isn't the case. You and Thunk are not the same, even if you play Thunk. Similarly, the considerations made IC are based primarily on what happens IC. And IC, Thunk's been a bit antagonistic. It's not what you want, but it's what our characters have to react to.

You probably ought to take some time away from this though. You seem to be seriously getting stressed, and it'll mess with anyone's perceptions when that happens. There isn't any hostility or any such thing here. We've been trying to talk about things with you and give options. We've been trying to help. No less. You seem to be so anxious about the possibility of PvP that you aren't seeing things are being worked through...just at a slower pace than you perhaps might like.

Is this making sense? Is it coming across right? I hope it is. You're not the only one getting a bit upset right now at what's going on. Just...take time away if you need it. Because tensions are rising, and this is no good for anyone.

MRW religious discussions between characters go the exact same way they go at my Thanksgiving family dinner table

So I think we've come to the point where some characters are easy to read, while others are notoriously difficult.

Thunk, as a character, is easy to understand. I find you do a really good job of conveying the meaning of Thunk's thoughts through a lesser speech system.

Smoog is incredibly down to earth and back to business when it comes to interactions, I have not really seen much of internal Smoog yet, at all really.

Sees is probably THE hardest to read of all characters to me, with most actions coming completely out of left field. She seems like a character who mulls over what to do, then on a whim decides "I'll do THIS!", foregoing all that careful deliberation. But once she's decided her path, boy does she stick to it.

Then there's Greas, whom we have seen internal struggles written out for, but if I am to read them then I would say he is worrying about his shortcomings towards Gorlaug WAY too much, that's in the past and in no time at all he has positioned himself in a leading position under the new dragon Tanard.

Where Oadir lies in all of this is completely beyond my perspective and I do not have the selfreflection capabilities to even try, but I feel he's fairly consistent and predictable.

Lastly, we come to the meat of the issue, with Retzack, the character from another world. Who has been alien to us from his very conception in this story. He was the first Goblin in the story, but he also told us he was a Goblin from a different reality, so while I understand they are similar, they may not be the same, but I digress.

Retzack has been alienated and we're trying to rectify that, with recent actions that may have been out of the blue from Retzack's perspective. Understandably so, at least from Oadir, because he only recently actually expressed his distaste for the type of Necromancy, and even then it's been minor and stuck between loads of other words.

Through the interactions (or lack thereof) we have come to put Retzack in an outcast position somehow. I wouldn't have had it as such myself, but then we did split the party and he was on the other side. The amount of characters Retzack could interact with were limited to Smoog and Sees, if I recall correctly. Now when these two don't work to include the new guy, he's not going to self-insert for very long.

One of the downsides of this great DM is that with the arrival of... not Tallest but the other guy, see I can't even remember his name... anyway, they've bonded, but this has only gone to further alienate Retzack from the rest of the group.

And actually I can see my own actions and how this may have been in part the cause to my own status of outcast in my irl interactions with classmates and other social interactions. But again, I digress.

When Retzack became the character that spoke mostly with only NPCs, he became the outcast. Nobody but the DM ever really responded to him unless they needed something from him (myself not excluded).

Now however we've come to be hostile to Retzack, because we despise what he did with the slaves, because he alluded to similar ambitions towards Tanard.
Logically, Retzack is in the most high of grounds in this situation. Culturally though, he has no ground to stand on.

It was at this point that Firzenick/Oadir realised he didn't know at all where he was going with this...

OK, try to wrap it up. Retzack is outcast, group never loved him, now we want him to act like a saint and just take it, but this is still an evil campaign, and he ain't having none of that s$$~.

I'm growing more fond of Retzack's character in these interactions, because there's finally some real opposition to the guy, and this is how he reacts when driven into a corner. Delightfully evil, not great party comradery material though.

I must repeat though, I don't follow Sees' actions in this at all, but that's besides the point. Wait, what point? Ah what the hell. /rant

Oh, and some addition, I come from the school where the bad guys aren't necessarily aware they are evil, they are doing what they think is right. This is where our main antagonists were probably coming from, maybe they were fully aware they were destroying a deity incarnate, whatever the case.

Oadir is most decidedly neutral, because I've found the alignment system to be weird and wonky and weird. I try to insert some realism, my suspension of disbelief does not rise to evil characters so much. I don't get the rationalisation of "What did you expect, this is an evil campaign". I don't understand that, if you can justify your actions from an in-character standpoint then alright, but the whole 'because I'm evil' shtick only works when you take that and stick with it, not just throw it in there whenever you find you can't come up with another good reason or something. I don't know.

Regarding Sees, if there's anything I can see motivating her, it's trying to ensure her place in the group. Her self-worth really isn't so high, and she's been using whatever she has at her disposal to give herself a secure position within the group's going on. It's why she has a problem with Tallest-Silver - she sees her as a threat to her position, for if they have her, what good is she? She just doesn't feel like she belongs with the rest of us.

She also seems to be blaming herself for something, or perhaps several somethings, at least somewhat similarly to the way Greas has been feeling incredibly guilty for what he did at Moontower...I get the impression she feels just as, if not more responsible than he does for the death of Gorlaug and all of the kobolds of Moontower. Plus, several others too. I have no idea why, but that's what has been happening.

So...yeah. She feels responsible for the living and dying of everyone else, and is also concerned with trying to find - or make - a place for herself where she feels she doesn't have and doesn't deserve one. The main difference here is where once she was manipulating everyone else to scramble to the top, she's now trying to build bridges, and mend the ones she's been burning. I mean, she's still manipulative and all, but she's trying to use her talents to create something more stable, and less...destructive.

Or, I could have missed something completely. Point is, she's unstable for a few reasons, and not really happy with it, as far as I can tell.

"What did you expect, this is an evil campaign" isn't really a reason in and of itself I think, but more a challenge of if one is needed here. Anything relating to morals and ethics are stripped away from basic assumptions in such campaigns, to be added back in as desired.

Remember that kid Hegh killed earlier? The basic block that says it's bad to kill the innocent isn't there as standard. It is not a matter factored into any considerations unless that is added in on an individual basis, like with Oadir. "Innocent" isn't on his radar. Similarly, the kid being "harmless" did not give him any reason to not kill him - just reduced the reason to do so, in that he wouldn't be eliminating a direct threat. And more, Hegh REALLY hated humans, and bringing the kid about was a liability as far as he was concerned. So, the kid died.

The only basic things that matter in a character's considerations in such campaigns are gain, loss, and personal inclination. Sparing those innocent or that are of no harm to you, as examples, are not a consideration unless other circumstances would make it desirable. The more selfish considerations are given far greater weight than typical.

So yeah, what I'm trying to say is "It's an evil campaign" is a way of asking if the justification is even needed, and if so, what for. It's not always so obvious in these games.

This definitely isn't as well articulated as I'd like but you should get the idea.

If the actions of another character in the game enrage you, the answer is to respond with your character, not get mad as a player.

Retzack's a goblin necromancer. He's going to be a scheming little b*stard, and he's going to take the opportunities he is afforded. Thunk is a religious zealot for Tanard, he's going to take offense at any perceived threat to her religious primacy, or the necromancer's nation-building.

So, we have characters at odds, but these emotions shouldn't come into it. Think of it like a chess game. Retzack made an aggressive, but potentially reckless move in using the "guestbook" to create zombies-in-the-making out of Tanard's freed slave army. It earned him a big benefit in the short run - he got all the signatures. However, it's going to cost him in the eyes of his party, affecting his long-term prospects. He's attempting to counter that preemptively with his arranged marriage to Sees, though emotions (in-character) are at play there as well.

But do you flip the chessboard and walk away when your opponent makes a good play? No! You look at the new board state, and determine how best to turn it to your advantage.

The reason evil campaigns are fun, and the reason I wanted to start one in the first place, is that while a unifying goal is nice, it's even more fun when the players try devious little ways to undermine or ridicule each other for their own benefit along the way. Take Smoog and Sees for example, they're pretty hostile toward each other's characters, but player emotion doesn't play into it. They have different goals, but they work together out of a ruthless sense of pragmatism.

Basically what I'm trying to say is, if a character in-game is acting in a way that offends your character in-game, don't let it be personal. Don't get mad.

Get even.

~Two levels and a use of Alchemist later~

"Hmm? No, Retzack, I don't know why your puppets are sassing you. Why are you bothering me? If you've got nothing better to say, I have something to do. Talk to someone else."

That worked better than expected. What next?

For those who don't know, Fssst and I dropped a temple on Smoog because he kept failing rolls.

It was awesome.

Oadir, that is an extremely concise, accurate, lucid, and self-aware summation of the situation to date.

I think the exemplary point of action was early on. We had just gotten out and were eating rations (back when I forgot I started with rations). Retzack walked up to someone (I forget who, not important) and said "Hi friend," and was told something like "We're not friends. Go away." Eventually someone else did give Retzack a ration...but didn't even say anything. Hence the message was learned that "You'll find no friends here." At no point did anyone walk up to him and say "Oh, hey, Retzack, right? Hi, I'm Dave and we're on this big quest to avenge something and we're after some bad guys and it's gonna be awesome. It's so cool that you can join us on this thing. We even got our own dragon named Tanard and she's rocks. We're gonna go whomp ass on a Time Temple. Yeah!"

So, given that, anyone would answer the request of "You who we totally ignored up to this point, you should act like a saint and worship our gal," would be "Why?"

2) The really amazing part here is that everyone is up in arms about how they "think" what Retzack's "intentions" will be in the "future". It's not like Retzack actually killed, or even harmed, a party member. There just seems to be a general agreement that Retzack is gonna...do something...and that something would...somehow be really bad. We think.

2.5) With that said, I've never understood Greas' hatred of Retzack. It seems like it just showed up one day, and is just because he's an outsider. Like a space marine's xenophobia? Sort of?

3) His name is Eats-Bugs. Ummmm, yeah, I got a whole narrative lined up for him. Uh, you're won't have any trouble remembering who he is then. =)

2.5) With that said, I've never understood Greas' hatred of Retzack. It seems like it just showed up one day, and is just because he's an outsider. Like a space marine's xenophobia? Sort of?

Right at the start, he didn't exactly have any grudges. You were just a kooky goblin. When Arman is raised, that's when things start to get messy. He still hasn't pulled himself together at all yet, and as such the sights of Moontower still effect him quite severely. Specifically, necromantic trap-disarming methods. A shambling corpse often works just as well as, if not better than a chicken on a 10ft pole, after all. Considering the type of corpses to hand and that he MADE several of those traps, you might be able to guess what his reaction was. That bit of backstory wasn't made with your character in mind, I just thought it would be interesting.

So yeah, you brought up some bad memories. The creation of your abomination and the fact your method of necromancy was just so wrong by comparison to what he knew just aggravated any ill-sentiment. You've effectively been associated with one of the adventuring party in his mind, and viewed using a perverted mockery of sacred arts. You didn't really deserve the reaction he's given you but...man, you met him at a bad time.

Everything just snowballed from when you raised Arman, really. He started afraid, and it developed. Past Trauma can be really inconvenient.

At no point did anyone walk up to him and say "Oh, hey, Retzack, right? Hi, I'm Dave and we're on this big quest to avenge something and we're after some bad guys and it's gonna be awesome. It's so cool that you can join us on this thing. We even got our own dragon named Tanard and she's rocks. We're gonna go whomp ass on a Time Temple. Yeah!"

In Sees' defense (as self-appointed leader and welcoming party) she was hungover and hemorrhaging her essence into deathspace at the time.

She did appoint you to help her guard Smoog and interrogate the yellow jackets. (I mean, she tried to kill your friend, but I mean, like, death powers, yo. That stuff has to get tested in a sterile environment. Besides, she was kind of right. He did become at least partially dead.)

Sorry for not posting any updates yesterday guys, I was under the weather. Will be updating today.

So having taken a few days to consider.

I have finally read the last 15 comments or so and still find myself having a bad taste in my mouth.

However, I also see that the group seems to be of a different mind than I am. I feel I have been misunderstood despite my best efforts, but that is the way it goes. I will drop it completely.

That said, as I said I still find myself with negative feelings toward it all

So I will be taking a few more days away, if at the end of that the group would like to continue on after my taking a long break I'll return then

Honestly thought Smoog and Thunk would have gone down to stop the forces from having a celebratory drink pre-emptively.

I hope you return to us, Thunk.

This is unrelated, but I hope everyone listens to this.

having had some time away, and let everything settle, I am prepared to return once posting resumes, on monday, or sunday.

Please take the following as I say it, with no ulterior motives or fishing for anything, or any subtext whatsoever.

If anyone objects please say so, I will not be hurt and can respect that. Things got heated, and I know I had to have time away to be able to collect myself, so if anyone is still hot or, is happier I will respect that.

If you have no issues I don't need a post of support or anything like that, just an opportunity for anyone to voice an objection if they have it.

Dammit, I had written out this post on me rallying the troops, ready to go busting out and now I don't see it up. It's probably still open on my laptop... hopefully

Glad you're rejoining us, sir. I missed your monosyllabic speeches.

Hey, Retzack, I get that you're now 'married' to the supposed leader of the head group, but maybe a little less "us v them" mentality? I thought we were working past that. I was your primary romantic rival for a second there, from my perspective, and I played the part of both Best Man and Minister for you 'wedding', so if you'd take a little bit of grace that'd be much appreciated.

Also I understand that I am one of the more common posters here, but I never thought I'd get asked for specifically... like I get the context and all but it puts me on the spot a little, obligates me to post asap. I'm fine with it this time but maybe in future we don't do that? Life gets in the way and we don't want to be left hanging and all that.

Didn't realise it was that much of an issue. I just thought it would be the natural thing to do in this instance.

I'll try not to do it so much if it really is that big of an issue, but you shouldn't feel obligated to get a post out right away. In your own time, Oadir. I wouldn't expect anything else.

Um, what?

Honestly I was just trying to work out the logistics of who has what when we go on the attack. You said you wanted the biggest ones, and I though Thunk would like the orcs, and the Strix and Tieflings were already sopken for, so it just made sense that I'd get a scattering of what was left. And then I wrote it down so we could be about it. If we let the NPCs decide, I'm sure Mooshy is gonna ruin us six was from Sunday how -that- is gonna play out.

But if you want to run all the NPCs, feel free. I thought it would be a bit of a burden, but if that's what you're going for, by all means let fly.

...now I'm wondering if there are any particular naming conventions for tieflings. Is it important? Not really, but I'm going to be interacting with this one a fair bit. May as well ask now.

I would recommend making the tieflings have names similar to Oadir's. Vowel-heavy, short in length, with long syllable sounds.

Busy dipping my toe in the water of WoW again with Legion tonight, guys. Sorry

What are the odds of a glide-by aid for Thunk as Sees gets down from the tower with Tanard?

What if there's a magnificent costume change involved with a glide-suit/reception dress?

What if we have Smoog jury rig it in a flashback?

What if the answer wasn't obviously no?

What are the odds of a glide-by aid for Thunk as Sees gets down from the tower with Tanard?

What if there's a magnificent costume change involved with a glide-suit/reception dress?

What if we have Smoog jury rig it in a flashback?

What if the answer wasn't obviously no?

You should check out Jon Harper's Blades in the Dark. I think it is too crunchy for a PbtA hack, but the flashback mechanic is really cool.

Hey all, I’m really sorry I didn’t post on Friday or yesterday, which are normally scheduled posting days. I’ve been dealing with some lawyer/custody related stuff and work’s been a little difficult on top of that. Nothing I can’t handle! However it did affect my time and ability to post updates on those days – my bad. I’m updating with responses to your actions today, around 4 PM CST is when I’ll be planning to post the updates. Thanks for bearing with me. 

MCKhaos introduced this variation on Defy Danger in one of the campaigns I'm playing in, and I like it quite a lot. What do you all think? Should we implement the change here too?

NEW DEFY DANGER TEXT:
When you act despite an imminent threat or suffer a calamity, say how you deal with it and roll. If you do it

by powering through, +Str
by getting out of the way or acting fast, +Dex
by enduring, +Con
with quick thinking, +Int
through mental fortitude, +Wis
using charm and social grace, +Cha

✴On a 7+, you do what you set out to and the specific threat you initially rolled to avoid doesn’t come to bear.

✴On a 7–9, describe how the situation worsens for your character, the party, or the world. If the GM is impressed by your creative masochism, mark XP.

On a hit, you do what you intended and you avoid the threat you rolled to deal with.

On a 7-9, things get worse - for you, the group, or the world - and it's on you to describe how. And you get XP from...basically, giving the GM that delicious feeling of schadenfreude.

Seems interesting to me. And it gives more precious opportunities to earn XP.

It's worth a try, at least for a while.

...also, on a side note, I forgot what day it was, and didn't expect an update today. This is normal for me.