My Little Pony XCIX: Leakier Than A Changeling Bathtub!

[b_jonas]

Ugh, do I have to resort to a search for "little pony" and hope nothing else gets picked up?

No, you're supposed to periodically check the list on MLP wikia and the other list for Equestria Girls too. Almost all episodes and shorts are announced months before they're available in full. Also, you should watch ponythread, because we often talk about upcoming episodes. I don't recall this one mentioned, but I wasn't following much because I'm still like half a year behind watching.

[Rogar Demonblud]

This one was not mentioned at all. I only learned about it because a co-worker's daughter is on the lunatic fringe of the fandom and was going on about it to everyone all week.

[Pi Pie]

I only found out about the holiday special because the website that I use to watch the shows happened to list it. I just wandered onto the site because of happenstance.

Honestly, it was nice that this special did not leak ahead of time like most of this season. But I do wish that they put more energy into announcing the episodes early or providing a set schedule. It was nice in previous seasons when Saturday would roll around and pony thread would go quiet for 30 minutes before exploding.

[Aotrs Commander]

I only found out about the holiday special because the website that I use to watch the shows happened to list it. I just wandered onto the site because of happenstance.

Honestly, it was nice that this special did not leak ahead of time like most of this season. But I do wish that they put more energy into announcing the episodes early or providing a set schedule. It was nice in previous seasons when Saturday would roll around and pony thread would go quiet for 30 minutes before exploding.

Yeah, this years messy staggered set was not easy to deal with.

And I really wish they'd do less of the EqG shorts and more full episodes - thank frack EqD made a page on it, or it'd be near damn impossible to track those...

[Pi Pie]

Happy Nightmare Night. Remember the important lessons.

Spoiler: Wear a costume

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Spoiler: Look out for evil monsters

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Spoiler: Watch what you drink.

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Spoiler: And bring offerings for Nightmare Moon

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[DeadMech]

Why does the implication of Pinky owning full body suits of her friends kinda creep me right out? Oh right... that one and only mlp fanfic I read.

Otherwise adorable.

[DigoDragon]

Happy Nightmare Night.

Bah, humbug. My legs feel like gelatin, my back hurts, and I didn't get enough sleep. At least the wife and daughter are happy with their pillowcases full of chocolates and candies.

Spoiler: Candy apples are actually good

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[Alabenson]

1) Buy box of full-size candy bars for trick or treaters at Costco.
2) End up having to work the late shift on Halloween.
3) Turn on all outside lights once home, but no trick or treaters come.

Spoiler

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[DeadMech]

1) Buy box of full-size candy bars for trick or treaters at Costco.
2) End up having to work the late shift on Halloween.
3) Turn on all outside lights once home, but no trick or treaters come.

Or alternatively. Don't buy candy bars for trick or treaters. Go to work. Buy a box of candy bars after Halloween when stores mark them down to half price to make more room for Hearths warming.

[Aotrs Commander]

Or even:

1) Get lots of chocolate for birthday

2) Being working through evening, leaving Mum to handle all that noise (swear copiously at FV101 Scorpion FRACKING TURRET)

3) Have all chocolate and potentially any leftovers from Mum having stuff to hand out at leisure, probably reading A Practical Guide to Evil over coming weeks.

[Rater202]

My plan:

Don't pass out candy because you live on what's technically a farm and the lack of houses and sidewalks prevents trick or treaters.

Steal the leftover candy from your aunt in the subdivision who buys too much candy every single year.

[keybounce]

1. Giant bowl of candy.
2. Home, lights on.
3. ... Zero people.

...

Meanwhile: Did we really hear Derpy talk? (Best gift ever)

EDIT: Oh god, Applejack and Fluttershy cannot act.

[Rogar Demonblud]

I don't know if it was regularly scheduled or because of Halloween, but one of the channels here had a pony-thon of the 'scary' episodes. About the only ones I cared about was the one from season 2 with Luna, Bats! and the two parter from the end of season 7. Heck, i don't think my seven year old cared about any except Bats! (she has a thing for chiroptera of any form).

[DigoDragon]

Pfft, I got this.

1. Take daughter Trick-or-Treating.
2. Daughter does all the work collecting chocolates.
3. Take a cut of the haul of chocolates, spending zero monies.

Spoiler: I'm predicting a lot of faces are about to melt off...

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Spoiler: Have a Great and Powerful day!

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[t209]

Pfft, I got this.

1. Take daughter Trick-or-Treating.
2. Daughter does all the work collecting chocolates.
3. Take a cut of the haul of chocolates, spending zero monies.

Too grown up and my family are not interested, so I went to a Halloween party to a Church hosting one.
First time after seeing that sign for years now.
Should have done instead of being glued to computer.

[Aotrs Commander]

Quote from A Practical Guide to Evil, presented without further comment:

Note: bottling up the power of friendship cannot be achieved by bottling up friends. Must pursue further trials, perhaps prior liquefaction diluted the substance.

[Rater202]

Quote from A Practical Guide to Evil, presented without further comment:

...Okay.

There's being evil and then there's just being... To call Malignant II dumb as a nail would be as insulting to nails as...

I literally cannot come up with a figurative expression to describe how absolutely stupid this fictional man is.

[DigoDragon]

First time after seeing that sign for years now.
Should have done instead of being glued to computer.

This year we went to a different neighborhood and it turned out to be a really good place to get candy. Know about the neighborhood for years, so I know where you're coming from in your post.

Spoiler: The queen

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[zimmerwald1915]

...Okay.

There's being evil and then there's just being... To call Malignant II dumb as a nail would be as insulting to nails as...

I literally cannot come up with a figurative expression to describe how absolutely stupid this fictional man is.

Why, because of the comma splice?

[Aotrs Commander]

...Okay.

There's being evil and then there's just being... To call Malignant II dumb as a nail would be as insulting to nails as...

I literally cannot come up with a figurative expression to describe how absolutely stupid this fictional man is.

The Dread Emperors and Empresses of Praes, while basically more or less completely ineffective over the centuries, nevertheless, have style, in the best sort of moustache-twirlingly, joyfully diabolic way.

Take for example, Dread Emperor Traitorous:

“I’m not saying all your closest friends are shapeshifting devils I sent to spy on you after having the originals murdered, but I’m certainly implying it very heavily."
—Dread Emperor Traitorous

“Gentlemen, there is no need to worry: our plan is flawless. The Emperor will never see it coming.”
—Grandmaster Ouroboros of the Order of Unholy Obsidian, later revealed to have been Dread Emperor Traitorous all along

“My dear friends, I have a confession to make. Some creative reframing of the truth may have taken place during the planning of this coup.”
—Dread Emperor Traitorous, addressing the Order of the Unholy Obsidian upon successfully usurping the throne from himself

- who not only led several rebellions against himself, but ended his reign by assassinating himself and managing to frame a hundred of his rivals for it. That takes STYLE.

Or Irritant I, the Oddly Successful:

“Oh, I get it. The real treasure was the people I had executed along the way!”

The quotes are the start of the chapters are some of best bits...!



(Conversely, the whole thrust of the series is the current mob trying to shift away from that narrative of flying fortress and invisible sentient tiger armies. (Yes, really.) And I say "narrative" specifically because that's what it IS; stories have actual power and that's (in their eyes) part of the problem.)

[Pi Pie]

T
Take for example, Dread Emperor Traitorous:



- who not only led several rebellions against himself, but ended his reign by assassinating himself and managing to frame a hundred of his rivals for it. That takes STYLE.

The idea of leading a rebellion against yourself is impressive. That is Pinkie Pie levels of mind twisting insanity that I can fully support.

[Douglas]

The idea of leading a rebellion against yourself is impressive. That is Pinkie Pie levels of mind twisting insanity that I can fully support.

It's a perfectly reasonable way to identify traitors - set up a persona that traitors would want to contact, and they'll voluntarily reveal themselves. The hard part is maintaining the charade long enough and well enough to convince the more paranoid ones to trust it, despite it being visible enough for them to find yet not arrested by you.

[zimmerwald1915]

It's a perfectly reasonable way to identify traitors - set up a persona that traitors would want to contact, and they'll voluntarily reveal themselves.

More than reasonable, it's downright common. Though usually it's a task outsourced to the Peter Taaffes of the world rather than being done by heads of state/government personally.

The self-congratulatory trope of narratives having power really needs to go the way of the dodo, though.

[Forum Explorer]

More than reasonable, it's downright common. Though usually it's a task outsourced to the Peter Taaffes of the world rather than being done by heads of state/government personally.

They also don't usually complete the coup.

[Aotrs Commander]

The more we play Judge Dredd D20, the more the sheer sloppiness of the writers becomes apparent. After today's session (my belated-birthday-party-quest-day), I ended up spending an hour or two writing up a load of suggested revisions and clarifications. (As at the point the DM is basically bending over backwards to stop us using some of the stuff we have been provided with as default because it "ruins the game" is definitely the point that, even as a player, I have to think it's time for the nerf-hammer. But ye gods, it's SO sloppily written!)

[Rater202]

The more we play Judge Dredd D20, the more the sheer sloppiness of the writers becomes apparent. After today's session (my belated-birthday-party-quest-day), I ended up spending an hour or two writing up a load of suggested revisions and clarifications. (As at the point the DM is basically bending over backwards to stop us using some of the stuff we have been provided with as default because it "ruins the game" is definitely the point that, even as a player, I have to think it's time for the nerf-hammer. But ye gods, it's SO sloppily written!)

That is sloppy.

Other sloppy writing I've noticed: They never explained why Apocolypse was losing his powers and turning into a Monkey in the backup story in X-Men: Black.

[Pi Pie]

The more we play Judge Dredd D20, the more the sheer sloppiness of the writers becomes apparent. After today's session (my belated-birthday-party-quest-day), I ended up spending an hour or two writing up a load of suggested revisions and clarifications. (As at the point the DM is basically bending over backwards to stop us using some of the stuff we have been provided with as default because it "ruins the game" is definitely the point that, even as a player, I have to think it's time for the nerf-hammer. But ye gods, it's SO sloppily written!)

Can you provide any examples?

And how does the writing / balance compare to D&D 3.5? Because that had a lot of balance problems but that was partially because it is nearly impossible to balance a person with a sharp pointy object to a person that rewrites reality.

[Aotrs Commander]

Can you provide any examples?

And how does the writing / balance compare to D&D 3.5? Because that had a lot of balance problems but that was partially because it is nearly impossible to balance a person with a sharp pointy object to a person that rewrites reality.

Typos, the character sheet is full of mistakes - SO FULL OF MISTAKES, the rules are poorly written.

Balance was clearly not even remotely considered, and out of lack of thought, not munchkinism. Judges get access to Stumm Gas (four grenades - 30' area of effect - and two rounds (20' area of effect) as standard¹), which is a DC Fort save or lose.

Each of the massive numbers (16) of magazines² a judge gets as standard (four of which are carried on the belt, a dozen on the bike) comes with three hi-explosive rounds, which do 3D10 damage in a 10' radius.

(Actually, the rules are so poorly worded that it is only now, today, after we've been playing for a few years, I wonder whether their "area of effect" was meant to be diameters not radius (flatly contradictory to D&D standard); but as they have at least one effect which is a five-foot area of effect and nowhere in the rules does it ever explain whether areas are diameter or radius, we have always assumed radius (because unless specified, it uses the (3.0) PHB rules).

You can rapid fire three shots per round, so it is quite easy to lob off three Hi-Ex per round, for a minimum of half of 9D10 basically garenteed damage - per person from a whole party, and even if you had closer to four than seven PCs, that's massively better especially at level 2 through 4 than actually regular shooting. Also, these rounds (and the incendiary rounds which also have a five foot "area of effect") have a critical multiplier (x3 in the case of Hi-Ex rounds). So, to recap, you have in each magazine, three rounds which deal 3D10 instead of 2D6, have a critical of x 3 (if you elect to shoot a dude and not simple a bit of the ground or something) and effect a 10' radius, DC 15 Reflex half. And not surprisngly, we use them and the Stumm gas all the time, because why wouldn't we? But from the modules the DM is running from, it seems pretty painfully clear that the writers of both those and the rules never considered that to be a possiblity, and probably only included them because lore and without any regard that moderately smart players (i.e. anyone who pays attention to the character sheet) might, y'know, USE them. (Because the DM is the only one who has actually READ Judge Dredd and thus has some idea of how it, one presumes, the writer thought it was supposed to work.) Which has fine for us, but our DM has started tearing his hair out he can't give us a good fight. (Because he runs it twice a year now we started this particualr campaign (so as for us not to completely forget what happened last time) to give me a break, and doesn't have the kind of time - or system mastery - I do to stat-up better opponents, so he has to use what they give him.) He's at the point he's all but directly forbidden us to use those options at all. (Despite today's skirmish being a classic case where, in a riot, you'd have though it the ideal place to break out the gas, wouldn't you?)

They have Combat Manifestation as a feat for the appallingly crap psi-powers (at least in the core rulebook) rules they have (there is only ONE 9th level power, and only four powers at most levels, all of which are out-of-combat of wince-inducingly weak - and then added a feat called Nerves of Steel which grants a flat +4 bonus to Concentration checks and a "+4 to saving throws made against effects" which we have ASSUMED is missing the word "fear," else it is the best feat EVER. And it still so much better than Combat Manfestation and makes the aforementioend a trap - doubly so, given there are literally only TWO offensive psi-powers in core and both of them are TERRIBLE damage for their level. The 0th level one might sound alright a D6 damage for a 0th level spell... Until you remember a Psi-Judge has full BAB and a standard (execution) round is 3D6 damage...

It is, as I say, all just signs that the writers were just plain sloppy and didn't pay enough attention to detail. (Compared to, say, Stargate SG-1, which didn't have remotely this sort of problem and is a much-better put together thing.) And now that we are playing it semi-regularly, the flaws (exascerbated by this being 3.0 based, not even 3.5) are coming to the surface. Especially since we are more used to playing 3.Aotrs, which is a much more polished hybrid taking the best elements of 3.5 and PF (and my stuff) - and run my the DM that is pretty much the best rulesmith out of all of us (i.e. me!) (Which is, of course, why I can be trusted to put forth a reasonable set of amendments, even though it is, effectively, shooting myself as a player in the foot a bit!)



¹We got that wrong several times because their default character is AWFUL. We have had to write our own because theirs is SO FULL of mistakes. I mean, this is the character sheet for JUDGES. In a Judge Dredd game. And it has NUMEROUS errors on top of the usual "offical rules character sheets are a steaming pile of crap" problem. (For both D&D and Rolemaster, we have LONG been using Aotrs-standard replacements...)

²Notably, today in an extended (and ultimately module-mandated, basically pointless) battle we fought³, my character (Judge Caine, and yes, I DO explictly wear sunglasses when playing), who between Rapid Shot and the rapid fire rules, can whack out up to six shots per round was the first tie I think anyone had actually emptied even ONE mag of actual regular bullets.

³Again, not gonna blame the DM, but it was "you guard this parade, really, there is no way you can possibly catch the ambush before it happens and have to fight a long engagement against a sea of two groups of unlimited faceless mooks fighting each other where it doesn't really matter that you kill any of them (unlimited horde), because you're supposed to "lose" so that when it looks like you are about to be all killed, some dudes shoot the back up of the enemy and jump into a van and drive away and you're supposed to chase (despite, given the LAUGHABLE healing, some or all of the characters mybe not in a fit state to do after this long battle they just "lost")" scenario, which is pretty bad railroading module writing.

[Draconi Redfir]

Spoiler: Holiday Special

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Tracked down and watched the first third of the special: Poor Marble, I wonder if they're setting up for something next season. I also really liked the sequence of Spike running around trying to get Rarity's card was pretty funny in how the rest reacted. I picked up the plot pretty quickly, but seeing how it started makes me appreciate it more.

Spoiler

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I know right!? that face! D: kinda makes me wish Suger bell turned out to be evil...

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler

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I know right!? that face! D: kinda makes me wish Suger bell turned out to be evil...

Spoiler: Holiday Special

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Aww, now why would anyone want Sugar Belle to be evil? SugarMac is not only a cute ship, it's a Unicorn/Earthpony ship and I fully support Earthpony stallions picking up an adorable Unicorn mare as their special somepony and yes I am biased based on a PbP game I'm in, why do you ask?