D&D 5e v 3e: Xanaphia Naile, Noble-born Rockstar

Xanaphia Naile, Bard

This is my favorite bard character from D&D Pathfinder (originally 3e, later upgraded).  I'm reading the 5e PHB and wanted to see what a conversion might look like.

It's obvious that 5e is a very different game than the earlier editions, but it looks like a really fun game to play.  (Unlike 4e, which I never liked, but did play when I couldn't find something better.)

One of the core mechanics of 3.x was that, at some point, the character graduated from "die roll + modifiers" to "modifiers + die roll."

For example, the iconic level 20 Fighter has a BAB of +20. Realistically, she probably has another +10 to +15 or more in mods between Feats, Enhanced Strength, magic weapons, and situational modifiers.  Egro, 35+1d20 for her attack roll typically means "Don't roll a 1."

Trending with 4e and galvanized in 5e is a massive reduction in modifiers and re-empowerment of the dice. Seriously, that 5e level 20 Fighter probably musters a total of +12 on the attack roll, thus making the d20 god of her fate.

I mean, it works for 5e, and the whole dis/advantage mechanic is cool.  I'm just saying the random factor has been reintroduced, and this really changes the flavor of the game.

(I have no idea who the model is, but I loved her "chain shirt")

Highlights of Pathfinder Version

Chaotic Good Half-Elf Bard 7

Charisma 18

Feats: Skill Focus (Perform), Improved Skill Focus (Perform), Natural Performer, Beautiful Voice

Skills:  Perform (sing) +24 [10 ranks]

When she performs, it's her teammates that are her backup band, and they give her a +2 Synergy bonus on checks.  With this, she can Take 10 on a Perform check, get a result of 36, which according to the Epic Level Handbook can flip a Hostile audience to Friendly.  In other words, the Legions of Hell would throw a riot unless the fallen angel noble holding her hostage sent her - and her companions - home with laurels and wreaths.  This is why those kelpies have no chance.

Uses optional material from Patric L. Rogers' Adventuring Sage Sourcebook

Highlights of 5e

Chaotic Good Half-Elf Bard 7
Charisma 18
Skills: Performance +10 (Proficiency +3)

I know, right?  Yeah, 5e is a totally different animal.  The 5e character doesn't sing as well - I mean, she's not likely to get an audience with the Celestial Throne, but she is a much better fighter.

So.  Yeah.

The Blue Pill or the Red Pill - It's an Important Choice

I don't think the writers of The Matrix meant anything political when the question was "the blue pill, or the red pill," but it makes a lovely allegory.

Unlike The Matrix, where taking the red pill dumps you from the artificial fantasy land where others control everything you see, hear and - for all practical purposes - think, in the real world the red pill (or the red party) is the evil group of mind-controllers. In the real world, the blue pill is the best bastion of sanity and freedom from oppression.

Just so we're clear:  the Democrats are fucked up, too.  It's a matter of degree.  I'm finding it hard to locate any GOP member of the US Federal Congress who isn't a total sack of shit, without redeeming qualities.  (Unlike the DNC, who are - today, anyway - only mostly sacks of shit, and many actually do have some redeeming qualities.)  

It's a case of "lesser of two evils."  The option is to dump the worse evil now, and continue pressing the standards upward, so that eventually the choice isn't "lesser of two evils," but "hey, these people are actually pretty good, let's keep them, and dump all the evil bastards once and for all!"

Caitlyn Jenner - observations on why people care right now

Caitlyn Jenner is mega-news news mostly because transgender issues have been bubbling up to higher profile in the last few years.

But, the tipping point is that here was this totally minor and almost irrelevant character on the Kardashians - a show quintessentially about the pointless antics of hot women - and suddenly this pointless character is not merely - and here is the third element - the Once Upon A Time Man's Man of Men, but is now HERself a hot chick. (Which just fucks with the whole foundation of the concept of Man's Man, and Men are generally insecure to start with, so woe be their foundation growing tits on them.)

It's an intersection of real issues with splashy sensationalism at its finest.

And let's be honest - part of the "Caitlyn Jenner" show is men being squeamish and icky, and women laughing at them.

Men, as a species, are terrified of emasculation - homosexuality and castration are two of the biggest inbred fears.

I mean, seriously guys, you have a thousand jokes about beer goggles and fucking the ugly chick, so you've already set the bar low for if the tunnel is wet, and she tells you what a stud you are, why should you care if that tunnel was built from an inverted penis or a piece of intestine (in which case, it's kind of like anal sex and vaginal sex all-in-one).

So, you want to talk "feminization"?  Here's the descriptive text - Vaginoplasty (penile inversion), and here's the video. 

Suck it up boys - the truth is that trans women have more guts - if less balls - than you do!

Frankly, it's pretty fucking amazing that techniques like this exist at all.  The steps involved are incredible, and the results are equally amazing.

Women Are Disenfranchised

Frankly, yet-another-reason trans women have more balls than straight men, is that one of the many dangers of making the choice is the inherent sexism of humanity.  To say, "as a man, I am a member of a privileged class, but in order to live my life properly, I must surrender that privilege, in addition to everything else" is HUGE (and, in a lot of ways, I'd call it insane, so that more than anything convinces me how miserable trans women must be living in a male body).

Caitlyn Jenner is interesting and entertainment (I'm not yet convinced about entertaining). Transgender issues are news. Itks a natural nexus, and there you go.  Frankly, I think she looks better now than she has for years. Coming out has really done wonders for her.

Musical Monday - "Playing D&D" - SJ Tucker

"Everyone's Dungeon Bound"  hahahaa

I got introduced to D&D in college. I love that it's become so mainstream and normal. There isn't a video game today that wasn't influenced by D&D and its offspring, either directly (a lot of the dev teams and production teams have gamer history) or indirectly (pop culture is so infiltrated by gamers, it's inevitable).

This is a fun vid, and they've got some Old School books as props. It's also a catchy tune, with some eye candy for the nerds ;-)

Stochastic terrorism - even the good guys can be dragged down

So, what I'm saying - to no-one in particular - is that one of these days, an NRA-loving "sportsman" is going to wake-the-fuck-up and realize the billionaires have been playing "Fuck you, moron," with the NRA-loving sportsmen.

Some of those hunting rifles have more than enough range to evacuate a cranium, on the country club golf course, from the wild undeveloped landscape outside the shiny chain link fencing. Then we'll see a bit of turn in letting the riff-raff buy whatever-the-fuck-they-want.

Yeah, even us "good guys" can play stochastic terrorist, you fuckwads, so your own enlightened self-interest is to stop treating the riff-raff like shit, start treating us like human beings instead of disposable resources, and practice being decent human beings.

(On a tangent, this second meme will probably reappear in a "It's a Gun, Not a Condom" rant sometime in the future. I mean, seriously?  Whatever.  But, that very stupidity actually fit this rant well, since the idea of stochastic terrorism is turning someone with muddled thinking into a weapon, and the point of this rant is that someday those will muddled thinking with wake u and realize who has really been fucking with their heads.  Okay, sorry, I just explained the joke, but whatever, it's a fucked up mess.)

Batting 7000!

Especially that last column just blows me away. I feel a bit like maybe I've hit a tipping point, and slow, but continuous, growth is inevitable. 

Yeah me! :)

view count	days (delta)	days (total)	views per day during the period	posts (delta)	posts (total)	views per post (total average)
1000	94	94	10.6	85	85	11.8
2000	72	166	13.9	52	137	14.6
3000	34	200	29.4	28	165	18.2
4000	21	221	47.6	16	181	22.1
5000	15	236	66.6	12	193	25.9
6000*	30	266	33.3	17	210	28.6
7000	17	283	58.8	18	228	30.7

* 6000 views happened while I was on hiatus, so I have no concrete values, and so extrapolated based on available data

Image text from CoolText.com

The Value Of A Dollar - perspective and context are everything

I thank God I've never had economic woes so bad that a single dollar caused me distress.

I was at the post office, and the guy in front of me was frustrated with the postal worker, because when he asked "the total," she gave him the postage total, not the total of postage plus reinforced envelope pulled off the post office shelf, and he was surprised when the total was $3.85 instead of $2.67.

At first I was annoyed he was splitting hairs over a dollar, but then I listened to his words and his tone. He wasn't bitching about a dollar because he felt ripped off, he was frustrated because he needed that dollar for something else. 

Probably to feed the stick-thin four year-old girl who stood dutifully and cluelessly by his side.

I thank God I've never had economic woes so bad that a single dollar caused me distress.