#32 Sided Dice

[thinkingimages]

VINTAGE (32 Sided) Dice Made in Czechoslovakia Fortune Telling Crystal Ball

[prokopetz]

Your long and arduous journey has led you to this, the final confrontation. You thought you knew what to expect, but just as you struck the final blow, your ultimate foe's eyes gleamed with unnatural light as they proclaimed…

THIS ISN'T EVEN MY FINAL FORM

A game for 4–6 players

Introduction

This Isn't Even My Final Form is a GMless tactical minigame for 4–6 players. You'll take on the roles of a party of heroic adventurers nearing the end of a world-spanning quest to defeat a great evil, the Final Boss. Unfortunately for them, each time they think they've won, the Final Boss assumes a new, even more horrifying form, and the struggle begins anew. Is there any end to this conflict? There's only one way to find out!

What You'll Need

This Isn't Even My Final Form requires a dozen six-sided dice, as well as a way of keeping track of a few important numbers – a shared text document or some scrap paper will suffice.

Update 2023-10-30: Print-and-play card decks are available here:

http://penguinking.com/this-isnt-even-my-final-form/

Character Creation

Choose two of the following actions to be your Party Member's Class Actions: Strike, Heal, Buff, Debuff. If you'd rather determine this randomly, roll on the following table.

1. Strike, Heal 2. Strike, Buff 3. Strike, Debuff 4. Heal, Buff 5. Heal, Debuff 6. Buff, Debuff

Give your Party Member's Class a name which suits your Class Actions. Also give your Party Member a name; it is traditional but not obligatory for your Party Member's name to have exactly five letters.

Playing the Game

Play is divided into a series of Phases. During each Phase, one player takes on the role of the Final Boss. That player's Party Member does not participate in this Phase; they're trapped, lost, incapacitated, or otherwise separated from the party or unable to act for the duration of the Phase. All other players take on the roles of their Party Members.

The Final Boss player's first order of business is to describe what the current Phase looks like. The Final Boss player can roll 1–3 times on the following table (re-rolling duplicates) to decide on a theme, or use it as inspiration for their own theme. To use this table, roll a six-sided die twice, treating the first roll as the "tens" place and the second roll as the "ones" place, yielding a number in the range from 11 to 66.

11. Beasts 12. Bells 13. Blood 14. Bones 15. Chains 16. Chaos 21. Cubes 22. Eyes 23. Fire 24. Flowers 25. Food 26. Games 31. Gears 32. Glass 33. Gold 34. Hands 35. Holes 36. Ice 41. Iron 42. Light 43. Mazes 44. Meat 45. Mirrors 46. Music 51. Orbs 52. Order 53. Plague 54. Shadow 55. Slime 56. Space 61. Spikes 62. Teeth 63. Time 64. Trees 65. Weapons 66. Wings

Once the Phase has been defined, set the party's Momentum to zero. Momentum is a value which will increase or decrease over the course of the Phase; it has a minimum value of zero, and no particular upper limit.

Play proceeds in a series of rounds, as follows.

The Final Boss Attacks

The Final Boss always goes first in each round. Roll one die:

1–3: The Final Boss chooses one of the following actions. 4–5: The Final Boss chooses two of the following actions. You may not target the same Party Member twice; however, you may use the same action on two different Party Members if you wish. 6: The Final Boss does nothing this round. On its turn next round, it does not roll and instead uses its Ultimate Attack.

Wound: Inflict the Critical Condition on a single Party Member. If the chosen Party Member already has the Critical Condition, it's replaced with the Down Condition and the party loses one Momentum.

Imprecate: Inflict the Cursed Condition on a single Party Member.

Envenom: Inflict the Poisoned Condition on a single Party Member.

Bewilder: Inflict the Confused Condition on a single Party Member.

Counter: If you're targeted by the Strike or Debuff actions this round, after resolving that action, perform the Wound action on the Party Member who targeted you. You may counter any number of actions in this way.

Dispel: Remove the Buffed and Protected Conditions from any number of Party Members.

Enrage: The Final Boss rolls two dice and takes the better result on its next action. The party may cancel this benefit with a successful Debuff action; doing so removes the extra die instead of forcing the Final Boss to roll twice and take the lower result.

Ultimate Attack: This action can only be chosen by rolling a 6 during the previous round. When the Final Boss uses this action, choose Cursed, Poisoned, or Confused: you may perform the Wound action AND inflict the chosen Condition upon any number of Party Members, in that order. (i.e., Wound each targeted Party Member, THEN Curse/Confuse/Poison any who remain standing.)

The Final Boss player describes the outcome of the chosen action(s) in as much or as little detail as they like; control then passes to the other players.

The Party Acts

After the Final Boss has attacked, each Party Member who doesn't have the Down condition chooses one of the following actions, in any order the players wish. After choosing any action other than Defend, the player rolls their dice pool, which is a handful of six-sided dice constructed as follows:

Start with a number of dice equal to the party's current Momentum (initially zero, though it will grow over the course of the Phase)

Add one die if you're performing one of your Party Member's Class Actions

Add one die if your Party Member currently has the Buffed Condition

Add one die if your Party Member currently has the Critical Condition

Roll all of the dice together, and find the highest result. Ties for the highest result have no special significance; for example, if you rolled four dice and got 1, 3, 5 and 5, your result is 5. If you'd ever end up with zero or fewer dice for any reason – either because your dice pool was empty to begin with, or because some effect obliged you to discard every die you rolled – you receive an automatic result of 1.

If an action requires you to target a specific Party Member or make other choices, you can wait and see the result of your roll before making those decisions.

Strike: You attack the Final Boss. Roll your dice pool:

1–3: Nothing happens – either the attack misses, or the Final Boss turns out to be immune to whatever you just did. 4–5: The attack strikes true. The party gains one Momentum. 6: Critical hit! The party gains two Momentum.

Special: If you roll triples or better (i.e., at least three of the same number) on a Strike action, the Final Boss' current Phase is defeated, and you move on to the next Phase. It doesn't matter what number comes up triples.

Heal: You attempt to restore the party's strength. Roll your dice pool:

1–3: You may remove the Critical Condition from a single Party Member. If no Party Member has the Critical Condition, nothing happens. 4–5: You may remove the Critical Condition from any number of party members OR you may remove the Down Condition from a single Party Member. 6: You may remove the Critical and Down Conditions from any number of party members.

Buff: You attempt to bolster a party member. Roll your dice pool:

1–3: You may grant the Buffed Condition to a single Party Member OR remove a Condition of your choice other than Critical or Down from a single Party Member. 4–5: You may grant the Buffed Condition to a single Party Member AND remove a Condition of your choice other than Critical or Down from that Party Member, if they have one. 6: You may grant the Buffed Condition OR remove a Condition of your choice other than Critical or Down to any number of Party Members. You may choose a different option for each targeted Party Member.

Debuff: You attempt to weaken the Final Boss. Roll your dice pool:

1-3: Nothing happens – it turns out the Final Boss was immune to that effect. 4–5: The Final Boss rolls two dice and takes the lower result on its next action. 6: The Final Boss rolls two dice and takes the lower result on its next action AND the party gains one Momentum.

Defend: You may grant the Protected condition to a Party Member of your choice. Do not roll.

Based on the outcome of your roll (if applicable), describe the outcome of your action in as much or as little detail as you wish.

Once each Party Member has acted, return to "The Final Boss Attacks" to begin the next round.

Ending the Phase

As noted above, rolling triples or better on a Strike action results in the immediate defeat of the current Phase. Alternatively, if all Party Members simultaneously have the Down Condition, the Final Boss player's Party Member suddenly breaks free or arrives on the scene and rescues everyone in a stunning deus ex machina; this also ends the Phase, but does not count as defeating it.

In either case, reset the party's momentum to zero, remove all Conditions, and move on to the next Phase. The role of the Final Boss passes to a different player, with preference given to those who haven't yet had a chance to be the Final Boss; the previous Final Boss player resumes playing their Party Member.

Continue until the party has defeated a number of Phases at least equal to the number of players, or until mutual agreement has been reached that all this has gone on quite long enough.

Conditions

Some actions can impose Conditions upon the individual Party Members. Conditions can be positive or negative, and last until specific conditions for their removal are met.

Buffed: Your strength has been boosted. When rolling your dice pool, you roll one extra die.

Confused: You've lost your wits. When the party acts, your action is determined by rolling a d6 – 1: Strike; 2: Heal; 3: Buff; 4: Debuff; 5: Defend; 6: do nothing this round AND remove this Condition. This Condition is also removed if you gain the Critical Condition while under its effects. You may choose targets normally if the rolled action requires them. Confused Party Members always act before their un-Confused peers; if there are multiple Confused Party Members, the Final Boss decides the order in which they act.

Critical: You are badly wounded. Desperation lends strength, and so this Condition adds one extra die to your dice pools; however, if you suffer the Critical Condition a second time, it becomes the Down Condition instead.

Cursed: You've been afflicted with misfortune. Discard your highest result after rolling your dice pool, but before applying your chosen action's effects. If there's a tie for the highest result, discard all of them; for example, if you roll four dice while Cursed and get 1, 3, 5 and 5, your result is 3. If the Condition causes you to discard your only set of triples of better on a Strike action, the Phase does not end.

Down: You are incapacitated by injury or foul enchantment. When the party acts, you may not choose an action; your action remains lost even if this Condition is removed before the end of the round. When you gain this Condition, remove all other Conditions, and the party loses one Momentum. (This is not in addition to the Momentum loss noted by effects which inflict this Condition – those are just reminders.) You may not gain other Conditions while this one persists.

Poisoned: You're afflicted by a poison, plague, or death-curse. If you have the Poisoned Condition after resolving your action for the round, you gain the Critical Condition. If you already have the Critical Condition, you instead gain the Down Condition, and the party loses one Momentum.

Protected: The next time you would gain any Condition other than Buffed, remove this Condition instead. You also remove this Condition if you take any action other than Defend on your turn.

[aninventoryofthepossible]

Solve a murder in No-Tell Motel. Just don't get it wrong.

My new single-player TTRPG, No-Tell Motel, is now for sale in my online shop!

What does it look like, you ask? It looks like this:

The premise: You're the overnight clerk at a shady by-the-hour motel. Last night, one of your regulars murdered another one, and no one - least of all the cops - seems interested in finding out who did it or why.

So it's down to you. Night after night, use a deck of cards in a Solitaire-like spread to track who checks in and out of your motel, who they get entangled with, and sift through gossip to find out how they know each other - and get that much closer to finding out who did the deed.

Just be careful. As the nights wear on doubt will creep in, and evidence will start to point in multiple directions. Make the best case you can, because if you get it wrong - and you very much can - disaster follows.

No-Tell Motel is a 32-page black & white zine featuring a gorgeous cover and character art for 16 motel guests all by artist Shawn McGuan. All you need to play is the book, a deck of Poker cards, a six-sided die, and (optionally) the Dossier and Ledger available for free at the itch page.

"But Ken," you ask. "Can I get any memorabilia swiped from the crime scene?"

"Of course you can, you weird little goblin," I answer. "Here's how."

You can get the following items a la carte, or get every dang thing in the Employee Bundle (pictured above) for $32 right here.

The "Dice Tray" is, of course, for rolling dice and nothing else. Whatever else you do with the "Dice Tray" is between you and your night shift manager. Tin "Dice trays" are 5.4" in diameter and available right here.

It has four grooves to hold things that aren't dice. I have no opinion about what you do with those.

The Room 7 Keychain is exactly what it sounds like: the keychain for the room where the murder happened. It's 3.75" long high-quality plastic with hot stamp foil imprint on both sides. If you attach this to your keys, just be prepared to have an alibi. I know a guy. You can get yours here.

Also, all orders will get a couple-few Stellar Motel matchbooks thrown in until I run out, which shouldn't be for awhile. (I have like 2,000 of these!)

Sorry that's a lot of sales talk - I just personally follow a rule that I only make merch of stuff that I, personally, want. I wanted these things for myself, and they frankly kind of rock, and add a lot to the sleazy, winking atmosphere of No-Tell Motel. Hope you like them too.

[junkfoodgames]

Wither and Grow out now!

You wake. You wonder why you’re here and what the world is like.

You hope for things and think of the future.

You wither and grow.

Wither & Grow is a solo journaling game. You are a plant creature that has just gained sentience for reasons unknown. The game is played over 5 stages of your life. In each of these stages, parts of you will grow and wither. You will document these physical, mental, and emotional changes in your journal. Your story may end early if your growth stagnates or becomes uncontrollable. 

In addition to the game rules, you need 4 six-sided dice, paper, and something to write with. The entire game can take an 1-2 hours, or more, depending on how much you decide to write in your journal entries.

The game is a 32-page pdf with lots of great hand-drawn illustrations.

It is formatted to be printed as a 4.25''x5.5'' booklet. Please share!

[mygrrlwednesday]

It’ll feel cold and heavy, and bark at your touch,

It’ll plant a kiss on your forehead wet with heat,

It’ll hold you at night and lay you to sleep,

It’ll paint reds and yellow and purples and fears,

It’s a stranger, it’s a ghost, it’s a lover, it’s a killer,

They only say the name in whispers and lies

IT’S A GUN IT’S A GUN IT’S A GUN

DEADLY WEAPONS LIVE ON ITCH

The new TTRPG from myself and @sublimemarch is out now! Deadly Weapons is a game about power, gender, trauma, desire, and hope. It is set in an urban fantasy world very similar to our own, but where underneath the surface Demons prowl and Avatars hunt. Players will create these Avatars, girls who one day had a gun arrive in their possession. A gun that cries in their dreams and never leaves their side. A gun which whispers in their ear that they must hunt and kill Demons. Demons are all around the Avatars, existing as classmates, bosses, or even romantic interests. But whether an Avatar fires their gun is up to them.

Deadly Weapons is a tabletop roleplaying game for about 2 to 6 players, including a guide. It is a hack of the [BXLLET> system by @rathayibacter, with a focus on atmospheric and narrative play. The game uses no dice or other randomizers. Instead, characters willingly take on various risks represented by the Avatars gaining Dooms and suffering fallout over the course of play.

Deadly Weapons is also a collage piece, made using at least 75% recycled or secondhand physical materials. The art, rules text, poetry, and fiction contained within this 32 page digital zine serves to inform your play.

Your gun whispers sweet nothings as you fitfully roll in your bed. It is now time. Be a girl with a gun! Hunt Demons! Smooch Demons! Live! Die!

[unlikablefemaleprotagonist]

i don't really want to get too logical about it, but perhaps another "above the table" reason for this battle not being centered around getting redemption for the ratgrinders is because this is a show meant for public consumption and "persuade your enemies to desert their cause and join you" was literally the trick of the final combat for the last intrepid heroes season. maybe there was an implicit understanding among the cast that the same gimmick would be perceived by some as being repetitive

and honestly?? i think the neverafter team had a helluva lot better shot converting the princesses to their side than any of the bad kids had in this battle. key members of the squad (okay, not tim, rip his conversation with rapunzel) made inroads with the princesses through good faith interaction with many of them earlier in the season. elodie and mira were the easiest gets because of elodie's history with gerard and mira's lack of true devotion to the cause, but ylfa had a genuine SHOT with la bete and pinocchio got very close with cinderella (who i think may have come over anyway once her allies were down, if i remember right?)

but there isn't a single ratgrinder they have that kind of relationship with. they've been pretty out-and-out hostile, despite moments such as adaine saving ruben from disintegrate and kristen offering maryanne gifts. maaaaybe you could make an argument for ruben and wanda, but brennan pointed out that once wanda showed up with his enemies and ATTACKED ruben's friends, it was over. oisin seemed like a potential option earlier in the season, but then he pulled the rug out from under adaine and tried to murder the entire student body via nepotism. there was no friendly relationship left to capitalize on after that. and maryanne has been characterized as having such an impenetrable mental wall that it's hard to guess where's she's at, even for the other ratgrinders.

plus, there's the whole basic conceit that the ratgrinders' minds are not completely their own. their agency has been traded away to a nameless god of rage. who's to say any persuasion check could overcome that? honestly, i think if it was a realistic play, brennan would have encouraged the players to try it, like he explicitly did for neverafter, laying out a mechanic for it. maybe we'd know more if kristen hadn't gotten a nat 1 on her buddy insight check, but i think that was the moment that any diplomatic level to this combat went out the window, because the dice dictated that kristen couldn't see buddy in there, and to willfully push ahead with that line of thinking would have been close to meta-gaming. they are playing characters as faithfully as possible, and those characters are stressed-out kids! they don't have the same emotional maturity of a 32-year-old divorced frog prince who really wants to be amicable with his ex-wife

[kingofthering]

FABIO QUARTARARO | Childhood, The thrill of becoming World Champion & Stories from the TwoJeys Villa

Fabio did an interview with two friends of his here. Considering his haircut and the fact that he asked Jorge (Lorenzo) about Dubai, I'm pretty confident in placing this somewhere in February of 2024.

Obviously non-exhaustive list of what was talked about in the video. A bunch of stuff we already knew (especially in the beginning) and a couple of new elements.

Was asked about the story behind the “El Diablo” nickname, which, we all know by now (devil on the back of one of the helmets he had as a kid competing in Spain, Spanish kids started calling him “diablo” because of that).

Asked about how he started with bikes, talked about his dad doing some races and said he started riding peewee bikes when he was 4.

He said that when he got into MotoGP, about 95% of people didn’t believe that he should have gotten the chance to be there.

The hosts talked about how sometimes in this context, the son/father relationship could get toxic with fathers pushing their dreams onto their son. Fabio said that it was never the case for him but that it was important for fathers to not push their kids into motorcycling if they weren’t interested.

They talked about how Fabio still manage to wave at and interact with people and stuff right before races meanwhile other riders are entirely focused on themselves. Fabio said that if he focuses too much on himself, that’s how he gets nervous. He enjoys until the moment he puts the helmet on, then it’s different.

Fabio enjoys having friends & family with him at races and he said that he always makes the most of it and that it always gives him a good energy.

He’s a sore loser and at first he struggled with the bad results (especially last season) but he’s learned how to handle those emotions now and believes that there is always something to learn even in the bad results.

Jorge Lorenzo appeared and Fabio asked him about being back from Dubai.

They asked Fabio about his dreams now that’s he’s already completed one (becoming world champion) and Fabio said that obviously he wants a second title but on the personal side, he’d like to have his own clothing brand (but for now he’s focused on his sporting career).

When asked if he will still be riding when he’s 40 years old, Fabio said that probably not (he remembers that Valentino retired at 42). He sees himself retiring young, not more than 10 years from now. Also said that 31-32 could be a good age for him to retire.

[on the matter of being afraid while riding & injuries] : “When you’re on the ground, you’re bleeding, and the first thing you’re thinking about is how much time do I need to get better and ride again?”

Fabio said that going up from 300 to 360 kph on the straight is not the most impressive thing but what is is slowing down from 360 to 80, and then going back up to 360 so fast.

“If everyone on the grid had the exact same bike, where do you think you would be this year?” “Fighting for the title until the end, for sure.”

He was asked about Marc and whether or not it was true that Marc could break later than everyone else, and I’m going to write the whole answer down because once again, Fabio was being Marc’s number one fanboy and I adore him for that : “Marquez, para mi, mira que realmente me gusta Valentino y todo pero para mi Marc es el mejor de la historia. Ha ganado a lo mejor menos titulos pero Marc, desde que llego a MotoGP hasta ahora… Me recuerdo en 2014, gano las 10 primeras carreras, dices “a ver este tío quien es?” y lo mas fuerte es que lo haces en agua, en seco, con viento, condiciones malas, buenas. El tío va siempre muy rápido. Y esto es para mi un ejemplo de como… como piloto. Y dices, como es posible, su agresividad. A lo mejor, yo soy mas suave pero cuando lo ves parece que va un segundo y medio mas rápido que tu.” 

= “Marquez, for me, look I really like Valentino but for me Marc is the best in history. Maybe he’s won less titles but Marc, since he’s joined MotoGP until now… I remember in 2014, he won the first 10 races, and you wonder “this guy, who is he?” and the most impressive thing is that he does it in the water, on the dry, with wind, good conditions, bad ones. He’s always really fast and for me he’s an example of how to be as a rider. And you wonder, how is it possible, his aggressiveness. Maybe I’m more gentle with the bike but when you look at him it looks like he’s going a second and a half faster than you.”

Fabio said that popularity wise, things changed after his first win and he can feel it when he’s in Le Mans and Barcelona, the number of french flags and people wearing his number.

At some point, they (assuming officials) told Fabio that he couldn’t wear his pearl necklace because what if the necklace broke and the pearls went on the track?

Fabio met the guys from TwoJeys (the guys interviewing him in the video, the pearl necklace is from their brand) in Ibiza in July 2021 so they asked about the experience and Fabio said that it was the first time he realized what it was like to enjoy/make the most of holidays (it was his first time there and they spent 3 days together).

Fabio talked about the pressure of having swapped seats with Valentino (and said again that Valentino was his idol growing up).

Valentino took care of Fabio’s merchandizing for two years and he also invited him at the ranch when he was 15. Fabio said that the first time they were riding at 1pm and the others would wake up at noon, eat and go but Fabio woke up at 7am already hyper excited to ride.

They asked Fabio who ever contacted Fabio and had Fabio being like “wow, this is happening” and Fabio said it mostly happened after he got his first win, mentioned Neymar and also having a conversation with J Balvin.

Biggest sacrifice he’s had to make was living in Spain without his parents when he was 14 (and until he was 18).

Celebrity crush? Kendall Jenner (hasn’t talked to her).

Regretting a tattoo? One that he has had covered.

Where do you see yourself growing a family? In France, but in the future.

[monstersdownthepath]

Herald of Lamashtu: The Yethazmari

CR 15

Chaotic Evil Large Outsider

Inner Sea Gods, pg. 296

As detestable a beast as there ever was, Yethazmari is among the favored children of Lamashtu, Mother of Monsters, and while thankfully she has yet to create any grandchildren with it, the Yethazmari is plenty hideously fecund on its own, siring countless horrors to plague the soil of Golarion and beyond. Perhaps the most famous are the Yeth Hounds who draw both a portion of their name and some of the abilities from their monstrous progenitor, though the Orcs of Belkzen have had to contend with the presence of the hideous Juggerloathe for centuries after the Yethazmari wandered through the holds.

Normally content to be a lapdog trotting happily at its mother's side, the Yethazmari has bore witness to Lamashtu's worst and most heinous atrocities, actions of such boundless depravity that attempting to view all of them has literally burned its eyes from its skull, leaving behind two smouldering craters. It CAN still see, but it sees the world translated into Lamashtu's visions for it; what the Demon Queen WANTS the world to be, rather than what it IS, giving the baleful hound a tinge of unhinged madness and unpredictability as it reacts to stimulus which literally doesn't exist for anyone else. This also means its interactions with the players can also be unpredictable, though it's always wise to remain cautious around such a beast... especially if it's bored.

If left without orders--which almost always include spreading misery, mayhem, madness, and monsters at Lamashtu's command--the hideous hound will quickly grow bored, utilizing its 3/day Plane Shift to flit to another world to spread misery, mayhem, madness, and monsters as it sees fit. In accordance with the Mother of Monsters' doctrine, the Yethazmari (which I will shorten to "Yeth" from now on because I'm getting tired) despises beauty and purity and will go out of its way to destroy any person, place, or thing or particular beauty, either directly or through intermediaries. It is rare that the Yeth receives orders to do much else, and even its orders to protect some unholy site or person will likely involve the Yeth causing death and chaos, which is almost certainly going to get a party of adventurers involved in stopping it.

What does it take to stop such a beast? Let's see...

Let's get something out of the way first: defenses. I've normally kept to Herald's defensive abilities towards the middle or the end of the article because it's both more fun to talk about offense first, and helps build a sort of dread as you see how much of a powerhouse a creature is, then see how hard it is to hurt back. Sometimes, its defensive powers are even fun to talk about! This is not so for the Yeth. It's got DR 15/Good, SR 26, and immunity to Fire, and that's it. It relies almost entirely on being statistically superior to most other Heralds, having 18 Hit Dice over the average of 15~17, granting it a higher total saving throw bonus at +17/+11/+17 (certainly not as impressive as some, but this also means it has no weaknesses) AND it's got 32 AC... and that's basically it. It's got some pretty good defenses, but compared to some Heralds, it can feel... lacking, especially since it's got a few glaring weaknesses.

For instance: the eyes at the end of the snake tail? Those are its only functioning eyes. Because of its unique view of the world, Yeth has no ability to see what's happening right in front of it, forcing it to rely on its snake head to see. Why does this matter? Because this means it has no All-Around Vision, so it has no defense against flankers and anything that may catch it off-guard. This is dangerous for it, as it's a melee specialist! Once battle begins, it's going to be getting right in the thick of things with its 10ft space and 10ft reach where it can be torn apart by a pair of melee bruisers flanking it... provided, y'know, they have a Good-aligned weapon each. And provided this Good energy comes from the weapon instead of a dispellable effect.

In a vacuum, Yeth's defenses aren't special. Key phrase being in a vacuum, because it has plenty of defense elsewhere in its kit, and it starts with the fact that the party is likely going to be blindsided by its initial appearance due to its access to one particular spell. Yeth can use the incredibly powerful Veil spell at-will, shrouding both itself and a handful of other creatures in an extra-strength illusion that can disguise it and a bunch of cultists as harmless citizens, or other monsters, or even one another. With a flap of its wings, Yeth and its allies can vanish into a shroud of illusion which makes them impossible to tell from one another, and this effect doesn't break as they all attack, cast spells, or otherwise interact with the world. It's difficult to explain just how useful Veil--and most freeform Illusion spells in general--can be, especially to something malevolent, intelligent, and having an incredible sadistic streak, but I'll just go ahead and point out that Veil can be used against any number of creatures in its Long range, they don't have to be willing, there's no limit to what the affected creatures can be made to look like, and the illusion is perfect down to texture and odor until the illusion is closely, physically inspected.

With nothing but a gesture, the hellish hound could make an entire town square full of people suddenly look like monstrous horrors while it, its allies, and select few dupes are made to look like regular humans, so it can watch the chaos unfold. Hell, it could make the entire adventuring party suddenly look like itself to make the battle infinitely more confusing, an effect that is magnified by its baffling breath weapon, but we'll get to THAT in a moment.

Aiding it both defensively and offensively is its 100ft of fly speed, allowing it to ping people on the ground below with its at-will Blindness/Deafness, shred magical defense with its 3/day Greater Dispel Magic, or simply take a victim completely out of the fight with Baleful Polymorph. Despite its relative fragility compared to some Heralds, the party is not going to be fighting the Yethazmari at their maximum capacity, and the horror is too smart AND wise to engage in any battle that it cannot curse and debuff its foes before diving down. The most insulting and hope-crushing thing it can do is track who's getting the most buffs before peeling all of them off at once with its GDM, cackling as the party is instantly set back several rounds while it closes in with its own destructive melee.

Lacking in defenses, Yeth more than makes up for it with its offense; after all, isn't that the best defense? Death is a form of crowd control, you know! Though it, for whatever reason, lacks both a claw and wing attack, it can still deliver two bites from its mouths, both of them having a critical threat range of 19-20, its main mouth dealing 6d6+8 damage, while its serpent mouth deals 3d6+8. The serpent mouth also injects a poison that deals 1d6 Str damage a round for 4 rounds unless the victim can succeed a DC 25 Fortitude save... and this poison can also be launched at a range via Poison Gout, a ranged touch attack dealing a startling 6d10 Acid damage to whatever it hits while also exposing the victim to the venom. If the Yeth feels it may be outmatched, it can use its melee OR its poison gout in tandem with its Flyby Attack to slowly, painfully whittle a party down if they can't force it to ground. While normally I would recommend flying up to it, remember it can dispel magical flight!

Adding onto its offense is its shockingly powerful but mercifully short-range Breath Weapon, a 30ft cone of choking, superheated smoke that deals 12d10 Fire damage to everything inside (half to anyone who succeeds the DC 25 Reflex save). Any non-Chaotic creature damaged by the breath weapon, even if they succeed the Reflex save, must make a second DC 25 Will save or be confused by the demonic power in the mist for 1d6 rounds... and since the breath weapon recharges every 1d4 rounds, an unlucky party may just be confused for the duration of the fight! But you know what's worse than confusion? Panic.

Anyone within 300ft of the Yeth when it howls or barks--a free action, by the way--must succeed a DC 25 Will save or be panicked for 2d4 rounds, essentially becoming useless in the fight as they're forced to flee the horror at top speed, leaving them open for it to chase them down and tear them apart... or just tear into everyone else while the team is broken by the deluge of fear and confusion. This ability only affects non-Evil creatures and has a 24-hour immunity clause even if the victim fails, but these mercies are pitiful when compared to the penalties for failure, as losing 2 rounds to panic is punishing enough. Eight rounds? You may as well not have rolled initiative at all!

And on a closing note, I may as well confess that while the Yeth has no real defense against Sneak Attacks, you may want to avoid actually sneaking up on it. If the Yeth takes piercing or slashing damage, any creature within 10ft of it has to make a DC 29 Will save or panic, just as if they'd been exposed to its Baying, so even striking it before it can start barking won't save you. The language of the ability leaves it ambiguous as to whether this Soul Scream shares the same 24 hour immunity as the Baying, or if it has its own separate timer, but the ability states "its wounds create a terrifying cacophony equivalent to its Bay ability," leading me to believe that either saving against the barking also means one is immune to the scream, or the scream can also inflict panic once every 24 hours against a particular creature.

I suppose this is a roundabout way of saying that just because a creature has no defenses listed under its Defensive Abilities, that doesn't mean a party is going to just be able to burst it down! First you have to survive its burst, then all the status ailments that follow! Might I recommend Unbreakable Heart...?

You can read more about it here, but again its stats haven't been updated from its 3.5 version for whatever reason.

[critlore]

LAST NIGHT ON EARTH is a modern horror RPG, using the Trophy rule set and designed for one-shot play with 2-4 players.

You’re becoming a monster.

You were bitten by a werewolf, infected by a zombie virus, or injected with an experimental mutagen. You made a deal with a devil (or an angel, or one of the fey), or – woe upon woe – you’re a revenant, back from the dead. You’re cursed… or you’ve taken the place of someone who is.

You have one night to live.

Or at least, one night before you no longer recognise yourself – and you have unfinished business to complete, a burden to set down.

Make it count.

The more you push yourself, the more you embrace your nature and the faster you run down your remaining time… but if you don’t push yourself, you’ll die, or die again, or become a monster, and leave your burden unburied.

Last Night On Earth is a 32-page booklet containing everything you'll need to play (except a handful of six-sided dice), and comes with a sample scenario to get you started quickly.

https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Last-Night-On-Earth-Print-PDF.html

[rescuehumans-runtotherescue]

Close up Inspection Of Cody’s Belongings In The Pizza Pi Episode

There are some duplicates that make sense and others that don’t.

Downstairs:

1. Comic books

2. Binoculars

3. Teddy bear, possibly in a police shirt.

4. Dinosaur stuffy

5. Rubber Ducky #1

6. Action figure

7. Books with a picture of a fire on the front, probably lad pioneer books.

8. Books with the Griffin Rock emblem.

9. Water tank (?) #1 & #2

10. Just books in general.

11. Tuba

12. Lantern. I thought there was a duplicate in the upstairs scene, but there is not.

13. Duck tape

14. Big Dice

15. Phone (?)

16. A couple newspapers

17. Soccer ball #1

18. Magician hat #1 (call back to the Bots and Robbers episode when he was the villain in his school play).

19. Baseball bat #1

20. Trumpet

21. Boombox #1

22. Robot and Dinosaur toys

23. Life vest and possible water safety books with it.

24. Basketball #1

This is the zoom in, some stuff is moved around but the only things here that weren’t seeable in the wide shot are

25. Notebook #1?

26. What looks like an iPhone?

Upstairs:

27. Cardboard Optimus Head

28. Med kit #1

29. Jacks

30. Fire Extinguisher #1

31. Magician hat #2

32. Rubber ducky #2. I realize now it autocorrected to runny in this pic, but I’m not changing it now.

33. Teddy bear, possibly in a police shirt #2

34. Moose Hat

35. Cup

36. Various Stuffies

37. Notebook #2?

38. Baseball #1

39. Baseball bat #2

40. Rocket toy #1

41. Rocket toy #2

42. Board game

43. Basketball #2

44. More books

45. Clothes

46. Rubber ducky #3

47. Pringles can? Back side of water bottle?

48. Baseball #2

49. Plant

50. Soccer ball #2

51. Duffel Bag

52. Foam Finger

There was a zoom in shot with Graham on the ground but there was no new stuff so I’ve left it out.

53. Rackets

54. Cleats

55. More clothes. Clothes everywhere. He’s a teenage boy though, c’mon.

56. More books

57. CD?

58. Soccer ball #3

49. Boombox #2

50. Med kit #2

51. Fire extinguisher #2

52. Another book

53. Rubber ducky #4

Spitting thoughts out:

Lmao notice how there is stuff all over the downstairs and the upstairs hallways and staircases but he left the kitchen mostly clean? Same. Getting to food = important.

So it makes sense that they have multiple med kits and fire extinguishers because they’re a rescue family.

Cody seems to have a lot of dinosaur related little kid stuff so Dino kid confirmed.

He seems to be a big reader but Cody’s a smart kid so yeah we could’ve figured that. Also I bet Charlie has preached the need to get off the internet and do other things.

Makes sense that he has a lot of soccer balls because apparently it’s the family sport. Kade, Dani, and Graham have lots of soccer trophies. There was a whole episode about how Cody is bad at soccer.

Makes sense he has a lot of basket balls and baseballs. We see the family play basketball all the time and at the end of the soccer episode, Kade insists Cody try out for baseball.

You would think they’d have a shed or something to put all their sports stuff in??? Why have them inside????

Why the boomboxes?? I could see if one of them used to be Charlie’s and he gave it to Cody, but why two?

The magician hat and the trumpet are both call backs from previous episodes. I don’t remember exactly the trumpet one, but it was when he was trying new things for a lad pioneer badge or extra credit in school or something. Heatwave recommended martial arts but it didn’t go well???

The duplicate of the Teddy bear with the police shirt and the duplicate of the magician hat are clear accidents.

The moose hat is because the moose is the mascot of the team Kade was on.

Why the tuba? What’s with the water tanks? Cody has his own plant? When’d he make the Optimus head? That would’ve been cute to see!

Why the hell does he have so many rubber ducky’s?!?!?!???

//Don’t take this post too seriously. I know there’s going to be animation errors. I find it amusing.

Bonus:

54. Lucky soccer shorts from first grade

55. Mr. Macaroni from preschool

[starlitiris]

“Where is the Justice?”

Chapter 5: Lab Rat

Summary: “Sebastian and Malachi are having lunch together, just as they have been everyday for the past few months. I’d like to say that nothing is new, but that would be a lie. It’s the calm before the storm.”

Notes are at the end

~ ⚖️ ~

January 29th, 2014

“Looking a little blue around the gills, Sebastian!” Malachi sat across from Sebastian at the table, setting his lunch tray down without much care. He grinned, finding himself very funny.

“Dude. Not cool,” Sebastian glared.

“Well, it’s true,” Malachi picks up his fruit cup to open it. “You do have gills, and they are blue,” he points out.

Sebastian rolls his eyes and goes back to picking at his meatloaf – if he could even call it that. The food here wasn’t much better than what he was given in surface-prison.

Sebastian wasn’t too jazzed about having gills visible on his neck for everyone to see. He wasn’t too jazzed about them being there period. It hurt and itched to grow them in, and the soreness and itching hadn’t stopped yet. It was distracting and unpleasant, not to mention the skin around his gills was starting to turn a blueish-gray. It looked gross to him. And everyone can see it. At least his jumpsuit was hiding the gills that had formed on his sides. Those ones looked even more disgusting, in Sebastian’s humble opinion.

“You’re an ass,” Sebastian remarked.

“Nahh, you love me!” Malachi said teasingly before shoveling a spoonful of diced fruits into his mouth. He didn’t finish chewing before he spoke again. “So, any updates? What’s the deal with, uh… whatever’s going on with you?”

“No idea. They said the skin changing color is a side effect they’re going to have to rule out. They also said that my skin changing color seems to be the only side effect presenting itself so far, but if anything else starts to change, then they might put me on 24 hour watch to monitor the changes. Also to make sure I don’t die or melt into a puddle of goo, too, probably.”

“Damn. Hopefully turning you into a smurf is the only side effect,” the blond added, this time without a mouth full of food.

“Okay, first off, fuck you. Don’t call me a smurf. And second… yeah, me too. But knowing how my luck has been lately, it probably won’t be the only side effect I have to deal with,” he concluded pessimistically, finally beginning to eat the slop on his tray.

“Hey, you never know! Your luck might start to turn around soon,” Malachi offered a hopeful grin.

“Easy for you to say,” Sebastian retorts. “I got sentenced to death for something I had nothing to do with right after finding out my partner was pregnant, got brought down here 32 minutes before I was supposed to be killed, wasn’t even here for a month before being randomly selected for a human experiment meant to disfigure me, and now I have gross gray gills on my body and everything is sore and itchy.”

“... Mm. Well,” Malachi starts, “at least you’re alive.”

Sebastian looks up from his food to see his friend’s sympathetic smile.

“And you have me!” The blond shrugged. “That’s somethin’ right? I think it helps to have a friend when everything sucks. No matter what happens to you because of this experiment thing, I’ll always be right beside you, man.”

Sebastian says nothing.

“I mean, I know I annoy the shit out of you sometimes, but I just like to have fun. And I care, y’know? I try to be a good friend to you when it counts,” he sets his empty fruit cup to the side and continues. “I know you lost a lot and feel like you have nothing left, but you have me. And you always will.”

Sebastian stares at his friend thoughtfully for a moment, then sighs. “I don’t know how you stay so optimistic when you lost everything, too, and got stuck in this shithole.”

“Blame my sister. She’s the one that taught me to make the best out of anything. And besides, I didn’t lose everything. I still have myself! And that’s something that nobody can take away from me. Plus, I have you now!” Malachi playfully kicks one of his friend’s feet under the table. “You and I are in this together from now on. So don’t go dyin’ on me in some containment cell, okay?”

“Tsk. Yeah, whatever,” Sebastian can’t help but smile a little. Malachi’s good mood was obnoxiously contagious.

He really isn’t sure how Malachi does it. Half the time, he seems to be off in his own little world where everything is sunshine and rainbows. As if they aren’t doing slave labor at the bottom of the ocean as punishment for crimes they either didn’t commit, or didn’t know they were committing. As if the other prisoners around them weren’t dropping like flies because of whatever this organization was making them do. But Malachi proves time and time again that he isn’t oblivious to any of that. He understood the gravity of the situation they were in. It was unfair, and their lives were at risk everyday. It sucks, and Malachi knew it. But he wouldn’t let this place, or anyone break his spirit. He wouldn’t let anyone break him. Sebastian admired that.

Having Malachi around keeps him afloat. Sebastian is still grouchy and miserable all of the time – it’s hard not to be when he’s still trying to process how much he’s lost and been through in the past months – but Malachi helps him push through. He helps Sebastian think sometimes, even if just for a brief moment, that maybe things will be okay.

And all Sebastian does is bitch and moan about how terrible life is. He knows he can’t really be blamed considering everything he’s been through, but he must be a real drag to be around, huh? He feels like he owes a lot to Malachi. He supposes… trying to be a little more positive is the least he can do.

“... My birthday is soon,” Sebastian mumbles.

Malachi perks up at this exciting piece of new information. “No shit, really? When is it?”

“February 3rd. I turn 21.”

“Oh, nice! I know there’s not a whole lot we can do about it, but I’ll try to think of something! Maybe I’ll just give you whatever you want from my lunch tray as a birthday gift,” he notes with a goofy smile.

Sebastian shook his head and rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to do that. Keep your crappy lunch to yourself.”

“I gotta do something for you. It’s your birthday! And we both need a little more celebration in our lives, anyway.”

“Giving me your food is probably the only thing you can do, and I don’t wanna take your food from you. You need to eat.”

“You won’t be taking my food. You’ll be receiving my food. As a gift. Besides, it’ll only be for one day and I’m not giving you my entire lunch.”

“Yeah, yeah. Still. A simple ‘happy birthday’ will do.”

“Hmph,” Malachi crosses his arms and thinks. “Oh! You know what- maybe if we’re lucky, they’ll have those blueberry muffins you like as an option for breakfast again! If they do, I’ll give you mine and settle for a carton of milk or something.”

“... Alright. Fine. If they’re giving out the muffins again.”

Malachi grinned, happy to have made some sort of compromise. Sebastian shook his head again, but he was still smiling. He appreciates his friend wanting to do something nice for him on his birthday.

Enjoying his upcoming birthday would be difficult. He desperately wanted to spend it with you. With you, his mom, Rita, Gavin, and the twins which he was sure had been welcomed to the world by now. Thinking about the twins left a sharp pang in his heart, knowing he would never meet them. But, as per Malachi’s advice, he would try to remind himself that they were in good hands. And he would try his best to enjoy his birthday a little. For Malachi, for himself, and for you. He knows you would want him to try.

And, to a very small degree, he was able to. His luck did briefly turn around on the day of his birthday, and he was able to have two blueberry muffins for breakfast, courtesy of Malachi.

If only that luck had lasted, though. A few months later he would be struck with migraines and severe leg pains. He was rendered unable to work, claiming to be in too much pain and not having full function of his legs anymore. So, as planned by the scientists on his case, he would be taken away for testing and 24 supervision.

Malachi was worried, hoping his friend would be okay and wouldn’t be gone for long. It was a little alarming to watch him get carried away on a stretcher.

In the following weeks, Sebastian ended up being glad for once that you and the others thought he was dead. This way, none of you would have to know about what was happening to him in the months to come.

You wouldn’t have to find out about any of it. He truly believed it was better this way.

Death would’ve been more merciful than what he was about to go through.

~ ⚖️ ~

Ending Notes: At least he got his blueberry muffins

Sorry my chapters for this series tend to be so short </3 I might come back to this later and try to make it a little longer, but no promises. If I do end up doing that though, I’ll be sure to let you guys know in the notes on the next chapter!

Ao3

Chapter 4 - Chapter 6

[prokopetz]

Code Green

A game for 3–7 players, about being where you're not supposed to be.

Last night, you were suspended in a tube of brightly coloured goo in an underground research facility, operated by an organisation whose three-letter initialism's meaning is strictly need-to-know. This morning, someone noticed your tube was empty. Nobody has determined how that happened yet, and you're not inclined to stick around until they figure it out!

Or, in other words, it's been nearly a whole week since I got that massive revision to Space Gerbils out the door, and apparently my brain has decided that's enough of a break. This thing was written start to finish in under 12 hours, so let the circumstances of its authorship guide your expectations. Special thanks go once again to Caro Asercion, whose micro-RPG Dwindle introduced me to the design space I'm fucking around with here. Go buy their stuff.

Anyway:

What You'll Need

Code Green is a tabletop RPG for one game moderator (GM) and up to six players. Each player will need a copy of the Profile Grid, below, as well as three tokens of some sort: dice, coins, beads, etc. You'll also need at least five six-sided dice (for the whole group, not per player, though it's fine if each player has their own set). If you're using dice for tokens, it's recommended that the dice you plan to roll be visually distinguishable in case they land on someone's Profile Grid.

Rolling Dice

There are two ways you'll be asked to roll dice in this game: rolling d66, and rolling a dice pool.

To roll d66, roll a six-side die twice, reading the first roll as the "tens" place and the second roll as the "ones" place, yielding a number in the range from 11 to 66. For example, if you rolled a 3 and then a 5, your result is 35. You may also be asked to flip a d66 roll; to do this, take your result and swap the digits without re-rolling. In the preceding example, if you flipped your roll of 35, your new result would be 53.

To roll a dice pool, pick up the indicated number of six-side dice, roll them, and take the highest individual result. Duplicates have no special significance. For example, if you rolled a pool of three dice and got a 2, a 4, and a 4, your result would be 4. If you would ever roll a pool of zero or fewer dice, roll two dice and take the lowest instead.

Character Creation

Each player should create their own character. There are three things about your character which are always true:

You are newly born into the world. You may know things about the world (e.g., from your programming, having read them on a computer terminal, etc.), but you haven't experienced them.

You are implausibly good at remaining inconspicuous; unless you're deliberately drawing attention or doing something which requires a dice roll, humans will almost always fail to spot you.

You are not human. You can decide what that means.

To find out what else is true about your character, roll or choose three times from the Form table, and three times from the Function table, placing your results into the correspondingly labelled slots on the Profile Grid, below, in any order you please. Your three results from each table should be different; if you elected to roll and get the same entry multiple times, flip your result, and re-roll if it's still a duplicate.

Think about what your three Form traits and three Function traits imply about your character's physical makeup, but don't set anything in stone just yet – you'll see why not in a moment.

Finally, roll a six-sided die five times, and record the results in the order in which they're received. The resulting five-digit number is the only name your character has when play begins.

Table 1: Form (d66)

11–12. Blood 13–14. Bones 15–16. Brain 21–22. Claws 23–24. Ears 25–26. Eyes 31–32. Guts 33–34. Hands 35–36. Heart 41–42. Hair 43–44. Legs 45–46. Lungs 51–52. Nose 53–54. Skin 55–56. Tail 61–62. Teeth 63–64. Tongue 65–66. Wings

Table 2: Function (d66)

11–12. Accelerated 13–14. Autonomous 15–16. Auxiliary 21–22. Cryogenic 23–24. Cryptic 25–26. Elastic 31–32. Electric 33–34. Entropic 35–36. Invasive 41–42. Invulnerable 43–44. Kinetic 45–46. Magnetic 51–52. Phasing 53–54. Polymorphic 55–56. Projectile 61–62. Pyrogenic 63–64. Telescopic 65–66. Toxic

Playing the Game

Play proceeds in a series of scenes. In each scene, the GM will set the stage: a challenge to overcome, a peril to escape, a mystery to investigate, etc. Given the nature of your characters, most things will be mysteries to you!

Initial Token Placement

Once the stage has been set, place each of your three tokens on a different square on your Profile Grid. If you have no preference, you can roll d66 for each token and place it in the square whose marked numeric range contains the number you rolled, flipping or re-rolling your result if you get a square which already contains a token. The placement of these tokens represents your initial state when the scene opens. Depending on the nature of your character, this may be reflected by a shifting of internal focus, or by a physical transformation.

Participation

To participate in the scene, simply tell the GM what your character does; the GM will describe how the world responds, and ask what you do next. Whenever you wish – or are forced – to do something more than lurk and observe, you are obliged to make a test.

Making Tests

To make a test, first choose a pair of traits – one Form trait, and one Function trait – with which to face the challenge. For example, if your Form traits are Legs, Tail and Teeth, and your Function traits are Cryptic, Invulnerable and Phasing, you might test your Invulnerable Legs against the trouble at hand.

Next, count the number of tokens present in the rows extending from each of the chosen traits. The illustration below shows which squares would be consulted in the preceding example:

Next, roll a dice pool containing a number of dice equal to the number of tokens present on squares extending from the chosen traits. Do not count a token twice if it's on the square where the two traits intersect (e.g., the green square in the illustration above). In the event that no tokens fall on squares extending from appropriate traits, remember that you are allowed to roll a pool of zero dice by rolling two dice and taking the lowest rather than the highest.

Finally, compare your result to the following table:

1–3. Less than human. Whatever you'd intended to try still happens, but it cannot overcome human opposition (or adversity which would challenge a typical human), and any lasting effects are transitory and easily explained away. 4–5. Mostly human. Your effort can contend with human opposition (or circumstances which would challenge a competent human), and its lasting effects make it obvious that someone (or something) has been interfering with matters. 6. More than human. Your effort easily brushes aside any human opposition, and its lasting effects are impossible to rationalise as anything other than the intervention of inhuman forces.

Without Applicable Traits

In the event that you're forced to make a test and no possible pairing of your traits is applicable, you don't get to roll anything, not even with a pool of zero dice; simply resolve the outcome as though you'd rolled a result of 1–3. Other characters may attempt to preserve you from this fate by assisting you, in which case you roll one die per assisting friend; see below for more details.

Assistance

If you wish to assist another character in making a test, consult your own Profile Grid, considering only those squares which contain tokens. Only the specific pairs of traits represented by the squares on which your tokens fall are eligible for assistance; for example, if one of your tokens falls on the intersection of Cryptic and Teeth, you may assist with Cryptic Teeth, but not any other pair of traits involving Cryptic or Teeth unless those squares also have tokens on them.

If you're able to identify an eligible pair of traits that seems applicable to the test at hand, explain how you're using it to help, and hand the player making the test one extra die. Any number of characters may assist on a given test.

Providing assistance neither requires nor permits your character to adapt (see below) – it needs to be your own test for that!

Adapting

After resolving a test, your character adapts, shifting focus or form to reflect what they've learned. Take one token of your choice from your character sheet, and move it to a different square which doesn't already contain one. You can move any token you wish, but it must end up on a different square than the one it started on unless no valid destinations are available. Adapting is not optional, and must be carried out after every test.

Suffering Strain

If whatever you're making a test against is particularly strenuous or dangerous, you might suffer strain as a consequence. Strain will often be incurred on a result of 1–3, and rarely on a result of 4–5; only the most foolhardy efforts will incur strain even on a result of 6!

To incur strain, roll d66, and place a small X on the square on your Profile Grid whose indicated numeric range contains the number you rolled. If there's a token on that square, immediately move it to an empty square of your choice, unless fewer than three unmarked squares now remain; in that case, simply remove the token entirely.

For the remainder of the scene, tokens may not be moved to any marked square. In addition, if you suffer further strain, and the square indicated by your d66 roll is already marked, your character is incapacitated, and may not participate in tests at all until they recover.

All strain is cleared – and any discarded tokens restored – at the end of each scene. Incapacitated characters also recover at this time.

[fatale-distraction]

Abigail Ingellvar

Not an artist, so forgive the bad collage.

Veilguard 30 Prompt list by @pavus ; I added 31: Opinion on Inquisitor.

Abigail’s Pinterest

Name: Abigail Ingellvar

Age: 32

Race: Elf

Background: Mourn Watch

Class / Spec: Rogue/Saboteur

Gender: Female

Sexuality: Pan/Bi demisexual

Parentage: Unknown

Siblings: Unknown

Early Childhood: Discovered by undead servants in the Necropolis as an infant. Raised alongside the Mortalitasi and Mourn Watch, recommended for their ranks at a very young age due to her affinity with spirits and the undead, though she lacks magical abilities. She meets Emmrich as a young man in his apprenticeship and proceeds to forget about him as anything other than “man who was nice to me once.”

Adolescence: Meets Emmrich again as a young adult in her own apprenticeship. He’s kind and helpful and she develops a serious crush on him, but due to their age difference, settles for an admiring glance now and then.

First Love: A young Mortalitasi who met her unfortunate end on a mission deep within the Necropolis. Her body was recovered and repurposed as a skeleton guard per her own wishes, but Abigail can’t bear to see her. Yes I love Gideon the Ninth, why do you ask

First Hate: Ex-boyfriend who turned out to be Venatori. He is now “missing”, correctly presumed dead.

Favorites: Tea, books, soup, anemone flowers and thistle, stormy weather

Injuries / Scars: Lightning strike scars on her left arm from a direct-contact electricity spell

Distinguishing Features: Spectacles, CC willing. Very slight chin cleft and a beauty mark above her lip on the left side.

Voice Type: British English

Vices: Wine and brandy; occasionally smokes tobacco and/or elfroot; will gamble at Wicked Grace, billiards, or dice if invited

Virtues: Doesn’t swear often, modest, patient, compassionate toward the less fortunate

Homeland: Presumed to be Nevarra, but technically unknown

Height / Build: 5’1”, slim/muscular

Hair / Eye color: Pale brown hair, very long and wavy when loose. She prefers to wear it up, as it makes her feel more adult and professional, and when it is down she feels childish and vulnerable. Brown eyes like strong tea.

Personality: Patient, compassionate, but withdrawn and introverted. She has a good sense of humor, but she’s quiet so people are usually caught off guard, or make the mistake of thinking she’s serious. Gets along better with spirits and skeletons than she does with most people.

Aspirations: Finding out where she came from, being the best Mourn Watcher she can, finally feeling like she belongs somewhere

Fears: scarabs, large dogs (small dogs are okay), dark spawn, specifically brood mothers, blight sickness

Hobbies: Reading, researching Dalish customs, especially funerary rites, embroidery, chess, long walks in dreary weather, making scrap-books to help memorize important information about the undead she’s in charge of.

Views on Magic: Magic is something she actively studies alongside the Mortalitasi. Although she doesn’t have any magical abilities herself, she is knowledgeable and respectful of magic. She doesn’t fear it or venerate it. It’s a tool that can be used for good or evil, and shouldn’t be used without proper understanding of it. She frequently compares magic to a bone saw, prompting concern from some of her less-funny peers.

Views on Elves: She longs to feel like she belongs to a Dalish clan, or even an alienage community, but knows she doesn’t. She admires elven culture across Thedas, whether Dalish or not. Although she studies the gods, she doesn’t really believe in them (or the Maker for that matter. Her beliefs are probably closer to agnostic with a touch of Avvar spirituality) until she sees them before her eyes.

Views on the Veilguard: Was NOT thrilled about the idea of leading a group, but she likes Varric and Harding. Once she meets the rest of the Veilguard she likes them a lot and begins to feel very at home with them, which is a new sensation for her.

(INITIAL) Views on Solas: Slappable. Soggy. Sad. 5/10, unimpressed. Later, she is attracted to his scholarly nature and begins to enjoy his company. She genuinely begins to like him when she realizes the depth of his feelings for the Inquisitor.

Views on the Inquisitor: Loves her. They like the same dirty romance novels and the same tea, and Ellana is TERRIBLE at Wicked Grace, so Abigail beats her frequently. After meeting Ellana, Abigail is 75% more motivated to slap the shit out of Solas.

[anetaen]

SLICE 'N' DICE. USUI SEIKO ⁽ 臼井 正子 ⁾ .

semi grade 1 to grade 1 sorcerer with potential as the next natural lead of their family, graduated from kyoto metropolitan curse technical college, 26. they/them. 6ft1inches. part - time teacher, part - time volleyball coach.

seiko comes from a family with sorcerer's scattered within their bloodline, and exist halved between jujutsushi and non - jujutsushi as two pillars of society in both instances. in the modern day the usui family sorcerer's line extends from seiko's great - grandmother, to their aunt and uncle (twins, current heads of the jujutsushi side of the family), to themselves and their nephew alongside two cousins on their uncle's side. this is significantly less than in other time periods, but to counteract this the side in which handles jujutsu society affairs offer affiliation to their estate and so there are sorcerers working under their guidance.

seiko's father had extremely low cursed energy, and the same is said for their siblings. seiko has an older brother (32, set to soon inherit the usui family technological business that they own + manage) and two younger sisters (22, twins). their father pursued a normal life rather than attending either of the technical colleges, but the family has existed in halves since their great - uncle's instalment of the technology business. their siblings do not attend the colleges.

seiko is a nepo baby in both instances, and isn't sorry about it. a prodigy, even if not for natural progression for them to become the head of the family, seiko would be their first choice if they had considered to outsource at all.

the usui family is well enough known among jujutsu society as a cursed - tool wielding family, they have their own arsenal of tools at their residence and seiko was allowed to pick from the collection at fifteen. seiko's chosen cursed took is a red oak bō, connected at the centre by two adjoining blades that can be split into two separate weapons. it is stored and carried by being split and crossed across their back.

seiko's primary cursed technique is dubbed SLICE 'N' DICE and using their cursed tool, if they land a hit on their opponent with it, they can quickly slice or hit their opponent by envisioning the attack on the other's body. if the blade has been used, these will form as slashes. if the blade has not been used and seiko has instead used the blunt ends of their bō or their own hands, these will form as simple hits. to land further hits and cause further damage they must first land a hit and touch their opponent, and any one hit can be followed by up to four separate slashes/hits (if seiko slices/hits twice in one instance, this is stackable to eight further instances of damage).

if they wish to burden their opponent with more, they must generate the first point of contact again, making this a close - range technique. further damage combinations can also be stacked together for greater effect i.e if they want to remove a limb, three slashes would be combined depending on the strength and energy output of their opponent.

their secondary ability is CUTTING BLITZ wherein using their cursed energy, if they drive their cursed tool into an object (animate or inanimate - a curse, the floor) they can expel their cursed energy to create a powerful blast. enough to shake buildings and break windows, force opponents/allies back to create distance, kill enemies if graded weak enough. if the blast is powerful enough, they can create a small crater where it struck. this technique cannot be used consistently and has a recharge rate of around 4 minutes. skill type is close to medium range, dependent on the desired outcome.

seiko is good - natured and kind, a natural leader but prefers to take a backseat during missions during their school years. as an adult, they take an active role in shaping the next generation of jujutsu sorcerers and moves between the kyoto and tokyo colleges as a part - time teacher with focus mainly on cursed tools and how to wield them, as well as maintaining the arsenals at both schools as they are knowledgeable from the management of their family's personal arsenal of cursed tools.

when they aren't teaching, seiko keeps a firm foot in average society by coaching volleyball at their previous high school that they attended before being sent to kyoto tech. seiko is, however, a full - time sorcerer and takes on jobs when necessary.

post - canon, seiko has survived the events of the manga and works towards creating a better future in jujutsu society, which starts by reforming the root of it and those in charge with a few other notable sorcerers and sorcerer families in tow, vowing to do better and be better than what they were offered in their youth and the cards that were dealt to the current youth of jujutsu society.

[yellobb]

Y’all I just found out about the 1904 Olympics marathon and I am losing my mind over how batshit insane it was. Buckle up y’all because this is one hell of a story

For some historical context, the 1904 Olympics were held in St. Louis and it was the first Olympics hosted in the U.S. It was paired up with the 1904 World’s Fair, so there was a hell of a lot going on in the city at the time

First, let’s meet some of our contestants:

American Thomas Hicks and four other Americans were all experienced marathoners

American Fred Lorz, who was able to compete after placing in a “special five mile race” sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Association. He did all his training at night

Ten Greeks who had never run a marathon before

Two South African men from the Tsuana tribe who were in St. Louis as part of the World’s Fair. They were apparently the first black Africans to compete in the Olympics, which is super cool. Less cool was the fact that they weren’t wearing any shoes

Cuban Félix Carbajal, a 5ft (1.5m) tall man who had fundraised his journey to the Olympics. This man got to New Orleans, lost all his money on a dice game, then had to walk and hitchhike his way to St. Louis. Mind you, that is almost 700 miles. He shows up to the race, having not eaten in 40 hours, dressed like THIS:

This man gets another bullet point because apparently his trousers were all the way down to his boots when he got there. Another Olympian took pity on him and cut them with scissors

Now for the race itself. It is in the 90s (32 degrees Celsius) and humid. For some god awful reason, they decided to start the race at 3pm, so it’s the hottest part of the day. The course is only 24.85 miles (40km) long instead of a standard 26.2, but that doesn’t mean this was an easier race. On the fucking contrary, it was hellish. I’ll let the Smithsonian article about this explain it because they do it much better than I ever could:

Now, I’ve never ran a marathon before, but I looked it up and the current recommendation is that water stations are placed every two miles.

The race is a go and things are off to a nasty start. American William Garcia almost becomes the first fatality of an Olympic event because he inhaled so much dust that his stomach was hemorrhaging. He was found unconscious by the side of the road by a local couple and had to be hospitalized. Apparently he would have bled to death if he’d been left for an hour longer.

But the dust isn’t the only issue. Apparently, Len Taunyane, one of our South African participants, gets chased a mile off course by wild dogs. He still placed 9th.

Probably my favorite participant is our boy Félix. Félix was stopping to chat with spectators in the middle of an Olympic race. At one point he stopped a car because he saw that the riders were eating peaches and asked if he could have some. They refused, but he snatched two anyway and ate them while he ran. He later came across an orchard and stopped to eat some apples, but apparently the apples were rotten, so he got stomach cramps and took a nap. HE STILL GOT FOURTH PLACE. That’s how much of a shitshow this race was, and we’re not even done.

Fred Lorz starts getting cramps around the 9-mile mark and decides to hitch a ride with one of the cars that is guiding them. He’d been leading the charge for a while and was a crowd favorite to win.

The other leader of the pack and favorite to win, Thomas Hicks, started having to use a support crew at the 10-mile mark. He was begging them for water, but they refused. He somehow managed to keep trucking along, though.

Seven miles from the finish line, Hicks’ handlers started feeding him egg whites mixed with strychnine, which is literally rat poison. There were literally no rules against performance-enhancing drugs yet, so this was apparently above-board.

Lorz gets out of the car he was riding in after 11 miles and just,,,, kept running????? He finished the race and was declared the winner. He was about to be given a gold medal when “someone called an indignant halt to the proceedings with the charge that Lorz was an imposter.” Lorz claimed it was all a joke and that he wouldn’t have actually accepted the award, but was still banned from competing in future marathons. That is, of course, until this decision was overturned in time for him to run in and win the Boston Marathon the next year.

Now Hicks had seen Lorz pass by. He was not doing too hot at all, but finding out that Lorz had been disqualified and he was still in the lead helped his motivation. He was given another dose of egg whites and strychnine with some brandy to wash it down, which, sure. Why the fuck not at this point?

At this point, he began to hallucinate. He started to believe that he had 20 more miles left to go instead of just two. He kept begging for food and rest, but his handlers just gave him more brandy and two more egg whites because of course he was. By the time he made it to the finish line, he was literally being carried by his handlers while his feet shuffled, but that was apparently good enough and he was declared the winner.

It took four doctors and a full hour for Hicks to recover enough to even leave the area after the race. He apparently lost eight fucking pounds during the course of the race. Hicks pretty much retired from racing after that (I wonder why) and became a professional clown, which really is just the cherry on top

Of the 32 people who competed in the race, only 14 finished. After everything, they literally almost removed the marathon as an Olympic event because it was deemed “indefensible on any ground but historic,” and honestly? After reading all that fuckery, I can’t even blame them.

Another note about Félix, because this man baffles me: apparently he was sponsored by the Greek government to compete in a 1906 marathon in Athens, but he never turned up. Newspapers in Cuba claimed he died, but he just??? Showed up a year later in Havana perfectly fine. Turns out he managed to get the date of the marathon wrong.

Sources:

[qismet]

seiko lore drop

the usui family is well enough known among jujutsushi as a cursed - tool wielding family, they have their own arsenal of tools at their residence and seiko was allowed to pick from the collection at 15. the bo staff they wield belonged to their aunt 7 generations ago

seiko’s cursed tool works in tandem with their technique. their technique is dubbed ‘slice n dice’ as per the usage of the tool they are attached to to further the technique, but without the tool seiko can still land a physical hit/kick on an opponent and perform up to 4 additional hits provided they can envision them on the body

current generation of jujutsushi within their family consists of their great great aunt (she’s hanging on by a thread), their grandmother, their aunt and uncle (twins, heads of the jujutsushi side of the family as current), seiko, 2 cousins on their uncles side, a nephew from their brother’s family (+ a distant cousin that they don’t see). there are distant relations that do not consider themselves affiliated

they are the middle child (26) between two twin sisters (younger, 22) and their brother (older, 32, about to inherit the usui technological business that the non jujutsushi side of the family owns + runs)

seiko was raised by their aunt and uncle within the separate family residence from the ages of 7-14 before attending kyoto tech

the two sides of the family coexist together, but have separate roles. it is likely seiko will take over as head for the jujutsushi side of the family once their aunt and uncle step down. for now they’re happy working full time as a sorcerer and part time as a volleyball coach

nepo baby of sorts :)

graduated from kyoto tech as a semi grade 1 encroaching grade 1 with potential :)

there they are for u … art belongs to yemsao