#Might be good for a different Technomancer

[boredomstrides]

Sprite Sketches: Fault 00

Making some sprites for my Shadowrun Technomancer. Not sure on the style, aside from giving the sprites a graffiti look. Maybe with more tasks owed, they look more and more like something well put together, becoming more slapdash until they automatically deregister. 

Posted using PostyBirb

[dailycharacteroption]

Mystic Smith Mystic (Mystic Alternate Class Feature)

(art by TheGentlemanCupcake on DeviantArt)

The magical crafter, be it a brewer of potions, a blacksmith that forges magical weapons and armor, or the intricate crafters of complex wonder, has long been a staple of fantasy, but while there are plenty of examples in classical fantasy, one usually doesn’t think of them in a far-future science fantasy setting. After all, most magitech is either assumed to have been made in some far-off factory or is a relic of a bygone age, with only a rare few creating custom works with the help of material printers and detailed instructions.

But does that mean they don’t have a place? Certainly when it comes to magical or hybrid tech items in Starfinder, one might naturally think of the technomancer given their focus on blending science and magic, but I feel there’s plenty of opportunity for other casters to get in on the action, and it’s clear that may agree with the mystic smith!

Whether you consider them a natural evolution of the magical craftspersons of old or simply mystics blending a bit of technomancy into their arsenal to keep themselves and their allies outfitted, these mystics forgo some of their healing and telepathic power in favor of mastering the art of binding magic to material.

Due to their specialization, these smiths are able to access and craft items of greater potency than others, and of course their mastery at such skills grows faster than others.

Additionally, they can apply fusion seals to weapons much faster and get them working similarly quickly.

Naturally, they also add repair magic to their arsenal, and gain a special reserve of energy to perform especially drastic repairs.

With a surge of power, they can flood their technomagical weapons (be they inherently hybrid tech or have fusions) with energy that helps guide their strikes and pierce defenses.

Conversely, they can also disperse the energy of a nearby foe’s weapon seals, rendering them temporarily inoperable.

While the crafting side of this option’s abilities isn’t exactly flashy, it is functional, and their combat ability to buff their own attacks with their creations and disrupt any weapon fusions the foe has, making for some good options for a more combat-focused mystic that you’re probably used to seeing. It also can inspire characters to actually create and utilize weapon fusions more often, so there is that as well, tailoring theirs and allied weaponry to the situation on the relative fly.

The workshop of a technomantic crafter in the far future no doubt looks very different than the traditional fantasy workshop, and an option like this is the perfect excuse to explore that. Consider a dwarven mystic that is content to let the machines create the alloys, but would rather personally shape the metal themselves with a hammer and anvil, or a shimreen crystal-crafter that literally cuts stones by ear, feeling the subtle changes in resonance to know when they’re just right.

Normally mustyotal agathions prefer to steal and redirect the weapons of oppressors against them, but when there seems no recourse for change that a war against oppressive upper classes, they sometimes seek out those that can provide. Such is the case with Lost Purse, who successfully managed to rescue a famed craftsman’s daughter and get her offworld where the corporation couldn’t reach her, and in return, said craftsman is churning out powerful magitech weapons in preparation for revolution. Lost Purse only hopes it can be a bloodless one.

The Golden Coins seem impossible to track down, the criminal organization covering their trail with bribes, filing off serial numbers on all their equipment, using potent amnesiac toxins and suicide pills, and the works, but the party catches a break when they find a powerful magitech plasma pistol with a distinctive maker’s mark, dropped by one of the group’s lesser lieutenants.

While a talented coral-crafter in their own right, Bak-Shuga has found themselves in a predicament when a visiting alien noble becomes enamored with their work and mistakes them for a genius and grand master of the craft. Now, the young copaxi is facing a lot of pressure to accept an invitation to craft for this noble, one they feel ill-prepared to actually live up to.

[wizard-island-trading-co]

Greetings esteemed legitemate traders of Wizard Island, I come to you with a proposal

would you perchance be interested in a supply of ordinance?

we here at the foundry manufacture the greatest kinetic bombardment tools in the universe, graded for any threat you might face! (we will not sell you anything more powerful than anti-god unless you give us a very good offer however)

we also do not ask questions, or take any responsibility for anything you do with the tools provided

additionally, we're more than happy to take requests for any different thingamajigs that you may wish to acquire, anything from particle cannons to temporal shields can be yours, for a price.

-@railgun-technomancer of the foundry

Ohoho!

I do enjoy some recreational ordinance, and the term "anti-god" has peaked my interest.

I would like to sample your product before I commit to a "very good offer". (But I do have a near problematic amount of Condensed Astral Energy throughput)

To that end, I am requesting a dozen of your most powerful projectile system designed for use on Brigantine class vessels. The boys down in the Lab will run then through their paces and analyze the engineering quality.

Payment will be delivered in Synthetic Souls, in a variation of your choice. If you wish for an alternate payment, we can negotiate further.

[booksandchainmail]

Pale 3.z

this security shell is weird. cool! but weird and terrifying. It also feels like a great way to lose apprentices who aren't quite up to being technomancers

Looks like they're pulling out the big guns, if teachers are getting involved. And I guess this means nicolette got herself away from the wolf and is ok

Black tee, black leather jacket, jeans, hair slicked back in a very different way than Ray had. Some might have said it was a 50s style, but it was timeless, as far as Zed was concerned

fair enough

Nice to use this interlude to meet some people from the school, instead of being dumped in with all new characters later on. Looks like two from Belanger, two from Durocher, one from Ray, and one independent?

She was killed, and the way Black Dogs work, they punish the people that kill them with curses. Most of the time they come back again and again. She was put down for good. The curse was a big one, it was stored away, and it manifested as the Hungry Choir ritual.

hey! this was one of my theories. Or technically two, if you count the curse as part of her corpse being used. Which means the question is who manufactured this, and why?

“I’m looking forward to summer school for once.”  Nicolette smiled as she said it. “Me too,” Zed agreed. “New crop of students.” “Exactly.” They were on the same page. Similar oaths. Similar awareness.

this feels somewhat ominous

“By the accords of Solomon!” Zed called out.  “By the order of man, I summon you to audience!  Obey or cede this territory!  Black Dog Yalda, come!” “I ask a second time! Black Dog Yalda! Casualty of war and child of Famine! Come!” “For the third time, with your worth and power at stake! Black Dog Yalda!”

one of the neat things about the otherverse is that do a certain degree the magic runs on rule of cool

There was a way to challenge the ritual, and tonight, with the malice biasing the challenge, would be a great time to do that… except there was a rub. A trick. Rad Ray Sunshine had explained it at one of the rest stops. It was easy for a ritual like this to jam some hidden trick or secret into things. A magic word, a hidden verse, or a secret a way to make the animals behave. Like… playing music. Or something. Not that Zed had his.

oof. well now I'm glad they didn't try that. who gave the Kennet Trio that advice again? Looked it up and: it was Maricica. Was that one of her traps? I think at one point they guessed that some of her "minor" traps might be deadly things that she would save them from.

They couldn’t get in between her and her prize.  The very being of the Devouring Song was tied into that.  She couldn’t be obstructed from eating.  Hurting her mid-meal did that, so the nibbling on the licorice from that king-size bag served to protect her.  Any lasting harm or death was similar, because she couldn’t be kept from future meals.

this fucks. using the choir against itself

Brie’s weight pressed the Black Dog down.  She kept eating.

gods this is fucked up

“Are you the murder weapon, used by others to kill the Carmine Beast?”

damn. ... I don't think I ever theorized about method

“Yes,” Yalda said.  “I killed the red wolf.”

mystery solved! story over

It was one of the eight original ritual participants.  The kid with the mask.  He carried a gun.

what happened to no weapons?

Yalda :( The Choir was fucked up, but I can't help but feel bad for her, it doesn't seem like she ever had many options. At least she got to pass on a final message to John? I hope she was at peace.

He did have his worries, though.  The degree of intent behind the Carmine Beast event… the premeditation, the covering of tracks, and the creation of something like this, implied to be done well in advance for that specific purpose?

so this plan had to have been in the works for at least nine years... that changes my thoughts on motives

[inkbeanjo]

2, 3,4,5,6,7 for Moni and Retro on the character ask please. i love hearing about your characters

houuhghghjK i will do my best to answer retro's half, though i'll open with some behind the scenes that might shed some clarity on neo-a's weird existence in the real world.

Neo Automisia came about after I'd been playing Moni in a shadowrun living community for like 3 years, and after a point where i decided I wanted to break from that system's lore/canon out of desire to write my own shit and also out of disagreement with a lot of SR's writing- irl i've never really grown up in places or had the same friend groups for more than 3 years at a time, and my experience in making friends has been a series of meetings and farewells since I was little.

Ironically enough this's how a lot of my time playing Moni wound up being- games in the living community were sign-ups as opposed to set player groups and set tables you'd normally expect from a tabletop setting- think billboard with job postings kinda vibes, with things happening during/after/between jobs. As such, at least when it comes to fellow runners/key npcs, I'm doing my best to translate friends characters I've not gotten to really play with/hear from in years- or at least haven't had space TO do things with, life happens/things get busy etc etc you get it. Retro is OracleofMaya's wonderful gremlin, and a lot of my ability to write consistent/in-character dialogue for her comes from the fact that we talked/wrote a LOT over the years and i have an active crush on her/like writing stuff with her u///u

Long lead in over here we go:

It really depends on circumstances for the both of them- they're incredibly awkward and dealing with a lot of baggage individually/mutually, but with the right company they tend to light up. In Moni's case if worst comes to worst, she's anxious enough that even in bad company/bad circumstances she'll still titter out a giggle before realizing this isn't the time nor place.

[DATA EXPUNGED]

From my time playing alongside Retro, it never felt exactly an easy thing to earn her trust; partly due to the fact of her being a technomancer in a world that readily exploits and/or abuses them to the nth degree, and partly due to the fact that a lot of the people she and Moni worked with were either opportunistic or WAY too prone to oversharing critical information. Add [DATA EXPUNGED] to the mix and its really hard to blame her for shutting others down or out but again right company/right circumstances made all the difference in exceptions or changing that.

On Moni's end, her depression and various horribly negative experiences with people she loved or trusted have oriented her, for the most part, not to trust other people- or at least, that's the direction she tries to orient herself toward in some attempt to protect herself, and others from her. That obviously hasn't and doesn't work up to the current point in chapter 3, as Moni is basically an easily excitable puppy in a metahuman's shape.

In Retro's case, extremely- I have zero doubts that had Moni ever not kept self-vigilance up and spilled the beans regarding Retro being a technomancer, Retro WOULD have made good on that promise to fry her brain.

Distrust is fluid for Moni/liable to shift and change with circumstances and her mood- in this case I'm going to opt to make a slight shift and say that, with specific and wrong buttons pushed, it is very, very, very easy to earn a lethal grudge from Moni as opposed to solely distrust.

Both Moni and Retro are not only Nightrunning criminals for hire, but also staunch Anarchists living in the hellscape that is late stage capitalism and continued global warming/corporations having just about zero regulatory oversight or consequence placed on them. Laws on paper are not synonymous with justice or systemic equity, and both growing up in the fringes of the Seattle metroplex 100% plays into how they see the reality of how those laws actually play out in favor of the rich, powerful, and influential.

In the time I played with Oracle, Retro's nostalgia often times followed similar patterns to Moni if that tracks; both of them are rooted through warped sentimentalities and fractured memories for pasts they either can't fully remember, or remember in better contexts and through rose-tinted glasses than honestly- at least for a time. I don't wanna spoil too much in this regard, nor for the more positive ways they hold nostalgia for genuinely nice times/moments, so that's all I'm gonna say.

For Moni: 22. Jealousy is weird for Moni, because it's only really ever happened when Retro had started seeing/dating(?) a magical psychologist character of mine who has a hate boner against moni and vice versa. Moni herself is polyam, pan, and for the most part easygoing when it comes to interpersonal relationships; she doesn't really have explicit desire for material stuff barring cybernetics to cram into her meat suit, or good food tucked in the pockets and hole-in-the-wall joints of wherever she's living. Even in the case of the aforementioned psychologist, the jealousy stemmed more out of her overt fear of a mage who could root through, tweak, or otherwise puppet your brain like a marionette. 23. Envy is also weird- as mentioned the material things she does want are things she has zero problem waiting or saving for, and when it comes to relationships/the relationships of her partners and metamours she's open/patient. But a core piece of Moni I'm in the process of explicitly laying out/continuing to lay out is her absolute impulsiveness- the things that she DOES envy are immaterial and more abstract, in ways that to most would just sound like complete nonissues. It's something yet to be brought up, but Moni genuinely envies her peers and coworkers who have or are working toward a definite retirement plan, or have the intention TO retire because they have something in mind. For Moni at this point, she did not for one second in her career think about what retiring might look like or that she could/should- it was utterly foreign to be asked "what're you going to do after you're done running?", and to look inward only to find an answer along the lines of "what?". She envies people that have desires beyond what's immediately in front of them- not because they have it better, but because for all of her attempts to she can't figure out what she wants- no matter how hard she tries there's something missing that, to her at least, makes her feel like she was never supposed to be metahuman. This's one example but you get the gist, it's wanting to feel like you know where you're going and where you want to go/otherwise self actualize and feeling like you're drowning.

[erigold13261]

Power level labeling for the Nueva York residents

Miles: Hi-Mid Tier 1-DET

Gwen: Mid Tier 2.3-VOL (for her being in Nueva York is more of an excuse to get away from home)

Margo: Mid Tier 1-DET

Peni: High Tier 1.2-DET (her dad was also a technomancer)

I think Miles would be more like Hi-Mid Tier 1.2-CON. His family has a history of his powers and I see DET as used for people who were arrested and are given a either given a choice between jail/juvie and Nueva York, or are sent there as community service.

Miles did "hurt" someone to get sent to Nueva York, but no police were actually involved (other than school "police" who broke up the fight and technically Miles' dad who is an officer, but Miles was sent more out of concern since Ganke obviously would completely refuse to press charges on Miles).

I would possibly add Hi to Gwen's power ranking because her vibrations can cause a lot of damage to structures around her very easily. Even if she has a relatively good control of her powers which would usually end up in Mid or Low, her powers are just naturally dangerous if ever fully out of control.

Margo would probably be Low Tier 1-DET at first since her powers are relatively in control and not dangerous. But as she uses them more and shows she can use them dangerously (probably accidentally reached INTO someone and hurt them somehow) she would be relabelled Mid Tier 1-DET.

Peni's ranking is pretty accurate to how I would see it! She could possibly be CON instead of DET depending on how much legal actions were put on her. I doubt her family would have her arrested, it was truly an accident and they'd want her to get help, but the hospital might have had to report Peni as a legal thing. So either CON or DET works for Peni's ranking.

Honestly, I really like this ranking system now lol. Some problems do arise as we can see. Rankings can be subjective in some cases. Like I was debating on having Margo and Peni also being in Tier 3 for getting help with problems (such as getting stuck in places or tech). But I think that is realistic because it shows that depending on which counselor is putting residents in the system could end them up in a different program routine. Some people might think Miles is should only have a Mid label and not Hi-Mid while someone else might think Gwen doesn't need to be in Tier 3.

Also, I think you putting Gwen in Tier 3 (problem that needs to be fixed) because of her home life is actually a really good idea! I was at first thinking it was for problems related to powers only, like Noir losing their colors, but also using that tier to say that a person has problems outside of their powers that should be taken into account is a good addition to that tier! Thanks for opening my eyes to that!

[super-ion]

(Ion & Emily)

Okay, I already have an archnemesis. His name is Jackrabbit, he's a speedster and a corporate asshole. We've been fighting each other pretty much since I started doing supervillainy.

But at this exact moment, I'm discovering that some random guy I've never met before thinks I'm *his* archnemesis.

I duck as a barbell hurtles past my head.

What is this guy's deal??

Okay... maybe I should back up a little, start from the beginning.

Oh, I'm Ion by the way: technomancer supervillainess. I can control computer systems with my mind and I have tons of fun gadgets.

So anyway, I'm sitting in my lair, working on my next heist, when I get an email. Yeah, I get that that might not sound weird, but it's my supervillain email address and it's from someone I've never even heard of.

The email is an invitation to do battle and it names a location and a time. It's simply signed "Dale", which okay, maybe he's new and doesn't have a superhero name yet. Apparently he's got tech powers, which is relatively common.

People think of tech powers and they picture like playboy philanthropists or whatever. I mean, a bunch of the more notable tech heroes are completely insufferable tech bros.

So I'm just a little surprised when I get to the designated empty lot and this guy is waiting for me in some kind of power armor that looks like it's been cobbled together from scrap parts.

He's got a lot of clever things going on in the design. He clearly knows his way around a machine shop and probably has way too much free time. The concerning part is I can't get a read on his suit... like if he does have any software running, it's a complete black box to me. This might be difficult.

"Ion!" he shouts. "Your reign of terror is at an end!"

I... What?

My so-called reign of terror consists of robbing big corrupt banks and getting in fights with other supers. There are a bunch of cameras scattered around the lot, so he's obviously posturing, but he really needs to work on his game.

"Uh... I'm sorry, who are you?"

He straightens in his armor.

"My name is of no consequence!" he declares.

Translation: he doesn't have a superhero name yet.

Fine, whatever. Let's get this over with. I roll my neck and shoulders and fall into a fighting stance. It's all for show, I don't stand a chance in a head to head fight. I might as well give him a good show if that's what he wants.

My brain is running through scenarios, but I don't have nearly enough information to form a strategy. He's got robot armor, so he's probably pretty slow and-

Holy crap! He's fast.

He's sprinting towards me, swinging a mace made of a barbell with a bunch of weights attached to it. He should not be able to move that fast, not without...

Oh...

Oh shit. He's controlling the suit directly. His brain is running the software.

I duck and roll, my repulsors giving me a boost.

Okay, this complicated scenario just got more complicated. I feed that data into my models. With the suit, he's strong and fast. He's also completely immune to my powers.

He grabs another barbell off his back and hurls it at me. Seriously, what is this guy's deal?

I get a ping from my suit. There's a high probability that his attack patterns are correlated with knowledge of my fighting style. Ah, that explains a lot. He's probably watched all of my fights and analyzed them. That's why he singled me out for his first super fight. He ran the models and scenarios to figure out the best way to fight me.

Rude.

No, seriously, who does that?

My suit pings me with an updated combat model for the scenario.

(Leave me alone, it's different when it's me doing it)

Apparently I need to get in close and try to disable the suit.

Yeah, no shit. How am I supposed to do that?

(Have I mentioned how difficult it is to dodge attacks while ingesting real time combat analysis?)

Okay, so my sensors are telling me that he may be controlling the suit directly with his mind, but he's not generating enough energy to actually power the suit, which means there's an external power source. It's an exploitable weakness if I can get to it... which means getting really close and using one of my more secret abilities.

It's not so much an ability as a thing I can do as a last resort. When it comes down to it, my powers are basically electron manipulation, which means I do have some limited electricity powers. I don't really have control over it and it's not a whole lot of fun, but I can use my body as an electrical conductor.

I just gotta get close enough to short something vital out.

Against every instinct, I charge him. I'm not normally aggressive in my attacks, so he's caught a little off guard. I slip under a punch and send several spider drones crawling over the armor. He brushes a bunch of them off, but not all.

Come on guys, I just need some exposed wire.

He pulls his arms closed, bear hugging me. Not good.

Ping. There. The elbow's got something I can maybe use. I struggle uselessly in his arms as one of my surviving drones burns away the insulation.

"Yield," he says into my ear.

"Yeah," I say, straining. "How about no."

I plant the palm of one hand against his chest. With the other I grab the exposed wire and hope like hell this doesn't give me a migraine or worse.

Electricity surges through my body, bring out various motors of his suit. He grunts in surprise as his joints lock up and I slip free of his grasp.

He staggers after me, but half his suit is no longer working.

His breathing is heavy behind his mask, and with a howl of frustration, he rips it off.

I... Oh... What??

I recognize him.

He and I have the same green eyes that people always said look like our mother's.

Yes, I have a sibling. That may come as a surprise if you've been following my adventures. What comes as a surprise to me is that I have a brother. Definitely did not know he was... well... a he until this exact moment.

He's six years younger than me, he was still in high school the last time I talked to my parents.

It's... complicated.

We didn't exactly part on the best terms. I tried keeping in touch, but he never replied. I guess I kinda gave up hope after a while that he'd reply. I kept tabs on him, and he's been doing alright, but apparently I don't know everything.

Not sure what's more of a shock, that he's trans or that he has superpowers.

He takes a step forward, fully intending to continue the fight. I make a desperate time-out gesture and rip off my own mask.

He freezes.

"Jen?"

"T... uh... Dale? Is that... What??"

I don't even know what to say, judging from his expression, he doesn't either.

"Dale?? Really?" I say finally.

His face goes slightly red and he sticks his tongue out at me. That's a good sign I guess.

"Sorry," I say, grinning. "It's good. I just remember somebody giving me a hard time for picking Jennifer."

***

His hideout is a junkyard up in the hills. We're sitting on the roof of a shack, looking down on the glittering city lights as the sun sets.

He takes a swig from a bottle of cheap vodka and passes it to me. It's some nasty gutrot, the sort of alcohol that absolutely doesn't have a place in my liquor cabinet... but this is sibling bonding time, so I guess I gotta take one for the team. It burns fiercely and despite my best efforts, I make a sputtering cough.

"So... uh... superpowers?" I say, breaking the silence that's stretched out for far too long... years, I guess.

He makes a wry grin and snaps his fingers, sending a fountain of sparks into the air.

"It was pretty dumb," he says. "I grabbed a car battery that wasn't fully dead. When I woke up, I had this... I don't know, intuition or something, like I could hear the heart of the machine, you know?"

"Yeah, actually," I reply, taking another sip from the bottle. "Same thing happened to me."

I hand the bottle back and he regards me, his green eyes narrowing. His forehead creases in slight distress. I know what he's thinking because I'm thinking exactly the same thing. You see, people get super powers through accidents all the time. For two siblings to get similar powers through entirely unrelated incidents? That's more than just accident. It means one or both of our parents are either supers or have dormant super genes.

Judging by the way he frowns, he doesn't want to talk about it. That's fine, I'm not ready to deal with that either. He takes a long swig from the bottle and I look at him in the fading golden light. I definitely see the person I knew when we were kids, but there's definitely some changes. There's a slight hardness in his eyes and quite a few frown lines, but his shoulders are relaxed in a way I never saw.

"So you doing the superhero thing?" I ask.

He nods.

"Going the Justice Force route?"

He grimaces. Okay, vigilante. Nothing wrong with that.

"Well, I've done some vigilante stuff myself, so if you ever wanna team up, I'd be down," I say.

He turns his attention back to me, looking slightly uncertain.

"Oooor, if you wanna fight again, that's cool too. Just let me know where and when so I can live stream it... And don't think I'm going to go easy on you because you're my little brother."

His eyes go wide at "brother", it occurs to me that he's probably never been referred to as such before. I throw my arm around him in an awkward embrace. He stiffens initially, but relaxes into it. He leans his head on my shoulder and we watch the sun set together.

Most tech based heros are rich and handsome philanthropists, except Dale he’s just got too much creativity, free time, liquor, and access to junkyards.

[danielfeketewrites]

DOCTOR WHO TOP 10 - War Doctor

Alright, his best episode is clearly The Day of the Doctor, but that's actually 11th Doctor's episode. War Doctor's entire era is expanded universe material trying to reconstruct something that never existed. That's at the very least intriguing. In addition to this... John Hurt might be my favourite actor of all time. So yeah, I love the War Doctor. Here are my favourite of his stories.

10. The Shadow Squad

To be perfectly honest, I'm not a fan of the War Doctor Begins range. But this series of blogposts started out around the 60th anniversary and I intend to keep it a positive celebration of my favourite stories, so here's the one story from that series I actually really liked. The Shadow Squad is exactly what a Time War story should be like, with the Temporal Eradicator travelling back in time and changing the timeline, while Time Lords try to Dalek-proof the timeline. Good stuff.

9. Decoy

This is just an Engines of War encore, but it's pretty solid and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

8. The Enigma Dimension

The final War Doctor story with John Hurt in the role... I'm going to level with you - I have no idea what it's about. Right after I listened to it, I rated it very, very highly and then promptly forgot every single thing about it. So I have to trust my younger self, one year into the past, and hope he was right. I'll have to re-listen this one...

7. The Shadow Vortex

A rare example of War Doctor getting a historical romp. And Neve McIntosh is in this! Although she's not playing Vastra.

But I'll admit it - this one is on the list because War Doctor has to get inside a Trabant, which is the funniest shit ever to me.

6. The Eternity Cage

I have a soft spot for Sontarans. And this is a really good Sontaran story. Not much else to say, really. Except maybe that I remember really liking the core concept of this one.

5. The Third Wise Man

I've said it many times already - I love Dave Rudden, I love Twelve Angels Weeping. Again, not much else to add here. The chronology of the war is a bit wobbly in this one, but it can be explained away either by Gary Russell's short story The Stranger or by Russell T Davies' short story Doctor Who and the Time War. Or both, you know. It's the Time War. Oh, and we get an explanation of what "the Nightmare Child" is, so there's that.

4. The Neverwhen

A Dalek army and a Time Lord army are stuck, caught in a fucked up timey-wimey battlefield. Excellent Time War material.

3. Only the Monstrous

Putting the whole first boxset here, as it's basically just one story anyway. Only the Monstrous is simple. Deceptively simple. Which is strange, because I usually prefer weirder, more complicated stuff in my Time War, thankyouverymuch. Only the Monstrous is just Nick Briggs writing a WWII movie... IN SPACE! But it's really engaging and emotional in all the right places. And it's kinda open about what it's trying to emulate - if the Daleks represent Nazi Germany, what about their allies, the other fascistic aliens in the story? Well, they're called Talians. Talians. For real. No one is hiding this and I love it. It's ultimately a story about how appeasement is a bad idea and you can't negotiate with fucking Nazis, which is definitely a timeless, needed message. War Doctor is antifa. Also, the Daleks have yet another extremely silly plan involving planets, and this one is genuinely excellent and very, very stupid. Only the Monstrous deserves more love.

2. Legion of the Lost

While I loved Only the Monstrous, I think I still prefer the variety of Infernal Devices... Here, in Legion of the Lost, War Doctor fights Shadovar, a Technomancer played by David Warner. I'm not sure why, but something about Legion just feels different to me. It feels somehow... special. I really love it and it's my favourite War Doctor story from Big Finish.

1. Engines of War

What else could have taken the number one spot, eh? George Mann's excellent reconstruction of a non-existent Doctor Who era, also known as Engines of War, is a really fun Doctor Who book, a spectacular Dalek story and probably the quintessential War Doctor adventure (if one isn't counting The Day of the Doctor, of course)... I love Cinder, the War Doctor is written really well here and I just enjoyed reading this book quite a bit. It also tries to forge a bridge between the 20th and the 50th anniversary specials, which I think is kinda cute.

[scott-magill]

Shadow-Blessed Ep. 8

"Did you kill him?” 

“No, I’m not a killer.” 

“Won’t he just come right back then?” Ruby asked. 

“Yes but by the time he gets here we’ll be gone and your essence will be wiped clean. Go pack,” I told her. I had a lot of practice scrubbing my essence from places. Granted, I never stayed in the same place for long, that made the spell a bit easier. Erasing her energy was harder since I’d know her for less than a day. I at least had the recent use of her powers to cut the lights to work off of. I focused on the lingering trace of magic in the hall. Once I’d isolated her magic there I could feel it more clearly in the apartment. My magic and the pyromancer’s were both strong presences in the room but Ruby’s technomancy was more subtle, like a quiet hum. Once I found it, I started drawing any sign of Ruby’s magic out of the apartment. She returned with a duffle bag slung over her shoulder. I waved her towards the door. With her on the other side of the threshold, it got easier to pick out the remnants of her power. 

After gathering every trace of Ruby’s power in the apartment, I pulled back all the evidence of my power in the space. There was far less of it, but I didn’t want to take any chances. When I was done, the only magic anyone could detect there belonged to the pyromancer. All together the energy I gathered wasn’t enough to cast any spells. That meant Ruby didn’t use a lot of magic at home. Considering the fact that Agent Boone was able to get in without issue I worried she hadn’t even been warding the place. We’d talk about that later. First we had to get as far from the building as possible. 

“Are there any parking garages with lax security nearby?” I asked. 

“Why?” she asked, keeping pace with me as we walked to the elevators. 

“We’re going to need a car,” I said. 

“I have one,” she said, as we stepped into the elevator. 

“Registered to your name?” I asked. If she answered yes, I would’ve abandoned her right there. 

“Of course not,” she said much to my relief. “I’m well aware of how easy it is to trace a vehicle. I’ve taken precautions.” 

She didn’t elaborate. She started walking as soon as the elevator doors opened wide enough for her to fit through. I followed her. It felt like that was all I’d done since arriving in Orlando. I wasn’t used to following people and I didn’t like it much. Part of me couldn’t wait to get out of Orlando so that we were on even footing. The rest of me was still uncertain about Ruby. I wasn’t at all reassured when she stopped at a Tesla. We couldn’t keep a low profile in such a flashy car. It looked brand new with a shining red paint job. She opened the back door and put her bag on the back seat before looking at me. My concern must have shown on my face because she paused before closing the door. 

“Seriously? This is your car?” I asked. 

“It’s one of the most high-tech cars out right now,” she said, like that made it the most sensible car for a woman on the run. I had to remind myself that she wasn’t just any woman. She was a technomancer and for all I knew that made it the perfect car for her. “Can you just trust me until we’re out of town?” 

I got into the car. If we had to, we could ditch it once we were far enough from Orlando. Right now, I was more concerned about the Pyromancer catching up to us. Ruby showed me a lot of trust so far. I held my tongue and gave her the benefit of the doubt. Our versions of flying under the radar might be different, but she’d gotten away from a cerebremancer and that was no easy feat. That alone was enough for me to put some faith in her ability. Either way, we didn’t have time to debate the subject of appropriate getaway cars while we both came so close to getting caught the past two days. When Ruby started the car “I Know What I Am” by Band of Skulls came on the radio. I took it as a good sign. 

My concern about Ruby’s chosen vehicle, almost made me forget about my new shadowy companion. As she drove, I felt every dark corner of the city we passed in more vibrant detail. If just having its container on my person enhanced my magical perception this much, I couldn’t begin to imagine what would happen when I set it free. The bloodlust I’d felt from it in the apartment made me nervous to test that while we were confined to the Tesla. It didn’t seem right to keep it trapped. It was alive. It had emotions and urges. I had to find out more about it if I was going to set it free. I breathed deeply until the music and sounds of traffic faded to the background. The shadow’s mind was waiting for me. 

“Hello Blessed-One,” the shadow said. Its voice was soft and welcoming. 

“My name is Milo,” I thought. The shadow heard me without me speaking the words aloud. It was odd to have knowledge come to me so clearly without being told. “Do you have a name?” 

“I’ve had many. The closest in your tongue is Umbra,” it said. 

“Is it safe for Ruby if I let you out of the sphere?” I asked. 

“I will only hurt those who you wish me to. My kind are guardians for those blessed by the shadow like you,” Umbra said. Images of Umbra at the side of other witches filled my mind. There wasn’t nearly as much violence as I’d expected. The companionship between the shadow and the witches was different for each of them. Umbra would relish the chance to protect me but I didn’t need to worry about them hurting the people around me without rhyme or reason. 

“What do you need? Do you eat or sleep? How do I take care of you?” I asked. 

“If you release me from this vessel I will bond with you and your magic. It will sustain me,” they told me. I saw a vision of the last witch Umbra bonded with cutting their connection and sealing them into the gold cage. She was dying and she wanted to give the shadow a chance at finding another shadow-blessed witch. I felt the loneliness that losing her created like it was my own. It wasn’t far off. I’d been friendless since running from the Coven. It seemed that if things went well I’d be moving on from Orlando with more than just two allies. If I let them in, Umbra and I could forge a bond like the ones they’d shared with all the witches before me. 

Everything about Umbra felt right. They couldn’t lie to me and vice versa. Before feeling this connection, the idea of being bonded like this would have scared me. But there was no judgment in the shadow. I took the small golden sphere out of my bag and twisted the top so that Umbra could get out. A surge of power flowed around me. The living shadow settled deep within my existing shadow. New eddies of power were within my reach. For the first time in a long time I didn’t know what my limits were. The connection between us would only grow stronger. I’d glimpsed what our combined power could do in the visions Umbra shared. But for now I settled into the new security that they gave me. I could get used to this quickly. Maybe it should have worried me. I’d lived with fear for so long that it felt strange to be without it. I felt a smile spread across my lips. We were going to be all right.

[shakespeares-wake]

Network Theory Part 2

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Once in Resonance Plaza, Jack stared up at the building uneasily. It was an architecturally beautiful skyscraper, inlaid with cool blue lights almost everywhere so it glowed even in the daytime. 

On top of being a modern day beacon, it was also known as the HQ of one of the city’s, and probably the country’s most notorious retired supervillains, Sir E.V, who was also measured to be a Valence Super in telekinesis. In fact, he was estimated to be the most powerful telekinetic in this hemisphere. 

Hoping very hard that he wouldn’t be anywhere near the lobby, Jack went inside and approached the massive front desk.

The woman sat there flicked her eyes up from her computer screen to look at him, and Jack saw how her eyes glowed orange. A pyromancer. “Business?” she asked shortly. 

“Just a delivery.” Jack answered, passing the bouquet over. The woman took it and Jack stepped to one side of the counter to check the address for the other package, then returned to the center putting it down on the counter, “Make that two.” 

The woman checked the tags on both, but stopped Jack as he was turning away. “The flowers are to E.V, you have to take them up. The other package is fine.” she put a piece of paper into his hand with a floor and door number written on it.

“What? I’m just the outside delivery service.” Jack said, trying to scream ‘help me’ with his eyes to no avail as she handed the bouquet back.

She shrugged, “Sorry, but he’s got express orders. If a delivery comes in, it goes straight up to him, doesn’t matter where it comes from, no exceptions. The second elevator to your right will take you where you need to be.” 

Jack tried not to sigh or throw up and managed a strangled, “Thank you.” Before walking over to where she indicated.

Inside the elevator, Jack tried not to break out into a nervous sweat. Who in the city would be sending this guy flowers? Why? You know what, that was none of Jack’s business, and frankly he didn’t care. He just wanted to be gone. He didn’t want anywhere near Sir E.V in the first place. 

Just the thought of being in the same room as another psionicist who was fifty times stronger than him made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

The elevator dinged, and let Jack out onto the right floor, into another smaller lobby with a few doors and a second receptionist. He approached that desk as well, the sound of his footsteps ringing out uneven against the tiles. 

The receptionist quirked an eyebrow at him, and Jack shrugged helplessly, “I’m with the city delivery service. I’ve got a package for Sir E.V.” 

They gave him a ‘one minute’ gesture then picked up a phone. “Hello sir, there’s a delivery here for you.” someone spoke on the other end, and the receptionist glanced up at Jack, who was staring out the nearest window and trying not to bounce his leg. “No. Yes sir. Sending him in now.” They set the phone down and caught his attention before pointing to one of the nearby halls, “Just go in right there son.”

He nodded his thanks with a strained smile and walked down the hall, pausing when he got to the door and knocking politely, and nearly got scared out of his skin when the door swung inwards almost immediately.

Standing in the doorway was a woman in a navy blue suit vest and lab coat with electric blue eyes that glowed slightly, and long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. Dr. Castle the technomancer, E.V’s second in charge and equally as scary, but for different reasons. She smiled at him. 

“Come in.” She stepped aside, and Jack followed behind, even if he didn’t really want to. 

E.V was standing next to his desk, and it might have been because Jack was on the shorter side, but he looked even bigger in person than he had on the news. E.V was a tall man at 6′7, and just as broad in the shoulders. He had dark skin, and a mane of tightly curled hair down to his shoulders. His eyes were lavender, and so was his necktie. He stared at Jack as soon as he entered, who was too nervous to make eye contact.

“I’m with the city delivery service. Uh, the lady downstairs told me to come up here with your package.” Here he held out the bouquet, which was taken. E.V looked it over, checking the tag. He also looked perplexed. He glanced back up at Jack.

“Who gave this to you?”

Jack shifted nervously, “I dunno, it was a store pickup. All my instructions came in from online.” He pulled out his phone and checked it, “No username and they paid through the company app.”

“Hm.” E.V muttered, turning the tag over in his fingers. He met Jack’s eyes, and he barely managed to control his flinch. “What’s your name?”

“Jack Maxwell, sir.”

“What school did you go to?” He asked. Dr. Castle was watching the ongoing interaction with a bemused expression. 

Jack took a deep breath, “The Trinity Academy of Vibrance, sir.” 

“Are you a psionicist, Mr. Maxwell?” E.V asked, looking like he was trying to pick apart Jack's mind through his gaze alone. And who knew, maybe he was. 

“Yes sir.”  

He smiled slightly, as if he had just figured something out. “Did you know that telepaths can’t read each other’s minds?”

Jack shrugged listlessly, his mind retreating into apathy to get away from nervousness, “I know my power doesn’t work on other psionicists of equal or greater strength.” 

“I say that,” E.V tilted his head, his smile growing more amused, “Because I can’t read yours, so whatever you do must fall under telepathy. Are you with me so far?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good. Then what can you do, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Jack’s eyes skittered towards the side, finding solace in the uncurtained window looking out over the city. Supers flew over the buildings like tiny comets. “I mind when anyone asks sir, but if you really wanna know it’s something uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable for you?”

“For everyone involved, I’m pretty sure.” 

E.V observed Jack in silence for a moment longer, then made a decisive nod. “Alright.” He reached inside his jacket and pulled out what must have been a business card. “You said that you’re with the city delivery service, right Mr. Maxwell?”

“Yes sir.” Jack said, feeling some of the tension leave his spine.

“One of the policies they have is that all deliveries are same-day, because their carriers work shifts at different times, is that correct?”

“Yes sir?” Jack said, becoming confused. Dr. Castle seemed to be trying to smother her laughter behind her hand. 

E.V’s smile got a little wider, and he nodded to a muted TV on the wall. “We saw you on the news earlier. You kicked Shatterscream in the face.”

Jack felt his ears turn red and he swallowed thickly. “Uh, yeah. I did.” 

E.V chuckled, and passed over the business card, “Good work ethic. This is my personal card, it has my information as well as Dr. Castle’s here. If the Tower ever has any use for the city delivery service, we’ll be sure to try to request you. Have a good day.”

Hiding his relief very well, Jack took the card, “Thank you sir.” and left as quickly as he could without running.

[czigonas]

I am eagerly scooping all these facts into their jars and shaking them vigorously.

Watcher the snarky mage in a fantasy AU is just ace. (Or... technomancer? How fantasy is fantasy for you? 🤔) I like the fact that he's chill. Not that they're the same situations, but it's somewhat evident in the way you wrote him even when he first appeared in the original Back Together. I would like to think that he'd still manage to pull König somehow even if he were a streamer. (And since he can do that job from practically anywhere with good internet - depending on how he streams - they could probably make it work even if König was still military. I have hope..!)

I know some people have already done CoD/RDR crossovers but that's exactly where my mind went with Speck's AU. (Either that or - because of that discussion the other day - a super-cheesy romance novel plot where he somehow gets Price as a mail-order spouse or something equally contrived. Just pile on the tropes.) Poor Speck and his self-worth issues though. It's a mood, but maybe someday he can get enough support to break the spiral. I would love to see Speck's alternate route too (especially if there's still some Price in there somehow... I'm sure there's a way). I only know rodeo from TV but I imagine the backstage isn't all that different from other sports. Just... with more leather and horses and sleeping in whatever pile of hay seems cleanest. He still gets Cerberus though, right?

Probably I shouldn't be so feral about poor Wade, but I am imagining those AUs and am just 👀👀👀. (Especially because I can still only see him as, like, the logistics man. Either as the steward or consigliere, he's just trying to get these damn nobles and mobsters to follow a fuckin plan, never mind a budget. Both of those titles might be a bit too high rank for him, but... one day... #justiceforwade!) The idea of him being the petty-jealous type is just amazing. Perfect. Also, I'm so sorry, but with that backstory and alternate route, Wade can only be a sad wet cat to me now. I will get him a warm towel and some deli ham and let him shiver on my porch. I feel so bad for him because having a degree before you enlist is supposed to get you a better job faster but instead he's stuck with these muppets. (With the way he's been so far, I can only imagine the terror he would bring on both poor unsuspecting project managers and the CFO as a corporate accountant. Or, god forbid, an auditor. He would still be so full of impotent rage, but at least he could more easily take it out on someone if he caught them fucking up.)

Anyway, yes, thank you very much for the new facts. I'm sorry if any of my ramblings are way off base. I am just rotating your ocs in my mind because they're.... so good. So good.

Oh, oh! Can we get some uhhhh... 10, 20, & 24 with the boys? (I am pathetically shaking my little jar of Wade lore as well 🥺 pls, it can fit so much more in it)

Finally answering you, sorry it took a few days. I've been exhausted, but here ya go. Also this is in regards to this post

Watcher

What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC? College AU or a Fantasy AU

Does you OC have a tendency to get jealous? If so, how does this manifest? Hmmm I don't think so honestly. Watcher knows he's the shit I think so even if he does see someone trying to get Konig's attention he just shrugs it off. He knows he's the main character.

What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions? Definitely a streamer. He's just a gaymer at heart. Different though, I don't think it would be much different. Except for the fact he never would have met Konig, he might have stayed a little more shy than he is now. I think working with the 141 gave him a lot of confidence, made him feel a lot more comfortable with himself.

Speck

What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC? Cowboy AU definitely

Does you OC have a tendency to get jealous? If so, how does this manifest? Yes. Terribly jealous. It usually manifests as self-loathing in some way though cause he doesn't actually think he deserves to be with anyone (my poor man has no self-confidence at all)

What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions? Definitely would have been a professional rodeo guy. On the road 24/7. His life would have been drastically different. No kids, probably not as much trauma in terms of relationships, and even just in general honestly. Definitely would have been a happier man in the long run I think.

Wade

What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC? Medieval AU or maybe Mafia AU

Does you OC have a tendency to get jealous? If so, how does this manifest? Oh yeah, definitely. He gets very angry about it, will throw hands and get petty.

What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions? I think even Wade wonders what he could have done differently in terms of his life path. There will be Wade lore when the new chapter of Back Together comes out, but Wade actually went to college got a degree and everything but had no idea what he wanted to do when he got out. He was lost af when he finally got out which is why he's not higher ranking, it took him quite a while to get to that point. If he hadn't gone into the army the only thing I can see him doing otherwise is maybe accounting of some kind? Maybe?

[ftalos]

[Darkness Over Vellsar] Portalcraft first impressions/card review. (Rotation)

The new expansion arrives tomorrow and we finally got to see the whole list of cards. New story mode characters are being introduced and a wave of new playstyles are coming for every class. Which style will be the strongest? Only time will tell, but we can already make some predictions, like how solid Fairy Forest looks (my contender for the best new deck), how the high risk-high reward playstyle of 20-rune looks something to test at least, or how Dragoncraft’s deck buffs could be a nightmare.

But, how’s Portalcraft? The push for Portalcraft is divided between two playstyles: Artifacts and Resonance, yes, Resonance. Although Artifact Portal (Rainbow Artifact, to be specific) has been online on rotation since World Uprooted, there’s a new card that helps you destroy your own artifacts to achieve that goal and a new finisher now that Absolute Modesty and Vertex Colony will be leaving the format (That reminds me, I should change my icon). This new finisher is also the reason Resonance Portalcraft could become a thing in the future

Let’s start, then, talking about the new cards for the class.

Bronze Cards

Miscalculation: The first bronze card of the batch is Miscalculation, a strong start for those wanting to turn resonance on and off at least once every turn as it provides you an extra draw at the beginning of your turn for three turns in a row. By itself, it allows you to play the perfect Sylvia, draw the Feower/Tien you’re missing, overall card advantage or fulfill your winning condition (which we’ll talk about more later). However, it can make you mill key cards in Artifact as you want to be filling your hand with Paradigm Shifts too, and its three cost translates into a tempo loss against aggro matchups. 3.5/5

Micro Assault Bot: A 1/1 Rush follower that gets Bane in Resonance, ‘nuff said. Overall a good card, specially in Rally decks, and it draws you a card too through enhance (3). Although you could say this enhance is what hinders the card to make combo plays to clean a monster immediately (It doesn’t get bane on fanfare, but when it’s already on the field). No space on Artifact or Evo decks, but still an option to consider in Resonance and Rally. 3/5.

Mecha Arm Mechanic: This card is good, like really good, for Take Two. Although some could put it in Rally as a budget Giant Puppetmaster, I wouldn’t bother playing this card in artifacts. Take two Portal needed a buff, though, so I’m glad this card appeared. 1/5 for rotation 4/5 for Take Two.

Energy Supplier: Our fourth bronze card is a 2-cost 2/2 body with an effect at the end of your turn: Add an Analyzing Artifact into your deck. Adding artifacts into the deck was good before, and maybe this card could be run as a 1-of in unlimited, it supports Resonance so maybe you could vouch for it now that the playstyle is starting, and maybe this card is good for take two; but all these maybes have me doubting if this card has actual value. Maybe/5. 1/5.

Silver Cards

Planar Breach: Now, onto the silver cards, the list begins with a another really good 1-cost draw with an enhance that summons one of the hardest artifacts to play, and it gives it Rush! Now, this card won’t be played mainly for the enhance, unless you need to destroy as much different artifacts (Reminder Ralmia exists), but with how much 1-cost draw there is in the class, you could vouch for combo decks, like Evo Portal, who need specific cards in hand. 4/5

Gizmo Enthusiast: This card discards in order to draw, and summons an Ancient Artifact on evo in case you need to deal with board. Overall, the card is good, helps you fix your hand and is the most solid resonance support this expansion has; however, it has to compete in Artifact Decks with the other cards that summon Ancient Artifacts, though Technomancer can give her a hand. 4/5.

Puppeteer Duelist: Two cards in one, nice board control in both cases but it becomes good Evo/Rally Portal support when you’re outside of resonance. Simple, but effective card, one of your best resonance payoffs during early game. 4/5

Gold Cards:

Artifact Carrier: this card serves as a finisher in midrange decks, summoning 2 Radiant Artifacts to swing for game, but his best usage comes in the form of the accelerate. As it summons you a Mystic artifact into play for early protection, and adds a Paradigm Shift into your hand. Artifact carrier is a key card to consider when building Artifact decks this season. 4/5

Miriam, Mutinous Being: I love Miriam since her appearance in Dawnbreak Nightedge and I was seriously surprised seeing her retrained into a gold card with the dark vibes of this expansion, I was about to spam her despite their effects but turns out she’s really good: Her accelerate allows you to not rely on the opponent to destroy your artifacts early game and it provides you with a paradigm shift. Not only that, playing her as a follower has a resonance advantage of restoring you 2 PP and her effect when an artifact is destroyed means you could finish all of your games with 4 damage burns every time your Airstrike Artifacts die, good card early and lategame, definitely a 3-of. 5/5

Legendary Cards:

Magna Zero: This card is simple, but effective, and the biggest resonance win condition the game has to offer, getting into 10 resonance activations doesn’t seem difficult and dedicated Resonance decks could pull off the 20 damage OTK, a bit on the meme side, though. Future Resonance support will tell, but so far, you can get by trying to finish your games with 10 damage. 3/5

Spinaria, Keeper of the End: Another dark retrain this expansion offers comes in the form of Spinaria. Same as Miriam, Spinaria supports Artifact decks by summoning two of your paradigm shift artifacts, or 3 if you already destroyed 6 artifacts with different names, making her also a Rally Portal support card. His accelerate effect, summon a Spinaria’s Artifact, provides an early body that can convert into draw, as well as an artifact with different name for the counts of Ralmia and Spinaria herself. Another 3-of in Artifact decks. 5/5

And those are all the Portalcraft cards about to come on the next expansion, this wave of artifact support may end up making the deck as expensive as Swordcraft has been in the latest sets, Evo Portal has gone cheaper and got more card draw to pick your combo pieces now that Omniscient Kaiser and Ameth are rotating out. Resonance Decks are just beginning, but an evo-resonance hybrid might be the way to go now, which would maybe push for a 1-of Magna Zero in the deck. Anyway, I’m excited to play robots again, see you guys soon.

[dailycharacteroption]

Races Among the Stars 8: Giant

Something that’s been coming ever since we first got entries for what giants have been up to in the far future of Starfinder, Ports of Call granted us a playable giant option!

More specifically, an option to play as many of the various large-size giant subspecies, so sadly no playable cloud or storm giants and the like, not without homebrewing, anyway.

While advances culturally and technologically have made sure that even hill giants have access to education to leave behind Pathfinder-era assumptions behind, giant culture as a whole is steeped in tradition and history, hailing back to their descent from the gigas, who in turn descended from the titans.

In this far-future era, their love of tradition and heritage means they spend much time honoring and preserving those traditions even with the modern amenities and advances all around them.

While giants are all large humanoids that seem very human-like, this does not truly encapsulate their appearance, especially since many have ties to the elements. Additionally, their proportions are oftentimes somewhat off from the human norm, rather than just being “resized human”

Hill giants are the most human-like in appearance, albeit favoring broad features and bodies. Meanwhile, fire giants sport red skin and vibrant hair that makes them seem to have flaming scalps and and/or beards at first glance. Meanwhile, stone giants tend to be lean with stony skin and irregularly or angular craniums that make their bald forms seem to be made of unworked stone. Slag giants, on the other hand, as hybrids of fire and stone giants, tend to have rust-colored skin and sturdy yet lean frames.

While fully capable of wearing modern armors and clothing sized for them, those living a civilian’s life on their claimed homeworld of Pholskar tend to wear outfits that draw upon the heritage of their ancestors, but with modern upgrades. A hill giant may still wear furs, but they are expertly tailored and symmetrical with under layers of modern fabrics, while the brass accents of a fire giant’s kilt hide modern alloys as well.

Giant society as a whole varies by various species, but all are defined by their love of their history and their pride. However, when you are most well-known for your strength, it becomes a mighty temptation for even the most supposedly civilized giants to not use their might, be it physical or political, to get one’s way, especially as evidenced by the Cloud Imperium, one of the major ruling bodies of Pholskar. That being said, there are plenty that see the tyranny of their kin and reject it, choosing to use their strength for the good of others, giant and otherwise, but change comes slow to these beings.

Giants are strong and tough, but their size makes them a bit ungainly.

They do, however, has a instinctive knack for picking up heavy objects and turning them into impromptu projectiles, which only grow in lethality as they master themselves.

They also possess a knack for both building things, as well as looming over others intimidatingly.

Where things get really interesting is the abilities granted by different subspecies. Fire giants are naturally resistant to flame and train with armor to move in it easier, while hill giants have a long tradition of wrestling and throwing their weight around that they put to good use. Slag giants are also resistant to flame, but their history as crafters gives them a knack for recognizing and exploiting the stress points of objects. Finally, stone giants have even better night sight, and their thrown objects hit just a bit harder.

Their strength and toughness makes giants an easy pick for pretty much any melee or tanking class, from melee soldiers, evolutionists, nanocytes, vanguards, and even melee solarions. Meanwhile, social and casting classes tend to be fairly neutral for them, though biohackers, mechanics and technomancers have their roles with their love of crafting, while mystic and witchwarper have their connections to the traditions of giant-kind. Their biggest weakness is the penalty to dexterity and size making most types of operatives, as well as most ranged builds somewhat difficult, but it’s not impossible to get around, especially when the heavyweight skirmisher gives you an option to play a strength-based operative anyway.

And that’s that. Giants are a fascinating addition to the playable options, and obviously the list of types of playable giants has been pared down a bit to save space, but there are plenty of Large-sized giants out there to adapt and play as, such as frost giants, though Huge and larger are still probably out of the picture due to the difficulties and power that they grant.

[dungeondivebar]

Dungeon Dive Bar Crawl - Heck Knights In Space!

As we announced last week, we’ll be running a 24 hour stream for Extra Life on November 6 and 7! Check out that link for some more information on the stream and how to tune in.

Each Friday until the event itself, we’ll be publishing an interview with the GM of one of the adventures along with other material to get everybody super jazzed for the stream.

This week we’re talking to Megan, though you may know me better as Retha ;)

How long have you played TTRPGs in general? About five years now. I'd heard a lot about them beforehand, but could never find a group because no one in my tiny hometown was a nerd like me. Finally, in my freshman year of college, I found a group of nerd friends, including Alex, and started a D&D game. 5e was pretty brand-new at that point, so we started in 4e and then changed over not long after.

What is your favorite thing about TTRPGs overall? I love the character design. I'll usually start with a build and work out the concept as I go, but as I build further I usually find the character's personality solidifying in my head, and it's only a matter of time before they have a specific appearance, too. I'm an artist, after all. 

How long have you played Pathfinder and Starfinder in particular? I've been playing Starfinder basically since it was released. I was barely familiar with Pathfinder at the time; I'd played a game with some friends that fell apart after about four sessions, and at the time I wasn't a fan of all the rules and options. Starfinder seemed a bit more reasonable on the options side of things, though, since it was brand new.

I came over to Pathfinder via the lore. I've always been interested in divine casters, and I took an interest in the gods of Pathfinder as they were represented in Starfinder. It's a long story, but I started writing a Starfinder fanfic that had me digging deep into Pathfinder lore, and eventually I got interested enough to actually try to play the game, theorycraft some builds, and get involved in the community of a certain other Pathfinder podcast.

Have you ever been the GM of a campaign or module before? I'm not quite a "forever GM," but I have GM'd a lot. My GMing resumé includes a D&D 4e homebrew that turned into a 5e homebrew, a 2-year Starfinder homebrew, a running play-by-post of the Runelords trilogy, Against the Aeon Throne twice (plus a follow-up homebrew adventure one of those times), an attempt at Hell's Vengeance, a rewrite of Tyrant's Grasp for an all-divine party, the Pathfinder 2e adventure Agents of Edgewatch, and countless one-offs. (Notable one-offs included an all-Shelynite party braving Nidal and a tournament of universes where characters from the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, and Golarion came together to fight Tiamat.)

What is your favorite part of being a GM? Getting to make up my own stories or add my own elements to prewritten ones, and ultimately, getting to decide what system we're playing, though if we're doing a long-term campaign the players get some say in this too. I love setting up opportunities for roleplay. I also like seeing what characters people bring to the table, especially when they have a lot of backstory I can work into the campaign.

What will you be running for the Dungeon Dive Bar Crawl? Can you tell us a bit about it? I'm running a homebrew scenario I've temporarily called "Heck Knights In Space." As the name might suggest, I required all the other players to be Hellknights for this game, which mostly just translates to lawful-aligned in Starfinder, since there's only one archetype for it and I didn't want to force everyone to take it. I don't want to spoil anything for the players if they happen to be reading this, but the module's premise is centered around exploring an abandoned Hellknight Citadel that's been broken into and involves both starship and ground combat.

What are you most excited about when it comes to Heck Knights in Space? Getting the chance to combine two of my favorite things-- Starfinder and Hellknights. As far as the module's content goes, there are some enemies that I've been wanting to use for a while now, as well as some I built myself.

Why do you like Hellknights so much? 

...In all seriousness, though, I'm a very lawful person IRL, and also an edgelord. I first read about Hellknights in the Starfinder Pact Worlds book, and basically instantly fell in love. On a deeper level, I'm intrigued by the different Orders and their different philosophies-- I definitely don't like all of them. You've got everything ranging from a group of detectives whose specific objective is to take out bad-faith actors, to a group of bounty hunters that operate across multiple star systems while using their codes as protection from those systems' own enforcement organizations, to a group whose main "thing" is finding new and improved ways to summon devils and work infernal magic. And they all operate under the same overarching codes, the Measure and the Chain, with what I can only imagine are vastly different interpretations.

What do you like the most about the Starfinder system? The lore! The flavor! Watching people try to come up with a balanced party for starship combat (or not try, and then just utterly fail in starship combat... I’ve had that happen in a few Society games, oof) is always a good show. Building my own enemies to fit the campaign is always fun too, especially boss enemies.

Can you explain how starship combat works for the viewers? Screams internally well here goes nothing. PCs operate from within a starship and choose a role on the ship. The only part of their character build that's really relevant to what they're doing is the skill modifier they're using for that role. It usually becomes a team effort, though, because it's a collaborative game.

There's different phases in which different roles operate, though the captain and chief mate can operate in any phase they need to.

Engineering phase is first, and gives ships' engineers and magic officers a chance to repair any damaged systems or boost operational ones to give a bonus to anyone using them this turn.

Next is the helm phase, where pilots roll off for initiative. It's a bit like Star Wars X-Wings in how it handles initiative: the lower roll actually goes first, because whoever acts second has the positioning advantage. (I think at one point Paizo admitted that X-Wings inspired them). Also in the helm phase, the science officer can scan the enemy ship to gain info about it, or can move your shields around to defend the firing arc the enemy ship is facing.

Finally, there's the gunnery phase, where ships attack each other. Obviously, the gunners act during this phase.

It sounds really complicated, but it's easy enough to understand once you get going, as long as you understand what your role can do!

What do you think players are the most excited about? Depends on the player. I know David is super excited about the starship combat system. Alex is more interested in ground combat; he has a technomancer build he's been theorycrafting for a while. Sam is excited about the huge variety of race options; last I heard he was trying to make fetch shakalta happen. Though if that doesn't work, we might see a familiar face…

What do you think our viewers will enjoy the most? If my brother-in-law is any indication, the callbacks to a specific group of Hellknights in Pathfinder will be pretty fun. ;) 

And that’s it for this week’s interview! Tune in starting at 9PM Central on Friday November 6 for the stream and in the meantime, join us at the bar for new Dungeon Dive Bar episodes every Monday at midnight Central!

[booksandchainmail]

Pale 9.3

The door banged against the shelf, wedged between wall and bookshelf, so it jutted out and got in the way of the door opening.

Avery-at-home chapters are always exhuasting

“Stop looking at porn and let me download my update, Avery!” Declan shouted, fighting with Sheridan now.  Avery only had glimpses. “It’s not porn. Why is that everyone’s go-to? Is it that common a thing?”

I think if Avery's ever going to want to actually watch anything explicit, she'll need to take Verona up on that offer to watch at Verona's house

Sheridan looked down at Declan, who elbowed her in the gut.  “I’m thinking… speaking of blood and violence, I don’t think our parents understand video game rating codes.  That game sure looked violent and bloody.”

hahhaha. get him.

Avery got her phone.  “This is my life now, you know.  Opening strange files from strange men on the internet is pretty minor compared to some other stuff I’m doing.” “It’s so weird you see me as a man. I’m still a teenager in my head.”

still not entirely sure how old Zed is, but I'm thinking eighteen at the oldest

“Is that okay?  It’s not an emergency or anything, but I feel like if we didn’t touch base every once in a while we’d drift apart.  I don’t want that.  I’m trying to hold onto connections.”

being the person who reaches out for regular connection times is an underrated and incredibly valuable trait in a friend

“Isn’t that what we all want?  Isn’t it that we want to make the world better, we care, but we can’t agree on how?”

oh. Avery is really sweet! Actually amazing that she's still holding onto this after *waves vaguely at prior arcs*

"I feel like video calls might not be enough, uh-” “I’m a technomancer, Avery. I can eat, sleep, and breathe in the internet. If you want some tips on getting set up, I can help. With a few tweaks it wouldn’t be much different from face to face. Video calls aren’t an issue for me.” “But there’s no true substitute for real life."

so this was written during the pandemic

“They really need a team player, he said.”

yeah avery speaks this guy's language

“What do we know about the space?  This new Path?” Avery asked. “That it’s crowded,” Zed said. “A lot of Others they’ve seen elsewhere on the Paths are there. He seemed to think that by getting to the right position, they could block the movements of some Others who tend to come out of nowhere and ruin your day.”

might be a good place to look for Miss?

“The time, the expenditure of power, my siblings being annoying.  I’m thirteen and you’re… seventeen?” “Yeah.”

oh thank you for finally clarifying that

“It’s fine.  Don’t sweat it, Avery.  You’re a friend, and even if you’re younger, it feels like… I dunno.  A little bit like I can fill that hole in my heart where my sister belongs…” Avery pressed both hands over her heart. “…and a bit like I can mentor you and maybe help in a way that I would’ve wanted to help when I was your age. Not that our experiences are much alike at all.”

awww

I hurt some friendships along the way. I got desperate to hold onto those identities, I got mean, I got into the moderator politics and manipulated the systems, tried to sabotage people who questioned the lie.

I'm picturing Zed wrapped up in one of those tumblr fake identity scandals a la hivliving

And I was out the door.  Some sarcastic comments to go.”

“Um, geez.  That’s… that’s a nightmare.  What did you even do?”

"And I was out the door. Some sarcastic comments to go.” “Um, geez. That’s… that’s a nightmare. What did you even do?” “Freaked out.  My thoughts got pretty dark for a good while, there.  I’m pretty darn lucky that people at the youth shelter had, uh, very gentle voices.

I wonder if Zed has talked with Nicolette about this? Sounds like they had some similar experiences, though he found a safer way out.

And a few years later, here I am. Found myself, not lying anymore. I’m pretty good at this technomancy stuff. All it took was- was support.”

explains why Zed's so set on helping people out, being that support to other people that he got

“Yeah.  She makes games for these make-a-game-in-12-hours competitions.”

impressive for an eleven year old. I think at that age I was pretty much just playing around with Scratch

“You said something that scared him so badly he’ll want to go on a plane?”

Zed is an excellent friend

Sheridan shrugged.  “I don’t care.  I’m just tickled I got to see the look on Declan’s face.  Outside of that, I don’t give two shits who’s miserable or not.  Except, you know, you whine.  That’s a bit annoying.”

aww, she cares

“Do you think your friend who knows stuff about computers could score me tickets to anywhere that isn’t this shithole town?”

or that

“It’s starting to feel like you were recruited with a siege in mind, as much as anything,” Verona said.

something to think on: what situations are the new Others most useful in? I guess Ken is the only one who was purpose-made for this, rather than happened to be in the area and got recruited. I'm now wondering if any of the new Others were specifically recruited to help when the murderer takes the judge's seat.

Avery pulled on her deer mask, antler broken, and Verona did much the same.

will the broken mask end up impacting her practice? I could see it getting fixed in some symbolic way. Deers grow back antlers every spring, right?

Avery nudged it, careful, then investigated.  She pulled out a knife. “You’ll be loaded to bear by the time we’re done here,” Verona said. “I’ve gone through four hockey sticks, I should have something,” Avery commented.

I feel like she should stick with something with that reach and heft though, since she's already used to wielding it and moving quickly. Maybe a polearm of some sort? Or a hefty longsword. Though the trap in using Maricica's glamour for the charm bracelet might make it harder to transport

“Fernanda asked and I’ve been thinking about it, and I think I’m better at… touching base.  Departures, arrivals, and making contact.  I circle around and I get in touch with people.”

yes! This is what I've been saying! And big props to Avery for finding confidence in an area that isn't athletics. Also, nice job in linking it into her theming.

“You’re nicer, too, so you don’t scare them off when you get in touch.” “Yeah. I wasn’t going to say it, but…”

also what I've been saying

“I kick myself for not stepping in sooner, when Lucy was interrogating Nicolette, or when we got on the wrong side of Yadira.  I played along because I wasn’t sure.  And that ended up hurting us a bit.  I want to do that stuff.”

I've talked before about how Avery's lack of self-confidence can hold the group back, so I'm really glad to see her recognizing that and working on improving. This is a major step forward for her.

“I could do with that city navigation magic.”

oooh that would be neat

[reliciron]

Sorry for the Technomancer dump but I’m having a lot of fun with it.

It’s not perfect, there’s some irritating stuff about it. 

Too many side quests that have you going all over the multi-leveled city map with no fast travel in there. 

The Karma system’s kinda annoying (let me kill people goddammit, sometimes they REALLY deserve it). The dialog’s a little long-winded and can feel a little, I don’t know, convoluted? overblown? not sure if those are the words for it, but it’s tolerable. Some of the themes are a little ham-handed too, but I think that’s just part of being a Spiders game.

The animations and behaviors in Greedfall are almost carbon copies of the ones in The Technomancer. Like it’s really noticeable, especially the romance scenes. They run the same, they idle the same, they unlock the same. And a lot of the systems carry over too: attributes, talents, the branching skill trees, faction/companion relationship levels, and crafting. So if you like how Greedfall played, then you’ll like The Technomancer.

Also the lip syncing is absolute dog shit, but again, Greedfall’s the same. Just look at their face overall and try to ignore their mouth movements.

The staff combat is different or course cause there’s no equivalent in Greedfall, I haven’t been playing the other styles but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were the same.

But the combat is fairly satisfying (note that I play on easy mode, so I don’t know how punishing  the higher difficulties are).

The story and the world in general are really is it’s main selling points for me, and it’s nice to see another sci-fi rpg game that isn’t Mass Effect.

I mean you’re part of a lost colony on Mars that’s been there for hundreds of years and is run entirely by corporations, the technomancers are essentially lightning mages and lore keepers that are used as front line soldiers in the war whether they like it or not. The corporation YOU come from is swiftly becoming a totalitarian regime complete with secret police and internal spies, and then the shit hits the fan and you go from an uneasy soldier to an enemy of the state.

There’s more of course, but that’s where I am in the game so far, two days in.

This game isn’t for everybody, but I’m having a good time, so I thought I might gush a little and make a post about it in case anyone was interested.