impernious

[impernious]

[impernious]

I'm pretty sure this why 4e ended up being a phenomenal game with so many confusing haters. It was good and standardized. Some people *hated* that, then made a big whiny fuss about it, and that's all anyone latched onto.

There's an essay to be written somewhere (maybe by me, eventually) about how standardization makes for a healthy tabletop game that allows the designers to easily diagnose and correct issues with unintended mechanical interactions — what people typically refer to as "balance" — allowing for far less headache on the back end, but a small number of players fucking HATE standardization. Another small number recognize that it's good, but you don't usually talk loudly about things you like. The rest, the majority, can't identify the difference between standardized and not, so don't have an opinion and therefore parrot what the loud minority says without examining why that is — if they say anything at all.

[impernious]

In an ADHD fugue, I forgot this place existed and that I like its vibe. So, what's been going on for the past year?

[impernious]

love language

[impernious]

I've been in a hole for a hot minute. But now I'm going to blog about cats.

Until then, At the Gates (the Ashcan version) hit Gold bestseller on DTRPG when I wasn't looking!

[impernious]

Can confirm, dragoon characters are on my short list for adding to the first supplement planned for At the Gates!

Hi! I was wondering if you happen to know of any ttrpgs that utilize dragoons as a class option/thematic presence?

THEME: Dragoons

Hello, so when I followed up with you, you mentioned that you wanted dragoons from Final Fantasy, rather than the historical dragoons - and I’m glad I clarified, because I was sifting through historical games at first. From what I understand, the main points of dragoons is that they are a class who fights with a spear, with strong elements of launching themselves into the air/attacking from heights to land hits with extreme force. I also understand that they are meant to have strong relationships to dragons. So let’s see what we’ve got.

Final Fantasy Legend Edition, by Mildra the Monk.

This is an intermediate-complexity tabletop roleplaying game based on the Japanese console RPG series, Final Fantasy.Whether you're a veteran or someone new to the series, these streamlined rules and various customization options will help you get started with ease.

When I went to check out this game, the Dragoon class was the first image listed on the storefront. This class comes with some classic jump abilities, and other character abilities that are all about pinning down your enemies from the air. You also have access to the appropriately-themed Dragon Arts, tying your character intimately to their historic roots. The game itself moves through what it calls a four-phase structure: Preparation, Exploration, Encounter and Downtime. Each arc is likely to follow a quest that has been given to your characters, and these four scenes give you a procedural structure that typifies many ttrpgs.

Megalos: Crystalpunk Fantasy Roleplaying, by matara.

MEGALOS is a game for telling stories about adventures in the clouds, fighting evil empires, and dueling ancient gods. The Worlds of MEGALOS are vast and old, each a cosmic emanation connected to one another by the Wellspring- the source of all aether in the cosmos. Make your own World of MEGALOS or play in one of ours, from the Oradam Rift to Pallid Telkane to Zone Gachette to The Erefane. Soar through the air in an airship, dogfight imperials, and wield aetheric magicks as a punk-rock witch.

This tabletop game is inspired by things like classic JRPGs, electronica music, and medieval alchemy. MEGALOS is the first game to use the SLIPSTREAM game engine, which uses pools of d20s as the core of its task resolution mechanic.

The martial damage class for Megalos is called the Throne, and it hast at least two subclasses that I think you could use to make a Dragoon-like character. As a base class, Thrones have access to a flight ability called Liftoff, and both Arklights and Champions use this ability to do some neat things with combat.

Arklights are warrior monks, interested in the “protection and cultivation of ‘good’”. They have a lot of light and wings metaphors, including an ability called Falcon Dive, which allows you to dive at your opponent while in the air, with an upgrade ability to inflict piercing damage to multiple enemies. Then there’s the Champions, fighters who are all about learning new techniques and experiencing combat as a way of life. They’re very brawl-friendly characters, but their abilities Aerial Charge (which launches you in the air) and Meteor Drop (which is practically a dive-bomb attack) give me pretty strong Dragoon vibes.

Lancer, by Massif Press - and the Field Guide to Suldan, by KaiTave.

Lancer is a tabletop role playing game centred on shared narratives, customizable mechs, and the pilots who crew them. Set many thousands of years from the present day, Lancer imagines a future where a survivor humanity has spread to the stars after weathering terrible ecological collapse on Earth -- the end of the Anthropocene as a consequence of unrestrained consumption and poor stewardship.

Lancer features a mix of gritty, mud-and-lasers military science fiction and mythic science fantasy. In the setting, conscript pilots mix ranks with flying aces, mercenary guns-for-hire brawl with secretive corporate agents, and relativistic paladins cross thermal lances with causality-breaking, unknowable beings.

Lancer’s big thing is the ability to make a mech that can do some really cool things, all based around combat. You build your mechs with pieces you gain access to through licenses, many of which are distributed by various companies and organization. The base game has the IPS-N Nelson Frame, which is all about close-quarters combat and high mobility, with a gigantic War Pike that can puncture armour. If you want to go full Dragoon mode though, you’ll want to download the Field Guide to Suldan fan expansion, which has an additional frame option for the Nelson, giving you the power of flight - and an ability called Drive Burst, which allows you to move really fast in one direction and do a whole bunch of extra damage to anyone in your way.

If you want a game that’s all about figuring out neat combos and making your machine really really good at specific things, you want to try Lancer.

Fabula Ultima, by Need Games.

FABULA ULTIMA is a Tabletop Roleplaying Game inspired by Japanese-style console RPGs, or JRPGs.  In Fabula Ultima, you and your friends will tell epic stories of would-be heroes and fearsome villains, set in fantasy worlds brimming with magic, wondrous locations, and uniquely bizarre monsters!

A game that is typically advertised for folks who want a Final Fantasy experience, Fabula Ultima is likely going to hit a lot of similar plot beats and game moments that feel familiar. When it comes to character creation, you are expected to put together a few different options to make someone with a lot of cool talents that you can expand on as you grow.

One of the pre-gens in Press Start, a quick-start version of the game, looks fairly Dragoon-like, with a heavy spear and a move called “Soaring Strike” that looks like it can send you airborne to fight flying enemies, so I think it should be fairly easy to make the kind of character you’re looking for.

First Fantasy, by Marc Strocks.

A one-page RPG created for the game(s) jam.  In the year 199X, technological cities grow thicker by the day, feeding off the planet's resources. Demonic fiends fill the wilds, attacking anything that moves. With a weapon by your side, you travel the world. This is your mission. This is your story.

First-Fantasy is a single page full of a lot of roll tables, both for character creation and adventure creation. This game feels like it’s relying on folks who are well acquainted with the lore and tropes of Final Fantasy, and gives you a few tools to add chance to your story. Character creation is pretty slim, but the Dragoon class does give you the basics: a spear or a sword, a Jump-charge ability, and the metal plate you’d probably expect a knight of some kind to wear.

UMBRA, by Star Bear Games.

UMBRA is a Table Top Role Playing Game in which you delve into a world of bug Knights! It features the quick and snappy combat of the LUMEN system.

Under and within a grand oak tree lays a sprawling metropolis known as the Cradle. Making their lives under the watchful rule of the Ashen King, are the bugs of the Cradle. Every bug has a part to play, big or small, in the kingdom. For you, oh noble Knights, your part is that of protector.

Inspired by Hollow Knight, I thought about Umbra for two reasons: one, because the titular character of the game does a lot of jumping when in combat, and two, because this game is based in LUMEN, which is all about modular combat and strategy.

You cobble together a few different things to make your character unique, including a House, a weapon, and armour called Regalia, which give you different abilities or advantages. If you want to make a Dragoon-like character, I’d recommend making a bug from Horn House, which gives you the hard-hitting, high-damage typical of an armour-puncturing spear. You’d then make your spear by taking a Point weapon and giving it tags like Reaching, to give yourself the ability to stab from a distance. Then for Shell regalia, you can take either Hovering Wings, which gives you the ability to fly, or Propelling Wings, which give you heightened jumps, allowing you to stay in the air for extended periods of time.

If UMBRA itself isn’t the setting that you want but you like this level of customization, then I recommend checking out some other LUMEN games for different genres, but the same easy-to-learn fast-action strategy.

RottenFall Heroes, by LazerSamuraiGG

In a world forever changed by cosmic disaster, ordinary lives collided with the extraordinary. It all began with the sudden appearance of mysterious beings, turning unsuspecting humans into monstrous entities known as the ROTTEN. The trigger? A mysterious collision between an Obsidian Pyramid and the moon.

As if this upheaval wasn't enough, interdimensional beings known as VILLAINS seeped into our reality, distorting familiar landscapes into surreal nightmares.

Yet, amidst the turmoil, emerged a glimmer of hope – the Heroes. These courageous individuals joined forces, establishing schools and enterprises to combat the encroaching darkness. They ventured forth into the warped realities, confronting villains and safeguarding the innocent.

Mechanically, I cannot honestly say that RottenFall Heroes has anything that looks like a Dragoon in fighting style. However, what it does have is a class called a dragon knight, which involves a person who has a solemn pact with an ancient Dragon, who has granted them access to special powers. In Dragon Form, you are especially talented at wielding two-handed weapons, and I think you can choose a spear or lance if that’s what you desire. You can also re-roll your attacks when fighting with your clawed hands, and you’re resistant to fire. If you want the connection to dragons more than the ability to jump really high and pile-drive someone from the sky, then you might be interested in RottenFall Heroes.

You might also want to check out…

The Fire Emblem recommendation post I put up a couple of weeks ago.

The Official FFXIV TTRPG has Dragoon options! And it looks like there are free versions of the rulebooks.

This playbook for SLAYERS is all about playing a Dragoon-like character.

[impernious]

Oh shit. Oh fuck. It's real. I've been away from social media (of every stripe except Discord) for an extremely long time. So I missed when this got announced here. But I developed this book, and I'm so excited for everyone to get a chance to see it!

Onyx Path returns to horror with the highly anticipated Curseborne. The campaign launches in October. Sign up here and get notified as soon as it goes live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/curseborne-tabletop-roleplaying-game

[impernious]

Meme news: The Brazilian actress Renata Sorrah came out as bisexual at the age of 76

That's her, btw

She's an icon and also very talented. We Stan.

[impernious]

Yeah, I'm probably going to do this.

*taps mic*

Fuck NaNoWriMo

It's always been a shit way to write a book. Slamming through fifty thousand words in a month leads to burnout and a garbage draft you'll spend more time unfucking than if you'd actually just paced yourself.

I'm proposing Novel Outline November

Start with your idea on November 1st.

Write something for your novel every day. The only unacceptable amount is 0.

Attempt to complete the plot in 50K words. Stick with that as a limiting factor so you focus on what's most important to your story.

When it's done it's done! Everyone is a winner!

You will

Develop good writing habits

Challenge yourself to write long form

Create a base that can be expanded into commercial fiction (70-100K) or genre fiction (100-110K)

Happy writing!

[impernious]

If this poll doesn't give 70% ocean, that coordinate generator isn't truly random.

go to this random coordinates generator and say in the tags how you would fare if you were dropped where it generates without warning. i’ll go first i’d be dropped in the middle of the fucking south atlantic ocean and perish

[impernious]

Less than 36 hours to go! I'd love to hit that last stretch goal, and maybe even more!

At the Gates is a high fantasy game inspired by Japanese video games. It's set in a world with deep lore, lots of troubles, and no one to really solve them except you and your friends.

If you've already backed, consider tossing in a few add-ons to increase your pledge level and help the campaign along. A pin or the bookmark set are both extremely reasonably priced.

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/onyx-path/at-the-gates#top

We're 4 days out from finishing the At the Gates campaign. I'm working UKGE for Cephalofair, so I can't sit and stare at the campaign page daily, but we're knocking out stretch goals and slamming funding.

Now is the time to join in. If you are on the fence, you can nab the whole manuscript by pledging for $5. Yes, you can pledge after the fact, but without initial supporters, we can't get those sweet stretch goals. Please consider grabbing a PDF.

[impernious]

We are in the last 36 hours of the At the Gates campaign. If you backed and haven't upgraded your pledge level beyond the $5 reward, now is the time to do it so we hit that last stretch goal.

It's also a great time to pledge for add-ons so you can pick up cute pins. Or bookmarks. Or the Storyguide screen. These all help us get to our goal, and it helps us know how many pins to order, etc. So get in there, and get it moving.

Also, don't forget to smash the like and reblog buttons!

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/onyx-path/at-the-gates#top

We're 4 days out from finishing the At the Gates campaign. I'm working UKGE for Cephalofair, so I can't sit and stare at the campaign page daily, but we're knocking out stretch goals and slamming funding.

Now is the time to join in. If you are on the fence, you can nab the whole manuscript by pledging for $5. Yes, you can pledge after the fact, but without initial supporters, we can't get those sweet stretch goals. Please consider grabbing a PDF.

[impernious]

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/onyx-path/at-the-gates#top

We're 4 days out from finishing the At the Gates campaign. I'm working UKGE for Cephalofair, so I can't sit and stare at the campaign page daily, but we're knocking out stretch goals and slamming funding.

Now is the time to join in. If you are on the fence, you can nab the whole manuscript by pledging for $5. Yes, you can pledge after the fact, but without initial supporters, we can't get those sweet stretch goals. Please consider grabbing a PDF.

[impernious]

HEY YOU.

Do you like TTRPGs? Do you like JRPGs?

Do you just like very cute pins? Do you collect @nerdykeppie pins?

If the answer to any of these is YES, and you haven't yet backed At The Gates, what are you waiting for?

We've got a week left to go & we've already unlocked these pins, which are an OPP & NK collaboration:

(You can't tell in this art, but these are gonna have really cute glitter highlights.)

And we've still got the profession sigil and logo pins to go! Those unlock at 975 backers & we're at 965!

Only ten more backers until we get to bring you even more amazing and cool new swag! (And if this goes well, we'll maybe be ����🏻 bringing more of these things in the future... can y'all imagine Pantheon pins for Scion? Help @impernious & me convince Rich that this is a good idea!)

[impernious]

At The Gates Developer @impernious appeared on the Not DnD Podcast this week to talk all things At The Gates! Head over to https://notdnd.podbean.com/e/89-at-the-gates-with-danielle-lauzon/ for the interview and support At The Gates on Backerkit at https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/onyx-path/at-the-gates?ref=OPPTumblr

[impernious]

Watching "that's why Playstation and Xbox buttons are the same" poster get absolutely eviscerated is the best thing to happen to DnD discourse today. But I'll sum it up:

Your analogy is wrong for two reasons: no they aren't the same, and a controller is an analogue for the type of input (randomizer in a ttrpg), not the system itself.

You think learning a new system is hard, but then refuse to understand why if you've even tried to learn a new system is relevant to the conversation.

You conflate "learning" and "creating a new system from scratch" which are two extraordinarily different things. No one is asking you to make a new system from scratch, and based on how hard you're stanning for "it's hard to read, please don't make me do it" I suspect you'd be pretty miserable at it anyway. And if you think learning a new ttrpg is hard, wait until you find out about the new iteration of a video game in its own series. Oh. Wait.

I'm pretty sure you're a troll, so you lose 10,000 points for not being funny about it.

FIFTH EDITION ISNT FLEXIBLE IT ISNT DO-WHAT-YOU-WANT IT MAKES VERY SPECIFIC GENRE ASSUMPTIONS YOUR HOMEBREW IS DOING BARELY LESS WORK THAN JUST PICKING UP A NEW GAME AND IT PLAYS LIKE SHIT AAAAAAAAA

[impernious]

What's this? An update about the At The Gates crowdfunding campaign where @impernious mentions the Very Secret Upcoming Thing that we've been working on together? A few hints as to what the Very Secret Thing might be? The fact that it's another @theonyxpath & @nerdykeppie crossover event?

Welp. I guess y'all better go read the Monday Meeting Notes to see what that might be, and while you're clicking links, make sure to go and take a peek at the At The Gates campaign. If you haven't backed it yet, now's the time. It sure would be nice if we could get to, let's say, oh... 900 backers or so... by tomorrow.

No reason. Just. You know. That would be super cool.