#we did commander games

[drjdorr]

Tried Magic the Gathering for the first time and it was pretty fun but, the deck I started with was Ravnica based so basically all the lands were cityscapes in the art which was kinda funny.

"Island" sir that is a city. "Plains" again, that is a city. I'm kinda curious in a "I know how it will turn out" way about the other proper lands(the combination lands tended to show a bit more actual landscape)

[dykedvonte]

I think it’s so ironic that the Pony Express escapes a lot if not all blame in discussion. I can’t even say I am excused from it but it’s just how hard people circle back to the characters alone without considering the environment they were made to be in.

Why would they design a ship where only two of the rooms lock? Not the bathroom? Not the sleeping quarters? We assume that all the companies in the universe are this shallow and careless to their workers but we explicitly know the Pony Express in extra vile. They are fed processed slop pack they can’t even really cook and the ration of those pack is meager at best. They hired and made people with a plethora of conflicting demeanors and beliefs work together on a mission where cohesion is important if not an outright necessity and punish them for not being happy about it. There’s no social protocols, not chain of command other than Captain’s word/choice and the only way to enforce that is with a literal firearm. They don’t allow them to celebrate freely and even took away leisure activities that would make them less stir crazy. They are only allowed a few hours of sleep despite their being no other real responsibilities or work on the ship, no matter the position or its importance. With any crew, with any level of synergy, this was a powder keg waiting for a spark.

I’m not saying characters that made mistakes didn’t make huge ones, but I think part of the horror is that at least for some (this is targeting Jimathan) those mistakes are partly made by a force of the hand. There’s a running theme of lack of choice and being forced into something and the very nature of how The Pony Express expected them to function plays a big part.

[vultures-and-scavengers]

cullen is 100% unqualified.

cullen is unqualified for the role he ends up playing, but also there is NO ONE in thedas who would be qualified.

he is creating an entirely new military and on a massive scale. he is not taking a place in an already established structure. you can be a general who spent their life in the military, but if that military has been around, then you are not creating a power structure, you are taking your place in one. much of this has been organized for you.

and militaries are not just infantry. you need to set up A LOT.

you need construction. you need to be able to house your people. you need fortifications to project your objectives. you need storage space because you will need a fuck ton of supplies. you might need bridges and you might need walls and you need to be able to be flexible with what you have the ability to build.

you need acquisitions. you need to know appropriate amounts of supplies you need. you need to be able to outfit your soldiers with the gear they need, which can change depending on their assignment. you need to know the supplies you're acquiring come from reputable sources and are not sabotaged in any way. you need to have redundancies within your supply chain.

you need transportation. you need to be able to move people. you need to be able to move food. you need to be able to move weapons and armor. you need these transports to be secure and well guarded. you need to (probably) vary their routes so you don't risk predictable convoys being seized. you need animals to provide transportation. you need stablehands who also need housing and pay and food and supplies. you need to feed the animals. you need to fulfill your animals' needs adequately. you need medical care for your animals.

you need personnel management. you need to feed them. you need to manage morale and you need to manage pay. you need to know how to encourage cohesion within units while making sure those units can work with others. you need to assign differing specialties and duties appropriately and you need to provide guidance for how each role should be filled.

you need to train them. this is not just swinging a sword; this is enemy recognition, this is how to work within a rank structure, this is how to operate within a highly regulated environment. you need your people to be educated enough to handle what tasks they need to carry out. you need exercises and wargaming so your people know what to expect from the field.

you need coherent rank structure. you need uniforms so your people know who they are and who those around them. you need to plan units with different capabilities that also fall within a coherent rank structure. you need to have emblems for ranks that are easy to read. you need guidelines and standards for what is expected of different ranks because different ranks have vastly different responsibilities. you need to have standards for promotion and demotion.

you need regulation. you need to ban criminal activity. you need standards for discipline. you need to write all the guidelines and be able to provide them to your units. you need one set of rules that all your units adhere to. you need to balance the needs of the people serving with the regulations that need to be written. you need appropriate ways to alter regulations and then publicize these changes.

you need doctrine. you need to plan out how you fight and why. how do you strategize. how do your larger tactics filter down to the smallest fighting units. how centralized or how flexible is your command structure. how are you appropriately using the resources you have. how do you work with allies. why are your units set up the way they are.

you need health services. you need pest management. you need disease control. you need battlefield medicine. you need standard guidelines for triage and care that all your healers understand so they're not doing wildly different things. you need care for long term issues like broken bones. you need to consider what to do with people who are in long-term care. you need to consider what happens to those who are injured and no longer able to serve.

you need security. you need to know your communications are encrypted, obfuscated, or otherwise made difficult to intercept. you need counterintelligence. you need to have guards on patrol. you need to secure your food and water sources. you need to secure incoming shipments.

this is not at all a complete list. but cullen has to find people who can organize all of this, or he has to organize it himself. he is starting from scratch. the inquisition has nothing at the beginning. there is not a single person in thedas who knows how to come up with all this on the scale that the inquisition will require of cullen and with haste.

the inquisition's army must respond to multiple unprecedented threats: hole in the sky raining demons, tears in reality all over ferelden and orlais, red templars, a tevinter cult led by a returned darkspawn magister with a quasi-archdemon, and an army of mind-controlled wardens and demons.

respond. not plan for. they have to pivot and face these things, which all present different challenges and require different tools and methods to fix.

so yes. he is unqualified. fucking find me someone who isn't.

[zkretchy]

Look, you gotta appreciate the timing I got for these kinda quests

[bumblingbabooshka]

Live Fast & Prosper

[unironicallytes]

I don't think they accounted for accidentally sequence-breaking a city-wide quest in an open world where you could teleport to any wayshrine 😔

[vaugarde]

chara discussion is literally insane. "in a game thats all about people being capable of both good and bad deeds and that at the end of the day we're all people, there's actually one exception which is this 12 year old child who was just born evil. oh also flowey and asriel are different entities entirely. but yeah chara was born with all knowledge and decided from conception that they were gonna pull a long con and murder everyone including their family because they just cannot help it"

"nooooo chara did nothing wrong actually, chara was innocent! all chara ever wanted to do was save the monsters and they never mistreated asriel or anything! chara was forced into villainy they never had the capacity for violence until the player came along"

i think chara is a fucked up 12 year old who did not get the help that they needed and had several factors and motivations playing into their death and actions in no mercy.

[hircines-hunter]

So, Lulu (my main arisen from Dragon’s Dogma) is definitely a coward and fled to Bitterblack isle to not face the dragon in her world. Lol. Ari is her pack mule and useless pawn.

I definitely see Dragon’s Dogma 2 as a ‘redemption arc’ for her.

At least in my canon, they’ll be happy. Nice little cottage in the woods. No one to disturb them.

[sleidog]

don't feel like spreading the poll of the week because theres enough negativity and pointed-ness around, however

[automatonknight]

me when i play the class that medics uber and i get. ubered

[bigsnaff]

My commander doesn't really have that parent-child bond with Aurene that's sort of set up through canon. I'd describe it more as a sibling relationship, at most? Cyna doesn't really have... much maternal instinct or manner to her. She's very blunt, forward, and prone to irritation and impatience.

In fact I'd almost describe her having a consistent disconnect with Aurene, to the point where it was likely a minor character arc wherein she felt conflicted in regards to fulfilling her duties as Aurene's "Champion". It was prophecy, it was destiny, she couldn't necessarily say no. But nonetheless, this "bond" that everyone kept saying she had with Aurene... she just didn't feel.

I don't think she disclosed this to anyone, though Aurene undoubtedly felt it. And if Aurene did view Cyna as a parent, it would make sense that she would go to such lengths to, in a way, prove herself to Cyna.

And maybe it was when Aurene was fatally impaled by Kralkatorrik's crystals after leaping to Cyna's defense that Cyna finally understood.

[intertexts-moving]

anyway hi good afternooooonnn how r we all!!

[blujayonthewing]

getting to actually play dnd in person turns me completely insane I'll have one(1) session and be like 'oh okay gotta make elaborate themed snacks and go through my perfumes to work on the custom blend to evoke my character and change the ink color in my fountain pens but also they have to be aesthetically coordinated pens also I really ought to make some kind of holster for my panpipes so I can wear them on a belt oooh I bet I could make a mini for my sprite familiar by sticking some wings on an LED--'

[dravidious]

You're more amazing than Floor Time

I just had a game day with group of old friends I haven't seen in years and it was awesome! We played mtg for 3 hours!

[asterroses]

it took me over 10 hours of playtime in pathfinder wrath of the righteous to realize i could not heal my dhampir w 'cure light wounds' . did not realize they were undead 😭 kept using 'cure light wounds' on them and going "WHY ARE YOU DYING ?" until i reread descriptions n went "oh."

[zephyrchama]

Do you think demons crack their joints?

It was a lazy, rainy evening in the Devildom. An oddly calm one. The residents of the House of Lamentation were gathered in the living room, mainly because that's where you were.

Beelzebub and Mammon were snacking and watching Leviathan play his handheld game. Asmodeus was browsing a magazine, Satan was browsing a book, and Lucifer was texting with Barbatos.

Belphegor had been dozing off on your shoulder for a while. It was hard to move under the demon's weight. You had been stuck in the same pose browsing your D.D.D. until he finally shifted, leaning back into the couch. You seized the opportunity to roll your shoulders and take a much needed stretch.

You lifted your arms. It felt great. Crack.

"What was that?" Satan asked, glancing up from his book.

"Beel probably sat on a chip," Mammon said. Levi snorted, too busy to take his eyes off the game but in agreement with Mammon for once.

"It wasn't me." Beelzebub stood up to prove his innocence, revealing no food under him.

"It was me," you said. "Just my back."

"Hon, what?" "Your what?" Asmodeus and Lucifer spoke at the same time, and both gave you a concerned look.

"My back? I just cracked it."

The demons sprung out of their seats like you had just cursed them. Levi's game system fell to the carpet. Since he was already standing, Beelzebub strode over and pulled the back of your shirt up, asking "does it hurt?"

Startled, you pulled the front of your shirt down for modesty. "Woah, hello? Excuse me? Uh, what?"

While everyone gathered to stare at your back, Belphegor was stirred awake. "What's going on?"

He went to lean on your shoulder again, but Mammon swatted him away. "Hey! Can't ya see they're injured?" he growled. Belphegor huffed at him, deciding instead to help hold your shirt up.

"Poor thing!" Asmo cooed. With one hand he grabbed your wrist, and with the other he made a peace sign. "Look at me, how many fingers am I holding up?"

"I'm fine. Everybody just chill." Despite your insistence, the panic had already set in and nobody was listening to you.

Leviathan was shaking. "T-that's not good, right? Humans aren't supposed to make those kind of sounds." He was covering his eyes with his hands squeamishly but peeking through his fingers to stare anyway. "A doctor! Are there any human doctors? Should we call Solomon?"

"Yes, somebody call Solomon," Lucifer commanded. "Where did the crack occur?" He started gently prodding around your spine, making you squirm.

Satan tried to bump Lucifer's hand away from you while placing himself in Lucifer's spot. "Can't you see they don't like that? You're making it worse."

"Deep breaths," Mammon instructed you, breathing deeply in and out. He seemed on the brink of hyperventilation himself.

Lucifer refused to budge, but Satan persisted. He was now also poking you. "The damage isn't visible yet, but there could be internal bleeding. You have to lay down."

Belphegor scooted over to make more room, despite your protest of "I'm not going to move, nothing is wrong."

Asmodeus managed to already get Solomon on the phone. You couldn't hear him over Asmo's worried shrieks but knew he had to be laughing. Solomon was not going to let you forget this incident.

Beel, Lucifer, and Satan moved to try and pick you up but enough was enough. "I said I'm fine!! Everybody stay!"

The seven went crashing to the floor, finally allowing you to cover up. "I am fine! I'm fine! See!" You stood up dramatically and grabbed Asmo's D.D.D. to apologize to a snickering Solomon.

The demons were annoyed and concerned as they tried to pick themselves up. "If you're so fine, then explain that noise," Satan said.

"Humans just do that from time to time."