Same way they always have. You pay a subscription fee and you get the magazine delivered to your door. You might also find it at booksellers that carry a wider selection of magazines. Lots of people still enjoy printed media. Of course, you can also access a lot of the content on SI.com.
The UK can’t get hurricanes. Any storm that far away from the tropics, by definition, is not a hurricane (and is statistically likely to be far weaker and less destructive than a hurricane). So nobody would have had the opportunity to shoot at a hurricane in the UK in the first place.
I figured she would break her oath on my evil playthrough but didn’t think about it too much. Made it all the way to act 3, didn’t break her oath until she landed the killing blow on Valeria in the tribunal.
By that point I felt like the oathbreaker subclass messed up my playstyle because it didn’t synergize as well with the spells and equipment I liked to use. I went ahead and restored her oath
If you respec her as a paladin, she even gets a tag “Paladin of Shar” so you can still use a lot of her religious dialogue options! Paladins don’t normally get to choose a patron deity in this game, so it was a pleasant surprise.
By that time Shart should have 18 or 20 WIS which would offset the lack of a proficiency bonus. Totally worth it since it’s also a +2 weapon, it gives +1 to spell save DC, and it lets you summon a cambion ally once per long rest.
Although if you are that committed to using Shart as a melee attacker it’s probably more efficient to just respec into the War domain. I know Trickery is more thematic, but it always feels weak to me. Maybe just because stealth gameplay is so tedious.
EDIT: I forgot that lack of proficiency also means you can’t use any of the rapier maneuvers. I don’t know if it affects any of the weapon’s other features though.
I agree 100% with your sentiment about the quality and depth of supplemental books having sharply dropped off! I don’t know exactly where the turning point was for me… sometime around Tasha’s Cauldron and its variant rules for racial traits, maybe… but I definitely lost interest in anything new that they put out. I saw how thin Spelljammer and Fizban’s Treasury were, and thought… “that’s it?!”
If you don’t mind indulging me, could you elaborate on what you like better about GURPS? I tried to get into it, but was quickly put off by its extreme granularity. Character creation boiled down to (and I’m paraphrasing),
You can be literally anyone or anything!!! …as long as you meet the budget for points. However, this is a setting-agnostic system, so make sure you check in with your game master to see if your concept is actually allowed in their game. Also the primary attributes, skills, and point values of various traits could all be quite different than the default presented here because, again, they might not make sense for the setting of your game. So maybe your game master should hold your hand through character creation. But anyways, here’s a three-mile-long list of things you can spend your points on, go nuts!
The foreword also said something along the lines of, “here’s the most important rules, you can ignore the rest of this book and still play GURPS just fine” …but that sounds like the same thing you’re complaining about with D&D? That it leaves SO MUCH up to the game master to decide.
In D&D 5e, personally I appreciated having only the basic rules in the PHB. I felt that combat was complex enough without having called shots, flanking, speed factor, and lingering injuries presented as the default. But when we were ready to increase the complexity, we were quite glad to have all of those additional rules written up in the DMG in a modular format.
Likewise, when 95% of the game is focused on combat, social interaction, and exploring dungeon-like environments, I don’t see any need for the basic rules to include a fine-tuned granular system for downtime activities. “You can create 5gp worth of any item per day using the appropriate set of tools, given that you are proficient, and it costs you half that much in raw materials.” Boom, that’s super simple and it gets the job done for the majority of players who are interested in crafting during their downtime in between the actual adventures. For those hardcore outliers who desire a more fleshed-out set of rules for tools, Xanathar’s includes DC’s for a range of tasks to do with each tool, a list of specific components that are included in each kind of tool kit, and at least three examples per tool for how you can apply it in conjunction with a skill OR use the tool in a special way. It’s a lot more detailed than just “consider giving the player advantage and maybe an added benefit IDK.”
I know you’re frustrated that it’s buried in a supplemental text rather than the core rulebook, but I don’t know. Should the PHB also have the specific rules for large-scale army battles? Maritime navigation? How to play dragon chess? There’s only so much you can fit into the basic rulebook…
Edit to add: I hope I’m not coming across as combative. Your criticisms are definitely valid, and I think it’s a case of different players valuing different aspects of the game. I am genuinely interested to hear from someone who’s played GURPS and stuck with it; there has to be an elegance to the system that I haven’t had the opportunity to see, and I’d love to hear your take on it.
I mean, last I checked you have the option to be proficient with various sets of craft tools, but the system doesn’t actually explain what that actually does mechanically.
Chapter 8, “Between Adventures,” “Downtime,” “Crafting.” Page 187 in the 2014 version of the Player’s Handbook. It tells you exactly how long it takes and how much it costs to create items using artisans’ tools. I concede that it’s pretty generic and would benefit from some refinement, but it does explain what you can do, mechanically, with your proficiency in artisans’ tools.
(If the 2024 version of the Player’s Handbook removed this guidance then I’m not sure what to say, except that I don’t personally consider that version to be “5e.”)
Xanathar’s Guide to Everything also has an extensive section in Chapter 2, beginning on page 78, that does a great job fleshing out each type of tool proficiency and providing novel ways to use them. I highly recommend that if you’re interested in crafting.
Holy crap. I’d heard of placoid scales but had no idea they were homologous to teeth. Thank you for sharing.
Oh hey this works on Boost too and I had never heard of the feature until now. Thanks, kind stranger!
Yes, she’s been very upfront about it. She makes it clear at her fundraising events that the proceeds are going to charitable organizations. Her campaign has been soliciting canned goods and menstrual hygiene products, instead of cash, in exchange for yard signs and stickers.
I get your cynicism, it’s a well-known adage that anyone who seeks power doesn’t deserve it. But for as long as we have elected federal representatives, I’d prefer to elect representatives who actually make tangible efforts to take care of people. Even if you see it as self-serving, to me it’s refreshing to see a candidate appeal to voters’ compassion instead of appealing to their fears and prejudices.
I was too, but then again it says she’s the first to be on the COVER of the swimsuit issue. So out of a few dozen models in the swimsuit issue any given year, only a very select few of them are going to be a front cover model, and the same highly recognizable models are often on the cover multiple years. I notice a lot of the big name models are married to male soccer/football stars, musicians, etc… so it’s actually not that shocking to me that it would take this long for an openly lesbian model to be on the cover.
Congrats to Lauren Chan, seems like she worked very hard for this and she’s doing what she can to be a voice for inclusivity and positivity. The photos look great.
The annual swimsuit issue is neither of the above. It’s just non-explicit, non-pornographic swimsuit modeling. It’s a special issue that they do every year, separate from the monthly magazine that’s actually about sports.
You had me at fried okra 😋 but lost me at ranch 😣
You think most parents have gotten falling down drunk? Around their small children, no less? Is alcohol abuse really that rampant?
What a delightful read! I appreciated the quick FAQ about domesticated skunks at the end.
We need a mod to add accordions as playable instruments!
We named her Chaplin 😸 Seemed nicer than calling her Kitler!
I’m glad that the fire damage was minor and fully contained to his own home, that he’s getting mental help, and above all that nobody was injured. The story could have turned out very differently.
That’s awesome! I had no idea about the different methods for refining gold.
Tadmekka is part of my realm in my current Crusader Kings III campaign, so this caught my eye. It’s fun to play in the Sahara desert and still find ways to build a strong economy through irrigation, mining, and trading.