#but it also makes equal sense to just … subtract 2

[anim-ttrpgs]

A pregen PC from our prewritten Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy adventure module, FORIVA: The Angel Game.

Lars Kowalski, "The Collector"

Of course this is just an option for those who would rather just jump instead of making their own character.

Find a full breakdown of his stats and further characterization under the cut, and if this interests you, consider downloading a PDF of both the fully functional Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy rulebook and FORIVA: The Angel Game with a $5 pledge to our Patreon!

Traits

1. Mind over Body || Have a maximum of 3 superficial and 3 penetrative health, but also 4 extra points to use on skills, meaning the total of this character’s Base skills can equal 4. Warning: A gunshot would kill this character instantly.

2. Perfectionist || When this character gets anything but a full success on any non-combat roll, they can choose to try again, but this costs 1 point of composure. If this character also doesn't get a full success on the second roll, they may choose to lose an additional 1 composure and try again. This can be retried as much as desired.

3. Blissfully Ignorant: This character is not paying close enough attention to recognize the danger all around them. Add +2 to all Composure rolls, but subtract -2 from all Senses rolls. 

Rich middle-aged husband and an indulgent collector in his hobby - one who borders on hedonism with his vast game and arcade collection which he purchases to keep for himself, although he doesn't even play most of them. He loves to show them off and brag about their novelty and history, full of pride that he is the final step in that history. The few machines he does play are the oldest and the first he’s ever played, and they are only for his use. They fill him with a nostalgia that he has never been able to recapture.

Unfortunately, his full focus on his possessions can distract him from his family, and though they love each other deeply, he can unknowingly put them to the wayside. Such was the case when the older of his two sons became more and more isolated in his room, and Lars had seen no problem with it until they found him unmoving in his bed. The son, Noah, is currently catatonic for seemingly no reason. The doctors are perplexed. On the rare occasion that Noah does snap out of it for moments at a time, he will only speak about one thing: An “Angel”.

Lars has thrown his full attention into this matter now. Through his connections, he has heard that this has happened to many teenagers, and now he seeks whatever leads he can to fix this problem and get back to how things are supposed to be. This is a disruption in his perfect life, an attack on his loved ones, and he will not stand it - though, a part of him deep inside looks upon this mystery with the same fascinated gaze that he would cast upon a new marvel to fully know and possess.

[xbenichi]

Hello! Your game is beautiful and I'm looking forward to seeing it progress! I have a question about how you accomplish the EarthBound-like scanline manipulation effects of the battle backgrounds in Godot! It looks super cool (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

thanks for the compliment, it means alot!

as for your question i just move the odd and even rows of the UV into opposite directions to each other. the way i accomplish is by having a variable called diff_x and then i check if the row is even or odd of course. and how i do that is by multiplying the y of UV by the texture vertical size and then i divide the result by 2. and then i do a % 2 and check if its 0 (even) or not (odd). if it is zero i add 0.05 to diff_x and if its not i subtract 0.05 from 0.05. and of course you also gotta multiply it with other variables like frequency, speed, and amplitude and time.

heres the code for reference:

(screen_size is the texture size, mostly there cause GLES2 does not support getting texture information for some reason. but you can achieve cool effects by having the screen_size smaller than the actual texture size)

and then just apply it to your shader and bada bing bada boom it should work.

(newuv just equals to UV here)

and yeah there you have it! each row of your texture will now move in opposite ways to each other. you can also do the same thing for vertical scanline manipulation by swapping the x and y with each other in the first snippet of code i shared. you can achieve yet another cool effect by manipulating both the horizontal and vertical rows.

incase my explanation does not make sense which is probably the case, shoot me a DM to ask me more about it.

[heartofstanding]

Joan of Kent's age

When I was writing up this post on Joan of Kent, I got curious about the question of Joan's age. The year that's typically given is 1328 but Kathryn Warner has argued that it was actually 1326 or 1327, based on the Inquisition Post Mortem for Joan's brother, John, made in 1352. Two entries in the IPM give her age as "25 years and more at St Michael last" and "26 years and more at St. Michael last". Warner concludes that as these two entries are the only ones that give a date - St. Michael being Michaelmas or 29 September - around which Joan's birthday must have fallen, then they must have the correct age for Joan, and then concludes:

Where does that [1328] date come from?  Did someone perhaps once see John's IPM and mess up the maths and think that age 25 or 26 subtracted from 1352 equalled a date of birth in 1328, and everyone else has just copied it ever since without checking?  Or is there some other evidence somewhere I'm missing?

Have historians just being repeating someone's bad maths for decades, too dumb to check the source? Well, no. Come with me on a journey of statistics.

My first thought was Joan's age might have been given in the documents relating to her marriages - which are helpfully transcribed in the appendices of Karl P. Wenterdorf's article on Joan's marriages. Except these only say that Joan was of marriageable age when she married Holland. The canonical age of consent for girls was 12 so Joan would have at least 12 when she married Holland, which would make her born at the latest in 1328. But it didn't make sense that historians would pick this when the reference is so unspecific and Warner is so convinced that the IPM gave us a clearcut answer.

On a whim, I checked out the IPM myself and stopped. The first entry gave her age as "24 years and more". I started scrolling. The answer became obvious. The IPM gives a range of ages from 22 to 26 years and more, which Warner dismisses by claiming the juries would not have never met Joan or know when she was born and just picked random on the basis that all they knew was that she had to be born between 1326 and 1330. But since two give a date around which she could be said to be "25/26 years and more", one of these, according to Warner, must be the correct date of birth.

But the 1328 date comes from the IPM, clear and simple. It is not based on the same logic that Warner uses and it is not a case of "messing up" the maths. It's statistics. Basic statistical analysis.

There are 19 entries that give Joan's age, plus three more that say only "heir as above" [1]. Her age given ranges from 22 to 26, given in turn would mean her birth year ranges from 1326 to 1330. Giving her age as 24 and her birth year as 1328 would put her in the middle of that range. 1328 is also suggested by the frequency by which the age "24 years and more" is given - ten entries out the nineteen entries give that age. Over half. The second-most frequent entry is "26 years and more" at five entries, half that of the entries that give her age as 24 [2]. 22 years and more is given twice. 23 years and more and 25 years and more are only given once each. Here is a chart showing the frequency.

([1] The entries above these give her as 25 years and more once and 24 years and more twice. I have not included these entries in the tally of entries for 24 or 25 years. If I did, the number of entries of 25 years and more would rise to 2 and for 24 years and more, 12. [2] one of the entries that give her age as 26 gives it as "26 years and not more". Rather that counting it separately, I combined it with the "26 years and more".)

The average age based on these entries is 24.3 years of age.

We can narrow Joan's date of birth down further. Her father, Edmund Earl of Kent, was executed on 19 March 1330 and her brother, John, was born just under a month later, on 7 April 1330. Joan is said to have assisted at his baptism so she cannot have been his twin and cannot have been born in 1330. If her birthday did fall around 29 September, she cannot have been born in 1329 either as her mother would have been pregnant with John then. 1328 is the latest year she could be born in, assuming the September birthdate is correct. We don't know when the elder of her two brothers, Edmund, was born only that he had died before October 1331 and like Joan, was a godparent to their younger brother.

Joan's parents married in December 1325, meaning September 1326 is the earliest any child could be born - though this assumes the child was not the result of pre-marital sex. Pre-marital sex was not exactly an uncommon feature in medieval marriages so it is a possibility.

Warner cites another piece of evidence for disregarding the 1328 birthdate. John's proof of age reports:

Edmund son of the said Edmund [Earl of Kent], and Brother John de Grenstede, prior of the order of Friars Preacher of Arundel, and Joan, sister of the said Edmund son of Edmund, lifted the said John from the sacred font on 7 April, 4 Edward III…

Warner concludes that if Joan was born in 1328, it is unlikely that at 18 months, Joan would be considered "old enough and big enough and responsible enough" to lift her newborn brother from the font, even with adult assistance. Maybe, but a similar issue would apply if Joan was 2.5 years old. Perhaps, too, the proof of age should not be read as an exact statement of what happened at John's baptism and the exact wording of Joan "lifting" her newborn brother as a standard turn of phrase than a perfect description of what she did. Both Joan and Edmund would've needed the assistance of adults to act as godparents, though the proof of age does not mention this either. Warner points out that the earliest a child could have been born to their parents was September 1326, which means at either child could be, at most, 3.5 years old. A 3.5 year old wouldn't have been tall enough to reach the font on their own - especially once we take into consideration the forensic evidence that medieval children developed physically slower than modern children.

Another factor, unmentioned by Warner but pointed out by Penny Lawne, is that the direness of the family's situation meant that the newborn John's siblings were playing a very unusual role. Small children were not the typical choice for godparents. This was, after all, just under a month since Edmund, Earl of Kent had been executed and it's likely they were under some kind of house arrest at the time. Edmund and Joan were likely the most suitable choice around - John's other godfather was a prior, a "modest choice" given the family's status. If Joan was 18 months old, it may simply reflect that the family had little alternative.

It is true that two entries in the IPM give Joan's age as "25/26 years and more at St. Michael last." which has generally been taken to suggest Joan was born on or around the feast of St. Michael, i.e. 29 September. Warner assumes that because these two entries are the only ones to be specific about the date, they must be better informed about Joan's birth year.

However, the fact that neither agree on her age suggest that they are not wholly reliable. Furthermore, Warner does not suggest why the locations where this IPM was carried out (Leicester and Nottingham) should be so well informed about Joan's birth and the rest not. We do not know where Joan was born or any details of her birth, such as her godparents, to know if she was born in those locations (Warner herself suggests that if the 1326 date is correct, it's likely Joan was born overseas - which would suggest her birthdate would be incredibly obscure). Nor does it seem like her own proof of age survives to give us these details, or else Warner or Lawne would have cited it.

Warner's final piece of evidence for suggesting that Joan was "rather older" (two years older) and born in 1326 or 1327 is that it would make her "13 or 14" when she married Thomas Holland, as opposed to 12 years of age which is more in keeping with modern sensibilities. Actually, given her birthday was in September and she married Holland in or before May 1340, she would have been 13 at most. Such an argument has no basis in surviving evidence or fact, it is about making modern people more comfortable with the reality of Joan's life. A better argument is that if Joan was born in 1328 the claim made in Holland's petition to the pope that she was of "marriageable age" when they married would be factually incorrect as she would only around 11 years and 8 months old and not yet the canonical age of consent - 12. However, it is possible that Holland fudged the claim and rounded Joan's age up for the purposes of his claim.

*

I don't really know what to think now. I was fairly convinced by Warner's argument that Joan must have been born in 1326 or 1327 but seeing for myself how frequent the age of 24 years is given makes me feel that the 1328 may be far more likely than Warner believes. The theory Warner suggests - that the juries simply guessed at when Joan could be born and came up with a random number - does not readily explain why over half of the juries should randomly pick 24 years of age - double the number of the juries who picked 26 years of age, and ten times the number of the juries who picked 25 years of age. In the end, I do not think the 1328 birthdate can be so readily dismissed - I would say that Joan could have been born in 1326, 1327 or 1328, and unless more evidence is discovered, we will never a definitive answer.

[jaypea00101010]

Rage Reworked

Rage is a really fun class feature, but it could be better.

With the 2024 player's handbook, Wizards of the Coast have been moving towards rage being an 'always on' feature. Sure you've still got limited uses, but not only can you use a bonus action to keep it up (so you don't need to just hit or be hit) and use it more out of combat, you get an extra use back on a short rest, and most importantly, it now lasts for 10 minutes.

10 minutes.

With a bonus action, it seems clear to me that the intent is for barbarians to sneak around a dungeon while raging, which doesn't really feel thematic for me. In fact I know that's the intent because a later feature lets barbarians use strength for stealth while raging.

Generally this just seems to me that the intent is to make sure barbarians never run out of rages, and in that case, why still have limited uses? It doesn't make sense for me that a barbarian could just, not get angry when they've gotten angry twice today. Combining this with my other rage tweaks, I propose a solution, I propose:

Frenzy

1st-level barbarian feature, which optionally replaces the Rage feature

In battle, you fight with primal ferocity. On your turn, you can enter a frenzy as a bonus action.

While in frenzy and not wearing heavy armor, you gain the following benefits:

You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.

You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity, the weight you can push, drag, or lift, and creatures you can push or grapple.

When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a +2 bonus to the damage roll. This bonus increases as you level.

You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. 

At  11th level, you also have resistance to force damage.

You ignore the Fatigued condition

You are unable to cast or concentrate on spells while in frenzy, except for any free casts of leveled spells you have gained through your race.

Your frenzy lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you haven't attacked a hostile creature, taken damage, cast a spell, or made a strength check since your last turn.

When you end a frenzy, you gain the fatigued condition. Finishing a short rest removes 1 of your levels of fatigue, and finishing a long rest removes a number of levels of fatigue equal to your constitution modifier (minimum 1).

Fatigued

While you are subjected to the Fatigued condition you experience the following effects:

Levels of Fatigue. This Condition is cumulative. Each time you receive it, you gain 1 level of fatigue. You die if your fatigue level exceeds 10.

d20 Rolls Affected. When you make a d20 Test, you subtract your fatigue level from the d20 roll.

Spell Save DCs Affected. Subtract your fatigue level from the Spell save DC of any Spell you cast.

Speed Affected. Your movement speed is reduced by 5 feet for every two fatigue levels you have.

Ending the Condition. Finishing a Long Rest removes 1 of your levels of fatigue. When your fatigue level reaches 0, you are no longer fatigued.

Technically this isn't completely resourceless, you're still having to track your fatigue, but Frenzy feels a lot more thematic to me. So what are the changes and why?

Fatigue vs Limited Uses. I've already mentioned feeling that limited uses doesn't feel right for a barbarian, but the idea of fatigue, where pushing yourself into rage has physical rammifications (that you can ignore while raging) feels thematic, and while yes it's technically limited by the death level for fatigue, pushing yourself so far that you literally die from anger feels more thematic than just, not being able to rage any more. Also 'extra uses' being losing fatigue from resting also just feels like it makes sense for a barbarian.

Force Resistance. For reasons I've discussed a few times before, I feel with the move in high CR monster design away from B/P/S damage, barbarians absolutely need force resistance at later levels so they can keep being the tank they're meant to.

Spells and Strength. Playing a barbarian genasi or tiefling just feels bad, they're really fun combinations (just look at the love Karlach's gotten), but you can't cast spells in rage, so what's the point in having them, well, letting racial spells be cast in frenzy (and continue it) makes those combinations feel a lot better. Additionally, rage continuing from Strength checks lets you use your rage to push and grapple in combat, or move things around outside it without having to worry about it ending early (DMs could rule that raging them pulling something is only one strength check, I'd say you're still making them after the first, but they're low enough you'd automatically pass, your milage may vary)

No Bonus Action to End. Rage ending as a bonus action also always felt weird to me thematically and I've never seen it come up, so Frenzy... doesn't. if you want to stop your fury, you have to take time to calm down, you can't just stop easily.

Counting as Larger. This is another thing where it just feels like barbarians should already get it, you're a raging juggernaut, you should be able to grapple T-Rexes and push away adult dragons!

[mariacallous]

In our increasingly digital lives, security depends on cryptography. Send a private message or pay a bill online, and you’re relying on algorithms designed to keep your data secret. Naturally, some people want to uncover those secrets—so researchers work to test the strength of these systems to make sure they won’t crumble at the hands of a clever attacker.

One important tool in this work is the LLL algorithm, named after the researchers who published it in 1982—Arjen Lenstra, Hendrik Lenstra Jr. and László Lovász. LLL, along with its many descendants, can break cryptographic schemes in some cases; studying how they behave helps researchers design systems that are less vulnerable to attack. And the algorithm’s talents stretch beyond cryptography: It’s also a useful tool in advanced mathematical arenas such as computational number theory.

Over the years, researchers have honed variants of LLL to make the approach more practical—but only up to a point. Now, a pair of cryptographers have built a new LLL-style algorithm with a significant boost in efficiency. The new technique, which won the Best Paper award at the 2023 International Cryptology Conference, widens the range of scenarios in which computer scientists and mathematicians can feasibly use LLL-like approaches.

“It was really exciting,” said Chris Peikert, a cryptographer at the University of Michigan who was not involved in the paper. The tool has been the focus of study for decades, he said. “It’s always nice when a target that has been worked on for so long … shows that there’s still surprises to be found.”

LLL-type algorithms operate in the world of lattices: infinite collections of regularly spaced points. As one way of visualizing this, imagine you’re tiling a floor. You could cover it in square tiles, and the corners of those tiles would make up one lattice. Alternatively, you could choose a different tile shape—say, a long parallelogram—to create a different lattice.

A lattice can be described using its “basis.” This is a set of vectors (essentially, lists of numbers) that you can combine in different ways to get every point in the lattice. Let’s imagine a lattice with a basis consisting of two vectors: [3, 2] and [1, 4]. The lattice is just all the points you can reach by adding and subtracting copies of those vectors.

That pair of vectors isn’t the lattice’s only basis. Every lattice with at least two dimensions has infinitely many possible bases. But not all bases are created equal. A basis whose vectors are shorter and closer to right angles with one another is usually easier to work with and more useful for solving some computational problems, so researchers call those bases “good.” An example of this is the pair of blue vectors in the figure below. Bases consisting of longer and less orthogonal vectors—like the red vectors—can be considered “bad.”

This is a job for LLL: Give it (or its brethren) a basis of a multidimensional lattice, and it’ll spit out a better one. This process is known as lattice basis reduction.

What does this all have to do with cryptography? It turns out that the task of breaking a cryptographic system can, in some cases, be recast as another problem: finding a relatively short vector in a lattice. And sometimes, that vector can be plucked from the reduced basis generated by an LLL-style algorithm. This strategy has helped researchers topple systems that, on the surface, appear to have little to do with lattices.

In a theoretical sense, the original LLL algorithm runs quickly: The time it takes to run doesn’t scale exponentially with the size of the input—that is, the dimension of the lattice and the size (in bits) of the numbers in the basis vectors. But it does increase as a polynomial function, and “if you actually want to do it, polynomial time is not always so feasible,” said Léo Ducas, a cryptographer at the national research institute CWI in the Netherlands.

In practice, this means that the original LLL algorithm can’t handle inputs that are too large. “Mathematicians and cryptographers wanted the ability to do more,” said Keegan Ryan, a doctoral student at the University of California, San Diego. Researchers worked to optimize LLL-style algorithms to accommodate bigger inputs, often achieving good performance. Still, some tasks have remained stubbornly out of reach.

The new paper, authored by Ryan and his adviser, Nadia Heninger, combines multiple strategies to improve the efficiency of its LLL-style algorithm. For one thing, the technique uses a recursive structure that breaks the task down into smaller chunks. For another, the algorithm carefully manages the precision of the numbers involved, finding a balance between speed and a correct result. The new work makes it feasible for researchers to reduce the bases of lattices with thousands of dimensions.

Past work has followed a similar approach: A 2021 paper also combines recursion and precision management to make quick work of large lattices, but it worked only for specific kinds of lattices, and not all the ones that are important in cryptography. The new algorithm behaves well on a much broader range. “I’m really happy someone did it,” said Thomas Espitau, a cryptography researcher at the company PQShield and an author of the 2021 version. His team’s work offered a “proof of concept,” he said; the new result shows that “you can do very fast lattice reduction in a sound way.”

The new technique has already started to prove useful. Aurel Page, a mathematician with the French national research institute Inria, said that he and his team have put an adaptation of the algorithm to work on some computational number theory tasks.

LLL-style algorithms can also play a role in research related to lattice-based cryptography systems designed to remain secure even in a future with powerful quantum computers. They don’t pose a threat to such systems, since taking them down requires finding shorter vectors than these algorithms can achieve. But the best attacks researchers know of use an LLL-style algorithm as a “basic building block,” said Wessel van Woerden, a cryptographer at the University of Bordeaux. In practical experiments to study these attacks, that building block can slow everything down. Using the new tool, researchers may be able to expand the range of experiments they can run on the attack algorithms, offering a clearer picture of how they perform.

[bluedalahorse]

2. Do you read/reread your own fics?

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

13. How much planning do you do before writing?

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing?

Thanks for the ask!

2. Do you read/reread your own fics?

I do. Sometimes for the purpose of reminding myself what I wrote before and making sure later chapters line up with that (though of course there are inconsistencies in my longfic anyway) and but sometimes just for fun. Usually I’m rereading my own stuff because I can’t sleep and it helps to have something familiar and soothing, but not something so new and novel that it makes me more awake and I’m never able to fall back asleep again. And hey, I write the stuff I like to read, so it works.

3. What’s your favorite fic that you’ve written?

Don’t make me choose, I love all my children equally! Well, okay, maybe I’m glad that the Gundam Wing fic circa 2000 with the fangirl Japanese and the horrendously mischaracterized evil Relena is gone from the internet forever. I do not miss my era of hating on fictional female characters.

If I had to pick some favorite parts of what I’ve written so far (because I haven’t written a lot of short fics, more like longer stuff) I like chapters 11-15 of Heart and Homeland, which take place at a ball at the Ehrencronas’ estate. So many events and relationships happened in those chapters, it felt sort of like writing a season finale. We’re now getting in to chapters that feel more like a series finale, and it’s just as exciting.

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Terrain Boundaries Territory, my second person fanfic-in-verse where Sara is Getting Revenge On August. It was the first fic I’d posted to the internet for about seven years! Even though it is now heavily AU based on how season 2 played out, I’m glad I took the risk to write something in a completely unusual format, and then I’m glad I posted it to AO3. Sometimes it’s worth just putting your ideas out there and seeing what happens!

13. How much planning do you do before writing?

It depends. Also, there are also different types of planning that I do.

One way that I plan is by making big structural outlines. For Heart and Homeland, @heliza24 and I have a lot to keep track of, so we work in thematically linked batches of chapters. 1-3 was our first batch, 4-6 our second batch and so on. Each batch is a tab on a spreadsheet, and we then have a line for each letter, prose scene, whatever, along with a summary, who the thing is assigned to, and a link to the document with the thing. This helps us keep the flow of the story relatively structured, though occasionally we end up adding and subtracting ideas as we write things out, as well as flipping the order of certain scenes once we know how things are working.

Here’s what the spreadsheet can look like:

(Blue means something is assigned to me, yellow means it’s something assigned to Heliza. Also, sometimes our summaries get snarky, but because this was very early on in our plotting process I was being relatively serious.)

For a shorter work, I might not be as concerned about a big structural outline. 

When it comes to planning out scenes, I will give myself a few minutes before I write a scene to make some notes about what I’m about to work on. I try to think about, what is the purpose of the scene? How do each character’s emotions shift (or not?) What are the things that happen? What important lines of dialogue do I need to remember? What images/appeals to the reader’s senses are going to give us clues about a character’s emotional state? That’s usually half a page of jotting—I mostly try to get down the things I don’t want to forget. I don’t try to get everything in a scene because sometimes that comes out while writing.

One more thought about planning: sometimes a season drops in the middle of a longfic and you end up adjusting things from your original plans! We wrote the first 19 chapters of H & H in the months between season 1 and season 2, and while we’re keeping 95% of our original plans intact, we did make some alterations and play with some storylines based on season 2 plots. For instance, we were able to use Marcus and Jan-Olof as part of the story where originally we were gonna have to invent some OCs. So season 2 turned out pretty useful for our plotting!

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

Answered that in this post with probably too much text.

If you want just one line, though, my inner twelve-year-old always giggles too much in this one Heart and Homeland letter where August is writing Erik early on, and he says, Were [Simon] not so dedicated to his studies or so adept at fencing, I would have a difficult time supporting Wilhelm’s continued association with him. If, after reading this, you have your own concerns, please send word and I will explicitly forbid any further intercourse between the pair.

Look, if you’re writing a 19th century AU and you can’t make a joke using the historic meaning of the word intercourse at least once, then what’s the point?

22. Do you know how your fic will end before you start writing?

Yes and no. I have a general idea but as I write themes develop, and then that helps me shape what the end is going to be like. It’s hard to get that balance of catharsis though! Endings are challenging.

Thanks for playing along! If anyone else wants to send me some numbers, the ask game is here.

[crossoverworldtree]

Telepathy (Expanded) (5-Points per Level)

This functions as described in Angel, but each level extends the range and adds to all Telepathy rolls for each level beyond the first (range penalties apply, this describes the normal range).  Use the basis set on the Supernatural Senses range chart.

1. Contact 2. 2 yards per Willpower 3. 10 yards per Willpower 4. 50 Yards per Willpower 5. 100 Yards per level of Willpower. Line of sight is no longer needed. 6. 200 Yards per level of Willpower. 7. 500 Yards per Willpower 8. 1 Mile per Willpower 9. 50 Miles per Willpower 10. 100 Miles per Willpower

Further, with a Willpower, Telepathy level and Wild Card: Psychic Powers task, the psychic can attempt a psionic attack.  This over-stimulates the brain and do minor damage, but largely is there to stun and knock out.  This is resisted by a Willpower (Doubled) roll from the target.  On a failure, they must make a consciousness test against the attack or fall unconscious.  If they remain conscious, all actions for a number of turns equal to the success levels of the attack, they are at a -1 penalty to all actions.   If they pass the first roll, they just suffer a flat -1 to their actions for a full turn.  This is an extremely draining move, no matter how powerful the telepath, it always incurs a -2 cumulative penalty to use which only dissipates when the psychic rests.

For extreme mental manipulations--altering memories and so on, an Intelligence + Telepathy + Wild Card (Psychic Powers) tasks are needed, but is hampered by the intelligence of the target (subtract target's intelligence from the roll) and is resisted by Willpower (doubled) roll.  Simple minds are easy to influence, but the proud and the stubborn are difficult to manage (so qualities related to such things can be used to resist).  Other factors and certain memory things can work to alter any such roll.

If the roll fails, it deals the target's willpower in damage to the telepath from the backlash.  Prepare for a nosebleed when this happens.

Psychics can defend against such attacks with a Willpower + Wild Card (Psychic Powers) task. Sorcerers and Mages can defend against Psychic attack/intrusion with a Willpower + Occultism + Magic test.  Iron Mind, of course, negates it completely.

Note: messing with people’s memories is actually a HUGE DEAL with vast moral complications.  Also, the White Council of Wizards may assume you’re a mage and try to chop off your head.  This is less damaging than mental magic, but still isn’t pretty or nice.

[castletown-cafe]

Castletown Café Episode 7: Addison’s Personalized Tea Part 4: Noelle Tea

Previously on Castletown Café:

“There’s just something about brown sugar with cinnamon - it’s one of those perfect combinations, just like apple and cinnamon!”

We continue.

Noelle Tea is soft and sweet, according to Ralsei, and eggnog, much to Susie’s delight. Given that Noelle and her family are reindeer with a Christmas theme, it only makes sense for Noelle Tea to taste like a Christmas flavor. Though I’m sure there are recipes out there for “eggnog teas”, I had instead gotten the idea for another iconic holiday flavor: gingerbread.

Ginger tea is readily available at supermarkets and wherever tea is sold, being a popular herbal tea choice. Normally, I’m not one for herbal tea, but I figured I’d make an exception here if I could make a herbal tea that tastes like a gingerbread cookie.

There are many different brands to choose from, but I highly suggest a ginger tea without other interfering flavors such as peppermint or licorice root. I say this because I tried making gingerbread tea with a brand that had those ingredients and it messed with the desired result. Combine two bags of ginger herbal tea with whole cloves, a stick of cinnamon, and a generous sprinkle of ground nutmeg. Add equal parts brown sugar and molasses, and you got Noelle Tea!

Unlike the more involved Kris Tea, or the Mari Tea which had multiple brewing ingredients, both of which required the use of a strainer, the brewing of the Noelle Tea contains much less ingredients without the need to cut or chop up any fruit. Also, we will not need fresh ginger root as we will be using pre-packaged ginger tea. The whole spices can easily be removed with chopsticks or a pair of tongs when the brewing is complete. Our remaining teas will likewise be easier going forward, also containing minimal ingredients.

NOELLE TEA:

Ingredients:

4 cups water

2 bags ginger tea

1 large cinnamon stick

4 whole cloves

A generous sprinkle of nutmeg

2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

1 & 1/2 teaspoons molasses

Bring water to a boil on high heat. Turn heat off and add ginger tea, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Let tea brew for 5 to 7 minutes, depending on how strong you want your ginger tea, and directions on the tea package. Different ginger teas have different ingredients and thus different brew times.

Remove tea bags after desired amount of time, and let spices continue brewing depending on how long you brewed your ginger tea (subtract how many minutes you brewed your ginger tea from 30 and that’s the remaining amount of time to continue brewing your spices).

After you’re done brewing the spices, grab your chopsticks or tongs and remove the cloves and cinnamon stick. Pour the tea into a heat-proof bowl, storing container, or teapot and add your dark brown sugar and molasses. Stir until combined and sugar is dissolved to give your tea that gingerbread taste.

This festive tea is best served in a Christmas-themed mug, or any red, white, or green mug.

Brew-In-Mug Version:

8-12 oz boiling water

1 bag ginger tea

1 cinnamon stick, a small one works well here

2-3 whole cloves

A sprinkle of nutmeg

1/2 tsp dark brown sugar

1/4 tsp molasses

Place cinnamon stick, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger tea bag in a 12 oz microwave-safe Christmas-themed mug.

Add hot water and let ginger tea brew according to package instructions. It can be anywhere from 3 to 7 minutes.

Remove tea bag and let spices continue brewing for another 27-23 minutes, depending on how long you brewed your ginger tea.

Remove cinnamon stick and cloves and heat tea back up in the microwave until your tea is hot again. Stir in brown sugar and molasses and enjoy.

We’ve still got two more teas to go! The next one, I must warn, is an acquired taste, as much as I enjoyed drinking it and its being relatively easy to make, so much so that I made two batches. Even easier than the Noelle Tea! Stay tuned….

TO BE CONTINUED…

[trainsinanime]

I love reading art tutorials here, and I love writing, and I’d really like to write some art tutorial myself. There’s just one problem: I can’t actually draw anything and don’t have any useful art skills at the moment. So instead, here’s a tutorial on how to draw a Bézier curve by hand. Bézier curves are the standard curve for vector drawing computer apps, and with this simple method, you can also use the for hand-drawn stuff. Note: There is no reason why you would ever want to do this.

First, draw four points and number them 1-4 (or ABCD if you prefer). For best results, the points should be different from each other and shouldn’t be in a straight line, but the process will work either way.

Four points are nice: The first and last points will be the start and end of the curve, and points two and three end up working out as „handles“ that determine the shape. Note that this „handle“ thing is just how it works out; mathematically, all points are equal.

Draw straight lines between each pair of points. It’s probably okay to eyeball this. I personally used the line smoothing in Procreate because I’m that bad at drawing a long straight line, but don’t worry about it too much.

Fun fact: The Bézier curve was invented in the 1960s for the specific purpose of drawing french cars of the era on computers, for the first Computer Aided Design systems. Extra fun fact: This exact thing literally happened twice.

For each of the lines, find and mark the midpoint. You can use circle and straight edge, or a Geodreieck (which is apparently something the english speaking world does not have!?), but again, eyeballing it is probably good enough.

The curve was first invented by Paul de Casteljau, who was working for Citroën. His company treated the results as a company secret. Shortly afterwards, Pierre Bézier invented the same curve again, working for Renault, because he didn’t know about de Casteljau’s work. Renault allowed him to publish his results, and so it’s his name that’s associated with the curve.

Connect the three midpoints with straight lines again, in order. The 1,2-Midpoint with the 2,3-one, the 2,3-midpoint with the 3,4 one.

While I told you to draw four points earlier, the method will work for any non-negative number. However, the results for 0, 1 and 2 points are boring (nothing, a point and a straight line respectively), and for more than four points it gets annoying to predict what each point will do to the curve. There are some cases where three points are used, some font formats I think, but four is the sweet spot that gained universal adoption.

Find the two midpoints of the two new lines again, and connect them, again. Then find the midpoint of that. This point is the midpoint of the overall curve.

All drawing software will logically separate the points of a four-point Bézier curve for you: The first and last are the endpoints of the curve; points 2 and 3 are “handles” that help you manipulate the shape of the curve. That is a useful way of thinking about it. However, from a mathematical point of view, that’s kind of just a coincidence; all points are treated the same when it comes to drawing.

Now change color or open a new layer or whatever. We just divided the problem and the curve in two. The points 1, 1-2, 1-2-3 and the curve midpoint are now exactly half of the original curve. Do the same procedure to them to get the 1/4 point of the curve. Then do the same procedure to the curve midpoint, and the midpoints 2-3-4, 3-4 and 4. (You can get a friend to help you here and do this at the same time)

The method I’m doing here is a recursive version of de Casteljau’s algorithm (see, he wasn’t entirely forgotten). If you write down the coordinates and do the maths, then drawing a Bézier curve is just a lot of stupid multiplying, adding, and sometimes even subtracting. Using this algorithm is putting these additions and multiplications in an order that makes geometric sense and that you can actually draw. This is absolutely something I stole from Wikipedia by the way.

You now have four new Bézier curves. Do the same procedure to them again.

The great thing about de Casteljau’s algorithm, especially when you apply it like I do, is that it’s basically just finding averages or midpoints, a lot. If you’re off by a few millimetres, which you will be seeing how I’m telling you to eyeball everything, that doesn’t really hurt a lot. The curve may be off by a bit, but it won’t create wide swings or sharp corners or parts that don’t match. It literally all averages out in the end.

Now do that all again.

If you’ve been following along, you now have eight Bézier curves and are incredibly annoyed at me and some french computer scientists. How long do you have to keep this up? That largely depends on when you think it’s finished. The algorithm doesn’t have any kind of limit, you can keep going and produce more and more detailed points for as long as you want. For a computer, you’d obviously want to stop once the points are closer together than one pixel, or maybe some quality criteria. For example it makes sense to stop when the points are fairly close to being a straight line, but keep going in very curved sections. If you are drawing by hand, the simple criteria is to keep going until it looks good enough to you, then draw the final curve through the points as smoothly as you can. Or, better yet, don’t draw a Bézier curve by hand, that’s just stupid.

A random detail that I find particularly hilarious is that the Solid Modeling Association awarded Paul de Casteljau their highest price in 2012… the Bézier Award. For what it’s worth, Pierre Bézier himself agreed that it was a shame that Paul de Casteljau never got the recognition he deserved.

And that is literally all there is to it. Drawing a Bézier curve doesn’t require any creativity beyond placing the points, but placing the points gives you a lot of freedom and precise control. It takes a lot of steps to draw it, but the steps are all themselves incredibly simple with no higher mathematics. That makes it perfect for computers. You can form a good approximation of basically every curve out there with a relatively low number of Bézier curves one after another. And the whole concept can be extended to Bézier surfaces in 3D. It’s incredibly useful, and it became the default way to draw curves on computers for very good reasons.

There’s absolutely no reason to ever draw one of these curves by hand. I just think it’s neat that you can. And now you all know how.

[astroseri]

Retrograde Planets in Natal Chart | Meanings

meanings formulated by @astroseri​

Mercury Rx Takes on traits of Venus & Sun. Instead of rationalizing things you’d rather think why they matter (what they’re worth). You have increased creativity and business sense. Instead of being too self-critical, you’d rather just express your thoughts authentically. Instead of moving around a lot, you'd rather stay put and think or alternatively, experience homely comfort. Your thoughts tend to accumulate before expressing, so when you finally feel an answer is correct, you feel it strongly.

Venus Rx Takes on traits of Mars & Mercury (virgo). Instead of thinking about your values, and communicating them, you’d rather act on them impulsively. Instead of thinking about an equal exchange in relationships, you think about how you can serve the other person. You are very service orientated... Or on the negative polarity: controlling. Also you are very picky and critical of yourself, things and others. You can be obsessive.

Mars Rx Takes on traits of Neptune & Venus. Instead of acting on impulses, you fantasize and contemplate. You can be indecisive. You procrastinate but have boosted creativity. Instead of acting on sexual desires (scorpio) or experiencing people’s negativity, you’d rather be polite, nice and diplomatic. You’d rather people disclose things cordially than to confront them about it. You hold others accountable rather than retaliate to their offenses. You tend to come off kind, even when you don’t intend to be. Ironically, this signals strength. People find you sweet but ironically they sense you have power. They are weary to mess with you. In rare cases when you do express anger or even regular passion, you do so forcefully.

Jupiter Rx takes on traits of Pluto. Instead of acting impulsively on desires, you let them accumulate. Instead of having epiphanies, you have questions. You have heightened intuition since you rarely make assumptions. You sense there is no such thing as the truth. Sometimes you fully understand people’s beliefs, but you simply do not believe them. Instead of expressing your own beliefs you contemplate them and explore them constantly. When for some reason you can finally believe an epiphany, you become fanatic and extremely convinced. You don’t travel much (but the desire is there). Finally, instead of listening to what people say, you’d rather examine their values or motives.

And since your desires accumulate, they become explosive (like pluto). You sometimes have massive bursts of spirit (and spirits lol 🍻).

Saturn thru Pluto...

Saturn Rx 🪐 expression 1 takes on traits of Jupiter. You are lackadaisical about responsibilities and self-discipline. While other people do things simply because they are required, you’d rather give value to others. You realize responsibilities matter because it’s what we give to others. You’d rather convince people of your value than acquire role or status. You have a large and impressive ego but at times you have bouts of depression, and are hard on yourself because you haven’t achieved what you think you’re capable of.

expression 2 if your ♄rx doesn’t act like a Jupiter, it takes on traits of a stronger Saturn. Saturn rules 11th, traditionally. So with it being retrograde, instead of being an authority over yourself, you are more comfortable fulfilling duties responsibilities and jobs that are imposed on you. You feel like you lack authority of your own. Sometimes you have bouts where you want to be completely independent. You break away and want do everything on your own and depend on no authority. (please read Uranus Rx.)

Uranus Rx 🤖 takes on the traits of Saturn. Instead of expressing innovativeness, you’d rather do traditional things better. Quirky and new technology frustrates you. Instead of focusing on personal achievement, life work, and higher goals. you invest that additional effort into career and status. Your ability to break free and express individuality is repressed. The point of innovation is to make things better. You make up for this desire by doing traditional things very well. Deep down you have trouble with authority. You can have outbursts of rebellion, innovation, or suddenly wanting to change things. You can start revolutions but just as well be too idealistic. (please read Saturn Rx expression 2).

Neptune Rx 🔱 takes on traits of Uranus. You procrastinate, particularly on creative or self-imposed goals and tasks. You tend to let creative potential build instead of taking action or have a repressed impulse to do creative things. Nonetheless you have increased and vivid imagination. Instead of taking action on impulses, vision and creativity, you tend to contemplate, rationalize it or talk about it. This placement is somewhat genius because you are able to make creativity make sense to others. You can explain vision and convince others. Whereas, most people experience creativity as an intuitive gut-feeling or as an inexplainable impulse, you turn it into thought. You are highly inspiring.

Your creativity builds up like a dam, so when you do finally express Neptune normally (action), you can have extreme bursts of creativity. Your expressions and visions are clear to you but may come off too idealistic to others during these moments (you are much too ahead of times). Neptune is a highly futuristic planet. Hence the term idealism. At times, you can come off or act delusional (be in a different reality than others). This can be frustrating.

Pluto Rx 💔

Pluto Rx  takes on traits of Venus. Instead of acting on sexual desires (scorpio), merging with others or experiencing people’s negativity, you’d rather be polite, nice and diplomatic. You have trouble taking (or being taken from). Or getting attached. You’d rather people disclose things cordially than to confront them about it.  You do not like to express negativity to others, even when it is the most productive thing to do. When frustrated, your questions and assumptions build up and you can act destructively. Nonetheless, because of this you have increased intuitive and assumptive ability. You do not like to investigate things that risk negativity, you prefer to cruise the surface and interact with people face to face. You may tend to act correct instead of acting taboo or being blunt about your needs and wants.

Because of your aversion, you are attractive, charming and sexually magnetizing. People sense the charge you’ve built within and wish you would act on it more often. You may have admirers that orbit you, waiting for you to “take.”

negativity is the concept of subtraction. you tend to avoid subtractive moments. subtracting from others or moments that will subtract from what you have. though they are necessary, especially in exchange. Since your negativity builds, your explosions are bigger. there are moments you can go through massive ego deaths. Or huge makeovers in the area Pluto is in. Purging or “deleting” everythingg!

Thanks for reading,

- @astroseri​

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[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #200

Wow, what a milestone, huh? It feels like only yesterday we were building Mash. Didn't even know you could grab multiple fighting styles back then. We were also one person back then. Things change. Things change even faster when you have magic eyes that let you bend anything you can see, so let's hurry up and build Asagami Fujino already. She is a Quandrix Sorcerer to tear apart anything she lays eyes on, as well as expand her field of vision beyond what her eyes can see. Dangerous combination, that.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: In the dark of the night, evil will find you! (If Rasputin ever become a playable character I am really going to regret using that one here.)

Wait, what's that...

Race and Background

No surprises here, Fujino is a Variant Human, because normal humans can't tear people apart with their mind. That means she gets +1 Dexterity and Charisma, as well as proficiency with Perception (kind of her deal) and the Tough feat. HP isn't just how much body you have to get hurt, it's also how badly getting hurt affects you. Fujino's deadened sense of pain means she can take hits and keep going, purely due to the fact that she doesn't realize she should stop. That means you're getting an extra 2 HP each level.

Fujino is a schoolgirl, so the closest thing we have is the Cloistered Scholar background. That gives you History and Nature proficiency.

Ability Scores

Your highest score should be Charisma. Your magic eyes are an innate part of you, and it's really easy to be frightening when you can tear a bridge down around you. Second highest should be Constitution, for the reasons we outlined in your background feat. Your Dexterity should probably be pretty high, you fight in clothing, and you fought against Shiki for more than five seconds without dying. That's impressive. Your Intelligence isn't that bad, though you're still going through school. We aren't dumping Strength, it's alright, but we are dumping Wisdom. You have a hard time feeling yourself and feeling connected to other people.

Class Levels

You're a Sorcerer, giving you proficiency with Constitution and Charisma saves, as well as proficiency with the Intimidation and Arcana skills. You've got magic implanted in your face, and again, bridge. As a Sorcerer, you can cast spells using your Charisma. Blade Ward deadens your senses further, giving you resistance to physical damage types for a round. Mending lets you twist a small item back together, instead of tearing it apart. Sword Burst is a short range bending... sorta. Force damage is hard to quantify. But it's free, so that's nice. You can also Shape Water to bend liquids to your will. For first level spells, Mage Armor helps you not die, and Magic Missile lets you shoot little bursts of twistiness that'll never miss. You also join the school of Quandrix, which gives you the starting gift of the spells Guidance and Guiding Bolt. They aren't super in character, but they're free, so suck it up. More Importantly, you learn Functions of Probability, helping you bend luck in your favor. When you cast a leveled spell targeting a creature, you can add an effect to a nearby creature (yourself included). A Diminishing Function forces a wisdom save (DC 8 + Chr mod + proficiency), and if it fails it subtracts 1d6 from the next attack roll it makes this round. Turns out swordfighting is hard when your sword is a corkscrew. Alternatively, a Supplemental Function lets a creature add a d6 to an attack or save made in the next round. This part is less believable, but if you're creative I'm sure it'll look good.

Second level sorcerers are a Font of Magic, giving you sorcery points equal to your level per long rest. You can turn them into slots, or turn slots into points. Eventually you can do other things. Also, you can cast Thunderwave now. It destroys objects, you destroy objects, it's a match made in heaven.

Now that you're a third level sorcerer, you can make your spells truly your own thanks to Metamagic! If you cast a Heightened spell, one creature in its effect has disadvantage on their save against it. If you cast an Empowered spell, you can re-roll a couple damage dice. Tearing people in half is generally hard to avoid, and kind of damaging. You can also bend the air itself by casting Dust Devil, creating a Medium sized tornado, dealing damage to creatures nearby and pushing them around. It'll even pick up dust and make things hard to see, though that's kind of a drawback for you.

Use your very first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Charisma. Kind of a spell-based build, to be honest. Speaking of, Mage Hand probably doesn't have much tearing force behind it, but it's free. You can also cast Shatter for more indiscriminate destruction.

Fifth level sorcerers gain third level spells like Clairvoyance! Now you can see a bird's eye view of the battlefield, tearing your way through it like, well, you.

At sixth level it's about time you started bending the earth to your will. You can Velocity Shift nearby creatures if they start their turn or move within 30' of you. If they fail a charisma save you can shove them to any other point within 30' of you. You can react this way 30' per long rest. Twist debris at people and watch them scatter, it's fun. To help with that, you can also cast Erupting Earth, bending the ground in a 20' cube. This forces dex saves on creatures in the cube, dealing damage and making the area difficult terrain until it's cleaned up.

Seventh level sorcerers get fourth level spells like Stoneskin for even more deadened senses. Now you resist physical damage without having to waste your action every turn. It does use your concentration, but it lasts an hour.

Another ASI! Max out your Charisma for super special eyes. You can also Control Water to create truly damaging whirlpools. There's other options, but whirlpools! Who'd want anything else?

Oh hey, I found something you might want else. It's fifth level spell Bigby's Hand! You can grab people and play with them like a stress ball. Technically there isn't a twisting option, but a Grasping Hand is probably the best you'll do. It'll grapple a huge or smaller creature, and if it successfully does so you can Crush it as a bonus action for damage.

Another Metamagic option! Technically these spells are all just you looking at things, so grab Subtle Spell so you don't have to yell out all your attack names. You can also Mold Earth. It's not that powerful, but it's free twisting. You also get Telekinesis! Again, no "twisting" in the rules, but it's strong enough to lift an object of 1000 pounds, and fine enough to open a door. Their heads should be popping off here.

Sixth level spells! Here are the big boys of the spell world. If you twist anything enough, eventually it'll Disintegrate, dealing plenty of force damage and leaving behind a mess you can't even revive. A little too clean for Fujino, but it's destructive enough.

ASI time. Bump up Constitution for a thicker skin and more HP. HP changes retroactively, so you get an extra 12 HP here.

Did you know turning into rotini is painful? Your enemies certainly know that, thanks to Power Word Pain. If a charmable creature has 100 HP or less, their speed drops to 10', and it gets disadvantage on all attacks, checks, and saves, aside from constitution saves. If it tries to cast a spell, it'll be wasted if it can't pass a constitution save. The target stays in pain forever until it can pass a constitution save.

Cool, so fun thing about these Multi Class Subclasses! As long as you're the correct level, you can take any one feature they have each time you hit the appropriate level in your main class. Since the highest requirement is 14, we're taking Quantum Tunneling now, and we'll pop back to the other one later. Your senses permanently deaden, giving you complete resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage. You can also bend your way through any physical objects, as long as you're willing to deal with a halved movement speed and 1d10 damage each square you move. You also have to end your turn in an empty spot. Playing to character this should leave a huge hole behind you, but maybe you're conscientious? You weren't raised in a barn, after all.

Your eighth level spell is Earthquake. Now no structure in your view is safe from your destructive powers. Tear open the earth, shatter structures, and interrupt concentration, there's nothing you can't do!

Bump up your Dexterity this ASI. Not getting hit is still pretty useful, even if you can't feel it.

Remember when I said turning into rotini hurts? I was wrong. Actually, it kills you. Please grab Power Word Kill to reflect these changes. You have become death, destroyer of mages. You also learn how to cast Distant Spells, doubling your spell's range. Your range should be "anywhere in sight", so this is a step in the right direction.

Okay, I guess we'll grab Null Equation. Once per turn you can twist up a creature you damaged. If they fail a constitution save, they get disadvantage on strength and dexterity saves, and they only deal half damage with weapon attacks, all for a round. You can do this Proficiency times per long rest. Again, real hard to hit people when your femurs are spring shaped.

Use your last ASI for more Constitution for more HP and better concentration.

We've finally done it, we've made a pure sorcerer build! It's time to finally learn the dark secret of the Sorcerer capstone. What feature could be so powerful we've completely avoided it for 200 builds? It's Sorcerous Restoration. You get 4 sorcery points per short rest. It's not good. Sorry.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

You're good at dealing damage, and your most powerful spells deal Force damage, which almost nothing blocks against. That means you're consistent and deadly, a solid combination.

You're so good at damage that it isn't just limited to creatures. Use telekinesis, mold earth, and shatter to tear apart structures that are getting in your way. Walls? Torn down. Steel Beams? Melted. Bridges? Falling down.

Despite spending your entire time in a class with the worst hit dice imaginable, you're pretty tough to kill, with just over 200 HP, a decent AC for a spellcaster, and permanent resistance to physical damage types. To make things worse for fighters, it's also a pain to get near you, since you can tear up the area around you and shunt melee fighters away as a reaction.

Cons:

While you do have magic missile, a lot of your spells deal damage in wide areas, so your party might have words with you about using earthquake one too many times.

While you're good at tearing things up, that's just about all your magic can do. There's the occasional Clairvoyance and some defensive spells, but by and large you're either dealing damage or doing nothing.

Despite your great physical defense, you struggle a bit more against other damage types. If you end up fighting someone who can turn their knife into psychic damage, you might have a problem on your hands.

[911lonestarscreentime]

How balanced are the episodes of 911 Lone Star?

Lately I’ve been rewatching season 1 with my mom (she only started watching season 2 with me as it aired) and last night after we watched 1x05, she commented that she thought that the distribution of screen time was better in season 1 compared to season 2 (she does know I do screen time calculations... I don’t know if she fully understands how much of my free time is dedicated to the project but I digress). Anyway, I was caught off guard and wasn’t sure how to answer. I would like to think season 2 is better, but is it?

Obviously, it’s unrealistic to expect that every episode be equally balanced. There would be development of characters if that were the case. However, we all know at this point that when it is unbalanced, the higher times are usually skewed towards Owen. Which is an issue, and I do hope there is some change going forward. But looking at all of the screen times for each episode, it does raise the questions: Which episodes are the most balanced? And is there a difference in balance between seasons?

Answer: In season 1 it’s 1x03 and 1x09; In season 2 it’s 2x05 and 2x06. And there really is no difference in balance between seasons.

Want to know more? Check out my actual analysis below the cut.

Also just to be clear before I go into detail, only the screen times for main characters were taken into account (so not including Nancy, Gwyn, ect;) and credit-only episodes (episodes where the character received credit but did not appear on screen) were taken into account as “0.”

To answer the first question, I’ll break it down by season. The two most balanced episodes by my calculations are 1x03 “Texas Proud” and 1x09 “Awakening.” Some of the other more balanced episodes of the season include 1x04 “Act of God,” 1x05 “Studs,” and 1x10 “Austin, We Have Problem.” The most unbalanced episode (unsurprisingly) is 1x01 “Pilot.” (personal note: seeing it laid out like that makes sense that my mom would think the balance for season 1 is better, watching x03, x04, x05 back-to-back, and not watching x06, x07, x08 yet... all three of which fall in the bottom half).

In season 2, the most balanced episodes are 2x05 “Difficult Conversation” and 2x06 “Everyone and Their Brother.” Some of the other most balanced episodes include 2x02 “2100°,” 2x04 “Friends with Benefits,” 2x08 “Bad Call,” and 2x14 “Dust to Dust.” The most unbalanced episodes are (also, unsurprisingly) 2x09 “Saving Grace,” and 2x13 “One Day.” (again, my moms observations make sense since the most recent s2 episodes she has watched are the ones in the back half of season 2, all of which (with the exception of 2x14) fall in the bottom half of screen time balance).

So, is there a difference between seasons? The short answer is no. While there are more episodes that could be considered “more balanced” in season 2, there are also more episodes in season 2. And looking at my calculations (which I go into more detail about at the bottom of the post) if you remove the four episodes that fall on each quarter percentile, it lines up basically the same. 

The only real difference is who has the most screen time in the unbalanced episodes. In season 1, all episodes except for 1x08 saw Owen having the most screen time. However, in season 2 there were 7 episodes where Owen didn’t have the most. That’s half the episodes of the season. Granted, 5 of these episodes fall in the top half for most balanced; but the other 2 are the episodes that are most unbalanced, with Judd having the most in 2x09 and Tommy having the most in 2x13. So however you want to interpret that... yeah. In my opinion, it is getting better. But we’ll see how season 3 goes.

Okay so now that I actually told you the answers, you might be wondering how I came to those conclusions. If you’re not a math person than feel free to ignore this last part...

Of course one could easily just look at the infographics and see that 1x03 looks fairly balanced, but I wanted data to back it up... so I may have figured out my own formula. Idk if this is like mathematically correct but it did the trick.

So I started by calculating the average for each episode. Using 1x03 as the example, the average screen time for that episode is 3.94 (rounded). Then I took the highest screen time (7.5) and subtracted the average from that. Then I did the same thing with the lowest screen time (0.5) and subtracted that from the average. Those two numbers are 3.56 and 3.54, the distance between the highest and the average and the lowest and the average. Then calculating the distance between those two numbers, the total is 0.12 - a very low number, bringing me to the conclusion that the balance for 1x03 is fairly good.

However if you do the same for 1x06, highest (12) - average (4.08) = 7.92, average (4.08) - lowest (0.5) = 3.58, 7.92 - 3.58 = 4.34 - meaning that 1x06 is more unbalanced in screen time compared to 1x03.

here are the charts if you’re interested because why not:

[itsnothingofinterest]

So to help in our simultaneous ongoing investigations into OFA, here’s what we know about the timeline of it’s development.

To start, we know the first user was part of the earliest generation of quirk users; which in a sense means the quirk itself has been around 200 years (with a difference equaling how long quirks were around by first’s birth). Also, the only other solid numbers we know are that All Might had it for 40 years and Shinomori had it 18, and we know everyone else (besides first) had it for less.

From there, here’s the deductions we can make. -For one, the longest users 2, 3, 5, 6, & 7 could’ve had it is 17 years. If that were true for all of them (and it probably isn’t), that would mean they’d have had it for 85 years between them. -Next, we can subtract all our numbers from 2 centuries (200 - 85 - 18 - 40) to get 57. And that number right there, would appear to be the youngest First could’ve been when he transferred the OFA to Second. (Well, except we would have to subtract that difference we mentioned above.) -And again, that’s a low estimate. It’s very likely many users had it for less than 17 years (I believe Sixth was mentioned as being notably young), and any difference we can effectively add onto First’s age at the time of transfer.

So my major takeaway from this is: Wow, First was pretty old when he transferred his quirk wasn’t he? I kind of guessed he was in his 20′s or 30′s at the time; but my generously low estimates are putting him in his 50′s, maybe late 40′s, at that time.

Also, it seems very likely at this point to say that every user probably had it for at least a few years. Or to put that another way, it is unlikely (though admittedly not impossible) that any user took it and then handed it off in a timely manner. This information may be relevant to any time traveling Bakugou theorists, or just anyone trying to figure out the second & third users’ deal.

And one last piece of information that I’m not sure will be useful to anyone: but because Kotaro Shimura would’ve been 48 were he alive today, & All Might got OFA 41 years ago, Kotaro was 7 years old when All Might got his quirk from Nana.

And that’s about all I’ve got. I hope someone finds these inane math ramblings useful.

[uswnt5]

Press’ 700k for 3 year contract also doesn’t mean it’s equally split amongst the 3 years. Usually sports contracts (at least in the US) gradually increase over the years so what she earns in year 3 will be greater than what she earns in year 1. With the allocation money cap looking to go up every season too this makes sense. So it’s hard to subtract exactly 700/3 for this season when it’s very unknown if that’s actually what they’re paying her in allocation money this year. (I would also bet they’re paying her under the table via their sponsors too like what Utah did with Arod and Vero, and what Orlando has done for years with Marta)

Yeah. I sorta assume it's the opposite that she's getting more now and less the next 2 years because they'll see how she plays/declines/and can always restructure if they need to re-up.

I would just bet she's getting the most this year as their star player.

[lunarreaper-ut]

Not Undertale related

I re-read the document with info on that Left 4 Dead alternate universe I made and I decided I’d share it here despite it not at all being Undertale related. I’ll put it under the cut if you’re interested! Warning, it’s long as hecc! And I mean... HECCIN long

Imagine the L4D universe after the remaining humans and military regained their foothold to fight the infected, and save themselves. Imagine they were aware of Carriers. Imagine this world wouldn’t just kill off the Carriers, and would treat them like humans (For the most part at least). They would create settlements completely divided, Carriers to their district, uninfected to theirs. The military would have a large amount of influence in these cities. The Carrier district would essentially be slums, or at least extremely poor. They would need to become self-sufficient, as the rest of humanity didn’t care for them or even wished for them to die out. These districts would be encased in walls. Some Carriers would say it’s better than being dead. Others would disagree. 

Now, imagine Carriers went beyond simply being asymptomatic. What if Carriers did mutate? Rather than being simple common infected Carriers, what if (Based on the way the virus mutates depending on certain circumstances), the conditions for the virus to mutate into a specific special infected (Boomer, Smoker, Hunter, etc.) were met, but the Carrier didn’t turn? A new advanced special infected. Still retaining their sentience, still technically human, but much stronger. The military wouldn’t just leave them alone, they’d use them. This would implement Project Carrier. Any special infected Carriers would be rounded up and enlisted in the military. The better they did, the better the Carrier district did. They would, not only receive personal benefits, but would help the Carrier district receive better supplies. Medical supplies, food (as I imagine the Carrier districts would often be low on food), even improved living conditions. Carrier Soldiers would also be used in medical research to create a vaccine to combat the virus.

Despite this, Carrier Soldiers were seen as traitors to their kind, infected that needed to be killed by others, and experiments to the military. They’d be under constant surveillance to ensure they didn’t step out of line. Special infected were already smart enough to outsmart an unprepared soldier (Not that the military would admit that), and a Carrier Soldier was just a mutated human. If they weren’t kept on a tight leash, they could easily overthrow the military with enough careful planning. Thankfully, there were very few special infected Carriers.

This brings in all the technical stuff that I might get wrong. 

The percentages of special infected to regular infected have been confirmed by in-game lore:

Special infected percentages are very low, the highest being 9% (The Hunter), (with Witches being unlisted due to either exceedingly low numbers or inability to safely study), which would mean that most special infected Carriers (Hereby called Special Carriers or SCs), would be Hunters most commonly. Of course I’ll write down theoretical abilities for each type of SC. Unfortunately there’s no information I could find that stated how many survivors were actually Carriers. Of course the in-game playable characters, but that would only amount to 8 (12 if you count the characters exclusive from the L4D survivors) out of all of the encountered NPCs, which of course I could use as a base if it weren’t for “The Sacrifice” comic, which showed the survivors heading to Millhaven and seeing a large amount of bodies being burned. It’s implied that these bodies were Carriers, but it’s also possible that they were simply people who died in millhaven or even common infected that were killed. This skews the numbers a fair bit, so I will use the original 8 survivors and NPCs listed in the wiki.

Rounding numbers up, Uninfected survivors would make up about 87% of the population while Carriers would be 13%. Based on the comics, Carriers are primarily male and the only female survivors would be the daughters of male Carriers. Since there are only 2 female survivors out of the 8, that would make a 25% chance of a female Carrier. This will become important later. Maybe. 

Since we have a rough percentage of how many survivors would be Carriers, how many of them statistically would be SCs? Well thanks to more math, I have that answer. Using the two previous charts, I was able to make this fancy new chart.

Again, due to a lack of data, Witch Carriers can’t be calculated accurately. However. We know that there is a rough percentage of 25% of Carriers being female, (Well, we don’t know that but let's assume it’s true). It can also be observed that some of the special infected seem to be gender restricted. Hunters, Smokers, Chargers, Jockeys, and Tanks all seem to be male restricted with Spitters being female restricted. (The Boomer is the only exception to this rule). If we subtract half of the percentage of Boomers (To make it simple) and the percentage of Spitters, we get a 24.1% of presumably Common female Carriers. 

This is where it comes mostly up to assumptions and hypotheses.

We know that the Witches are just as, if not rarer, than Tanks which make up only 3% of all infected, and only roughly 8% of all Special Infected. We only see the Tank about 1-2 times (though 2 is rare on Expert) per level in L4D, and the Witch, (Excluding the Sugar Mill), has the same spawn-rate. This would make their rarity at least equal to that of the Tank. This would make both the Tank and the Witch roughly 4% of the Special Infected population, and 0.7% of all Infected. Now normally I’d assume that it would be easy enough to put the percentage of Witch Carriers into the chart, but the problem arises with the percentage of female Carriers, which, as you recall, is only 25% with 0.9% already being accounted for as Spitters and Boomers. It’s highly likely that the majority of the remaining 24.1%  are Common Carriers, due to the circumstances required to become a Special Infected. Becoming a Witch infected is highly assumed to be a result of an altered mental state, (Loss of sanity or Depression), which is far different from the other infected. All the other infected seem to have a physical condition met in order to become said Special Infected, (Health problems, excess of certain chemicals, etc.). 

Now of course you could say, “Well everyone just went through the apocalypse, wouldn’t they all be hella depressed?”, and I would say “Yeah probably.”. However, there is a difference between feeling depressed and clinical depression. It would be a bit far-fetched to assume that all Witches were diagnosed as clinically depressed, but I believe it would make more sense due to the fact that every person can experience depression, but not every person is clinically depressed. Otherwise, I believe there would be a much higher rate of Witch infected if the cause was simply depression on it’s own.

 A study in 2016 showed that about 10.4% of women were found to have depression. (Yeah outdated, I’m sure the number is higher now, but we’re using this one). This can be applied to our charts, however there is no way to tell how much of this percentage lies within the Carrier community. Majority of this percentage is certainly within the Uninfected community, purely based on the low percentage of women within the Carrier community. Only 3.25% of women would be Carriers in this scenario, leaving over 96% of women uninfected. Because of this, statistically, we can assume next to none of the Carrier women are clinically depressed. To keep things simple, I’m going to go with the assumption that less than 0.1% of Carriers become Witch Carriers.

Now that we have all of the statistics out of the way, what exactly would these SCs be like? How extensive are the mutations? I have theories! I’ll continue that in the next post though, since this is already long as hecc... Their abilities are a lot more interesting, so stay tuned!

[inventors-fair]

Missed Opportunities Commentary

Thank you all, once more, for a fantastic week. I wish my schedule allowed me to do this more often, since it really is so much fun. Now, then, let’s get into it! All 14 remaining submissions are under the cut, card and commentary included.

We’re going to be going in reverse alphabetical order this time, so let’s start it off with @shadowtag‘s submission, Traumatic Reunion

This is an absolutely beautiful callback to Cathartic Reunion in both function and flavor, but this is not a black effect. The only color allowed to return any card type from their graveyard to their hand is green, and spells that return multiple cards at once all exile themselves (or otherwise remove themselves from your graveyard like Seasons Past.) Very good job on the flavor, but unfortunately the mechanics don't quite pull through.

@misterstingyjack​ Tocasia’s Ingenuity

A deep pull to be sure, but not an unwelcome one. Although, given that Primal Plasma is blue, and blue is the central overlapping color between Urza and Mishra, I don't see why this wasn't a blue card. The fact that it makes a token with all the abilities of the card is strange to me too, as with Soul Separator from Shadows Over Innistrad there is precedent of making token copies of things in graveyard with different characteristics. That aside, an artifact focus was 100% the right direction to take here, even with the Elementalist spin, and the card is well balanced, all things considered. Unrelated to the judging, you mentioned Darksteel Colossus in the notes, but unfortunately that wouldn't work. Darksteel Colossus shuffles itself into your library if it would be put into a graveyard, so it's impossible to interact with it in the graveyard (Blightsteel Colossus does this as well.)

@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes​ The First Battle

I always love to see the Demon Leviathan given the attention it deserves. The lore on this is absolutely wonderful, but it's also way too much text to put on a Saga. If it did fit, I'd suggest swapping the first two chapters so that you can better set up the killing blow, but as it is I think it should just be an instant or sorcery that makes the planeswalkers fight and adds the counters immediately.

@ozthearistocrat​ Mistmeadow Jack

I also had to look this one up, and flavorfully I'm liking what I'm seeing! Unfortunately, this is not a white card. Stealing things, even temporarily, is not a white effect. If this card were blue to cast with a white activation (or keeping the hybrid activation) it would have been perfect.

@snugz​ Khanfall

Choices were a big part of Fate Reforged, and Khans block in general, so it makes sense that a splashy mythic set in that time would have a choice attached as well. However, given that the card is named Khanfall, and there's only one way that can go down, it seems strange to me that there's a choice at all. The mechanical aspects of this card are wonderful, but I think it should have done only one of these things rather than try for both.

@starch255 Hyperi, Titan of Sky’s Tyranny

I'm definitely a fan of the concept, and I'm glad you caught on and made the Helixing optional, but my feelings on Hyperi are mixed. The two Titans we have fit into a playstyle of "Good spells on turn 2/3, good value engines later in the game," but Hyperi doesn't. It's an absolutely backbreaking card late game, especially since grave hate powers up future versions, but on curve it most likely does nothing at all. You would have been better served making it either flat damage + lifegain or tied to a number other than cards in exile.

@gollumni​ Hurrik, Savior of Gods

There's a lot to say here, so let me start by assuring you that I really wish this card worked. If you activate this and target any creature that then dies to damage or 0 toughness, it creates an infinite loop of replacement effects that ends the game in a draw, because it doesn't remove marked damage or debuffs, so the creature will die again to state based actions so the replacement effect, which lasts until the end of the turn, will grab it ad infinitum. If it said "the next time" and removed damage, or it exiled and brought it back under your control, then it would work perfectly. It also saves your own creatures without the downside, which I don't think was intentional based on the wording.

@hypexion​ Hack the Guildpact

Maybe I have a skewed experience with this sort of thing, but this looks very easy to win with. If you have even three unique color pairs and a proliferate card, you'll win in three turns. But worse than that, the card doesn't do anything aside from winning the game. If it gets to 9 counters and then gets blown up, it didn't do anything. Cards which say "win the game" on them usually have either some sort of protection, like Helix Pinnacle and Darksteel Reactor, or some other effect to help win or survive, like Approach of the Second Sun and Simic Ascendancy. Maybe it could have a ramping scry/surveil based on the number of counters, and then win at 10.

@teaxch​ Gvar, Krumar Commander

It's simple and clean, although it doesn't quite carry the same flavor as what the Krumar really are. The mechanics of this card imply that they defeat the children and then take them, and although the flavor text describes it properly, it's still at odds with the functionality. A better way to do this might be to follow the example of Offspring's Revenge, and have Gvar make 1/1 token copies of opponent's creatures that die, with appropriate stat balancing.

@bread-into-toast​ Glimpse of Perfection

I get what you were going for, and I like it, but it's messy. It's a counterspell and a stealy card, but the fact that it namedrops the Shadowspear specifically means it's very niche, and the fact that you're paying more than usual for the counterspell, and then 4 life (or UU) for a 1 mana artifact that you don't always keep forever makes the card underwhelming even when it does work. I think a better way to accomplish this flavor would have been to make both the counterspell and search effect on etb, and make the steal effect search for any artifact with mana value 1 or less.

@morbidlyqueerious​ Glimpse Beyond

Mechanically, this card is perfect. Blue and green are the perfect combination of colors for this effect, weaving together cards like Commune With the Gods and Investigate the Mystery seamlessly. My only gripe is that, looking at this without the flavor text, I would not know what it's representing. It's a great effect, and I do love me some Rashmi, it's just a little too nonspecific.

@shakeszx Dack’s Fate

Very on the nose. Normally, most things about this card would be working against it, but in the specific context of War of the Spark, it fits very well. Legendary sorceries would have been great in a set with 36 planeswalkers, as well as planeswalker specific removal. I'm not sure why this is white, though. Nicol Bolas has never been associated with white, least of all the Eternals, and everything this card does can be done in mono black.

@wolkemesser​ Clockworking

Mechanically, this card is fine. I think it should have been a delayed trigger to choose one ("when you win" instead of if), and the "use" should be changed to "activate" but the card works as written. Apart from that, the effects are of wildly different power levels (compare Raise Dead to Disallow). Flavorfully, I'm very confused why you re-used a Lorwyn mechanic for the Scars of Mirrodin story, let alone one as divisive as Clash.

@col-seaker-of-the-memiest-legion​ ______, Planeswalker

This is a wonderful example of a card that is only silver bordered due to flavor. It functions exactly as intended in black border, without any changes to the rules or mechanics of the game, but is still a card that would never be printed outside of an Unset. That being said, the card itself does need a bit of a templating update. It needs to specify that you can look at cards exiled with it, otherwise you won't be able to play any of them, and I assume you meant for the last ability to be less than or equal to the number of land counters on the Planeswalker. Mechanically, there's a few changes that would need to be made to get it to the right spot in terms of balance. The cost, for one, is a mess. Twobrid mana isn't used anymore for good reason, and while I understand the intent behind its use here, it drags the design down. The fact that all of the abilities subtract loyalty means that even though it starts with 20 counters, you're likely not going to be able to play anything off of it. It playing the land in the second ability is more restrictive than you might assume, since the opportunity cost there is both drawing a card into the planeswalker and your own land drop for the turn.

~

And that will do it for us today! It was a genuine pleasure to host this for you all, and I look forward to the next time our paths cross in such a manner.

-Mod @illharg-the-rave-boar​