Decades where nothing happens and weeks where decades happen

Attrition in Dungeons & Dragons 5e

 Posted on 2024-04-04  |  13 minutes  |  2762 words  |  Carmen Bianca BAKKER

I don’t really like running Dungeons & Dragons 5e. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I could learn to live with or subtly work around most of those reasons. There is one core mechanic in the game, however, that drives me up the wall like nothing else, and I basically never see it discussed anywhere—the long rest. This article is my attempt to make a case for why the long rest isn’t very good. [Read More]
Opinion  D&D 5e  RPG 

The sunk cost discount and the trip cost scaling problem

Cars are more expensive, but not when you already own one

 Posted on 2023-07-27  |  9 minutes  |  1912 words  |  Carmen Bianca BAKKER

You know how sometimes you see a common phenomenon, and you think there should logically already exist word for that phenomenon, but no matter how hard you search, you can find no such word? That’s what this article is about. I want to create new terms for two existing phenomena that, in my limited understanding, are not well-explored1 in spite of how common they are. I’m going to call them the sunk cost discount and the trip cost scaling problem. [Read More]
New urbanism  Opinion 

Cars as asbestos

Let's unironically ban cars

 Posted on 2023-07-02  |  10 minutes  |  1926 words  |  Carmen Bianca BAKKER

Since moving to Brussels1, I have been radicalised against the automobile. I came from the Dutch countryside, where cars are kind of necessary to get anywhere meaningful, but where other modes of transport do exist and are feasible. I spent six years cycling one hour to school and one hour back, and I spent a few more years doing a commute of 1h30 by two buses and a train to university. [Read More]
Opinion 

Destination status quo

A reflection on idealism and the inadequacy of things

 Posted on 2021-02-12  |  12 minutes  |  2374 words  |  Carmen Bianca BAKKER

I recently happened upon an article1 that argued against the four freedoms as defined by the Free Software Foundation. I don’t actually want to link to the article—its tone is rather rude and unsavoury, and I do not want to end up in a kerfuffle—but I’ll include an obfuscated link at the end of the article for the sake of integrity. The article—in spite of how much I disagree with its conclusions—inspired me to reflect on idealism and the inadequacy of things. [Read More]
Opinion  Free software 

The stories we tell each other

Race and racism in fantasy

 Posted on 2020-10-13  |  21 minutes  |  4353 words  |  Carmen Bianca BAKKER

I have recently been working on a conversion document that adapts Dungeons & Dragons’ Eberron campaign setting to the Savage Worlds system. I’m not a game designer and I’m not a particularly prolific writer, so this was a bit of a challenge for me. One of the most challenging things to pull off was converting the races. Through writing the document, I think I developed a deeper understanding for the racism inherent to fantasy fiction. [Read More]
Opinion  Activism