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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 1st, 2023

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  • I get annoyed when people say things like “big deal, just do xyz yourself, why are you complaining?” . Because making a clear and comprehensive game is WOTC’s job they are being paid for with our money!

    If the system has a flaw, it’s their job to fix it, if they don’t they’re doing a bad job.

    That being said, 5.5e has been pretty cleaned up in this aspect. I’m honestly shocked at how they both added new fun systems and codified a lot of vague mechanics.









  • I have a similar odd thing that I can only descibe as being fascinated with articulation.

    Robots, skeletons, suits of armor, dolls, gears, some insects.

    Something made of distinct pieces moving in articulated ways, it’s a downright core desire.

    I also like things separated but still connected like by a string, cable, or wireless. Like kites, security cameras, or drones.

    I used to have a toy fishing rod with a rubber fish at the end that I love just throwing in the lake and realing back in. It just tickles my brain.

    And more similar to yours, I really love spreadsheets! They can do so many things!




  • I think the worst thing about a Mary Sue is when their success comes trivially or randomly.

    What usually helps me is making the obstacle more specific and diving into those specifics when they’re problem solving. You’ll find most things we broadly group into large lumps, like martial arts, swordfighting, researching, medicine, ect. often have an overwhelming amount of details that not only separates good from bad, but also have specific dynamics that change depending on circumstances.

    If you want to make the successes feel earned, include enough detail about the problem that you can tell a story with the challenges involved. If your focus is swordfighting convey the kinds of techniques your protagonist know then put them up against opponents that can counter those techniques so they have to learn. If you focus is a doctor then instead of seeking out the Medicine Flower™, try conveying the roadmap to making medicine to the audience then make a story out of the process.

    I feel like Breaking Bad is a good example of this. It depends a lot on actual chemistry and every chemistry advancement is a plot point. Mainly it’s figuring out how to procure the ingredients and equipment without leaving evidence to get caught from.






  • I’ve begun to think of LLMs as compression algorithms for patterns. It can take an existing pattern and apply it on unusual subjects. Like take the pattern of a limerick and apply it to the patterns of Danny Devito, that’s the upper limit of their creativity. So rather than storing information, it stores these patterns making it seem more dynamic.

    The way I see it, human creativity is the combination of patterns but in a chaotic non-analytic way. We make leaps of logic that without precise knowledge of our brains can’t be exactly replicated. Meanwhile LLM’s just do the basic combination of patterns that result in the most generic realization of any idea.

    However the well dries up as soon as we stop training them. They’ll store the basics of any field but fail to replicate new developments or conclusions until trained.