WilloftheWest

I like the “facts and logic” crowd having their arguments torn down with actual facts and logic. I don’t like cutaway gags, ridiculous hyperbole delivered in an exasperated tone, shoehorned Obama worship coated in an “I’m not saying he was perfect” disclaimer, or recurring meta-gags. This cuts out most snark podcasts which, unfortunately, make up a lot of the most popular podcasts tackling right wing pundits.

Ideally, I want an introduction to the right-wing narrative of the week, and a firm put-down delivered in a documentary fashion. I don’t want hosts who I can see 2 nights a week at Second City or hear on half a dozen other podcasts.

Any suggestions welcome.

I’m just about to start my second full playthrough, and have run through Act I multiple times. Rather than choosing my main three companions and leaving everyone else in camp, I’m wanting to juggle companions. There are three main reasons for this: advancing everyone in the group and keeping them geared; giving each character a chance for their unique personal interactions; and trying to max out all opinion sliders. For an example: Lae’zel offers unique interaction with Kithrak Voss.

I’m hoping we can compile a list of best party compositions for roleplay potential in certain areas. I’ll start us off with all that I can think up from above ground Act I.

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Party Pairings: Wyll and Karlach pair well. Lae’zel and Shadowheart clash. Astarion generally clashes with any companion with a modicum of decency.

Grove:

• Recommended party composition: Shadowheart, Wyll, and Gale for kind interactions, Lae’zel and Astarion for mean/underganded interactions.
• Lae’zel is necessary for an interaction with Zorru.
• Be mean to Zorru to get night 1 romance with Lae’zel.
• Keep Wyll out of your party if you intend to free Sazza.
• Keep Astarion and Lae’zel out of the party if you intend on being kind to tieflings.
• Take S/W/G if you intend on saving Arabelle

Risen Road:

• Recommended party composition: Wyll, Karlach, anyone with high Wisdom.
• Karlach and Wyll are a good duo for confronting the paladins of Tyr. This is a personal quest for Karlach.
• For the gnoll fight, a character with high Wisdom is useful in persuading the flind to fight for you and then kill itself.

Waukeen’s Rest:

• Recommended party composition: Wyll, any other two (I just go Lae’zel and Karlach).
• Wyll has a personal interaction regarding the kidnapping of Duke Ravengard.

Mountain Crossing:

• Recommended party composition: Lae’zel, any other two (Wyll and Karlach for me).
• Lae’zel has a unique interaction with Kithrak Voss.

Blighted Village:

• Recommended party composition: Gale, Astarion (if he has snuck out of camp), any other.
• Astarion has something to say about the boar drained of blood.
• Gale is intrigued by the Thayan necromancer and the book of necromancy. Consider giving this to him.

Goblin village:

• Recommended party composition: Shadowheart, Astarion, anyone else NOT including Wyll.
• Shadowheart has unique remarks about the repurposed temple of Selune.
• Shadowheart and Astarion have a good time watching you bask in Loviatar’s love.
• Wyll struggles to keep his fat mouth shut. Keep the liability in camp.

Teahouse:

• Recommended party composition: sneaky people or people with Hold Person (if you intend on minimising casualties), someone with create water for cheese.
• I just always fight the hag. +1 to any stat is useless as only even stats count, and you should be shuffling the “standard” ability array to get all even stats (including two 16s). The Hag Eye is also a liability as perception is rolled more often than intimidate.
• Sneak and cast Hold Person if you don’t want to fight any of the masked people.
• cast Create Water on Myrina’s cage to protect her. You can usually tell her and Ethel apart through use of Examine, but Create Water results in Mayrina being wet, which doesn’t require examine to discern.

Just a vibe check of the Lemmy community with a deliberately exaggerated meme.

A reddit post would get flooded with argumentative mini-essays from folks who can’t string together 5 words in-character.

Jesterraiin is doing an amazing job of uploading inspirational posts. Let's get a little community effort going and see what we can come up with in terms of inspirational reading.

Looking at my 2e boxed set, I can't find an inspirational reading list. Here are a set of books that I feel get some aspect of the setting right.

Actual Dark Sun: The Prism Pentad series by Troy Denning. Though considered apocryphal by some (due to the apparently fragile mortality of some key figures in Dark Sun lore), this series offers some decent adventure ideas for a Dark Sun campaign, with each of the five books exploring a different aspect of the Dark Sun lore.

Desert planet: Of course I need to mention the Dune series by Frank Herbert. Nigh omnipotent planetary governors, water scarcity, nobles flaunting water wastage as a symbol of power, and an oppressed underclass plotting rebellion. The Dune series also offers a cautionary tale of grasping power from a dictator only to secede it to a charismatic dictator (however reluctant that dictator may be to exercise power). The Bene Gesserit and the prescient Atreides lineage offer an interesting view into psionics.

Post apocalypse: The Dying Earth series by Jack Vance. The namesake of Vancian magic and Vecna, Jack is one of the first authors to take a glimpse into a far future ravaged by magic and magitech, and the omnipotent sorcerers who bend reality to their will.

Sword and Planet: John Carter of Mars and the Barsoom series in general, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. A set of speculative fiction which would become a major influence in the world of early science fiction. The main character focus of the series is John Carter and his later descendants. John Carter is a soldier transported from the verdant Earth to the dying planet Mars, finding that due to the lower relative gravity of Mars he has near superhuman capabilities. A word of caution on this series: it's a product of its time. John Carter, a veteran of the American Civil War on the side of the Confederacy, goes on pulpy adventures saving the "savage" Martians many times and even rescuing the damsel in distress, whom he promptly marries and sires multiple children.