unclevlad

Reduced END costs double on an Autofire attack. You're paying the normal END for each attack, and because the active points for the Autofire itself also raise END costs. Just did a quickie 4d6 Blast, 5 shots (+1/2)...3 END. That's per shot because you don't have to take all 5. An Autofire HA is somewhat cheap because buying Reduced END on your STR *doesn't* trigger the cost multiplier. So if you have 35 STR, 1/2 END: 25 + 9 for the reduced END 3d6 HA, autofire (3 shots), 1/2 END: 26 active points, 21 real; 1 END per shot The full 3-punch volley is each doing 10d6 and costing 2 END, so 6 END total. By comparison, a 10d6 3-shot AF blast at 1/2 END...10d6 with +1/4 for the AF is 62 points, so 6 END, cut back to 3 per shot. The Blast costs 87; No Range would help, it's now 58. Still somewhat more, and less flexible. Multiattack is the skill-based version of Autofire. Multiattack has a couple advantages: it can mix attacks, it doesn't raise the price of reduced END, and it's discretionary...if you use Autofire, you can fire 1 shot only, but the reduced END cost is still double, and you're paying the full active point cost including the Autofire. It allows many more options for targeting, such as targets at your 8 and 1 positions. The downside is...once you miss, all the rest of the attacks miss. If you're not using the APG Defensive Attack (the DCV version of Rapid Attack), you're at 1/2 DCV. That said...it is a bit expensive, but if I have Defensive Attack on the table, I'd generally rather spend the 10 points for Rapid and Defensive Attack for HTH or Ranged, depending on what the character does, rather than Autofire. I think the classic interpretation is, Autofire's envisioned for guns; Multiattack is for fancy martial artists, ergo...punchers, and trick-shot artist types. It's not explicitly limited to those, but those are, I think, the visualized use cases.

Michael Johnson was just as much a professional athlete; his pay simply came by different methods. How much do you think Nike paid him to wear those gold shoes? LOTS! Karch Kiraly, volleyball...both indoor and beach (!)

OK, I'll take the J-layup... Michael Jordan

McConnell can't do it on his own. There's this rule: That's not a Congressional rule; that's in Article I of the Constitution. Also, I think overall it's a bad idea from the Republican perspective. If anyone votes to convict...or at least, past the, what, 3 we expect...then almost every Republican gets tarred with the accusation that he or she voted against His Orangeness. Fine, Cruz, Hawley, and the others who voted to overturn the election results might be safe, but almost no one else. To me a secret vote would actually cause the Party to split faster than a recorded vote. And doing *that* is absolutely not part of McConnell's leadership strategy.

That can't be true. Multiple Attack, punches. You're paying STR for each punch. What are the equipment rules in use? If this is supers where you paid character points for the shield, then the weight should be a non-issue. If it's purchased with money, then this might be reasonable, as a form of balance. 6E2 p. 180-1 talks about the potential imbalance...the wizard pays character points for spells and armor, whereas the fighter pays cash. And that points out an extension: if a character's wearing armor, it's probably heavier than the shield, so are there END costs there? Generally, I don't think paying END to wield the shield's a very good idea most of the time...and when it might make sense, fine, slap on a Costs END limitation. You pay the END for the STR because the STR is adding to the weapon damage. And you can execute a light blow that does just base weapon damage, w/o adding STR. Saying you must burn END for the STR is putting a limitation for which the player is getting no return.

If Trump doesn't testify, it feels very unlikely he'll be impeached. If he does, well...probably not, as the Republicans can retain the whole "he isn't the President any more" argument. BUT, there's always a non-trivial chance he'll go off the deep end, and further widen the split in the party, even if he doesn't get impeached. Go back to the phone call to the Georgia secretary of state about the elections...Trump seemingly is incapable of staying on point. And in a hearing, you *know* Democrats will bait him in the hope that he'll lose it.

Tom Daley, diving

Apolo Ohno, speed skating (short track speed skating is sheer insanity, but GREAT fun to watch)

Yeasty...some Belgian ales have this flavor.

Watermelon

Probably more people than you might think. That's mid-level. When I bought cheap pillows, they didn't last more than a couple years. A better one lasts much longer. How many people spend $1000-2000 on a mattress? Same thing...more than you might think. EDIT: As far as the MyPillow employees...yeah, I'd be job-hunting. Looks like the company's privately held, so a board can't oust Lindell. And this bad publicity is atop quite a bit more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Pillow Several false advertising/false claims lawsuits. Failure to remit taxes. BBB gives them an F rating. Consumer Reports reviewed them and only 1/3 of their in-home testers would buy them...that's a big argument right there for why Kohl's and BedBathAndBeyond dropped them...because that suggests they aren't gonna sell very well long term, and/or that the store's going to see a higher return rate. (Spend a moment on BB&B's web site...over 300 different pillows, and most are over $50.)

Strawberry

Plus, let's not forget that election procedures are defined on a state-by-state basis, by the state legislators. Maintaining the whole "the election was stolen!" storyline may well resonate, and above and beyond the near-foregone gerrymandering continuing, figure there will be more moves made to make voting more difficult. And there are numerous states where it's likely to work.

because there can be nothing else.... CHOCOLATE!!!!!

A difference, tho, is the impact of near-ubiquitous, near-instant communications. Where once anger tended to be restricted/encapsulated, now it can be shared. It isn't restrained by time or distance. It's continuously fed by propagandists masquerading as journalists. Sure, it's quite possible that QAnon will vanish back into the toxic swamp they rose from...but the conditions that created them haven't changed *that* much. No, we don't have Trump, but he enabled and legitimized that aspect...as they enabled and legitimized him. So, yeah, OK, it might subside, but it'll still be there. It'll still be pushing buttons at every opportunity, and waiting for its next chance. The next 2 years are huge.

We already did, somewhat. Mike Lindell on NewsMax. But I don't think you'll hear it from the bigger players, because their lawyers aren't idiots. One of the big mistakes was asserting that the machines were tampered with...in areas where they weren't even in use. Continuing to assert malfeasance on the part of Dominion or Smartmatic when the courts already ruled against such, is another. Sure, the hard-core believers will eat it up, but the courts won't. Fox's lawyers are well aware of this, and they're VERY worried, I gotta think.

Yah, I can see RICO for the facilitators who made darn sure to stay away from DC themselves. Smartmatic has filed a $2.7B lawsuit against Fox for defamation. Unfortunately this is going to likely take a long time to fully play out.

Stratego

backgammon

Rasputin argh cancer just beat me Spinoza (Spanish philosopher)

I agree that if the resurrection takes years, that's purely plot device and not worth charging points. You're out of the game, almost certainly permanently. Arcane Shield: I personally seriously dislike piling on limitations. You've got Gestures (both hands), Incants, and Perceivable. If nothing else, the Perceivable is pointless; using the power is already blatantly obvious, unless you're saying that the runes float around her ALL the time. Also note: you don't get much of a price break Will Force: Ehhh....this one feels very cheesy to me. What's the goal here? When the basic power is just 1 END to begin with, piling on a massive Increased END cost is rather munchkin. It's kinda like (in 6E) 3" of teleport with 10,000 km MegaScale...you're getting a ton for next to no cost. Here it seems to be getting something that won't be used regularly (since it's Costs END every phase) but a LOT for next to nothing. Not Entirely of this World: doesn't stop 1 BODY isn't worth anything, IMO, not when the defense is that small. Also, the limitation almost never comes into play on the mental def and power def; it'd have to be AVAD, Does Body. Alternately, what's the order of the defenses? Because when the Arcane Shield is up, your defenses BEFORE NEotW are at 16, with 8 Resistant. Variable Limitations is extremely easy to abuse. Full Phase covers everything as you note...and given the terrible Dex on the character, it doesn't much matter. Just means you can't take a half move. If all options are on the table, then it's way overvalued here. The first -1/4 is cutting off a BIG chunk...18 points here. (BTW: variable limitations on an MP with 6 slots simply screams for a VPP. Always need a 1/2 limit? Pool size 41, control cost 62. Always need a 1 limit? Pool size 31. Requires a Skill Roll can be a common modifier on the MP or VPP.) You can get at least some VPP-only limitation for Magical Powers. Play around with it; it can be cheaper. Languages...I personally don't ever charge for literate. Especially with the hieroglyphics, as that is by definition NOT spoken. That'll save you 4 points. KS's seem redundant; how is The Secret Teachings different from The Occult? Maybe that's in the writeup. The complications are heavily overlapped. Distinctive, the social comp, the psych comp. The psych comp to a degree cancels the vulnerability...and the vulnerability isn't doing damage. Being vulnerable to seduction is a Psych Comp. Flip side: the two susceptibilities IMO make that Neg Rep a LOT!!!! worse, or at least will make them worse over time, because they'll absolutely lock in the perception of being an unholy creature of the night.

Robert Oppenheimer

John Lewis, civil rights advocate and long-term Congressman who passed away recently

So I have all the stuff I need to do my very simple taxes. Did a first cut last night. Huh, well, a refund is a refund. BUT, that first cut didn't factor in that some of the distribution from my IRA wasn't subject to taxes...goes back years ago when IRA contributions were harder to deduct from your income at the time. OK, get the right form, get that filled out. Nice reduction in taxable income, about what I had last year too. Cool. So change the lines...check the math...let's see.... Huh...that's a lot less tax owed than I wrote down before.... Some doofus took the tax owed from the wrong box.........from the next HIGHER thousand taxable.... OHHH...well, if one is an idiot, it's nice to have it be in one's favor! The IRS is going to be sending me quite a nice little sum now...

Canada has designated the Proud Boys as a terrorist organization. Elsewhere, Fox had a bad month: https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/january-2021-ratings-fox-news-closes-month-strong-in-prime-time-but-falls-to-3rd-for-first-time-since-2001/469813/ So perhaps there's hope that some fraction is rejecting the narrative. Many aren't; we know that. But perhaps it's a start.