Phil
@thedicemechanic.bsky.social
Geek, gamer, whingebag (he/him)
'Dicemechanic' on Discord.
Blogs rarely at dicemechanic.wordpress.com
No DMs (thanks Online Safety Act)
I block often. Nothing personal, but this is my walled garden.
'Dicemechanic' on Discord.
Blogs rarely at dicemechanic.wordpress.com
No DMs (thanks Online Safety Act)
I block often. Nothing personal, but this is my walled garden.
Prestige may be useful to measure in #ttrpgs involving intrigue.
I can think of 4 main sources: Rank/Job, Family, Association (hanging around Prestigious people) and Deeds (the main source for Player Characters)
Any others? Is there a strict hierarchy, or can Deeds ever trump Rank?
I can think of 4 main sources: Rank/Job, Family, Association (hanging around Prestigious people) and Deeds (the main source for Player Characters)
Any others? Is there a strict hierarchy, or can Deeds ever trump Rank?
November 25, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Prestige may be useful to measure in #ttrpgs involving intrigue.
I can think of 4 main sources: Rank/Job, Family, Association (hanging around Prestigious people) and Deeds (the main source for Player Characters)
Any others? Is there a strict hierarchy, or can Deeds ever trump Rank?
I can think of 4 main sources: Rank/Job, Family, Association (hanging around Prestigious people) and Deeds (the main source for Player Characters)
Any others? Is there a strict hierarchy, or can Deeds ever trump Rank?
Not going to Dragonmeet this year. Not sure I'll go again tbh. I do live the busy vibe and sense of being part of this great hobby. But also, feeling alone in a crowd is pretty miserable.
November 25, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Not going to Dragonmeet this year. Not sure I'll go again tbh. I do live the busy vibe and sense of being part of this great hobby. But also, feeling alone in a crowd is pretty miserable.
Reposted by Phil
there is a tabletop rpg I really enjoy called bluebeards bride and the setup is quite easy, all you will need is some six sided dice, a copy of the book, a free evening, and 5 men you want to irrevocably traumatize
November 25, 2025 at 9:38 AM
there is a tabletop rpg I really enjoy called bluebeards bride and the setup is quite easy, all you will need is some six sided dice, a copy of the book, a free evening, and 5 men you want to irrevocably traumatize
Reposted by Phil
Sam Sorensen wrote a beautiful, albeit complex, roleplaying wargame called Cataphract, and I took the rules and mashed them into a sheer monstrosity. Set loosely in Britain in the Dark Ages, you play as competing warlord households in real time.
I'm looking for people bad enough to play.
I'm looking for people bad enough to play.
November 25, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Sam Sorensen wrote a beautiful, albeit complex, roleplaying wargame called Cataphract, and I took the rules and mashed them into a sheer monstrosity. Set loosely in Britain in the Dark Ages, you play as competing warlord households in real time.
I'm looking for people bad enough to play.
I'm looking for people bad enough to play.
Just bought Tobin's Spirit Guide for WEG Ghostbusters from a US ebayer.
Again
Hopefully this time it is the actual WEG book, otherwise that's another refund I shall be claiming 😁
Again
Hopefully this time it is the actual WEG book, otherwise that's another refund I shall be claiming 😁
November 24, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Just bought Tobin's Spirit Guide for WEG Ghostbusters from a US ebayer.
Again
Hopefully this time it is the actual WEG book, otherwise that's another refund I shall be claiming 😁
Again
Hopefully this time it is the actual WEG book, otherwise that's another refund I shall be claiming 😁
Tired of GP and SP? Introduce more verissimilitude to your F20 currency...
In 1785 King Ferdinand IV of Naples traded eighteen of the Herculaneum papyri for the same number of kangaroos.
November 24, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Tired of GP and SP? Introduce more verissimilitude to your F20 currency...
Reposted by Phil
“Midfolk” is such an on-point name for fantasy humans.
November 24, 2025 at 1:25 PM
“Midfolk” is such an on-point name for fantasy humans.
Nice alignment style idea, based on motivations rather than cosmic powers. And it's great.
I really don't like anything about D&D's alignment system, but I appreciate its power as a shorthand, and I'd love to do something that could work similarly, and this is a swing at that.
walkingmind.evilhat.com/2025/11/23/o...
walkingmind.evilhat.com/2025/11/23/o...
Oops, All Heroes
Caveat before all of this begins – the material I’m about to use is sourced from a psychology paper on values which were used as the source for the diagram in a Common Cause article. I …
walkingmind.evilhat.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Nice alignment style idea, based on motivations rather than cosmic powers. And it's great.
Reposted by Phil
Reposted by Phil
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
November 23, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
Strongly agree. As the scale and complexity of each family grew, so did the divides
1/ While nostalgia is a dangerous analytical tool, one thing I do think was better in the old days is the much thinner line between different types of "hobby gaming". We recognised that a boardgame and a RPG weren't quite the same thing.
November 23, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Strongly agree. As the scale and complexity of each family grew, so did the divides
At A&E for 11yo sore big toe. She slipped this morning and it's not got better, and NHS website basically says "child's big toe? Get it seen".
Seems a tad unnecessary imo, but what do I know?
Seems a tad unnecessary imo, but what do I know?
November 23, 2025 at 6:21 PM
At A&E for 11yo sore big toe. She slipped this morning and it's not got better, and NHS website basically says "child's big toe? Get it seen".
Seems a tad unnecessary imo, but what do I know?
Seems a tad unnecessary imo, but what do I know?
Just one reason why this is the best edition 😋
Game design peaked in 2009 with the release of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd Edition, specifically the mechanics for the Small But Vicious Dog
November 23, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Just one reason why this is the best edition 😋
Keep the thread burning...
November 22, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Keep the thread burning...
Listened to an old KARTAS while driving to visit my old mum post hip op.
Now have half a scheme for a web of factions and notables for a fantasy intrigue campaign. Almost feels like it could be part way to designing a thematic board game, but I don't want to go that far.
Now have half a scheme for a web of factions and notables for a fantasy intrigue campaign. Almost feels like it could be part way to designing a thematic board game, but I don't want to go that far.
November 22, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Listened to an old KARTAS while driving to visit my old mum post hip op.
Now have half a scheme for a web of factions and notables for a fantasy intrigue campaign. Almost feels like it could be part way to designing a thematic board game, but I don't want to go that far.
Now have half a scheme for a web of factions and notables for a fantasy intrigue campaign. Almost feels like it could be part way to designing a thematic board game, but I don't want to go that far.
The number and length of unskippable, unpausable cinematics in the opening scenes of ME3 is seriously irritating
Yes, ME2 was kinda like an interactive movie, but this is far worse.
It's been going for 3 minutes somfar and I've had zero choices to make. RPG this ain't.
Yes, ME2 was kinda like an interactive movie, but this is far worse.
It's been going for 3 minutes somfar and I've had zero choices to make. RPG this ain't.
November 21, 2025 at 6:16 PM
The number and length of unskippable, unpausable cinematics in the opening scenes of ME3 is seriously irritating
Yes, ME2 was kinda like an interactive movie, but this is far worse.
It's been going for 3 minutes somfar and I've had zero choices to make. RPG this ain't.
Yes, ME2 was kinda like an interactive movie, but this is far worse.
It's been going for 3 minutes somfar and I've had zero choices to make. RPG this ain't.
Have finished Mass Effect 2 and onto Mass Effect 3
I enjoyed ME2 as a fun interactive movie with shooting bits. O found the NPC relationships broad but shallow.
To unlock a romance, it was maybe just 5 substantive conversations? Like...
What's your story?
What's your REAL story?
Let's fuck?
I enjoyed ME2 as a fun interactive movie with shooting bits. O found the NPC relationships broad but shallow.
To unlock a romance, it was maybe just 5 substantive conversations? Like...
What's your story?
What's your REAL story?
Let's fuck?
November 21, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Have finished Mass Effect 2 and onto Mass Effect 3
I enjoyed ME2 as a fun interactive movie with shooting bits. O found the NPC relationships broad but shallow.
To unlock a romance, it was maybe just 5 substantive conversations? Like...
What's your story?
What's your REAL story?
Let's fuck?
I enjoyed ME2 as a fun interactive movie with shooting bits. O found the NPC relationships broad but shallow.
To unlock a romance, it was maybe just 5 substantive conversations? Like...
What's your story?
What's your REAL story?
Let's fuck?
Tested my copilot agent with one of our IT/data chaps
The ONE thing that makes it work is that it doesn't ever pad stuff out by looking online. It 100% only takes and rewrites what we've already written
That's a game-changer for me
✅ Intelligent recapitulation
❌ Hallucinatory bullshit engine
The ONE thing that makes it work is that it doesn't ever pad stuff out by looking online. It 100% only takes and rewrites what we've already written
That's a game-changer for me
✅ Intelligent recapitulation
❌ Hallucinatory bullshit engine
I have found a use case where #copilot is actually useful
I've created an Agent with instructions for tone etc. It's pointed to a sharepoint location that contains my Team's prewritten stuff
And I tell it to find a specific answer, and if it isn't there, don't make it up.
Basically smart search
I've created an Agent with instructions for tone etc. It's pointed to a sharepoint location that contains my Team's prewritten stuff
And I tell it to find a specific answer, and if it isn't there, don't make it up.
Basically smart search
November 21, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Tested my copilot agent with one of our IT/data chaps
The ONE thing that makes it work is that it doesn't ever pad stuff out by looking online. It 100% only takes and rewrites what we've already written
That's a game-changer for me
✅ Intelligent recapitulation
❌ Hallucinatory bullshit engine
The ONE thing that makes it work is that it doesn't ever pad stuff out by looking online. It 100% only takes and rewrites what we've already written
That's a game-changer for me
✅ Intelligent recapitulation
❌ Hallucinatory bullshit engine
Reposted by Phil
BREAKING: The former leader of Reform in Wales, Nathan Gill, has been sentenced to ten and half years in prison for taking bribes to pump out Russian propaganda.
Gill was paid thousands to make pro-Russia speeches and TV interviews.
Gill was paid thousands to make pro-Russia speeches and TV interviews.
November 21, 2025 at 12:57 PM
BREAKING: The former leader of Reform in Wales, Nathan Gill, has been sentenced to ten and half years in prison for taking bribes to pump out Russian propaganda.
Gill was paid thousands to make pro-Russia speeches and TV interviews.
Gill was paid thousands to make pro-Russia speeches and TV interviews.
Reposted by Phil
I grumble about this. A new buzzword emerges with a specific, useful meaning, then quickly turns into a loose synonym for something we already have a word for because it's been around for ages (eg clickbait doesn't just mean a provocative headline, gaslighting doesn't just mean lying)
A reminder that “enshittification” has a specific and useful meaning and doesn’t just mean “things, companies or countries are getting worse”. There is an existing word for that which is “decline”.
November 21, 2025 at 9:45 AM
I grumble about this. A new buzzword emerges with a specific, useful meaning, then quickly turns into a loose synonym for something we already have a word for because it's been around for ages (eg clickbait doesn't just mean a provocative headline, gaslighting doesn't just mean lying)
Proud to be the 132nd backer 😎 on @BackerKit Crowdfunding for Designers & Dragons: Origins! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...
Designers & Dragons: Origins
From the birth of roleplaying to the discovery of the Forgotten Realms, from the rise of Basic D&D to the fall of Mystara, historian Shannon Appelcline brings you the story of OD&D, Basic D&D, and AD&...
www.backerkit.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Proud to be the 132nd backer 😎 on @BackerKit Crowdfunding for Designers & Dragons: Origins! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/e...
Eating a tiny chip-stick earlier this evening, it just tickled the back of my throat ever so slightly.
But my stupid physiology means that as a result Ive had chest-shakingly painful hiccups for the last 2 hours, with no sign of them going.
Stupid diaphragm
But my stupid physiology means that as a result Ive had chest-shakingly painful hiccups for the last 2 hours, with no sign of them going.
Stupid diaphragm
November 20, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Eating a tiny chip-stick earlier this evening, it just tickled the back of my throat ever so slightly.
But my stupid physiology means that as a result Ive had chest-shakingly painful hiccups for the last 2 hours, with no sign of them going.
Stupid diaphragm
But my stupid physiology means that as a result Ive had chest-shakingly painful hiccups for the last 2 hours, with no sign of them going.
Stupid diaphragm
Reposted by Phil
@montecookgames.com
Just got the Backerkit email, but...
To us in the UK, May 2025 is in the past.
I do wish all folks around the world would use dates like: 5th December 2025, or December 5th 2025. Still, I filled it in.
Game on.
Just got the Backerkit email, but...
To us in the UK, May 2025 is in the past.
I do wish all folks around the world would use dates like: 5th December 2025, or December 5th 2025. Still, I filled it in.
Game on.
November 20, 2025 at 8:39 PM
@montecookgames.com
Just got the Backerkit email, but...
To us in the UK, May 2025 is in the past.
I do wish all folks around the world would use dates like: 5th December 2025, or December 5th 2025. Still, I filled it in.
Game on.
Just got the Backerkit email, but...
To us in the UK, May 2025 is in the past.
I do wish all folks around the world would use dates like: 5th December 2025, or December 5th 2025. Still, I filled it in.
Game on.
I have found a use case where #copilot is actually useful
I've created an Agent with instructions for tone etc. It's pointed to a sharepoint location that contains my Team's prewritten stuff
And I tell it to find a specific answer, and if it isn't there, don't make it up.
Basically smart search
I've created an Agent with instructions for tone etc. It's pointed to a sharepoint location that contains my Team's prewritten stuff
And I tell it to find a specific answer, and if it isn't there, don't make it up.
Basically smart search
November 20, 2025 at 3:50 PM
I have found a use case where #copilot is actually useful
I've created an Agent with instructions for tone etc. It's pointed to a sharepoint location that contains my Team's prewritten stuff
And I tell it to find a specific answer, and if it isn't there, don't make it up.
Basically smart search
I've created an Agent with instructions for tone etc. It's pointed to a sharepoint location that contains my Team's prewritten stuff
And I tell it to find a specific answer, and if it isn't there, don't make it up.
Basically smart search
Yesterday
Honestly darling, I don't want anything for Xmas. It's just unnecessary expenditure at an expensive time of year
Today
What's that? HarperCollins have 40% off their hardback boxed sets of the Histories of Middle Earth?
Honestly darling, I don't want anything for Xmas. It's just unnecessary expenditure at an expensive time of year
Today
What's that? HarperCollins have 40% off their hardback boxed sets of the Histories of Middle Earth?
bugs bunny from looney tunes is surrounded by red hearts in his eyes .
Alt: bugs bunny from looney tunes is surrounded by red hearts in his eyes .
media.tenor.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Yesterday
Honestly darling, I don't want anything for Xmas. It's just unnecessary expenditure at an expensive time of year
Today
What's that? HarperCollins have 40% off their hardback boxed sets of the Histories of Middle Earth?
Honestly darling, I don't want anything for Xmas. It's just unnecessary expenditure at an expensive time of year
Today
What's that? HarperCollins have 40% off their hardback boxed sets of the Histories of Middle Earth?