#3E-Social

[aqours]

3E Ireena: Who are you? 5E Ireena: I'm you but weaker. 3E Ireena: 5E Ireena: 3E Ireena: Take me to the castle right now so I can kick his fucking undead ass right this instant.

[thequicksilverfox]

Planning an Exalted campaign has me absolutely DRIPPING with blorbos. I've got so gottdamb many fucked up little bitches scrambling around in my brain to the tunes of various songs I use for inspiration. You dont even know. You dont even KNOW. Ask me about my exalted oc's. Unless you're in my campaign. YOU will find out soon enough.

[thydungeongal]

Social interaction mechanics are my gleeblor. I've really mostly played D&D and D&D-likes (and a single one-shot in Star Trek Adventures where we mostly repaired stuff), so the only idea of social mechanics I really have is reaction rolls.

(don't get me started on 3e-style skill checks. those are worse than nothing.)

Anyway I do kind of want to understand this concept. Would you mind providing an example or two? Assume I have never played a PBTA game.

Absolutely! I'm going to use Apocalypse World as my example here!

Apocalypse World only has one social interaction mechanic: the "Seduce or Manipulate Someone" move. Moves are PbtA parlance and even though a lot of ink can be spilled on the subject at the end of the day what a move is is a specific situation in the game where the game steps in and says "I have input on this." Apocalypse World especially really emphasizes the fact that if moves are not being triggered then the game basically progresses as free play, but once a move is triggered it happens and its specific mechanics kick in.

It's a fancy way of saying "here's a social mechanic and here's what sorts of situations you'll use it in."

This is the trigger for Seduce or Manipulate Someone:

When you try to seduce, manipulate, bluff, fast-talk, or lie to someone, tell them what you want them to do, give them a reason, and roll+hot.

Roll+hot here means rolling 2d6 and adding the character's Hot stat (usually between -1 and +2) with static thresholds: a result of 10+ means a full success, 7-9 means partial success, and 6 or lower means failure (and there are specific principles about what happens on 6- which I won't get into here).

Interestingly, this is where the move actually splits into two, giving different outcomes depending on whether it's being used on an NPC or a PC:

For NPCs: on a 10+, they go along with you, unless or until some fact or action betrays the reason you gave them. On a 7-9, they'll go along with you, but they need some concrete assurance, corroboration, or evidence first. For PCs: on a 10+, both. On a 7-9, choose 1:

• If they go along with you, they mark experience.

• If they refuse, erase one of their stat highlights for the remainder of the session.

What they do then is up to them.

On a miss, for either NPCs or PCs, be prepared for the worst.

At the end of the day it isn't that different in principle from a modern D&D style "make a Charisma (Persuasion) check" but there are two things that stand out here: first, even for NPCs, a clearly stated part of the action is needing to present the target with a reason for going along with you. Whether the target "complies" or not is entirely rules-mediated, but the character still needs to present some reason for the NPC to go along.

Secondly, the same mechanic can be used to manipulate other PCs, but because player characters are controlled by other players they can't be simply mind-controlled: instead, manipulation is handled via carrot (reward of XP for complying) and stick (loss of a highlighted stat, one of the potential sources of XP, for refusing), but at the end of the day the character is not robbed of choice.

Monsterhearts uses a similar system BUT it specifically turns seduction into its own move which is used to gain Strings (an abstract social currency) over other characters. Strings are always specific to a character and spending a String on someone else comes with a multitude of benefits, but one of the most important ones is that spending a String on a player character in Monsterhearts allows the character to do the "If you go along, experience, if you don't, punishment" part of the move without needing to roll.

But yeah, the main takeaway here is that it takes in an input of both describing what the character is doing and saying and what they are offering, a roll (to take some of the arbitration out of player hands), and then outputs a result that is specific but imprecise. It is, at the end of the day, a game played through the medium of language, so like the result of the action is still expressed in those terms. Instead of like. They take 5 points of rhetorical damage to their argument.

Now, having said that, there absolutely are games out there that do model social mechanics in a "deal rhetorical damage to the enemy's argument" type of way, but they differ from the typical "numbers game" model that I presented in that they usually require more specific inputs from players than simply pointing their character's charisma at a target and rolling. Burning Wheel's Duel of Wits is a great example of this, and it's basically almost akin to old-school D&D psionic combat in how its various arguments and defences bounce off each other. But it's absolutely not the norm when it comes to social interaction mechanics in games.

[igorlevchenko-blog]

Morrowind: The Burden of Nerevarine

Somewhere in vicinity of Dagoth Ur, the Building. Year 3E 427

P.S: This picture is in no way a condonation of false prophecy in question. Morrowind sure does need saving, but not through the dint of exertion of some reincarnated elven superhero. That's just childish.

P.P.S: There are four bodegas in Balmora, but only one bookshop. Try Azura-Plot your way out of that social failure.

[xxxdragonfucker69xxx]

hi folks. its been a long week. but its time for HOUR IN BRASS

for those just joining us, a new exalted splat is being released; when this happens, i usually lose my shit and liveread through the charms; this time it's the alchemical exalted, golem-robot-communists inside the belly of the machine god autochthon. if you wish to avoid this, you will blacklist #hour in brass

first third of charms:

Howdy Mother Fuckers. its time for HOUR IN BRASS

starting with: the horniest chapter fiction so far

the alchemical paradigm is that you have only so many charm slots for active charms at a time, but that most charms have submodules that add on without taking more slots. they have to swap charms in and out with the rite of reconfiguration. their dice limit is Ess+Attribute BUT one of their biggest charms is going to make their math oh whatever here it comes

TRANSPUISSANT ATTRIBUTE UPGRADE aka transpussy assribute ultima. which raises your resting attribute by 1, starts to stack at higher essences, and comes with a load of submodules to let you swap what attributes are used for what. god im fucking excited to have these around. unwavering sniper calibration to snipe with perception, for example

actually they have a lot of wacky universal charms about integrating with hearthstones, artifacts, stuff like that. robots be customizing bodies. i do want to point out vat surrogate reweaving system, which lets you speed-swap charms once between reconfigurations. i read it and immediately thought camilla hect Go Loud and started cackling

yes alchemicals can still go colossus and eventually turn into cities. though metropolis play is not mechanically supported

ok appearance. starting with radiant iconography array: anima holograms, but they do stuff like become realistic illusions or huge legendary size stuff

emotive aesthetics of the body electric naturally bangs

patriotism-provoking display has many-is-one node and one-is-many node as submodules, whihc are fun

universal advisor comportment is fun, makes you feel sagacious and advisorly

beguiling aestheic perfection is fun, when you socially affect someone they suffer trying to beat your guile for the rest of the scene. i have suffered this irl many times

pheromone regulation system… i cannot make any jokes about this that arent crass. i once knew someone who was turned on by the smell of xbox exhaust

man the submodule tech is really realyl nice. this is a great fucking way for charms to work. you can flashbang people with blinding strobe projector and then on top of that you can choose to enter stealth, steal more initiative, or make it rainbow

its really interesting to me that appearance is getting so many teacherly charms. with illuminating inspiration beacon "The Alchemical’s faith in her students shines through in every aspect of her neon-limned visage"

damn, and from there is psyche-stabilizing beacon, where you radiate such comfort that it helps people resist brain curses

theotropic veneration mantle rocks. project a principle to the exclsuion of others, and those who share the principle see you as a holy figure

i sort of hate glistering obsession nodes. i dont want to glister. it makes people obsessed with me if they can't figure me out

ooh, disguises in appearance subterfuge. including stuff to appear human, or as a dfferent exalted

optical shroud, a classic, predator invisibility

apocryphal operative halo is really interesting, MIB neuralyzer

semiotic flare projector is a really cute concept. almost as cute as supreme icon of battlefield glory. when you kick ass on the battlefield your troops love it, and you can make your enemies hate it, and at e4 you can project it over the entire battlefield

alright, charisma. starting with effective leadership algorithm, both a great example of alchie flavor and of submodule tech bc its just a menu of submodules that let you decide what kinda rolls you use it on, whether youre using faction-building unity or overriding authority mode

oh synergy promoting upgrade is interesting. helps with bureaucracy if youre leadering, gets better if your group likes you, SPU: communal supremacy makes it better if its for a community, SPU: lifestyle cooperation paradigm makes your group like each other

hdkfghdfjsg universal authorization chevron. the cool s. intuitively recognized as a symbol of authority. UAC: axiomatic emblem means even gremlins/fae/undead recognize you with wary deference. UAC: perfected delegation emblem lets you hand out copies to deputies

heresy declaration beacon, lets fucking go

radiant emblem of integrity is interesting… if you speak the complete truth everyone knows that its the complete truth, and it can also authenticate replays of events projected with radiant iconography array. also if you tell the truth and it sucks, gain wp. fantastically built charm. oh the submodule lets you make it permanent and mandatory

electric fervor inspiration is a set of orichalcum electrodes implanted behind the alchemical's jaw. thats fucked up. oh it lets you reset social rolls thats differently fucked up

battle anthem of the alchemical exalted! made it in! oh this is just a menu of songs thats super neat. including thousand work shifts ballad… and double music

similarly with programming language eloquence "A breaker between the Alchemical’s frontal and temporal lobes filters unnecessary emotion from her communications…" im really having fun with this

damn propaganda interdiction signal: void-quelling chastisement means that gribblies can't call on principles to resist your influence to hangout with mortals

something about vox populi broadcast really compels me. its just a charm to speak loudly but you can submodule it to communicate only with allies or to cut through magical silence.. and its speakers implanted in your throat

ideological override circuitry…

FEAR OVERRIDE DEVICE in warfare

homeguard reinforcement clarion… whip up that militia

dexterityyyy okay we're getting into the combat charms now

omg magnetic subdual coils to steal weapons. including a pulse blaster submodule, field projector, magnetron…

protosynthetic ammunition replicator, as expected, but thankully it is reloaded with "an articulated metal tendril". & btw dispersive flash-chaff cluster to make it a flashbang arrow, fulminating conduction charge to make it a stun arrow, concussive overpressure warhead to make it a knockdown, airburst grenade

being able to group all the "fast attack" charms in one place is fun, the submodules have a cute menu of extra ways to use it

damn, blinding velocity actuator upgrades you to a surprise attack if youre fast enough?

i like that gear-driven reflex automation is, past all the prereqs and flavor lines and stuff, exactly one line of charm. and then some fun submodules. wait damn withering counterattck at e3, with tactical reaction matrix

hacking multistrike accelerator to "enact pre-programmed motions" in pursuit of… erm… well… ok wait forget that this is a really cool charm. doesnt use all your initiative on the decisive, this feels like itd be real fun to fuck with espcially with the submodules

dsjksdks subluminous onslaught: kinetic launch catapult lets you like launch a fucking sword to short range. or your fists

ESSENCE PULSE CANNON. lets fucking go. again the submodules are really cool: concussive, focused, precision, de hey. Sieve Devastator Mode. its sheer heft provides her with heavy cover

skjfdsf autonomous assault processors makes (Dex-2) attacks, but dont forget you could be augmened enough for that to be 4 attacks at e2 anyways, 5 at e3 (if i remember the TAU rules right).

oh shitt transmodal rapid targeting system, bend that bullet. psychokinetic vectors. sdhksdfs this damage calculation is really funny. damn this is fully just children of the sun or whatever that game was. epic

TRANSFINITE ULTRAVIOLENCE DRIVE. time stands still. and then you bank attacks, which seems really fun. shjdskf and TUD: omnitactical processing core lets you add more withering attacks on top

oh huh accelerated response system: unwavering precision lets you not take onslaught if you successfully defend against lower init enemies. thats probably not that strong but it feels strong

casualty-minimizing equations is a damn good name

perfectly parallel defensive geometry…

oh light-etched interceptor barrier is fun. roll parry instead of static. and essence absorption screen lets you eat energy attacks with it

autonomous defensive drones AERIAL! actually theyre more like murderbot drones, they orbit and defend you. … damn, they cant be withered and theyve got almost as many hls as a starting character, theyre a pain to take out. their DO Parry is (Dex+1) so they're like fantastic for ranged fighters who dont parry or dodge

precalculated evasion system lets you bank dodge successes… kind of like light-etched interceptor but not. really interesting. hey what its simple?

omnisituational evasive equation is a fantastic name. ts the perfect dodge. OEE: hyperspatial geometry is really fun

cyclical velocity treads! heelies!!!

and then theres… oil slick dispenser nozzles… in your calves. i love wacky races

momentum-charged overdrive engine is a bangin name… a preprogrammed sequence of combat acrobatics

inclding jet boosters in optimized pursuit accelerator… ts really funny that al these red jade rush charms are also like "ugh fine you can also use these to run away if you have to"

transphase engine… walk through fucking walls

sjdflskdf digital precision effectors splits open your fingertips

covert telemetry mode…

counterharmonic scatter system is just like a really fun charm name. im having a lot of fun with charm names. displaces the sound of you

sdjlfsdf flicker-flare launchers are a flashbang to just immediately enter concealment

ooh matchless assassin protocols… reflexively stealth after a disengage or distract

hyperdextrous tentacle apparatus. can someone get astrakiseki on the phone

total perception negation field. if you see me no you didnt. ending, of course, in unseen deathblow calibration

and thats the first third. im like getting really alchemicalpilled rn. its hot

[homestuckreplay]

Webcomics at Day 100 #10: The Order of the Stick

Pages read: 9/25/2003 – 4/4/2006 (books 1&2; 301 full page strips)

Reason for selection: D&D is really important to nerd culture (and online culture since 3e), and this is probably the most popular and longrunning D&D webcomic, to this day loved, followed and theorized on by a large fanbase.

Current status: Ongoing with no set schedule, averaging twice monthly updates. Creator Rich Burlew says the current book will be the last, but fans predict the arc will not end until 2031 or later.

Content warnings: frequent misogyny, sexualization of female characters, equating sex and gender, occasional transphobia, sexual humor, occasional jokes about sexual assault and harassment, one joke about slavery, extreme amounts of cartoon violence

Overall thoughts:

I am definitely the target audience for Order of the Stick. As a long time D&D player who also enjoys hearing about games I didn’t play in and likes webcomics as a medium, it’s not surprising that I fell in love with this very quickly, because I’m the exact type of person it’s being written for. As such, it’s hard to analyze whether it’s easy for non-D&D players to get into.

D&D references appear in the majority of strips, typically to 3.5e – the edition released shortly before the comic’s debut, which almost entirely dictates the characters’ abilities and the rules of the world they live in. Most references are still relevant to more recent editions, and the comic riffs on random encounters, initiative order, attacks of opportunity, momentary in-game retcons after remembering an extra feature or skill bonus after the fact, timeskips during travel, rogues stealing from party members leading to intraparty conflict, the ‘all PCs have dead parents’ backstory stereotype, and especially alignment.

The entirety of book two, ‘No Cure for the Paladin Blues’ (so named because it features a paladin dressed in blue), explores alignment in more depth than the occasional jokes surrounding the other topics. Roy, an honorable leader who has sworn an oath but isn’t a paladin by class, and Miko, who is a true paladin and follows her order’s rules to the letter, come to blows over the meaning of ‘good’ and ‘lawful’, whether intent or outcome determine a person’s alignment, and what it means to live in a world where alignment is objective, codified, and detectable. These are ideas that later D&D editions will also question, but not as efficiently as secondary character Celia, a sylph defense lawyer, does in a literal courtroom scene in comic 282.

The D&D references range from these blatant ones, to the more subtle. To zoom in on a moment I loved, strip 214 features a moment where Miko – a party ally, who would be controlled by the DM in a real game – goes against the party’s planned stealth ambush and barges into an ogre camp to confront the leader. This would be really bad D&D etiquette in most games, as a DM would be taking agency away from the players, not allowing them to even attempt a plan they’d worked hard on. But it works well as comic writing, because it characterizes Miko and sets up a new three-way conflict between her, the party, and the ogres.

Establishing characterization is much easier with D&D ability scores and spell lists to lean back on, but Burlew has never made official character sheets for the party to allow the story to come first. Instead, Burlew uses common player character archetypes – a respectable human fighter/party leader avenging his father, a Scottish dwarf cleric who likes ale and can’t roll stealth, an androgynous elf mage who prefers learning about the limits of arcane potential to social interaction, an annoying, pretty, constantly singing and talking when he shouldn’t bard (who surprised me by being dumb instead of horny), a treasure-obsessed crackshot rogue, and a chaos gremlin. XP and level up mechanics provide an easy, in universe reason for characters developing new powers.

I found most characters quickly likeable, except for the chaos gremlin – halfling ranger Belkar is the party’s evil member, generally played for comic relief. However, as the overarching plot is introduced as early as strip 13, and other characters are given two dimensions and ethical beliefs within the first hundred strips, Belkar’s being loved by the party of relatively decent people despite his selfish, violent and amoral actions (stated outright in strip 285) feels out of place and unearned to me. His misogyny and sexual harassment of female characters, also played for laughs, really contributes to this – it’s hard to overlook, especially as it’s reflected by the author.

Burlew falls into common pitfalls when writing female characters – for example, a woman only being taken seriously when she is competent and can out-perform the men, a man needing to experience being treated like a woman in order to respect one, and regularly referring to women as ‘bitches’, ‘whores’, and ‘chicks’. In 2015, Burlew said that he has few regrets about his early work, but that they include ‘[u]nintentional sexism and/or insensitivity to gender issues. Doing my best to fix it going forward.’ This acknowledgement is important to my decision to keep reading.

[Note on next paragraph, added later: I have now been informed that Vaarsuvius is canonically genderqueer, confirmed later in the comic! huge win for representation and on Burlew incorporating reader feedback & thanks to the anon who let me know!!]

Against all odds, the wizard of unspecified gender Vaarsuvius is actually written fairly well. The ambiguity is often treated as a joke, and minor characters will sometimes assume their gender one way or the other – but the other main characters don’t know and are okay with not knowing. They’re respectful and don’t question it when Vaarsuvius doesn’t use the gendered dungeon toilets, and while Vaarsuvius shares a room with female party member Haley at inns while the men all share a second room, strip 225 makes it clear that this is because Haley and V are good friends, not because they share a gender. (As a sidenote, Haley and V’s sweet and unlikely friendship is my favorite dynamic in the comic).

Artistically, the characters are drawn as stick figures (as represented by the comic’s title) with clean lines and bright colors in strips that are typically one A4 page. The first OOTS book was printed in February 2005, with further books released after each major story arc, so Burlew has written the bulk of this comic knowing that it will be collected in print. Likely, this influences the decision to mostly stick to the A4 style, and rarely include oddly shaped strips, animation, hyperlinks, hover text, or other web-specific elements. Important story beats and milestones do see extra-long strips, with the 200th strip covering a long-foreshadowed battle four times as long as a regular strip – with white space indicating the page breaks. Strips may play with panel order while keeping the A4 format, such as comic 242, which uses arrows to indicate that panels should be read vertically, not horizontally.

Character designs are extremely recognizable from the first strip, and the art style gets slowly more complex – while the stick figures remain, backgrounds grow more detailed and shading is introduced over time. With the early strips, the art in print books is (allegedly) an improvement over the web versions, an incentive to buy print copies when the full archive is available for free online.

Most characters speak in white speech bubbles with black text, but there are exceptions – core villain Xykon the lich has black speech bubbles with white text, creatures of pure light have yellow speech bubbles, sylpha and ghosts have blue, and a bastion of lawful good order has red. Lowered opacity speech bubbles with dashed outlines indicate whispering, and (in a more questionable choice) bold lower case speech indicates a character has low intelligence. The different colors are effective at making characters from other planes feel truly alien, and the importance of the speech bubbles reflects the wordiness of the comic – the text is small, speech bubbles are often paragraphs, and even zoomed into 150% I ended up with a bad screen headache after a couple hours’ reading, which makes an archive binge much harder.

OOTS has a reputation for beginning as humorous and becoming more serious and story driven in its third and fourth books. I haven’t reached those yet so can’t compare, but I already find that while jokes are frequent, the story takes precedence when necessary – and like other comics I’ve read, even Burlew seems surprised at how quickly the strip becomes something beyond its original intentions, letting a character say ‘Wow. That’s a lot more planning than I thought this strip had’ as early as strip 60. However, he also says that having the characters leave the dungeon and take on a bigger quest in strip 122 was partly because he ‘was leaving a lot of good jokes on the table by never having them go to town or on a wilderness adventure’, so the ‘plot driven’ and ‘joke focused’ drives are coexisting then. I’m really excited to see how the tone and story develop over the next thousand strips. :D

Relevance to Homestuck:

As best I can tell, there’s no official connection, though there is fanbase overlap. I’ve said before that Homestuck is a precursor to actual play podcasts, and plan to write more about that someday. In its case, Andrew Hussie clearly acts as DM with the command-submitting readers acting as players; D&D mechanics aren’t used, but the dynamic is spot on.

In Order of the Stick, the characters referencing movies, modern slang, current events and 21st century professions is extremely reminiscent of real D&D play, as this sort of humor is common to both regular D&D groups and actual play shows like Acquisitions Incorporated and The Adventure Zone. A pair of lawyers sent by ‘the spooky wizard who lives by the coast’ are introduced in strip 32 and become recurring characters, a reference to Wizards of the Coast, the real world company who owns D&D. The same is true of characters mentioning exposition, sidequests, plotlines, character mirrors, and other concepts that D&D players know about, and therefore put into their characters’ mouths in games.

OOTS characters feel like they have players and the strip captures the experience of the gaming table really well, but readers don’t have much influence, and Burlew is taking on all roles. This is true even when they contradict, like in strip 21, where the character’s actions of killing a chimera go against the DM’s plans to have him be a recurring villain.

Like Homestuck, OOTS begins as a fairly small scale story – taking place in a single dungeon – but expands within a couple of years to include threats not just to the world, but to the very fabric of reality. In a couple of very minor parallels, both feature the dunce cap (HS 746/OOTS 14), the 8 ball (HS 804/OOTS 127), and a plot important meteor (HS 196/OOTS 134). Meteors seem like a surprisingly common feature of webcomics, actually, and I wonder if this was a big part of 2000s culture that I don’t remember. OOTS has a minor character, Banjo the Clown God of Puppets, who appears in several strips including 80 (regular Banjo) and 85 (as the eldritch Banjulhu). His mysterious and unsettling appearances are reminiscent of Lil Cal, and his tentacles of Rose’s eldritch doll. I could also discuss Kickstarters here but I think I’ll save that for a few years down the line.

Scholar Gabriel Romaguera wrote his master’s thesis and part of his PhD thesis on Order of the Stick. I’ve read his master’s thesis in full and really enjoyed his analysis, which is far more comprehensive than my own (though as a sidenote, I do genuinely hope to write a master’s thesis on Homestuck someday). He’s only one scholar, but a lot of his analysis links up with the limited Homestuck analysis I’ve read. Romaguera discusses serial vs archival reading, web vs print versions, and whether the OOTS books can be considered a webcomic.

‘Some of the material is only relevant when read within twenty four hours of the original publication... Readers are supposed to wait for new installments, read them, go over to the forums, reread them to make sure th+at no detail was left unnoticed, speculate what would happen, and continue to wait until the new issue is published and then the cycle continues. This process makes for a deeper connection to the narrative and to the characters as years go by.’ (Romaguera, p.138)

This argument is presented uncritically and unproductively, just as it has been by many Homestuck analysts. While it’s technically true for any serial work, it becomes more true when participation in an active fan community of theorizers, proofreaders, lorekeepers and fanwork producers is seen as critical to understanding the work. From some time browsing the forums, this is definitely true of both OOTS and Homestuck moreso than other webcomics. (It’s also the attitude that made my lab scientist brain go ‘okay, cool theory, but have you tested that experimentally?’) Romaguera goes on to say that ongoing webcomics could be taught in classrooms when teaching students about serial narratives as ‘[t]he serial reading experience is often taught in hindsight and with nostalgia that suggests that current readers have missed out on the original text as it was intended to be read.’ (p.151) I agree and I love this idea more than words can say.

‘This effectively makes OOTS an ongoing trans-media narrative, wherein some parts of the narrative are exclusive to one medium, and some parts are exclusive to the another one [sic]. Readers go through the process of piecing these parts together to make this third text and thus fully attain the narrative. Still, this practice only goes on until Burlew publishes the final book and all of the narrative is collected in one authoritative text.’ (Romaguera, p.139-40)

In most webcomics (including Homestuck), print editions are supplementary, collector’s content. With OOTS, it seems like both the author and fans give the print editions a lot of importance. Once OOTS is no longer serialized, it does seem likely that the print editions, which include entire books of bonus material not found online, will be seen as fully definitive. Similarly, I would call The Unofficial Homestuck Collection the definitive edition of Homestuck, due to its functional flash player, wealth of supplemental content, and options for reading spoiler free. Ultimately, both these works have transcended their original websites in a way few webcomics have.

Continue reading? I think this is my favorite webcomic I’ve read for this subproject so far. I usually would’ve read 2009 strips for a comparison, but didn’t, because I want to experience the story linearly without spoilers. I could get totally obsessed with this. I want to make D&D character sheets for the beta kids.

[magical-grrrl-mavis]

Games you can play instead of D&D

Pathfinder/Pathfinder 2e: Same concept as D&D but by a better company. You are an adventurer in a high fantasy setting. Character creation combines a race and class.

Mutants and Masterminds 3e: Action-focused superhero RPG, uses starting points to buy equipment and skills and build powers by combining effects. Character creation can take a bit to get used to but there are many sourcebooks with helpful examples to use, there are countless pre-built characters online, and a slew of official books containing just about every DC Comics character you can think of to play and interact with.

Vampire: the Masquerade: You are a vampire in the shadowy gothic underbelly of modern society, struggling against any number of threats, kindred or otherwise, while trying to keep the existence of vampires a secret and struggle against your own bestial nature. Will you retain your humanity? Or give in to the beast. High focus on roleplay and social intrigue.

Monster of the Week: A rules-light game based on the Powered By the Apocalypse system that recreates the experience of shows like Buffy, Supernatural, X-Files and Warehouse 13. You play as a Hunter investigationg supernatural mysteries and fighting monsters. Player characters are based on archetypes from this genre (Professional, Monstrous, Spell-Slinger etc) (this one's my favorite! :D)

Masks: A New Generation: Play as a young superhero finding their place in the world. The game creates a coming-of-age story as you grow and change in response to your actions and the people and events around you. Character creation reflects this by focusing on your characters personality, struggles and strengths while being more loose about your actual powers.

Girl by Moonlight: Magical Girls (boys, enbies etc) through a queer lense. You play a magical guardian grappling with destiny, love and the heartbreaking duality between who you are and who the world says you are. Split between four genres you can choose from-classic magical girls, dark magical girls, psychological conspiracy and... mecha. I guess. (I'm gonna be honest I haven't looked super deep into those last two yet). Characters are based on archetypes from magical girl stories, some with very obvious inspirations.

Scum and Villainy: Play as a roguish outlaw in a galactic society run by an oppressive force. You are the Han Solo of this story, smuggling and doing crimes and mercenary work aboard your own starship.

Killer Ratings: You and the other players are the insufferable cast of a cheap ghost-hunting show and have found yourselves in over your heads as you've wandered into an actual haunted location. Play as you explore the site and are most likely taken out one-by-one, returning as vengeful spirits to further terrorize your former cast-mates.

[ladiemars]

I love Nor and her giant sad puppy eyes, I would love to know more about her

thank you!! have a hastily drawn nor ft. her giant sad sopping wet puppy eyes:

+ a giant nor lore dump below the cut જ⁀➴

➸ her whole character was inspired by that one textpost that’s like, “characters with both the abject terror and desperation of an animal that knows it is cornered and destined to be eaten. you just can't get that kind of angst out a successful hunter” and this quote by james harriet: “if having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.”

➸ she’s is the product of a union between a drow woman and a deep imaskari man. for those who don’t know, the deep imaskari are a human subrace (from 3e) that have stone-like skin and hair that’s white or black. because that’s nor’s human half, most people assume she’s completely drow upon meeting her, since did not inherit any features from her father that would make her look less like her drow mother.

➸ the deep imaskari live longer than other humans—up to 550 years—so nor ages at a rate more akin to drow and elves than half-elves or humans. nor believes she’s currently around seventy years old, though she could be off by a decade or two. she’s not sure when she was born and has long periods without human contact. she really isn’t sure how much time has passed.

➸ she has no given name, but eventually ended up going by the name ratcatcher, which is what the locals in baldur’s gate called her. halsin is the one who names her nor shortly after they meet, which is the elven word for “passion” and also “run.”

➸ this excerpt from one of my fics sums up her urchin/orphan to urban ranger/beastmaster pipeline pretty well:

➸ around the age of twenty, nor grew to resent humanity so much that she decided to leave baldur’s gate and live in the forest with only animals for company for half a century. (this is when she lost track of time completely.) in the forest, she became an expert in survival, attuning her ears to the slightest twitch in the air, to every noise and smell. she lived in a cave and slept curled up beside velvet on a bed of willow leaves. the events of baldur’s gate 3 is the first time in decades that she’s had social interaction.. and it shows.

➸ she has a little wolfdog companion named velvet. (i’ve drawn him and her and halsin and scratch here). he was another half-breed who didn’t quite being anywhere, so they bonded very deeply. (fun fact: velvet killed the elder brain in my first playthrough as nor. he’s a legend in faerun now.)

➸ laezel is her bestie. they are ride or die. neither of them understand a damn thing about faerun or its inhabitants. but that also means they don’t judge each other for anything, cause they both just kind of assume what the other is doing is normal

➸ a big part of her character is her dynamic with the emperor. she gets manipulated by him so bad because he tells her everything a forgotten, unloved creature wants to hear: i need you, i’ll protect you, you’re not like other people, we’re a team, you can trust me, i want you to join me, you aren’t alone. it’s not until he begins to pressure and compel her to become illithid against her will she starts to fear him and his power over her, and after certain revelations she realizes he was using her and turns on him altogether.

➸ obviously she romances halsin. i love the dynamic of beastmaster/druid. they’re extremely well suited because they’re both such inherently good people and they bond a lot over their love for nature. they are also the only two people who can really understand each other’s animalistic quirks.

i’ve written some fics with her that you can read here if you’re interested. >:3c

[trans-mouse]

Food Charms!!!

I lied. I said I was going to write fiction for this week's art prompt… But then I got upset when I realized how little love there is for food in every charm set that isn't Janest's 3e charmset! I just had to do some work to undo this terrible injustice, and make myself hungry in the process. These charms are for essence, because that's what I've been designing for lately, since it's… What I'm playing.

I didn't include conversions of any of Janest's charms, because... I kinda don't think they need it? If you're playing Janest, you've probably already read the 3e Exigent book cover to cover, and have converted the charms you want from her set. If you haven't... Send me a message and I'll help you convert all her food charms. :)

A new mode for Manifold Hunter's Tactic: Taste of the Pomegranate: Copy the shape of someone with whom you have formed a positive intimacy forged through the sharing of food.

Perfect Host Technique: (Prerequisite: Craft 3 or Presence 3) Spend 1 mote when undertaking a mundane venture to create food or host an event. In addition to functioning as equipment as usual for social actions, all attendees of the function are subject to the social influences the exalt makes, so long as she wishes it to extend to them. -Sharing the Hearth (Dragonblooded): Rather than influencing her companions, once per story the Dragonblooded may count any allies that share major positive ties with her as though they were Hearthmates for a single session. -Staple Crop Glorification (Alchemical): By celebrating a culture's food or art, an Alchemical may degrade negative ties towards a culture to which she has a positive tie at a cost of only 1 excess success. This influence must be one-on-one, rather than enacted against a group. -Matchmaker's Meal (Sidereal): Without effort, the Sidereal pairs two or more at the table, entwining their fate. By spending 1 additional mote when using this charm, the Sidereal can create an automatic minor tie of romantic fascination between two or more compatible characters. This does not guarantee a match, nor does it compel them to act on it.

Celebrant's Insight: (Prerequisite: Craft 2 or Embassy 2) Invoke this charm when you spend a scene immersing yourself in the culture of a region, via art, food, or festival. During this scene, you may spend 1 mote to ask one of the following questions. The Storyteller will answer truthfully. Additional questions cost 1 mote each.

What is the dominant faith in the region, and how closely is it followed?

What could I change about myself to better fit in here?

How well off are the locals?

Am I going to alienate people if I take a particular described course of action?

Is it safe for me to be open about my exaltation, heritage, and station? -Forsake Tradition (Lunar) Ignoring all information gained by this charm, the Lunar can instead choose to ignore any penalties caused by breaking with traditions of any kind by spending 1 mote.

Impeccable Taste: (Prerequisite: Awareness 2 or Craft 2) Upon tasting a food or drink, the exalt immediately knows all of the ingredients in it, as well as where they originated. -Genius Palate Summation (Solar): Upon tasting a prepared dish, the Solar understands the mental state of whoever created it, such as whether they are troubled, if the dish was made with love, or if their heart is filled with malice. If this state is tied to an intimacy, the Solar learns of that as well. -Heritage-eater (Lunar): This charm can be used when drinking someone's heart's blood at the culmination of the Sacred Hunt, and in addition to learning the person's origin, the Lunar learns all of their intimacies, and can adopt one, qualifying as the intimacy that must be gained to obtain a human form.

[two-birds-alone-together]

For the WIP ask game, I’d love to hear about the apartment superintendent AU 😊

Literally wandered away from working on that one to scroll Tumblr!

It's a modern AU -- basically, Joel is a live-in super, and Ellie is placed with a family in his building.

Super unedited snip below the cut 💞

He should call someone.  Social services. The cops. Something. Instead he takes a deep breath and stands, wincing when a sharp pain bolts through his lower back.  After a moment of deliberation, Joel grabs his dirty clothes and traipes downstairs. The girl either doesn’t hear him or doesn’t care about his presence because she doesn’t move a muscle when he steps over the threshold.

“This is private property.”

Her head snaps up, eyes narrowed as her lips curl into a snarl.  “No shit? I thought this was a fucking public park.”

Joel levels a glare at the kid as he loads the machine.  “It ain’t. These machines are for residents, not runaways.”

“I’m not a fucking runaway,” she snaps, squaring her shoulders and drawing her backpack closer.  “And I am a resident. Kid of the week for the Jenkins.  You know, the people who live in 3E?”

“And the Jenkins have you down here doin’ laundry after school every day?” he asks with incredulity.

She glances around the room, a uniquely teenage disdain in her expression as she surveys the silent machines.  “Obviously.”

[myfandomrambles]

C-PTSD & BPD Thirteenth Doctor pt. 3

(Doctor Character Study part 3E.3) E.1, E.2

An analysis of The Doctor as having Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) along with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). If you read my ADHD & Autistic doctor posts you will notice some symptoms overlap mostly with impulsivity. I chose to put C-PTSD and BPD as one post because symptom overlap is strong, and the disorders are highly comorbid

[Thirteenth Doctor will be in 3 parts due to length. Find the whole thing on AO3]

13th Doctor 3: Relationships, Grief, Neurodivergence Overlap & Conclusion

Her struggles with agitation, anxiety, hypervigilance, identity issues and her alienation from those close to her directly affect her relationships. These relationships are very hard for Thirteen, she cares very much but has a disjointed affect and struggles to take in information related to social connections. To some degree, this overlaps with her other neurodivergence. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth, TV: Arachnids In The UK, TV: Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror, TV: Fugitive of The Judoon, TV: Can You Hear Me, TV: Eve of The Daleks, & Comic: A Little Help From My Friends)

The Doctor still shows a need for connection and to combat abandonment fears. But her continuous struggle with letting them in. In TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth she attempts to leave without having any of her companions with her. Not openly inviting people who share a stressful event with The Doctor to become companions.  In TV: Arachnids in The UK we see how she is still anxious to have them come along, even if she clearly was saddened by being alone and then happy to be invited to go with Yaz for tea and them wanting to come with her. 

“Doctor: Proper goodbye this time.

Ryan: About that.

Graham: Do we have to? You see, Doc, the thing about grief is it needs time. I don't want to sit around my house waiting for it to go away, ‘cos that house is full of Grace and it makes it so much harder. But, er, being with you and seeing all these things out there, it really helps.

Doctor: What about you?

Ryan: Do you really think I want to go back to working in that warehouse? No way.

Doctor: Yaz, you wanted to come home.

Yasmin: I know. I love my family, but they also drive me completely insane. I want more. More of the universe. More time with you. You're like the best person I've ever met.

Ryan: You're pretty awesome.

Graham: You're all right, I suppose.

Doctor: I can't guarantee that you're going to be safe.

Yasmin: We know.

Doctor: Do you? Really? Cos when I pull that lever, I'm never quite sure what's going to happen.

Ryan: That's okay.

Doctor: You're not going to come back as the same people that left here.

Graham: But that's all right. I think that's good.

Doctor: Be sure. All of you, be sure.”

It's easy to see how this relates to previous Doctors who lost many companions in upsetting endings even if they ended up okay in the long way round. But those losses and Grace dying make inviting people to go with her anxiety provoking, even if she loves having them with her. 

Her need for connection and anxiety when alone even when she has been struggling with connection can be seen in In TV: Can You Hear Me we see her consider jumping in time to be able to be with her friends instead of staying with her anxiety and loneliness. She also continues trying to show off while on her own. Showing off her knowledge and prowess as a hero I believe supports The Doctor’s egoic state and is a way to push down her anxiety. (TV: Kerblam!, TV: The Witchfinders, TV: Spyfall pt1, TV: Praxeus, TV: Can You Hear Me, TV: Village of The Angels, TV: The Vanquishers, TV: Legend of The Sea Devils, TV: Power of The Doctor, Prose: Molten Heart, Prose: The Secret in Vault 13 & Comic: New Beginnings )

In Comic: Hidden Human History the group ends up involved in a time situation connected to a podcast which taught people about history. When they end up in places where the companions know about it before The Doctor notices she becomes slightly grumpy and Yaz and Ryan note that she is jealous of the podcast. This I believe references the way The Doctor generally wants to be admired and how being able to guide them through history is how she seeks connection. 

The Doctor feels a responsibility for her companions. Examples show through in many moments where she puts herself between her companions and the person trying to hurt them or tries to be alone to fix the problem by herself. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth, TV: Arachnids In The UK, TV: Kerblam!, TV: Resolution, TV: The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos, TV: It Takes You Away, TV: Orphan 55, TV: The Haunting Villa Diodati, TV: Ascension of The Cybermen, TV: The Timeless Children, Prose: Combat Magicks & Comic: Old friends)

Ryan Sinclair and The Doctor become friends saying as much in TV: Revolution of The Daleks

“Ryan: So, when we're done with this Dalek problem, you find out about your own life. Confront the new, or the old. And then everything will be all right.

Doctor: Will it?

Ryan: No doubt. What?

Doctor: Thank you, Ryan, for being my friend.

Ryan: Thank you for being mine.

Doctor: Always”

This scene shows their affection for each other, another example is Thirteen telling Ryan’s dad off for him missing Grace’s funeral when she knows Ryan wanted him to be there. This scene shows growth in Ryan being more open with people, something he learned through the courage and compassion travelling with The Doctor brought out of him. The comments Ryan makes have a  good portion, reminding The Doctor change is inevitable and not always bad. But him telling her that everything will be alright feels a bit hollow as we know It won’t be okay, not during any of Thirteen’s subsequent stories. Even when we get to Fifteen he is willing to acknowledge the facts of their history but feels they are all alone. And we know adventures and traumas never really stop for The Doctor. However It shows Ryan’s empathy, kindness and willingness to help friends, which are part of his motivation for leaving the TARDIS. 

Graham O’brien and Thirteen have an interesting connection in the sense that Graham is one of the older companions. Most of the companions start travelling with The Doctor in their teens and twenties, making the way he viewed The Doctor a bit different than many of the younger companions. They share the trait of being grandparents and having lost partners. To some extent Graham does see her as a fully adult in a way he doesn’t with the other companions. An example is during TV: Can You Hear Me where he tries to seek emotional support from The Doctor which she struggles to return. By the end of his time as a companion he clearly loves travelling, adventure and new places. He only stays because he loves Ryan and won’t let him be alone, a trait that I believe Thirteen does respect, and they share a sweet moment. 

“ Graham: we do get Aliens in Sheffield”

One of the most core relationships Thirteen has is with Yasmin Khan. Yaz spent the most time out of any of the companions or ‘fam'. She is with Thirteen from the first moments till the start of Thirteen’s regeneration into her next body. They are very good at working together as time goes on being able to be in tandem. Yaz gains a lot of self-assuredness, changes in her goals and even uses phrases like ‘result’ (TV: Praxeus). The Doctor shows her care for Yaz, teaching her to fly the TARDIS and giving her the hologram when they get separated (TV: The Halloween Apocalypse & TV: Survivors of The Flux)  Yaz does her best to keep The Doctor on level with her and not hiding or lying but never loses her belief in The Doctor. This ends with Yaz saving The Doctor's life. (TV: Power of The Doctor)

Why they do have a tight bond this relationship often falters when The Doctor is in her worst headspace. Her anxiety, agitation and tendency to hold her emotions come out as manipulative behaviours.

“Yasmin: What are you doing?

Doctor: Checking all systems for malfunctions. Also, quick MOT check on my mind. Had a little glitch earlier.

Yasmin: What sort of glitch? You didn't mention it.

Doctor: You know what, Yaz? I don't mention everything.

Yasmin: No kidding.

Doctor: Are you being mardy?

Yasmin: What sort of glitch?

Doctor: A glitchy glitch. What does it matter?

Yasmin: Because I thought we were friends.

Doctor: We are friends.

Yasmin: Then why won't you let me in? What's going on with you?

Doctor: Nothing's going on with me.

Yasmin: Don't lie.

Doctor: Have we not had a good time together? Since Ryan and Graham left, have I not taken you to amazing places?

Yasmin: Of course, but...

Doctor: I thought I was showing you experiences of a lifetime.

Yasmin: You're hiding something about him [Karvanista]. About why you tracked him down in the first place. Tell me.”

(TV: The Halloween Apocalypse)

The love The Doctor has with Yaz is often threatened by these behaviours. Telling someone who's upset with you that they should be happy since you have done good things together invalidates emotions and perceptions. Yaz is rightfully upset here. Even though Yaz does love travelling with The Doctor it appears to make Yaz feel very left out. There is the above reference to lying but it is very clear that The Doctor lies as a protective measure so she never has to let herself feel. 

Their romantic tension is slow and stressful for both of them. Yaz is afraid and won’t face her emotions, not even fully accepting the connection is romantic. Yaz does start to notice they are special to each other commenting she has a similar feeling as another person in romantic love (TV: The Haunting Villa Diodati) They are forced to look at their feelings by Dan Lewis. (TV: Eve of The Daleks) Dan had lived for a long time with Yaz both with and separate from The Doctor making their connection stronger than even his relationship to The Doctor. Dan notices Yaz’s feelings kindly, gently offering that she should understand herself. Whereas with Thirteen he is much more of a ‘don’t play with her feelings’ style comment. He knows The Doctor is aware and is choosing not to do anything about it. 

An interesting connected situation can be read in the Comic: A Little Help from My Friends The Doctor goes back in time to where Martha and Ten are in the 60s waiting for an option to come for them to escape. Thirteen can with time watch that Ten was being unfair and overall not treating Martha well. She can see the infatuation Martha is experiencing while refusing to notice Yaz’s and her hiding things from her companions again. 

The Doctor promises more than once that Yaz and her will be able to communicate about what happened, on a beach, since TV: The Vanquishers. An above-mentioned quote from that episode has her promising to tell her everything, The Doctor wants to fix a lot of the loneliness and alienation she had fallen into when trying to cope with her trauma, a behaviour which started in the beginning but only got worse over time. 

The Doctor tells Yaz she wants her to stay but that they won’t be able to have their relationship exist in a new type.The major parts of this conversation appear in TV: Legend of The Sea Devils. 

“Doctor: ...you know what I said earlier about not being a bad date? Well, dates are not something I really do, you know. I mean, I used to. Have done. And if I was going to, believe me, it'd be with you. I think you're one of the greatest people I've ever known. Including my wife.

Yasmin: Your what?

Doctor: Ah. Wasn't going to mention that. It was a long time ago. I was a different man back then. But the point is, if it was going to be anyone, it'd be you. But I can't.

Yasmin: Why not?

Doctor: Because at some point time always runs out...”

&

“Yasmin: You okay?

Doctor: Yaz, I can't fix myself to anything, anywhere or anyone. I've never been able to. That's what my life is.

Yasmin: Yeah, of course.

Doctor: Not because I don't want to because I might. But if I do fix myself to somebody I know, sooner or later, it'll hurt.

Yasmin: My nani says, courage is knowing something will hurt and doing it anyway. Mind you, she also said it's the definition of stupidity.

Doctor: Can we just live in the present? Of what we have, while we still have it?”

There would be more kindness in this if she more explicitly gave Yaz a chance to leave. It also shows the kind of thinking Thirteen has, she already loves Yaz and finds her attractive, but can’t bring herself to make a more clear declaration of commitment. I think this comes from the trauma of what happened with people like River Song as well as her dealing with her trauma in a way that she doesn’t facilitate relationships. Her knowing this regeneration will end soon due to the prophecy of Time I believe also fuels her not wanting to do anything new and just enjoying what she has left. The fear is palpable in Thirteen and it causes her and Yaz hurt.  

It’s perfectly understandable and fair of her to say she can’t be in a romantic relationship, no one owes anyone romance. But the way she goes about it puts Yaz in a difficult situation, knowing your friend does return your feelings but can’t do it and still wants to have the same relationship you had before the sharing of feelings. Yaz is not very put off by this as they continue travelling and she goes out of her way to save The Doctor when The Master attacks. It’s clear Yaz is okay with it, but I believe it still shows difficulty communicating feelings and how fear is part of what keeps The Doctor’s relationships struggling. (TV: Power of The Doctor)

Yaz and The Doctor both deal with trauma from their childhoods. Both what The Doctor Can’t remember (TV: Timeless Child & TV: Survivors of the Flux) and the alienation The Doctor does remember from her childhood (TV: The Empty Child, TV: The Girl in The Fireplace, TV: Listen, TV: Heaven Sent/Hell Bent, Prose: Power to the People, Audio: Must-See TV). We also have before Thirteen the myriad traumas when she was young in timelord years. Having companions die of others taken from them, being exposed to violence and whatever version of why they had to leave Gallifrey. 

Yaz references that she dealt with severe bullying and anxiety as a teen. Understanding how trauma and loss can make you physically ill in TV: The Witchfinders, 

“Yasmin: I think I know what it is that's making you sick. I had it at my school, where I am from. When Izzy Flint turned the whole class against me. Every day I'd wake up, feeling this... dread. Fear.

Willa: How did you get rid of it?

Yasmin: I didn't. I just took it, had the year from hell. When I say hell, I don't literally mean hell, I mean it was really awful. And I told myself when I got bigger, I'd stand up to the Izzy Flints of this world.”

They also have similar experiences when it comes to facing both having a history of running, and depending on how you read their stories, suicidal thoughts. (TV: Twice Upon A Time & TV: Can You Hear Me) While not directly discussing the need to be 'anywhere but here' animates both of their experiences of being in the TARDIS. Connecting threads of their arc include both the alienation Thirteen often felt from her friends causing friction and the happy moments like when they are reunited in TV: The Vanquishers and Yaz carrying Thirteen back to the ship in TV: Power of The Doctor.

The Doctor and The Master always have a complex and dramatic connection and that is true during Thirteen’s era with Dhawan!Master. They start with a lie and a ruse on The Master’s part which is a common Master behaviour, he’s having some degree of fun while Thirteen seems pretty over it. She is willing to act very cruelly to The Master who appears as an Indian to the Nazis. This happens after they have their requisite back-and-forth about their history. 

“Doctor: When does all this stop for you? The games, the betrayals, the killing?

Master: Why would it stop? I mean, how else would I get your attention? When did you last go home?

Doctor: What do you mean?

Master: I took a trip home, to Gallifrey, hiding in its little bubble universe. Not sure how to describe what I found. Pulverised? Burned? Nuked? All of the above. Someone destroyed it. Our home, razed to the ground. Everyone killed. Everything burned.

Doctor: You're lying”

This conversation is normal Master/Doctor back and forth, it is interesting how virulent they are with each other in TV: Spyfall pt2 compared to the way Twelve and Missy interact. The most coherent view is that due to not knowing Missy wanted to be with him, The Doctor could feel abandoned. The Master claims to want to kill The Doctor during TV: Spyfall pt2 but then leaves a message for The Doctor to find, they both know at this point either one of them dying fully isn’t likely. They always find some way to survive. This sets up The Master's part in the Timeless Child. 

During TV: Can You Hear Me we have the legend of these two space creatures who are eternally linked and always come back together and cause mayhem when they are there and when they leave. I believe this has an analogous sentiment to The Doctor and The Master due to both being linked so strongly it can never fully be split and the fact that they fight with each other across planets often leaving pain behind them. 

When The Master brings The Doctor to Gallifrey she originally treats The Master as more of a nuisance before the more distressed anger. The Master attempts to hurt her and damage her sense of self. He is angry about what was done to him, but now there are no Galifreians to take it out on; he directs it at The Doctor for the crime of being part of him. This is interesting as The Doctor and Master over time have linked their sense of self to each other. But this time there is also a power imbalance, they are no longer both renegades The Doctor is now special. The fact that the kind of special she is came with horrendous abuse doesn’t seem to compute for The Master. He fundamentally believes that he can break her and make her hurt. In some ways The Master is correct, he did cause her pain and confusion. But The Doctor won’t show it to The Master, they can’t. Even if as explained above, her identity was shaken by the Timeless Child story. 

We see some of his thoughts in TV: The Timeless Children:

“Master: I do believe you're appealing to my better nature. And we both know I don't have one. I'm not going to help them, and neither are you. And the history between us does mean something. It's the rage and pain in my hearts. I'm sending you deep into the Matrix to understand the truth of Gallifrey and of the Time Lords. Brace yourself. This is going to hurt.”

&

“Master: This is no time to be sleeping. Is it hurting, Doctor? I hope it's hurting because it really hurt me.

Doctor: It's all lies. None of this is the truth.

Master: For the first time in my lives, I can honestly say every word is true.

Doctor: I know my life. I know... I know who I am.

Master: No, you don't. You never have. Your life has been hidden from you.”

&

“Master: Wake up. I know you're broken, but it's all over now.

Doctor: What do you mean?

Master: When I said I killed everyone here...”

&

“Master: What have you got left anyway? You don't even know your own life. Look how low I have brought you. I have won, Doctor. You may have made me, but I have destroyed you. Become death. Become me. Come on. Come on, come on!”

(She lowers the grenade.)

Master: For just a moment there, I thought maybe. Argh. Oh, Doctor, the universe will suffer for your weakness. I'll make sure of it.”

The Master can lure The Doctor in TV: Power of The Doctor into what he wants to happen by introducing himself, the Daleks and Cybermen, something The Doctor couldn't refuse. She does her best to manage him, letting UNIT help and giving Yaz a weapon. It’s pretty intense for both of them. 

His grand plan here is to try and take her very identity from her. Breaking and suppressing her consciousness, leaving him more himself than The Doctor as their consciousness is not melding. You also have the Cyberium as a factor in the way The Master is not acting coherently with that much fracturing. But he does kill her, leaving The Doctor’s body alone and stealing the TARDIS. The Doctor has to decide to not give in to letting her mind be taken with the help of her past regenerations trying to get her to not jump into a symbolic pit. 

Yaz and Vinder are able to save The Doctor with the help of a new hologram that Thirteen gave her friends so they could receive a form of consciousness should she be unable to help because of death. The use of this and her trust in Yaz being able to fly the TARDIS and pull the best parts of The Doctor in leadership. 

The hologram was also given to Tegan Jovanka and Ace Mcshane. If you read these versions of the Hologram having The Doctor’s current memories then she was unnecessarily mean to Ace. Ace was not the person who was in the wrong for most of their situations, it was very much Seven's fault as he was much older and he even references that he thinks of her as their child. Giving some kind of back and forth that they both made bad choices would have been much kinder and more realistic. Now for pure characterization, it’s not inherently wrong, The Doctor tends to not see her relationships clearly. 

The Doctor's obsessive pain about The Master leads to her death as she stops to watch The Master die. This attack from The Master and not the forced regeneration ends up killing her. 

Connected to her relationships, is her experiences of grief. Her early time is highly steeped in loss. At the end of TV: Twice Upon a Time she lost most of what she loved. Once we get to TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth she then is separated from her TARDIS which is her home and best friend. Of course, then we have Grace die on her watch, The Doctor does feel guilty to some degree and feels upset about her death. The Doctor stays for the funeral, putting off leaving and talks with these people she’s connected with on her loss and grief and home.

“Yasmin: Have you got family?

Doctor: No. Lost them a long time ago.

Ryan: How do you cope with that?

Doctor: I carry them with me. What they would've thought and said and done. I make them a part of who I am. So even though they're gone from the world, they're never gone from me.

Graham: That's the sort of thing Grace would have said.

Yasmin: So everything we saw, everything we've lied to people about, is this normal for you?

Doctor: I'm just a traveller. Sometimes I see things need fixing, I do what I can. Except right now, I'm a traveller without a ship. I've stayed too long. I should get back to finding my Tardis.”

The Doctor can relate to other people who have lost a lot of things which can sometimes come out as frustration but is still a part of her experiences. Seen in episodes like in TV: It Takes You Away;

“Doctor:...Cos the Solitract doesn't want a husband, you want a whole universe. Someone who has seen it all, and that's me. I've lived longer, seen more, loved more and lost more. I can share it all with you. Anything you want to know about what you never had. Cos he's an idiot with a daughter who needs him. So let him go and I will give you everything.”

During TV: Demons of The Punjab we see how she can connect with Prem and the Thijariand in the history of strong loss of home and complicated interplay with the people they do love. Self-sacrifice as part of grieving and loving also connects to The Doctor. 

In Comic: Old Friends she has a collection of items in her TARDIS that seem to relate to previous friends and adventures. After viewing the call for help she had received from the Corsair asking for help. This incident (TV: The Doctor's Wife) hurt them greatly as he realised there were no more Time Lords and that the body of their friend had been torn for parts. Remembering these events pushes her to agree to an adventure with the Corsair.

Thirteen is also neurodivergent in that she has ADHD & Autism. There are some definite overlaps. Social difficulty, sensitised stress system, anxiety, impulse control, fear of rejection and others. Generally feeling different from other people and having thoughts considered weird is quite common for people on the autism spectrum. A moment that illustrates the way being neurodivergent affects her social experience is in TV: Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror

“Tesla: You're an inventor!

Doctor: I have my moments.

Tesla: I knew it! So you... so you can understand how it feels, you know, when you have an idea and... and to make it real. I don't think there's any greater thrill.

Doctor: I couldn't agree more.

Tesla: You... you spoke of aliens. People, you know, laugh at the very idea.

Doctor: But not you.

Tesla: Well, apparently I'm not like other people. It can be difficult, you know, to feel no one else sees the world the way you do. It's like you're, er...

Doctor: Out of place.”

Her being alone in how she processes the world is shown in Tesla as also being out of place in his life, due to most likely being neurodivergent. This is deeply important in examining her character as it very effectively points out that the alienation Thirteen feels comes from her trauma, her neurodivergence and the toxic stress being different from those around her.

Thirteen will have dissociative and shutdown experiences. (TV: The Woman Who Fell to Earth, TV: Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror, TV: Ascension of The Cybermen, TV: Once, Upon Time, & Prose: Combat Magicks) This is seen strongly in TV: The Ghost Monument, when she can’t keep just keep moving forward at the apparent loss of her TARDIS she shuts down and gives in to a shutdown space even when the companions haven’t reached there first. After traumatic instances, shutdown tends to follow a fight response, like in TV: Fugitive of The Judoon and TV: The Timeless Children.

This dissociative factor interplays with hypervigilance and can play out in The Doctor in having the ability to function well in many stressful situations but it is very hard to maintain the social situations that would be best for her and her friends.

The regeneration for Thirteen is a relatively calm and peaceful one. Closes to Four, Nine or Eleven’s regenerations when it comes across as bitter-sweet. While wrapped up in so much trauma dealing with The Master, Daleks and Cybermen she takes it more in stride than others, wishing she had more time but moving to a calmer state making better final memories for her and Yaz.

“Doctor: Why's the Cloister Bell ringing?

Yasmin: Doctor, look at your hand.

Doctor: No. No. That's not right. I need more time. I want more time! Ah! You know what this means, right? Yeah? It's all right. It's all right, Yaz. One last trip. Where would you choose? What flavour ice cream?

[scene shift]

Yasmin: How many times do you think you've saved Earth?

Doctor: I've lost count. But look at it. How could you not love a planet like that?

Yasmin: I don't want it to end.

Doctor: A wise person once said to me, goodbyes only hurt because what came before was so special. Oh, and it's been so special. You, and Graham, and Ryan, and Dan. Nobody else got to be us. Nobody else got to live our days. Nobody. And my hearts are so full of love of all of you. Oh, I have loved being with you, Yaz. And I have loved being me. I think I need to do this next bit alone.

Yasmin: Let's not say goodbye.”

& 

“Doctor: Oh, the blossomiest blossom. That's the only sad thing. I want to know what happens next. Right, then. Doctor Whoever-I'm-about-to-be. Tag, you're it.”

Choosing to go one by herself comes across as a bit positive in choosing to let Yaz remember her as her and not create more stress on them. And a bit of sadness on her part, while not afraid to regenerate, I think she still feels a bit lost. 

Thirteen is a very interesting look at C-PTSD due to her showing more than one reaction over time in a more drastic way then Ten or Eleven. The fact that she appears female also causes some watchers to not be willing to view as fully ‘The Doctor’.  People paradoxically going from seeing her as too anxious and flighty [flight response] to disliking her level of anger and coldness [fight response]. 

She is a version of The Doctor who is more openly anxious while being one of the most closed-off one's when dealing with her deeper thoughts and a lot of the complexity of their psychological state. Thirteen in the early episodes it is often characterised by the fandom as being ‘healthy’ and healed, mainly due to her not having the same visible and expressed scars from the Time War. But this analysis hopefully shows that she always had clear trauma symptoms; hypervigilance, anxiety, identity issues, grief and social difficulty.

When going through her arc there are many moments where they are subjected to trauma, starting with the loss of Grace tied to her and ending with dealing with The Master and other long-term enemies. Understanding that she already had trauma as part of her core along with the layered new trauma is a full view of the characters. Looking at Thirteen through this lens is important to be able to see her motivations and everything she does.

[thydungeongal]

"Rollplay vs roleplay" started to be a big thing people talked about mostly with the advent of 3rd edition d&d and characters having social skills that you would roll for. Previously, although ad&d 2e included some mechanical use for charisma outside of "how many followers can be attracted," social interactions were generally acted out by the players, maybe using the stats of the character as a guide.

But when you could roll for "persuasion" or "deception," a chunk of players called that "roll-playing," based on the idea that if you could just roll to see how charming your character was, you weren't actually deciding anything about your character

Yeah, that's definitely when I personally started seeing the dichotomy pop up in those exact terms, and I do feel that 3e was the time it suddenly became a big, contentious topic within D&D. Like, as stated, the argument has been around for a long time, but I do think it entered the mainstream with 3e, since it was the big return of D&D to absolute market supremacy but also the one edition of D&D that codified social mechanics.

Anyway, it's really funny to me that the arguments that have been used to denigrate D&D in general have since become, like, a feature of D&D's internal community discourse. Like, we the players of the dungeon game feel very strongly about the fact that dungeons and combat are bad for roleplaying and there should be none of those in real roleplaying games,