#Delver Short

[yappacadaver]

Idk if you’re currently doing art requests…but have u ever drawn ray and Yumm slow dancing together

I have now OwO!!!!!!!! Though yumi can't really slow dance so they're kinda just swaying back and forth lmao

tysm for your patience and for sending in a request!!!! I am always accepting requests for these two always 😭😭

[caenith]

But Idril Celebrindal was wise and far-seeing, and her heart misgave her, and foreboding crept upon her spirit as a cloud. Therefore in that time she let prepare a secret way, that should lead down from the city and passing out beneath the surface of the plain issue far beyond the walls, northward of Amon Gwareth;

Do you know why I absolutely love Tuor? It might not be clear from this short passage from The Silmarillion, but let me quote The Book of Lost Tales real quick:

But Idril said: “This is my rede thereto: gather thou in deep secret those delvers and quarrymen who by careful trial are found to hold least love for Meglin by reason of the pride and arrogance of his dealings among them. From these thou must choose trusty men to keep watch upon Meglin whenso he fares to the outer hills, yet I counsel thee to set the greater part of those in whose secrecy thou canst confide at a hidden delving, and to devise with their aid — howsoever cautious and slow that labour be - a secret way from thy house here beneath the rocks of this hill unto the vale below. (...) Then Tuor said that he might not see all its purport, “but ‘better is any plan than a lack of counsel’, and I will do even as thou sayest”.

He actually listens to his wife.

At this point of the story 'so high did Tuor stand in the favour of the King that when he had dwelt there for seven years Turgon did not refuse him even the hand of his daughter'. He managed to establish and become a leader of one of the twelve houses of Gondolin. He was an important figure and probably a trusted advisor to the king. But when his wife says that something is not right, he doesn't need a lot of persuasion to follow her suggestion.

And what happens? HE SURVIVES. Together with his family and a group of exiles. We don't even get any information about his possible death later on, and I firmly believe that the tales are true - Idril managed to sneak him into Valinor and the Valar decided that "humans are not allowed here, but we will make an exception because he looks very polite".

Be like Tuor.

the silm but all the guys listen to their wives AU

[dailycharacteroption]

Prestige Class Spotlight 13: Aspis Agent

(art by LoranDeSore on DeviantArt)

Ah, the Aspis Consortium, an organization in the Lost Omens setting as insidious as they are greedy. With a mission statement that can be boiled down to “Make a Profit no Matter the Cost”, this organization is every bit of every bad thing about a worldview centered around money. Exploitation, theft, smuggling, slavery… If it can make them money, the Consortium will take advantage of it, all while maintaining the veil of goodwill through charitable works that are in the end infinitesimally tiny compared to the profit the organization makes exploiting the very people they’re supposedly caring for.

Remind you of anything in real life?

While the villainous and underhanded side of the Aspis Consortium can make them suitable antagonists for nearly any campaign, the most likely branch of the Consortium that members of the Pathfinder Society are likely to run into would be their agents. These explorers and plunderers seek out the same sort of ancient sites that the Society is interested in, but purely for the purpose of acquiring the relics within to either keep for personal power or sell to buyers without a thought or care about the impact they cause by doing so, be it disrupting sites held sacred by the locals or outright curses and magical traps on the relics they seek.

Which isn’t to say that the Aspis won’t have their field agents also participate in more domestic crimes as well, of course, but their training focuses on tomb robbing first and foremost.

Which is where this archetype comes into play. While primarily meant for villains, it can also be used for villainous protagonists in evil games, or even by former Aspis members who became (or are becoming), more heroic.

And outside the Lost Omens setting, this archetype could be quite useful for representing a character that is a professional temple delver, particularly one that often has to fight off other expeditions as well.

Delving into this training requires a whole suite of skills revolving around deceit and dungeon delving, as well as basic training with a whip and either keen senses honed around noticing traps or the ability to cast magic that reveals secret doors. The whip training in particular is due to the weapon being a signature combat style of the Aspis Consortium for it’s ability to cause nonlethal pain and control the battlefield.

True to their roguish talents, these agents learn the art of recognizing and avoiding traps if they don’t already have it, and improving upon their skills if they do.

Periodically as they grow in mastery, these agents pick up little tricks or improvements as they grow, drawing upon a short list.

Some stand fearlessly against larger beings and prove shockingly imposing against them, while others learn various advanced combat techniques ranging from setting up traps, using combat maneuvers, and even turning a whip into a deadly weapon. Others learn to ward their thoughts against intrusion so that foes only learn the thoughts they want them to know, while others with bardic training continue that to gain new and better performances. Some learn the art of concealing small objects and can even suppress their magic, which others still learn how to continue their bardic, inquisitor, or mesmerist training into spellcasting. Others learn techniques associated with rogues, while others learn enough magic to shrink an item down for easy carrying and concealment. Some who are also vigilantes can learn an additional technique for their social or vigilante identities.

They also learn how to conceal their aura so that magic that senses particular moralities fail to reveal anything. Later on, they can sense such attempts and even later provide a false aura in case their detection is sophisticated enough to sense all moral alignments.

Not content to merely bypass the traps they find, these tomb breakers learn how to rig both traps they’ve disabled or set up personally so that they can trigger them with a touch. After all, such ingenious mechanisms shouldn’t go to waste, whether they be used against rival delvers or particularly dull denizens. Later on, they can even trigger these traps from a distance with a deftly thrown rock or a nearly-invisible pullcord.

These agents also learn the art of striking for vulnerable points as a rogue would, or improving upon that skill.

Aspis agents know how to throw off the game of others, letting them demoralize or feint foes with clever words. Better yet, they can set such things up days in advance, calling back to a throwaway statement made days ago that sheds it in a new light and leaves a foe infuriated or reeling.

This prestige class certainly points the character in the direction of being the snarky rival archaeologist or treasure hunter, but the fact you can customize it to better suit several different base classes is a real boon. Not having true spellcasting increases is disappointing, forcing you to rely on the more roguish aspects of the class, and as such, your spellcasting choices will likely be built with that in mind, focusing more on buffs and utility than damage or debuffs. Still, this class can be a veritable bag of tricks, ranging from better casting to weaponizing and building portable traps, to performing all sorts of combat and utility tricks with a whip.

In the hands of an antagonist, this archetype can be quite effective for giving an adventure a villain or even recurring villain that isn’t inherent to the dungeon itself, which has the dual benefit of expanding the world and also give your villains and bosses somewhere to be that isn’t behind the final door. In the hands of a protagonist, however, it can a great way to have a morally dubious character in your game, or even a penitent one using their talents for good. Heck, aside from the lore there’s no reason this can’t be used with a swashbuckling hero that isn’t afraid to fight dirty to defeat evil.

Though most shabti, those beings created as surrogate souls to take the burden the souls of the wealthy after death, have a healthy respect for the dead and the world beyond due to how they are rescued form their fate by the psychopomps, not all feel this way. Some are bitter indeed for the cultures that invented the process of creating them to suffer in place of wicked rulers. Such is the case with Nayobi, who has become a professional tomb robber, not just for the riches  therein, but to rob the dead she blames for her creation and suffering of their dignity.

For a month, the party has been racing against their rivals from tomb and ruin site trying to find the clues to the temple of the Horizon Eye, and they’ve both finally made it. However, the fight that erupts threatens to activate the Eye itself, a complex and powerful portal mechanism, and it’s guardian, a Lhaksharut inevitable!

The greedy often say that everyone has a price, that anyone will do anything if the reward is great enough. However, the counterargument is that there are lines that some people will not cross. Such was the case when the relic hunter Miriam Albrax learned what her employers planned to do with a dark relic she had procured, going into hiding as a hermit in one of the oldest forests in the world, watching over the relic with trap and forest ally alike.

[mayakern]

i consulted the skirt tracker but even if it doesn't come back anytime in the close very near future, dungeon delver will return right?! I'm a bit short on money rn but it's my favourite design of the ones you've done, so if it's on its death bed and likely to never come back ever I'll have to do some hard budgeting 👀👀

idk if it’s on it’s deathbed but we will not be reprinting it any time soon

[c-rowlesdraws]

On the 'dungeons are things that just appear somewhere and people have to deal with it' front as well, there's comic that Dark Horse put out called Delver based on that entire premise. It's really well done and certainly has less weird fetish shit.

Link to the trade paperback info w/ short preview-> https://www.darkhorse.com/Books/3008-391/Delver-TPB#prettyPhoto

Oh neat! Thank you!

[hillbillyoracle]

Games as Prepping

There’s a pretty nasty cold front coming to the Ohio River Valley and Northeast toward the end of the week and which means there’s a chance of rolling blackouts in some places as the heat demands go up. 

One of the reasons I got back into pen and paper games is as a sort of “prep” for a similar storm a few years back. Having lived through a few nasty natural disasters, boredom is a real issue. I’ve seen it drive people to take dumb risks they probably wouldn’t have otherwise. 

So I thought I’d list out some of my own and some of my favorite free/pay what you want/cheap games that you can print off/save on your computer or phone ahead of time. Most are one sheet because that’s what I like but some full books. 

Favorites

Pocket Delver - mini zine dice driven dungeon crawl ruleset

One Sheet Rules - OSR style one page ruleset, perfect for beginners

Brighthammer - rules light high fantasy mini zine rule set; d100 

Alone Among the Stars - card driven solo storytelling game; scifi

Quest RPG - beginner and kid friendly d20 fantasy leaning ruleset

Fate Accelerated - setting agnostic beginner friendly 4d6 system

Games I Made

Over the Mountain - rural fantasy solo journaling rpg; d20 + d4 + d6

Pokemon Polyhedral: Micro Edition - A6 sized dice Pokemon game

Gen:Hex - A6 rpg land + town generator; fantasy leaning 

Urb:hor - urban horror solo rpg supplement; includes short ruleset

Bonus

While not printable, here’s my roundup to many many solitaire variations I enjoy. Also don’t forget that Button Shy games has cheap printable copies of their games. 

[fandomchill]

Changeling Au- Inthelittlewoods

Woods Is a Darkling changeling of the Delver and Whisperwisp variety. He is of average height and build. He has short blond hair and pointed ears, with blue eyes. He wears a hair band to keep his bangs out of his eyes.  He wears a green tunic, with long sleeves, as do most of the Archivists. He wears a backpack that is filled with his treasures he found through his days delving, and maps he has made in his Adventures. 

Woods was chosen for his cool head in times of stress. During an intense battle he thought through the traps on the testing room floor, and used them to move the enemy into a disadvantageous positioning and won despite the opponent out numbering him.  

Woods the cool level head to Sol's nervous energy, and is often the one to calm the taller man when he gets too wound up by their newest Gentries antics. He's brave and prone to bold actions, and often relies on luck to carry him through. He loves a good laugh, a good song and generally a good time. He loves testing his skills as well in games of chance, a good spar or even a puzzle. He is loyal to those who have earned his loyalty, and kind to people in general. Still when push comes to shove he will choose his own connections against others all the time and if needed will show his cool and calculating side to achieve their goals. 

Woods is open that his wish was to have a lifetime worth of adventure and make good friends. 

Rank- First of the Court of the Made, Knight of the Made, Captain of the Made's Guard.

Power- Woods powers lie in his specialty of caving.  He is hard to detect if he doesn't want to be seen,  and has the ability to connect with his group telepathically and send and receive messages across long distances through his connections. The more magic he has the longer he can broadcast and receive, and he must invest magic to send messages.   -- Feel free to Reblog, Like and comment, just always remember to credit me. I do like asks.

[vh-rp]

Mage Archetype Negation

Archetype: Negation A mage with the negation archetype focuses on weakening their opponents and crippling their enemies. These foci are designed around the principles of sacrifice - of the mage, or of their foes. Mages who choose foci within this class often specialize in debuffing and weakening anyone foolish enough to stand against them.

Foci: Blood Mage Every mage can feel the dark lure of blood magic. Originally learned from demons, these dark rites tap into the power of blood, converting life into mana and giving the mage command over the minds of others. Such power comes with a price, though; a blood mage must sacrifice their own health, or the health of allies, to fuel these abilities.

Within this foci fall the following abilities:

Death Sense: Allows someone to determine if a creature is alive or not, the identity of the corpse and how it died, how long ago it died, etc. similar.

Hemakonietic Constructs: Creating tools and weapons out of blood.

Black Healer: Can employ blood to speed the body’s healing, purge diseases, etc.on self and others.

Blood Solidity: Can alter the solidity and consistency of blood, ranging from a jelly clot substance to metal-like hardness.

Blood Aura: Can surround oneself with blood for defensive and offensive purposes.

Foci: Necromancer These mages specialize in binding the spirits that are drawn to death. They can put the fear of death into enemies, bring spirits to fight on their behalf and even cause devastating explosions when their enemies die. These mages also find it easier to commune with the deceased spirits, especially now the veil has been taken down.

Within this foci fall the following abilities:

Spirits of Horror: Gather and unleash spirits of fear, despair, paranoia, etc.

Death Siphon: Every time an enemy dies, health and mana is regained.

Power of the Dead: Killing enemies attracts spirits to a necromancer, and increases their power for a brief period of time.

Walking Bomb: Curse an enemy by inflicting ongoing spirit damage, triggering the curse will cause an explosion.

Corpse Control: Able to revive corpses for a short time, enlisting fallen enemies to fight on their side.

Foci: Entropy Entropy spells enable mages to cripple their enemies by attacking their life force. They seek to weaken their enemies, can cast hexes to indirectly cripple their foes, as well as cause disorientation, horror, and drain the life of others by creating parasitic bonds. Mages of these abilities are feared and for good reason.

Within this foci fall the following abilities:

Energy Theft: The ability to create a parasitic bond between yourself and an enemy and absorb mana, energy, and/or power from them

Energy Manipulation: Able to transfer, dampen, or temporarily bolster a target’s energy and/or mana.

Wards: Able to set barriers and magical traps around a target, or to protect a specific area.

Hex: Also known as curse. Persistent spells that cause damage over time, or cripple targets to weaken them in protracted battles.

Nullification: Can nullify or counterspell nearby magic for a short amount of time. Success depends on ability and proficiency compared to the one who originally cast the spell.

Foci: Umbramancy Umbramancy confers the ability to control and manipulate light and darkness. Some mages are more prolific, or only focus on one over the other. Whatever the case, these mages are able to blind their enemies, obfuscate the battlefield, or otherwise create dizzying displays of shadow and reflection. Some are highly prized as entertainers, while others are scouted as utilitarian dungeon-delvers. The most skilled umbramancers are capable of forming solid objects out of otherwise amorphous elements.

Within this foci fall the following abilities:

Light Switch: Dim or brighten the surrounding area. Summon/gather/move light or shadow.

Shadow Screen: Can use the darkness to form a cloud around them to move stealthily, or seem to vanish from sight.

Blinding Pulse: Can use a sudden burst of light to temporarily blind enemies.

Flashlight: Able to cause objects to light up, glow, etc.

Dark Matter: Able to animate light or shadow, change the consistency of light and darkness (i.e. wrap an opponent up in a sheet of darkness, stab an enemy with a spear of light, etc.)

[sileomaolduin]

GREATAXE

[A Short Story about a Vampire, and those that fought it. Written for the community of The Delver's Guide to Beast World - and set within the Beast World. The following story contains visceral scenes of violence, derogatory language, and pronounced themes of emotional turmoil and loss of self - particularly in Part 4 onwards.]

PART ONE

There was a vampire in Madroileán.

It had put a tension in the air like Al’ar silk. You could see clear through it, but it cast an uneasy glow over all under it, and you could see that everyone was itching for their scian to cut it. The very idea was dragging up all the rotten old thoughts. All the horrid things whispered and sneered in times thought long past. The Vampire came from Allemance. Many did. They loved the veneer of royalty. Of monarchism, and power held over a class below them. They adored the theatre of it. Sometimes it felt like the nobility were all too keen to welcome them in when the gaze turned cynical and cold. And it felt like Glasrún’s gaze was colder than usual. More ammunition for the theories and whisperings that Madroileán’s many horrors were of Crown Gilt.

But for most of Madroileán’s kin, their concerns were less with what machination or conspiracy was responsible for the interesting times in which they always and eternally lived; and more with dealing with those times. In good years, with drink and song. But in years like this - with axe and blade. To call it concern did not seem quite right. There was a certain jovial stoicism in the types of beast that called Madroileán home. This was their life, and there was naught to do but get on with it and make the next day better than the last. A hard life, yes. But a good one. And an honest one. It was no wonder that Madroileán boasted a cadre of fine vampire hunters and delvers among the island’s alumni then - and it was something they were nonetheless glad for. Concern may not have been the right word. But there was a weight to everything that was not usually there.

Not everyone always came back from fighting a vampire. And everyone assembled knew it. It hung in the air as a cloud of daggers, each glance exchanged with another of the kern bringing with it the pointed, heart-stinging question in each direction.

“Which of us isn’t coming home?”

Clíona turned suddenly as someone actually said it out loud, blinking with shock. Her chain shirt rustled as she did, the whetstone coming to a scratch-halt along the blade of her sword, twisting to see who’d found the gall. Behind her, the water of Dramphine’s Well rushed and howled as it tumbled into the caverns below. And before her, a fox and a wolf held each other by the forearms, as they gathered shields and chain shirts and blades. With brows furrowed, and a coin marked with Dramphine’s image being worried between the fingers.

With her eyes a little more downcast, and her chest a little heavier, she returned her attention to her blade; though she did so now with her ears pricked and listening.

“McGuire sent a troop of footmen when he heard - and a wagon of Delvers showed up with a chest of crowns and a crate of silver, a gift from old Fred, apparently. There’s been talk of mercenaries coming in too, so…” They were speaking low, but halting. She worked slower now, so the sound of the whetstone on steel wouldn’t drown them out. So she could still listen in on it.

“So, maybe this might be less last hurrah, a little more vampire killing?” A shift of chain. A ‘clod’ of a cork sole on the stone. “You’re one of the mercenaries, right? That’s a mercenary’s sword.”

She looked back over her shoulder, even though the fox could only have been talking to her. But still she did the pre-requisite ritual. Looking behind her, glancing left and right - but she was the only one with a sword like that in her lap; with the guard ground to an axehead, and a heavy ring pommel, carved with runes down the blade. Clíodhna paused, halfway to nodding; halfway to shaking her head. Before settling on shaking it.

“No. Not today, anyways. I’m not here for crowns, I’m here for home.” If the scarf hadn’t given her away already, then speaking definitely did. The same song-sing voice, the same lilt and melody. “Any other day… aye. But I’m not about to charge going rate for the defence of my own home now, am I?” She offered up a tired smile, wiping the whetstone with her thumb, and setting it aside her on the low, polished stone wall that ran a ring around the spring and its pools. Her head went back slowly, away from the questioning fox in their ill-fit shirt of chain over a baker’s apron, and their nervous partner leaning on her spear like a walking stick. Up; towards the apex of the spring, where carven from marble Dramphine’s image stood tall, a lantern in one hand and sword in the other; the lantern raised - the sword resting low. The silver-light from the waters below danced across her form, making her painted chest seem to rise and fall with furor, her stern gaze wander across those assembled.

It made her heart ache. Which in itself made her rather abashed. A sigh came like a huff of exertion, then she reached down to the pouch at her side and from it drew a slender silver dart.

“I’ll give you something more to take hope in though -” she said, holding the dart up so it caught the light. “The Motherguard have heard. Tonight we fight alongside her stewards.”

She saw them flinch. Not everyone held the same puppy-eyed adoration for the Motherguard that she did. Many of the others assembled in the cave were not career fighters. For them, the Motherguard’s appearance was not the cry of a battle won. For them, the Motherguard took their payment in heartache. Away, the dart went.

“Give what you can. We will give what you cannot.” She almost flinched herself, saying it, before she pushed herself to her feet, and slid her sword back into its scabbard. Abruptly, she realised she had more eyes on her than just the couple she’d been talking with. It became keenly, painfully clear to her that of all the people that had gathered in this sanctum, she was the only one of them who both had real training - and still had the vitality of youth to put it into practice. She knew her kinsmen were a hardy people, but…

Regardless. She was glad that they had the support of the continent. She pushed it from her mind, and settled to help the volunteers fit their arms and armour.

[theresattrpgforthat]

Hey! I really love your recommendations— I’m just now getting into Ironsworn as a solo game from one of your posts. I was wondering, and I know this is a difficult and maybe weird ask, but do you know any solo rpgs that have good tactical combat? I enjoy narrative systems a lot, but my biggest passion is getting deep into tactics and strategy. I can’t even imagine how a solo game could get much more tactical than Ironsworn is, but if there are any out there I’d really love to try them out.

THEME: Solo Tactical Games

Hello, thank you so much for the lovely compliment! Let’s see if I can find anything for you.

EZCARGOT, by Garlickatsu.

"The surface has been lost. What remains is a gray, featureless and foggy wasteland. Dangerous, unidentifiable Entities roam free. Humanity lives in Rifts that keep them safe from Entites. These Rifts are kept open using a highly volatile resource called Anomaly. You pilot an EZ.CARGO.Trailer to transport one chunk of stable Anomaly between Rifts. Scan for the route ahead. Protect the Anomaly. Make it to your next destination alive."

EZCARGOT is more of an exploration game than it is a combat game, but the fact that you’re protecting an Anomaly makes combat feel necessary, even if it’s just a necessary part. That being said, the building and maintenance of your EZCARGOT vehicle is definitely at the centre of this game. This vehicle has compartments for various purposes; generating energy, firing weapons, carrying the Anomaly, and more.

On top of maintaining the EZCARGOT and protecting your precious cargo, there is the hazard of the land you must travel to get from rift to rift. If you want a game that’s weird, futuristic and dangerous, you might like EZCARGOT.

Delve to Earn Dimes, by flumpledev.

The surface world became uninhabitable for most people long ago. Not due to any cataclysm or war, but due to low wages.

In this solo journaling TTRPG you play as a crew of career dungeon delvers who are able to afford to live on the surface- as long as you spend most of your time surviving inside the dungeon. With a blackjack resolution mechanic you will need to weigh risk and reward, survival and honor in The Undercity.

A deck-of-cards dungeon delve, this game gives you a crew of characters to manage, rather than just one. Each member has different skills, attached to the four suits of your deck of cards. These cards also double as encounter generators, creating obstacles and enemies as you move down each floor of your dungeon.

Each day of in-game time, you will have an encounter. I suspect many of these encounters will be combat focused, since in most case you’ll have to decide whether you press on and deal with the encounter, or flee. You’ll also have a boss to defeat on each floor in order to keep moving onward - and a juicy reward after each boss fight that gives you the feeling of levelling up.

Hollow Hike, by RollForThings.

Hollow Hike is a short Dark Souls-inspired RPG about travelling a blighted land as a deathless Hollow, repeatedly dying and reviving against difficult foes, discovering the secrets of a lost kingdom, and slaying the Ashen Lords along the way. Hollow Hike is designed for a one-player experience, but can optionally be played with a GM for a duet game.

If you like gritty combat, you’ll probably like Hollow Hike. Similar to plenty of traditional fantasy games, you have a level and a class, and similar to Dark Souls, you need to collect souls to level up. If you die, you drop all of the souls you’ve collected up until then, and you’ll have to reach the same point in order to pick them back up - if you’ve played Bloodborne, this is probably familiar to you!

One of the ways the game is challenging is in the single-use nature of your items. You can use them to give yourself slight advantages in combat, but once you use them, they’re gone. However, I think the highlight of this game is the bosses on each level. They’re the doors to a new realm when they are defeated, and if they are an Ashen Lord, they’re extra special - they bring you one step closer to a true escape.

Factory of the Machine God, by Anthony Hobday.

A solo pen-and-paper tactical mech combat game.

An AI virus has uploaded itself to Mech Factory 12 [North Sea]. It has named itself “The Machine God.” We cannot send autonomous mechs against it. You will be airlifted to the factory. Go to the 5th floor and shut down the server. Clean-up crews will land on your all-clear.

This feels very much like an old-school rpg, with levels of the factory to work through, 6 skills, and various module spaces with which you can build your mech. Because you’re building your ideal war-machine, I think character creation alone can make this game tactical, but of course you’ll also have to battle various enemies as you try to get closer and closer to the final boss. The game also comes with an order of operations for enemies to act, which makes it easier for you to plan ahead and try and make the most of what you have.

Factory of the Machine God is rather minimalist in presentation, but I think it has a really strong concept as its base conceit, and I think it’s worth checking out all the same.

My Spoons are Stabby!, by Caramel Sugarevil.

Welcome to My Spoons are Stabby, a solo roguelike game where you’re dungeon crawling through your mind and dealing with the monsters you find there. The best weapon in the Monster Hunter’s arsenal is their mind, so we developed The Chaos Machine, the holodeck that mentally links to the Hunt Team. Through that, they can work through their issues individually or as a team. 

My Spoons are Stabby uses a deck of cards for task resolution, and your character has four stats that correspond to each card suit. You play by drawing cards from a draw pile and placing them into a daily spread of 6.

Your primary resource is called “Spoons”, which are required to do most things. If you run out of spoons too soon, you can take a wound or use up resources, but both are limited - and if you get 5 wounds, you lose the game.

The genre of the game feels a bit like urban fantasy. Each card you draw introduces various complications and monsters, many of which have special rules about how to deal with that day’s specific problem.

If you want a game that’s a strong metaphor and feels a little bit like a pick-your-own adventure with a few extra pieces to manage, you might like My Spoons are Stabby.

Welcome to the Dungeon, by wym_lawson.

You are the overseer of the realm of darkness, the supreme ruler of all monsters, known to the humans as The-Tainted-One. Despite these grand titles and immense responsibilities, you just want to live a quiet, peaceful life with your skeleton friends and pet slimes. But why do the humans find the need to invade your domain, seeking to destroy you and disrupt your peace?

Fine. If they insist on war, you will give them just that. In Welcome to the Dungeon, you play as the Dark Lord. Your goal is to build a dungeon filled with traps and monsters to thwart these pesky Heroes. Each victory against these intruders earns you resources, enabling you to enhance and expand your dungeon. Hopefully, you will be prepared to face the ultimate adventuring party led by the Chosen One.

I think Welcome to the Dungeon is kind of a tactical combat, but most of the tactics happen before any of the combat starts You create a dungeon with a certain number of points; the more points used, the higher the level of the dungeon. Apart from rooms, you’ll also need to create traps and Monsters - if you’re familiar with Boss Monster the boardgame, I think it feels slightly like that.

You’re also going to building the Heroes, which are the foes that you pit your dungeon against. These heroes have levels, just like your dungeon, but they also have classes, special reactions, and traits that will make defeating them difficult. If you defeat them, you get more points! Perhaps you can use those to make your dungeons even deadlier on your second play!

First Monarch, by Mundos Infinitos.

After THE FALL, We conceive the perfect MONARCHS And they, released their CRIMSON MIST. Many became SPECTERS, cities crumbled. Some survived, underground. The GUARDIAN has found her CHOSEN, With the duty of defeating the… FIRST MONARCH

The creator behind Mundos Infinitos is very good at packaging a whole experience in just a few pages. One page of First Monarch is full of oracles, generators that make your adventure unpredictable. Another page is dedicated to character details and special abilities; including a Bloodlust track that fills every time you turn a failure into a victory.

You play two characters in First Monarch, rather than one: a Chosen and a Guardian. The Chosen is the character with special abilities, but the Guardian has a special dice that can be used to lend you her aid in certain circumstances. She can also give you her blood to reduce your Bloodlust.

All in all, a lot of flavour in a very small package.

Other Posts To Look At

Not all of the games in these posts will be tactical, but these are the recommendation posts that I think are most likely to have tactical games.

Solo Showdowns Recommendation Post

Chrono Trigger / FFVI Solo Games

Solo Knights

Also Consider…

Godspark, by M.Allen Hall.

The Void series from ParaMyth Games.

[honourablejester]

Heart: The City Beneath, Character Concept: Horror Hunger Cleaver

Okay. The thing about the Cleaver class is that it’s already built around eating things. They are delightfully body horror incarnate, if not quite to the same extent as the Deep Apiarists. The core class ability, RED FEAST, lets you literally eat resources (which can be anything from ‘a fresh heart’ to ‘spare capacitors’ to ‘occult scribblings’) to temporarily gain the domains attached. If it’s something that’s not normally eatable, you might have to make an Endure+Cursed roll to avoid damage, but you can eat anything, it just might kill you. So, like. This whole class encourages exploring the world with your stomach. So. Let’s lean into that.

Cleavers also have an emphasis on transformation. A LOT of their abilities are alterations to their bodies. I was flip-flopping on my starting major ability, whether to pick the one that emphasises the hunger, or the one that emphasises the transformation, but I think I am aiming more ‘cannibal’ than ‘werewolf’ here. Though I’m not taking the actual cannibal ability just yet, I want to lay some groundwork first. I’ve got at least three more minor abilities I want to pick up later, to round us out, but I wanted to set her up with the skills she needs to survive that little bit longer first (in particular, Sneak and Endure, as they help out RED FEAST). Plus. The ability that lets cleavers gain the sneak skill is so fun. I’d take it anyway, nearly regardless of what I was aiming for. Pitchskin is just such a fun ability.

For calling, we’re going Heartsong again. I know, I know, a) I pick that one a lot, and b) isn’t a bit redundant on a cleaver? But cleavers are so primal. And the Heart fits that so well. I’m going to eat my way down to the core of the world through the red, feasting passages, drinking the blood of the arteries as I go. Our motivation is curiosity. Hungry curiosity. There’s something calling down there, and it smells so good. This place is such a feast. Will it kill me? Maybe! But I’ll die with my belly full. Questions and philosophy and magic are for other, fancier people. Me, I’ll learn the whole world by taste.

And for ancestry, I’m going to admit straight up that the choice was decided by a single trinket available to one ancestry. Dark elves have the option to have a collection of pulp horror novels as their trinket. And that just darkly tickles me. I’m a horrible borderline cannibalistic survivalist digging eagerly into the bloody meat of an eldritch Heart, but I read! It’s trashy pulp horror, but I read! There’s some fun ideas in there!

LIVYAN CHARACTER SHEET

Name: Livyan

Whatever she once looked like, the Heart has already changed her. A black, grinning shadow, short and stocky, with a cheerfully prominent gut. Distinctly feral looking, with a fondness for crouching and scuttling, but never think she’s nothing but a blind brute. There’s hidden depths there.

Ancestry: Dark Elf

She was born in the City Beneath, one of the Heart’s creatures from the moment she hatched. A poor creature, an urchin, a scavenger, some might say a vulture, but all interesting things one must find and taste for oneself. She’s always been good at finding interesting things. And she learns. No one expects it, but she does learn. She’s smarter than she looks. Just … rather primal in priority.

Calling: Heartsong

The Heart is home. She can feel it in her blood and in her bones. The beat, the heartbeat. She wants to claw her way down to it. And, you know. Try out anything interesting and tasty along the way.

Class: Cleaver

“The wildest of all are known as Cleavers. They step out into the shifting nightmare of the City Beneath and make a home there. They are the first people to set foot in each new chamber of the place, forging ahead through a dark and strange frontier. […] Cleavers are a common sight amongst parties of delvers, especially those in need of a guide – no-one knows the Heart like they do. No amount of research, no technological device and no arcane scrying ritual can tell you as much as burying yourself waist-deep in the red wet heaven and eating the bounty it generously offers up.” (Pg. 27)

Cleavers are so delightfully visceral. Their abilities are so physical, written to the blood and the bone. The Heart warps them, and maybe some of them fight it, regret it, but some of them accept it. Find glee in it. Livyan is definitely one of those. Stain her eyes black, seep tar from her skin, do it all, it feels wonderful. She is not only learning, she is becoming.

Skills: Hunt (Cleaver), Delve (Darkling Eyes), Endure (Fell Metabolism), Sneak (Pitchskin)

Domains: Cursed (Cleaver),

Equipment: Hunting Knife (Kill D6), Bone Charms & Animal-Gut Sutures (Mend Blood D6).

Resources: A freshly harvested heart that still occasionally twitches (D6 Wild).

Trinkets: Small collection of Half-sten Horror sensationalist pulp literature (Dark Elf). Midwife’s blood-letting kit (Dark Elf). Mandala made from hollow crow bones (Heartsong).

Abilities:

Core Ability (Heartsong): IN THE BLOOD. You move through the Heart as if blessed. +1 Echo Protection. Once per situation, when you take stress to any resistance other than Echo, allocate it to Echo.

Core Ability (Cleaver): HEARTSBLOOD. You have a bone-deep connection to the Heart Itself; the closer you get, the more powerful you become. Your minimum protection value for all resistances is equal to the tier of the Heart you are currently on. This value doesn’t add to other sources of protection, but your base protection can’t be lower than your current tier unless you specifically lose access to it due to fallout.

Core Ability (Cleaver): THE RED FEAST. Your crucible guts pluck memories from the meat. When you eat a resource, you gain any domains associated with that resource until the end of the situation. If you already have access to the domain, gain an appropriate knack. There’s no limit to what you can eat, but tough or noxious materials might require an Endure+Cursed check to avoid causing yourself harm. Consuming resources requires your attention and leaves you exposed, so doing it successfully in stressful situations (such as combat) could require a Sneak or Evade roll.

Major Abilities (Cleaver): MONSTROUS APPETITE. When you eat, you unhinge your jaw and wolf down anything within reach until your belly is distended and you are resplendent with power. When you use THE RED FEAST to consume a resource that has a domain you can access, remove stress from Blood or Echo equal to the amount rolled on the dice instead.

(My other thought was Chimeric Strain, which leans into the werewolfy sort of side of the Cleaver, but Monstrous Appetite lets her LEARN as she goes, and it has a few attached minor abilities that are viciously tempting)

Minor Abilities (Cleaver):

DARKLING EYES. Years of exploring the City Beneath have rid you of the need for creature comforts such as warmth, light and shelter. Gain the Delve skill. Your jet-black eyes allow you to see in pitch blackness as though it were full daylight.

FELL METABOLISM. Food is just fuel to stoke the fire undying within you. Gain the Endure skill. When you use THE RED FEAST ability, you may choose to have your attacks gain the Brutal tag for a number of actions equal to the amount rolled on the resource dice instead of gaining a domain.

PITCHSKIN. Your skin bubbles and shifts into night-black tones as tar seeps through the pores. Gain the Sneak skill. The secretions from your skin are flammable and adhesive, acting as a sort of volatile glue you can exude at will.

(I do want her to pick up the Kill skill later via Unmaking Claws, to help with Fell Metabolism, as well as Desperate Measure (the cannibalism ability) and Monstrous Appetite’s attached ability Horrendous Bite. She’ll be a very cannibalistic feeling sort of creature by the end of it. But I wanted to start with Endure, Sneak and Delve, to go exploring with, and both Darkling Eyes and Pitchskin are just cool, both in their effects and in their physical effects on her).

Calling Story Beats:

Some Heartsong story beats for our curious, hungry cannibal:

“Consume something of the Heart (eat the flesh of a heartsblood beast, etc).” “Take Minor Echo fallout.” “Convince the party to collect Cursed resources on a delve, adding D6 to the delve’s resistance.” “Allow something dangerous of the Heart to live when you could have killed it.” “Let your curiosity lead you into danger.” “Build a shrine to the Heart somewhere important.” “Take Major Echo fallout.” “Show the truth of the Heart’s majesty to an outsider (Tier 2 or deeper).” “Become one with the Heart, and bind your essence to it.”

I do want her to take Echo damage primarily. She’s eating her way down into the Heart, that has to have consequences, no? If she dies of critical echo fallout, that’ll be just fine with me. She’s very ‘eat or be eaten’. Or even ‘eat AND be eaten’. If the Heart eats her right back, well, that’s fair enough. Heh.

[eldridgecandell]

⚰️ Spend the night in a cemetery

The clank of metal to stone resounded in among the tombstones as the pale moon shone brightly despite a black cloudy sky. As the echoes of the steel striking stone continued to reverberate in the fitting witching hour gloom, a harsh whisper would follow it.

"Light, Criney, watch it wit tha shovel!" The voice was sharp and carried the heavy din of Gilnean cockney.

A grunt would grumble back as the soft whisper of a Dark Iron's busque would respond with the same level of disdain. "Fuck off ye daft fleabag, if you zink moving this is eazy than come down an try your self, Hawkthorne."

Despite the dark, the sneer that Hawk would give his fellow 'midnight delver' could have been heard with the crack of teeth and skin. The years were hardly kind to anyone from the blockaded kingdom of refugees. It suited Hawk just fine, a man of his expertise was all the more comfortable with great misfortunes. "Fine, scoot yer short arse over an let me in there."

The graverobbers would now be standing hip to hip, their genetic difference in height all the more apparent standing six feet into a grave. "Oy then hand over the bit then, eh?"

Criney gladly handed over the crowbar to his partner before pushing past him to stand at the other end of the coffin they both straddled. Hawk planting the end of the pry into a slot of the coffin with low curse and grunt before putting his back into it as the shutter quaked from his assault.

"Put your back into it," Criney growled as he leaned a hand into the side of the dirt hole.

"What tha fuck ya think ahm doin here, eh?" Hawk swore back at his red eyed companion as struggled again to open the coffin.

A soft click responded before Criney could snark back. The very clear click of a hammer of a different variety.

"Putting that bar down for one," came the low, chilling voice from above them. "And then exiting the hole with due haste."

Both robbers turned to look up out of the hole as the moon just had to perfectly silhouette the figure above them. Large round eyes of glass looking down with a face of blank slate with a tousle of dark hair above it. The facial features were easy to pick up in the moonlight, along with the shining steel of the pair of pistols aimed at each of them.

"An wha if we-"

Two shots rang clear like thunder in the dark night, followed by two soft thumps.

Silence took the cemetery for a few brief moments before a gentle rain of earth heralded two new tenants.

@damien-ward

[fridge-reviews]

Dread X Collection

Developer: DreadXP Publisher: DreadXP Rrp: £5.19 (Steam) £5.58 (Itch.io) £5.99 (Epic) Released: 26th May 2020 Available on: Itch.io, Steam and Epic

The Dread X Collection is a compilation of ten horror themed games that were created in seven days. The games were all created with the prompt of PT (the game PT as well the technical term, Playable Teaser). Many of the contributors to the collection are names you may recognise such as David Szymanski (the creator of Dusk). In later Dread X Collections (because it has now become a series) some of these games have become more developed and brought out as independent titles that you may recognise. It should be noted that there are a few things that should be kept in mind with these games; 1 - They're all very short experiences. 2 - Due to the speed they were created in they are going to be rough around the edges and even have a few glitches etc. 3 - Again, due to the speed of development they aren't going to be the prettiest games.

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The Pay is Nice

Developer: Odd Breeze

This was the first game I played in the collection and for me this game didn't really strike me like some of the others would do later. The thing is I can see the germ of a great game inside it, there was an air of mystery going on and it left me wanting answers. Sadly those are answers I doubt I'll ever get.

The game uses an old Resident Evil style, fixed camera angle which helps heighten the tension and sense of paranoia the game clearly wants to give the player. Sadly, as I said at the beginning of this review, the game didn't grab me and part of that was a because of the way it ended, it just felt very unsatisfying.

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Don't Go Out

Developer: Secret Cow Level

Yet again another game with a nugget of something great, a turn based game where you use resources in the form of cards to achieve the only goal that matters, surviving the night. You may succeed in doing this through clever positioning or perhaps you sacrifice a friend to give the rest of the party a chance. It doesn't matter how you do it as long as you survive to see another day.

You get as many actions in a turn as you have characters out, you start with only one but eventually the cards you get in your hand will reveal other characters to put out on to the field. Thankfully, playing a card doesn't cost an action so you can run and then play a card (or visa versa). At the end of each of your turns the enemies will take their turn and the countdown ticks on. You just need to have at least one party member alive by the time the countdown gets to zero.

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Hand of Doom

Developer: Torple Dook

This is one of those games that I mentioned that has (or will do) go on to be its own release. Based on what I played here I'll definitely be picking it up. This is an old school dungeon delver (such as the Wizardry series) where the [A] and [D] keys are used to slowly turn rather than strafe. One of the things that makes this game so interesting to me is the spell casting. You do this by using four buttons on the right side of the screen, each button representing a portion of an incantation.

This is yet another one of those games where I didn't ever feel actually scared by this game, but I can see that there is definite potential for it to be very scary, as it stands in this form though its more just creepy. Honestly the full release of this looks like it'll be a ton of fun. It's now officially on my wishlist.

Edit: In the time between of writing this review and posting it, I have now purchased the full game.

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Carthanc

Developer: Scythe Dev Team

Indiana Jones in space if it were a FPS without any weapons. That sentence pretty much covers this game for a descriptor. I'm going to be a bit charitable here and just say that this game was... frustrating. At no point did I find myself scared not even jump scared, what I mostly felt was annoyance mostly because of the enemies in this. They scream, constantly and its not scary it just causes my ears to hurt. It's also frustrating because there are several puzzles that require some fairly precise first person platforming, all the while this screaming thing is following relentlessly.

I truly hope they never make a full game of this, because I'd envitably end up picking it up and having to suffer through it all over again.

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Shatter

Developer: Lovely Hellplace

I loved this game! It's not the prettiest thing to look at but that adds to the charm and its clear the developers were intending on a Playstation one look to the game. A style that I think they achieved with flying colours. Its a nice mix of cyberpunk and horror, kinda reminded me of Silent Hill in some ways.

This game was haunting and the story had me wanting more... sadly I'm not sure that'll ever happen but I live in hope.

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Rotgut

Developer: Showrunner Productions

Quality was always going to be a questionable affair when it came to this collection, that was expected. But this game was POINTLESS. You just walk down an overly long tunnel hit a wall and then have to turn around and go back, that's it. Nothing happens.

I hated this, it was a waste of my time.

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Summer Night

Developer: Airdorf

At the start this game gives the advise that its best experienced in the dark and with headphones on and I totally agree. Sound is a huge part of this game. Sadly I can't tell you much about it because its quite a short one and only has room for a single twist and I'd hate to ruin that. What I will say is that there is more than meets the eye here.

Playing this game has convinced me that I need to play Airdorfs game Faith, I've been umming and arring about it for a while but now I'm convinced. As for this game, I love it, it terrified me!

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Mr Bucket Told Me To

Developer: Strange Scaffold This one is quite interesting because unlike the rest it has multiple endings, they aren't all that different from each other but still way more than I expected. The basic jist of this game is to stay alive four nights and you die if any meter reaches zero and you go to sleep.

Personally I didn't find this particularly scary, but I can see the core horror 'concept' that they were trying to achieve. Not bad honestly.

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Outsiders

Developer: Mahelyk

Timeloops games have become popular of late, but this one was made before it became the mechanic du jour. Though I'd argue this game is more cyclical than an actual timeloop. This is the game that is closest to being like PT, but even then that's only in the most surface level of ways.

This game really had me on edge many times and really had me getting a bit paranoid. I definitely will be checking out Mahelyk's other work.

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The Pony Factory

Developer: David Szymanski

The Pony Factory is a horror themed first person shooter by David Szymanski (the creator of the game Dusk). I must admit I love the B movie style of this game which captures the essence of horror while not actually being scary.

For the most part the game is in black and white which adds to the overall atmosphere. On the whole its a great little game, I kinda wish he'd do more with it but that's doubtful.

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If you’d like to support me I have a Ko-fi, the reviews will continue to be posted donation or not.

[ebaeschnbliah]

They had marched as far as the hobbits could endure without a rest, and all were thinking of a place where they could sleep, when suddenly the walls to right and left vanished. They seemed to have passed through some arched doorway into a black and empty space. There was a great draught of warmer air behind them, and before them the darkness was cold on their faces. They halted and crowded anxiously together.

Gandalf seemed pleased. `I chose the right way,' he said. `At last we are coming to the habitable parts, and I guess that we are not far now from the eastern side. But we are high up, a good deal higher than the Dimrill Gate, unless I am mistaken. From the feeling of the air we must be in a wide hall.’ 

I will now risk a little real light

He raised his staff, and for a brief instant there was blaze like a flash of lightning. Great shadows sprang up and fled, and for a second they saw a vast roof far above their heads upheld by many mighty pillars hewn of stone. Before them and on either side stretched a huge empty hall; its black walls, polished and smooth as glass, flashed and glittered. Three other entrances they saw, dark black arches: one straight before them eastwards, and one on either side. Then the light went out.

`That is all that I shall venture on for the present,' said Gandalf. 'There used to be great windows on the mountain-side, and shafts leading out to the light in the upper reaches of the Mines. I think we have reached them now, but it is night outside again, and we cannot tell until morning. If I am right, tomorrow we may actually see the morning peeping in. But in the meanwhile we had better go no further. Let us rest, if we can. Things have gone well so far, and the greater part of the dark road is over. But we are not through yet, and it is a long way down to the Gates that open on the world.'

The Company spent that night in the great cavernous hall, huddled close together in a corner to escape the draught: there seemed to be a steady inflow of chill air through the eastern archway. All about them as they lay hung the darkness, hollow and immense, and they were oppressed by the loneliness and vastness of the dolven halls and endlessly branching stairs and passages. The wildest imaginings that dark rumour had ever suggested to the hobbits fell altogether short of the actual dread and wonder of Moria.

`There must have been a mighty crowd of dwarves here at one time ' said Sam; `and every one of them busier than badgers for five hundred years to make all this, and most in hard rock too! What did they do it all for? They didn't live in these darksome holes surely? '

`These are not holes,' said Gimli. `This is the great realm and city of the Dwarrowdelf. And of old it was not darksome, but full of light and splendour, as is still remembered in our songs.'

He rose and standing in the dark he began to chant in a deep voice, while the echoes ran away into the roof.

The world was young, the mountains green, No stain yet on the Moon was seen, No words were laid on stream or stone, When Durin woke and walked alone. He named the nameless hills and dells; He drank from yet untasted wells; He stooped and looked in Mirrormere, And saw a crown of stars appear, As gems upon a silver thread, Above the shadow of his head. The world was fair, the mountains tall, In Elder Days before the fall Of mighty kings in Nargothrond And Gondolin, who now beyond The Western Seas have passed away: The world was fair in Durin's Day. A king he was on carven throne In many-pillared halls of stone With golden roof and silver floor, And runes of power upon the door. The light of sun and star and moon In shining lamps of crystal hewn Undimmed by cloud or shade of night There shone for ever fair and bright. There hammer on the anvil smote, There chisel clove, and graver wrote; There forged was blade, and bound was hilt; The delver mined, the mason built. There beryl, pearl, and opal pale, And metal wrought like fishes' mail, Buckler and corslet, axe and sword, And shining spears were laid in hoard. Unwearied then were Durin's folk; Beneath the mountains music woke: The harpers harped, the minstrels sang, And at the gates the trumpets rang. The world is grey, the mountains old, The forge's fire is ashen-cold; No harp is wrung, no hammer falls: The darkness dwells in Durin's halls; The shadow lies upon his tomb In Moria, in Khazad-dum. But still the sunken stars appear In dark and windless Mirrormere; There lies his crown in water deep, Till Durin wakes again from sleep.

`I like that! ' said Sam. `I should like to learn it ... In Moria, in Khazad-dûm! ... But it makes the darkness seem heavier, thinking of all those lamps.

JRR Tolkien reads The Song of Durin ‘The world was young the mountains green’

JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, A Journey in the Dark

[queenfisher1]

(#FFF214 Broken Mirror) Breaking the Dutchess' Mirror

This is a short story continuing a previous one I had written as an assignment. It is based on another short story called "The Reaper's Image" by Stephen King. Here's the link to previous short story I made (Dutchess Aria's Delver Looking Glass): https://www.deviantart.com/queenfisher1/art/Dutchess-Aria-s-Delver-Looking-Glass-917424412

@flashfictionfridayofficial

They snuck back into the crowded room, luckily without any attention drawn to their sudden reappearance. Jessy felt reassured by the lack of attention, allowing her to act as if nothing had happened. She looked around and studied the mirrors hung on the wall. They were simplistic and square, reaching from the floor to the ceiling high above her head. The reflections were plain. Dull compared to the handcrafted Delver mirror.

The Delver mirror. A shame she didn't see what she was hoping to find in it. Its delicate reflections were mystifying, yet, a part of her felt discouraged when she looked in it. Up to now, she has felt this way about the mirror. She wasn't too happy about being followed into the room either. The break was soon to be over, and the conversations bouncing off the walls simmered down into whispering of gossip.

Jessy glanced at the few who followed her into the dutchess' room, praying they wouldn't speak a word of their trespass. Isaac and Glenn were aimlessly walking and weaving about at a slow pace, something almost every other classmate did in that room. Charlie, however, stood impatiently near the door they entered from, tapping his foot and burrowing his eyebrows. His stance was tense and insecure. He seemed like he was going to faint from an unknown source of stress. Did he see something in the mirror, she questioned. Charlie wasn't sweating, if not on the brink of breaking out. His eyes were narrow and still. Something was definitely off about him, but the cause of such a stressed pose was still questionable. Miss Hall stood up from a small cushioned bench and clapped her hands twice, silencing the crowd. 

"Alright class, we shall quickly do a roll call before continuing the tour," she blurted out of her wrinkled mouth, "I need you all to be quiet unless I call your name."

She began to go through a list of names, each one responded to with either the words 'here' or 'present'. Even though no one noticed her and the others left or were notified of it, something still felt very raw and uncomfortable. Almost like something was forgotten. Or maybe even someone. Something then finally occurred to her when a particular name was called out.

“Rachel?” Miss Hall called. Everything fell dead silent. Jessy looked around to see if she could spot her, but she was nowhere to be found. She glanced at Charlie, somehow seeming more tense as he looked about the room as well. The girl who followed her into the room first was no longer with them. “Rachel?! . . . Rachel Varney!”

Norman quickly pulled out a small hand-held radio and put it over his mouth. Why, of all people, did Rachel not return? What could have happened? Thoughts blurred about her head as she tried to find a viable reason why she was not in the room they were all supposed to be in. Suddenly, the mirror came into thought. Jessy’s expression went white.

She quickly got up and ran out the room, not caring if she was spotted. Before she knew it, someone grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Hold it young lady! You’re not allowed to wander beyond the group!”

“NO!! I NEED TO FIND HER!!” Jessy cried. It couldn’t have happened to her, she thought. Why did it have to be her of all people?! Why couldn’t it have been me instead?! Why did it work for her?! I’m the one who wanted to leave this world! Tears rolled down her cheeks and wet the delicate carpet underneath her feet.

“What do you mean?! You don’t mean to tell me that you were sneaking out with someone else!” the man scolded. This is my fault, she cried. I should’ve double checked before leaving the group. I should’ve looked back before entering that stupid room! THIS HURTS!! “Where’s your friend?!”

“She’s gone!” A knot caught in her throat and her voice began to crack. “She looked at it! She looked at it, and it’s my fault!”

“Answer my question young lady!”

“We went into the Dutchess’ room,” Jessy sobbed. She wanted to fall onto her knees, but the guard’s grip kept her up on her feet. “She looked into the mirror, and it’s all my fault. I want that mirror broken.” The pain grew into an agony that snapped into great disbelief. She was able to quickly free herself in the blink of an eye and rushed to the room. Nothing was stopping her now. The guard’s voice was muffled out into a blur. Adrenaline was overflowing in her veins. She swung the door open and grabbed the mirror from the desk. Looking into its mystic, reality defying reflection, she once again saw nothing. Rage exploded in her eyes and she threw it to the floor.

The mirror landed on the top part of its brim and it shattered, scattering small glass pieces across the brittle carpet. Jessy suddenly collapsed to her knees, and knelt onto her elbows, leaning over the frame of what was once the Delver mirror. Tears come pouring out of her eyes like a river. Her arms shook unsteadily, and her heartbeat quieted into a solemn melody. If anything through her lifetime, this hurt the worst. She didn’t care anymore about leaving this wretched world. She wanted to suffer instead. This guilt was a hundred times worse than the agony she felt for simply existing.

[wanders-in-stars]

Welcome, doves! Y'all can call me Yaz (she/her, ace and aro-spec, probably ASD too, INTP). This will pretty much just be a place for me to my share my Skyrim OCs, gush about custom voiced followers (my favourites of whom happen to be Gore, Khash, Lucien, Nebarra, and Xelzaz), and reblog whatever TES5 stuff catches my eye.

Now, onto the primary OCs!

Samira

"Main" Dragonborn; Main Quest, Civil War, Dragonborn DLC

37 at the start, born under The Lord sign

Imperial, formerly an officer in the Legion, now a mercenary

Family – undergoing rework

Sword/shield or sword/dagger fighting style, occasionally uses a bow for range

"I don't enjoy killing -- I enjoy fighting, the thrill of battle. And if there's one thing Skyrim has plenty of, it's fighting."

Tamar

"Secondary" Dragonborn; Main Quest, Dragonborn DLC, and Dawnguard DLC

20 at the start, born under The Lover sign

Breton werewolf

Tamar was born into a nomadic werewolf pack in Cyrodiil, and was constantly on the move with them, both as hunters and the hunted. Eventually, she struck out on her own as a bounty hunter, but with the intent of returning home someday.

Wields a quarterstaff in most fights, swapping to a dagger only in close quarters. Utilizes Druidic-type Restoration and Alteration magic that's geared towards support.

"Hircine is not an easy master; he's not gentle, kind, or even fair. But that doesn't mean we have to be like that, too."

Niryani

Thieves Guild quest line

24 at the start, born under The Tower sign

Dunmer vampire

Family -- WIP

Nightblade, dagger/illusion spell combo

"Do you think this guild would run better if I just made them all my thralls? I seem to be the only competent person here..."

Rasyira

College of Winterhold quest line

24 at the start, born under The Apprentice sign

Altmer/Breton "mongrel"

Family -- WIP

Battlemage

"I'm certain I'm nearing a breakthrough for the transmutation of table salt into elemental salts, but I'm running short on materials again... I wonder if I could convince one of the Conjuration students to spar with me?"

Esmeralda (Esme)

Dark Brotherhood questline

26 at the start, born under The Steed sign

Redguard

Family – WIP

Combat style – WIP

Tauri

No canon questline; generic treasure hunter, pirate, and dungeon delver

24 at the start, born under the Tower sign

Breton

Family – WIP

Swashbuckler and fist fighter; occasionally uses a crossbow for ranged.

Sura-Jai

No canon questline; generic dungeon-delver

36 at the start; born under the Lady sign

Argonian

Family - WIP

Spellsword