performative
adjective
per·�for·�ma·�tive
disapproving : made or done for show (as to bolster one's own image or make a positive impression on others)

Straw Man Fallacy
A straw man fallacy occurs when someone distorts or exaggerates another person's argument, and then attacks the distorted version of the argument instead of refuting the original point. By using a straw man, someone can give the appearance of refuting an argument when they have not actually engaged with the original ideas.

Quote from: pawsplay on Today at 02:46:29 AM

Quote from: Monero on May 02, 2024, 10:03:18 AMThe TTRPG community has ALWAYS been about kindness and human dignity. It's just older creators/players didn't have to do performative nonsense in order to gain social media dopamine hits.

It does suck that you have to do that. But for whatever reason, there are a lot of people on this site who seem to feel they have to keep congratulating each other for saying the same tired and basically baseless things.

I was definitely queer before social media existed at all, so honestly I have no idea what you are going on about.

I hadn't even gone through puberty yet, when I started playing characters that explored the frontiers of gender. I didn't even have a clear understanding in my mind of what it meant. I just knew that I didn't fit the rules of gender presentation as they were taught to me, and eventually, it became a vehicle of self-exploration.

I had dated men and women before the Player's Options books ever saw print.

I played in an all-Hispanic adult game of D&D under the 3.0 rules-set, before 3.5 was ever printed.

I never jumped on any bandwagon. I was very much a part of the generation that brought RPGs into the mainstream, and I brought all these personal characteristics with me.

You say "performative nonsense," I say, I'm sorry it hurts your feelings that I exist. Go hug a teddy bear.

Bolding mine.

Why does gender have a frontier?

Quote from: Monero on May 02, 2024, 10:03:18 AMThe TTRPG community has ALWAYS been about kindness and human dignity. It's just older creators/players didn't have to do performative nonsense in order to gain social media dopamine hits.

It does suck that you have to do that. But for whatever reason, there are a lot of people on this site who seem to feel they have to keep congratulating each other for saying the same tired and basically baseless things.

I was definitely queer before social media existed at all, so honestly I have no idea what you are going on about.

I hadn't even gone through puberty yet, when I started playing characters that explored the frontiers of gender. I didn't even have a clear understanding in my mind of what it meant. I just knew that I didn't fit the rules of gender presentation as they were taught to me, and eventually, it became a vehicle of self-exploration.

I had dated men and women before the Player's Options books ever saw print.

I played in an all-Hispanic adult game of D&D under the 3.0 rules-set, before 3.5 was ever printed.

I never jumped on any bandwagon. I was very much a part of the generation that brought RPGs into the mainstream, and I brought all these personal characteristics with me.

You say "performative nonsense," I say, I'm sorry it hurts your feelings that I exist. Go hug a teddy bear.

I'm assuming this image was included because it's fucking rad.

Off the top of my head, I'd say the best SW art would have to go to either Totems of the Dead or Beasts & Barbarians. Strangely enough, they're both sword and sorcery games with black and white art. Even with them, though, there are some pieces which are just okay at best.

Also Low Life, of course, but then the art there is actually very key to the setting given how the artist is also the game's creator.

To be honest, SW's art has always been adequate at best, so it's tricky to tell if them making Red kinda fugly here and there was for social brownie points or just because they didn't hire a very good artist.  When it comes to dressing women in a setting, I follow the 'good for the goose' rule: If they're gonna dress up a guy in a furry diaper and some boots and maybe a helmet with horns on it and zilch else, then chainmail bikinis are on the table.  If men are dressed conservatively, women should be similar.  It's not difficult.

Quote from: Mishihari on May 04, 2024, 11:06:34 PM

Quote from: HappyDaze on April 30, 2024, 01:44:19 AMSkyrim in practice: Constantly cast the same spell as often as mana allows until you max the category. Repeat with spell from another category. Never stand up straight--crouch at all times until your stealth hits max. I could go on...

I played Skyrim for literally hundreds of hours before I got tired of it.  I never did any of that.  Simply because it's not fun, it's tedious, and the only reason I play games is for fun.

It seems likely the same would be true in an RPG.  If you have players who want to twink the rules for an advantage even though it eats up a lot of time with boring stuff, they're going to find a way to do that regardless of system.  No system is perfectly proof from this kind of stuff.

Skyrim is a one-player game. What one player considers fun is all that matters. Most tabletop RPGs have multiple players, and often they have different views of what is/is not fun. Best case, those closely match, but even then they won't be identical. You may find that some players find their fun in "beating the system," and yet they might still be fun to play with.

Quote from: HappyDaze on April 30, 2024, 01:44:19 AMSkyrim in practice: Constantly cast the same spell as often as mana allows until you max the category. Repeat with spell from another category. Never stand up straight--crouch at all times until your stealth hits max. I could go on...

I played Skyrim for literally hundreds of hours before I got tired of it.  I never did any of that.  Simply because it's not fun, it's tedious, and the only reason I play games is for fun.

It seems likely the same would be true in an RPG.  If you have players who want to twink the rules for an advantage even though it eats up a lot of time with boring stuff, they're going to find a way to do that regardless of system.  No system is perfectly proof from this kind of stuff.

Quote from: RPGPundit on May 04, 2024, 06:24:41 PMA question: has anyone here seen any actual Ads on drivethru for Baptism of Fire?
Mad Scribe spent money to have some, but even though I'm currently frequently going to DTRPG to check the status of the book, I haven't seen a single ad. I want to know if anyone else has.

Haven't see a one. I reloaded the page (and ads) 20 times, and while some cool ads popped accross the bottom banner, none were for BoF.

Mythras is definitely the best iteration of BRP. I suggest you take a look at it - there's an ORC-licensed version of the rules called Mythras Imperative.