telegram & whatsapp asemic channels
telegram _ https://t.me/asemic
§
whatsapp _ https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VatHHjBL2AU8CU6zTa00
= https://t.ly/DiR4g = https://tinyurl.com/whappasemic
#000000 #3366ff #339966 #asemic #asemicChannel #asemicChannels #canaleTelegramDiScritturaAsemica #canaleWhatsappDiScritturaAsemica #channel #channels #materialiAsemici #materialiVerbovisivi #scritturaAsemica #scritturaAsemicaCanali #Telegram #telegramAsemicChannel #whatsapp #whatsappAsemicChannel
What is more important: The institution of marriage or the people in it?
Marriage is often seen as the foundation of society, love, stability, and shared values. It’s an institution that requires patience, compromise, and sometimes the quiet sacrifice of personal desires for the greater good.
But what happens when this revered institution starts to choke the very people it’s meant to nourish? How do we square morality, family values, and endurance with the excruciating reality of marriages that no longer serve the people in them?
It’s not an easy question. It’s a messy, human problem that forces us to confront our values, our fears and sometimes our own limitations.
Marriage is often presented as a goal, an achievement, or even a moral obligation. Family expectations, cultural norms, and societal pressures push people into believing that marriage is a marker of success. Once married, the commitment is hailed as sacred, but the sanctity of the people in that marriage often takes a backseat.
This is especially painful when individuals find themselves in a union that has become toxic, loveless, or even abusive. The fear of judgment, failure, or shame keeps many trapped in relationships that no longer nourish them. They endure silently, tethered by vows that feel more like shackles than promises.
The Virtue of Patience—or the Weaponization of It?
Marriage is built on patience. We’re told to endure tough times, weather storms, and “fight for love.” These are great ideals till they start being used as a moral obligation. When one partner feels unseen, unheard, or emotionally drained, they’re often told to “give it time” or “be more understanding.”
How do you know when patience has crossed the line into self betrayal? Is it patience to stay in a marriage that’s eroding your mental health, or is it fear of societal judgment disguised as virtue?
Morality: The Double Bind
Marriage is sacred. Divorce is a moral failure. Not just personal. For some, leaving a marriage feels like a betrayal of family, community, and even faith. This moral weight is especially heavy for women who are expected to hold the family together at all costs. They’re told to sacrifice their own happiness, and sometimes even dignity, to preserve the institution of marriage, even in cases of neglect or abuse. The narrative becomes duty over self preservation, shame over walking away.
So what’s moral about upholding an institution at all costs or doing right by the people in it? What’s right when staying feels wrong?
The Complexity of Children
The presence of children complicates everything. Parents in unhappy marriages often stay together “for the kids.” The argument is understandable: children need stability, and divorce can disrupt their sense of security.
But children also absorb the emotional atmosphere of their homes. They notice when their parents are distant, angry, or unhappy. They learn about love and relationships by observing what their parents model. Staying in a broken marriage can teach children that unhappiness and sacrifice are normal parts of love.
It’s a no-win situation that leaves parents agonizing over what’s truly best for their kids.
The truth is, there’s no universal answer. Every family’s circumstances are different, and every decision comes with trade-offs. But what if we focused less on preserving the marriage and more on creating a home—together or apart—where children feel loved, valued, and safe?
When the Institution Becomes the Priority
In many cultures, saving the marriage takes precedence over saving the people in it. Couples are told to “work harder” on their marriage without addressing the core issues. Even when faced with irreparable differences or harm, individuals are encouraged to stay “for the children,” “for society,” or “to avoid stigma.”
This obsession with preserving the institution can also invalidate the feelings of those struggling within it. People in unhappy marriages are often dismissed with platitudes like, “All marriages have ups and downs,” or “Marriage is about compromise.”
The Silent Weight of Guilt
Leaving a marriage that no longer works comes with a tidal wave of guilt—guilt about not trying hard enough, about breaking a promise, about hurting children, about letting others down. This guilt is amplified by societal narratives that equate endurance with strength and divorce with failure.
But guilt doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t account for the quiet agony of living in a home devoid of love and or the slow erosion of the sense of self. It doesn’t acknowledge the courage it takes to choose yourself when every voice around you tells you not to.
Marriage is hard. It’s a delicate balance of love, patience, morality, values, and compromise. But when that balance tips too far in favor of the institution over the individuals, it’s time to ask hard questions and make hard choices, and when they do, no one should ever have to be ashamed of it.
It’s The People Who Matter More
Marriage is a partnership—a space where two individuals come together to grow, support each other, and share a life of mutual respect and love. If that space turns into a battlefield or a prison, it is the people, not the institution, that need our attention, empathy, and care.
When we prioritize the well-being of individuals, we empower them to make decisions that align with their happiness, values, and health. Sometimes that means fighting for the marriage and seeking counseling or help. Other times, it means acknowledging that the relationship has run its course and allowing both people to move forward separately.
In the end, the sanctity of marriage isn’t in its endurance of pain—it’s in the love, respect, and humanity it fosters. And if those elements are gone, preserving the institution becomes meaningless.
#3366ff #divorce #domesticAbuse #emotionalWellbeing #family #genderParity #love #marraige #marriage #mentalHealth #relationship #Relationships
What is more important: The institution of marriage or the people in it?
Marriage is often seen as the foundation of society, love, stability, and shared values. It’s an institution that requires patience, compromise, and sometimes the quiet sacrifice of personal desires for the greater good.
But what happens when this revered institution starts to choke the very people it’s meant to nourish? How do we square morality, family values, and endurance with the excruciating reality of marriages that no longer serve the people in them?
It’s not an easy question. It’s a messy, human problem that forces us to confront our values, our fears and sometimes our own limitations.
Marriage is often presented as a goal, an achievement, or even a moral obligation. Family expectations, cultural norms, and societal pressures push people into believing that marriage is a marker of success. Once married, the commitment is hailed as sacred, but the sanctity of the people in that marriage often takes a backseat.
This is especially painful when individuals find themselves in a union that has become toxic, loveless, or even abusive. The fear of judgment, failure, or shame keeps many trapped in relationships that no longer nourish them. They endure silently, tethered by vows that feel more like shackles than promises.
The Virtue of Patience—or the Weaponization of It?
Marriage is built on patience. We’re told to endure tough times, weather storms, and “fight for love.” These are great ideals till they start being used as a moral obligation. When one partner feels unseen, unheard, or emotionally drained, they’re often told to “give it time” or “be more understanding.”
How do you know when patience has crossed the line into self betrayal? Is it patience to stay in a marriage that’s eroding your mental health, or is it fear of societal judgment disguised as virtue?
Morality: The Double Bind
Marriage is sacred. Divorce is a moral failure. Not just personal. For some, leaving a marriage feels like a betrayal of family, community, and even faith. This moral weight is especially heavy for women who are expected to hold the family together at all costs. They’re told to sacrifice their own happiness, and sometimes even dignity, to preserve the institution of marriage, even in cases of neglect or abuse. The narrative becomes duty over self preservation, shame over walking away.
So what’s moral about upholding an institution at all costs or doing right by the people in it? What’s right when staying feels wrong?
The Complexity of Children
The presence of children complicates everything. Parents in unhappy marriages often stay together “for the kids.” The argument is understandable: children need stability, and divorce can disrupt their sense of security.
But children also absorb the emotional atmosphere of their homes. They notice when their parents are distant, angry, or unhappy. They learn about love and relationships by observing what their parents model. Staying in a broken marriage can teach children that unhappiness and sacrifice are normal parts of love.
It’s a no-win situation that leaves parents agonizing over what’s truly best for their kids.
The truth is, there’s no universal answer. Every family’s circumstances are different, and every decision comes with trade-offs. But what if we focused less on preserving the marriage and more on creating a home—together or apart—where children feel loved, valued, and safe?
When the Institution Becomes the Priority
In many cultures, saving the marriage takes precedence over saving the people in it. Couples are told to “work harder” on their marriage without addressing the core issues. Even when faced with irreparable differences or harm, individuals are encouraged to stay “for the children,” “for society,” or “to avoid stigma.”
This obsession with preserving the institution can also invalidate the feelings of those struggling within it. People in unhappy marriages are often dismissed with platitudes like, “All marriages have ups and downs,” or “Marriage is about compromise.”
The Silent Weight of Guilt
Leaving a marriage that no longer works comes with a tidal wave of guilt—guilt about not trying hard enough, about breaking a promise, about hurting children, about letting others down. This guilt is amplified by societal narratives that equate endurance with strength and divorce with failure.
But guilt doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t account for the quiet agony of living in a home devoid of love and or the slow erosion of the sense of self. It doesn’t acknowledge the courage it takes to choose yourself when every voice around you tells you not to.
Marriage is hard. It’s a delicate balance of love, patience, morality, values, and compromise. But when that balance tips too far in favor of the institution over the individuals, it’s time to ask hard questions and make hard choices, and when they do, no one should ever have to be ashamed of it.
It’s The People Who Matter More
Marriage is a partnership—a space where two individuals come together to grow, support each other, and share a life of mutual respect and love. If that space turns into a battlefield or a prison, it is the people, not the institution, that need our attention, empathy, and care.
When we prioritize the well-being of individuals, we empower them to make decisions that align with their happiness, values, and health. Sometimes that means fighting for the marriage and seeking counseling or help. Other times, it means acknowledging that the relationship has run its course and allowing both people to move forward separately.
In the end, the sanctity of marriage isn’t in its endurance of pain—it’s in the love, respect, and humanity it fosters. And if those elements are gone, preserving the institution becomes meaningless.
#3366ff #divorce #domesticAbuse #emotionalWellbeing #family #genderParity #love #marraige #marriage #mentalHealth #relationship #Relationships
I’m pulling together some thoughts I was moved to post on social media regarding the standard D&D spellcasting classes. I don’t know if any of this is incredibly profound, but I’ve also learned that I can’t trust social media as a storage format for my thoughts, so here’s hoping you don’t mind me sharing.
Over the years, I’ve posted many articles about the philosophical differences between different spell casters in D&D, yet I’m still moved to take another run at it occasionally. Perhaps someday I’ll have as many posts about this as alignment or how to make traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws work better (which I guess I can retire now that D&D 2024 and Tales of the Valiant both jettisoned the concepts).
Spellcaster Emphasis
This time, I was going for a very simple, very quickly summarized way to express how each class approaches spellcasting. I’m also only looking at spellcasters that derive their power from an outside source, which they had to take some action to access.
The most challenging summary was probably the Ranger because it’s easy to assume “like druids, but less.” What led me to this idea that a Ranger has something in their soul that makes them restless to chase the feeling of being “in” the right spot with nature is that Rangers move. They roam. They hunt. All of that suggests chasing after a feeling, and the supernatural manifestation of chasing that feeling is their various powers.
To develop this concept, I also considered the philosophy of spellcasting and the idea that different editions have had means of shifting what spellcasting statistic classes use. I wanted to consider what having more than one spellcasting stat would mean and what additional one makes the most sense for each class.
I also added this disclaimer online–I’m not saying this is what you should do. I’m playing around with a thought process to see what it would mean if this were true. I’m sure some issues could arise from this, and I know this won’t “feel” right for some players.
Alternate Spellcasting Statistics by Class
It’s my blog, and I can’t help myself, so let’s look at each of the classes, and I’ll explain my logic for the additional spellcasting stat.
Artificer
The standard spellcasting stat for Artificers is Intelligence, which makes sense because they are effectively magical engineers. My logic for adding Wisdom of a secondary casting stat is that I can see Artificers that create things by rote. In other words, they don’t draw up their own plans, and they don’t vary the plans they use. They just adhere to what they have internalized and practiced over time.
Bard
I was very tempted to use Intelligence as the Bard’s secondary statistic. I could probably still be persuaded to do so. Still, I felt like there is a natural dichotomy between relating a story or an artistic piece with enough energy and emotion for people to internalize it or knowing the most important aspects of a story to emphasize and convey meaning to a specific audience. With all of that said, if you wanted to convince me that Bards would be the one class that could pick any stat from Int/Cha/Wis, thematically, I would have a hard time arguing against it.
Cleric
I added Intelligence as an alternate for Clerics based on the concept of religious scholars. I can picture Clerics versing themselves in scholarly works to reinforce the history of the religion and details of all of the church’s practices. You could argue for the Charismatic evangelist, but Paladins have the primary Charisma Divine caster role in the 5e SRD classes.
Druid
I can see Druids having Charisma as their secondary spellcasting statistic option because I can picture Druids that don’t contemplate their place in nature so much as they are imposing the will of “nature” on the world, assuming they are already right with the balance of nature. In some ways, it also dovetails with the roots of Bards and Druids and how, conceptually, they are essentially the same thing in some stories.
Paladin
It makes sense that Paladins can manifest their powers by Charisma, because they have a deeply held feeling that something must be done to effect a specific change in the world. They are a force of personality. Even with that understanding of the Paladin, though, I can picture the Paladin that still deeply feels what needs to be done. They are very proactive but may be introspective enough to want to contextualize their actions and choose between potential outcomes quickly.
Ranger
Wisdom represents the Ranger’s awareness of and perhaps even subconscious preparation for everything happening around them, especially in the environments they are most comfortable traversing. I don’t picture Charisma doing much to allow for an understanding and assessment of a situation. Still, I can see a more formalized approach to information gathering and threat assessment being something some Rangers may lean toward.
Sorcerer
I think the primary story of the Sorcerer is that they don’t learn their magic through scholarly study. They have a natural connection to the power they wield. While the default may be that Sorcerers can use the power they are connected to by force of personality, willing the world to change in accordance with their powers, I can also see Sorcerers having a deeper understanding and feeling for the depths of their power. They would still be using intrinsic power, but potentially with more intentionality.
Warlock
I picture Warlocks using Charisma to impose the power they have bargained for on the rules of reality. That’s looking at how Warlocks use their powers from the point of view of already having the power and then using it. I can also see Intelligence being a spellcasting statistic because the Warlock learns the forms and ways to communicate with otherworldly powers and measures the limits of different sources of power. Additionally, I just think the story of the Warlock leans away from assuming Wisdom, carefully considering repercussions, and avoiding unseen threats, so Wisdom isn’t the best fit for them, even with an expanded range of spellcasting statistics.
Gathering Information
I would love to get feedback on this post. I would love to know if those quick summaries of spellcaster approaches are helpful to people and if you have your own summaries that you think would work.When my “narrative” brain is going, it often pushes out my “rules” brain. I would also love to see if there is any issue with how the 5e SRD works compared to swapping out some of the spellcasting statistics, as I have conjectured above.
But most of all, I just like talking to other people about games.
https://whatdoiknowjr.com/2024/10/17/grasping-power-playing-with-spellcasting-assumptions/
#00ccff #3366ff #339966 #5eSRD #800000 #800080 #808080 #993300 #99cc00 #Arcane #Artificer #Bard #BlackFlagReferenceDocument #Cleric #Divine #Druid #DungeonsDragons #ff00ff #ff9900 #ffcc00 #Paladin #Primordial #Ranger #Sorcerer #Spellcaster #TalesOfTheValiant #Warlock #Wizard #Wyrd
My Social Media Journey: From Email to Twitter to Mastodon
A Farewell to Twitter
As many of my regular readers might already know, I bid farewell to Twitter some years ago. At the time, I was operating under the handle @flowchainsensei and had amassed quite a following (15,000+), being one of the most-followed software people on the platform. The decision to quit was not taken by me, but various circumstances led me to step away from the Twitterverse.
An Unexpected Return
Life, as it often does, had other plans. Subsequent circumstances pulled me back into the fold of Twitter, this time under the group handle @alientechgroup. It was a chance to reconnect with the community, promote the initiative, and share insights once more.
The Final Departure
Twitter’s Transformation
In August, we made the decision to quit Twitter (now known as X) for good. The platform, once a vibrant space for discussion and idea-sharing, has unfortunately devolved into what can only be described as an open sewer. The toxicity and chaos that now pervade the site made it clear that it was time to move on to greener pastures.
Finding New Homes on the Web
The Blog: A Return to Roots
For those who wish to keep up with my thoughts and musings, I’m happy to announce that you can still find me right here on my blog. It’s a return to a more thoughtful, long-form medium of expression, free from the constraints and pitfalls of microblogging platforms.
Embracing Mastodon
In addition to my blog, I’ve found a new social media home on Mastodon. You can connect with me primarily at @[email protected]. Mastodon offers a refreshing alternative to traditional social media, with its decentralised structure and focus on user control.
Looking Forward
As we navigate the ever-changing landscape of social media, it’s important to find spaces that align with our values and foster meaningful connections. While my journey has thankfully taken me away from Twitter, I’m excited about the opportunities that lie ahead on Mastodon and through more traditional blogging.
I invite you all to join me on this new chapter. Let’s continue our discussions, share ideas, and build a community that values respect, intellectual discourse, and genuine human connection.
في بيانٍ رسمي.. ريال مدريد يُقيم حفلاً لتوديع ناتشو
I would like to say that picturing myself at sea, the wind behind me, the sun overhead, would be a calming thing, but I’d be lying. I can’t swim, I don’t like being on boats, and I much prefer overcast days. And yet, I’m a huge fan of nautical swashbuckling stories. I contain multitudes.
Since we’re already on the topic of nautical adventures, I thought today would be a good day to take a look at the first issue of Vodari Voyages, from Angryfish Games’ new Patreon.
If you haven’t heard of the setting yet, The Seas of Vodari is a 5e SRD setting where the continent has been shattered, and nations and city-states exist on islands of varying sizes. There is lots of sea travel, lots of piracy, and lots of aquatic magical mayhem. You can find my review of the campaign setting books here:
Vodari Voyages is an opportunity for Angryfish Games to publish adventures and setting material for Vodari to support the work they have already done. The first issue is an adventure, The Goblin King’s Vault.
Disclaimer
I am a member of the Vodari Voyages Patreon and did not receive a review copy of this adventure. I have not had the opportunity to play in or run this adventure, but I am familiar with D&D 5e, both as a player and as a Dungeon Master.
The Ledger
The first issue of Vodari Voyages is 11-pages long, which includes an introduction, credits, and table of contents page, a four-page gazetteer of the city of Lor’Thak, a handout map of the location of the adventure, and the four-page adventure itself.
The artwork, like much of the art in the core Vodari books, is done by Mariam Trejo, and I hope that remains to be the case in the future. In the past, certain artists created a style that was associated with a particular setting, whether it was Elmore with Dragonlance, DiTerlizzi with Planescape, or Brom with Dark Sun. The product line may not be as broad, but one of its strengths is that it has both a unified and unique look to it.
The Gazetteer
If you own the Seas of Vodari campaign setting, some of the Lor’Thak Gazetteer is going to be familiar from that source. Lor’Thak is the capital of the goblin nation of Ghak, a nation that is trying to expand its influence with other nations. Compared to the description in The Seas of Vodari, the Grand Cathedral, multiple pubs and taverns, an inn catering to travelers from outside of Ghak, and various merchants have been added.
We also have additional characters detailed in the Allies and Adversaries section, including several NPCs that contribute to an emerging story in this product. There is a rebellion against the current king of Ghak that has sprung up, which incorporates an NPC detailed in the setting book, and introduces a new personality that serves as the leader of that rebellion.
If you have preconceived notions of goblins from previous editions of D&D, it’s worth noting that neither the king nor the rebels are evil. King Garhung has mostly been well regarded for increasing trade but has also come under greater scrutiny for the wealth he, personally, has accumulated, and Brobbi Vezz, the leader of the rebellion and a retired adventurer, is at least as motivated by boredom as she is by justice.
There is a secret that is revealed in the core setting book that isn’t repeated in this Gazetteer, but isn’t necessary for running the adventure, and isn’t something that detracts too much from the city if you don’t have the information. I’m glad to see this city being used, because it’s one of the most unique and fun places in the Vodari setting book. Lor’Thak builds up and out, and has many collapsing buildings and industrial mishaps, but it’s not due so much to incompetence or a lack of engineering knowledge, as it is to constant construction. Ghak even has its own national sport, Bobbleball.
Specific merchants and trade outposts called out in the gazetteer include the following:
Some of these may be relevant to the adventure, depending on the preparations made by the PCs. I also appreciate that they help to flesh out the character of the city.
The Goblin King’s Vault
There are going to be some spoilers for this adventure, so if you are planning on playing in this scenario, or just want to be surprised by it, now is the time to jump ship.
The adventure is a heist, where the PCs are hired by Brobbi Vozz, the leader of the burgeoning rebellion, to raid the vault of King Garhung. They are provided with a general map of the location, a way to infiltrate the site, a lead on where to pick up the key to the vault, information on a few of the obstacles, and a warning of the location of a trap, but only sparse details on how it works.
Brobbi wants them ready to go the next day, so whatever planning they are going to do, they need to do it quickly. There are some guidelines for what the PCs could pick up from various local merchants, but the primary encounter that’s detailed is an encounter with General Mugg’dar, who holds a key to the vault. Reading ahead, you don’t need to convince Mugg’dar to give you the key, bribe him, or rob him, it just makes it easier to find the entrance to the vault and open it.
I like this kind of setup for a heist. It’s not too open ended that the players will likely plan their way into oblivion. There is a time limit and there is a specific insertion point provided by the employers. There are a set number of obstacles to which the PCs have been made aware, and nothing they do to plan for the heist is absolutely necessary, but several things will make it easier to pull off. It’s a very similar setup to what we see in the adventures in the Keys from the Golden Vault anthology.
The PCs get smuggled into the location, and have the following to contest with:
The wording on the gargoyle encounter confused me a bit, because it states that after you provide it with a password, you then have to convince it to speak a password, which I’m assuming means that it has a separate password from the password you just gave it, meaning you can’t cut the gargoyle out of the equation by using the password on the door, but it’s a little confusing. I love the idea of talking with Bloodpaws, but I wish the encounter had a “default” action that communicated that speaking with the mutated worg is an option.
Because there is a heist, this adventure has a built-in twist, or possibly two, depending on how you look at it. There isn’t actually any treasure, a secret that the King doesn’t want to get out, because he’s been spending beyond his means, although not just on himself, but also on making the city more amenable to outsiders.
Someone that the PCs interacted with betrayed them and sets up an ambush just after they find out there is no treasure. The adventure instructs the DM to determine who betrayed the PCs based on context. For example, if they have come in contact with any of the merchant houses, it could be them. It could be one of the shopkeepers they visited to get their gear. It could be the general from whom they secured the key. It is mentioned that you can make it Brobbi Vezz, but she’s the least likely NPC to use for this. Once the PCs survive this ambush, before they can escape the vault, King Garhung and some guards attempt to stop them.
Brobbi, if you didn’t make her the turncoat, isn’t going to pay them anything additional, because the original terms were 100gp plus 25% of the take, and 25% of 0 is also 0.
Down with the Monarchy
This adventure uses some strong best practices for heist adventures, leaving the PCs open to follow up some leads, but not forcing them to do all the legwork themselves, and constraining the amount of time they have to prepare. Leaving out the details of the trap, while revealing that it exists, is a nice touch that introduces the idea that they don’t know everything. I appreciate that both guardian creatures are framed in ways that facilitate roleplaying them. If you are going to have a betrayal element to an adventure, I really appreciate having some guidelines for adjusting who the betrayer is, rather than presenting a development that may leave the PCs unwilling to trust any NPCs, ever again, for the life of your campaign. Leaving it open to someone that the PCs may already not trust, or that they may have butted heads with, is a much better option than naming a single default NPC.
Waving the Flag
Any time you introduce betrayal into an adventure, especially after revealing that the PCs aren’t going to get additional treasure, you introduce the possibility of discontent, but I think this adventure does it better than most that I’ve seen. I wish there were a little bit more included about King Garhung’s ideology and potential developments that show the nature of the increased hardships on the citizens, to either make it easier to side with the rebels, or to make it easier to realize that neither side may be the faction to sign up with long term. I also wish we had gotten just a wee bit more guidance on making sure Garhung can escape his confrontation with the PCs, in case we don’t want to change the leadership of a major nation in the setting in a 5th-level adventure.
Recommended–If the product fits in your broad area of gaming interests, you are likely to be happy with this purchase.
This adventure does exactly what I want an adventure showcasing a specific setting to do, and that’s to use the elements that make the setting unique. Lor’Thak is a great location to use to showcase what’s unique about Vodari. I appreciate having a dedicated goblin nation in the setting, and I think it’s something to showcase.
The heist format is strong and thematically builds on a relatively recent WotC product, and it provides a format that is both open-ended and constrained, meaning that the PCs can get inventive without the DM suddenly needing to design completely new scenes to accommodate the kind of drift that can happen with too few borders defined for the heist.
This was a good opening salvo to showcase what the Patreon might have below decks, and I’m looking forward to seeing more issues.
If you are interested in checking out The Seas of Vodari products, and you don’t mind helping me buy more games to write more reviews to buy more games, etc., if you use the affiliate links below, I get a bit of the sales. Thank you!
https://whatdoiknowjr.com/2024/07/08/what-do-i-know-about-reviews-the-goblin-kings-vault-5e-srd/
#3366ff #339966 #800000 #AngryfishGames #DD #DD5e #dnd #DnD5e #DungeonsDragons #ff0000 #Goblins #Pirates #Swashbuckling #TheSeasOfVodari #Vodari
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Wusstet ihr, dass …
… der französische Verleger Henri Desgrange, um den Verkauf seiner Sportzeitung L’Auto-Vélo zu steigern, das Radrennen Tour de France im Jahr 1903 als Werbeaktion aus der Taufe hob?
… bis heute auf dem Gelben Trikot der Tour de France die Initialen HD (Henri Desgrange) zu finden sind?
… der Teufelslappen (flamme rouge), der den Beginn des letzten Rennkilometers einer Etappe ankündigt, bereits seit 1906 existiert?
… im Jahr 1910 bei der Tour de France la voiture balai, der sogenannte Besenwagen, eingeführt wurde?
… mit Odile Defraye 1912 zum ersten Mal ein Nicht-Franzose die Tour de France gewann?
… sich Rennleiter Henri Desgrange zum 10. Geburtstag der Tour de France im Jahr 1913 als Neuerung einfallen ließ, den Streckenverlauf erstmals gegen den Uhrzeigersinn zu führen: von Paris durch die
Pyrenäen und die Alpen zurück nach Paris?
…Genf in der Geschichte der Tour de France erster Etappenort außerhalb Frankreichs war (Ziel der 11. Etappe und Start der 12. Etappe im Jahr 1913)?
… zur Ermittlung der Mannschaftswertung (eingeführt 1930) bei jeder Etappe die Zeiten der besten drei Fahrer eines Teams addiert werden?
… es seit 1933 die Bergwertung bei der Tour de France gibt und 1975 das rot gepunktete Trikot für den Führenden in dieser Wertung ein-
geführt wurde? Erster Träger des maillot à pois rouges war Lucien Van Impe .
… Fritz Schaer 1953 der erste Gewinner des Grünen Trikots für den besten Sprinter bei der Tour de France war?
… der 14-malige Teilnehmer Raymond Poulidor (fünfmal Zweiter, dreimal Dritter) nie die Tour de France gewinnen konnte und keinen einzigen Tag im Gelben Trikot fuhr?
… Eddie Merckx bei seiner ersten Tour-de-France–Teilnahme 1969 nicht nur sechs Etappen, sondern auch Gesamt-, Sprint- und Bergwertung sowie die Auszeichnung als bester Jungprofi gewann?
… die südenglische Stadt Plymouth 1974 erster Etappenort der Tour de France in Großbritannien war?
… Dietrich „Didi“ Thurau 1977 bei der Tour de France 15 Tage in Folge das Gelbe Trikot des Spitzenreiters trug?
… bei der Tour de France 1986 mit Bernard Hinault und dem
späteren Gesamtsieger Greg LeMond zwei Teamkollegen zeitgleich die Bergankunft in L’Alpe d’Huez erreichten?
… Stephen Roche 1987 als zweitem Radprofi nach Eddie Merckx der Gewinn der drei wichtigsten Radrennen innerhalb eines Jahres gelang: Giro d’Italia, Tour de France und Weltmeisterschaft?
… der Prolog der Tour de France 1987 und die zwei folgenden Etappen in West-Berlin anlässlich der 750-Jahr-Feier der Stadt in der DDR als Provokation wahrgenommen wurde und als Reaktion des Ostens der Start der Internationalen Friedensfahrt nicht in Warschau sondern in Ost-Berlin erfolgte?
… der positiv auf Dopingmittel getestete Tour-de-France–Sieger von 1988, Pedro Delgado , nicht disqualifiziert wurde, weil die bei ihm gefundenen Substanzen nicht auf der Dopingliste des Radsportwelt-verbands UCI standen?
… der mehrmalige Tour-de-France–Sieger Miguel Indurain (1991-1995) Der Außerirdische genannt wurde?
… die schnellste einzelne Etappe bei einer Tour de France Mario
Cipollini 1999 mit einer Durchschnittsgeschwindigkeit von 50,35 km/h gewann?
… die Helmpflicht bei der Tour de France im Jahr 2004 eingeführt wurde?
… Erik Zabel zwischen 1996 und 2007 insgesamt 81 Tage im
Grünen Trikot der Tour de France fuhr und am Ende 6-mal bester Sprinter war (1996-2001)?
… auf der 18. Etappe der Tour de France 2011 von Pinerolo nach
Galibier Serre-Chevalier 88 Fahrer das Zeitlimit (Karenzzeit) überschritten, sie aber nicht vom weiteren Verlauf der Tour ausgeschlossen wurden, sondern ihnen jeweils 20 Punkte in der Punktewertung abgezogen wurden?
… der Cime de la Bonette in den südfranzösischen Alpen (2.802 Meter über dem Meer) der höchste Gebirgspass ist, der jemals in der
Geschichte der Tour de France überquert wurde (bislang viermal: 1962, 1964, 1993 und 2008 sowie aktuell 2024 zum fünften Mal)?
… Jens Voigt , George Hincapie und Stuart O’Grady vor der 18. Tour-de-France–Teilnahme von Sylvain Chavanel im Jahr 2018 Rekord-Teilnehmer der Tour mit je 17 Teilnahmen waren?
… der Col du Tourmalet (2.115 Meter über dem Meer) in den Pyrenäen der am häufigsten überquerte Gebirgspass bei der Tour de France ist (83-mal; die erste Befahrung war im Jahr 1910)?
… die rote Rückennummer für den kämpferischsten Fahrer einer Etappe bei der Tour de France von einer Fachjury vergeben wird?
… es für die 18 UCI World Tour Teams nach dem Reglement des Radsport-Weltverbandes UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) verpflichtend ist, an der Tour de France teilzunehmen? Für 4 weitere Mannschaften aus dem Kreis der Professional Continental Teams vergibt der Veranstalter Wildcards.
… es bei der Tour de France 2024 zwei Premieren gibt? Zum ersten Mal überhaupt startet das Etappenrennen in Italien (Grand Départ in
Florenz) und zum ersten Mal in der Historie der Rundfahrt findet das
Finale nicht in Paris statt. Aufgrund der Olympischen Spiele vom
26. Juli bis 11. August 2024 endet die 21. und letzte Etappe am Sonntag, 21. Juli, ein Einzelzeitfahren über 34 Kilometer mit Start in Monaco, in Nizza.
Quellen: ProCyclingStats, eigenes Wissen und Recherche
Photos by Pixabayy
Flags by creazilla.com
https://daswortzumsport.wordpress.com/2024/06/26/unnuetzes-radsport-wissen-tour-de-france/
#000000 #0000ff #008000 #333399 #3366ff #808080 #ColDeLaBonette #ColDuTourmalet #ff0000 #LAlpeDHuez #TourDeFrance #UCI
تشيزني يصف مدرب منتخب بلاده بالمجنون!
Today I wanted to take a look at what we learned from the 4th level pregens that Kobold Press released ahead of the release of Tales of the Valiant. The pregens have their own names and backstories, and the company even has its own name, the Valiant 6. I know Pathfinder still has their iconics, but I kind of miss that on the 5e SRD front, so I’m happy to see that tradition revived.
I know my suppositions and observations are going to be moot in probably under a month, but I can’t help it, I like digging into new releases. All of the pregens are 4th level, so we’re not going to get a deep look at any of these classes. That was one of my laments, that most of what we saw in the playtests were lower level options, except for the full 20th level progression we got to see for the Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard.
I’m not going to example the backstories of the characters too closely, and I’m not looking at backgrounds much, since we know that provides some skills and a talent, and I’m not all that interested in reverse engineering the exact skills, tools, languages, and talents that go to those backgrounds. I’m also going to look at these in segments, rather than as a whole. In other words, I may not specifically reference who has what talent, or who is carrying what piece of equipment that I’m commenting on. This isn’t a review of the pregens so much as looking at what these character sheets tell us.
General Observations
My first observation is that all of these characters are 4th level, and all of them have XP listed. The XP listed for each of the characters is the same amount of XP you would need to reach 4th level in the 2014 version of the D&D rules. It doesn’t look like we’ve got a radical reimagining of advancement, although we’ll likely get options like milestone and story based advancement in the full rules.
Ability scores, ability score bonuses, and saves look unchanged. I know the playtest was allowing fighters to pick Dexterity or Strength as one of their saves, but our pregen uses strength. Skills also look unchanged. No new skills, no changes to the assumed ability score for a given skill. As much as I can tell from the character sheet, tool proficiency works the same as it does in the 2014 rules. That said, there is a talent in one of the character sheets that says that if something you are doing could use either a skill or a tool proficiency, you get advantage on the roll, which means Tales of the Valiant is turning something that was an optional rule in Xanathar’s and was floated in the 2024 D&D playtest into something you only get if you have a specific talent.
I did notice that there are passive score boxes for Perception, Investigation, and Insight. I’m curious to see if this is just because some abilities grant bonuses to their passive use, or if we’re going to have different rules about passive scores (i.e. if you have a passive score it becomes the “floor” for your results, which has not been one of my favorite 2014 era rulings).
We see a few examples of armor, and it doesn’t look like there are a lot of changes there, except for clarifying some rules associated with the armor in the 2014 rules with defined qualities. For example, leather armor has the natural tag, which I assume is referenced for druids, and splint mail has the noisy trait, which just lets you know what armor causes you to have disadvantage on dexterity (stealth) checks, something that’s already in the 2014 D&D rules. I like having these defined with tags more than catching a reference on a chart or in the item description.
The character sheet has a Death Saves section, which shows three successes and three failures, which may indicate there isn’t much of a change in how Death Saves work. Exhaustion also still has six levels, although we don’t get a definition of the levels or any kind of calculation when you check a box (not saying the sheet is bad for not doing that, its just a data point that could have been mined if it did autocalculate). Luck appears to be enshrined and is replacing inspiration. You have four boxes, because when you get your fifth point of luck, you have to roll to reset how much you have, or at least you did in the playtest, which implies that Luck still works the way it did previously.
Weapons don’t look much different, as they aren’t picking up the same kind of traits that the 2024 playtest was playing with. We do get an official 5e SRD scythe, and my main takeaway from that is that it doesn’t have the same stats as the scythe that appeared in the Book of Blades supplements from Kobold Press (which is good, because it was a bit overpowered in that source).
While we have a few spellcasters, we don’t get a lot of information on spells. From some of the other blogs recently, we know that spells are still sorted into groups like Arcane, Divine, Primal, and Wyrd, rather than having class lists. Wyrd almost seems like its still a class spell list for Warlocks, until I see something else in the rules that references it. We appear to have the terminology for “spell level” officially shifted to “spell circles.” The playtest rules introduced the idea that spells that could be cast as rituals would just be ritual spells, which are tracked separately, and that appears to have made it into the final rules.
I thought that Doom as a monster mechanic was going to be optional, with some of the special abilities triggered by Doom removed from some of the stat blocks we saw earlier in the playtest. While this is related to one of the heritage abilities, I wanted to point this out here, because either there is a heritage ability that interacts with an optional rule, which feels like it would be disappointing for a player that picked that background, or Doom is no longer optional, even if monsters don’t have special Doom triggered abilities.
Most of the changes I see here I’m okay with. While I like Arcane, Divine, and Primal as definitions of sources of spells, I’m still not sure about using those in lieu of class spell lists, and I need to see more of some additional classes to really get a feel for how much I like this. I’m not a big fan of Wyrd as a power source (i.e. your magic comes from Lovecraftville). I hope we don’t run into too many “we’re quantifying something you may just let players do, or something you have the flexibility to use at your discretion, into a talent.” When those build up too much, as a GM, I almost feel like I need to be less flexible with my rules interpretations because otherwise I’m not honoring some of the mechanical choices my players are making.
Class Observations
We already learned this from the blog posts, and from the preview of the Mechanist, but the subclass progression is standardized across classes, which for these characters means they get their subclasses at 3rd level. When it comes to things like hit dice, hit points, saves, and proficiencies, there doesn’t appear to be too much different here, although it looks like they reversed the “wizards don’t get any weapon proficiencies” trial balloon from the playtest.
Cleric
This cleric has proficiency with the Scythe in addition to simple weapons, and I’m not sure where that comes from. The backstory seems to reference it as a weapon associated with a specific god, which makes me wonder if beyond domain, there will be a god specific boon, or I could have just missed the proficiency from somewhere else.
Clerics get their bonus melee (and maybe an option for cantrips) radiant or necrotic damage earlier than 8th level. Channel Divinity still has the baseline ability to turn, but it includes fiends and not just undead.
As part of their Light Domain subclass, they get light and dancing lights as free cantrips, and they don’t need to concentrate on dancing lights. Overwhelming Flash uses a reaction to impose a -3 to an oncoming attack, and blinds the foe if they hit. I have no idea if that -3 is just standard for the ability, or if it’s derived from something. The extra Channel Divinity from the Light Domain damages foes that are within an existing light source, in bright light.
I like the flavor of the range of an ability being limited to already existing light, but I’m not a fan of the oddball -3 from Overwhelming Flash, and I hope it’s not a sign of more specific +/- effects coming back into the game.
Fighter
Fighters have the second wind replacement from the playtest, which lets them spend up to their proficiency bonus number of hit dice when they are bloodied, once per long rest. It also looks like the shift from combat styles to abilities that require you to spend a bonus action to activate has made it through into the rules, as this fighter has the ability to impose disadvantage on attacks against them for allies that are within 5 ft. of them, from enemies within 5 ft., on the first attack. Action Surge is still part of the fighter and looks unchanged.
The Weapon Master subclass is the “sort of” replacement for Battle Masters, except that, at least in the playtest, all of the abilities were focused on boosting the fighter, themself, rather than allies. We get a note that the fighter can use stunts PB +1 times per day, once per turn, but we have no definitions for any stunts. The Weapon Master subclass also grants mastery in multiple weapons, allowing the fighter to reroll damage with those weapons, and also allows them to roll damage with stunts that don’t normally do damage.
In the playtest, some Fighter options felt more powerful than they were before, but only in limited circumstances, and other abilities had additional limiters. I don’t think fighters are overpowered at all in the 2014 rules, but I do like the feel of spending hit dice and using actions to set up abilities, rather than having second wind exist outside of existing rules, and having abilities that are passively modifying the fighter’s abilities. Without definitions for stunts, though, that means this pregen doesn’t really do much until we see the full rules, without using the last round of playtest rules.
Mechanist
We already got a preview of the Mechanist, but if you were wondering how this would be different than Artificers, the Mechanist isn’t a spellcaster. They get light and medium armor, shields, simple, and martial weapons. Mechanists have a d10 hit points, which means they are positioned as a front line fighter.
The mechanist can detect the magical properties or spells that are active on an item. They can use an object as a bonus action, which will be handier when they get magic items. There is also a note that they can use “weapon options” with a bonus action, which seems like it’s referencing some of the rules that appeared in the Tome of Heroes. These are special abilities that aren’t tied to a weapon, but are limited to certain types of weapons (like two-handed weapons, or slashing weapons). The mechanist has a Shard of Creation, something they can reshape into objects three times per rest.
The mechanist can spend an hour to infuse an item with an ability, which can vary from adding special sight abilities to something the character looks through, providing a +1 bonus, or giving an item with the loading property an automated loading function. They can also use a reaction to lessen an incoming damage type, which then gives them resistance to that damage type for the next minute.
I have no idea how these will play. I know that this particular Mechanist does feel like it would be more at home in a less “steampunk” or “clockpunk” setting, and works as the more standard fantasy “smith that learns legendary techniques.” I like Artificers, but I also like the idea that you can have a creator/magic infusion class that doesn’t require quite as much pushing on an established setting’s feel, if it doesn’t make room for mechanization.
Rogue
Rogues may be the least changed of all of these, outside of the changes that happen with subclasses, both the levels at which they grant abilities, and the unique subclasses designed for those assumptions. Expertise, cunning action, and sneak attack are all familiar abilities. Rogues do lose out on using longswords, which don’t do them much good anyway.
The Enforcer subclass seems to be aiming for a similar space as the Assassin, but with a little more reliability. You have advantage throughout the first round of combat, lining you up for more sneak attacks even if you get ahead of the party. You get a crit if you hit someone that’s surprised, which will probably be less useful. You also get to make another attack once per turn if you drop someone to zero hit points, which is less excited when you realize you can’t get sneak attack more than once per turn (but it is turn, and not round).
I’m not excited by the rogue, but I’m satisfied with it. Getting reliable sneak attack damage on round one is one of those “nutritious” options. It’s a good ability, it’s just not flashy.
Warlock
The warlock feels really weird to me, because it’s the same, but has some screenburn from changes that might have been made, and I don’t know what it’s going to do for the class overall. Our example is Fiend patron Warlock, and Warlocks still pick a Pact, which in this case is the Pact of the Chain. The warlock also gets two invocations, and the two that this warlock has, Agonizing Blast and Eldritch Spear, look a lot like the usual versions of those abilities. From the Fiend patron, they also get a familiar looking Dark One’s Blessing, which lets you trigger the ability if anyone in 30 ft. drops someone to 0 hit points, not just you. That’s a good change.
Now here are the changes. Eldritch Blast is a class ability not a cantrip. Warlocks are now a half-casting class . . . but they also have an ability called Pact Magic, which gives them the ability to use two spells at the highest level the Warlock can cast per short or long rest. We don’t know what higher level spellcasting is going to look like since this is just a 4th level character. I’m not sure what it’s going to feel like to give the warlock more spells across the board, but that’s not the thing that’s nagging at me.
Some of the ancillary material talking about the Wyrd power source implies that some casters start dabbling with stuff they shouldn’t be working with, and that many people tapping into this power need to have a Patron to keep them from blowing themselves up or shutting off their brain when they continue to use the Wyrd power source. That’s a lot different than the current Warlock’s story. The warlock becomes someone that didn’t make a deal to get power, they are occultists that natively know how to cast spells, without the patron. It means that no matter what patron your warlock has, they are using mythos magic to power themselves. Let’s assume you end up with a patron similar to the Celestial patron in 2014. Your angelic friend decides to help you continue using mythos magic in exchange for maybe doing some good once in a while? I’m not sure I like that shift in story.
Wizard
As mentioned above, the biggest change we get here is a change back from the playtest trial balloon of removing all weapon proficiencies from the wizard, which has a lot of potential knock on effects, even if I understand the reasoning. The wizard looks pretty standard, with the ability to recover a spell on a short rest. They can also prepare a number of spells that looks like its still in line with their Int bonus plus their level.
The main thing that’s new is the Battle Mage, which appeared in the playtest, and doesn’t look like it was significantly changed. Two times per long rest you can make you and your allies immune to damage cause by your spell, and 2 times per long rest, when you cast a spell using spell slots, you gain a bonus to AC and resistance to piercing, bludgeoning, and slashing damage. This was one of my favorite subclasses from the playtest. The only real negative is that it works better than some of the 2014 subclasses it borrows from, but that’s only a problem if you really want those to remain viable options, and we don’t even know what subclasses we’ll see in the 2024 rules and how they might be changed.
Overall, that means I like what I see in the fighter and the wizard, I’m fine with what I see from the cleric and the rogue, I like the story ramifications for the mechanist and want to see it in play, and I don’t like the story ramifications for the warlock, and need to get a feel for it in play.
Lineage and Heritage Observations
This gets a little hard to evaluate, because some of the Lineage options just don’t have any rules on the character sheet to represent them. Here is our list:
I’m not sure how I feel about elves reintroducing the concept of low-light vision. I kind of like it from a storytelling perspective, especially given the proliferation of darkvision ancestries in the current game. Both of the human characters have two talents, so I imagine humans are just known for being so unnoteworthy that they pick up a trait from somewhere else again. I can’t find anything on the orc’s sheet that looks like it comes from lineage.
As far as Heritages go, we get these examples:
I’m not sure all of these are equal from an adventuring standpoint. The supplicant background has the best story, basically being a creature that grew up under the thumb of a big dungeon monster. I know these are trying hard to be “general” backgrounds, but I wish they had a little more personality. I loved what Thrones & Bones: Banner of the Wolf did, where the heritage really felt like it represented a fantasy culture that had context in the setting, but I guess that’s the curse of core rulebook functionality.
Talent Observations
It looks like the final rules will continue to organize talents into Magic, Martial, and Technical. I didn’t mind that quantification, because I think as feats (or your replacement for feats) go from being optional in the game to standard, there should be a few more ground rules for how they work and what they get you, and I don’t mind not throwing the gates wide open for everyone. Additionally, it’s pretty easy to pick up a background or a subclass that will get you access to a list if you really want it.
The talents on display are:
These are fun, but not quite as within the same scope. Trade Skills gets the short end of the stick, even if you don’t take the Xanathar’s optional rule into consideration. I’m not a fan of too many ways to double proficiency bonus, but compared to some of these others, it falls behind. I like the roleplaying and story elements you can play with if you have a player that has polyglot, and I like seeing some more open ended benefits, like asking the GM a question about an object. Aware feels like a lot, but I don’t know how often I’ve actually ambushed my players where some of these would come into play. I like the idea of adding more rules options where you have a minimum to you d20 roll. We’ve seen it in a few subclasses, but I like ways to boost the ability to succeed without breaking the ceiling of what’s possible on the roll.
Final Thoughts
It’s weird, because I know this set of rules had a relatively quick turnaround, but it feels like I’ve been waiting to see them for a while. It may be due to the playtest being a little constrained, even for backers. I like that the mechanist has settled into addressing the role, but not the form, of the artificer. I think it may be fun to have more active widgets to play with when running a fighter, and I just like the feeling that the fighter “second wind,” while not called that anymore, actually feels like a second wind because it’s pulling from the character’s hit dice. If the rogue stays consistent with 2014, except for moving up their subclass abilities, as well as adding in the 10th level options worked into all of the classes, I think it will be in good shape. The wizard, the cleric, and the rogue, especially feel like my excitement is going to be invested in seeing their subclasses.
I wish I liked the warlock more. I also hope that rolling eldritch blast in as a class ability is something that we see with the ranger and hunter’s mark. I mentioned that I wanted more flavorful heritage options, but when I was making pregens in the playtest, I really enjoyed being able to mix and match elements with lineage to produce some unique results. I hope more of them have decision points like the kobold (even though we only saw one finalized option here).
I’m looking forward to next month, and also fully prepared to realize that with multiple full 5e SRD fantasy games coming out, my ideal game may exist in a Venn diagram instead of a single source.
Note: This post includes an affiliate link to one of the products that I mentioned. If you are inclined to buy it and use the affiliate link, it helps me keep this website going. Thanks!
https://whatdoiknowjr.com/2024/04/24/what-do-i-know-about-first-impressions-the-valiant-6-5e-srd/
To accompany the launch of Tales of the Valiant, Kobold Press has cooked up the Valiant 6, our iconic characters. Here are images and downloadable PDFs of 4th-level PCs ready for action. Use them to help new people to your game or as a resource for conventions and store play!
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