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EditorOne is right about no one else looking at you as critically as you do yourself. Seriously, that is absolutely right. Needing help or information is not the same as stupidity. Maybe you need someone taller to reach something up high, need directions to somewhere, need information on...

That's why I am playing D&D tonight. I did some stage acting in college, though. Yes, it is fun.

Sounds like a great university. My college had a lot of such people, too and it was wonderful.

I was fortunate to have three amazing history teachers, in 5th, 8th, and 11th grades. Two of them were actual historians, one published on the subject of the US Civil War and known for a collection of Brady photographs, and the other a published art historian who was allowed to photograph in...

No, a shopping list is tedious, unless it is the main part of the current quest or campaign. Being ready with something that my character wants is more for spicing up interactions. My eladrin has a drow ally who was after a particular sword. We found it but it was a nasty piece of work, and...

As my DM says, it gave you something to do and something to say. My cook character was where I learned the trick of always, always having a list of things my character wants. It can be information, a service, an item, or whatever. So when it comes time to trade or make a choice, there is...

A fun and challenging hobby to play. The trick is to make it an important part of the character, assuming it is not just flavor text. I had a character once who liked to cook (RuneQuest, not D&D), and he who took on a bunch of enthusiastic poisoners trying a political coup. Cooking became a...

That sounds like an interesting character. What did he not like about his own people? My Eladrin disagrees with most of her society that eladrin are better than elves and drow. Phobias can be fun, certainly. One of my characters was phobic about rugs and tapestries. My eladrin is...

Personally, I think questioning a statistical number like that is very wise. Especially when it sounds so bad. It seems like it must be skewed by how the question was asked or something. 50% comes from polls, mostly. In the US, somewhere between 35% and 65% of respondents think evolution...

I think it has to be about the plot and characters, especially for the DM. I am deeply dissatisfied if my character doesn't change by the end of the game. Usually I do something explicit to make sure of it, such as an unbreakable commitment to something or someone, or reacting to a bad event...

I see what you mean, but I do think American taste has a lot to do with it. People here like absolutes. It should, or should not, be on display. The museum should, or should not, be a Christian place. Most Christians that I know would not be happy to have a small Christian shrine in one of...

That makes sense, though it isn't what I do. Sometimes I do want a character that is like me. I have created 4 INTPs, after all. But I often create characters that are nothing like me, way outside my comfort zone, just to see if I can, and live in a different head for a while. (Gaming for me...

We have very different playing groups. A female NPC in our present game became enamored of my female PC, and although I hadn't thought of her as bisexual when we started, the two have been a couple for a while. We have a very mixed gaming group, both for sex and sexual orientation, so our...

Diabolik and Pod People were fun. Invasion of the Neptune Men was deeply painful to watch.

Just like in Australia, there are historic churches in the US, from the colonial era ones in Philadelphia or Boston, to the Spanish missions here in California. They are well-preserved and the tours are always interesting. Many are used for archaeological research, while others are kept as the...

I really wish I had it written down. It is extemporaneous, sometimes redundant, always with the familiar tune, and the last line "down [came/will come] baby, cradle and all." I don't bother with rhyme or scan, of course. That wasn't brought up in discovery Your honor, I object, in the...

I suppose in a Christian church. Personally, although I spoke in the American Atheists' defense and agree with their position politically, I don't care about this "cross" particularly. Lots of people are Christian; it is fine for them to turn to their religion for comfort. I see no problem...

That is a good list. I had read 37 of them, and many of those books are among my all-time favorite books. (Then there are the ones I read for a class, that don't thrill me.) Most of the ones I haven't read are actually on our bookshelves, and I would guess my husband has read at least 80 of...

Stupid deployment indeed. I have never been to GenCon, so I am jealous. Vrecknidj, I would not be at all surprised how sharp a 6-year-old's memory can be. When they are interested, of course. For several years, we've sung a story to the tune of "Rock a bye, baby," in which there is a class...

Very, very much. People mostly aren't willing to admit it publicly. With the exception of the occasional local office, it is essentially impossible for an atheist to win an election. Pretty much anyone running for a major office is asked what religion they follow, and for much of the US...

Joking around with INTJs is fun, but you have to pay attention to know when they are joking. With my friends, it ends up being a lot of word play, historical references, Monty Python, and references to the evil overlord list. Even if INTP and INTJ have different approaches to humor, at least...

Sometimes a good old-fashioned dungeon crawl is just the thing. Especially when work has been frustrating lately. We do have our fight-trap-fight sequences, and after a lot of politicking it can be quite a relief. Like you said, D&D developed from exactly that kind of gaming (and was the...

That is exactly what I do. Yes, do that, it works very well. And it is interesting to try someone else's head space. It can help with filling out an unbalanced party, too. So far I have played: INTJ - 2 ENTJ - 1 INTP - 4 (The easiest for me, obviously.) ENTP - 2 INFJ - 1 INFP - 2 (Oddly...

Is there a gaming store near you? They often have postings for players, or other events where you could learn. There are a lot of rules but it is highly learnable if you don't try to learn all of it at once. Just learn the basic rules and enough to play one character. Characters advance in...

Your solutions are pretty similar to ours. I think you'd find our goblins and ogres similar to yours, though we have a couple of hobgoblin allies. That is quite common for us, to use diplomacy on an enemy. Or, in this case, intimidation and overwhelming force. What fun is it to just kick...

Yay! We are gaming tonight. The last couple of weekends were too busy. We don't care about realism so much either, but we do care about consistent world building. Without that, the world is unpredictable. Since the DM has for years been interested in transportation economics, trade...

I agree, though we have been playing 4E since it came out and it certainly isn't perfect. We had a terrible time getting the role-playing parts in there, largely because combat took forever. Now we use some modified skirmish rules we found online and it goes much faster and we are back to...

Thanks, Agent Intellect, for including the related links in your post. I was all prepared to agree, after reading the journalists' account, that the American Atheists were unreasonable, but then I read the text of the complaint. I think the American Atheists actually have the right of it...

You do sound like a good DM, I must say. And I'm loving this thread because I haven't played in a few weeks and I am missing it. What kinds of NPCs do your characters really like (aside from Tits)? Our femmes-fatales vary wildly. Some don't want any relationships at all, some are...

I understand Zombie's point, and I'd ask the same question, but Can we find out the results of the poll when it is finished?

Definitely try D&D, or any RPG system that you can find a group for. I see your point, Yeti. My husband uses the same techniques for minor characters, and I know he keeps a file of short descriptions in case he needs a quick walk-on. Unreasonable walk-on NPCs we have met in his...

My highly rational husband (and DM) recommends reading a writer's guide about developing characters, and reading websites on non-rational stuff like astrology, ghosts, etc. Then try to construct sample dialog that sounds like them. He said he started with astrology. "Hmmm, Jupiter is in the...

Yeah, normal but not fun. If you find a way to stop it, please post it here.

I would tell the CDC, at least. They seem to have a plan in place for a zombie apocalypse, so I expect they have thought of this one, too. You'd want someone trying to ameliorate the symptoms, at least, and they have lots of experts on quarantine, diagnosis, and how to disclose things...

I agree with cheese that INTPs can do either. For INTPs who like teaching, it is draining but fun, and we often end up being very good at it. INTP teachers tend to be friendly and open to student contributions (and corrections), and better than most at handling a student showing them up. We...

You pretty much summed up my reason for favoring base 12.

Yes, it bugs me. Empathy is a thing all human types are capable of, and it is very important to us as a social species. I'm sure some types are better at it, on average, than others, but I don't think T or F is where that difference lies. Basing your reactions and decisions on your head...

Well, don't kill anyone. Jail would be even harder to escape. You have my sympathies as well. Not having access to your own space makes it even harder to handle crowds - it is a violation, even if no one means it that way. You must feel all your usual ways of coping with stress have been...

Something that worked for me was doing one thing, just one, that I did not want to do each day. It could be folding a load of laundry, calling to make an appointment, or doing some aerobics. It counted even if it was something that needed doing. It counted if it took only one minute. It...

I like this way of thinking!

Yeah, just because something is non-standard, or informal, doesn't mean it is wrong. It might be wrong in certain circumstances, like informality ruining a job interview, or too-long sentences boring a class of 5-year-olds. What, you've never been awake all night fretting about something...

I think Lawrence Waterhouse in Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon is INTP, and his grandson Randy Waterhouse is INTJ.

Actually, you are wrong about that. (And I deeply appreciate your starting the next sentence with "but.") My two favorite linguists, Mark Liberman and Arnold Zwicky, explains here. Whether or not you are religious, there is no doubt that English translations of the Bible do this all the time...

My reaction exactly. What a relief.

That must make things very simple for you. Too bad it means your judgments will be wrong a lot of the time, and you won't even know it.

I wouldn't worry. Gender isn't going to go away any time soon. While I don't think gender neutrality is a general solution for anything, I do see the problem being addressed. By the time my daughter was 6 months old, people were already examining her for signs that she was a girly-girl or...

Given how fraught the whole subject is, this is exactly right. I think hiding porn from your partner is only going to lead to trouble. Eventually, there will either be a big unpleasant reveal and a fight, or it will remain hidden and just be a guilty pleasure. A guilty pleasure is quite...

I don't think you can ask if porn is okay in relationships, because the question is too big. Most men like porn, some women like it, and most people seem to be able to separate fantasy from reality. I agree with those who say the answer is in the middle. I talked to one man who had to give...

This is a subject I have considered quite a bit. I've taught and tutored math, both for high school (so students could meet requirements) and vocational school (so students could actually get a job in a technical field). Now that I am a mom, I have to face the fact that our daughter's...

Happy birthday, A22.