Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

FORGED Not Born

@forgednotborn.bsky.social

76 followers 280 following 550 posts

Indie game designer, platinum-selling TTRPG creator on drivethrurpg, & fascist-punching military veteran. I provide RPG stories & tips, sage advice on sages, history, & geeky terrain projects. Political views are socialist, my own, & testy :) He/Him

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · Jun 23

Feel free to brag about your awesome GM here!

an advertisement for dungeons & dragons shows a man running

Alt: Gif from the D&D movie showing Chris Pine's character dancing and playing the lute.

media.tenor.com

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 1d

Gosh, they're so... so close to realizing it, yeah?

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 1d

Stealey Robert McStealerface says asking people for use permission before stealing their life's work would 'kill' the grabby-stealey industry.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 1d

Ea Nasir says asking copper sellers to ensure the quality of their wares would 'kill' the shady copper dealer industry.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 1d

Tom Homan says prosecuting people who take bribes from undercover agents on camera would 'kill' the bribe industry.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 1d

Saruman the Wise says asking Rohan for use permission before sending the Dunlendings into their homeland would 'kill' the 'Going Hence in Bitterness' industry.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 1d

The King was heard to say "I don't know what could be worse than the Burgh of Port-of-Land. You don't even have shoppes anymore. They doth not even put panes up. Fosooth, they lay pinewood upon their casements."

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 1d

The geoluread-faced King in Watching-Town is vexed.

When asked by the market cryers if he wished to suspend habeus corpus, he replied: "Whoever is she? She is not mine own sort. I ne'er have met her."

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 1d

When I want players to sympathize with a villain, but still hate them, I use M-A-D:

- Mirrors: While aims may align with the PCs, methods differ.
- Ardor: They truly love or believe in a good someone/something.
- Damned: No matter the motives or charm, they do one unforgiveable, irredeemable thing.

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 1d

Your yearly reminder that our right to speak up and protest, an enduring trust in the courts, and our ability to vote without undue restraints ARE the compromise position to the anthropologically and historically preferred method of eating the oligarchs and their families at the first opportunity.

2 5

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 12d

Unfortunately, the federal government does have the ability to determine/amend minimum CDL standards through FMCSA.

States can apply more stringent standards, but never less so, or risk losing their ability to issue, amend, and renew CDLs.

Its stupid, of course, and should be challenged in court.

Text from the 9/29 amended rule of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration about citizenship requirements for CDL holders.

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 14d

"Your secret is safe with my indifference." Might still hold the record as the baddest quote in the last quarter-century.

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 14d

Aww man, this one was uncomfortably easy...

A headstone in a graveyard with the name "WALDO" on it, in reference to the visual puzzle games from back in the day "Where's Waldo?".

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 14d

List of topics:

- Which one of you made fun of my daisy-duke crossfit shorts the other day?

- I keep hearing the word 'logistics' and at this point I'm embarrassed to ask what it means. Please explain it like I'm 5.

- Do any of you know any women or people of color I've missed we can still fire?

John Bull @garius.bsky.social · 14d

I will bet cash money it will turn out that this meeting could have been an email

newrepublic.com/post/200930/...

Pete Hegseth Calls Alarming Meeting With Hundreds of Military Leaders

Several people said Hegseth’s unprecedented request sparked security concerns.

newrepublic.com

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 15d

The Gossamer Dragon is one of the rarest breeds of drake; not the best flyer, but it loves to dance in dust devils and summer breezes, hoping to attract a mate.

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 28d

I once believed that tragedy and hard times made a people better; more united, more resilient, more watchful of their liberties and mindful of common decency.

A mentor of mine once said that Americans would vote for Hitler if he carried an AR-15 and had a decent podcast.

I used to laugh at that.

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 28d

Will this be a footnote in some future historian's dissertation titled 'The Troubled Times', temporary and mostly forgotten?

Or will it be one chapter among worse yet to come in a eulogy of our delicate experiment in democracy?

Forgive the dramatic framing, but I've not seen much good recently.

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 28d

If my sentiment seems guarded, even worried, it is.

We're in a dark place right now, one where the death of a violence-worshiping Youtube racist somehow matters more than the deaths of children.

Where Ashli Babbit gets full military honors, while real veterans continue to be forgotten.

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 28d

As we see another 9/11 anniversary come, I wonder what might have been. 24 years of peace, maybe, at least in relative terms. 24 years of economic stability, tens of thousands fewer vets struggling to cope.

Too much to hope for? Probably. I don't know.

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 28d

In 2003 I went into Iraq with the marines of TF Tarawa as an intel guy. I experienced first-hand what an angry superpower could do - the harm, rather than the good.

There was good, mind you, but it was always in small doses, done by individuals.

The bad was collective.

Dispassionate. Inhuman.

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 28d

The sudden militarization of police which had started in the 90's but became supercharged after the Afghan and Iraq wars was the most telling.

Police forces headhunting recently separated vets. I served with some. They were not stable, nor happy, nor looking to improve their neighborhoods.

1 1

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 28d

It didn't. In fact, it got much worse.

I felt the jingoism seep into my pores, and despite my love of country, it wasn't a warm, fuzzy feeling.

It was "freedom fries", the cancellation of the Dixie Chicks. Country stars cosplaying as vets.

It was also the sentiment.

"With us or against us".

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 28d

It was all of those things, but far worse than I imagined.

The patriotism that led me to join the navy also made me feel a profound sense that maybe, just maybe, what would come in the aftermath would be good for the country. That the deep divides which were already apparent would somehow heal.

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 28d

I remember seeing the second plane hit after I sat down for my shift. It was a world away, and I didn't know anyone who died that day, not personally.

As an active duty serviceperson, I knew only one thing. I knew that what would follow would be violent, expansive, and shape the rest of my career.

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 28d

I was a young cryptologic sailor stationed overseas, watching an old adversary on the other side of the world. It was evening in Japan when the first tower was struck, and we had a monsoonal downpour that flooded our base.

My memories of that night are still crisp, half a lifetime later.

FORGED Not Born @forgednotborn.bsky.social · 28d

All the best "people".