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Yeah, I don't ride bikes in the winter.
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Due to visible shrinkage, hey?
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…
Damn.
*Resets his blackboard count of "Days without succumbing to cynicism/ being a nihilistic prick" to 0*
For the record,
A bit of ranting among friends is good for the psyche, so rant on!
Nobody expects
anyoneeveryone to read every post here, and will mete out punishment to those who don't; I will often skip entire pages.And you are awesome, and I'm glad you're here on FAWTL and in life. :)
FIFY.
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My company is hiring. Do you speak any other languages then english?I'm seriously tempted.Businesses all around have announced that they aren't opening tomorrow for the safety of their employees.
My office is staying open.
My office is holding a job fair.
Anyone want to hire a somewhat surly middle-aged IT guy?
Yes.
Want to relocate to the netherlands?
Unfortunately, not well enough to say yes.
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Businesses all around have announced that they aren't opening tomorrow for the safety of their employees.
My office is staying open.
My office is holding a job fair.
Anyone want to hire a somewhat surly middle-aged IT guy?
Yes, yes I do.
But Global Megacorporation won't hear of it.
So, would your company be interested in hiring a dude who has no experience, and spends all his time at his house (which is all the way cross the country from your office), and has zero interest or potential in the actual job description?
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Pumpkin pies are in the oven, and we're watching Kong, Skull Island while they bake.
Best King Kong movie ever if you haven't seen it.
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My company is hiring. Do you speak any other languages then english?I'm seriously tempted.Businesses all around have announced that they aren't opening tomorrow for the safety of their employees.
My office is staying open.
My office is holding a job fair.
Anyone want to hire a somewhat surly middle-aged IT guy?
Yes.
Want to relocate to the netherlands?
I can shave an angry bear with a skid loader, it's pretty much the same thing.
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Here's a nice article on wind chill.
It's not that it doesn't exist; it's that it's gone from, "It's -8°F with a 20 mph wind, so bundle up!" to, "The wind chill is -32°F!!! People are gonna DIE!!!!"
As a long-time skier and Sierra snowman, I'm like CY: I look at the "real" temperature and dress for that, then make sure my skin isn't exposed.
I've biked in 20°F weather with a strong (20 mph) wind. I wore windproof clothing. I was fine, and it didn't weigh 25 pounds.
If you're biking in -8°F, I'd save the money on the clothing and hire a psychiatrist instead...
EDIT: Of course, in the two places where I was reliant on bicycle transportation (Berkeley and Davis), they also had excellent and inexpensive bus service that went where I was going. That's definitely not true in a LOT of U.S. cities.
EDIT 2: And in all fairness, I'm a California native. The worst night I spent outside was camping at 15°F with a 40 mph wind. The worst day I spent outside was walking through downtown Montreal at -8°F with a 20 mph wind. And both times it became very clear very quickly that exposed skin was a no-no, so I made sure to get it all covered up. Goggles are uncomfortable, but OMG do they make a difference!
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I do need to get me some goggles, that I do. I am considering a ski mask.
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I found my midlife crisis!
I am utterly sick to death of material possessions. I don't want any more.
And over my lunch break today, as I was going through and throwing out another one of the hundreds of boxes of stuff I face over the next few years, I had an epiphany:
You know all those child care "experts" who say, "Don't buy your kids toys?", or, "A child only ever needs 3 toys?"
All they're doing is trying to prepare you for your empty nest, when you look at the literal mountain of crap you've bought for the kids over the years, and you realize that 90% of it was never even really played with.
I threw out Hexbug tracks that had never been used. Pokemon cards that had never been sorted. Poopatroopers who'd never seen the sky. Etc. Etc. Etc.
And I realized, what you SHOULD tell parents is, "Before you buy that item for your child, ask yourself:
(1) When they turn 18, will they take it with them when they move out?
(2) If not, if I leave it washed but used in my driveway with a 'Free' sign, will anyone take it?"
If the answer to both questions is, "No," then don't buy it.
I'm saying this while I look at what I quite literally believe to be close to $10,000 worth of toys we've bought over the last 18 years, over 50% of which were played with less than three times, many of which we're paying $2500/year just to store until I manage to get to them and sort through them for hidden gems, and I think, "What have I done to myself?"
Shiny rocks. Cute little plastic animals. Pokemon cards. Unused construction sets. Lots and lots of birthday gifts that were unwrapped, but never opened.
So. Much. Crap.
And there's my midlife crisis: I no longer want to buy anything new. I want my family to help me go through and throw out everything old.
And OMG it's going to be years to deal with it all...
EDIT: And in response to the inevitable reply of, "Why don't you just rent a truck and haul it all to the dump sight unseen? If you haven't looked at it in 10 years, you'll never miss it!", you'd be surprised what GothBard suddenly "needs" after 10-15 years of it being hidden away in storage. I bring home a box. I open it up. I populate the dining room table with the stuff I'm unsure of. And we repeat the cycle. I just wish it didn't take a month for each box.
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EDIT: And in response to the inevitable reply of, "Why don't you just rent a truck and haul it all to the dump sight unseen? If you haven't looked at it in 10 years, you'll never miss it!", you'd be surprised what GothBard suddenly "needs" after 10-15 years of it being hidden away in storage. I bring home a box. I open it up. I populate the dining room table with the stuff I'm unsure of. And we repeat the cycle. I just wish it didn't take a month for each box.
Fun story on the radio during this mornings commute: Mom donated a bunch of stuff to Goodwill, including a souvenir cup her son had gotten on a vacation. They are now desperately trying to track it down as the son had placed $6500 inside the cup while selling his vehicle.
I found my midlife crisis!
I am utterly sick to death of material possessions. I don't want any more.
And over my lunch break today, as I was going through and throwing out another one of the hundreds of boxes of stuff I face over the next few years, I had an epiphany:
You know all those child care "experts" who say, "Don't buy your kids toys?", or, "A child only ever needs 3 toys?"
All they're doing is trying to prepare you for your empty nest, when you look at the literal mountain of crap you've bought for the kids over the years, and you realize that 90% of it was never even really played with.
I threw out Hexbug tracks that had never been used. Pokemon cards that had never been sorted. Poopatroopers who'd never seen the sky. Etc. Etc. Etc.
And I realized, what you SHOULD tell parents is, "Before you buy that item for your child, ask yourself:
(1) When they turn 18, will they take it with them when they move out?
(2) If not, if I leave it washed but used in my driveway with a 'Free' sign, will anyone take it?"If the answer to both questions is, "No," then don't buy it.
I'm saying this while I look at what I quite literally believe to be close to $10,000 worth of toys we've bought over the last 18 years, over 50% of which were played with less than three times, many of which we're paying $2500/year just to store until I manage to get to them and sort through them for hidden gems, and I think, "What have I done to myself?"
Shiny rocks. Cute little plastic animals. Pokemon cards. Unused construction sets. Lots and lots of birthday gifts that were unwrapped, but never opened.
So. Much. Crap.
And there's my midlife crisis: I no longer want to buy anything new. I want my family to help me go through and throw out everything old.
And OMG it's going to be years to deal with it all...
EDIT: And in response to the inevitable reply of, "Why don't you just rent a truck and haul it all to the dump sight unseen? If you...
Pretty good midlife crisis, and, yeah, sure, I'll share that one with you! I have alternating fits of wanting to shove literally everything on my counter and/or table into a big trashbag and toss it (perhaps literally? ) and, "Oh, no, but this was our precious gift given to us by Family! I can't possibly bear to do such violence to its person!"
... so instead, it ends up in a box of some sort, in what is quite possibly the worst sort of compromise possible. Blech.
(In fairness to us, however, we almost never buy anything new. "Special days" toys (bday/Christmas), and that's about it. Everything else comes from the rest of the family. Which, I have to say, is super incredibly generous... but also flabbergasting, when I explicitly ask for nothing else and we get twelve things. ... Each. Per gift-giver. Like, guys, I know you love us, but... DANG IT! I need less stuu-huu-huuufffff. Also our vidoe shelf literally broke the other day. Can I get a house made of literally nothing but shelves? Is that possible? I could use that house...)
And there's my midlife crisis: I no longer want to buy anything new. I want my family to help me go through and throw out everything old.
Yeah, I find, "not buying things" is a good life philosophy, midlife or no. :D
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I can't imagine being in that scenario as a child, NH, but I did grow up in the last generation where electronic entertainment was not omnipresent. We had a home PC and a SNES, and eventually GameBoys, but time on those were strictly limited by my parents.
As a result we played the heck out of every toy we owned. I can't think of a single toy I ever possessed that went ignored until I reached the age I stopped playing with them entirely.
And we never quite had full sets of anything so it was very much "throw it all together and work with what we have". So our Ninja Turtles and Jedi would fight Transformers and Godzilla monsters. Probably a major contributor to my later tabletop gaming hobby.
I'm guessing though that your kids didn't play with toys as much, and got more of their entertainment from computer games and the like? It's the most logical explanation for the difference I can see.
On that note, I did eventually dig most of the toys out of the basement and garage and get rid of them at a yard sale a few months back. Made about 50$, more or less. Not bad overall.
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I can't imagine being in that scenario as a child, NH, but I did grow up in the last generation where electronic entertainment was not omnipresent. We had a home PC and a SNES, and eventually GameBoys, but time on those were strictly limited by my parents.
As a result we played the heck out of every toy we owned. I can't think of a single toy I ever possessed that went ignored until I reached the age I stopped playing with them entirely.
And we never quite had full sets of anything so it was very much "throw it all together and work with what we have". So our Ninja Turtles and Jedi would fight Transformers and Godzilla monsters. Probably a major contributor to my later tabletop gaming hobby.
I'm guessing though that your kids didn't play with toys as much, and got more of their entertainment from computer games and the like? It's the most logical explanation for the difference I can see.
On that note, I did eventually dig most of the toys out of the basement and garage and get rid of them at a yard sale a few months back. Made about 50$, more or less. Not bad overall.
I think you're right. They played video games. Friends and family didn't want to give them video games, so they gave them construction sets, Play Doh, Pokemon cards, anything that wasn't electronic. And yeah, it all got ignored.
My childhood is a couple of decades beyond yours, but yeah, I don't remember getting many toys that went totally unused.
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I do need to get me some goggles, that I do. I am considering a ski mask.
Are you serious you can don't wear layers and bike in that weather? But there may be some truth to that. The last time we climbed the Great Wall of China at Badaling in winter, we started with our thick winter jackets on. By the time we got to the top, we took them off.
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I found my midlife crisis!
I am utterly sick to death of material possessions. I don't want any more.
And over my lunch break today, as I was going through and throwing out another one of the hundreds of boxes of stuff I face over the next few years, I had an epiphany:
You know all those child care "experts" who say, "Don't buy your kids toys?", or, "A child only ever needs 3 toys?"
All they're doing is trying to prepare you for your empty nest, when you look at the literal mountain of crap you've bought for the kids over the years, and you realize that 90% of it was never even really played with.
I threw out Hexbug tracks that had never been used. Pokemon cards that had never been sorted. Poopatroopers who'd never seen the sky. Etc. Etc. Etc.
And I realized, what you SHOULD tell parents is, "Before you buy that item for your child, ask yourself:
(1) When they turn 18, will they take it with them when they move out?
(2) If not, if I leave it washed but used in my driveway with a 'Free' sign, will anyone take it?"If the answer to both questions is, "No," then don't buy it.
I'm saying this while I look at what I quite literally believe to be close to $10,000 worth of toys we've bought over the last 18 years, over 50% of which were played with less than three times, many of which we're paying $2500/year just to store until I manage to get to them and sort through them for hidden gems, and I think, "What have I done to myself?"
Shiny rocks. Cute little plastic animals. Pokemon cards. Unused construction sets. Lots and lots of birthday gifts that were unwrapped, but never opened.
So. Much. Crap.
And there's my midlife crisis: I no longer want to buy anything new. I want my family to help me go through and throw out everything old.
And OMG it's going to be years to deal with it all...
EDIT: And in response to the inevitable reply of, "Why don't you just rent a truck and haul it all to the dump sight unseen? If you...
Which is why the Austin Lounge Lizards wrote a marvelous faux-gospel song about being reunited with all your crap in the afterlife.
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I now understand why no other mom was willing to volunteer to be the Cookie Manager for Hermione's Girl Scout Troop.
The actual administration is pretty easy; I created a tracking spreadsheet for intake/distribution/funds owed; the warehouse is only 5 miles from my house, so it's easy to only get what the girls in our troop are selling, a few cases at a time; and Signupgenius.com helps with making sure we've got enough bodies to man our booths.
No, the thing that's making me hyperventilate at the moment is that, as of half an hour ago, I have now accepted responsibility for managing $2,664 worth of cookies.
And 25% of that will be auto-deducted from the troop bank account in six days, and Friday is the deadline for the moms to give me the money they've already collected so I can deposit it.
This is when I start praying to whatever deities might be listening that the other moms are both honest and conscientious.
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Doing my second read-through of Dresden Files. I've finished them all, and when I found the short story collections recently, it put a bug in me to re-read them (dear God would I love to play the RPG as a player - it's so well written, and in FATE no less!) For those of you who know it, I have this to say:
1. The Merlin is almost certainly Cowl. The only thing that makes me doubt it is that Cowl seems to have an inkling of respect for Harry.
2. Cowl or not, The Merlin needs to be kicked in the dick. When he dies, which will undoubtedly happen at some point in the series, I think I will enjoy it more than any character's death in any series, since that b#@%~ Catelyn Stark from Song of Ice and Fire (mostly cause I was tired of chapters written in her whiney mopey perspective).
3. How did Harry Potter, in all its cliche, get an entire series of high budget movies, and this only got one weak Sci-Fi show? No accounting for taste. (Potter isn't bad, but it is cliche)
4. This man needs to finish the next book, and fast. I'm dyin' to meet the new spirit kid thingy.
5. It's really better the second read-through, since you can see and recognize all the foreshadowing.
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I now understand why no other mom was willing to volunteer to be the Cookie Manager for Hermione's Girl Scout Troop.
The actual administration is pretty easy; I created a tracking spreadsheet for intake/distribution/funds owed; the warehouse is only 5 miles from my house, so it's easy to only get what the girls in our troop are selling, a few cases at a time; and Signupgenius.com helps with making sure we've got enough bodies to man our booths.
No, the thing that's making me hyperventilate at the moment is that, as of half an hour ago, I have now accepted responsibility for managing $2,664 worth of cookies.
And 25% of that will be auto-deducted from the troop bank account in six days, and Friday is the deadline for the moms to give me the money they've already collected so I can deposit it.
This is when I start praying to whatever deities might be listening that the other moms are both honest and conscientious.
Cookie manager? Can I help you manage those cookies?
*salivates*
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I'm definitely interested in the new spirit. According to Butcher in an AMA on Reddit, her name is Bonnie. That's pretty much all we know.
I do need to get me some goggles, that I do. I am considering a ski mask.Are you serious you can don't wear layers and bike in that weather? But there may be some truth to that. The last time we climbed the Great Wall of China at Badaling in winter, we started with our thick winter jackets on. By the time we got to the top, we took them off.
I do wear layers, but it is important to be a *bit* chilly when cycling to avoid breaking a heavy sweat in temperatures where that can be dangerous.
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Doing my second read-through of Dresden Files. I've finished them all, and when I found the short story collections recently, it put a bug in me to re-read them (dear God would I love to play the RPG as a player - it's so well written, and in FATE no less!) For those of you who know it, I have this to say:
1. The Merlin is almost certainly Cowl. The only thing that makes me doubt it is that Cowl seems to have an inkling of respect for Harry.
2. Cowl or not, The Merlin needs to be kicked in the dick. When he dies, which will undoubtedly happen at some point in the series, I think I will enjoy it more than any character's death in any series, since that b*~@% Catelyn Stark from Song of Ice and Fire (mostly cause I was tired of chapters written in her whiney mopey perspective).
3. How did Harry Potter, in all its cliche, get an entire series of high budget movies, and this only got one weak Sci-Fi show? No accounting for taste. (Potter isn't bad, but it is cliche)
4. This man needs to finish the next book, and fast. I'm dyin' to meet the new spirit kid thingy.
5. It's really better the second read-through, since you can see and recognize all the foreshadowing.
DRESDEN FOREVER! POTTER NEVER!
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Opinion Time:
OK. I've looked at Rules-as-Written: Rogues get a Perception roll of 25 + spell level to detect magic traps.
But according to RAW, Alarm spells aren't "traps", so rogues can't detect them.
Thanks for piling even more hate on the rogue, D&D 3.5/Paizo!
Question: How do GMs play it at their tables?
I allow rogues to detect Alarm spells, because nerfing them even more just seems like unnecessary cruelty.
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I do wear layers, but it is important to be a *bit* chilly when cycling to avoid breaking a heavy sweat in temperatures where that can be dangerous.I do need to get me some goggles, that I do. I am considering a ski mask.Are you serious you can don't wear layers and bike in that weather? But there may be some truth to that. The last time we climbed the Great Wall of China at Badaling in winter, we started with our thick winter jackets on. By the time we got to the top, we took them off.
Why is it dangerous to break into heavy sweat at that temperature?
Don't mind me. I'm a curious critter.
…Also, Cover Turtle, how good are you with mud? Hardcore wildiness exploration in the Pahang jungles involves quite a bit of that, and leeches. And the trail can be rough. Hiking stick advised.
Mud?...I work in a stable full of animals that find it fun to roll around in mud (and occasionally their own droppings) before strolling inside and expecting me to clean them up. So yea, I could probably survive getting a little dirty ^^
If anything it would probably be the physical strain, heat or the gnats and critters I should worry about. I'm a bit of an attraction to most bugs, especially the bloodsucking ones like mosquitos and such…must have particularly tasty blood ^^'Or I'm just (with my penchant for a nice drink) the equivalent of a mosquito dive bar :p
Question: How do GMs play it at their tables?
I allow rogues to detect Alarm spells, because nerfing them even more just seems like unnecessary cruelty.
Yup same here, run them like every other trap.
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Opinion Time:
OK. I've looked at Rules-as-Written: Rogues get a Perception roll of 25 + spell level to detect magic traps.But according to RAW, Alarm spells aren't "traps", so rogues can't detect them.
Thanks for piling even more hate on the rogue, D&D 3.5/Paizo!
Question: How do GMs play it at their tables?
I allow rogues to detect Alarm spells, because nerfing them even more just seems like unnecessary cruelty.
Alarm doesn't get detected. The problem is even if you detect an alarm, what you gonna do? You can't disable device it, did you want to spend a spell slot dispel magicking it?
Opinion Time:
OK. I've looked at Rules-as-Written: Rogues get a Perception roll of 25 + spell level to detect magic traps.But according to RAW, Alarm spells aren't "traps", so rogues can't detect them.
Thanks for piling even more hate on the rogue, D&D 3.5/Paizo!
Question: How do GMs play it at their tables?
I allow rogues to detect Alarm spells, because nerfing them even more just seems like unnecessary cruelty.
I do audible alarm is a trap, silent alarm is not.
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Cover Turtle, I'm a mosquito magnet too. Repellent or not, if there are mosquitoes in the region they'll find their way to me. Getting dirty is fine, is that thick mud is fking slippery and hard to move in(you can get your shoes stuck because you sank in) . Of course in Singapore we have nice broadwalks and proper trails and all that.
The problem is I can tranvese the terrain, if painfully, but the attention required to do so(so I don't twist my paw or something) keeps me from nature watching properly.
I do wear layers, but it is important to be a *bit* chilly when cycling to avoid breaking a heavy sweat in temperatures where that can be dangerous.I do need to get me some goggles, that I do. I am considering a ski mask.Are you serious you can don't wear layers and bike in that weather? But there may be some truth to that. The last time we climbed the Great Wall of China at Badaling in winter, we started with our thick winter jackets on. By the time we got to the top, we took them off.
Why is it dangerous to break into heavy sweat at that temperature?
Don't mind me. I'm a curious critter.
depending on the temperature, wind and just how sweaty we are talking, you could end up with a hot and sweaty when the external temperature is cold and freezing and that could lead to you becoming sick.
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I missed the modified triathlon last year. I wonder when they'll have it this year.
2.4km run, 8 laps swim and 10 km bike ride sounds doable. I mean on Sundays I run 2.4km then do a 10 lap swim. Just missing the bike ride, but I've done 40 km on bike before, with only my butt aching because I'm not used to spending that long in saddle.
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depending on the temperature, wind and just how sweaty we are talking, you could end up with a hot and sweaty when the external temperature is cold and freezing and that could lead to you becoming sick.I do wear layers, but it is important to be a *bit* chilly when cycling to avoid breaking a heavy sweat in temperatures where that can be dangerous.I do need to get me some goggles, that I do. I am considering a ski mask.Are you serious you can don't wear layers and bike in that weather? But there may be some truth to that. The last time we climbed the Great Wall of China at Badaling in winter, we started with our thick winter jackets on. By the time we got to the top, we took them off.
Why is it dangerous to break into heavy sweat at that temperature?
Don't mind me. I'm a curious critter.
Does that mean you cannot exert much yourself in cold weather? Since any form of heavy exertion would result in you sweating?
Does that mean you cannot exert much yourself in cold weather? Since any form of heavy exertion would result in you sweating?depending on the temperature, wind and just how sweaty we are talking, you could end up with a hot and sweaty when the external temperature is cold and freezing and that could lead to you becoming sick.I do wear layers, but it is important to be a *bit* chilly when cycling to avoid breaking a heavy sweat in temperatures where that can be dangerous.I do need to get me some goggles, that I do. I am considering a ski mask.Are you serious you can don't wear layers and bike in that weather? But there may be some truth to that. The last time we climbed the Great Wall of China at Badaling in winter, we started with our thick winter jackets on. By the time we got to the top, we took them off.
Why is it dangerous to break into heavy sweat at that temperature?
Don't mind me. I'm a curious critter.
sweating and exerting yourself is fine, just dont overheat in freezing cold conditions.
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FIFY.…
Damn.
*Resets his blackboard count of "Days without succumbing to cynicism/ being a nihilistic prick" to 0*
For the record,
A bit of ranting among friends is good for the psyche, so rant on!
Nobody expects
anyoneeveryone to read every post here, and will mete out punishment to those who don't; I will often skip entire pages.And you are awesome, and I'm glad you're here on FAWTL and in life. :)
*skips page, idly whistles, oblivious to imminent metement*
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Opinion Time:
OK. I've looked at Rules-as-Written: Rogues get a Perception roll of 25 + spell level to detect magic traps.But according to RAW, Alarm spells aren't "traps", so rogues can't detect them.
Thanks for piling even more hate on the rogue, D&D 3.5/Paizo!
Question: How do GMs play it at their tables?
I allow rogues to detect Alarm spells, because nerfing them even more just seems like unnecessary cruelty.
I treat them totally as traps, and allow them to be handled as such.
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We play Starfinder.
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*skips page, idly whistles, oblivious to imminent metement*FIFY.…
Damn.
*Resets his blackboard count of "Days without succumbing to cynicism/ being a nihilistic prick" to 0*
For the record,
A bit of ranting among friends is good for the psyche, so rant on!
Nobody expects
anyoneeveryone to read every post here, and will mete out punishment to those who don't; I will often skip entire pages.And you are awesome, and I'm glad you're here on FAWTL and in life. :)
*fondles Cover Turtle's horse whip*
So now we know which one of the seven dwarfs VE would be lets see who else we can dwarfify.
Gran is dopey!
I call sleepy. today anyways.
Mort you want bashful or sneezy?
lets see who else is usually on this late.Probably should let the turtle be bashful. he hides in his shell that seems pretty fitting. Mort your sneezy then.
I'll be sleazy dwarf.
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Opinion Time:
OK. I've looked at Rules-as-Written: Rogues get a Perception roll of 25 + spell level to detect magic traps.But according to RAW, Alarm spells aren't "traps", so rogues can't detect them.
Thanks for piling even more hate on the rogue, D&D 3.5/Paizo!
Question: How do GMs play it at their tables?
I allow rogues to detect Alarm spells, because nerfing them even more just seems like unnecessary cruelty.
It's every bit as much of a trap as a tripline that jingles silverware to alert the guards. If the mechanical version is a trap, so is the magical version unless it explicitly states otherwise. And FYI Mort - rogues can use disable device on magical traps.
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If it's not a trap then why do they worry so much about alarm systems in heists?
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I honestly don't remember how I ruled that during my 3.x days, it didn't come up very often.
Using a loose definition of 'trap,' I can see roguing an alarm spell.
But using the common definition, I don't think alarm qualifies due to not murderizing anyone.
Then again in the game world fiction, to a roguing rogue, what's different about alarm and a spell that shoots lightning at intruders? Then again, what's different about alarm, a spell that shoots lightning at intruders, and any other lasting spell? From a game world perspective we don't know why rogues can only detect and disable magical traps, nor why they can directly interact with any spell in the first place, so the only thing that's clear is that the whole issue is very game-y.
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It is murderizing them. It's alerting the guards to their presence, who will theoretically come to detain/murderize them. It's not any different than if it fired a dozen bolts from hidden crossbows directly.
Edit: In fact, it's actually worse - alerts thinking creatures that can employ tactics versus a bunch of probably single-shot crossbows that don't do anything else if they were ineffective.
Edit 2: How is alarm functionally any different than a rune that casts summon monster I when triggered?
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I'm not trying to be combative, btw, but I realize I may be coming across as such. This is one of those times where I really don't understand how the situation can be so obvious to both parties in completely opposite directions.
And I *really* don't understand Freehold's take. It should be even more of a trap if the alarm is silent. That lets the alerted defenders sneak up on the group and ambush them.
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Oh and if anyone had ever bothered to spell out what they meant by 'trap,' that definition may very well have included "...is in the DMG and has a CR." Which may or may not be RAI, but I'm sure that's the kind of trap that was immediately in mind when the rogue writeup was written.
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My players are more likely to heck care about alarms and take on the entire Fort because they can. Screw sneaking, bring it on!
Anyway since I'm generally trying to stick close to the AP, there's only so many preparations I can make. I mean a few changes to the spell list is fine but I don't add levels/change levels of bad guys you know... Or add extra minions or templates.
Now if you really wanted to find alarm I might allow detect magic to spot it, since it's a spell over an area so it should leave some trace.
It even says emanation on the text...