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daftpatience · 3 months ago

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Dm tips! I'm quite passionate about ttrpgs so I've been having a think about things that might help, I really hope this comes across more as helpful and fun rather than overwhelming!! tldr Have fun with creating a story together and don't put too much pressure on yourself to do everything

- Don't be afraid to ask for help from the table when keeping track of things! Sometimes it can be hard to keep everything in your head as one person, and there's nothing wrong with asking others to help keep track of initiative, jot down notes, look up how magic items and spells work, exc.

- If you haven't heard of them yet/used them before, I would recommend looking into 'lines and veils' and other safety tools for playing ttrpgs; even if you think your game won't get too dark, in a game where people can get deeply emotionally invested in the world and their characters, its good to set clear boundaries and safety nets for what people are comfortable exploring + to what depth.

- Have plans that allow the world to bring the story to the players; players can do the darnedest stuff sometimes, and if you have a set module or story in mind, it can be easy to start feeling out of depth as the players take actions that lead them further and further away from what you had in mind/planned. There are a few things that can help with this, some examples being:

a) be loosey goosey about where things are until the players travel there: if your players need to find a specific ancient sword in an abandoned, cursed town, but they travel in the opposite direction of where you had planned the town to be, just move it so it crosses their path. If you want them to be able to choose between a few different paths but still want them to find this sword no matter what, you can also change the aesthetic of the town but keep the quest details the same: for example, if they choose to go to bright Bloomshearth rather than Wroughtfield, the town they find mysteriously abandoned might be overgrown with mysterious, colourful flowers, the sky always lit in a golden afternoon glow, rather than deep, dark vines and howling winds... that way there's still an element of choice without putting in too much extra work.

b) Ask yourself 'if the players don't accomplish xyz, what are the in-world consequences?' If they fail a quest to defeat all of the slimes in a tavern cellar, does the tavern keeper throw them out? Does the building later become overwhelmed with the infestation and cause an even larger fight than before? Do the party gain a negative reputation in the area for a job poorly done? On a larger scale, if they fail to prevent a villain from collecting all the artefacts they need to start an apocalypse, do they kidnap a player/beloved NPC to complete the ritual? Do local kingdoms start preparing for war, with soldiers marching the streets? Are villages the players visit become empty as people flee, or destroyed by enemy forces? You don't need to have absolutely specific answers, but asking yourself these kinds of questions beforehand gives you more control over where the story goes and means you don't have to rely on players successfully completing tasks in order to keep the ball rolling: the players don't always need to succeed, and failure can actually lead to some fascinating paths! It also gives you a chance to set stakes and get the players more invested in their world by giving their actions tangible weight and consequence. Said consequences don't have to been super serious in order to be engaging either, especially if you're playing something lighter or more silly: fit the consequences to the type of story you want to tell.

c) If the players don't do xyz, are there any NPCs that might instead? Or any NPCs that might be competing to complete a task/grab an item before the players can? This can invite a sense or urgency and challenge that some players enjoy, or if the NPC is on the players' side it can allow certain necessary/fun story points to continue on even if the party don't quite make it. This can be combined with the previous point too: if the party do not accomplish an important task, does the NPC have to make any sacrifices to complete it on their behalf? And if they're challenging the players and win against them, what will they do with that accomplishment/item?

- Invite the players to describe things and help paint the world: things like 'how does your character feel about this?', 'What memory or emotion does this scent/sound/place/exc. bring your character?', and 'what is your character hoping to find/get out of this situation?' can be great ways to gain insight into what's important to that character (great to note for any future shenanigans) and also invites people to openly collaborate on storytelling. If a character rolls incredibly well (or sometimes if they fail spectacularly too) on a skill check or attack roll, it can be fun to hand over the reigns and ask them to describe how they succeed at the task at hand, you might be surprised + inspired by what they come up with.

- if you're confused by a player's actions, it's okay to ask them what they are hoping to accomplish with their actions: sometimes it's not always clear and people are often eager to clarify when given the chance to do so, you don't have to try and guess! This also helps avoid situations of disappointment when a player rolls well and the results in-world aren't what they wanted to happen

- Have fun! Don't be afraid to improvise things in the moment, have a laugh with friends, and try to remember how awesome it is you're putting in so much thought and effort into making a story together: it can be really easy to fall into the trap of not feeling good enough as a dm, especially if a session doesn't go as you expect, and if that's the case don't be afraid to reach out and ask for some positive vibes/feedback on the game. Even the best dms can feel low after a sesh sometimes, so don't feel bad if it happens, especially in the first few sessions whilst getting the hang of it! Giving each other small compliments on player actions and dm storytelling immediately after a session has ended is a great way to check in with everyone and leave the session on a positive note too, in my experience!

Hope this is okay to send, I hope you have a blast!! :D

thank you so much, this is all WONDERFUL advice!!!!! ♥♥♥ im noting it all down in my little dm bible ✍

#dnd #roleplaying games #good dm advice!!!!#daftpatiences dnd campaign

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dystopianam · 4 months ago

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A small list of drama gameplay mods [Higher Death %, Deadly Diseases, Functional Weapons & Social Classes]

This is not a master post, also because I don't think I have enough mods to be able to make one properly, but more of a small list where I recommend some mods that could be useful if you are the kind of person who loves to put some juicy drama into your game ✨

Explanations and download links under the cut 👇🏻

I'll be fast but as concise as I can. (It's a lie)

DEATH MODS

When you think of a mod to create a bit of drama in the game, you immediately think of ACR. Yes, ACR is now a must have for everyone... but can drama only revolve around love affairs and surprises pregnacies? Oh no!

One of the main elements that Maxis has focused on to create drama is the killing of many sims. Many have died mysteriously, others have clearly been "murdered" by others, but we all know that the only way to kill a sim is to be directly responsible for their death.

It's very hard and rare for a sim to die randomly these days. I remember years ago killing a sim was really easy, but with the latest patches it seems like it's gotten a lot harder.

And one thing that's always bugged me is...there's no way to actually have a serial killer sim.

Yes, you can lock a sim in a room with no doors, have him go into the pool and remove the ladder, or have them cook, cancel the action and hope everything catches on fire (including them) but...Isn't boring that you always have to be the one to cause these deaths? That nothing ever happens unexpectedly or that your sim can never actually be the real cause of another sim death? It's nice to play with fantasy... but if we have mods, why limit yourself? I could link you many mods that increase the chance of dying in the various ways that the game allows, but I want to link only the most realistic ones that I personally use (for example, I will avoid mods that increase the chance of dying crushed by a satellite or Murphy's bed.)

User-indirect deaths

More Dangerous Fires - As the name itself explains, this mod increases the danger of fires by spreading the flames much faster.

Fatal diseases - Theoretically, there should be a small percentage for sims for die from diseases if that is not treated properly. Some premade ancestor sims have died of disease, but have you ever seen one of your sims die of It? This mod allows your sims to get sick in very dangerous ways. Sims can die from uncured illnesses or IN SOME CASES from the choking bug. This mod has several variants, some of them should have the bug fixed, others still have it. Mine unfortunately has it, but if you have a fixed variant please let me know! (I recommend using this mod together with this mod. Increasing the risk of fatal disease puts ALL your sims at risk, so it's best to cure the ones you want to keep alive.)

Death by childbirth (Honestly I've never used it because I've seen that those who use it have a very high percentage of seeing all their sims die for childbirth, but if you want extra drama...)

Mod to kill sims...with your own sims

Functional guns (Self explanatory)

Functional sword 1 (Yes, you can kill sims with a sword!)

Functional sword(s) 2 (As above but with a better animation and you can choose the type of sword!)

Poison making station (Yes, you can poison sims!)

(Feel free to recommend other mods if you know of any!) BUT not occult ones (I want to make a separate list for those)

SOCIAL CLASSES MODS

Another thing that has always bothered me about The Sims 2 is that there is no real social class system and/or a fame system.

There are social classes in AL, but what's the point if they're just NPC sims that spawn in apartments? And they have nothing different from other sims except the way they greet?

Yes, the reputation system is also nice...it works well, but it's not what I'm looking for.

Morally it is very nice that at least in The Sims 2 there is no distinction between rich and poor, maxis itself has often struggled to represent the two social classes. For a poor sim it was always easier, you just had to throw him in the poorest house that exists and give him little money (even if I often noticed that poor sims have more money than a rich sim, but let's pretend we didn't see it, eh Maxis?) but for rich sims...mhh, Maxis has never managed to represent them properly. Yeah, jacket and tie, a slightly bigger house and slightly more money than a normal sim, but it's not enough.

Something is missing. Something that makes me see the difference between "the plebs and the nobility."

It's always bothered me that even families that aren't just rich, but noble and royal, interact with other sims as if nothing is wrong.

If you, as a normal person, were to meet a royal, I don't think at all that you would be indifferent and would address this person as if he were your next door neighbor.

Let's leave aside the Goths and Landgraabs who are simply rich (even if the Landgraabs have noble roots) but the Capp? The Monty? The Summerdream? They are MORE than rich.

I always had this impression of them that these sims were "unreachable" by common sims. That everything and scandal about them had to be on everyone's lips. That if you meet one of them at work or at school you do not remain indifferent.

Normal adult sims would like to befriend wealthy noble adults, attracted by their status and wealth.

Normal teenagers sims would look at the noble/royal teenagers in some sense surprised, literally make them the "cool kids" and fangirl over them.

"Look!! It's [noble sim name] you know that he is from a noble family??"

*LE GASP IN SIMLISH*

Unfortunately I haven't found any mods that allow this type of reaction, but I have found some that could simulate it.

The first mod that comes to my mind is simslice's fanzone cone. I've never used it because I think it's very uncomfortable due to how it's set up, but it's perfect if you want other sims to cheer on your sim as if they were celebrities. How it works: The fanzone cone is an object, literally a cone, that you place on a lot and by clicking on it you select which sim you want to be the celebrity. Sims that spawn in that lot will start cheering your sim. (The inconvenience of this mod is that you have to put a cone on any lot your sim is in, because without the cone your sim reverts to a normal sim.)

The second and third mod that I want to recommend are the ones I use and recommend the most. They are a bit "medieval themed", but if a person is noble/royal by family, they doesn't stop being so just because we are in 2024, right?)

These mods might seem a bit "old fashioned" to you, but I personally think they give the right importance to these social classes.

For both mods you need to download the trait system mod, but you don't have to use all the traits if you don't want, just the trait_MAIN is enough since the mods I'm about to link don't work without it.

While you can already simulate something using the "proper, snob and diva" traits with the trait system, I think these mods are more specific:

• Medieval Traits 1, 2, 3 & 4 (Royal, Noble, Knight, Servant etch)

Mods that work with medieval traits:

Royals & Nobles don't cook and clean (With this mod, sims with this social rank do not cook or clean. Let the servants do that!)

Social status based greet (Sims will greet other sims based on their social rank, for example, they will always bow to a noble or royal.)

Unfortunately that's all I could find. I couldn't find anything that would identify a sim as someone important like celebrities are in Get Famous in The Sims 4, where you can't even talk to them unless you're famous enough or you manage to get them to like you.

If you know of any other mods, whether related to death or social classes, please let me know and I'll add them to the list!

#the sims 2 #the sims 2 download #the sims 2 medieval #the sims 2 mods #Recommended mods

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rainbowxocs · 3 months ago

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What IS a puppet?

Puppets are a unique part of The Cultivators overall plan. They are like proxies or servants to The Cultivator. Or at least that is what they are SUPPOSED to be. Depending on where The Cultivator is in the timeline, he might have more or less control over his puppets.

If the Cultivator sees something in you, you might be able to become a puppet. The Cultivator will attach himself to you in some way, usually by giving you part of his power, this binds you to him, making it easy for him to control you…. Usually… The Cultivators goal is not to make puppets. If he made every “NPC” or “Patient” a puppet. He would become too weak and frail to do anything, as he has to give his puppets a bit of his power.

Puppets look exactly like regular “NPCS” or “Patients”. With the exception of their power levels, and occasionally mushrooms poking out of them. Some puppets also will be given different traits of other species, like Daisy and Eyeris having horns, despite being Human and Fae respectively.

What about specific puppets? What’s going on with them and why did the cultivator make them a puppet?

Daisy:

- She is literally THE PUPPET. She was the first, and arguably the most powerful. She is literally “god” after all.

-She became a puppet after eating the apple.

-The Cultivator chose her for a multitude of reasons. Mainly her ability to create, the fact that nobody would notice she was missing, and also that face is a people magnet.

-Daisy brings in almost all of The Cultivator’s food source. His only issue with the people she brings in is that they try and save her, which is NOT good for his plan. So he tries to manipulate both Daisy and her friends against eachother a lot. His main goal when the NPCs first start causing trouble is to try and get the NPCS to try and hurt Daisy enough that she goes running to him, which will seal her fate. This does not exactly end up happening the way he was expecting.. But in the end Daisy does go running to him.

-She could be described as a Neutral Puppet. As in, She isn’t really obedient or disobedient. She is so unpredictable especially later in her life as a god that it’s hard to know what exactly she will do.

Eyeris:

- She is in the lower ranks of being a puppet. The cultivator has a tight grip on her strings so to speak.

-She became a puppet after Radio stabbed her, leading her to beg to the cultivator to “save” her. Which he enjoyed quite a bit.

-The Cultivator chose her mainly as a distraction to Daisy. If Daisy has a goal, or an enemy that they can fight against together, she is less likely to turn against him. Using the whole US vs THEM thing against her.

- She is a very disobedient puppet. If the cultivator isn’t actively in the room with her she isn’t going to do anything she’s told to do.

Camilla:

- The Cultivator at first chose her for companionship, and also to manipulate Daisy. However later on Camilla is able to get a very high rank due to her ability to run and manage the dimension. When Daisy eventually snaps and creates The Hospital, Camilla becomes the “Head Nurse”, basically meaning she does 99% of the work for The Cultivator, allowing him to have a more background role in the whole operation. Despite how horrible of a woman Camilla is, she is able to both get Daisy under control despite her mind being broken, and keep the entire operation up and running without much help from The Cultivator. He really likes that about her. She’s very intelligent.

- Nothing bad happened for Camilla to become a puppet. The Cultivator just naturally gave her more power when she took over more and more of the operation. And also to protect her from the NPCs.

- She is a VERY obedient puppet. She would die for The Cultivator. She would kill for him. She would do anything he asked her to do, no questions asked. She does not disobey The Cultivator, even before she became a puppet, no hesitation at all. She becomes stupid when it comes to specifically him.

Alice:

- She is in the lower ranks of puppets.

- He chose Alice solely because she was a mimic, and was around at the time he got Daisy. He wanted a vessel to be able to use while around the NPCs so that his form was familiar to them.

- Depends on when in the story she is. During the beginning stages, when she used as The Cultivators vessel, she is an obedient puppet. However after Camilla cuts off her wings, and abandons her in her own snowy prison. The Cultivator no longer sees a use for her, and abandons her as well. She is one of the only puppets who eventually gets her powers revoked.

Radio:

- He is in the higher rank of puppets, slightly below Daisy and Camilla.

- Radio became a puppet after touching the hand for the first time, after he had been hallucinating.

- The Cultivator chose Radio for companionship and his closeness to Daisy. He wanted someone to be there for Daisy emotions wise as The Cultivator is not good at the whole, yknow, having empathy and sympathy for another person thing. He can just throw all those responsibilities on Radio, what could go wrong? :)

- Radio would be considered disobedient due to how much he is able to push the cultivator. Despite Radio’s devotion to helping The Cultivator, he is a bit of a wildcard to The Cultivator.

Asa:

- She is in the lower ranks of puppets.

-She became a puppet after Daisy trained her to fight, and showed the Cultivator his skills.

- The cultivator, didn’t chose Asa for her fighting skills. Though that did help a bit. He mostly chose Asa due to how close to Daisy she is, Daisy will tell Asa things that she wouldn’t even tell Radio or The Cultivator, it’s very good to have her best friend as a pawn for later. Plus he’s hoping he can manipulate Asa later down to the line to do more of his bidding. For right now though, he is fine with her being “Daisy’s Puppet”

- Asa would be considered an obedient puppet.

#angel posting #daisydaisyanswer #oc reference #lore dump

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adelle-ein · 3 months ago

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lace's Project List TM:

i keep poking at radiant historia perfect chronology to try and rip sprites/art from it, but i think it's just above my skillset :') i've come at it from many angles and i just can't get the files converted/open - may require me to learn more about decrypting etc. not giving up altogether but not happening anytime soon. might try and see if i can crack open the original instead and see if i can get stuff out of there. also want to try cracking open a more mainstream 3ds game (something really basic and frequently modded) just to check if i can get in there at all. would love to be able to 3ds rip but nintendo consoles unsurprisingly hard to get into

cotc going good though. there's still a few things i'm struggling to find in the files (namely triangle strategy npcs like benedict and the character splash art) but i've hunted down almost everything i really wanted and it's just a matter of organizing and figuring out what's what and putting sheets together for submission. i hope i can get my hands on more updates later on but. for now i'll just pry everything i can out of this may 2024 version lol.

bd2 asset uploading remains on indefinite hiatus until sr approves the game as a category. figure it makes sense to work on cotc first since i can like. actually upload as i go (and as much as i love bd2 and the assets, hd-2d sprites are cooler than 3d game UI stuff.) i also still wanna play with animating the models in there more but not a priority. want to learn how to rip steam games with other engines too, since rn it's just unreal that i know

but i also wanna play with modding 3ds games (namely smash, mk7, the other basics) and installing fun stuff in there. i've really only modded my fe games so far. but the 3ds is so easy to play with now...

i'm hoping maybe the switch will end up like the 3ds once [next nintendo console] is out and it'll be more hackable and easy and safe to do so, because that would be so fun, but i'm also not getting my hopes up too high bc my understanding is the wii u is still kind of a pain to get going (and the switch is such a finicky little thing). still. dreams

this computer's ability to handle emulators is veryyyy limited but at some point i might embark on a journey to at least TRY and get a na and/or jp android running so i can try and get my hands on more current app updates. not counting on it though :') will probably need to get a new computer within the next year but for now old girl's limping along and she's FINE okay. want to expand my programming and tech knowledge in general in any ways i can, which is hard bc it is definitely not something that comes naturally to me, but i'm trying

but yeah that's what i'm up to. and make time to draw and crochet and actually like play my games (dreamlight valley tiana update tomorrow...)

(and work and chores and life and shit)

#txt

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essayofthoughts · 2 years ago

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So I know you study the PCs of C1 with great intent and care - but how do you handle the NPCs, which get far less screentime and are all filtered through Matt? With, say, Cass there are easy shortcuts - looking at Percy and finding what they might share - but less to use with Syldor, for instance (who the twins likely tried hard not to emulate).

I mean, even with Syldor I feel like it's kind of possible to reverse engineer him in how the twins behave? Like they refuse to act like him, but his shittery still impacted them and their behaviour. Vax's defensive attitude and protectiveness of Vex, how he hurls himself into harm's way. Vex's quiet observance, the way that she can fold into herself when made to feel uncomfortable, ashamed or guilty.

It suggests Syldor used shame to police them and that's why Vax refuses to feel ashamed at all - he knows Syldor's full of shit and aggressively refuses yo abide - but it worked on Vex and that's why she reacts so badly to that and why Vax can get so overtly protective and defensive then. It also seems very likely that Syldor tried to play them against each other to some degree - Vex's desire to fit in versus Vax's indifference - and while that might have caused some disputes I think ultimatelynit only pulled them closer together.

But. Well. Syldor alone isn't what you're asking about.

For minor characters - ones which appear only the once or only fleetingly - I don't worry too much. I go off general vibe and make use of what is seen in canon. For more significant characters like Gilmore, Allura, Kima, even Clarota or Victor who are there several times but aren't so significant I think about what we do see of them and what facts we know!

Clarota was exiled by his people - so he's lonely - but he's also a mindflayer and so believes in his own superiority. Even in his weakened position we see him take an aggressive stance at a few points and he very kuch isn't there to make friends. Why would he be? Some companionship is better than none but it isn't at all like the elder brain or his own people and again - they are beneath him.

Allura was once an adventurer. For all her status she's much more understanding of and patient with VM than they necessarily deserve - because she's been there too.

Gilmore is a theatre kid. I'm pretty sure Matt has mentioned that Gilmore is based a little on someone he knew - queer and in theatre iirc - and so I use that same vibe of like... gregarious charm and utter self-assurance.

As I've said already you can also do a lot with dialogue to figure things out. There's a great Star Wars post circulating that has a wonderful point of like... don't ask what kind of person willingly dates trashfire murderer Anakin Skywalker. Just acknowledge that Padme is that kind of person and go from there. See her characterisation and find a way to slot that in. She has blindspots or perhaps isn't so perfect in her beliefs or perhaps she's makinf excuses or has a case of the I Can Fix Hims. Regardless - if the character does the thing, use that to inform the characterisation.

So... yeah. I use what we see and use that to capture the... idk, general shape and idea of the character, and then I try to replicate enough of the quirks or accents Matt gives them to keep them recogniseable.

After all, how many fics feature Victor and, one way or another, keep him recogniseable just by maintaining his abrupt, bonkersness?

Ask me about my fic ideas!

#critical role #vox machina #writing things #ask #blorbologist

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supercodi · 2 years ago

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For most things worthwhile in life, patience isn’t really an option. - You either keep working toward your goal or you don’t. There are no shortcuts. - This is one of the hardest concepts for people to grasp when it comes to fitness. - If you wanted to become a doctor, you wouldn’t try to find shortcut or life hack to the process. You either go to school and complete the program or you don’t. It takes a lot time and hard work, most people know this. - Starting your medical transition? You wouldn’t just stop taking your hormones because you were not seeing changes fast enough. Your only option is to keep taking your medication and wait. - Somehow when it comes to fitness, people think patience is optional and start looking for shortcuts or quit all together because they are not seeing results fast enough. There is a large discrepancy between expectations and reality. - Here is the reality. You have two options: 1. Quit and never see results. 2. Keep working until you eventually see results…and then keep working because you can’t just stop working out after you get where you want to be. This is why sustainability is SO important. - If you are just getting started in your fitness journey, make sure you are giving yourself realistic expectations with time frames AND effort. - Not going to lie, it’s probably going to suck at many points. It takes more planning and effort on a daily basis AND progress is slow…but it does get easier once you find your groove. - Adopting new habits isn’t easy. After the first couple weeks I call “the honeymoon phase” motivation starts to die off and you really have to start learning how to flex that discipline muscle if you want to keep moving forward. - Change is hard but you are capable of hard things. Don’t expect instant results, expect more of your capabilities and be willing to be patient and put in the work 💪 - #fitness #fit #nutrition #health #fitnessgoals #patience #motivation #onlinecoach #bodybuilding #npc #ftmfitness #ftmbodybuilding #fatloss #weightloss https://www.instagram.com/p/CmAHDKYS85G/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#fitness #fit #nutrition #health #fitnessgoals #patience #motivation #onlinecoach #bodybuilding #npc #ftmfitness #ftmbodybuilding #fatloss #weightloss

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alossum · 11 months ago

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This is going to sound cringe but until about a couple years ago when they changed their entire website, DeviantART of all places was great for finding roleplay groups. There were roleplay groups for all kinds of fandoms and genres. A group was it's own pocket community on deviantart based on a topic or idea where people could join it and submit art. They were like their own forums/mini websites on the website. For the RP sphere I was in, a small team would make a world with NPCs and events and from there communities of artists + writers would gather together and play in a the universe together as their OCs. Drawing, collabing, RPing, writing bios and histories. The works.

Groups were also giant well archived galleries as well so anyone who posted for the group had all their work in the same place. So it was easy to go through backlogs and learn about characters' stories. Plus dA (before the changes) had a fantastic search engine so it was easy to look up people and their characters.

In the area I was in however, since dA changed their whole website and made it so unfriendly to hosting "groups" these groups moved their activity hubs to discords and left their dA pages as archives or just pretty front pages. Some of them only use DevianART as a kind of front sign (since that's where this whole scene had started) and have most everything else on Google websites, Toyhouse, and Discord.

I'm not sure what the status of things are now since I kind of left the scene in 2022 after slowly fading during the first two years of the pandemic, but from what I have seen there are still people playing together and having a good time. And ya know? I hope that keeps

TLDR; deviantART was a great hub for roleplay before it made the dumbest decisions ever. people still there but idk about it well. and discord becoming the main hub of good fandom as everything spreads and there's no "town squares" or "pocket spaces" for fans to congregate is so hard wtf

i dont like the idea that kids these days are doing their fandom rps with ai chatbots. that's how you're supposed to make lifelong friends as a weird really online teen.

#blah blah blah

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chaosmeistergames · 2 years ago

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Playtests and Updates

Hello fine people. Remember the last time I said I was working on Wyrdlands? Yea can't use the name and need to find another. Coming up with names is hard.

On a more positive note, I had my first playtest, which was invaluable. I learned a lot by seeing how the dice work and how it comes together at the table and what I, as the GM, did and what the players did. Several areas have had a rewrite since then, mostly for clarity. A few sections I have changed completely, and others are gone.

I realized the mechanic I used for Assisting was worse than what I wrote for Supporting Actions for the same effect. So that section got a rewrite. I also had to define the boundaries of penalties for Unlucky rolls more clearly.

Overall, the progress is great. I finished the rough for the Bestiary and Relic sections. Still a bunch of Spark Tables and example Creatures to write.

I want to keep it simple, there are 4 types of enemies in the game.

GRUNT Creatures, or NPC of this type, can only take 1 Wound before they fall. They have only 1 Action and cause 1 Hit if the Character cannot defend. They can have 1 Trick at most. Grunt / 1 Action/ 1 Wound / 1 Hit COHORT Creatures, or NPC of this type, can take 2 Wounds before they fall. They have 2 Actions and cause 2 Hits if the Character cannot defend. They can have up to 2 Tricks. Cohort / 2 Actions / 2 Wounds /2 Hits LEADER Creatures, or NPC of this type, can take 3 Wounds before they fall. They have 3 Actions and cause 3 Hits if the Character cannot defend. They can have up to 3 Tricks. There should only be one Leader per group of enemies. Leader/3 Wounds /3 Hits BEHEMOTH

Creatures of this level are rare and should be the highlight of an Adventure. A single one should be able to challenge a group of players. They should have between 6-12 hits. They should not dish out more than 3 Hits at once for a failed defence. They can have any Tricks desired, but 4 is a good limit to keep it manageable for you as the GM. They also have something no other NPC has: Behemoth Actions. In each round of combat, they can do things that will require the Characters to use a variety of Abilities to defeat them.

I decided early on that I did not want a creature to cause more than 3 Hits base against a player. Otherwise, we are in the one-shot-kill territory, and that's not exciting or fun for anyone. The mentioned Tricks are like Feats or Edges in other games, but for the enemies only. Two examples are:

HORRIBLE

A character must make a Willpower Check when encountering the creature for the first time. On Success can Act normally. On a Failure, all Actions against this creature are made with a Disadvantage. SELF-SACRIFICE

When another creature in the same zone takes a Hit, this creature can take the Hit instead.

There will be another playtest session soon where I will try these monster classes. But on paper, it sounds easy to remember and run to me. Until next time.

#ttrpg #indie ttrpg #indie ttrpg design

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diviner-alva · 2 years ago

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hmm now that I think about it, they kind of ruled out possible romantic interests for our girl throughout the game didn't they? I mean is it just me or did they leave few possibilities open as romantic interests for the next game, I don't know if I'm making myself clear but I see it that way. If they really give love options for the ng, it makes some sense that in this game they would rule some out so they wouldn't make such a mess or something.

Or maybe they did it so they could make a single choice AHDGASASD I HOPE THAT IS THAT LAST ONE AND THAT KOTALLO IS THAT CHOICE

OOOH BOY YOU PUT ME ON THE SPOT THERE.

This is something I've been thinking for a while but thought it would be inconvenient to post it bcs idk people have their own shipps and they do what they want, so I don't want to be a party crasher or something (at least not without a reason) SO IF ANYONE COME AT ME FOR IT, I WAS JUST ANSWERING AN ASK (and I looove asks).

I agree that in FW they ruled out most of the NPCs with romantic possibilities, plus we all know they didn't include new ones (thank the ten I was getting annoyed by everyone hitting on her in every settlement). People flirt with her sure but tenakth are blunt and flirty no big deal (meaning Drakka and Gatakk)

This is chronologically ordered

Avad: Well, I think they did him a little dirty, making him ask again if she would change her whole way of life to live with him in Meridian? Didn't he told her he understood the last time? Why making him ask again??? As someone who even thought Meridian was a nice place during ZD that just made me want to flee, also the statue, people either calling her a savage or kissing her feet, is just literally not a place Aloy would want to be, the game reinforced that. "But liz, he said about renouncing and accompanying her on her travels" okay, you really think he would keep up? And her straight up answer was *shakes head* "You make it sound easy". Why did they made him pleading and clingy I have no idea.

Petra: Honestly I don't see her exactly "ruled out" tbh, Aloy just gets at chainscrape and it's a little harsh with her saying she's just passing through, but she's like that with everyone (there is only one that is an exception). Tho I believe she thinks of Petra more like a friend in this game.

Erend: Again, I think they did him dirty the same way with Avad but slightly worse. I know a few people disliked him complaining that she left the party without saying goodbye, but honestly I think that was a nice touch, you know to have people confront Aloy sometimes, it gives them depth and shows how her actions influence others, people are hard bcs they are different. But I think the dirty they did was: having him force his way TOO MUCH, I mean it bothered the fuck out of me at least, him wanting to be there but most of the time he's like "Yeah back to reading I guess", "I'll go back to look at this exciting data", and the worse of the bunch, forcing to go with her rescue Beta and the first thing he says in the cutscene is "this distress call had to he up a really steep mountain huh" and Aloy literally *sighs* and rolls her eyes, like, bro... He complains so often in this game I've lost count, that makes me think "BRO WHY ARE YOU HERE THEN", him backseating when you fight together giving you remarks if you go stealthy or telling you how to kill a machine, bro back off. And that not being enough, they even make Aloy discredit him a little. His self deprecation makes her roll her eyes, say his name and sigh. When they are about to go to GEMINI she literally says "Let's hope Erend can operate one without shooting himself in the face" and in a serious tone, wasn't a joke. I really think he was one of the most poorly treated in this game, I even don't see them ended up together doing him any good she wouldn't be so happy either. She doesn't have much faith in him and that makes his self deprecation worse. I just don't see that working well for either of them and guerrilla really wanted to show that.

Varl: Well, we see from the beginning that whatever crush they had on each other was a fleeting thing, acting more as friendly companions, and if that wasn't enough they smack you with Zo in the face right after. I know that I got >:( when she showed up lmao I'm sorry Zo but I was upset, I liked Varl's relationship with Aloy in ZD the most. And after that, well... we all know the drill

Talanah: She literally just showed up in this game to run around after a man :| that was after a woman that could be long dead. Really now looking at it Talanah is the one that they did most dirty actually wtf was that for. Honestly this shipp never clicked for me, I never noticed it, but I'm also dumb I guess, so take that in mind. And idk when Aloy talked to Amadis she said "so you and Talanah" and she was smiling, people are different but if I were talking to the person my crush dates I would not be smiling at them so spontaneously. But I don't even think there's more to say about this, plus the fact that she very likely could've stayed at the base but she didn't, I think she is also a carja at heart and would want to stay in Meridian.

Nil: I had such a crush on him its insane I screamed when I knew he was in the game (which was a spoiler bcs I HATE these gauntlet races) but honestly I think he was a wrong choice since ZD, this was reinforced by Aloy herself in FW (that he's very unhinged and killed bandits because he enjoys killing and stuff Aloy doesn't even know how to feel about him) he flirted with her and her answer was a thumbs up? Well not much to say

And generally, I think all of them would tie Aloy down somehow, Aloy likes traveling, exploring, learning about the old ones, you could really see Avad doing those? Petra is the only one from the above that wouldn't tie her down but would she accompany Aloy or would this be a distance relationship? Would she study old world like her? Explore ruins, hunt some machines? Erend we know very well does not like exploring ruins and studying data, very likely to tie her down as well. Talanah could match Aloy pretty well on those, but like I said, I doubt she would permanently leave Meridian and the legacy of her family.

But I'll say that those thoughts above just came to mind after Kotallo showed up, because he is way too perfect literally a tailored suit for Aloy, he ticks all the items on the checklist and I think this is absurdly suspicious

#kotaloy #aloy x kotallo #aloy #kotallo #horizon forbidden west #hfw

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jack-wess-wolf · 2 months ago

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I'm not a expert GM but here's my two cents on each problem.

For those of you that say rules. Unless you have a rules fanatic. All you really need to know is

1 is a failure

20 is a success

3 failed to throws (9 or lower on a d20) when unconscious = death

3 successful throws when unconscious = life

For whatever module you're running (Pathfinder, DnD, that one star thing I'm using as a supplement for my friend's game) read over what each skill does two or three times. You don't have to memorize just enough so you get the general idea of what they're applied to because some aren't as obvious as others and some can be used instead of other (in DnD, acrobatics and athletics are often interchangeable).

Everything else is numbers you make up (which is why knowing the skills and what each one does in important so you can make up the correct number in your head.

At lower levels 1, a 5 difficulty check is easy but not impossible to fail, 10 medium, 15 hard, 20 difficulty check is near impossible but not improbable, while 35 is impossible (not counting a crit).

At higher levels, a 20 difficulty check becomes pretty easy

Scale as needed but if you have something that you've listed as 35 previously and the players come back, make sure you kept that at 35 so they could pass it since they're at a higher level

The trick is once you say something is a mechanic (who cares if it's in the books or not), you have to keep that consistent for the rest of the campaign.

Be careful though, I once gave my group the ring of unintended (it was supposed to be intended) combustibles... That worked out about as well as you can expect for me.

For improv, not all NPCs have to be different. Most shops that your players go shopping at... just do the customer service voice (with different accents if your really feeling it). There's variations on that too. And those variations can also be applied to other characters.

Easy improv cheat sheet for shopkeepers or some can be used for random people on the street.

Bad day

First day on the job

Last customer that came in was terrible and on my God thank you for being normal

Oh your hot, I flirt

I have 15 minutes until break please leave, please leave

PLEASE LEAVE, you came in 1 minute before shop close and I can't fucking leave until you do

I love everyone

A very determined, I am a good employee =D

Somewhat... too... enthusiastic about what they are selling

Milk delivery (if you know... you know)

The more specialized NPCs improv, like ones that are story related. The fear can be cut down by prepping. You know how they're relevant because you made them. A simple break down to get started.

What goals do they have?

Why do they have these goals?

What can they do/or are currently doing to achieve them?

What are they trying to get the players to do?

Are they lying to the players?

What do they do when the players aren't there to interact with them?

If you know your players, you probably know what kind of questions they will ask. You can write down those questions and pre-write those answers. You can write them as yourself then re-write them in character.

You can answer more questions and write an entire backstory if that's your jam. The more you do, the easier the character will be. Don't worry about being in character all the time, people are nuanced. The major early quest giver in Critical Role Campaign 3 is a paranoid manor trap lord... who also bakes cookies. So... you know.

Letting your players down, is all about communication. If you're the one putting together the group then the people probably already know that you're inexperienced and they'll forgive you quite a bit. You can always have a feedback at the end.

Get feedback on what they liked. And if there's anything that they'd like to see in the future.

Take it under advisement or things to improve on.

Ignore it (90% of the time) if someone says you should have let me do this because they might just want to be the center of attention of doing really cool shit. Definitely ignore them if they tried and failed because they rolled badly. They want to the be main hero in an action movie not a cooperative role playing game.

ALSO: TAKE NOTES on major plot points that happened that are relevant.

You can DM yourself... it's weird but a good exercise until you can find a group of people. Also... online is a crazy place and you can find people. There are many enthusiasts that can and will help you but also be careful to find people who will be forgiving and actually give you useful feedback.

Also, it's supposed to be FUN, if you're not having FUN as a DM, then something is wrong. And it's not always you. I had a player that wasn't having fun (I bent the rules too much for her because we had a lot of 1st time players and I was a 1st time DM) and she dropped out. But she explained why, and it made sense but it was good feedback for what kind of players I want to have and that depending on the group I may want to consider being less forgiving on mistakes. So if someone isn't having fun, it's okay for them to drop. Sometimes it's you, sometimes it's them, sometimes both.

You guys are telling a story. And if your players have backstories, it's a godsend. They can help pad out the parts of the world and often those can be woven into or run parallel to your overall campaign. (Currently we've got an Arakokra that is adopted and her sister is the only one that loves her in her adopted family <-- back story. This next part I made up but because the Arakokra was adopted as an egg, she has no idea her specific bloodline is being hunted by a cult to try to unleash the wind plane onto the material world. Her sister becomes an essential story device as the cult is going to try to use her as a way to get to the player character).

#DND

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echodoctor · 3 years ago

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Something I’ve seen played with a little in art but never in fic is running with the idea of the healers literally being dolls and showing some physical effects of that.

I especially want to see it combined with the idea that all three are completely different toys, made of different materials.

Personally, I enjoy the headcanon that doll Haruspex is made of leather (easy to scratch and scar if handled roughly but ultimately tough enough that a little cosmetic damage isn’t going to permanently destroy it, once-living skin cut away from the flesh of a body, specifically part of a cow, one of the earlier materials humans figured out how to work with in most traditional crafts), while the Bachelor and Changeling dolls are porcelain (expensive and “high-class”, inorganic and cold to the touch, harder than leather but also much more fragile, delicate when whole but cracks into something sharp and dangerous when it breaks) and cloth (soft and easy to rip and tear but also much easier to repair in a way that neither porcelain or leather are, can also be “of the earth” at one remove if you’re dealing with thread spun from an organic fiber like cotton or wool, has some fun mythological associations with destiny and prophecy a la the Fates weaving the threads of mortal lives) respectively.

There’s outright a line of dialogue where Dankovsky tells Artemy about them being toys, and he responds with: “You are also better-crafted than me, oynon. Take a look at us-a closer look. You are probably right about me, I'm not a toy to keep-unbending, leather-made, old, and shabby. You, on the other hand, are an entirely different thing! I'm surprised they're playing such a bad game with you...”

It’d be really fun to see something from the perspective of an NPC getting a brief look at something deeper, or one of the healers observing the other two, for that unsettling ambiguity- the Haruspex has tough, leathery skin? Well, not so surprising for a man who works heavily with his hands, but it’s odd to this degree... The Bachelor has always been pale- but has he always been quite that pale, so literally bloodless and dead white? You see the Changeling playing cat’s cradle with some string, but it’s hard to tell where the string is coming from- can it be that a loose thread in her fingertips has unraveled?

Or if you wanted fluff but Weird And Surreal (and why wouldn’t you, really) you could do something with the healers taking care of each other when their... unique conditions act up. One of the others carefully stitching together a ripped seam on Clara, or gripping Artemy’s hands until he gets feeling back in them.

#Pathologic #Pathologic 2 #daniil dankovsky #artemy burakh #clara the changeling #meta bullshit #Artemy being like please stop playing rough with the Bachelor #he's decorative :(#at the kids will never not be funny to me #stop burying your fancy expensive toys in the sandbox you're gonna break him

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andmaybegayer · 2 years ago

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Last Monday of the Week 2022-09-26

Putting the Reading section at the end because it's Nona the Ninth discussion hour if you want to skip that.

Listening: I've had Friends At The Table in my podcast rotation these past few weeks. I asked noted blogger and Tuesdaypost Originator girlfriendsofthegalaxy for a good start point so I've been in the Partizan arc, which is a Beamsaber game.

I like stylistically constrained game systems, I think they help keep everyone on the same page for how the game is meant to go and what the stakes are. Forged in the Dark provides the tools to do this well, so do Powered by the Apocalypse games.

At some point I'll go back and listen to their session Zero to learn more setting stuff but I love factions in TTRPG design. They're a great way to establish tensions and conflicts without having to deal with personal grudges too much, which are good but can sometimes be too easy to solve in the realm of stabbing someone with a sword. Guilds and polities function well as hard-to-kill machines made up of many individuals.

I've just got to the part where the Rapid Evening extract the Prophet and Clementine gets her Obsessed scar, which is a turning point for her character. I am having a hard time keeping characters straight in my head all the time but they're distinctive enough that I'm usually fine. The other half of the story has more distinctive characters I think? I like the separate halves for different reasons.

Watching: Death on the Nile, the second of the new Poirot movies. The mystery in Death on the Nile is kind of just annoying but if you ignore that the actual movie is gorgeously done, lots of big moving scenes with lots happening.

Playing: Hades! I bounced off Hades after I got my first full clear, I succeeded and then remembered oh wait it's a roguelight, I gotta do that dozens of times to build up the necessary resource to finish the story and romance the NPC's and whatever.

This time I'm approaching combat more as an engine building exercise and it's more enjoyable, I was treating it too much like other Supergiant games which are a) very narrative-forward and b) usually based on figuring out the quirks of a predictable mechanistic weapon and ability selection. Still haven't made a full clear but I only did like four runs, I'm still getting back into the controls and patterns. Got all the way to the final boss twice though.

Making: More quilting, ever onward. Cut a ton more fabric so we can keep going without stopping for a while.

Reading: Finished Nona the Ninth.

A lot of the sci-fi I've been reading does the thing where it takes literally half or more of the book to get to the first major inciting incident. The Left Hand of Darkness did this. The Diamond Age kind of does this although that's just Stephenson. Every single locked tomb book does this. You're like halfway through Gideon when the Fourths get got by Cytherea. You spend most of Harrow fucking around in Jod's magic space house. You are fully halfway through Nona before her secret slips. You meet Kiriona like 65% of the way through the book.

Every character here has intense motivations. Everyone has some existential threat bearing down on them and yet none of them are in an active war zone. Everyone is hanging out under the intense gaze of a resurrection beast and trying to decide which groceries to buy. There's a war going on but because we're with Nona, we never see it up close. I don't know if we're going to see the Cohort at work in Alecto, but maybe you don't really need to see them in the first place, you know what smiling imperialism looks like.

Kiriona and Ianthe work well together. They're damaged products of the empire that still feel like they need to be loyal to it. Gideon is way less friendly when you aren't inside her head, she's mean and she's content to align herself with power. The perspective change to Nona gives you new eyes on everyone.

There's so many gender and identity games being played and because Nona doesn't know who anyone is she passed that on to you. It's infuriating because you're meeting familiar characters and you can't quite figure out who they are because we keep talking about Crown.

Nona is good because she's not an asshole. She's a child, she's a little impulsive, but she likes and trusts Cam and Pal and Pyrrha which is even funnier when you know what she looks like.

It's impressive how easily it managed to make Jod a hugely sympathetic character. Yes he's still an asshole but you'd also be an asshole if you were just some guy who got the key to unlimited power only to use it too late to actually achieve the one thing you cared about but just in time to destroy the thing you wanted to protect.

Cam and Pal's arc is brutal. They've always been tightly linked but it's clear that they go far beyond the other Necromancer and Cav pairs. It looks like they flipped the script but in the end Cam is still sacrificing herself even if what comes out of it looks like her.

#last monday of the week #nona the ninth spoilers

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whumpmatsus · 3 years ago

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Hi I’m a silent fan who loves your work:) I’m too shy to say it directly but I do! I have possibly an odd request if you’d like to write it but you don’t have to if this is too out of your zone ;__; I headcanon ichimatsu as autistic because he displays a lot of behaviours I have with autism as well (low monotone voice, doesn’t really emote a lot,shown to be uncomfortable with being touched sometimes, difficultly saying verbally and directly what he means, even the way he sits with his knees right up to his chest LOL) I was wondering if you could write something to do with that if you wanted to! It could be anything like hurt comfort (have you ever seen the scene from the osomatsu game dead or working where ichimatsu and osomatsu get a job together and osomatsu yells at their boss for making ichimatsu feel bad that he’s not able to naturally smile and speak as expressively as his brother is by saying “that’s just how he is!!” ..I thought that was so sweet😢 maybe something along those lines but with any brother you want! But my personal favourite ichimatsu relationships are with kara, jyushi and oso lol)

Sorry that this is such a specific request you can reallt do whatever..I love your writing so much! Thank you!

hiiii, I'm so glad you like my content!! if you ever wanna come talk directly, I'm 100% okay with that, but as someone who's kinda shy myself I totally understand that it's not easy 💜

as for the request!! I don't know if this is a headcanon I'd subscribe to personally in my usual writing of Ichimatsu (my headcanons for him right now are depression and anxiety, social anxiety, and avoidant personality disorder) buuuuut it's definitely an interesting one to play around with, so I enjoyed exploring it, and I can absolutely see why it's a headcanon you have!

I'm not autistic myself (at least not that I know of; tho I do have some anxiety and maybe possibly undiagnosed ADD, but again, that's only a possibility so idk) so I hope I portrayed it ok, at least the behaviors Ichimatsu would have!

this is technically Allmatsu because DUDE all the brothers are so supportive of him, but it does skew a bit toward Parkamatsu because... well, I haven't written a lot of Parkamatsu here yet XD

I hadn't seen this scene before because I've never played the game and had some trouble finding English subbed videos of people playing it, but I found an English subbed one of this scene this morning and AUGH MY HEART, OSO IS A GOOD BIG BROTHER FIGHT ME!!

I hope you enjoy!!! I tossed some brief NPCs in there too because I thought it would be cute lol

As far as the Matsuno sextuplets are concerned, even though Osomatsu can be a dumbass and a jerk sometimes, he’s the eldest. That gives him a little more (unofficial) authority within their little group. If he says something that’s not totally ridiculous, the rest of them listen. They follow his lead when it’s reasonable. He doesn’t know best all the time, but some of the time.

That ‘listen to the oldest brother when he’s not being a stupid ass’ effect is probably how they all ended up working in the same restaurant.

It’s a good idea, and Osomatsu made sense when talking about how they should all apply there. Maybe they could work in different departments, but if they’re all working in the same place, they can keep an eye on each other. It’ll be easier to talk to each other on lunch breaks… and maybe they can pull a couple silly pranks on their coworkers, pretending to be each other like they did when they were younger.

Besides, it’s time they all got jobs anyway, even if it’s just part-time. They’ve gotta start somewhere, after all. It’s been about a week since they started; they’re settling in pretty well. Osomatsu and Choromatsu are doing great as bartenders, Karamatsu and Jyushimatsu are hard at work in the kitchen, and Ichimatsu went along with Totty to be a server.

Everyone else seems to be doing pretty great. Ichimatsu, on the other hand, is half a step away from hating his job.

It’s not that he isn’t putting effort into it. He’s doing the best he can, and jobs aren’t supposed to be fun, sure, but… this goes beyond him simply not liking the job. It’s not a good fit for him, he thinks. His brothers are all enjoying their jobs, and meanwhile he’s struggling to get through a whole shift without running to the bathroom to cry.

In the single week he’s been here, he’s had so many customers complain about him. He doesn’t engage, he isn’t friendly, he speaks quietly and sounds like he’s bored, he slouches, he doesn’t laugh at people’s jokes… the list of complaints customers have about him is endless. Every day it’s something new.

He’s always been a little different from his brothers. He has trouble with anything social, and his face has never been as expressive as them unless he’s really feeling something ― forcing an expression onto his face is difficult for him. Even though he tries to work his life around it, and it doesn’t bother the people who love him, it’s a huge obstacle to his new job.

Every time Takeda-san, the general manager, tells him that he seems not to be doing well, Ichimatsu tries to defend himself by saying he’d be more comfortable working in the kitchen. He’d switch places with Jyushimatsu in a heartbeat, even though it would mean working with Karamatsu.

And every time, Takeda-san tells him no, he’s just not trying hard enough, that he has to do better at this job. “There’s no job-hopping around here, so just try harder,” he says, so Ichimatsu tries to double down on the effort he’s putting in.

It doesn’t really work, though. He’s already trying as hard as he can to do a good job. There’s really nothing wrong with his performance. He’s polite and doesn’t give customers attitude, he brings everyone the right food and corrects mistakes if he makes them, he tells everyone to have a nice day when they leave. It’s just that he doesn’t usually have a smile on his face, and his voice is a little flat, and he doesn’t connect in a personal way.

Seriously, what does Takeda-san expect? He’s doing the best he can. If he wasn’t trying as hard as he could, he’d have already given up on this bullshit. Even though it’s not the best job for him, he’s still putting in as much work as he can.

At least he and Totty are a pretty good tag-team working together. The restaurant is on the small side, so they share the main section. If one of their tables is ready to leave and whoever served them in the beginning is busy with another table, the other one will tap in to finish things. Right at the moment, Ichimatsu notices that Totty’s currently trying to get everyone at one table their food, while the table he got earlier looks like they’ve got their check ready.

At the moment, he just put in orders for his own table, so those won’t be ready for a few minutes. “Hey, Totty,” he calls as he steps away from the kitchen doors. “Want me to get the check from table 4?”

“Ah! Are they ready to pay? Sorry, this food just came out… yes, please, if you don’t mind!”

“Yeah, no problem.” He walks over toward the table, doing his best to collect himself; he can feel Takeda-san’s eyes on him from behind the cash counter. Table 4 is a young family with a couple of kids, and although they’re entertaining themselves, they also seem to be patiently waiting for someone to take their payment. “Hey, guys… sorry about the wait. You’re all set?”

The woman smiles and reaches to hand him the tray where the check is set. “It’s okay, hon, we haven’t been waiting long!” With her other arm she catches the whining child who presses himself into her side, laughing. “Yep, here’s the check and my card. Could we just get a receipt after you run it through?”

“Sure.” He takes the tray from her and moves to step toward the counter, then an afterthought pops up in his mind. “Oh, uh… there was nothing wrong with anything for you guys, right?”

The man, with the more energetic little girl clambering in his lap, beams. “No, no, everything was great. Our server was really attentive.”

Ichimatsu nods. “Okay, good. Be back in a minute.”

Practically as soon as he steps behind the counter to take care of the check, Takeda-san is grabbing him by the arm. He freezes up, only able to look at his boss in fear for a moment, then tries to pull his arm back. “Takeda-san? I’m just taking care of this…”

“Yeah, no. I’ll take care of it, because apparently, you can’t even follow simple instructions right.” The check and the woman’s card is snatched from his hand, and as Takeda-san processes the payment, he continues to scold Ichimatsu. It started out just loud enough for him to hear, but now the whole restaurant can hear it. “You just don’t listen, do you? Are you lazy? I get so many complaints about you, it’s unreal! I could just have your brother do your job, and it’d work out better. He actually knows how to smile and be friendly to people.”

When he steps out from the counter toward table 4, Ichimatsu can’t do anything except follow, looking and feeling a little lost. (Actually, what he feelsis two inches tall. This is nothing new and he hates it all the same.) “I’m not paying you to have that resting bitch face, to talk as if a little bit of work and serving people is an inconvenience for you.”

“But it’s not…” he mumbles, quickly looking down to avoid any eye contact his boss might try to give. “I’m trying my best.”

“Well, maybe your best just isn’t good enough, right?”

That sentiment makes Ichimatsu’s heart sink. As much as he gets nervous in social situations, he thought he was doing an okay job no matter what Takeda-san said. All his brothers are proud of him, and proud of each other. It’s not his fault that Takeda-san put him in a department that doesn’t quite mesh with his personality and strengths. “I could… go try being a dishwasher in the kitchen. Maybe I’d be better at that.”

“You’re joking, right? You’re so incompetent, I wouldn’t even trust you with that! If you can’t get the hang of something as simple as smiling, you’re a lost cause at any job!” Takeda-san sets the check tray back down on the table so that the customers can take their card and receipt. The action is coupled with a smile that looks so fake, Ichimatsu wonders if Takeda-san knows everyone can see right through it. Totty’s fake smile is better than that, for fuck’s sake. “I apologize for the service you received just now.”

With that, he turns back to Ichimatsu. “Listen, if you’re not more happy and welcoming by tomorrow, Ichimatsu, I’m going to have to let you go. If you can’t follow orders, there’s no place for you here.”

The woman in the booth, now trying to calm the clearly overstimulated child who’s still attempting to hide his face in her side, looks up at Takeda-san with a confused expression. “H-hey, what do you mean? There’s nothing to apologize for. He was just fine.”

Before she or Takeda-san can say anything else, suddenly Osomatsu is walking over from the bar area ― looking angry, with Choromatsu still behind the counter wearing an expression of shock. “You can’t fire him just for not smiling and shit! He’s not giving bad service; people just think they’re allowed to be jerks because he didn’t bend over backwards to be a happy robot for ‘em!”

Takeda-san’s face contorts in displeasure, even though he’s never had any issues with Osomatsu before. “Osomatsu, get back to your station. This isn’t any of your business.”

“Are you kidding me?! You’re being a dick to my baby brother, that’s the definition of my business! You’re mad ‘cause he doesn’t force himself to smile and he doesn’t talk all peppy, but he doesn’t need to do any of that to be good at his job! That’s just how he is!”

Takeda-san is having none of it. “Well, I hate to tell you this, but if that’s just how he is, then he’s not going to be here much longer, and I’d be surprised if he could find a job anywhere else.”

By this point, Totty is far beyond done serving his table and has gravitated toward the scene. “Hey, that’s not fair! Ichimatsu-nii-san is doing a great job. Whoever’s complaining about him probably just wanted something to complain about in the first place. I mean, didn’t you see how he noticed my hands were full so he came to take care of this table? He could have just ignored it and let me deal with it, but he was trying to take care of our customers.”

Ichimatsu shakes his head and takes a step back. “Hey… it’s okay. Osomatsu, Totty, don’t worry about it… if I get fired, then…”

“Ah, no!” Osomatsu reaches up, taking his uniform tie off before tossing it in Takeda-san’s direction. “You’re not gonna get fired, because you know what? We all quit! You’re not gonna treat one of us like crap and expect the rest of us to just be okay with it! Ichimatsu’s a good worker, and if you’re gonna fire him just because he’s not super smiley, then you don’t deserve any of us!”

He storms over and takes Ichimatsu’s hand. Despite feeling a little embarrassed by the scene, Ichimatsu can’t stop himself from shuffling closer to his oldest brother’s protective presence. “We’re outta here, Ichimacchan.” He turns his head toward the bar area. “Choromatsu, let’s go!”

As Choromatsu scurries over, giving stammered apologies to the customers he’s just served at the bar, Osomatsu marches himself and Ichimatsu toward the kitchen doors. “Karamatsu! Jyushimatsu!”

Both of them poke their heads out of the kitchen; it looks like the two of them are covered in flour from whatever they’ve been working on. “Ahahah, what’s up, Osomatsu-nii-san??”

“C’mon, we quit our jobs.” Osomatsu gestures for them to get over here with his free hand. “Takeda-san thinks Ichimatsu not smiling and talking in his normal voice is worth firing him over. So we’re all leaving.”

Karamatsu and Jyushimatsu’s aprons, along with Totty’s apron and Choromatsu’s tie, are thrown at the manager’s feet. “I suppose it was inevitable,” Karamatsu sighs dramatically, draping an arm over Ichimatsu’s shoulders. “We were never destined to stay in one place of employment forever. So as the winds of change blow, so must we be carried with them.”

Ichimatsu manages a soft chuckle, though a smile doesn’t come with it. “Ow… painful…” But he turns his head in against Karamatsu’s shoulder anyway, thankful for one more wall of protection.

“You lazy NEETs have been here for a week!” Takeda-san hisses. “Good luck if you think you’re getting a reference from me! If this is all it takes for you to walk out of a job, none of you will ever amount to anything!”

Jyushimatsu hurries behind Ichimatsu to ‘guard’ him from that direction, throwing his arms around Ichimatsu’s middle. “We will so, because we stick together! Ichimatsu-nii-san deserves a nicer boss than you, anyway!”

“L-let’s just get out of here, can we?” Choromatsu mumbles, hurrying up to join Osomatsu’s other side. “Sorry, Takeda-san, b-but… but you treating Ichimatsu like that is… r-really out of line. We can find somewhere else to work.”

Osomatsu scoffs and starts the walk out. “Yeah, that’s right! We can find a better place to work, and we don’t give a shit about your reference. But as for you, good luck not shutting down during the dinner rush when you just lost two-thirds of your evening employees because you decided to be an ass!”

Nothing more really needs to be said, so the six of them are out the door.

It’s already dark outside, and when Totty shivers, Ichimatsu immediately pulls him in for a hug. The youngest sighs as he cuddles into his big brother. “What a night. I didn’t know he was that bad… you don’t talk to your staff like that in front of customers!”

“You don’t talk to them like that ever,” Osomatsu huffs.

“Well, yeah, true. But definitely not where customers can hear you. Double bad boss points.”

Choromatsu frowns, patting Osomatsu’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. “What’s his problem, anyway? S-sure, Ichimatsu isn’t Totty levels of friendly and sociable, but he was giving pretty good service.”

Ichimatsu continues to try and hide against Karamatsu’s shoulder, earning a deep chuckle and a tighter embrace from his older brother. “You guys didn’t have to do that…”

“You didn’t even like that job,” Jyushimatsu hums. “He should have switched you and me, but he was being stubborn and mean! We’ll find an even better job. Maybe you can be an official kitty-petter! That’s a thing, right?”

This time when Ichimatsu laughs, his lips quirk upward a little. “I wish.”

A small part of him hates that just because of his own incompatibility with the job, his brothers all don’t have jobs now either. But… he sort of gets where they’re coming from, why they quit with him, because he wouldn’t want to work for someone who treated one of his brothers the way Takeda-san treated him.

The six of them stand there in the chilly night air for a moment, then the restaurant door opens.

It’s the family from table 4, with the man holding the little girl and the woman holding the little boy. As soon as they see the sextuplets, the woman’s face lights up and she races over toward them. “Oh, my God, I was hoping you guys hadn’t left yet! That manager… what kind of person treats other people like that??”

Ichimatsu stiffens up a little, shifting his eyes down. “Uh… I’m sorry.”

“For what? That was him being a horrible person, not you.” She shifts her child around for a moment to fish in her pocket, and Ichimatsu notices that the little boy seems to be avoiding eye contact the same way he knows he does. When the woman looks back up, her smile softens. “I don’t mean to pry, hon, but… are you, you know… autistic?”

Ichimatsu lets out a quiet hum and nods. “Yeah. I think that’s why I’m not…”

“Super expressive?” She returns the nod, gently bouncing her child. “This little one’s autistic too. His face doesn’t get that expressive either, and I know when someone tells him to smile or cry or ‘talk normal’, I get so mad. People shouldn’t treat each other like that. There’s no reason to just not be nice.”

Her other hand reaches out to him, pressing several bills into his palm. “Here, you deserve a little something extra after having to put up with that crap. I know it doesn’t make it okay, but… I hope the rest of your night gets better.” Her smile turns brighter as she looks toward everyone else. “And hey, if nothing else, there are a bunch of people who wanna stand up for you. Looks like you’ve got some pretty great brothers.”

Ichimatsu glances from the money toward his brothers, then back to the woman. For once, he manages a small smile of gratitude; it’s not big, but it’s noticeable, and the fact that it’s there means he didn’t have to force it. It’s real. “… Uh. Yeah. Thank you. I… hope you guys have a good night, too.”

A moment later, the young family has disappeared, presumably heading home to let their son decompress from the overstimulation. It was… nice of them to stop and say anything at all.

Everyone is silent for a moment, then Osomatsu grins as he ruffles Ichimatsu’s hair. “Alright! Drinks are on Ichimacchan! Let’s go get some beers, then we’ll find better jobs tomorrow!”

The group seems in agreement, so off they go down the street toward the nearest bar. Although Takeda-san’s words and treatment are probably going to stay with Ichimatsu for a while yet, he can shove them away with the memory of how fiercely his family defended him.

… I do have some pretty great brothers, don’t I?

#Osomatsu san #whump #Parkamatsu #Allmatsu #Ichimatsu #emotional whump #verbal abuse #ableism #caretaking #THEY'RE GOOD BROTHERS AND YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY MIND!!!#God I love them so much ;-;#it's been a while since I've written something this fast lol I hope that doesn't mean it's bad xD #WE LOVE U ICHIMATSU UR A GOOD <3

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