Please wait...
Totally. That's why, even with my gaming group literally living in my house every day of our lives, we still only game about once quarterly. It's just not as important the strawberry harvest or tending the chickens or summer camp or the other million things.
Yeah, paper FRP gaming is tediously slow and a lot of effort. You're lucky to get a *single* encounter in after all the setup, and that single encounter can take an entire play session to resolve. But God loves a fast moving GM/DM who keeps things moving along.
Fri Apr 02 2021 00:53:26 MST from "Wangiss" <wangiss@wallofhate.com>Totally. That's why, even with my gaming group literally living in my house every day of our lives, we still only game about once quarterly. It's just not as important the strawberry harvest or tending the chickens or summer camp or the other million things.
I would be happy to run an in person game, as long as it's not on a saturday. I already have 3 saturday games.
I find it best to play every week, otherwise things get forgotten and the game is too easy for people to skip or forget about.
I'm certain I can find enough players, assuming you don't have enough friends to round out the group, which you might.
Sessions are generally best at about 4-6 hours, because experience tells me a quick fight takes a couple hours to resolve unless everyone's really on the ball.
I can run D&D in 2nd edition, 3rd edition, and 5th edition. I also have many other roleplaying games which are honestly more fun, but less popular. My favourite is Mage, but there are many, and GURPS can literally do anything.
There are other games that are designed to be fast and low commitment, like Kobolds Ate My Baby, where you play as kobolds trying to steal babies (or at least chickens) from the local village for a feast that King Torg (ALL HAIL KING TORG!) has declared. If you fail to provide meat, you become meat. It's silly and hilarious and super fun.
I strongly feel like a game night event would be super fun with you. You're exactly the type of smart competitive person I enjoy gaming with.
I do not have enough nerd friends in Phoenix to make a party. I don't have any, except you. :)
That might not be true. I MIGHT be able to scare up one more - and he might have connections...
But I don't know how I could commit to a genuine campaign - as much as I'd love to. I'm not sure how I can be so busy and NOT have a full time job.
Sat Apr 24 2021 05:41:57 MST from TheDaveI would be happy to run an in person game, as long as it's not on a saturday. I already have 3 saturday games.
I find it best to play every week, otherwise things get forgotten and the game is too easy for people to skip or forget about.
I'm certain I can find enough players, assuming you don't have enough friends to round out the group, which you might.
Sessions are generally best at about 4-6 hours, because experience tells me a quick fight takes a couple hours to resolve unless everyone's really on the ball.
I can run D&D in 2nd edition, 3rd edition, and 5th edition. I also have many other roleplaying games which are honestly more fun, but less popular. My favourite is Mage, but there are many, and GURPS can literally do anything.
There are other games that are designed to be fast and low commitment, like Kobolds Ate My Baby, where you play as kobolds trying to steal babies (or at least chickens) from the local village for a feast that King Torg (ALL HAIL KING TORG!) has declared. If you fail to provide meat, you become meat. It's silly and hilarious and super fun.
I strongly feel like a game night event would be super fun with you. You're exactly the type of smart competitive person I enjoy gaming with.
I didn't believe it was possible, either. But I'm getting crazy amounts of stuff done that actually matters which somehow isn't making me a living. Built that greenhouse. Started a friend's website. Felled more trees. Tore out the wildlife nests in the backyard. Got ready for a May Day party which took a few straight days.
Hoping to have a gaming session with the kids on Sunday. A friend asked me to present a Robe of Useful Items for the kids to play with. The game's approachable enchanter will give it to them to see what they want to add. Here's the description from my homey:
"
Robe, patches depicting items, tear off something and throw it Down and the patch becomes the thing depicted. Stuff like rope, a ladder, a lit lantern, but also a door or window (can make holes in a wall) and a 10 cubic foot pit.
"
So that'll be a fun episode. Clearing the caves in their ore mine is spooking them and they need a light session.
That is at once both a very innovative and quirky magic item, and whimsical at the same time. I love it. It is a great item for younger players too - in that you'll clearly have points where it is obvious that SOME item from the robe would come in handy - but it is up to them to get creative with which items they use. I bet they defy your expectations in unusual and creative ways at least once, in that regard. :)
Sat May 08 2021 00:58:09 MST from Wangiss <wangiss@wallofhate.com>I didn't believe it was possible, either. But I'm getting crazy amounts of stuff done that actually matters which somehow isn't making me a living. Built that greenhouse. Started a friend's website. Felled more trees. Tore out the wildlife nests in the backyard. Got ready for a May Day party which took a few straight days.
Hoping to have a gaming session with the kids on Sunday. A friend asked me to present a Robe of Useful Items for the kids to play with. The game's approachable enchanter will give it to them to see what they want to add. Here's the description from my homey:
"
Robe, patches depicting items, tear off something and throw it Down and the patch becomes the thing depicted. Stuff like rope, a ladder, a lit lantern, but also a door or window (can make holes in a wall) and a 10 cubic foot pit.
"
So that'll be a fun episode. Clearing the caves in their ore mine is spooking them and they need a light session.
I was always a bit disappointed that the portable hole is really just an item storage thing and doesn't work like on the cartoons. I think that if someone tries to use one to get through walls/floors that it should work. If you want it to be an extradimensonal storage space you should have enchanted a bag.
A "bag of holding," is the proper term, for 1st edition users. Marry Poppins *clearly* had one.
But I agree. A portable hole should *not* be the same thing as a "bag of holding". It makes much more sense to make it a "portable, unlimited passwall".
But, I'd never thought of this before until I saw your post. If I were your DM - you would win this argument.
Sat May 15 2021 10:47:34 MST from TheDaveI was always a bit disappointed that the portable hole is really just an item storage thing and doesn't work like on the cartoons. I think that if someone tries to use one to get through walls/floors that it should work. If you want it to be an extradimensonal storage space you should have enchanted a bag.
Sat May 15 2021 18:42:32 MST from ParanoidDelusions <paranoiddelusions@wallofhate.com>A "bag of holding," is the proper term, for 1st edition users. Marry Poppins *clearly* had one.
But I agree. A portable hole should *not* be the same thing as a "bag of holding". It makes much more sense to make it a "portable, unlimited passwall".
But, I'd never thought of this before until I saw your post. If I were your DM - you would win this argument.
Sat May 15 2021 10:47:34 MST from TheDaveI was always a bit disappointed that the portable hole is really just an item storage thing and doesn't work like on the cartoons. I think that if someone tries to use one to get through walls/floors that it should work. If you want it to be an extradimensonal storage space you should have enchanted a bag.
That's because I'm right. There are already 4 kinds of bags of holding, plus the Heward's Handy Haversack for those people who hate digging around in their bag for the item they want. Extradimensional storage is already covered. Portable hole should be what it says on the tin.
I feel like I've seen conversations about this before - where someone was reasoning they are basically the same spell or enchantment - and somehow uniquely different than a "passwall" spell (which creates an ACTUAL temporal hole in solid inorganic matter).
The difference is that the bag of holding is a private space. There are no other extradimensional portals into the bag of holding. It is a secure, encrypted portable hard drive.
The Portable Hole is more like shared space on a public cloud storage server. It isn't a safe space to store private and sensitive files. If you throw something into a portable hole and then go back to retrieve it later, it will almost certainly be gone. The portable hole doesn't necessarily open into the same space - it is "temporary" storage - so... if you open it and hop into it to hide, you'll be in there, with the same exit, as long as you hide. But, if you took off your backpack while hiding, then jumped out of the hole and forgot your backpack, then immediately opened it again and jumped back in, the backpack won't be there. It hasn't been stolen - but your pathway back to it has been lost.
This approach brings some interesting possibilities - like hoping into a portable hole and finding unexpected things left behind. Treasure, or maybe a turd.
Sat May 15 2021 10:47:34 MST from TheDaveI was always a bit disappointed that the portable hole is really just an item storage thing and doesn't work like on the cartoons. I think that if someone tries to use one to get through walls/floors that it should work. If you want it to be an extradimensonal storage space you should have enchanted a bag.
That's because I'm right. There are already 4 kinds of bags of holding, plus the Heward's Handy Haversack for those people who hate digging around in their bag for the item they want. Extradimensional storage is already covered. Portable hole should be what it says on the tin.
The other thing I find appealing about this approach is that it rings true of real life - like reusable object oriented code - some wizard comes up with an enchantment, and invents the Bag of Holding.
Someone else uses that framework, and alters it just a bit to make a Portable Hole.
Same foundation, same superclass, if you will - but different results - and if you look at the code (enchantment) you can see the framework of one in the other.
It makes for a very logical real-world explanation of how magic works.
My bestie was looking online and found some noob making money as a professional DM even though he's only been playing for a year. $20 a head per session. I've been gaming for over a quarter century. I'm definitely going to start doing this for pocket money.
Start a *business*. Figure out a model where you can hire pro-DMs and pay them and be the Jeff Bezos of pay-to-play FRP gaming.
Don't be the service, facilitate the service and take the lions share of the profits for it. If you want to do this, there are thousands of others who want to do it - enable THEM to be able to make a living doing it, and YOU'LL be the one that gets rich.
Thu Jun 17 2021 05:50:59 MST from TheDaveMy bestie was looking online and found some noob making money as a professional DM even though he's only been playing for a year. $20 a head per session. I've been gaming for over a quarter century. I'm definitely going to start doing this for pocket money.
Thu Jun 17 2021 07:23:31 MST from ParanoidDelusions <paranoiddelusions@wallofhate.com>Start a *business*. Figure out a model where you can hire pro-DMs and pay them and be the Jeff Bezos of pay-to-play FRP gaming.
Don't be the service, facilitate the service and take the lions share of the profits for it. If you want to do this, there are thousands of others who want to do it - enable THEM to be able to make a living doing it, and YOU'LL be the one that gets rich.
Thu Jun 17 2021 05:50:59 MST from TheDaveMy bestie was looking online and found some noob making money as a professional DM even though he's only been playing for a year. $20 a head per session. I've been gaming for over a quarter century. I'm definitely going to start doing this for pocket money.
That's already part of my business model. I can be the service but also be the FACE of the company where I don't do all the work myself. Hire people for the stuff I don't like, pool resources, get people who like making characters to do that, get people who like room descriptions to do that, etc. I know a guy who runs a birthday party clown business. If he can do that, I can run a pro DM service. If I have my credentials and then recommend a guy that meets your needs, people are more likely to accept that guy than if he were representing himself.
Yup. And all very easy to start as a grass roots, unlicensed, DIY "business" earning cash on the side. You should start on this immediately. Seriously. Someone else will - and the first one to get notoriety for doing it well will probably be the winner.
Thu Jun 17 2021 08:28:10 MST from TheDave
Thu Jun 17 2021 07:23:31 MST from ParanoidDelusions <paranoiddelusions@wallofhate.com>Start a *business*. Figure out a model where you can hire pro-DMs and pay them and be the Jeff Bezos of pay-to-play FRP gaming.
Don't be the service, facilitate the service and take the lions share of the profits for it. If you want to do this, there are thousands of others who want to do it - enable THEM to be able to make a living doing it, and YOU'LL be the one that gets rich.
Thu Jun 17 2021 05:50:59 MST from TheDaveMy bestie was looking online and found some noob making money as a professional DM even though he's only been playing for a year. $20 a head per session. I've been gaming for over a quarter century. I'm definitely going to start doing this for pocket money.
That's already part of my business model. I can be the service but also be the FACE of the company where I don't do all the work myself. Hire people for the stuff I don't like, pool resources, get people who like making characters to do that, get people who like room descriptions to do that, etc. I know a guy who runs a birthday party clown business. If he can do that, I can run a pro DM service. If I have my credentials and then recommend a guy that meets your needs, people are more likely to accept that guy than if he were representing himself.
Hard agree. The Iron is hot. Strike.
"Have you ever read Rich Dad, Poor Dad?"
-Opa
Had a guy give me that book in Ohio... he was a firm believer in it.
He lived in an average $80k-$120k house, had an old Porsche in the garage, had a pack of dogs, 3 half-black kids from his first marriage, a slightly chubby, adorable wife (with the same kind of attitude as Glimmer... your... aunt... sister? Like, personality wise, very much the same person)... And he struggled. He got laid off 2 or 3 times while we were there... his house burned down, he constantly brought in exchange students - and... he just had financial hardships.
Meanwhile - I - being a jackass, lived across the street in a 6000 sq. ft tudor with two BMWs and an Escalade, took trips to Europe, had 3.25 acres of parklike land... and... I mean... did exactly the opposite of Rich Dad Poor Dad's advice. Sorta.
I mean, intuitively, we did do a lot of delayment of gratification. But the recipe in the book isn't quite right. The whole Warren Buffet "Millionaire Next Door," "material poor but cash rich," thing is really a myth. I mean, it exists - but there is a balance that is better to strike. Sometimes you get behind, and sometimes you get ahead. We lost several hundred thousand dollars on the house in Sacramento - but walked away with $80,000 cash. We lost that in Ohio on the house there...
But now we're several hundred thousand dollars up in Phoenix - and have more disposable income than we've ever had. The ironic thing is - the house in Arizona is *nice* - but it is below our means - and it is the first time we've done that. Every EXPENSIVE house that was supposed to be a good investment, we lost money on. We bought a house far below what we could have had - and it has made us more money than any of the others.
So... that idea of "stretch to buy the nicest house you can..." doesn't pan out for me. In fact, "prestige properties" are harder to sell. They're in a bracket where the buyers already have nice houses, have lots of money, and can wait - and can have another house much like yours if yours falls through. They may already have a house much like yours - or several.
The middle class houses - the average houses - those buyers have to move quick, they have to arrange selling what they're in just at the right time to buy what you have so that they can move everything from one to the other. They're at your mercy as a seller. That is MOST people... and that is where instead of people offering $80k, or even $300k less than selling price - they can sit back and let a bidding war start.
Rich Dad/Poor Dad was a very Middle Class vision of what it takes to get rich - because it missed advise like this - because you don't realize this until you've gotten affluent enough to experience it a few times. Most people don't sell and buy million dollar homes when they're younger - they don't experience that until they're older. Even in California (which skews your whole idea of property values - the numbers are bigger, but the DYNAMIC is still the same - that is, in Phoenix it might cost you $350k... in LA, same house costs you $1.2million - but the house is the same, and the buyers are the same. If the house costs $1.2 million here, it is $4.5-7 million in California).
In California, the people sitting on homes that are in the $4 million to $11 million range are the ones who get fucked on selling. They're in a demographic where everyone BUYING can wait them out, and will.
If you're a $20-$40 million house in California, you're SO exclusive that anyone coming in wants YOUR property - you don't generally have to negotiate - because they've got their mind set on your home - but that range between about $1.2 million and $4 or 5 million in California - there are THOUSANDS of those homes, maybe more - and they're all basically identical, and the people who are buying have the leisure to wait out the best price - but aren't rich enough that they'll pay a premium generally because they *have to have YOURS and no other*. If your million dollar home in California isn't considered an Estate and doesn't have a property NAME - you're going to get lowballed. If you're just a typical middle, middle-affluent suburban home - you'll probably get a bidding war - because demand is so high and competition so fierce. If you're a SUPER wealthy percent of the 1 percent - the buyer who shows up for your estate is going to want YOUR estate because of its history and prestige, and won't dick around much on price, if at all.
That is how it works with real estate - and Rich Dad/Poor Dad had no concept of this. You don't see it until you start getting into this range.
So... take that book with salt. There is good advice in it - but it has a narrow view of the big picture.