#bonus points if there's characters that aren't in their 20s

[lucifer-kane]

looked through my (weirdly small idk what happened) to listen list of audio dramas and god i wanna listen to them but none of the plots are really hitting the Right spot for me rn. sobs

[he-calls-me-kitten]

Dirty Dozen (ft. +2)

GN! MC x Pervert! OM Characters

(Cause y'all seemed to love the first one omg. Also TW: I made everyone wayy more sleazy and nasty than before so read at your own risk. MInors DNI)

Pervert! Mammon who likes to ask you for something specifically when your hands are full. "MC, lend me a few Grimm could ya?" He asks when you're in the middle of cooking.

"My hands are covered in cake batter, just take some from my back pocket."

"Are you sure it's there? Let me check both pockets." He isn't so much searching for coins as much as he's feeling and practically groping your ass. Seriously you start to wonder how it's taking him 20 minutes to find something that's right there.

Pervert! Solomon who keeps his room colder than usual when you come over for magic lessons.

"Is it too cold for you MC? I apologise, I kept it this way because some of the potions have bad reactions to heat but if you'd like-"

"I'm absolutely fine, Solomon. You worry about me too much." You smile at him reassuringly, not noticing how his eyes are so eagerly trained at your nipples perking up through your thin t-shirt.

Boner Bonus points if you allow him to hug you for some warmth. His fingers will definitely brush against your chest more than once.

Pervert! Beel who seems to make a mess whenever he's trying to help you in the kitchen. "I'm so sorry, MC. I didn't mean to spill it on your hands!"

"It's okay Beel, it's just some cream and syrup. I can just wash it off right away."

"But it's such a waste. Please allow me." He starts to thoroughly lick your fingers and you shake your head and let him knowing his fixations on food.

But he can't help it - you taste so good. He secretly wonders what you might taste like down there, drooling at the thought.

Pervert! Levi who has taken to sitting on pillows Japanese style while gaming and offers you the same. Sure enough you don't even suspect an ulterior motive.

"Did you get inspired by some human world anime again? Careful though - your legs and butt will start to cramp after a while."

"MC you're too gracious! Caring so much for an otaku like me!"

After you leave, he promptly takes the pillow you were sitting on and puts it in his bathtub. He's going to sleep on it ofc. Your scent on it helps him jerk off better.

Pervert! Belphie who now asks you to rub his belly till he falls asleep. "What's so funny?" He asks as you giggle at his request.

"Since when do you need help falling asleep?"

"I care about the quality of my sleep. And I sleep better this way."

Fortunately you believe him and don't suspect that it's because it's the closest he can get you to fondling his dick. He has such a difficult time holding in his moans and hard ons, every time your hands go even a bit lower than usual.

Pervert! Barbatos who got into sewing clothes as a hobby and specifically likes making them for you now. But you never understand why he needs to take same measurements over and over again.

"Oh? This is a different kind of design, MC. So the measurements will vary from before."

"Always making new things aren't you? You never fail to suprise Barbatos." You smile at him admiring.

The tightening of the tape around your chest and crotch are subtle. He can hardly keep it together when you praise him after all. But he has to if he wants to skim his hands over your body like this again.

Pervert! Diavolo who takes you on such long drives that you always doze off in the front seat, waking up apologetic for missing so much of the journey.

"Hahaha, it's okay, MC. We've been on this same road lots of times. I assure you, you didn't miss anything. And I like that you feel safe to sleep in my presence."

"But still, I'm so sorry, it feels disrespectful..." You apologize, not even knowing how hard he is in his pants right now.

Afterall, he can keep squeezing your beautiful thighs, maybe let his hands wander between them and imagine himself fucking you in the back seat as much as he wants, when you're asleep.

Pervert! Simeon who will have noone except you as his muse for art classes. And the themes just keep getting more erotic each time.

"Are you sure you're okay with this, MC? You don't have to do it if you're not comfortable-"

"Nonsense, Simeon. I feel super comfortable if it's you. You're a true artist after all." You say as you lay on his bed wrapped up only in bedsheets, exposing your entire back and legs.

If only you knew, this angel has thoughts dirtier than most demons. How he's practically fucking you with his eyes. How he's definitely going to jerk off into those bedsheets, moaning your name.

Pervert! Satan who loves teaching you things - standing right behind you, guiding your hands to make latte-art, or trying a new style of painting.

"That's it, nice and slow. Look how much you've improved, MC." He beams at the cute kitty in the coffee cup.

"All thanks to you, Satan. I can't wait to learn more from you." You smile at him earnestly.

He almost feels guilty for tricking you this way, but the way your hands feel in his, and your ass feels against his groin is so addicting. One of these days, he wishes could teach you to be on all fours and take his length in your pretty little mouth.

Pervert! Asmo who loves keeping your eyes on him and noone else. From elaborate performances to petty staring contests, he cannot have enough of your gaze.

"Oh you're turning red in the face, Asmo. Did I manage to flutter the heart of the Avatar of Lust?" You lean forward smiling.

"You're my only weakness after all, MC. It's your fault for making me this way." He almost moans.

You laugh and mock apologize at his antics but you don't know he's been grinding like an animal on his seat, and creamed his pants under your innocent gaze. Your undivided attention just turns him on so much.

Pervert! Lucifer who makes his desires too obvious sometimes. He'll regret it in the morning and take you to dinner to apologize but not until he's already done something dirty.

"Lucifer, it's 2 am. You need to throw away that coffee and sleep." You're practically dragging him to bed.

"Fine. I'll go sleep if you'll stay in my room tonight." He says knowing you'll comply. You care too much for your own good. He's not even going to let you sleep on the couch, no you have to stay wrapped up in his arms.

You might wake upto him groaning your name in his sleep and you might mistake it for a nightmare - not knowing how he's balls deep inside you in his dreams.

Pervert! Thirteen who likes how excited you get over her newest inventions and keeps making more things to call you over.

"And this little baby and can throw pie at people's faces without ever missing. Guaranteed headshot." She smiles proud.

"This would be so useful in a cafeteria food fight and then get banned right after its glory. But I so wanna use it!" You whine.

She loves how much you appreciate her inventions. She is secretly working on a 'pleasure' device scented like her to give you - she hopes you'll like it just as much.

Pervert! Mephisto who is actually taken aback by your duality. You're such a mischievous little imp usually but turn so well-mannered in front of Diavolo's esteemed guests.

"So even you can be prim and proper sometimes? If only you could maintain this on the daily." He huffs.

You laugh and mock-bow in front of him. "Of course, anything for you my dearest lord. Would you like to dance with this proper human while you can?"

He blushes at the sudden offer. Why you little- how dare you tempt him like this. You can't complain about him gripping you somewhere improper or too tight. You deserve this for your attitude.

Pervert! Raphael who is still navigating new feelings of lust he's never felt before he met you. Why his heart skips every time you fall asleep on his shoulder or why he felt a sudden warmth at the pit of his stomach feeling you breath so softly into his neck.

"Thank you for helping me tidy the classroom, MC. I didn't even know where the cleaning supplies were."

"That's alright. It's more fun with two people anyway and wait Raphael there's a bucket over the-" The fresh bucket of water already spilled splashing all over both of you.

You immediately fetched a towel to help him dry up but he couldn't stop staring at you instead. With the uniform sticking to your body like and the water glistening on your exposed skin - why was he so enthralled? Why does he feel a strange pulsing between his legs as you hover over him?

[iamnmbr3]

Ok I like #26 with Drarry, of course, but may I request for bonus points #26 with Harry and Lucius post-DH? 😈

26. What they would do if stuck in an elevator with [insert character of your choice from the same fandom]

Oh ho! I am chortling! I love this so much!

Drarry

This depends on when it happens but let's go with immediately post-war. By this point Draco has come to terms with the fact that he's in love with Harry Potter but will never have him. Potter will move on with his life and Draco will try to pick up the shattered pieces of his. They'll likely never see each other again. It's for the best he tries to tell himself. Nothing could have come of it anyway. He destroyed any chance at even friendship long ago. He tries to tell himself it doesn't hurt. And then Potter is right there in the lift in front of him. The closest they've been to each other since Potter inexplicably spoke at his trial and spared him prison.

They kind of both freeze for a moment and just stare at each other. Neither really knows what to say. Harry immediately notices how much better Draco looks than the last time he saw him - the sheen is back in his hair and he's lost some of the hollowness in his cheeks. He has a subdued, open, almost vulnerable look though that Harry's rarely seen on him. Draco had written to him after his trial - thanking him and expressing remorse that Harry is sure was entirely genuine for all that Ron & Hermione remain skeptical. Harry'd meant to write back but there had been so much going on, so much pain and loss that he still hasn't gotten around to it yet.

And now Draco's here. His old enemy and yet all he can think is how glad he is that he's alive and safe. They both speak at the same time. Draco is trying to stumble through thanking Harry (yet again) and apologizing while Harry is trying to say that he got Draco's letter and he's sorry he didn't write back. They both stop and try again. It's awkward but it somehow it also breaks some of the tension. And suddenly they're actually talking - each asking how the other is doing and actually giving honest answers in turn. Because even though they've never been friends they aren't strangers either. They know each other. And each knows that in his own way the other understands - they have both suffered at Voldemort's hands after all, and still are plagued by similar nightmares, and they both know better than to believe in the mythologized caricatures they have both become in the public eye. And there's some connection between them, an inexorable draw that seems stronger than ever now there is no war to keep them apart.

The lift eventually stops but their conversation doesn't.

Harry & Lucius

This is AWKWARD. Harry is The Boy Who Lived Twice, the Chosen One who defeated Voldemort in single combat and probably 20 other epithets that he hates and is mortified by. Lucius is The Man Who Desperately Doesn't Want To Go Back To Azkaban, somehow known as a traitor by both sides and universally loathed. AND to make matters worse the last time he and Harry were in close proximity was at the Manor when he tried to hand Harry over to Voldemort. Not to mention the time in the graveyard when he jeered while Harry was tortured. Or the time in the Department of Mysteries. Yeah. It's not good.

Lucius spends the whole ride with his thoughts caught in a loop. Part of him just wants to stay still and unobtrusive - a skill that was beaten and cursed into him during those awful months when the Dark Lord lived in his house. He's only just been released. Potter has more reasons than most to hate him. The last thing he wants to do is provoke him. But if he doesn't say anything maybe it will seem arrogant or insufficiently penitent or worse still, hostile. And he can't afford that. But what can he say that won't be obviously false and ingratiating?

Meanwhile Harry's first thought is that Lucius looks kind of pathetic and diminished and he feels a small spark of pity for him quite against his will. Then he notices that Lucius is looking at him funny and seems on the verge of speech and he starts wondering if the man has somehow figured out that while he's been in prison Harry has taken up with his son and oh Merlin he does not want to be the one to have this conversation. (Lucius sees Harry frowning at him and becomes convinced he's going to be thrown back in prison by the end of the day.)

Draco subsequently gets two separate frantic letters by owl post. "I was at the Ministry today for my first required meeting with my parole officer and Potter got in the lift; I think he suspects me of something..." the first one begins. Meanwhile the other starts off: "Draco - I ran into your dad today at the Ministry. I think he knows about us." Draco hasn't laughed this hard in years.

Send me a character and a number.

[honeyandthmoon]

ranting about wonder woman's daughter (spoilers ahead)

I gave tom king the benefit of the doubt so many times and i liked some of his most controversial stories... i have lots of his books in my shelf, but that's just insane to me, wonder woman is my favorite one, this is just garbage.

retconning the contest/trial just to have diana punch her mother? to have lizzie punch diana?

it still sucks for me that his idea was to create the sovereign, a "joker/lex luthor" type of menace as if she doesn't already had villains powerfull enough to give her a hard time. it still sucks that he decided to give diana a daughter even if fury still exists (somewhere in the multiverse). and it's not her first child in recent years too! who remembers that one justice league story from a few years ago when they gave her a son that she supposedly abandoned because he was a boy? oh in the same storyline where hyppolita became a mindless monster (also called the sovereign!). that's just recycling of bad ideas. but he probably didn't even knew about that. probably just a bad coincidence. and that's me again giving him the benefit of the doubt.

it still sucks that lizzie is not her biological daughter. it still sucks that she's called wonder woman's daughter when diana herself doesn't see herself as a mother. it still sucks that she's called wonder woman's daughter when diana didn't even raise her? what is up with those weird stories of jon and damian raising her? wonder robin? a mural of batman and superman in themyscira? with batman front and center? IN THEMYSCIRA???

if she's not her biological daughter and was saved by diana and trained as an amazon, what differs her from donna? and why aren't donna and cassie part of her upbringing? why are the supersons responsible for this child?

what's the point of giving diana a daughter if you strip her of every aspect of motherhood?

I defended g willow wilson against people online who hated her run, i thought she was so great, even if she didnt knew much about her at the beginning but she at least was able to reconcile diana and veronica (sort of) and bring her back to themyscira, continue previous plots from the rucka's run and bring ares back (bonus point for putting steve always shirtless and in need of saving)

i was even one of the few that actually enjoyed becky cloonan and michael's run. the stories sure could've been better planned but they got the spirit, build a strong wonderfam in activity and set the ground for a more modern structure of amazons in this new context. they gave me etta and diana acting truly as friends, they gave me three founding mothers for themyscira, they gave me doctor psycho stories (he is really fun to read).

I defended james robinson (!), he at least knew diana was strong enough and had her defeat darkseid and free the gods by herself

i've been reading wonder woman for years. i still have some runs i hadn't had the chance to read fully but basically everything in the past 20 years + perez era formed my love for this character. i hate how out of character she is right now. they should bring back that one rule if you wouldn't do this to batman or superman you shouldn't do it to wonder woman, that's truly disappointing.

[princess-of-the-corner]

also also re: No Fate: I said I was gonna discuss ages

Which. Is vague tbh.

So the Trio: I want them to be adults but like. Barely adults. So they're considered legally Adults and all and can probably get an actual drink at a bar(assuming the bar thinks they look old enough since IDs aren't a thing lmao). But they're like. Late teen/early 20s. I don't think they're all the exact same age but real close.

Debating on age order for the trio.

On one hand it makes sense for Ganondorf to be oldest, then Link and Zelda are born next because the Universe goes 'ah shit here we go again!' at Gan existing and the other two are needed in case things go tits up. In this Link is probably the middle and Zelda is youngest since Link can show up in any Hylian family but Zelda has to wait for the Royal Bloodline to have kids.

On the other hand. Making an inverse of how it usually is and making Gan the youngest is really tempting. Bonus points for comedy in everyone assuming he's oldest.

Other character ages I thought about:

Urbosa - Older than Gan, but not by a lot. Mid-20s probably

Riju - around the 15/16 mark. Still a kid but very independent.

Aryll - about 11/12. Much younger than Link,

Tetra - Closer to her 30s. Gives her time to have an established career.

[savingsallow]

CHARACTER ASKS WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! #14 for Val and #20 for Ale, pretty please? :)

YOOOOO CORINNE HELLOOOO :D

— thank you for the ask 🤭❤️‍🔥

(14) Do you have any quotes tied to the character, either from the story itself or from another source that fits them?

I have found a few quotes from Pinterest that screams Val and here they are:

This kid of mine used to be a people-pleaser. However, she eventually got tired of being one and decided to be unapologetically herself. Naturally, it wasn't an overnight thing, but to sum it up, that's what practically happened 🤫

Most of the time, Val treats people how she wants to be treated; not that she expects it, but it's something she'd be thankful for if the energy of the exchange is reciprocated.

(20) Bonus question: share any additional thoughts, art, favourite scenes, anything you've been waiting for a chance to ramble about.

Hehe, did someone say 'ramble'? 👀

Will gladly do so! 😁✨

Well, I've been wanting to share more of canon Ale since I realized he has more AU contents than canon 🤣 As much I as enjoy the meddling pathetic lover boy that he is in AUs but Ale might sulk that I'm not defending him 🤣🫂

So here we go:

Fun fact! I actually have a more detailed lore for Ale than for Val. But for some reason, I haven't shared much of his lore yet XD

Let's talk about Ale regarding romantic love.

Ale is definitely romantic. He knows all the words to say, the gestures to do, and how to make his partner feel like they're literally the best. He's the human form of the word 'romantic' if I'm being dramatic.

Ever since his first year in Hogwarts, the ladies really fancies him (even the lads aren't safe from his charm). His energy naturally draws people towards him.

If I had to describe Ale in 5 words it would be: charming, classy, suave, playful, and gentleman. From those words itself, you can already tell why the ladies like him so much XD

To add on, he is a huge flirt. He can literally flirt his way out of almost anything. Despite that, Ale usually just flirts for fun or just because it comes so naturally to him that he forgets he comes off as flirting.

But underneath that flirty exterior is just a boy wishing to have a real connection with someone someday. It's safe to say that he daydreams about finding the one and even makes poems about it sometimes.

The funny thing is that once he meets his 'the one', suddenly he turns into a clumsy and stuttering mess. Meeting Val during his fifth year is something he isn't prepared for at all.

For instance, there's this narrative he keeps telling himself that there's no way he's gonna meet the love of his life in school since he already met everyone (boy is sociable af it's not even funny 🤣). Sure, he had like a few crushes back then but he knows that there's nothing really more to it than admiration. But meeting Val, that really caught him off guard.

Luckily, they eventually became best friends since they have a lot in common in their core values and their traits are complementary so it's fun and enriching.

There was actually a point in their 6th year when he got so sure that he and Val actually had a chance (he wasn't wrong tho 🤫). But teenage love is messy, so some things happened that were out of his control and out of his perspective as well that changed the course.

Now here's the fun part 😈

Then in the 7th year, here's when Valreth became a thing.

On the contrary to the AUs (which I love btw 🤭), Ale never meddled in Val's relationship with Garreth. WOW surprising 🤣 but yes, he never did.

He supported them because in his defense, "if she's happy and safe, then that's all I need to know."

Although, he actually dislikes Garreth even before meeting Val. But I'll try not to drop spoilers too much 🤫 (it's just an academic-related thing 🤣).

For that whole year, Ale focused more on his studies and spent an unholy amount of time on his poems instead. As much as he's content with the friendship he has with Val, he decides to just listen to his heart shatter into pieces in silence and with nature.

I'll leave a few quotes I have found on Pinterest as well to give a hint of what his poems sounded like while being heartbroken:

He's very cheesy, yes.

That's all for my Ale's Ted Talk for today!

Thank you for attending (I mean reading)! 🫂❤️‍🔥

—

I hope you enjoyed reading this! ❤️‍🔥

[ddwcaph-game]

Hello everyone! The next update isn't close to being finished yet, since as usual I keep adding in new stuff, but before I respond to the asks for Roselyna's Matchmaking Service, I thought I'd update/recap everyone on all the big changes and new stuff that's coming:

New Nickname Changes/Options

MC's Pet Backstory

More Details about MC's Dad

Revamped Twin Fight Scene

New Secret About Julie & Maggie

JM's Mansion Sleepover Branch

Ancestry and Heritage Passives

Character Class, Trait, and Stat Adjustments

New Locket Stat and Intimidation Stat Rework

Missing Choices

Read below for more details:

New Nickname Changes/Options

You will now be able to change MC & Twin's nicknames anytime once you unlock the diary!

In addition, you will now also be able to choose/change the nickname you use for each F6E member (even if you aren't bestfriends), and change what you call Maggie/MC's Dad/Julie/Robert via the diary.

Speaking of nicknames, Wayne's diary entry will now mention that his middle name (and Mary's maiden name) is Hart! Of course, it's very much on brand for him to say that that's his middle name. 😄

MC's Pet Backstory

MC's pet will now have a prosthetic (I'm thinking one of their hind legs).

Okay, it's not an actual backstory, but this opens up new backstory opportunities (you'll know if you read IAC), about why Julie and Robert adopted them in the first place.

More Details about MC's Dad

In the next update, I will be updating the prologue to mention the job of MC's Dad, along with finally giving the option to choose where MC's Dad is from (if your MC is Half-Filipino).

Revamped Twin Fight Scene

I haven't actually played through DDWCaPH! since I finished Chapter 2, and when I finally did last month, I noticed a ton of typos, confusing lines, and awkward scenes, which I'll be working to address.

The twin fight scene in Chapter 1 is definitely a big offender, so I'll try to rewrite it so it has a bit more build up.

New Secret About Julie & Maggie

The last conversation you have with Paddy in Chapter 5 will have new details about Julie's laptop. Technically I've already kinda spoiled this secret before in one of the older versions, but here's a related hint featuring a new choice in Chapter 3:

I've also changed a few details in the conversation about how Tita Josie met Kuya Popoy, but you're not supposed to know that secret until Chapter 6 in the new branch. 😉 Speaking of...

JM's Mansion Sleepover Branch

Since I'll be skipping the Investigation Branch for now, I figured adding this branch is a good middle ground. It also lets me move the unfinished party conversation with Tita Steph/Yaya Connie/Kuya Popoy to that branch instead, since the party scene is overloaded already. Plus, it's also the only chance you'll have to visit his mansion.

Anyway, it looks like the majority want to have the sleepover at JM's instead! (Although I have a hunch that some of you are just more interested in having the chance to talk to B again 😛) I had a bit of trouble adapting some of the Chapter 6 scenes I've planned, but I figured it out eventually.

Ancestry and Heritage Passives

You will now be able to select your MC's Ancestry Trait regardless of your chosen favorite genre! You can check out this post for details about all the new passives.

Character Class, Trait, and Stat Adjustments

Character Class Buffs

Class Bonuses will be increased from 5/10/20% to 10/20/30% to make them more impactful. Class Passives will now also give +25/50/100% EXP from successful stat checks of the same stat as the Class Bonus (since the coding for it is already there).

Vocabulary Trait Changes

Someone pointed out that it's weird that inputting a custom swear word always censors it, so now I'm making it so that only the 🐤[Young at Heart] and 🐣[Child at Heart] Traits will censor your input and most of the swear words.

In addition, the above traits will now grant bonus EXP when increasing your Naive Personality, while the other two vocabulary traits 🦅[Mini-Adult] / 🦆[Childhood Graduate] will grant bonus EXP when increasing your Precocious Personality to make them a bit more immersive.

Gender Traits

As mentioned in the last poll, I was considering including the gender-related options (specifically Trans/Non-binary/Genderfluid/Questioning) to the list of Traits.

The majority seemed in agreement, so I'll go ahead with the change (unless someone has a good argument against it). I think adding it to the list of traits better communicates to the player that it's not just a cosmetic choice that gets forgotten.

Other Trait Adjustments

The 🥇[Top 5] and 🥈[Top 10] Trait Requirements have been lowered significantly (and now takes MC's Knowledge Stat into consideration). To make the EXP Penalty make more sense, it now only applies to EXP gained from Knowledge Stat checks.

This also applies to the 😎[Self-Confident] EXP Penalty (it now only applies to EXP gained from Charm Stat checks).

There are a bunch of other Trait adjustments, but these are the biggest ones.

New Locket Stat and Intimidation Stat Rework

Now that you've discovered one of your locket's powers, I've decided to add a new main stat alongside your HP. This will function like mana or energy in other games, and if you've read IAC, you probably have an idea of what this will be used for in the future. 😉

Your maximum HP will now also be increased to 1,000, and each point of Vigor will now increase it by 10. This was done to make chip damage (like being whacked with a stuffed toy) less threatening.

The Intimidation Stat will now be based on your Vigor Stat, and is increased by 50% of both of your Cold and Composed Personality Stats. Certain Traits/Passives will still increase/decrease Intimidation, but this makes the stat less dependent on your personality stats.

For example: A Tall MC with 30 Vigor, 70% Cold, and 50% Composed will have an Intimidation Stat of 54.

Missing Choices

This includes:

Valentine's Entry in Roselyna's Diary

Karaoke party scene with Paddy, Wayne, and Roselyna

Pinoy Henyo party scene with Lily, JM, Yaya Connie, Kuya Popoy, and Mayari

Sari-sari Store Trinket

Chapter 3 Bike Choice (This was already coded actually, I just forgot to make it selectable 😅)

The 3rd Phone Game (Honestly I procrastinated doing this one because I wanted to make the name different according to your favorite genre. Yup.)

I'm also aware that the background music isn't playing, so I'll try to fix that as well (no idea how that happened)

That's not everything in the next update, but yup, that's why it's taking so long again.

Feel free to ask me questions about the next update! I'm still currently deep in the coding mines, so apologies if it takes me a while to respond to the asks for Roselyna's Matchmaking Service!

[dankdungeonsrpg]

FEAR

Alien (1979)

For a hot minute I have been puzzling over Fear mechanics.

Call of Cthulhu's isn't for me, nor was Dread's. Free League's ALIEN peaked my interest though and when I was finally able to play in a game of Mothership...oh boy. With these ideas in mind I went about trying to implement one of these into your standard D&D-like.

Roll Less, Panic More

Since I had played and liked ALIEN first, this was my starting point. I liked the idea of Stress as a motivator, boosting your rolls but introducing the possibility of panic.

FYI: ALIEN is a d6 dice pool system where you're looking for 6s. Every Stress you take adds a special Stress Die to your pool. More Stress means more chances to succeed but also more chances to Panic.

What I came up with was this:

When something scary happens, gain Stress

When you make a d20 roll ALSO roll Xd6, where X = Your Stress

Take the highest d6 roll and add that value to your d20 roll

UNLESS one of those d6s came up 1, then you Panic instead

I still don't hate this idea, but once you start considering regular roll bonuses the player needs to do a bit more mental math for each roll than I would like.

Enter: Mothership

There has been a lot of fanfare over Sean McCoy's Mothership, and damn is it well deserved.

FYI: Mothership is a roll-under d% system. Stress gets tracked on a scale of 2-20. When your character rolls for Panic they are trying to get above their Stress score.

When I saw that Mothership Stress was on a d20 range I got very interested in the conversion possibilities.

Here's what I came up with:

When you fail a roll or something scary happens, gain Stress

When you make a d20 roll, IF that die comes up under your current Stress score, you Panic

Gain Stress to gain Advantage on your next roll

Here the mechanic resolution gets built into an existing roll. The player just needs to interpret two results instead of one.

"Did I succeed my roll?" and "Did I panic?"

Example: Jimmy attempts to attack a skeleton. He has accumulated 11 Stress and has a total attack bonus of +4. The Skeleton has an AC of 13. Jimmy rolls a d20 to attack and gets an 10 on the die, which would be 14 after bonus. This hits the Skeleton but it's also below his 11 Stress. As a result he hits with his attack but also has a panic attack, checking the Panic Table for whatever the 10 result is.

Gaining Advantage for Stress also gives us that "stress as a motivator" idea that the ALIEN-inspired mechanic captured by default.

A Hint of PbtA

This also introduces non-binary results into our otherwise binary system. Now the results aren't fail/succeed, they're:

Fail with Panic

Fail

Succeed with Panic

Succeed

This gives GMs some more options at the table, which I am always in favor of.

...

Anyhow, that's it. I'm going to be plopping this into my next few D&D-like sessions. Can't wait to run some Ravenloft with panic rules!

[centrally-unplanned]

I felt strong kinship to Mekkah for his latest video criticizing Fire Emblem's support system; he did a good job verbalizing my thoughts. To outline the Ash-version of this take, Fire Emblem in the Game Boy era (when modern supports were born), had simple plots, from a sheer "quantity of text" standpoint. A lot of that was convention; a lot of it was limitations of technology. The supports were simple to match, and so they worked fine as a way to bolster the characters and connect narrative choices (who you like) to gameplay (on-field bonus for affection). The downside here is that those supports are about the two characters; they aren't connected to the plot of the game nor the actions on the field. This is fine when, as in FE7, the number of supports a unit has is capped at 2-3 people and unlocking them is hard. The downside is not observed.

Fast forward to Three Houses and the same system is breaking under the weight of modern, 40+ hour, long-form plot concepts and modern player demands of flexibility and customization. Every character can unlock every rank with every other character (mostly), unlock happens trivially, but this 20x quantity of text is still divorced from the actual plot. They are, by design, required to be repetitive fluff in some way. In Three Houses this was taken to the extreme as supports were over twice as long on average as the ones in Awakening/Fates, with even *less* ability to connect to the plot given the branching, timeskip nature of it. It was extremely common in that game to complete a level and have unlocked 5-6 new supports (aka reading text with no gameplay) that would on net take 20+ minutes to complete, none of which has connected consequences with anything else. Engage at least cut the support length back down, but its a band-aid solution.

Support ballooning also reduced its gameplay incentive - in Awakening at least, where pair-up is absurdly broken, you did have some support specialization. But in Fates/Three Houses/Engage (to a lesser extent) support bonus are largely aura-based, provide flat bonuses, and are more-or-less equal between characters. Given how many you develop it quickly becomes the case that each unit in your squad has a B~ rank with every other unit; meaning you can just send them wherever on the map, and they will probably get a similar-ish bonus no matter what. So you stop paying attention to them.

Now some of this is certainly inherent to how games have evolved, but I don't want to give the games a full pass here; there are a lot of changes they could make to mitigate this problem (branching supports, more story-progression-locks, integration of sidequests, etc) and they just aren't doing that. I definitely don't want the games to ditch their "dating sim" elements, the building of bonds alongside teams is a core differentiator of Fire Emblem. But overall I think fixes are a stopgap to just ditching the idea of support convos altogether, which the games should pursue. With the much-larger stories integrating the characters into that story directly is much easier, and Fire Emblem has a lot more non-combat gameplay mechanics these days it could use as a base for a new relationship system (As opposed to those simply being ways to grind relationship points for the - otherwise completely separate - support system). But I would take change in either direction for sure - its all about execution anyway.

[candyskiez]

Tropes I love a lot:

1. "No matter what you do, you will never stop being yourself. If you want to change, you need to nurture yourself instead of trying to destroy who you used to be." (Ex: MP100)

2. Clones/copies finding their own identity,bonus points if it's an allegory, double bonus points if the complicated relationship between them and who they were copied from is explored, triple bonus points if they get to have a rage breakdown over it. (Ex: Infinity Train. Please watch Infinity Train.)

3. Mindscapes/going into someone's head or memories and playing around with the many ways they can manifest, bonus points if there's an inner self of some kind

4. "You love me?" "Don't be an idiot. Of course I do." Or anything even remotely along those lines. Of course you matter to me. Why wouldn't you? Doesn't have to be romantic at all and honestly I prefer it as not.

5. Emotional powers, bonus points if it's an allegory (Ex: MP100)

6. Subversion of the "we're not so different you and I" trope. Whether it be instead of a cheap grab at a hero it's abuser to victim (ex: she ra) that's actually yk. Relevant to the themes of the show, hero to villain (ex: MP100), or just like. Actually making it relevant and interesting.

7. Yelling at the gods!!! Bonus points if it's an allegory!

8. Dog symbolism

9. Attack dog + handler. Bonus points if it delves into how it effects both of them

10. Character design changing to reflect character growth

11. Light as cold and dangerous and overwhelming, dark as hiding you from harm and being warm and comfortable.

12. Haunting the narrative (ESPECIALLY when it's related to the heart of the story and the themes and!! When the one haunting the narrative is the core of the message when the. When they. Hi.) (Ex: The Owl House)

13. Shapeshifting symbolism. Monstrous form that MEANS something. Bonus points if its not just "oh this character is evil." Bonus points if it's "this is how they view themselves" or smth. Get creative with it!!!

14. Bitter chosen ones

15. "Chosen" Ones that aren't actually chosen and were being lied to

16. "FUCK waiting for the chosen one, I'm doing it myself!"

17. "Actually this is why the idea of Chosen Ones are harmful and encourages the bystander effect and-"

18. Religious symbolism. Especially if it's done to show a character elevating someone they love to such an unhealthy height of love and devotion.

19. When a fallout between two friends is the heart of the narrative when the end or rekindling of a relationship is the heart of it I don't CARE if its cliche I love it so much

20. Comic relief slowly being revealed to be dealing with So Much Shit.

[tumblebagel]

Sandevistan: Attunement

The item meshes with your own physical stats due to the surgical implementation. Due to that, it has a number of charges equal to your proficiency bonus. The charges are refilled every day at dawn. As an action, you can expend one charge to cast the spell Time Stop. Doing so this way forces you to make a constitution save against Cyber Psychosis.

Cyber Psychosis: The DC for cyber psychosis starts at 1. For every success, the DC permanently increases by 1. For every failure, your charisma score is permanently reduced by 1. Charisma determines how well you can establish your identity, and thus will be used to determine the effects of Cyber Psychosis.

When your charisma score drops to 5 or less, your grip on reality begins to slip, you suffer no statistical downsides, but you do notice your mind beginning to break down. When your charisma score drops to 3 or less, you begin to experience vivid hallucinations, and you are no longer able to tell which experiences are and aren't real. This manifests as a permanent version of the concussion lingering injury, or another similar effect (such as an option from any of the madness tables) at your DM's discretion. At 0 charisma, you become catatonic, effectively brain dead if you don't have access to life-saving aristocratic corpo level medical technology. If the effects of Cyber Psychosis are somehow triggered after you've hit 0 Charisma, the next level is at -3 charisma, at which point the character is permanently dead. Any spells that can resuscitate dead creatures do not work, as the person has to be willing, and their mind is simply so fried that they can't comprehend what that means.

Meds give you a pool of points each day that you take a dose. You can freely spend these points to increase your saves against Cyber Psychosis, +1 per point expended. Standard issue meds give you a pool of 6 points. Military grade meds give you a pool of 20 points. Experimental meds give you a pool of 50 points, but every succeeded check increases the DC by 3 instead of 1. If you attempt to take more than one dose of meds in a day, the value of the pool that's added is halved for each dose past the first, in addition, you take 2d10 necrotic damage as your body fights the chemicals and implants.

[fanfictiontrash]

Current Ability Scores Part 3

Next up is our lovely Chief Marquez and Athena, the character I'm playing as.

Andrea has a 14 in Strength (STR), a 16 in Dexterity (DEX), a 12 in Constitution (CON), a 12 Intelligence (INT), a 10 Wisdom (WIS), and a 10 Charisma (CHA).

Athena has a 10 in STR, a 16 in DEX, a 8 in CON, a 20 INT, a 14 WIS, and a 10 CHA.

Let's explain, shall we?

I won't detail Athena too much unless y'all want to hear about her, the important thing to note is that she, Roxie and Russell, (and technically Amy too.) have their stats done a bit differently. Everyone's stats are done by point buy, meaning there's a set number of points to use to 'buy' points for a stat. The only difference is their racial bonus due to their races being changed from human. I must stress that these aren't Andrea's final stats, just her starting out set. She's a Fighter much like Frank, a 14 in STR for mountain climbing and honestly? I think she should have some power behind her punches, you hurt her crew? Her work family? Better hope you have a strong armor class. A 16 in DEX because let's be honest, I swear she's sneaking up on us to either tell us something or get onto Frank about drinking. A 12 in CON to have a healthy stamina for climbing and late-night paperwork. 12 INT because I'd like to think she's spent a long time in the books after the incident in her childhood, in a pursuit of answers. Her 10 in WIS will be the first to get a boost from her experience in the field! Alas with point buy some stats are sacrificed for the benefit of others. For her 10 in CHA, I'm debating if it should become higher from her leadership role or if it should stay a 10 from her isolating childhood. Thoughts? Athena, dear Athena she's a Sorcerer, her only two stats that I feel should be specified is her INT and CON, due to this being the first I've shown a 20 and an 8. These stats are her current stats, but her 8 CON is permanent for reasons I'll tell if you wanna hear about them. Now the 20 INT? Her base stat is a 15 and her racial bonus gives her a +3 and a 4th level ASI (ability score approvements) give another +2 which makes it a 20. She was supposed to be a Wizard whose spell casting modifier, when she was changed into a Sorcerer, we decided it would be funny if her INT and CHA stayed the same. But no, an INT is important for investigation. I'll be getting into the races I've made everyone in another post!

[blazehedgehog]

What do you feel about the Concord game situation?

Another live service grave for the cemetery. Who cares

I am getting extremely tired of live service games. Currently, I play:

Fortnite

Multiversus

Mario Kart Tour

I usually play Fortnite and Multiversus one right after another directly after the shop updates (5pm PST) and I do my one daily Mario Kart race right before bed.

Mario Kart both is and isn't so bad. A single race in that takes less than two minutes, but I have other complaints with its leaderboard and ranking system we aren't getting into right now and I've been debating on making a video about it (to the point where I captured a lot of footage).

Fortnite and Multiversus on the other hand eat up hours of my night, every night.

I am a Fortnite Founder. That means I bought (or was gifted) the Fortnite: Save the World Founder's Pack before it left early access. I have kind of a love/hate thing with Save the World, but the founder's pack means I get free currency as long as I finish one mission per night. It's a minimum of 80 vbucks per night ($0.80), but there can sometimes be bonus "Alert" missions on certain days that can multiply that up to about 260 vbucks per night ($2.60). That could be upwards of $50 in free vbucks per month, meaning 95% of my vast collection of Fortnite cosmetics (over $2000 worth according to Fortnite.gg) was free.

Each STW match is about 10-20 minutes. And if you're doing, say, four per night, that's at least an hour. Just for STW. If I'm trying to finish my Battle Royale battle pass, I'll often do 2-3 matches of that per night, too. So now that's two hours. And at the start of this year, Fortnite also launched Festival (Rock Band 6), Rocket Racing and Lego Fortnite. Each with their own progression.

So for the last 8 months, I've been playing a minimum of 2-4 hours of Fortnite every single night. And it's starting to make me very, very upset, because once I'm done with Fortnite, it feels like I don't want to (or don't have time to) play any other video games for the night.

And then there's Multiversus, a game I also enjoy playing, which unfortunately has developers whose favorite thing is presenting its players with the slowest grinds on earth. They will start an event in that game to let you earn rewards and it'll be like, 1500 event currency to "level up" to the next reward... and each fight only gives you 25. Meaning they expect you to play 60 matches just to level up the event once, and an event pass can be 12-18 levels long.

Usually there are quests attached to give you 3-5 levels for "free," but the bulk of the event is still this horrifying grind. They genuinely expect you to play 300-600+ matches over the course of maybe three weeks. I like to play Multiversus, but I am constantly teetering on the edge of dropping the game entirely because it feels so hostile and disrespectful of my time.

These games want to be your only game. You don't just play Fortnite, you only play Fortnite. This is further reinforced by Fortnite incorporating multiple entirely different games now. Why go anywhere else? Launch Fortnite once and never think about anything else.

You can like Concord's world, you can like Concord's characters, but at the end of the day that game was a trend chaser. It was a live service game, very likely originally pitched as an "extraction shooter", the flavor of the month. When it became apparent people were getting sick of that flavor, they hastily retooled it into a hero shooter to ride somebody else's coat tails. And it was designed to be one of the only games you'd ever play. Just like every live service game is, these days.

There are literally hundreds of games it will be buried next to, a long legacy of "WoW Killers" and such from the mid-to-late 2000's that thought they could dethrone the genre leader only to discover human beings only have so much time in the day and nobody's going to juggle more than two of those games at any given time.

They say nostalgia cycles are every 20 years and it seems a lot of developers are repeating mistakes they already made once back in 2004.

Concord, you will not be missed. I'm sure people worked on Concord that really cared about making it a good game, and it may even be a good game on some level, but it follows a long line of games in the wrong place at the wrong time, trying to steal thunder that was not theirs to steal... and failing.

The people who cared about making Concord a good game will go on to care about other projects that might ultimately also end up good. Talent probably did not wither and die in the creation of making Concord.

But, well, this post on Cohost put it best: (try not to) think about all the Tokyo Jungles, all of the Patapons, all of the Vib Ribbons and Ape Escapes and Jumping Flashes and Parappa the Rappers and Icos and LocoRocos that Sony could have made instead of apparently spending 8 years developing Concord. Concord, a game that still has not even broken 700 concurrent users on PC yet. I've made games more successful than Concord.

And just think: Sony canceled upwards of 6 other Live Service games this year alone. That leak from last year suggested they canceled something more like 14 live service games. Concord was just one unlucky enough to limp out the door.

These people are vampires in the worst description of the term.

[hermitcyclop]

for the ask game…

fuck you. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25.

jk. 1, 2, 7, 13. bonus points if they are homestuck related

list 3 positive things about your current fandom(s)

Ok so for one, the sheer variety and uniqueness of fancontent produced by this fandom. The MSPFAs. The reanimated flashes. The dozens of fanmusic albums. The fangames, from VNs to fighting games to puzzle games to even multiplayer online sburb simulators. Fan merch like I've never seen before. Even more "classic" fancontent, like fanarts and fanfics, are distinct. Seriously, I didn't know it was possible to do all these things on ao3 before I started reading homestuck fanfics.

2, I don't know if this reflects the hs fandom at large (probably not) of the communities I dwelve in, but the fans are pretty queer, and it shows into their character depictions and comic analysis, so that's pretty cool.

3, I love all the little events and celebrations that rhythm the year, be it important dates such as 413 or 612 or the kids' birthday, or fan-led events such as the dirkjake big bang or rosemary month. These events persisting after years is pretty cool too.

a headcanon you weren't sure about at first but have come to like!

I'm not sure how to answer that bc I'm either pretty lenient about my HCs, or a die-hard about some of them and will have a hard time coming around an HC that contradicts them. Although when I was pretty new to the fandom I didn't really see Dirk as a trans guy, and look at me now.

your favorite tropes to read/write/draw

I *love* seeing two characters, who aren't into each other or related, who are ride or die for each other. BFFs who'll go to the end of the world if this means the other is happy. Bonus if one of them is a guy and the other a girl, for personal reasons. As for hs tropes, it's probably not really one but I like godtier garb and dream pajamas redesigns.

your favorite type of fandom event (gift exchange, ship week, secret santa, prompt meme, etc)

Fuck I already kind of answered that in the first question. Pretend you didn't read it. Anyway my fav fandom event is the djbb. Second place is SAHCon.

[retphienix]

I like how I'm already seeing "Best trait" opinions for Abiotic Factor-

A game in early access with VERY FEW traits to pick and the volatility of potential balance updates

-that are almost on par with PZ opinions- where there are obviously some good choices, some bad choices, and then everything else is technically gameplay dependent but for some reason EVERYONE is opinionated and will say "Objectively this is garbage" when it's not or "Objectively this is the best trait" when it's mid and I think it's funny.

Anyways I think Fannypack is one of the worst perks because the hotbar weight mechanic just straight up doesn't matter and spending 10 points for 2 hotbar slots is stupid. I mean for 4 points you can have 15% more carry cap and +1 strength which I'd say is reasonably priced for what you get if weight management is what you care about.

But why listen to me because I ALSO think Lead Belly is worth 8 points because it takes an entire aspect of management out of the game + lightens that management for the team (doesn't matter for long but still nice) + It's funny as fucking hell to go "Ah, I'm thirsty" and then just start fucking CHUGGING chlorine water from the pool.

8 points for that RP value is so worth.

Anyways, I hope the traits get buffed out (as in number) over time, or that mod support gives them love, because making wacky character concepts in PZ is fun as hell and this game feels like it could benefit from that :)

As is, almost all of the positive perks are "Eh, that really, really doesn't matter" and the negatives are like "Oh that's annoying, oh THAT ONE just locks you out of half the game- oof" it's kinda weird.

You can make your guy really shitty and incapable of leveling their offensive skills, but then you can't spend those points on anything worthwhile because there just aren't any interesting positives.

Early access and also this is not where the fun is currently at lol

The game itself is fun as hell- I'm just thinking that it's funny to see "BEST BUILD" concepts for a game with like 4 reasonable choices that amount to "I can level up faster and need less food (in a game with infinite food)" at best lol

I mean two of the most impactful options that aren't the 20% bonus XP are "+3 damage on melee" which won't scale to anything that matters and "be slightly more stealthy" which is at the very least gameplay dependent- that COULD matter.

Give me more fun positive options >:) hehe

[roadandruingame]

RaR Musings #16: Ability Definitions

Wanted to brainstorm a bit of the mechanics outlined in Musings 11, because as I work on converting old work to the new system, it's a good idea to assess whether my feelings about it are the result of nostalgia and affection, or genuine design sensibilities telling me I'm making a mistake.

To reiterate:

The goal of the old system was revolving the game around "Earn 1 Success to achieve something your character can do easily, and without severe consequence, as an adult human." Rolling [attribute 1-5]d10 + ([proficiency 1, 0-5]+[proficiency2, 0-5])x[specialization 0-5] meant it was relatively easy to produce the 10, /10 = 1 Success, but that as high as 100 (or 10 successes) was possible, with proficiency5, proficiency5, specialization 5, and attribute 5, rolling a 10 on all five dice. "Monstrous Strength" multiplied the Strength attribute's d10 roll result, leading to reliably higher, but not guaranteed, success rolls, and values above 100.

The pros of this meant you could reliably skirt the need of a diceroll if 'skill' allowed, but the cons of this meant adding results of 1-10 multiple times per diceroll, often. I miss it's "extended roll", where you could keep rolling dice, generating successes, until the successes exceeded the necessary threshold, like 15 successes to repair a device, with skilled engineers netting 3-4 successes per roll, and the untrained landing 1 at best, and less than 0, breaking it, at worst.

The new system sees 'success' as a threshold, with some fuzziness around the edges: results of Fail And (1), Fail (2-4), Fail But (5), Win But (6), Win (7-9), and Win And (10) meant some randomness, but not a binary. Excess attribute, proficiency, specialization, and gear all "decrease the difficulty" by one-point increments, while Monstrous adds +5 per increment. Contests aren't the result of two pools of results being added up and compared, but of applying the difference of the two positives, and applying the resulting bonus, or penalty, to the 1d10 roll. You can also use a d100, if 10-point/1% granularity is more preferential to 1-point/10% granularity, with Exceptional Successes being on a 100, reduced by (proficiency x specialization) amount.

The pros of this means you can roll only one die, knowing well beforehand your chances of success or failure, and the math is all adding numbers >5 ahead of time, for a system that allows a visible success range on a sliding table. The cons, is that this is less additive; there's not as much granularity as on "extended rolls", because you can't generate more than 1-2 'successes' per increment.

To solve this, "Success Thresholds" of 5-point increments above "Win And" are probably necessary, essentially rolling 15, 20, 25, 30 on a d10. If 5-10 is 1 Success, 11-15 is 2 successes, 16-20 is 3, and so on. This should PROBABLY mean that specialization adds more than a single point of value, but +5 per point, effectively thrusting your result ahead a guaranteed success threshold, feels like a lot. If I do that, I'll have to be more careful about adding specializations, or use the design that specializations can each only be used as a Who, What, When, Where, Why, or How, up to a total of 5 spec. Alternatively, since +5-per-spec is more or less the same as +5-per-Monstrous, specialization lets you fight monsters with skill rather than just raw power.

(Late notes, this also means a benefit to 'assists'; using multiple people to hold up a rock, means you add everyone's dicerolls, and divide by 5 to figure out what "Success Tier" you're in, letting enough people simulate the effects of one creature with Monstrous Strength).

So, as a result of this, our standard deviation for success thresholds is 10 points, or 5 in either direction, but also retain the ability to add values together, theoretically infinitely. Por que no los dos.

Having to add 10< sums together shouldn't be regular, but instead for things that might last a while, or that bring the whole table together for a single task. Otherwise, it ends up being obnoxious. The bigger risk now is, with two different ways to read what is objectively the exact same number, if players will get confused or not.

_______________

When I set out to make Road and Ruin, I new that I definitely wanted to have better ability cohesion, teamwork mechanics, extended actions, specialization for task, and material components than a game like Dungeons and Dragons. World of Darkness accounted for a lot of that, but it lacked the kind of, je ne sais quoi that medieval fantasy wargaming possesses. What it did have was lore. SO much lore, and so wonderfully interwoven into the very abilities that players would get to choose and cast.

Road and Ruin uses "skill trees", but I bristle at the accusation. When I think of skill trees, I think of these massive, sprawling spiderwebs of nonsense, +1s everywhere, where it's impossible to get a feel for what pushing in any given direction is actually meant to do.

Instead, RAR groups abilities not just by theme, but by aesthetic, and while you have to purchase up through ranks of abilities to get to stronger skills, those skills are much more specialized to those themes, and the 'weaker' skills are nothing to sneeze at either: they lay the foundation for what the stronger skills can do, but they're much more versatile, and can fit into just about any build. To represent this, we call these 'dip', and represent crossclassing almost in themselves; when you gain an ability in RAR from a rank of a skill you didn't previously have ranks in, you gain a level, and with only so many levels in the game, dipping for a spell here or a technique there means that you level up quickly, but as a jack of all trades, rather than a committed specialist with powerful skills.

Magic the Gathering is another inspiration for this mindset: each color is coded with a variety of overlapping themes, and dual-color or tri-color are even more pure explorations of those themes, easier to predict, but slower to get going. Keywords form a basis for entire decks, and when a card effect names two different keywords, you start to gain really interesting synergies and ideas. The downside of this, is a vertical learning curve; player skill is heavily measured in player awareness of skill synergies, and even of the existence of specific cards, more than just familiarity with the cards in your own deck and when to play them. Monte Cook calls this Ivory Tower game design, where "rules are collectable", and players are expected to figure out which abilities are good, useable, bad, and objectively a trap.

Rather than come up with a million different ways to accomplish the same goal, where more than half are designed to entrap you and punish newcomers to the game, my goals for Road and Ruin are that every ability should be good, but at WHAT is the question. There will be different ways to accomplish the same task; shooting a goblin can be done with an arrow launched from a bow, or launched via mana, but it's expensive to land only 1dmg per 1MP. This might be construed as a trap, but the ability to move things with magic has enormously more applications than the ability to shoot an arrow. Plus, if it is pursued as offensive magic, the spell can grow, and be customized, rewarding dedicated magic players, without necessarily stepping on the toes of archers.

____________

Each ability should, I think, be quantified by different features:

Proficiency. Given some 60-70 proficiencies, to a maximum of 5 each, a diversity of proficiencies is warranted. Granting a range of proficiencies helps with theming and letting people have what they want, but runs the risk of making it too easy to max out a proficiency. Consider implementing a hard cap rule of "maximum proficiency based on level", as an option.

Specialization. Should follow at least two of Who, What, When, Where, Why, or How. Overly niche specializations can be at low levels, while broader ones can be handed out at higher levels.

EFFECT. What does it do?

AREA. How far away can it be applied? How many targets?

TIME. How quickly does it cast? How long does it last?

COST. What prevents repeated use?

RETURN. Does it give you a resource?

SCALING. Can it be amplified, and how? By cost, or by stats?

Mythology. What story does this ability tell? Is it associated with a fixture in the lore? Can you build a campaign or a character around it?

As an example case, the skill list Fortress Guard has rank1 dip called Wyrd Ward, a basic magical barrier. As 'spell dip', you only unlock the actual spell component if you climb to rank2, unless you're a spellcaster class, who bypasses this limitation in the name of collecting as many spells as possible. At rank1 though, you have to get something.

At rank 1, the skill grants proficiency in one weight of shield of choice, or Weaving magic, for conjuration. This means even a non-wizard stands to gain from purchasing the skill.

At rank 2, "A mystical barrier lessens the impact of one incoming attack, from a single direction, granting +1 temp hp, +1 per mental saving throw success, against the attack. Costs 1MP, and can be positioned up to 1m away (NEAR range).

With Intention, and a mana cluster, the barrier has a starting base health equal to mana spent, +1 per concentration success, and can be moved up to your WITS attribute in meters. Value can be allocated to adjacent spaces.

This is... a lot. The old system would have you roll (FOCUS)d10, add them together, adding your proficiency, and find a range around 10-30, or +1 to +3 successes, for 2-4hp. Concentrating would ask that you start low, and ramp, and the mana cluster would add 2-5 to the max health of the shield, and be able to move 1-5m around, based on your Wits. This blocks 4-9 arrows, or 1-2 sword attacks, or 0-1 heavy weapon swings, on average. Not the best example of an emergency, reactive spell.

A simple fix would be that it IS a shield. Reactively, it's a smalls shield, which promotes parrying, and different costs/concentration gives a medium or large shield, better for absorbing blows.

But what if we ALREADY have a shield? Does it stack? And what if the threat isn't an attack, and we need to deflect a falling rock or something? Can it stop a wall of water?

And what about the mythology? What is the spell actually doing? Does air density increase, slowing blades and arrows? Does it apply a gravitational force? Is it a mass pulled from another dimension, or made of mana itself? And can it create a bubble, or be used offensively? Clearly there's a lot to consider here.

Fortress Guard unifies themes of gravity, durability, and equipment, largely from a standing, immovable state. "The battlefield heeds those who bury themselves beneath layers of iron and steel, a walking tank who fears no arrows and shies no blade, for where they go and where they stand receives the blessing of their protection." But how this skill is meant to interact with other skill lists is also something that needs consideration. Condensing the air into a solid would have wide applications, and factor in to the later skill, Formless Fortress, but the gravitational theme could also be used offensively. Summoning it from elsewhere is one thing, and weaving it from mana itself is quite another.

Wyrd Ward, then, should be able to observe multiple builds.

Wyrd Ward expels a cloud of mana, which has weak gravitational properties. Forces passing through the Ward is slowed and reduced by 1 damage.

Each additional 1MP expels more mana, to either cover a wider area, increase the density and protection in the area, or increase the cloud's duration. So, 1MP +(0 +2 density +1 round), is 3 protection, for 2 rounds, for 4MP. Which is, very expensive, but very strong.

Augments for this spell include: increase the gravitational repulsion, prevent humanoids from entering the barrier, launch the cloud as a bolt, apply as a coating to shields, apply as a passive armor to conjure and summon spells.

When combined with features outside of Fortress Guard, you'd get Repelling Bolt, Conjure Shield, Force Wave, Mirror Shield, Graviton Sword, Shield Shatter, Fallen Down/SkyFall, Solid Air, Meteor, Binding Rope, Hand Parry, Telekinetic Throw, Wall Walk, or Reverse Gravity.

The actual scaling is still in question. I think that it's better if it's a spell, but there should still be something for halfcasters or muscle wizards.