#3.5 stars probably

[the-writer-nerd-ro]

I was not at all interested in seeing Gladiator II on account of the fact I never watched the first one but we ended up getting tickets for the wrong day for the movie we wanted to see, and we were already at the theater, so we watched it

And let me tell you, those awful twin emperors lit a fire in my brain. Every time they were on screen and every time the other villain was on screen I was having a great time. Fred Hechinger and Joseph Quinn ate and left no crumbs

[stayatsam]

more on the outer worlds and comparing to BG3 since that's just the last game i played. the diff is massive...

Baldurs Gate moral choices are like. do you want to:

Save someone's life

Kill everyone

Outer Worlds moral choices:

To save yourself you must destroy one community over another by taking their electricity away.

This self-absorbed scientist who endangered his staff wants his research back so he can get a promotion; but seems to regret his actions if you press. (and he kills himself if his staff die)

DISCLAIMER: i realize the big difference between a fantasy video game about saving the world from a giant brain vs a satirical sci-fi shooter

[hussyknee]

No shade to fanfic, because god knows there are some excellent ones, but when you get back to reading published novels after a long time, you realize how readable and consistently good even average professional writing is. I mean, the fact that there's more professional grade published writing than there is professional grade fanfic should be obvious, but it's easy to forget when you spend long enough immersed in fic alone.

[muirneach]

lmfao barbie not being in the top 16 highest rated movies this year…..

[paranoidhawk]

found out there are some reviews for Lookouts on Backloggd and wanted to post this funny one but theres some nice reviews here (link here)

[screamingaboutliterature]

Artemis - Andy Weir

I enjoyed this book in a kind of trashy, easy-to-read way. Jazz is a protagonist that I entirely don't understand, and never really do, even though I completed the book. She feels like she was originally written as a teenage boy, and then the author just swapped the name and pronouns. The author attempts to add diversity through the Muslim and gay characters, but they're played up to such an extent and tie into common stereotypes in a way that makes it much less enjoyable, and completely breaks down any sense of relatability for people from those groups reading them. This is kind of reinforced by the fact that she's the only significant female character in the novel. A decent amount of the subplots never really go anywhere and are slightly shallow and unnecessary. As a whole, it reads pretty much like a first or second draft before its been sent to the editor. But to be completely fair, I did enjoy it, and read the whole thing. I was invested pretty much the whole time I read it and I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and the setting of the moon. The book kind of encompasses both the best bits of Weir's humour and the worst.  Hence the 3 stars rather than lower.

[astarlightmonbebe]

packing is stressful

[butchsaint]

i finished it. just me, mary, joseph, and baby jesus against the world.

incidents in the house by josh malerman is so scary so far that i am sleeping with a nightlight for the first time in many many years 😀

[fluorescentbrains]

interpreting goodreads ratings is like. ok, hard sci fi with 4+ stars, it’s probably decent. weird/esoteric/abstract premise, less than 4 stars, likely fascinating but reviewers didn’t understand it. fantasy for adults, the rating is probably accurate. retelling of some mythology, 3.5 stars or less, hot garbage for sure. YA romantasy, 4.5 stars or higher, this author probably has an army of tiktok fans rating the book and it’s mid at best. YA romantasy, less than 3.5 stars, it’s gotta be garbage if not even the YA crowd would play ball with it. romance with gay people, higher than 4 stars—well that’s net zero information

[readingwiththestars]

₊˚⊹♡ IF ONLY I HAD TOLD HER

["whatever our souls are made of hers and mine are the same"]

| ✮ 3.5 stars |

THOUGHTS ° ᡣ𐭩 . ° . [spoilers for ihhbwm + some spoliers for ioihth]

ok so lemme tell you i had the BIGGEST reading slump ever just as i started to read this. so this review may be a little choppy at some points because i've just pointblank forgotten some parts and don't wanna go back and re-read finny's pov just yet.

i was so on the fence about reading this because on one hand i really wanted to read finny's pov and on the other, complete and utter heartbreak.... yeah....... so anyway i read it.

when i tell you that this book had me ugly crying in the middle of the night. like seriously finny's pov?? fucking broke me. are you kidding me? the way he speaks about autumn? ugh when am i gonna find a guy like finny fr? but seriously this book had me on a rollercoaster of emotions just from the heartbreak knowing whats already gonna happen to finny as he describes how happy he is and how he can't believe autumn loves him back, to the smile i had on my face reading about 'the moms' bickering over baby stuff for autumn.

i will say this now i did expect a little more (hence the rating). i wanted idk more closure at the end there. idk rlly know how to describe it better since its 10 o'clock at night and ive had zero sleep for the past four nights in a row. but yeah i wanted something more. (bitch u wanted finny to be alive)

CHARACTERS ° ᡣ𐭩 . ° .

finny -

*sobbing noises* i could go on a damn rant abt this boy. holy shit. he's just perfect. if i see one person ONE PERSON coming after him istg- he was such a caring sweet person like the pencil??? and always going to the sketchy gas station (i nearly called it a servo then lmao) to get the candy autumn likes?? and always making sure people were safe when he drives?? *cough* apparently not you though sylvie *cough* just ahhh laura when i get you. cause like why'd you have to make him get out of the car, hmmm? lets just compromise and you give me an alternate universe where finny misses the puddle or better yet where sylvie kept her damn seatbelt on.

jack -

tbh i wasn't all that excited to read about jack. (also to be fair i was still sobbing from finny's pov so that probably didn't help) like i seriously just thought it'd be some jock trying to process finny's death by hooking up with alexis (who by the way can go jump up her own ass and die) but we got the whole other side of him where he was genuinely affected by finny's death and really was his best friend. but the way he didn't like autumn way just- yeah. also i saw him and sylvie coming from a mile away like seriously it wasn't very subtle.

autumn -

*sobbing noises increase* autumn my baby girl. i just wanted to jump through the pages and give her a hug. seriously i feel robbed that we didn't get to see a happy autumn. angie and her's friend ship was so precious tho. and i love love LOVE that they bonded over being moms/soon-to-be-moms. im also just gonna say the way we didn't see an ounce of jamie or sasha this entire book made me so happy! i also lowkey wanted to see more of when she was an actual mom? like what would she name the baby? i wanted to see domestic autumn a little more. but i still love her so much and it was so lovely to see her heal <3

QUOTES ° ᡣ𐭩 . ° . [spoilers]

"my love for her is the closest thing i have to religion. but it's okay that she doesn't feel the same. i'm fine. i can handle it" - finny

"my devotion to autumn is engraved on my very being. i am in awe of her. i will sit in the stands and cheer her on in life as her most ardent admirer. i know i'll always love her in the same way i know i'll always need oxygen" - finny

"it's all done. finn's story is over. his whole life. that was it. not even nineteen years, and he'll never, ever do anything else ever again. finn won't go off to college or celebrate his birthday. he won't get another hair cut or get the oiled changed in his car. he won't bite a hangnail on his thumb or buy another CD. finn smith has done everything he will ever do. he won't get to be with autumn." - jack

“this baby isn't what's left over from our love story. this baby is our story's continuation.” - autumn

"if only i'd told her that i loved her years ago, i wouldn't be here now." - finny

all in all laura you can pay for my therapy mkay?

[idiopathicsmile]

10 mini reviews of Venom 3: The Last Dance (2024), a movie I did not enjoy

10. I went in with rock-bottom expectations, and brother were they ever dashed.

9. You know how sometimes you walk out of a very mediocre film and think, "Boy that sure was technically a movie"? I don't know if what I watched last night was technically a movie

8. I saw Venom (2018) in theaters with my best friend because something terrible had happened politically that weekend and we wanted the cinematic equivalent of getting very drunk and then housing some Taco Bell (it performed this office admirably), but I never saw Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage (2021). I can state with some confidence this could not possibly have had much effect on the overall legibility of Venom 3: The Last Dance (2024)

7. Do you understand how charmless a movie has to be to make me roll my eyes during both a sing-along and an extended dance sequence?

6. My best friend, upon seeing the credit at the end of the movie that explained that Tom Hardy himself helped write the story, in a tone of deep disappointment and nigh-betrayal: "Oh no, is Tom Hardy dumb???"

5. Had the boom mic been hanging into every shot, it would not have been a sloppier viewing experience

4. Upon learning that it currently has an average user rating of 3.5 stars: gosh it sure was nice of the director of Venom's mom to review the movie so many times

3. Many of the lines felt like placeholders but my friend is convinced the script was not "written" by ChatGPT or the like because those programs are pattern-driven enough to make a certain degree of sense.

2. You'll have to forgive me; I am just a little salty because Venom 3: The Last Dance (2024) had a budget of $120 million dollars and used it to make a buddy comedy where the two parties seem to genuinely dislike each other and a special effects extravaganza that was genuinely ugly, and meanwhile I've written a narrative concept album that is a solid 40 minutes of music with character development and a full plot arc that I could confidently execute for $5000 USD, and I have to come to terms with the fact that I will probably never be able to raise the money for my silly little project. I could make that album 24,000 times with Venom 3 money and it wouldn't even go out of its way to be racist against Mexican people.

1. I honestly think even the monsterfuckers are not going to get anything out of this one, boss

[official-wonho]

K-pop star Wonho talks about kicking off fan meetups in Houston and new single 'What Would You Do'

Wonho has a sweet message for fans who have been waiting for his return.

"I love music. I love Wenee," he says, referencing the name of his fandom. "I always try my best."

K-pop star Wonho's What Would You Do' music video already has 3.5 million views.Highline Entertainment

A new English-language single, silky pop jam "What Would You Do," dropped last month. The music video has tallied 3.5 million views in less than two weeks. During an early morning (U.S. time) Zoom call, Wonho recalled his memories of Texas, getting through military service and what he listens to on the treadmill.

K-pop star Wonho talks Houston memories and singing in EnglishK-pop star Wonho kicks off his fan meetups in Houston and has a new English-language single called 'What Would You Do'.Joey Guerra

How does it feel to be returning to the U.S. for the first time in five years?

I'm very excited because it's my first time visiting U.S. fans as a solo artist.

What are some of your favorite things about coming here?

I like everything. When I first came to the U.S. fans made me feel great.

You finished your military service in September. What has the transition been like back to everyday life and music?

International fans don't know that much about military service, so they must have been very worried. But it was a special experience for me to learn a lot from. It felt so easy because I was always talking to my fans about what was next while I was in army service. It felt good to think that I would be meeting them soon.

Do you have any memories of being in Houston? What comes to mind when you hear Texas or Houston?

Texas has very delicious food. And it's very hot, I remember. Is it hot there now?

It's been up in the 80s until recently.

Wow. That's amazing. It's very cold in Korea.

Do you like hot or cold weather?

Hot weather. So I like Texas.

What can fans expect at these meetup events?

I'll be singing and dancing. I will also do some challenges and games with fans. I miss you so much, Wenee. I'm coming to you soon. So please look forward to it. And let's have fun.

What was the process like of recording your new song "What Would You Do?"

English is my second language. It's not easy for me to say the words. It's hard every time. But when I try singing, I always think of Wenee and imagine them listening. I'm preparing an album that will probably come out next year. I'm working hard on it.

Is it easier talking or singing in English?

Singing is easier. When I'm talking, I don't always remember (the words). I'm so nervous, and I forget everything.

You're known for staying in shape. How do you do it on the road?

My routine doesn't change. I try to go to the gym after the show and try to eat healthy food. I'm always going on a diet. I don't want to diet but I do it for my fans, of course. I like the leg press. Do you like it?

I should work out a lot more. But I do like the treadmill.

I hate treadmill. But I have to do it.

Who do you listen to when you're on the treadmill?

Charlie Puth, Billie Eilish and Conan Gray.

You're not afraid to change up your look. Where does your sense of style come from?

I like fashion, so sometimes I search for new styles on my phone. I usually look for Japanese brands and designers. I like oversized things, like a big hoodie and wide pants, because they're comfortable.

Source: houstonchronicle.com

[robynator]

looking at the list of deaths wiki's star wars kill count page is frankly hilarious. the first three, even four, are unsurprising.

there's obviously armitage hux with his lovely 155 billion (which damn, i didn't know it was that much, i'd expected like half that). then there's darth nihilus, whom i had not heard about, as im not up to date with legends, at 6 billion. and then there's tarkin with the death star at 2 billion. those are the big three with their absurdly but unsurprisingly high numbers

after that there's krennic with 11 million and then...

get this...

ahsoka tano with 4 million...

there were apparently 3.5 million droids in the factory her and barriss blew up, who all count. that absolute icon killed 3.5 million droids at age 14

barriss, my dear, is of course right after her with the 3.5 million. then wrecker with 2.5 million and lando with 1.8 million.

and next is luke skywalker, because he blew up the death star and killed 1.6 million people with it. again, a way higher number than id expected but i also live in a country with a population less than that so i have a really hard time imagining that amount of people. still, it's insane

and after that we have count dooku with a slightly lower number of 1.5 million. that one's, again, not surprising and in this case id even expected more

the most shocking thing to me is actually the fact that anakin skywalker, darth vader, is in 14th place. apparently he killed only 150k people on screen. i mean we all know his kill count is probably in the millions by the end of his life but damn, 150k is a shockingly low number considering who he is and what he's done. and most of that is droids anyway

(rex, holdo, hardcase, grievous, rey and saw gerrera are other notable characters in the top 20)

[bradleyblog]

Bradley’s father speculation part 3.5

Continuing from Part 3 , we discussed how Bradley’s father is probably a businessman of some sort and how his father focused solely on his career.

Now like I mentioned in Part 1 and Part 2 , I assessed that Bradley’s dad didn’t have an emotional bond with Bradley, due to Bradley’s reaction when Goofy accused Bradley of not understanding a father’s bond with his son. 

So , with this added knowledge that Bradleys father could be a successful businessman , it would make sense that Bradley wouldn’t understand If he felt like his dad always chose his career over him and focused more on himself than his son.  

Now from this part onward though , everything I'm going to say is more debatable and up to interpretation as Bradley’s backstory is left so much to the imagination that there isn’t really any concrete way of saying if any of this is true. This is more like possibilities , hence why this part is more like a short bonus to part 3 as who really knows. Even I don't know really? But never the less here are just some things to potentially consider ?

Was Bradley’s love from his father conditional ?

As we know, being seen as the best really matters to Bradley. To Bradley, even though he's on the same team , It’s not enough that the Gamma’s win the College X games but it has to be himself who has to be the one to come first in the final race. 

Any person in Bradley’s position would have just let Tank win for the team as at the end of the day , if you want your team to win it shouldn't matter who crosses the finish line first as long as it’s one of your own team members that does so. 

But not to Bradley though. Having and keeping his status as the College X game King is really important to Bradley. It’s what makes Bradley feel like he really is the best , what gives himself more self-worth and keeps people giving him attention. 

Now , putting Bradley’s ego aside. It is possible that when growing up, Bradley has been conditioned to be seen as the best due to his dad giving him unrealistic expectations. 

If his father is a narcissistic parent this wouldn’t be too surprising. 

www.psychologytoday.com

We also have to remember that due to Bradley being born into a family who are descendants of royalty, a high elite family , it is possible that he grew up with high expectations whether it be from within the family or from society itself.  Their mentality would probably be ‘They come from the best so they should of course be the best right?’  

But any good parent regardless of background , would let their child know that it’s okay to fail and that it's okay if somebody else beats you at something and yet Bradley is very competitive and cares alot about his own status. We also have to remember that Bradley’s values on being the best and being successful are probably values that have been passed down onto him.

so it it makes you wonder how his father would react if Bradley didn’t do better than someone else in something. 

As in , did his father only give Bradley positive attention when he was successful and negative attention if he was not? 

Here is a segment from How a Child Can Grow Up to Become a Narcissist | Psychology Today

“the child is raised in a family that is very competitive and only rewards high achievement. One or both of the parents are Exhibitionist Narcissists. The family motto is: If you can’t be the best, why bother?

Love is conditional: When you come in first in the race, win the science fair or star in the school show, you are showered with praise and attention. When you do not, you are a disappointment. Everyone in the family is supposed to be special and prove it over and over again. No matter how much you achieve, the pressure is never off. As one woman said: “When I came home with a report card with all A’s, my father asked me if anyone got an A+.”

Children in these families do not feel stably loved. It is hard for them to enjoy anything for its own sake if it does not confer status. Instead of being supported by their parents to explore what they like and want to do more of, they only receive support for high achievement. Their parents are not interested in their children’s “real selves,” they are mainly interested in how their children can make the family look good. They want to be able to brag to their neighbors: “Look at what my kid did!”

The children who grow up in homes like this only feel secure and worthwhile when they are successful and recognized as the “best.” The conditional love of their childhood and the over-evaluation of high status and success in their home sets in motion a lifelong pattern of chasing success and confusing it with happiness.”

If this is true then Bradley would believe that people only think highly of you when you are successful and that you're not worth anyone’s attention if you fail.

It also might give Bradley more of a reason as to why he likes winning so much as he feels like it's the only way he can get constant positive attention from people if he's a always a winner. 

To me Bradley wanting to win all the time is like an addiction of his. He can’t just win once or twice , he has to keep winning every year even though he could just quit any time and let one of the other gamma’s compete for him instead.  It’s like he doesn't understand that your value doesn't come from your status or from your own achievements.  

This being said , it’s hard to know at what age Bradley started to cheat. His cheats are very child-like after all such as using rockets , marbles , fireworks etc. 

In a upbringing like this , if he felt pressure as a kid to be the best and was worried about receiving negative attention from failing , I could certainly see him cheating and then feeling good from the attention he got when he got away with it. Then continuing to keep cheating into his adult hood. But it's hard to say when he started to cheat really?

Or maybe his dad told him it was okay to cheat, who knows?

Now it's not clear if Bradley is given high expectations when it comes to his studies , but I do think he was influenced to take part in sports and to be good at them. 

From what we see he plays 

snooker 

Volleyball 

skateboarding 

And in the X games we can see that he can cycle and roller skate. You also don't get a body like Bradley’s without being athletically fit and healthy.

Not only would sports elevate Bradley’s success but it would also elevate the family's success, making their family look more superior. 

We also have to remember that with royals in real life ,  it is common for them to attend , host or take part in sport events. 

The Royal Family and Sport | The Royal Family

So sport and royalty go hand in hand really. 

Makes you wonder if his father was also a sports champion too, doesn't it ? or if he invests his business money in sports. 

Well that's all i have for part 3.5 

I don't really have any evidence for any of this hence why it's more of a bonus post but it was still something I wanted to add for the sake of consideration and debate as this series of posts is just speculation at the end of the day.

The only thing we know for sure about Bradley’s backstory is that he grew up super privileged from having a royal title and that’s pretty much it. But in a way it's kind of nice for fans to come up with their own interpretations.

Thanks for reading. 

[ultraflavour]

7 Fantasy RPGs to fill the D&D-shaped Hole in your Life

So. It finally happened. Either Hasbro, or Wizards of the Coast, or someone else associated with Dungeons & Dragons finally did something so fucked-up that you've decided to swear it off entirely.

The problem is that for decades, there has been one obvious answer to the question of "What game with Dwarves, Longswords and Wizards in it should we play" and that was D&D, every time. Even their strongest rival in the past couple of decades was just an older version of D&D with a spit shine.

Now you find yourself adrift in a sea of possibility, with no signposts. There are names you've heard, but you have no idea which ones you'd actually be interested in, because you had always just assumed you'd be playing D&D until the heat death of the universe.

So let's take a look at a few games that want to fill that D&D-shaped hole in your gaming life, and examine what they're offering.

Disclaimer: I'm not covering the entire breadth and depth of the TTRPG industry here. I'm specifically going to be covering Fantasy RPGs that should appeal to D&D fans here. So if I didn't cover your favourite indie RPG, sorry. But there has to be a "First step" outside of the D&D bubble, and each of these games should fulfill that need.

The Other "Kitchen Sink" Game: Pathfinder

If you can't bring yourself to keep playing the corporate game, but you still want something that offers as close to that gameplay experience as you can possibly get, your best bet at the time of this writing is probably Pathfinder 2nd Edition.

I say this as someone who very much did not vibe with the original Pathfinder, or its "D&D in space" sister product Starfinder. But at this point, I'd absolutely tell a newcomer to jump into Pathfinder 2E before I recommended they buy any WotC product.

To their credit, the 2nd Edition of Pathfinder does much more to, uh, find its own path by diverging from 3.5 edition and implementing new systems that take it into uncharted territory. The "Two Actions Per Turn" paradigm is often cited by its proponents as being a meaningful improvement over the 5E way of doing things.

The "TTJRPG": Fabula Ultima

One of the biggest success stories of the early 20's was Fabula Ultima from NEED Games in Italy. It came seemingly out of nowhere to win the ENnie Gold Award for Best Game of 2023. Since then it's become notoriously difficult to find in print, though it's still freely available as a PDF.

Fabula Ultima is a "TTJRPG," modelled after Japanese fantasy video games like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Phantasy Star, Breath of Fire, etc. While it's firmly planted in the Fantasy genre, its gameplay will also very recognizable to fans of those types of games.

The major benefit of this conceit is that you can probably already picture how combat in FabUlt works in your mind: Two rows of characters take turns jumping and slashing at each other, or casting magical spells to harm, heal, or apply status conditions. There's no concept of "Spacing," but the game still manages to be mechanically intricate with lots of varied class abilities and status effects to apply.

D&D refugees looking for a game where you simply pick a class and fight some monsters, but aren't too particular about how they do that, will find a lot to love here. FabUlt leans much more heavily on storytelling mechanics than D&D does, so players who've been looking for something a bit more "Theater of the Mind" should be well taken care of here.

Final Fantasy Lancer: ICON

Like Fabula Ultima, ICON is a TTRPG that takes heavy inspiration from JRPGs, specifically tactical games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre. It's from Massif Press, who also authored the surprise indie Mech combat hit Lancer.

And like Lancer, ICON is a game with two very distinct rulesets: Outside of combat, a "Fiction-first" narrative system inspired heavily by Blades in the Dark; In combat, a grid-based tactical skirmish game reminiscent of D&D 4th Edition. All backed by the gorgeous art of its author Tom Parkinson-Morgan, who also writes and illustrates the comic Kill Six Billion Demons.

ICON separates its "narrative" class system from its combat class system, giving each character two distinct character sheets that come into play at different times. Because those two systems don't have to cross over very much, each can be as intricate or as rules-light as it needs to be to promote the type of gameplay most appropriate for the situation.

The Old-School Gateway Drug: Shadowdark

If you ever took a few steps outside of the walled garden that is D&D in the past few years, you will likely have read or heard of the OSR, or "Old-School Revival/Renaissance." Proponents of the OSR are players who yearn for an older style of Dungeon Crawling Survival Horror game that hearkens back to the early days of D&D, before the players became akin to superheroes.

Shadowdark aims to be a game that bridges the gap to that style of gameplay, without being totally unfamiliar to players who only ever learned 5th Edition mechanics. It's "Old-School gaming, modernized."

Aside from simply being a modern take on a D20 fantasy game, it freshens up gameplay using a mechanic called the "Torch Timer." It turns light into a resource that dwindles in real time. This serves to elevate the tension of the game as every minute that passes is one less minute of light on your torch. And when the torches run out, well... You can probably guess what happens next.

5th Edition with the Serial Numbers Filed Off: Tales of the Valiant

Tell me if you've heard this one before: Wizards of the Coast introduces sweeping changes to its "Open" license model, leading existing 3rd-party content creators to create their own version of an older ruleset to protect the viability of their backlog. It happened in the past, but what are the chances that happens a second time? Ha!

Well... It did happen again. This time, playing the role of the "Paizo" in this scenario is Kobold Press, who loudly declared that they were "Raising the Black Flag" in response. In order to ensure that there would always be a "Core Fantasy" ruleset that would remain compatible with their content, they announced Tales of the Valiant, which would essentially duplicate the 5th Edition ruleset with a bit of a spit shine, in much the same way that Pathfinder did for 3.5 Edition.

Tales of the Valiant will be the game for the D&D player who just wanted a rules refresh of 5th Edition, but also doesn't want to keep throwing money at the corporate hegemony. It should end up being "The 5E you can feel good about supporting," and that matters right now.

Matt Colville's Big Bet: The MCDM RPG

Kobold Press was not the only publisher of third-party D&D content to have a strong reaction to the OGL fiasco. Unlike Tales of the Valiant however, Matt Colville's response was to announce a fully new Fantasy RPG system, with no expectation of backwards compatibility with any edition of D&D.

MCDM's sights are firmly set on the "Post-Kitchen-Sink" future, and to that end their game is explicitly not trying to be the one game for every possible playstyle. It's Tactical, meaning you'll need a grid to play it on, and it's Heroic, meaning characters should feel powerful, and not like they're constantly one critical hit or failed trap-sensing check away from being decapitated.

This approach might seem like a massive risk considering how insanely powerful 5th Edition became at its peak. But a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign backed by over 30,000 people shows that there is at least an appetite for something new, and that there is a like-minded community of players ready and waiting to join you.

The Critical Role Game: Daggerheart

If the Kobold Press announcement was a shot across the bow, and the MCDM crowdfunder was a bomb dropped, then Daggerheart is a full-blown asteroid, streaking straight towards Wizards of the Coast HQ.

Daggerheart is an original Fantasy RPG from Darrington Press, the publishing arm of the Critical Role media company. That by itself should mean something considering how important CR is to the D&D brand, but there's more to talk about here. Though it superficially resembles D&D in a lot of ways, it has some extremely important differences. Namely, its use of "Powered by the Apocalypse" mechanics such as "Fail Forward" dice rolling and "No Initiative" combat.

While "PbtA" has become somewhat of a loaded term in the D&D community, Critical Role has an opportunity to overcome that stigma with the sheer force of their platform. I've made this case already in the past, but if they were to use their power to do for themselves what they did for 5th Edition, it would be the most significant threat to the Hasbro Hegemony to emerge since Pathfinder. Let alone taking just a slice, Daggerheart has the long-term potential to take the whole damn pie.

And more!

The games I've listed here are all theoretically capable of replacing the Corpo game as your "go-to" long-term game. Not all of them are fully playable as of this writing, but they all represent one possible future for the "Sword and Sorcery" RPG genre.

There are of course a whole plethora of other games out there beyond the limited scope of "Medieval Fantasy" that are just as valid and just as viable, if you're feeling a bit more adventurous.

If you're looking for something explicitly tactical like a miniature skirmish game, but still in the RPG genre, and you're willing to expand your choice of genre beyond Euro-centric Medieval Fantasy even further beyond ICON, you might be interested in Gubat Banwa or the aforementioned Lancer.

If you want a game that promotes a slightly more streamlined, less mechanically-intricate approach to combat while still giving you tons of monsters to kick the shit out of, you might want to check out the "Illuminated by LUMEN" family of games inspired by the games LIGHT and NOVA from Gila RPGs. It might even inspire you to write your own RPG!

If you're more interested in the Old-School Renaissance, you might want to check out Forbidden Lands, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Old-School Essentials, or MÖRK BORG.

If you like the idea of "Old-School Roleplaying" but are also willing to step outside of the fantasy genre into Sci-fi territory, you might be interested in Stars Without Number, its Cyberpunk sister product Cities Without Number, or Mothership.

Finally, if you just want a game that focuses on telling the best story rather than mindlessly killing monsters and acquiring loot, you might want to check out Blades in the Dark, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, Girl by Moonlight, Coyote and Crow, and many more Fiction-First games in the Powered by the Apocalypse and Forged in the Dark genres.

But most importantly: Just play more games! Don't just buy them, play them! The point of this whole exercise is to replace the monopoly with a plurality, for the sake of the health of the tabletop gaming industry.

Because the next time Hasbro lays off a bunch of WotC employees, there should be a much stronger, more diverse industry for them to land in feet-first. We should all want for the people who build the games we love to feel safe in their career choice. Not just for the sake of the ones who are already there, but for future prospective designers and artists who want to make their mark.

It should be viable to be a tabletop game designer outside of just making more D&D stuff forever, because as we've seen, it's not safe to assume that we can all just keep doing the same thing we've been doing and not get bit on the ass by it.

If we want that future, we have to take it into our own hands and build it ourselves. But if there's one group of people that knows about building something very big from very little, it's TTRPG players.

[sinclairstarz]

for the cinephile byler truthers. i made the party’s modern au letterboxd accounts

in my head mike wheeler is the film bro cinephile of the party. hes a big brad pitt fan and fincher is his favorite director if you even care.. dirty dancing would be in his top 4 if he was honest. he went to see dune cause hes a scifi nerd, ended up hating it so much and complained about it to will but still gave it 2 stars cause it was pretty. did leave a very mean review. very critical rater but mostly leaves high ratings because he just doesn’t watch things he doesnt wanna see.

alternative movies i considered putting: pulp fiction (5 stars), the killer (1 star), se7en (5 stars), across the spiderverse (5 stars), nope (5 stars) , the batman 2022 (4 stars), once upon a time in hollywood (5 stars), inglorious basterds (5 stars), the matrix (half a star)

the thing is so good and he has a poster of it on his wall in canon so it felt right. it just feels wrong not to do ghostbusters (plus its one of my favorite movies…) and yall need to hear me out on brokeback 😭😭😭 ur telling me he wouldnt bawl his eyes out??? ur wrong. will byers is a jake gyllenhaal lover. he watches dirty dancing a lot for mike, and loves ghibli movies a lot. he cried during rain man. honest rater but doesnt take it too seriously, mostly 4/5 star ratings

alternatives: saltburn (half a star), asteroid city (5 stars), blackkklansman (5 stars), the force awakens (3.5 stars), the perks of being a wallflower (4.5 stars), back to the future (5 stars)

rogue one because lucas has taste. its the best star wars movie, if u care. he would love how fun and goofy ghostbusters 2 is. in my head Wes Anderson is like the party’s claimed director and they all watch his movies together and do marathons because the weirdness, comedy, and emotional commentary is a perfect mix for them. so. bottle rocket. lucas’ favorite wes anderson is the grand budapest hotel if u wanted to know. he rates things pretty highly and isn’t super critical.

alternatives: dodgeball (5 stars), scream 5 (4 stars), the matrix (3 stars), good will hunting (5 stars), jurassic park (5 stars), die hard (5 stars),

likes making lucas watch gone girl on valentines day and telling him shes gonna do that to him next time he annoys her. v for vendetta is her favorite romance movie and shes a big marvel fan (in a cool way. kind of .) but thor ragnarok is probably one of her fav marvels, along with spiderman far from home and iron man. i just know she watches Casino Royale and decided she hated James Bond and then ended up watching all the Daniel Craig Bonds with Mike and loved Skyfall so much. the song is on her playlist and she did cry after No Time To Die.

Alternatives: Superbad (5 stars), baby driver (5 stars), bottoms (5 stars), 10 things i hate about you (3.5 stars), scream (5 stars), kill bill (5 stars), lord of the rings: the return of the king (1.5 stars)

also a bit of a film nerd. i considered giving him a star wars and i know in my heart he’d probably have empire somewhere in his top 4. but star wars is lame and i wanted to give him se7en so he fucking gets se7en. he knows john wick is objectively dumb but he doesnt care hes just here for a good time. the party probably watched saltburn together and all fucking hated it. I just know hes a kurosawa nerd and always goes when the local theatres do very rare special showings of his movies.

alternatives: baby driver (4 stars), the ewok adventure (5 stars) hot fuzz (5 stars) harry potter and the sorcerers stone (4 stars) legally blonde (5 stars) spirited away (5 stars) dazed and confused (5 stars)

she likes movies that make her feel all warm and fuzzy and hopeful. i wanted to give her breakfast club, but i think she’d honestly like sixteen candles more (even though breakfast club’s better). she cried at almost every movie in her top 4 and makes max rewatch juno with her like once a month. she gives most movies 5 stars unless she really hates them, and loves any movie thats fun to watch, even if its bad. she likes movies with pretty girls and fun colors.

alternatives: barbie (5 stars), legally blonde (5 stars), inception (2 stars), heathers (5 stars) pretty in pink (4.5 stars (she was mad andi didn’t end up with ducky)) my neighbor totoro (5 stars)

in conclusion if you haven’t seen They Cloned Tyron (2023) go watch it it deserved the oscar