TRPG General Chat

I would probably go with Earth getting hit by a stronger-than-usual background radiation wave in the appropriate frequency range causing unbearably flaky connections and lasting who-knows how long.

BESW

@kviiri In my research into solar flares for a previous campaign, I learned that really long wires will burst into flames when exposed to solar radiation of sufficient strength (this actually happened to telegraph wires a couple of times).

kviiri

Oh yeah, that's true... wires are essentially antennas.

BESW

That kind of radiation would also fry pretty much anything with a silica chip.

Background radiation would probably cause people to go to wireless more, but with redundancy backups across multiple frequencies.

It's easier to filter out the noise than to keep your tech from catching fire.

kviiri

10:19 AM

Then I'd go with Miniman's idea.

BESW

That'd work, but it'd be super depressing.

Miniman

@BESW I know :(

It'd also come across as trying to make a statement you're not trying to make, I suspect.

BESW

(Especially if it panned out anything like how we dealt with the discovery that cigarettes and asbestos cause cancer.)

kviiri

Making wired cheaper again would also work, but it's super implausible.

BESW

Maybe if wireless hacking/infiltration became super prevalent.

Miniman

10:28 AM

@BESW That raises the question of why wired is secure, then.

BESW

...all the wires are coated with asbestos and tobacco powder.

3 hours later…

nitsua60

1:53 PM

@BESW dare I say... that sounds like a WB.SE question?

BESW

@nitsua60 [squints suspiciously]

Erics

2:44 PM

doppelgreener

Here, have some enormous buildings from millennia past, courtesy of a History.SE question.

Shalvenay

@BESW maybe the RF spectrum becomes so congested that nobody can hear each other any longer, so to speak?

(i.e. the noise floor gets jacked up too high by cheap junk that fails to obey the radio laws, or simply because there are so many devices that it becomes the equivalent of a crowded auditorium trying to have an all-inclusive argument)

doppelgreener

@BESW Quantum tunnelling. Might not actually exist. Basically the thing they had in Mass Effect. Technically not wired nor (our current definition of) wireless: you have two atoms linked, and now they can communicate from absolutely anywhere in the galaxy. :D

But as for wires specifically, we have a bunch of options:
- wireless becomes proven to be insecure. after sufficient economic damage is done via wireless-oriented hacking, legislators worldwide agree to ban wireless for a while. they launch propaganda campaigns to convince people to stick to wired. it works so well, even a few decades later when wireless is sort of good enough again, nobody trusts it enough to use it.
- interference from various sources makes wireless too unreliable. (however, realistically, like how we legislate radio bands, it'd just make a wireless prioritisation system.)

doppelgreener

3:08 PM

to that third-to-last point: imagine if there's an alien sci-fi virus that gets attracted to sources of radiation. much like we seek out warmth, they want stuff that's radioactive (a broadcasting planet) but not too radioactive (a sun). now, the times we actually had any contact with them were disastrous... but as long as earth shuts up, and shuts up forever, they will chase our radiation bubble away from the solar system and leave, and never come back. as long as earth shuts up.

let's suppose that a batch of this virus fell out of the sky on Spain one day -- and now western Europe's civilisation doesn't exist anymore.

Shalvenay

@doppelgreener making some sort of prioritization system is futile if you're completely overrun with cheap junk that scoffs at the radio laws regarding unintended noise emissions...

doppelgreener

3:27 PM

@Shalvenay that's true, though e.g. it's going to be difficult for a homebrew radio station to overpower the signal from a professional radio studio, without putting up some serious broadcasting infrastructure and, well, announcing their presence to authorities. it would not be worth it.

Shalvenay

3:39 PM

@doppelgreener unintentional radiators have the benefit of proximity, though

wire a cheap "grow light" LED driver to a few LEDs and a power cord. then plug it in next to your radio the next time you're trying to listen to a distant broadcast station. I think you'll figure out the problem rather quickly :)

trogdor

4:08 PM

@Erics yes, exactly XD

Erics

4:40 PM

Heh, just set up a puzzle for the players - in the forest there is an area infested with Yellow Musk Creepers. Some bandits have been zombiefied. Giant bees visit for the pollen. A circle of druids tend to the bees and brew mead.

Will the players wipe out the Yellow Musk Creepers, as a natural weed/hazard, or leave it be?

doppelgreener

4:52 PM

It's quite likely they'll wind up destroying the yellow musk creepers. They're monsters, adventurers destroy monsters.

Plus forests have other flowers available

1 hour later…

Joel Harmon

6:04 PM

Somewhat off-topic question: I'm looking for a gift for a friend. He's a big fan of Candlekeep from the old Baldur's Gate / Neverwinter games. I'm looking for a gift in that vein, but for some reason Google keeps coming up with actual candles :). If anyone has any suggestions, I'd be appreciative.

doppelgreener

@JoelHarmon google tells me there's a tales from candlekeep: tomb of annihilation video game. might that be something he'd be interested in?

@JoelHarmon DuckDuckGo might give you some different results: duckduckgo.com/?q=candlekeep&t=hf&ia=web

There is also a baldur's gate board game, though that one is set in the city of baldur's gate, not the fortress of candlekeep

(i don't know how broad/specific his interest in Candlekeep is)

Joel Harmon

6:20 PM

@doppelgreener enough that he's buying a new house and nicknaming it Candlekeep. Oddly, he doesn't actually like reading books very much.

doppelgreener

wow xD

awesome

@JoelHarmon are there interior/exterior house decorations that might help Candlekeep-ify it?

Joel Harmon

(To be fair, the new house part was a long time coming)

I've been looking for things like book ends, signs, Candlekeep models, etc. I'm just having a hard time finding stuff.

Shalvenay

6:39 PM

hey there @JoelHarmon

Joel Harmon

hey @Shalvenay, how are things?

Shalvenay

alright here, as for you?

Joel Harmon

Pretty good, except for a head cold and the aforementioned gift-giving dilemma.

2 hours later…

BESW

8:43 PM

Arms and Armor From the Islamic World

Shalvenay

9:15 PM

hey there @ACuriousMind

ACuriousMind

Evenin' all

Shalvenay

how're things going?

ACuriousMind

Quite nicely, just got back from a session of Fate

Shalvenay

ah, how'd it go?

ACuriousMind

Better than the last one, the GM is still having a bit of trouble adjusting to the system, though

Shalvenay

9:24 PM

ah. D&Dish assumptions getting in the way?

ACuriousMind

Yeah, especially the habit of calling for rolls when failure isn't interesting, and in particular not thinking of interesting modes of failure beforehand

Shalvenay

@ACuriousMind ah yeah

ACuriousMind

We're getting there, though, he's much better at it than at the very beginning

Shalvenay

cool

BESW

Yeah, that takes practice.

Maybe remind him that the rest of the group can help him with ideas.

Shalvenay

9:50 PM

hey there @Asteria