Eldritch Mlems

CW: Mentions of transphobia, transphobic violence, mass shootings, school violence, slurs.

Being trans is not a controversial idea. It is a lived reality.

Philosophical conversations about trans people do not happen in a vacuum. They happen in a political context where trans people are relentlessly attacked and a material context where trans lives are particularly vulnerable. These contexts make it impossible to "just ask questions" about trans people. And trans people and our loved ones are not okay -- in, with, and because of our discipline.

So what is it like to be a table in a discipline that has been busy writing table-burning instructions? Being Trans in Philosophy collects first-personal accounts from 22 trans philosophers and philosopher-parents of trans kids. These stories detail the material and on-the-ground consequences of our discipline's role in providing intellectual cover for a global transmisogynistic and transphobic moral panic -- one that has been increasingly institutionalized into laws and policies. But they also speak to solidarity, freedom, hope, moral progress, and our shared love for philosophy.

Any who are unaware of the conversations at issue might read Hope Pisioni's piece in Unclosed Media, A Philosophy Professor Is the Only Known Author of Trump's Big Trans Health Care Report. Why? on the most recent instance of philosophical scholarship being used to promote state-sponsored transphobia.

I didn't think my cats would care, but since my dog died, Maze has been ... Aggressively affectionate. To the point that I need to shoo her away if I need any alone time. She wasn't this loving any time over her past fifteen years or so of life and didn't seem like she cared about the dog, but she's been completely transformed since then.

I have been chugging away at making my own fantasy ttrpg for several months now, and a decision I made early on has been bugging me as possibly being misguided.

I really want a fast combat system. However, there are two ways the interpret "fast" here. The one I committed to early on was to make each round one second long, so on your turn you only have time to either move or act or do nothing. This does mean each turn feels really fast, since the amount of choices you need to make each round are extremely small, and this also make spellcasting seem way more risky and expensive than it actually is since you need to commit multiple rounds to the casting. It feels fast, but combat can take hours.

The other option I did not pursue is to compress each scene into one big roll, creating a system similar to the Narrative Dice system of Genesys where you spend several minutes gathering a pool of dice which represent the chaos and misfortune of the scene, roll them once, augur the bones, and then combat is done. Usually the entire combat scene will take less than 5 minutes, but it's a long 5 minutes filled with details, debate, and checking your work.

The reason I was attracted to the more granular first option was mainly because it's ironically the less crunchy option, since your options each round are to either Move, Fight, Defend, Aim, or do a quick Skill Check. However, as the system is growing it's becoming more clear to me that my game is fundamentally not about the fighting, its about the journey there and back to the community you call home. So, I'm starting to think I should have taken a more zoomed-out approach to combat, maybe starting with wargame rules and then working backwards to derive 1-person combat, maybe trying to make my own narrative dice system using the normal polyhedral dice.

In the end, my priority is to avoid what most DnD-likes end up doing, which is combat that feels slow and also takes hours, but I gotta go in one direction or other. I'm curious what y'all's preferences are. When you are playing a TTRPG, would you rather play combat that feels fast but actually takes hours, or combat that feels slow but actually takes minutes? What's more important to you?

Pathfinder lead designer Jason Bulmahn has launched his crowdfunding campaign for Hellfinder, a modern post-apocalyptic horror hack of Pathfinder 2e:

From the Backerkit Campaign Description: Welcome to Hellfinder, a Modern Horror Hack of Pathfinder Second Edition. This game takes the basic rules of Pathfinder, replacing specific mechanics to transform the experience from a high fantasy adventure game into one filled with mysteries, dread, and terror, a game where your agents might see things that can't be unseen and face a fate far worse than death.

In Hellfinder, you will take on the role of an Agent, sent to work in the basement of the Bureau. After months of drudgery, you finally get your first field assignment, to close an abandoned Field Office in a sleepy town in the middle of the north woods of Wisconsin. But things are very much not what they seem and this tiny town might hold secrets darker than any found in the farthest reaches of the unending forest.

Hellfinder starts by focusing on one central story, created to introduce you to the world and the horrors it contains. That story is broken down into three chapters, each of which contains new rules and the next part of the story. At the start of play, you only open the first packet, containing character creation rules and the opening chapter of the tale. The other packets will only be opened when you reach a specific moment in the story... for better or for worse.

Hellfinder replaces the traditional class system with a more free-form Agent specialization and training system. Most of this is done through spending allotted points based on your choices and some free points to reflect your hobbies and interests. As you level up, you'll get more of these free points to build out your Agent as you see fit. All options are open to you, if you are willing to pay the price.

Finally, Hellfinder adds a system for Stress, to measure how much your Agent can handle mentally before succumbing to the pressure and horror they are witnessing. It also includes a system for both Physical and Mental Trauma, which add lasting injuries and challenges to Agents who have pushed beyond the breaking point. Taken together, these systems will measure how much punishment your agent can take before succumbing to the darkness.

The game's designed to live in a binder, so there's little difference between a printed-off PDF and what would arrive in the mail if you bought the physical product. The campaign's already reached its funding goals. It wraps up on 19 August.

Gonna be honest, I do be kinda jealous seeing posts of other people doing stuff like having sleepovers and painting nails with other girls. Problem is, that I have exactly 1 female friend (who is also an early transfem) and we dont live close enough to do stuff somewhat regularly. Also since my social skills are quite ass I am also not really capable of obtaining new friends with which I could do such stuff.

Wrestle that shit to the ground. I love you. Gus gus loves you.

This poor fella's job as lieutenant was to just counterspell any mages and healers while his captain brother fought the barbarian and the fighter.

He proceeded to see the warlock burn his smaller regiment, turn into an angel and ignore any and all poisons used against him. When he got his sudden promotion, he figured best to just survive.

@Sunny@slrpnk.net

What is something you learned or experienced from being trans that you wish you knew pre-transition, or that you wish cis people knew?

I'll go first: the temperature differences when going from testosterone-dominance to estrogen-dominance is not just real but significant, my body just puts out less heat and I feel colder much easier now even when otherwise maintaining a high metabolism, eating in excess, etc.

It may have just been my trans denial before, but I really wanted to believe that the difference was not that great and I was wrong.

What's something you wish people knew?

It's good to go around the table and check what everyone is doing.

This comic follows on from the Previous comic which will almost certainly provide context.

You can follow this comic series from the start Here. Make sure to start at the bottom (oldest comic) and work upwards.

Saw this cute cat on my walk yesterday!

Super cute, with different colour eyes.

He was not sure about this whole photoshoot but sat in a nice pose. Of course the pose was nicer before I try to capture it.