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Erik Schmidt

@settingfirst.bsky.social

71 followers 98 following 680 posts

Gen X, US Army veteran, J.D. holder, bicyclist, reader of books. See my #ttrpg stuff at https://settingfirst.com and https://www.youtube.com/@SettingFirstRPG

settingfirst.com

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Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · Nov 23

In-person campaign play that emphasizes verisimilitude – that’s the Setting First approach to #ttrpg. youtu.be/uJ-i2Clsa70?...

What is Setting First Tabletop Roleplaying?

YouTube video by Setting First

youtu.be

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Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 14d

Sometimes nothing beats a nice cool glass of water.

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 14d

Quote this with your reaction to getting left behind during the rapture...

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 15d

No matter how useful, or at the very least informative a post might be, there's always someone ready to use it as a springboard to share whatever negativity is rolling around in their brainpan. That filtering it out requires so much effort is proof of how primitive our social media tools still are.

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 16d

Current mental state: Full Igorrr. open.spotify.com/album/3Z3jBK...

Spotify – Web Player

open.spotify.com

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 16d

Um Weird GIF

ALT: Um Weird GIF

media.tenor.com

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 16d

I personally can't wait for the rapture. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHCd...

Blondie - Rapture (Official Music Video)

YouTube video by BlondieVEVO

www.youtube.com

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 16d

In the early 80s, me and my teenage buddies used to joke that in the future, the world would be dominated by two corporations: Coca-Cola and Disney. At the time we figured Disney was the long shot of the two.

Reposted by Erik Schmidt

Jonathan Tweet @jonathantweet.bsky.social · 21d

In original RuneQuest (1978), an Intelligence score of 13+ helped you with most skills. Not just Perception and Knowledge but also Manipulation, Stealth, Defense, and even Attack. It was as useful as Dexterity and better for Attack skills than Strength was. I think about that a lot.

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Reposted by Erik Schmidt

Charnock @printdevil.dice.camp.ap.brid.gy · 17d

It is a little known fact that before any armour system is implemented in a RPG it is legally required that it is tested in real life for accuracy. Here for example is the BRP head location being certified.

#ttrpg

A man heading a wall because it was simply looking it. Probably Irish

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Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 18d

A publicly-traded company exists to make money for shareholders. A CEO that fights Trump is a CEO that likely gets canned by its board. The only way to influence a public company in any meaningful way is by affecting its revenue.

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 18d

Sounds different in a good way.

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 18d

My wife is looking at me like I'm a total loon, because I can't stop laughing at this.

josh (oldfriend99) @oldfriend99.bsky.social · 18d

Damn, check your egg nog everyone. I just looked at the date on mine and it's expired

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 18d

This is invaluable advice. I've learned over the years that I know less than I thought I did about most things, but time has proven that the effort I've put into real life (as opposed to parasocial) relationships really has paid off tremendously.

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 18d

Speaking of a fantasy #ttrpg setting that can serve as the foundation for years of engaging campaign play, has magic baked into every nook and cranny, and feels lived in and vibrant, here's a little intro to #Glorantha (and by extension, #RuneQuest). youtu.be/K8R7Zhqsd5k

Foundational Setting: Glorantha

YouTube video by Setting First - Tabletop Roleplaying

youtu.be

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Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 22d

I can't even tell you how many times my friends and I played "Butch & Sundance" as kids. I also remember my dad's take – he appreciated Redford's desire to be known as a real actor, when he could have just cashed in on his looks.

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 23d

I agree with you. When soldiers aren't griping (which always involves swearing), you know their morale is truly low. In 2025 we're all in the trenches. To not have a lowered swearing threshold would be an acquiescence, a pretending that everything is OK when it absolutely isn't.

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 23d

Ars Technica home page showing me a 403. Now that's not something you see every day.

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 24d

Stumbled across Memory: The Origins of Alien (2019) and I'm glad I did. Really fascinating stuff about how the movie came together and how the minds of its creators meshed. www.imdb.com/title/tt8974...

Memory: The Origins of Alien (2019) ⭐ 6.8 | Documentary, Biography, History

1h 35m | Not Rated

www.imdb.com

Reposted by Erik Schmidt

E. Rosalie @erosalie.infoepi.com · 25d

Looked at my data collections for state-backed activity. If the report were a picture:

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Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 24d

I guess this means instead of having access to All The World's Knowledge™, this means LLMs actually have access to All The World's Digitized And Made Available On Crawlable Sites Knowledge That Hasn't Already Rotted Away™.

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 24d

A detailed research summary for an Eclipse Phase NPC named Cyrene. This writeup includes information about the NPC, with each chunk of information assigned a reliability rating. For my Eclipse Phase campaign, I assumed that constant information warfare would mean that even sophisticated muse systems wouldn't be able to completely confirm the validity of most information.

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 24d

In 2011 I gave Eclipse Phase players handouts like these whenever PCs used a muse to get info. I figured constant info warfare would mean automated info-gathering would have to include accuracy estimates. Nope, bad for business. theconversation.com/why-openais-...

Why OpenAI’s solution to AI hallucinations would kill ChatGPT tomorrow

The cure is likely to be worse than the disease.

theconversation.com

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Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 24d

We’re no longer using the term “lone wolf gunman” and are now using the term “lone loser gunman.” Thank you for your attention on this matter.

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Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 25d

That last sentence is evergreen.

Mike Rothschild @rothschildmd.bsky.social · 25d

There's no reason to take any reporting about Tyler Robinson at face value right now. Countless officials, law enforcement agencies, politicians, influencers, and reporters have been wrong, hoaxed, or caught making things up. Social media is making us all crazy and stupid.

Erik Schmidt @settingfirst.bsky.social · 25d

I have no musical capability whatsoever. That said, if the owner of this would have let me, I'd have spent the entire weekend just goofing off with this thing. It's so freakin' cool.