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Where did you get the cheek? I usually settle for pancetta because I can find it easily, the only options for guanciale are ordering and it's prohibitively expensive.

I'm finished with the underdark and ready to hit the shadow cursed lands, which I have been repeatedly told are a very bad place. I saved some gnomes from slavery, picked up an amulet that tries to make me laugh, and made some adamantine armor for my bard and Karlach. The fights are generally easier because Swords bard has some very high potential burst damage coupled with hypnotism, but that forge golem was bull****.

Mean Streets (1973) It's got a low budget charm to it that most of Scorsese's other films don't, for obvious reasons. In a lot of ways it feels almost....homey. There's no grand heist schemes or years-long saga that some of Scorsese's other gangster pictures have, this takes place over maybe a week and the big conflict that erupts is something that would have been a footnote in Goodfellas. I won't say that's better than the larger sagas Scorsese directed, but it is interesting to see more small scale crime dramas.

Apparently Paladin is the most played class for custom characters with Fighter being in the middle of the pack. I didn't expect that. The tournament arc is the unfortunate end towards of almost every narrative. But also clickbait for articles and youtube videos.

I uhh, did not know about manual turn based for quite a while into the game when I tried to do some prebuffs before an ambush. The day/night stuff and lack of weather effects does bother me a lot, I'm in the Underdark now and it's a refreshing break to what has been mostly a very bright and sunny experience. It's also kind of weird because there is a subclass based around storms and another around darkness (as well as a vampire spawn and a Shar worshipper as companions), so you'd think they'd throw them a bone and let them play in the rain or night. I think that there is less of it and it does move faster than PoE/2, which tended to be a very slow games due to several factors (especially Deadfire). I think of all the time I've spent in the game maybe 20% has been in combat. It may be, but if you cool her down (I used water, but maybe cold damage stuff could work too) she does have some extra dialogue after that. Findom. I think Lae'zel drastically overestimates her own and the Githyanki's generally competence and power so when she calls you ugly she's trying to "neg" you and dominate. If it comes across as awkward and unpleasant then that's inline with real life. For my party Karlach told me to have fun, Astarion wanted to ****, Lae'zel wanted to **** Astarion, Gale told me Shadowheart was a special lady and also hit on me, Wyll wanted to brood, and Shadowheart wanted to get drunk. Alfira's blood is still on the ground from that time the urge murdered her and the imp butler has been a no show lately.

I think that my biggest issue with BG3 is the lack of a pause button. The second would be lack of a day/night cycle and time only passing with Long Rests. It's a pretty staggering thing that's missing from a game that's otherwise unusually reactive. Baa.

Throw some water at her. You naughty Lae'zel

I think it makes sense for Astarion and Karlach to be very horny, they did spend a very long time not being able to do.....well anything really. Gale, Lae'zel, and Wyll are excessively horny though, of those maybe Gale has a reason to be because he's got another looming death besides the tadpole that should be turning him into a tentacle monster. Shadowheart is the most normal among the group, and when....well I won't spoil anything but that should be a big alarm.

I explored the underdark, helped some mushroom people with an evil dwarf problem, killed an evil mushroom guy, climbed a tree, met a nice mindflayer, and ran away from a wizard tower. So far the Underdark feels easier than the mountain pass (well Githyanki creche) and Auntie Ethel's hut. There is a lot more here though, the mountain pass is essentials just Lae'zel's quest and a fight with some undead while the Underdark feels like half of the first map in terms of things to do. The exploding or toxic mushrooms are bull****.

Ragnarok s3. In the states this would be a bad CW show, but since it's filmed in Norwegian it's hilarious.

Both of the DOS games got a large content drop with their enhanced editions a year or so after release, it would not be a surprise if the same thing happenens here. Would be kind of funny if Larian ends up rewriting the final act for two games in a row.

Rangers kind of suck in 5e so I wrote them off. How does/did this combo work?

I had a party, fought some undead, met an older traveler, and took Lae'zel to meet her people. The latter did not go well. Maybe it's because I had one of their bad eggs. Thots: -I'm hitting more bugs now, and they're all minor visual stuff. Game has been surprisingly stable for a release version. Oh and one spoiler cutscene after rest played weird because I guess meeting another furry and feathered friend overrode that so they played back to back. -After hitting level 6 my Swords Bard took a massive leap forward, and Hypnotism is an absolutely busted spell. -If Astarion had an extra attack he'd be much better. As of now his damage is slacking off compared to other martials and Wyll. 5e Rogues are kind of puzzling designed, Pathfinder 2e did a much better job. -I can still go back and do the Underdark after going through the mountain pass. For completionist playthroughs that's nice but it looks like there's more to do in the Underdark so maybe I should have done that first. -Blood of Lathander seems like a great weapon for Shadowheart or Wyll. -The hardest fights in the new area weren't with the Githyanki leaders, but the undead mob you meet. I had to go back and grab Shadowheart for some radiant damage just to be able to deal with them. Comparatively the Githyanki were much easier, even with their teleports.

Trip is the reason the canine animal companions are rated so highly.....aside from the fact that dogs are the best pets to have irl. Too bad WotR doesn't have an option to pet the dogs.

I think one of the better ways to implement CRPG romance would be via the origins we see in this game, as it creates a degree of separation between the player and the character that isn't there with a custom character. That could provide the room to shift it more character oriented story arc the player is in the driver's seat for as opposed to providing a waifu for the player's avatar. Like I think I can more easily appreciate Karlach developing a toxic sexual relationship with Lae'zel than making them the player's potential hot githyanki girlfriend or devilish muscle girl waifu regardless of what kind of character the player is. This probably wouldn't please some of the romance fans, both in terms of access and by the possibility of getting rejected in favor of a npc, but I think it'd make it better for my tastes.

It's a limited example now, but it's a strategy that worked resoundingly well in the context it was employed in. Attempting to run sleeper agents (for lack of a better term) as candidates for an opposing party or flip someone shortly after an election would not be good as a broad scheme but it could be an effective strategy for targeted cases. We shouldn't be surprised if we see something similar attempted in elections of state legislatures or house representatives. I don't think I'm giving voters credit by assuming that the virulent dislike of Trump outside of his base combined with Republicans having to hold the albatross of ending Roe (and the rest of the anti-woke nonsense generally) is going to push swing voters to Democrats and away from protest votes in 2024. To boot I think you're giving the Kennedy name too much of a premium, it could peel away (much?) older voters but they tend to lean Republican anyways and I don't see too many people middle-aged and younger rating the Kennedy name very highly as reasons to vote for someone. I will admit that I do not know many folks who are over 50 and am basing this mostly on my own social circles, but I see the Kennedy name as less of a draw for swing voters lukewarm on Biden than something like running to his left on labor.

Yes, I'm more worried about someone like Cotham flipping a Democratic seat to Republicans without an election (and presumably without a mandate) and thus delivering them more power and influence. I live in a state that has been controlled by Republicans for most of my memory and in recent years it has slid from solid red to slightly purple tinged, a trend that will continue or accelerate over the coming years as the cities explode and the small towns decay. The prospect of making gains in the legislatures or even capturing them and/or the governor's mansion only to lose it because someone elected flips parties (and positions they ran on) is not a pleasant one, doubly so given the track record of Texas Republicans the last several legislative sessions. And as more of a feelz factor, I think it sucks to restrict reproductive freedom and curtail LGBTQ rights anywhere and that is what Republicans are gunning for right now. RFKJR is kooky in exactly the wrong ways to pull voters away from Biden the way Nader did Gore back in 2000, given who his fans are RFKJR seems more popular with Trump voters or disgruntled libertarians than anyone that'd vote for Joe. I'm not sure if it's projection of their own ideas or just not knowing what dem voters like but RFKJR is a very bad horse to bet on for Republican donors, but I guess when you've got as much money as they do funding him is like the equivalent of getting a steak for someone closer to the median income. Frankly democrats have more to worry about the hurdles set up to make voting harder after 2020 than they do RFKJR spoiling the election for Biden, the reduction of drop boxes in areas that are heavily favored to Biden would probably peel off more votes than a guy who thinks....whatever RFKJR does.

I have not stolen **** in this game and I still have too much damn money. Perhaps the only side to a Dex build is the lower carrying capacity. I am not speaking of gold, which has been relatively light, but of food. I consistently have to stuff my companions with sausage to prevent being encumbered.

I'm personally more worried about stuff like this than obvious spoiler candidates like RFKJR. It's not an exaggeration to say that Cotham is the reason why the North Carolina legislature has bypassed the Governor's veto to restrict abortion and curtail LGBTQ rights, and she explicitly ran in opposition to how she voted.

A primary debate without the overwhelming favorite is even more of a farce than a normal primary debate, which is saying something. Unless he gets explicitly barred we all know that Trump is easily going to grab the nomination, Rhonda Sanctimonious and the rest of the B team throwing **** at each other while walking the tightrope of not causing the trumpanzees to go berserk and still attacking The Big O is not something they're going to be able to do. They're going to stroke themselves on how kunsurvativ they are only to get obliterated by whatever nickname Trump bestows them on twitter Truth Social, ruining their shot at becoming VIP and damaging them with the base of lead poisoned boomers they will need for future elections. It's going to be sad but unfortunately not in a funny way.

I cleared out the Goblin camp, one of the three leaders has a bull**** ability that knocks your character(s) into a pit and there are some consequences for killing him. Also, the drow member of the trio is clearly intended to be a companion since she had containers on her that only party members have. I ended up reloading though because I went to rest and got killed. Will redo some of that stuff later. Class/Companion stuff: -Karlach continues to impress, throwing goblins around while enraged is just damn funny. -Wyll with Pact of the Blade is great, two eldritch blasts or two attacks is great and effectively 4x (3x for those without Bards) 3rd level spell slots at level 5 is very nice. Only downside is being in light armor, which hits his AC by 2 compared to my Bard. -Shadowheart's divine magic is a clincher, Guiding Bolt is an incredibly solid early spell that provides good utility while her healing and support are almost necessary. -I have not used Gale very much at all, will probably start after my Bard gets his extra attack next level but for now he just doesn't seem like he brings enough to slot out anyone. Laz competes with Karlach who for now edges her out and Astarion is very solid when he can sneak attack and when you need skills. That's what I did.

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/undercover-maga-alt-right/ It's pretty interesting (or terrifying) how well the alt-right folded itself into the Republican party.

If you don't close the gap she teleports around and hits you hard with a poison attack, and I think it gives disadvantage on attack rolls to boot. Unironically I think it's the best designed fight so far. I got that scene with Wyll on my 2nd rest. I think the rests are divided into the prep and the actual rest, with different potential events for each. Wyll's event happens first, then something else can happen when you sleep.

I got to the Goblin Camp, saved the Owlbear cub, got a goblin to lick my feet (thanks Tarantino), saved a guy from being tortured, did some handaxeplay, and rescued a bear. Saved the game and later tonight I'm going to finish the job in the camp, or maybe rest first. Oh and I'm at level 5 now which means 3rd level spells and extra attacks. Bard spells seem to be somewhat lacking, reduced direct damage stuff is expected but it's strange that they don't get the Haste or Dispel equivalents. Still no introduction to the guardian I made at the beginning. If I had to guess I'd say it gets introduced by a Long Rest cutscene and out of the four I've taken the Dark Urge has taken two, Astarion has sucked up one, and Karlach burned up the other. That's the battle I thought you were talking about. That damn thing loves to teleport and hit you with a very strong ranged attack. If you can't down her on the first turn I'd reccomend retreating to an area you can corner her.

That'd be a huge undertaking and I don't think it's very likely. But it's not like Larian could do worse than Beamdog.