unclevlad

Then I say No. But you do have a point, that if you want to work through a mind scan, you may need it to be separate. It's not outside the MP for points savings (it has to cost more than just an MP slot), it's because it has to run in parallel.

What's frightening is to realize how much of that story may already be happening. In music: https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20190605-nine-most-notorious-copyright-cases-in-music-history Granted, these are cases where copyright would clearly still apply, even if the duration was rolled back. But it's the point that anything successful is a target. In TV and movies, it's the insane level of regurgitation...because, in part, it's SAFE to do that when you own the rights to the originals, I suspect. The flip side here is that Disney tried to assert that the rights were detachable at the same time.

While the rulings were bad enough, yes, the underpinnings of them are simply horrifying. The Constitution says nothing about TV or radio or the Internet, so is the FCC even slightly legit? Prescriptions didn't exist; the smallpox vaccine was (checking)...developed in 1796. And it was the first one, IIRC. Next big scare is this: https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/independent-state-legislature-theory-explained Because 4 of the current justices have said they favor the independent legislature theory. Insane interpretation, IMO, as it asserts the state Supreme Court can't reverse the actions of the legislature. And such a case is on the Court docket for the next term. If the Court validates the theory, well...that might be the beginning of the end. That puts us on a path that will likely lead to secession and/or civil war.

Which is why the GM says No. Because they aren't meaningful, or at least not *that* meaningful, at that point, as you said. But it's plausible that this'd be infeasible in any case. How often does someone buy standalone Mind Scan, versus buying it with Telepathy or Mental Blast, most likely? Possibly Mind Control or Mental Illusions but those can be a lot trickier. Those won't share the same limitations, or close to the same degree of limitations, so their active point (and probably real point) costs will force pool sizes and therefore final character point costs.

Mmmm...I'd say you're mischaracterizing this. Kamna blew up with 50 meters to go...on the 24% stretch. But Vingegaard was the first to pass him...then Pogacar nipped *him* with a last burst to win by a couple bike lengths at the line. Thomas wasn't that close...14 seconds back, and actually finished 5th. Roglic was 3rd, Kamna struggled home in 4th. Pogacar put a fair bit of time into everyone but Vingegaard. As you'd expect with a Cat 1 summit finish, the field was pretty shattered. Nielsen held on to KoM...by 1 point. That could be gone tomorrow; it's a funky stage. Hills throughout, much of it is at some altitude, around 1 km elevation. 4 climbs, cat 4, 3, and 4 with an uphill 3 to finish it. The NBC talking heads are anticipating a breakaway that may manage to be a stayaway. If so, then the points get scattered.

Damn. Makes me sad but it isn't surprising, if you watched any of his match against Fritz. Crud...means Kyrgios gets a walk to the final. Gross. Another angle here is, he's gonna have to rest it for a while. Don't know how long, but clearly, this is something where you err on the side of caution. It should be OK for the US Open, but my confidence isn't that high. He's had so many physical problems in the last several years, and particularly this year.

They aren't terrible, they just have commitment issues.

My take is that today was the last chance for WVA to show off, while in yellow. He had little to no chance to keep it; he wasn't gonna hang on, come that final climb no matter what. And even if he held onto it today, come tomorrow? Not a snowball's chance. Not with a Cat 1 summit finish. The early part is largely uphill, and with a Cat 3 at about the midpoint, so today was his day to hang out at the front and bask in the glory. So he did. And the peloton let him have it, mostly...not sure they 'let' him have the sprint points, but if he was a solo breakaway, well, the peloton could fight it out for 2nd, 3rd, 4th place points and no real harm done. Also not sure I'd say Jumbo Visma took the day off. They finished 4th in the team standings for the day. Ineos is starting to show its depth there; they've now got over a minute lead. I suspect Ineos and UAE (Pogacar's team) will try to blow the race up tomorrow. Stage 7 finishes up with a STEEP climb...not just black, could almost call it double black. I won't be surprised if a few riders fail to finish before the cutoff time. That is just one BRUTE of a finishing climb.

Well, calling it "the American Stonehenge" immediately ties it to non-Christian beliefs, and if you're gonna buy that, calling it Satanic follows directly. That part of the far right would be happiest to have a state religion, and the power to dictate ANY public display...monument, billboard, etc...or any media, be doctrinally compliant...and preferably go further, to assist in promoting Christianity and the Bible.

This is also the company that tried to assert they didn't have to pay royalties on properties they bought, on the worst legal argument I think I've ever heard. They'll also work really hard to limit what becomes public domain...like, it might ONLY be Steamboat Willie. The Mouse overall will be sheltered because the term for most of his appearances hasn't expired. Or something like that. I'm a fan of Dorothy Sayers and Lord Peter Wimsey, ever since I saw the BBC productions back in high school. Sayers died *65* years ago, and virtually all the series was written prior to WW II. But at this point, due to the ridiculous length of copyright, only the first three are now public domain. (A couple more do so next year.) The Hobbit doesn't go public domain for another decade. LOTR...2050. Disney's often considered the driver...and specifically for Mickey, their signature creation...of copyright extensions, so I *hope* they lose all control.

I don't see it in 6E1 under Summon, and that'd probably be the only place it would be. It's not in APG or APG II. Might be in a Fantasy supplement. Generally, feels too campaign-specific, and probably situation-specific, to say anything but GM decides what it's worth. A summon that's for non-combat minions, this'd likely be pointless, for example. I'd also say that in most cases, anything summoned is just disposable. Yeah, I know of at least one setup where the summoner takes feedback damage, but it's not the norm, I think.

8d6 and +10 OMCV won't get you +20 consistently. -10 may be OK, but if you're in a larger city-style game, you'd be at -2 OMCV, and if it's unfamiliar...? One thing that helps mitigate the adder issue is, Mind Scan tends to have few advantages, even Reduced END. The END cost is also sufficiently intermittent that it doesn't need Reduced END that much. But it still feels like the cost for the Adder is way too high. This may come down to style. You need -1 in limitations to simply break even...and that's ignoring the END cost, which may not be a huge factor. That said, taking a bit longer look...there are some limitations there that are...ill-considered, IMO. Both Mandatory Effect and Can't Attack Through Link feel highly abusable, alone or in combination. But mental powers are a PITA.

Trying to fit the levels into any active point cap is going to SHARPLY limit how much you can do with it...which I suppose might be the intent, but it's conflating notions of "effectiveness" that aren't on the same scale. But then, more than anything, this might come down to how one thinks about rigid active points caps, and we've had that discussion....

Mental power types are something I don't consider very often; they tend to be pretty pricey. But I've got a weird idea I'm trying out right now, and I noticed something. In HD, under Mind Scan (6E1 261) in the power block and first paragraph, +2 Character Points for every +1 OMCV with Mind Scan is an adder...which means it also adds to overall END costs, and if you want, say, Reduced END, is increasing the base cost. However, in CSLs for Mental Powers (6E1 71): +1 OMCV with a single mental power i(Mind Scan for this) s 1 point. As a skill level, it doesn't cost END, and it doesn't impact the base cost for the Mind Scan, as it's separate. In terms of using them later, they appear to function identically. So, a) am I missing something, and they are different in some manner? b) if they're the same, why would anyone ever buy the Mind Scan adder form? Particularly since it's quite plausible to consider buying quite a few of them...even a Large Town is -10. Even if you're intending to slap some significant limitations on...you'd need a -1 to break even, and you still have the increased END and base cost considerations. c) Should the Mind Scan adder be cheaper?

While I do like Nadal, I actually wish he'd lost today. Why? He was *clearly* badly hampered by an abdominal injury, His serves were quite soft slices...I'd say, LESS than second-serve pace, even on first serves. Trainer visited twice. That said, he gutted out a LONG 5 set win. To play...Kyrgios. UGH. Double ugh. Nadal may not be able to play at all, and if he isn't a feeling WHOLE lot better on Friday, he's got no shot unless Kyrgios totally implodes. (Have to account for that.) It also strongly hints at a Djokovic-Kyrgios final. I refuse to acknowledge it any further.

If I remember the standings, tho, van Aert lost very little time to Pogacar, something like 15-20 seconds. It's not likely to matter, either. Prediction for tomorrow: Pogacar takes the stage and yellow.

Boris Johnson is acting like a college basketball coach whose team is down 30 with a minute left to play...but continues to press and foul to extend the game.

He's been way too cocky. As far as the treatment, well, he can't be blamed for the Browns being total idiots, but he also has sharp limitations. Not like he never had a chance. And hey, $33M is $33M. Plus a ton from endorsements; some of that is him, and his brashness, being marketable. But simply being a starting NFL QB is huge too. Reports are he's pulling down another $10M in endorsements. Note that the Browns are paying him $10M, and possibly more with incentive clauses. Carolina's only paying him $5M. So figure: the Browns have to eat over half the contract, AND all they got back was (at best) a 4th round pick...in 2024. That's the best the Browns could do...partly their own fault, to be sure, but it also says that no one else was chomping at the bit to take him, even on those EXTREMELY favorable terms. If Mayfield got the shaft from the Browns, would you say that Darnold is getting the shaft from the Panthers? OK, numbers say Mayfield's an upgrade...but not a major one, IMO. https://www.fantasypros.com/nfl/stats/sam-darnold-baker-mayfield.php A weird thing about this trade...both Darnold and Mayfield are in their walk years...UFAs in 2023.

Oh, I'm not defending Trump in the least. His SC nominations could not have passed without active support, tho. Rejecting the election results could have been crushed in November and December of 2020, but wasn't. Trump could've been disavowed after Jan. 6th, but wasn't. The Washington cesspool definitely exists on both ends of the Mall. We need not be parsimonious in assigning blame.

I think I'd heard about Jackson...but didn't hear the CTE confirmation, I don't think. Either way, yeah, I'd forgotten. Jackson was all of 38. Next time you feel like screaming about a player getting ejected for a dubious helmet-to-helmet, you might want to remember these two...

It's not Trump, or at least not alone. Trump had nothing to do with refusing to even listen to an Obama Supreme Court nominee, and he alone could never have replaced Ginsburg without the active, eager cooperation of the Senate Republicans. They started the process LONG before Trump hit the stage. What Trump did was to legitimize it through the office and authority of the Presidency. Which is bad enough.

MUST READ, IMO. Terrifying in its implications, tho. I've used "polar society" for...quite a while. We're attracted to specific poles, drawn to them, sucked into them. It's been going on for probably 30 years, but...probably since Clinton, it's grown tremendously.

Autopsy shows Demaryius Thomas had stage 2 CTE when he died, per family members. Story, and stages outlined: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2022/07/05/cte-explained-symtpoms-stages-nfl/7812410001/ I doubt anyone's terribly surprised; it's more confirmation of what we suspected. Still doesn't help the league, given how young he was, and given it'd gotten that advanced.

Skills can be bought as Powers, but they're Special Powers, and therefore can't be added into a framework, and I wouldn't allow it either. There are special powers that I would allow, but not skills. I'd also almost never allow Costs END on a skill, for multiple reasons...doesn't fit, doesn't have any negative impact, will rarely if ever cost meaningful amount, most skills are executed off phases. It just doesn't work for me. More broadly, I'm not a big fan of limitations on skills, with some exceptions...+2 to Contortionist linked to some Shrinking, would be an example. Familiarity with, say Gambling (card games)...you know the rules of common poker games, differences between limit, pot limit, and no limit...doesn't mean you understand the strategy differences between them You know hold em and Omaha...but not necessarily Badugi or 2-7 Triple Draw or Razz. (I think I have just a Familiarity with poker...and I do know all of them. But then I watched WSOP far too often.) Also, +5 to All Skills is huge; in addition, "I focus my Chi" is just SFX, really. Make it 2 All Skills levels, then buy a bunch of skills to base characteristic level...it's only 1 point per skill more. Note that given a 13 characteristic, the base roll is 12-. 2 levels gives a 14-...succeeds 90% of the time. 5 levels is 17-...succeeds 99.5% of the time. Those 3 levels are only buying you +10%...that's not much. And that's starting from a mediocre-level characteristic, for supers. I'd tell your player to focus. Work up some backstory...what does he like to do? Spycraft? Any/all of Acting, Charm, Conversation, Concealment, Disguise, Lipreading, Persuasion, Security Systems, Shadowing, and Stealth. And some others probably as well. (Many might be a bit too specialized, like Forgery, for the general-purpose type.) Investigator? Criminology, Deduction, Concealment again. Appropriate KS/SS skills. Medical examiner's branch tosses in Paramedic probably, and Forensic Medicine.

Beautiful tactics by his team. The lead-in to the last climb was through village-level roads...narrow, with some sharp turns. The team set up at the front, powered through, and dropped the hammer to create a BIG gap when one wasn't really expected. Van Aert also broke Cort's streak...Magnus Cort Neilsen had won every climb to that point. The boys were raving "oh this will never be done again!!!" But what are the odds we'll ever see 10 Cat 4 climbs to start? So it's disingenuous, IMO. Van Aert gave himself a respectable margin in the green jersey competition; he's now 60 points ahead of Jakobsen, and 90 over Sagan. For reference, flat and hilly stages give 50 for winning the stage, IIRC, scaling down rapidly...30 for 2nd, 20 for 3rd, then rolling off. Doesn't apply, IIRC, to mountain stages where there won't be a sprint finish. Intermediate sprints exist on all non time trials; they're 20 for first. Just for grins...at this point, Van Aert is +3300 to win the race...but -600 (yes, bet 600 to win 100) to win the points competition. Oh, and despite all those standalone KoM wins? Neilsen is +2000 to take KoM.