#buffy game. but it's not set out to be a buffy game or anything like that

[ladyofwasps]

I’m always wanting to help broaden people’s horizons in the tabletop sphere but I totally empathize with anyone worried about crunch heavy systems, that was a major fear of mine when I started getting into the hobby. Here are some super simple, easy to introduce games for your table!

Sentinel Comics The Roleplaying Game

Do you like superheroes? This game is perfect for superheroes! Although it’s also ideal for emulating anime, pulp stories, and I’ve had some success using it to run a game where everyone is a monster. It’s going to use all your dice except the d20, character creation is super fun and loaded with options but if you struggle with decision anexity don’t worry there’s a guide to rolling up a random character. In all my time with the system I’ve never rolled up a random who want super interesting and had me itching to play them. The game uses the GYRO system of its own invention, this gives you three health zones (Green, Yellow and Red) that grant you more and more options as scenes go on. This really recreates cinematic moments where the hero is down to their last breath and clutches the win a massive gamble of a move. You can find this game on the Greater Then Games website along with the Sentinel Comics Card Game which is also amazing.

Hunter: The Reckoning (Fifth Edition)

Don’t know anything about World of Darkness? Don’t worry, neither do the hunters! This is a fantastic and simple system with a focus on the narrstive that will break your group away from D&D’s more war game-esque system. If you’ve wanted to run a game based on Buffy or Supernatural, both of those are pretty much Hunter’s core DNA. Players are mortals who discover their world is filled with monsters like vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and demons and set out to reclaim the night from mankind’s ancient enemies. If you enjoy this game then you’ll probably also enjoy the other two World of Darkness 5th edition games out right now, use this to springboard into Vampire and Werewolf!

Blades in The Dark

A system using a modified version of Powered By The Apocalypse, you mastermind heists through flashbacks and on-the-job thinking. If you like Ocean’s Eleven or just want to run a heist game heavy on the critical planning part but light on actually wargaming out the plan, this is perfect for you. Default setting is a fantasy steam punk world you can really play around a lot with, a great pallet cleanser from sword and sorcery games.

Imagine a person who only consumes Batman-related media. That is, they only watch movies and TV shows that have Batman in them, only read books that are novelisations of Batman media, only play licensed Batman video games, and so forth. This is not so absurd an idea; Batman-related media is sufficiently popular, varied and widespread that restricting one's media consumption in this way is completely feasible. However, I trust we can agree that if you actually do this, you will be left with very strange ideas about what popular media looks like.

The next step in this analogy is undestanding that if the only tabletop RPG you're acquainted with is Dungeons & Dragons, you have the same grasp of the tabletop roleplaying hobby as our hypothetical Batman Guy has of popular media.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Things that sillily make me happy: the fact that in the official Buffy chess set they released, Buffy and Angel are queen and king chess pieces.

And, I mean, it just makes sense that they would do this, of course. As it looks like this set was based on early season two, as Spike and Drusilla are the king and queen pieces for black.

But Buffy and Angel being king and queen pieces works so well, since they're paired together, of course. And equal to each other... and a battle couple. And more than anything, this is great because the queen's the most powerful piece on the board and Buffy's the most powerful character in the series, of course. And her being more powerful than Angel just tracks. Because she canonically is. And this makes me think of the many times where she saved him and he was the damsel.

Anyway...

[theresattrpgforthat]

hi!!! i really love Dream Askew but can never find anyone to play. maybe because the GMless mechanic is intimidating, idk. can you recommend other games with similar themes of queerness and community?

THEME: Queer Community

oh my god, you have no idea how easy this one was, this is my shit.

Bump in the Dark (Revised Edition), by Jex J. Thomas.

It's 1994 in the region of the fictional Ontonagon Peninsula known as "Iron Country," a belt of mining towns barely clinging to life. These towns are surrounded on all sides by the Sylvan Wilds, a forest known for old-growth pines and strange happenings. All of Iron Country seems to be teeming with the supernatural, a fact those in power would like to conceal.

You are a hunter, and you’ve promised to keep regular people safe from the horrors in the darkness. You will investigate the strange happenings going on throughout Iron Country, attempting to put the pieces together and stop the monsters before people get hurt. Will you be able to stop the malevolent forces before their power grows too strong to contain? Will you stand strong with your found family and community or will you sacrifice yourself to spare the ones you love? Will you be lost trying to find solace wherever you can?

Inspired by media like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, X-Files, Twin Peaks, Supernatural, and more, Bump in the Dark: Revised Edition is a game of supernatural mystery and action-packed showdowns with regular folk caught in the middle. It's a game about chosen family, protecting your community, and standing up to the forces (mundane and supernatural alike) that want to tear down all you've built.

Bump in the Dark first caught my eye because it is all about monster-hunting, and monsters always make me perk up a little bit, but it also caught my interest because it marries the Theorize roll from games like External Containment Bureau and Apocalypse Keys with the Forged-in-the-Dark system, which, if you’ve followed my for any length of time, you’ll know I am a very very big fan of.

However, the game is also set in a place that feels abandoned and forgotten about by the powers that be, with the monsters acting as active opponents that threaten Last Pine’s ability to take care of itself. Your characters are all professional monster hunters, but you’re also a family, likely borne of necessity more than anything else, and that feels very queer to me.

Bump in the Dark is currently funding for it’s revised edition on Backerkit, but you can also find it in the TTRPGs for Palestine bundle!

Extreme Meatpunks Forever, by Sinister Beard Games.

"In the beginning, there was meat. A decaying chunk of flesh from a dying god, hurtling through the void of space, thousands of miles wide. A million eyes, a billion hands grasping for purchase against nothingness itself.  This is where we live.

EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER is a tabletop roleplaying game where you’ll play as a gang of queer antifascists in a strange place called Meatworld. Spinning through space on the screaming corpse of a dead god under the glow of an absent sun, the people of Meatworld harvest its flesh to make their technology.

That tech includes meatmechs, giant flesh suits you can pilot. You’ve got one of these mechs, which is just as well, because Meatworld is full of monsters, old gods, a land that wants to eat you alive and so, so many fucking Nazis. You’ll play to bash the fash, explore the weirdness that is Meatworld, attack and dethrone god(s), solve mysteries like a gore dripping Scooby Gang, deal with trauma, and if you’re lucky, make out with your friends. 

Extreme Meatpunks Forever is a game that includes high action and combat alongside your attempts to make connections with each-other. It’s a PbtA game that draws from games such as MASKS, Thirsty Sword Lesbians, and Monster of the Week, which means that even though you’ll be fighting fascists, you’ll also be pushing each-others buttons, revealing the most vulnerable parts of yourselves, and heavily making out. If you want drama, action, and more drama, you want Extreme Meatpunks Forever.

Under Hollow Hills, by Meguey & Vincent Baker.

There is a traveling circus under the Hollow Hills. It travels by moonlight, small wagons creaking in the night silence. It travels lost roads, where fireflies and whisps hover to watch it pass, where goblins peer down from their treebranch perches, and owls. It travels the night world and the day world, fairyland and the living earth, and places otherwise, and no border can keep it. It has mysteries to pose, drama to perform, it has music, juggling, acts of death-defying peril, pratfall comedy. It has dangerous secrets to tell.

Step up, step up. Come great, come small, come revelers all!

Many of the roles of Under Hollow Hills feel like they are defined in relation to each-other; for example, the Crowned Stag is who they are because of who their parents are and who they have authority over. This game also expects much of what you do with each-other to matter; will you confront someone in order to get them to change their behaviour, or draw them out in order to understand how they are feeling?

Your identity in Under Hollow Hills is also defined in relation to something; the seasons. When it is Summer you are expected to have one presentation and set of pronouns; that presentation and pronouns may differ in Winter. This means that the role that you provide is much more constant than anything so easily changed as gender. Since your role is more permanent, this also means that character progression isn’t really expected in Under Hollow Hills; rather, the community that you participate in (the circus) is designed to grow and change. Under Hollow Hills creates subtle connections between players that encourages them to play with power, vulnerability, and identity, and I think that’s really beautiful.

Mutants in the Night, by Orion D Black.

It's the year 2044.  

Mutants have been struggling to survive since humanity divided in two, 10 years ago. They now live in Mutant Safe Zones; rundown slums and ghettos surrounded by mighty walls, to placate humanity's fear of the unknown.   

The law stands against them. Enforcers stand above them. Opportunity stands before them.  

Mutants are such a poignant metaphor for all kinds of marginalization. On top of that, the Crew aspect of Forged in the Dark games give your characters a reason to work together, as well as a common goal, which is why I think they work so well at giving you a community that you can care for.

I’m also interested in games that ask questions about community in a world that is not perfect - just like in Dream Askew, the characters of Mutants in the Night live in a world that at best, does not care about them, and at worst, desires to harm them. If you want a game that provides no easy answers and overwhelming odds, you might be interested in Mutants in the Night.

Dungeon Bitches, by Dungeon Bitches.

In Dungeon Bitches, the world is harsh and cold. “Polite” society has left you with no place, so you’ve struck out to find one of your own. Out into the dark cracks and forgotten margins. It’s not an easy life, but at least it won’t be a lonely one.

Dungeon Bitches is a game about queer women banding together. It’s about trauma. It’s about community. It’s about pain. It’s about survival. But most of all, it’s very gay.

This is a PbtA game that provides randomly-generated dungeons meant to freak out and push your Bitches to their limit, and therefore also push them closer together, demanding that they figure out how to talk to each-other and work together if they’re going to survive. This is a game about community forged in hardship, with plenty of ways to explore intimacy, whether that be sexual or non-sexual.

The creators of this game have a number of supplements to allow you to play the game in various settings, including Death Spiral (dieselpunk body-horror), Crooked Mile (90’s grunge), and The Wounded, Hungry & Forgotten (monsters).

Moonlight on Roseville Beach, by R. Rook Studio.

Queer pulp meets cosmic horror! It's 1979, and you're spending the summer working in Roseville Beach, the queerest little town on Rose Island. You might have come here looking for an escape, some fun, a little extra money, or even love, but now people are seeing phantasms, strange animals—and stranger old gods—wander the woods, mysterious monoliths appear randomly, and that strange music is coming from somewhere.

As a setting, Roseville Beach is a queer community on a small island, and because it’s a queer community, it’s kind of ignored by law enforcement. This means that your characters are the ones responsible for investigating the strange things happening around the community, as well as protecting their family and neighbours from whatever is lurking out there.

Characters are built from tropes, with customizable backgrounds that take the form of pick lists (and I love a good pick list). Each character also has their own specific problem, like the the Scandalous�� scandal, or the troubles associated with being a Shifter. Your session zero is also expected to be rather generative, with special strange events set up for each character that also give you a skill or ability. If you like pulp stories and tensions that are specific to the community you live in, you’ll want to check out Moonlight on Roseville Beach.

You can pick this game up as part of the TTRPGs for Palestine Bundle!

Also…

Of course, I’m also going to drop a quick plug for my game, Protect the Child, which is full of metaphors about queerness and found family. I've been ruminating on themes like marginalization, parenthood, and children's rights for this one, and so far the play-testing has had some really positive feedback! (Rules update coming out later this month!)

You might also be interested in some of the submissions to the Hot Mutant Summer Jam that ran last month!

Games I’ve Recommended in the Past

Here, There, be Monsters!, by Wendi yu.

Exceptionals, by Bramble Wolf Games.

Turn, by Beau Jágr Sheldon.

Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast, by Possum Creek Games.

Those Of Us Who Know Better, by C.J. Linton.

Apocalypse Keys, by Rae Nedjadi.

Past Recommendation Posts That Kinda Fit the Vibe

Make It Gay

Post-Apocalyptic Community

*Romanticizes the Monstrous*

Genderfuckery

Lycanthropic and Transsexual

Urban Monsters

[the-bar-sinister]

Fanfiction | Self Ship | Whump

Frequent tags:

Selfship

Villain f/o

whump prompts

blog updates

friend mail

villain posting

drabble

fanfiction

Archive of our Own account

👉 he/they | queer | married | adult | elder millennial

👉 plural | fictionkin (serious/spiritual) 

👉 Muti shipper | Poly shipper

No DNI we block at will 🫡

Please do not send us asks about babies, pregnancy, or raising children.

Source fandoms: Resident Evil, One Piece, Metal Gear, Marvel Comics, Persona games, Slayers anime, GTA V, Great/Ace Attorney, Homestuck, Danganronpa, Fire Emblem Three Houses, Urusei Yatsura, Digimon, Girls Frontline, Steven Universe, Pathologic, Jem & The Holograms, Peter Pan, Welcome to Demon School, Disgaea, Sherlock Holmes media

non-source fandoms: Invader Zim, ABC’s Lost, Twin Peaks, Silent Hill, Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Vampire Chronicles (books), Doctor Who Labyrinth, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Final Fantasy (4-9), Pokemon, Black Lagoon, Miami Vice, Bioshock, Bioshock Infinite, Prey 2017, Dishonored, Call of Duty, Red Dead Redemption, Frankenstein, the Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Gargoyles, Fallout New Vegas

Favorite genres: horror, mystery, thriller, noir, crime fiction, psychological thriller, supernatural horror, sci fi horror, gothic lit

Shipping, plurality and squick explanations under the cut.

Our ships: We are a polyshipper and a multishipper. We ship multiple characters together in the same context, in the same relationship, in the same fics etc.

A "ship" for us does not equal in OTP or an ideal relationship. We use the word "ship" to denote any romantic or sexual relationship between two characters, even when that relationship is unhealthy, toxic, twisted, and bad for one or both participants. Ships are a narrative tool, not something aspirational. 

Plurality: We are a plural system– many people living together in one body. We have been plural since we were children, and we have been blogging about our plurality for 15+ years.

Please do  not use psychiatric or pathologizing terminology for our plurality. We do not refer to ourselves with terms like DID, alter, or introject, and our system members do not have defined roles.

Our preferred terminology is: plural, system member, and fictive.

System members tend to sign or tag posts and refer to one another with a two emoji 'signature' rather than a name. Unsigned posts are understood to be a product of multiple members or a joint consensus. 

squicks / tropes we prefer to avoid

non-con of any kind (but especially underage non-con and non-con incest) 

pregnancy & babies (especially as the joyful and expected result of a romantic hetero-presenting relationship)

nonbinary or trans characters deciding it's better for them to perform their assigned gender at birth

Characters submitting to the will of a lawful aligned god.

Parental control and discipline being shown as narratively positive and correct 

characters giving up their careers and aspirations and 'settling down' when they fall in love

prophecies that are unavoidable and/or narratively depicted as inherently good and just

characters following the life-path set out for them by their parents/following in their parents footsteps

filial duty and filial piety in general

pretty much anything to do with traditional family structures, gender roles, and lawful aligned religion, honestly

wing whump / characters having their monstrous or inhuman traits harmed

monstrous or inhuman characters becoming human (especially when presented as positive)

soul destruction / soul death

characters being metaphysically kept apart for all time

any kind of 'conversion therapy' or metaphorical conversion therapy (especially being portrayed as positive)

We are: 

non-christian | magical practitioner | chaotic neutral

polyamorous  | largely aplatonic

trauma survivor | abuse survivor

Weird | Freakish | Monstrous

[cevansbrat0007]

You’re writing is so amazing, literally love everything you put out!! Do you have any romance book recommendations?!? Literally anything, I fully trust your judgement lol😌

Omigosh! First, thank you so much for the compliment. Second, I got you.

*whips out Kindle*

I've broken it down into categories. Here we go:

Contemporary Line of Duty Series, Tessa Bailey - If I want something quick, down, and dirty I reach for her. I recommend starting with her Line of Duty Series, which features the most delicious rough and tumble cops finding love.

The Coppersmith Farmhouse, Devney Perry - I adore this small town, enemy-to-lovers romance featuring a single mother and the local sheriff. Sheriff Jess can be an ass, but he grovels well. The Game Maker Series, Kresley Cole - Centers around three Russian brothers who have ties to the mafia. While each man is different and beautifully broken in his own way, they all believe in taking what they want. And once one of the Sevastyan's have set their sights on you, they will not take no for an answer. They're also not opposed to kidnapping either. The Italian, T.L. Swan - What happens when a summer fling ends up being so much more than that? This romance tells the story of an Italian mafia boss and his forbidden love with an Australian tourist. There's sex, angst, danger and so much more.

Historical *Outlander Series, Diana Gabaldon - Claire and Jamie's love literally transcends both time and space. This series contains an amazing romance, well researched historical descriptions, elements of magic, and so much more.

Paranormal The Psy Changeling Series, Nalini Singh - If you love stories about shifters and people with psychic abilities then I totally recommend checking out this series. Slave to Sensation is the first book, and premise goes something like: the ruling Psy prefer to exist in a world devoid of feelings and emotions, but what happens when one of their own finds herself craving something only Lucas Hunter, the alpha of the Dark River Shifters, can provide? *The Guild Hunter Series, Nalini Singh - Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but with Angels. This series is amazing and the love story between Raphael (the Archangel of New York) and his precious mortal, Elena (who is a badass in her own right). The world building is fantastic, the romance is hot, and each book only gets better. And believe me when I say, these are not your grandmother's angels. I also love the fact that you get to watch their relationship grow and evolve across multiple books. *The Night Huntress Series, Jeaniene Frost - Also has a Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibe, except the heroine is actually half-vampire herself. Bones, her eventual love interest, reminds me of Spike. Just a little bit. And just like the previous series, their romance spans multiple books. Also the love scenes are fabulous. *The Fever Series, Karen Marie Moning - If you love reading about heroines trying to solve mysterious disappearances, the Seelie and Unseelie Fae, and a delicious Alpha Male that could just easily rip you apart as well as fuck you - I'm looking at you, Jericho Barrons - then check this out. This series requires a little commitment because the romance, while hinted at, doesn't start until you're a couple of books in. But it's so worth it because you're rewarded with a territorial, possessive, darkly handsome anti-hero. *The Highlander Series, Karen Marie Moning - If you're a sucker for men in kilts, ancient curses, time travel, and drop-dead-sexy highlanders who fall hard for their modern day mates then please read. Also, some of these heroes go on to appear in the Fever Series as well. Immortals After Dark Series, Kresley Cole - Another great one This one features characters from every corner of the lore. I'm talking vampires, witches, valkyries, berserkers, demons, werewolves, succubi, and more. The men are swoon worthy and the women are badass. But what I especially love is the creativity and humor she manages to weave throughout her stories. She uses the fated mates trope quite a bit, which I love. However, what makes it great is that a lot of times the men show up like: "You belong to me now. I'm ready to take you to home" and their brides-to-be are like "Fuck off. Come any closer and I will stab you/shoot you/light you on fire". And what's more...they absolutely follow-thru. Those heroes have to earn their women. Oh, and the sexy times are good and spicy.

Hope this helps! If you or anyone else decides to read a book from this list, please let me know what you think!

*Indicates Book Boyfriend

[specialagentlokitty]

Giles x teen!reader - the family you need

Part 1:

Looking up at school, you turned to the man in front of you, offering him a small smile, and he smiled back at you.

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?”

You nodded your head, and you looked down at the tattoo of the sword on your arm, and pulled down the sleeve of your sweater.

“I have to Colt, I don’t want to be killed for something that isn’t my fault.. I’m tired of the games they’re playing, locking me away for every little thing I do wrong.”

“I know, but what if they find you (Y/N), you will be seen as a threat, they will kill you this time.”

You nodded.

“I know, that’s why I chose Sunnydale, I did my research, with the hellmouth, the slayer, vampires and demons of all sorts, they won’t think about here, they wouldn’t risk coming here. It’s not a fight for exorcists.”

“And if they can track you?”

“The hellmouth is way stronger than my power, it snuffs it out to any tracking demon or spell or incantation they could use. The only time they’ll find me is if I get out of control, if I loose control my power will be way too great, they’ll know straight away.”

He sighed, sitting on the steps and you walked over to sit next to him.

“I know, that still puts you at risk.”

“I know you’re going to erase this from your memory, I saw the sigil in your pocket. When you get back you’ll use it, to protect me.”

Colt chuckled, looking away.

“You’re a smart kid, you know that right?”

“Thanks…”

He placed a hand on your shoulder, and he handed you a bag.

“In there you’ll find keys, more then enough money to get you by for a while, and anything else you may need.”

You nodded and set it at your feet.

“I’ve set up a reoccurring fund for you, every month you’ll have funds to get by. The apartment is paid off, it’s yours.”

“Thank you…”

Colt got up, and he crouched in front of you, giving you a warm smile.

“Do you want me to walk you in?”

“Please.”

He nodded, taking your bag for you and you pulled your beanie down a little more to his your slightly pointed ears.

Walking into the school you sat down on a chair outside the principals office while he went in.

A blond girl with came over, sitting a few chairs away from you and she glanced at you before turning away.

“You new?” She asked.

You looked at her, nodding your head and looked away.

“I’m Buffy, it’s nice to meet you.”

“I uh.. (Y/N)…” you mumbled.

The door opened and you looked up.

Colt walked over, kneeling down in front of you and he smiled gently, placing a hand over yours.

“You’re going to be okay…”

“Why can’t you stay too…”

Colt sighed.

“If I go missing they’ll know, they can track me no issue, I have to leave so you’re safe.”

“But you’re.. you’re like my brother.. please…”

He stood up, kissing the top of your head.

“I’m sorry… be safe will you? And no trouble, got it? Remember what we practiced.”

You nodded and stood up, hugging him tightly.

Buffy looked at you and she turned away to give you some privacy.

You stepped away, and he handed you your schedule.

“I’m sorry.”

With that he left back the way he came from and you took your back, swinging it over your shoulder and you sat back down.

You wiped a stray tear, and you looked at the pendant he had given you with a fond smile, putting it around your neck.

Buffy got up and she walked over, sitting next to you.

“Are you okay?” She asked quietly.

“Yeah I.. that was my brother… he’s going away with the army…”

“I’m sorry…”

You gave her a small smile and looked at your schedule.

“Hey, you’ve got most of the same classes as me, do you want me to show you around? I’ve just got to do this one thing but that’s it.”

You nodded your head and sat waiting for her which thankfully didn’t take long, and as you were walking down the hallway the bell went.

“Oh, I guess that can wait. I need to go to the library if you want to come.”

“Okay…”

You quietly followed her, keeping your head down, and Buffy glanced at you.

“You’re not one for talking much are you?”

“I’m sorry..”

“Oh, oh no I’m sorry, not that it’s a uh.. a bad thing or anything.”

You glanced at her before looking away again, following her into the library.

You could sense that the hellmouth was there, as a half demon you had a sort of instinct for these kinds of things.

There was a lot of power in that one room you could tell, and it scared you slightly.

“You can sit down I just need to talk to Giles uh.. Mr Giles, the librarian.”

You nodded, and you sat down, looking around not really paying attention to anything.

You got bored of sitting down, and you got up, heading over to some shelves to look through the books that definitely shouldn’t be in a school library.

“(Y/N)?”

You turned around, making your way back down the stairs, only to stop when you saw Buffy with a man.

“This is Mr Giles, the librarian I mentioned.”

Giles smiled, holding out his hand and you went back up a step.

“Nice to meet me, Buddy told me you’re new is, is that correct?”

You nodded your head and he lowered his hand when he saw you weren’t going to shake it, and he took a step back.

“Well, if there is anything you need, any uh.. any books just let me know, I’m sure we can find them here.”

You nodded again, and he smiled, sitting down at the table and Buffy gestured to the door.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to everybody.”

You quickly jogged to catch up to her and left the library as fast as you possibly could.

“You know Giles won’t hurt you right?”

You shrugged a little.

“Not a big fan of new people really…”

“That makes sense, maybe you don’t want to meet the others then?”

“It’s okay if there’s more people, I don’t mind.”

Buffy seemed a little confused but introduced you to her friends anyway.

You didn’t want to make friends, you were apprehensive about it for the most part, but it would help you fit in.

That’s what you needed, you need to be able to fit in.

So that’s what you did, you spent most of your time out them usually quietly sitting, and if they went to the library you would wonder off somewhere else.

“Maybe they’re scared of you.” Oz said.

“I.. I haven’t even done anything, I hardly said anything to (Y/N).”

Buffy shrugged, setting her book down.

“Come on Giles, it’s a new school, you can’t be offended every time somebody doesn’t like you.”

“Well pardon me for just wanting to keep the peace and ensure that everybody feels safe and well looked after.”

They all snickered a little.

“They are very quiet, maybe they’re just shy.” Willow offered up.

“Maybe, it would make sense.” Xander said.

“Right, as enlightening as this conversation is we need to focus on the matter at hand, demonstrating running around.” Giles said.

Everybody got back on track with what they were doing.

While they were trying to research the demons, you were out there fighting them, blood on your clothes, but a fire in your eyes.

Adjusting your grip on your sword, you swung it, blue flames lighting up the alleyway you were in, bright against the dark sky.

Then just as quickly as they came they went, and the demon was gone.

Grabbing the scabbard from your back, you put it away, and you looked to the tattoo on your arm, whispering an incantation to make it glow, and you returned the sword to its place.

It was a handy enchantment Colt had taught you, a way to hide your sword so nobody else could have it, and you always had it on hand when you needed it.

Looking around, you ran towards the wall and kicked off it, gripping the balcony behind you and you pulled yourself up, scaling a few of them before you left the scene.

Jumping from roof to roof you headed back to your own apartment, swinging yourself through the open window.

Heading to your kitchen, you filled the sink and pulled your shirt off, dropping it in, and then walked to the bedroom to put a new one on.

You didn’t have to worry about your wounds, they would be gone by the morning and it would be like nothing happened, all you had to do was clean your blood from your shirt.

Leaving it to soak, you walked to your fridge, pulling out an energy drink and you opened it, walking to the Tv to turn it on.

Your eyes drifted to your arms, you could see the scars as horrible reminders on your wrists, reminders of just what people thought you were.

A monster that should be chained away.

Sneering a little, you looked at the candle, focusing a little so you could light it and put it out.

As long as you were in control it didn’t matter, because nobody else was going to find out.

But you didn’t know that Buffy and the others were hunting these demons as well, and trying to figure out how they were just vanishing.

And didn’t know that you were the one killing then, it was like a dance to hide your other life from each other and everybody else.

Even as you had been at the school for nearly a month, you still didn’t know about one another, but you had grown used to having them around, and they had adopted you as part of your group.

So, when you walked up to the school in the morning they greeted you happily.

“They’re dragging everybody to the library, they want you to come.” Cordelia sighed.

You looked at her a little confused.

“Geek squad, they basically live there, you’re going to have to accept that one day.”

“Cordy!” Xander hissed.

You looked at them all.

“Why the library?”

“It’s just quiet in there.” Buffy smiled.

You nodded your head in understanding.

“It’s okay, I think I’m just going to go to class I’ll see you guys there.”

You walked past them and stopped.

“Oh, oh, before I forget, could you get me that math book you were talking about Willow? I think I might need it..”

Willow smiled brightly at you.

“Of course! I’ll bring it to class with me.”

“Thanks.”

With that you actually did leave, heading to your locker to search through you books, then you closed your locker.

Making your way to the classroom you walked in, taking your usual seat in the back as you waited in boredom.

This was the part of your life you didn’t like, it wasn’t as action packed as it was back at the academy, but this was safer for you at least

[duckprintspress]

February 2024 Created Works Round-Up!

Duck Prints Press’s monthly “created works round-ups” are our opportunity to spotlight some of the amazing work that people working with us have done that ISN’T linked to their work with Duck Prints Press. We include fanworks, outside publications, and anything else that creators feel like sharing with y’all. Inclusion is voluntary and includes anything that they decided “hey, I want to put this on the created work’s round-up!”

Check out what they’ve shared with us this month…

Faebruary 2024 by May Barros / @mayarab

art || original work || no ships || teen & up || no major warnings apply || work in progress

summary: Faebruary is an art challenge during the month of February in which one creates an artwork a day inspired by fairys or the Fae. In the case of this particular instalment, works were made following a prompt list and combining that with archetypes of player characters from the TTRPG Changeling: the Lost

TUMBLR - LINK

​

Warmth Enough to Share by D.V. Morse / @nursinggeek

fiction || supernatural || f/f || charlie bradbury/jo harvelle || general audiences || no major warnings apply || 1,538 || complete

summary:

Watching Sam and Eileen set up their nursery back on earth gives Charlie and Jo ideas.

other tags: past canon character death

AO3

​

Nothing Not Romantic by D.V. Morse / @nursinggeek

fiction || buffy the vampire slayer || f/f || kennedy/willow rosenberg || general audiences || no major warnings apply || 946 || complete

summary: Anniversary dinners are supposed to be romantic. Willow isn't sure this one qualifies.

other tags: past canon character death

AO3

​

To Sleep, Perchance (Not) to Dream by D.V. Morse / @nursinggeek

fiction || wayward sisters, supernatural || f/f || kaia nieves/claire novak || general audiences || no major warnings apply || 680 || complete

summary: Claire's hunter reflexes ensure that Kaia never wakes up from a nightmare alone.

AO3

​

Ready for (Almost) Anything by D.V. Morse / @nursinggeek

fiction || october daye series || f/f || may daye/jasmine "jazz" patel || general audiences || no major warnings apply || 835 || complete

summary: This time, May and Jazz are ready for whatever Aemelia can throw at them ... or so they think.

AO3

​

Time Won't Give Me Time by firefly124 / @firefly124

fiction || mcyt, life series smp, hermitcraft smp || m/m || jimmy solidarity/tango tek || teen & up || no major warnings apply || 12,629 || complete

summary: Jimmy thinks he and Tango (and the other Double Life soulmates) are in danger of being used against each other in the next Life game, so he warns Tango they need to stay apart. Whether that's going to do any good is another question.

other tags: 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series-Typical Character Death, spoilers for Limited Life SMP, Watcher Lore (Evolution SMP), Canary Hybrid Jimmy | Solidarity, Blaze Hybrid TangoTek (Video Blogging RPF), mention of New Life SMP

AO3

​

until you are its primary evidence by ilgaksu / @ilgaksu

fiction || mysterious lotus casebook || m/m, poly (one gender: male) || di feisheng/fang duobing/li lianhua | li xiangyi || mature || creator choses not to use warnings || 5,805 || complete

summary: In the firelight, A-Fei shrugs, panther-lithe in the roll of it down shoulder and into the body, and starts to lick his hand clean. Fang Duobing makes a face at him.

“You eat like an animal,” he complains.

other tags: Character Study, Disability, Canon Compliant, Unreliable Narrator

AO3

​

carry your childhood with you by ilgaksu / @ilgaksu

fiction || dmbj - grave robber's chronicles (xu lei) || no ships, platonic or familial || hei xiazi & wu xie, wu xie & xie yuchen || teen & up || creator choses not to use warnings || 3,276 || complete

summary: “Hey,” Wu Xie says to Hei Xiazi, sitting next to him on a bench by the Yongding River, swinging his feet. “Hey. Hei-shushu. Can I tell you about Xiao Hua?”

“I’m not your uncle, kid,” Hei Xiazi replies, “I’m just your uncle’s unfortunate employee.”

other tags: Childhood Memories, Childhood Friends, Trans Xie Yuchen, Hei Xiazi's No Good Very Bad Day Babysitting

TUMBLR - AO3

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Bring It On Home by NursingGeek / @nursinggeek

fiction || mcyt, empires smp || f/f || katherine elizabeth/shelby grace | shubble || general audiences || no major warnings apply || 1,458 || complete

summary: Katherine's had a rough night of monster slaying. Thank goodness Shelby knows how to fix her up.

AO3

​

You're My Home by NursingGeek / @nursinggeek

fiction || unstoppable series by charlie jane anders || f/f || elza monteiro/tina mains || general audiences || no major warnings apply || 916 || complete

summary: A few quiet moments as Elza and Tina get ready to head back out into the galaxy after their brief return to Earth.

other tags: spoilers for the Unstoppable series through Promises Stronger than Darkness

AO3

​

Comyn he is of gret by Rhosyn Du / @rhosyn-du

fiction || the sandman (tv 2022) || m/m || dream of the endless | morpheus/hob gadling || explicit || creator choses not to use warnings || 10,582 || work in progress

summary: In 1389, Hob follows the mysterious stranger out of the White Horse, makes a number of questionable choices, and gets thoroughly railed for his trouble.

other tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Porn With Somewhat More Plot Than The Author Intended, Canon Divergence Purely For Porn Reasons, Bets & Wagers, Monsterfucker Hob Gadling, Light Dom/Sub, Enthusiastic Consent, Oral Sex, Anal Sex, Multiple Orgasms, Overstimulation, Come Marking, Come Eating, Additional Tags To Be Added

AO3

​

To Fall Like the Rain by Shadaras / @shadaras

fiction || modao zushi - moxiang tongxiu / the untamed || platonic or familial, m/m || lan wangji/mo xuanyu, jin ling & jin rusong & mo xuanyu || teen & up || no major warnings apply || 7,550 || complete

summary: Jin Xuanyu is ten years old when Lan Wangji declares that they're soulmates.

other tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - More People Live, Alternate Universe - Mo Xuanyu is a Reincarnation of Wei Wuxian, Soulmates (But Only For The Lan), Jin Family Feels, Slow Burn (In Universe)

AO3

​

So go check out their creations! Who knows, maybe you’ll find your new favorite story…

[stevesjockstrap]

Eddie Month Day 9

prompt: cowboy & cavalier | rated: T? language and substances a/n: based on the Buffy episode where everyone becomes their Halloween costume

Steve was in hell. There was no other possible explanation. This might’ve been worse than the upside down. That at least he could do something about. 

Something had happened, not something inter-dimensional but something weird or magicky. Hell, he’d think this was all a big practical joke, if it wasn’t for all these seemingly real soldier memories and facts that he couldn’t shake that kept popping into his head.

They’d all gotten Halloween costumes from this new store that popped up downtown. Ethan’s Costume Shop was quaint and this older gentleman had helped pick perfect costumes for all of them.  

Eddie wanted these leather chaps so became a cowboy. Robin was a witch who kept trying to do spells and setting small fires. Nancy was a princess who was scared of everything and kept screaming bloody murder at the kids. 

The kids were the worst part. Max, Lucas and El were zombies who kept biting everyone, thankfully not hard enough to actually eat them. Dustin, probably the only one who would actually know what to do in this situation, was an ogre who just grunted and whacked people with his club. Mike was a werewolf and kept trying to escape to howl at the moon. Will had dressed as a ghost and had turned invisible. Thankfully Steve had made everyone take glow sticks trick or treating so they could follow his green glowing necklace. 

Somehow Steve had convinced cowboy!Eddie to help corral all of them to his house when the streets became mass chaos as everyone transformed to their costumes. Jonathan and Argyle had decided dressing up was too pedestrian and they’d been extra hands, but as high as they were, Steve wasn’t sure if they even knew what was happening. 

He leaned against the kitchen island and hung his head in his hands. All he wanted to do was to take the kids trick or treating then come home and have a relaxing evening. The kids were all supposed to be going to the Wheelers for a sleepover.

“Why the long face, darlin’?” Eddie asked with a terrible southern accent. And this. If he called him darlin’ or puddin’ or fucking baby cakes one more time he was going to go find his nail bat. 

“Eddie, for the last time, stop with the names. And I think it’s perfectly reasonable, actually, for me to be upset right now. Look around!” 

Steve felt bad instantly when Eddie looked down and started to walk away. 

“I’m sorry, Eds. I don’t even know if you’re actually even Eddie in there. But for the record, this is not a nice normal night for me. How many times have you corralled ghosts and zombies, man?”

Eddie nodded and looked around. The kids had resorted to chasing each other around the house, which was honestly an improvement to them trying to get out of any available door or window. They’d put Nancy upstairs in a bedroom away from anything scary. Steve had taken Robin’s wand away and hidden it and she was searching the place for it. 

“I guess you’re right, there.” Steve winced at the accent. 

They just stared at each other for a moment. Steve sighed. “You want a beer?”

Eddie shrugged and nodded. They ended up sitting on the island, so they could keep an eye out for the kids. Somehow it became a drinking game. Drink every time one of the zombies bites someone. Drink for every grunt. Drink for every time Argyle giggles at nothing funny. Soon they were giggling at nothing themselves, leaning into each other and almost falling off the island. 

It was someone’s idea to relocate to the couch. They threw a movie on and weirdly all the creatures flocked to the light or the sound or it was just background neurons firing that they go watch the tv when it’s on. They all piled in a little nest of blankets like puppies and nodded off. 

Close to midnight, something snapped in his brain, like a rubber band. He looked at Eddie. 

“What the fuck?”

“Oh you’re back?” He yawned. 

“Back? Where did I go?”

“Do you remember being a cowboy and the kids were zombies?”

Eddie’s eyebrows went up under his bangs. “Jeez, that wasn’t from my stash, right? That must be Argyle’s-“

“No, man. I don’t know what happened but everyone became their costume. You’ve been talking in a terrible southern accent all night and calling me- never mind. Will was invisible!”

Eddie smirked. “Callin’ you what?” The accent was even worse now, combined with the slurring. 

“That’s the part you’re worried about?”

“That’s the part you’re gunna tell me first.” He leaned in close. “Was it sweetheart? Was it pretty boy?”

Steve shivered. “Uhhh, nope.” Eddie sat back and put his finger to his chin, thinking. It made Steve huff a laugh at him. “Think more southern, more cowboy, Eds.”

He nodded, leaning back in. “Buttercup? Sweet pea?”

Steve laughed and shook his head. 

“I dunno, darlin’, I guess we’ll never know.” Eddie pulled him close and their lips met.

@eddiemonth

[coraniaid]

(Answering @badwolfwho1's questions for this character ask game; four of four.)

Willow

5 What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them

(Honestly, this was a surprisingly hard question to answer and I don't really know if I think this song fits Willow at all or I just subconciously gave up and picked a song I liked. It's a good song though?)

12 What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Not exactly a fully developed headcanon (so much as it is a stubborn refusal to accept a fictional character I like is not actually Just Like Me) but ... I'm rewatching early Season 4 now and it is honestly so hard to persuade myself that Willow would be content to sit in this (objectively not very good!) pysch class (where they are teaching Jung and Freud as fact!) when the show had previously established her as somebody who was hacking into government computers for fun before she ever met Buffy, and who talks about liking math, and who regularly competed in her school's science fair, and started work on trying to rebuild Ted the robot when she was a teenager, and who was headhunted by a company that was not quite explicitly mid-1990s Microsoft, and who taught her high school computer class while a high school student. Let Willow be computer science student you wrote her as, you cowards!

Yes, later in the season the show will use Willow "not being as interested in computers any more" as a(n honestly not very coherent) metaphor for her coming out as a lesbian, but we aren't at that point yet! (And besides, why would getting into magic make Willow more interested in outdated pop pysch? As opposed to, say, quantum mechanics or category theory or anything else that more closely resembles the show's take on magic?) We haven't even met Tara! It feels very obvious to me that the writers just want Willow to go to classes with Buffy and don't particularly care that the character they created in the first three seasons wouldn't want to go to those classes.

At least, Willow wouldn't want to go to those classes unless her best friend was also going. (And, actually, why is Buffy apparently majoring in pysch now, anyway? What happened to her previously established love of English literature? I know the writers bring that up again next season; it feels a bit pointless they ignore it now.)

So my current headcanon is that Willow is going to a bunch of computing and math classes this semester (or at least she will be until gets distracted by magic/Tara), on top of Maggie Walsh's pysch classes, she just pretends she isn't because she doesn't want Buffy to think she's showing off by taking such a high course load. Whenever there's a college scene with Buffy present and not Willow, I assume Willow is somewhere off-screen learning about the axioms of Zermelo Fraenkel set theory or about assembly language or about crystal oscillators or ... you know, something I would she would actually care about.

13 What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

Willow started using the internet in the mid- to late 90s, which I think would have had a big impact on the sorts of symbols she’d use.  That’s a bit too early for emoji, I think: I don’t see Willow using them. I can see Willow using the old classic of :/ a lot though (especially if she also introduced Xander to IRC at some point)

[cardboardhyperfix-games]

Dev Log #1

6 years ago, 2018

I went to a friend's photography show and had an idea. I've always loved Power Rangers. This is me in a costume as a kid.

At first, it started as a hack of FATE, which I love and first played back in 2014. I just wanted a cool way to play Power Rangers. That idea stayed in my head, but I wanted to see where the thoughts led me before committing to anything.

When I got home, I started making notes.

I have a way of making notes that has been a hold over from when I was a student. I like drawing arrows. This page was me just writing out some ideas, thinking of ways to connect dots to Power Rangers.

At first, I thought about playing as Archetypes. I envisions emulating the Teen side of things, like an after school special or a show like Sailor Moon or Buffy. That's where the Roles idea came from. At first, it included like being in a Club of some kind.

I also considered Hobbies as like an aspect of a character, which I will go into on a later page (maybe a later Dev log?).

I thought through the different kinds of enemies that could be in the game, and then moved onto trying to sort out the Attributes.

And then BAM look at that. SLIDING SCALE. I was already thinking about things on a moving line. This would end up not being in the game, but the idea was seeded there.

Originally, I was thinking of having scales of how people perceive you. And that would factor into all of the social parts of the game. I envision the game in two halves, social and combat (I know, how original). In many ways, I thought of it split down the middle of Teen (Social) and Ranger (Combat). That thought would stick around for a long while, but change a bit.

I also tried to tie these to traditional D&D attributes, such as STR, CON, DEX, etc. I did learn TTRPGs by playing 4e Red Box in 2011, and at this time I had very limited exposure to other RPG systems.

The Sliding Scale of Popularity sticks around for a while also. I was really dead-set on that idea being the keystone for the Teen parts of the game.

This is hopefully the first of many Dev Logs for this game. I've never really done anything like this before, either, so hopefully this continues to be fun. If you want to check out the game, go here!

[emilykaldwen]

Fic Rec List 2

I cannot find the link for my first fic rec list. I'M SORRY! Anyway here's another one. These are on AO3 because that's where I read 99% of my fic but if I can find a tumblr handle for people, I will add it! This isn't just HotD/GoT fic, I also included a few other fandoms should anything strike your fancy!

World on Fire - @theothermaidoftarth - In which Nettles is sent North after the Battle of the Gullet. It's Cregan x Nettles! SIGN ME THE FUCK UP! If you love rare pairs, please follow this author. She writes fantastic stories and I just really love their work.

Inertia - @lesbian-kyoru - With the Cat’s confinement approaching, Kyo and Tohru attempt to avoid their feelings as ineffectively as possible. Hi yes do you love Fruits Basket? Do you love a good friends with benefits AU with two emotionally fucky individuals in Tohru and Kyo? Then please run, do not walk, to read this lovely series. I was introduced to this via someone bookbinding this series on the renegade guild and devoured it (I reblogged this series ages ago screaming in my tags)

Something Old - Ducks - Miserable after Oz's departure, Willow casts a spell to have her will done. Predictably, it goes awry, having some interesting affects on Buffy and Angel. A re-imagining of the Buffy episode "Something Blue". One of the first really fandomy fics I got obsessed over (back when Ducks ran their own site, which might still be up?) anyway yeah, it's Buffy x Angel, which teen me was utterly obsessed with and one of the first fics that really ever entered into my mind that you could write long ass series AU fics. There's also an eventual Blade crossover in the final part.

A Game of High Stakes - In_Dreams - In theory, the task is simple: kill Draco Malfoy. In practice, putting a curse through the Dark Lord's favoured lieutenant will take everything Hermione has―especially since he's trying to kill her, too. Even more so when the lines between them start to blur. Sometimes, the only way out is through. Hello yes it's another dramoine fake marriage/real marriage AU but it's so good, really goes into the fuckiness of the war, I just devoured it in a weekend.

Taken - Wheater - An AU set after 2x15: Elijah succeeds in kidnapping Elena, Katherine is out of the tomb and the Salvatore brothers have one hell of a mess to fix. Sometimes you have no choice but to make a deal with the devil. If you can get the devil to make a deal with you… Another oldie but goodie for if you liked your obscure TVD ships. And I was such an Elena x Elijah fan (also Tyler and Elena too pls)

Kingdoms At War - deathwalker - What if Ned Stark wasn't executed at the Great Sept of Baelor? Instead, what if, he had been removed from Kingslanding before Joffrey could give the order for his head? What impact would this have had on the Game of Thrones? It's a Robb x Marg, Ned Lives AU y'all and one day, one day it's gonna be completed and it's going to be amazing. So far it's sitting at just under 700k words, and Marg and Robb are about to take on King's Landing and my body is ready.

Parlour Trick - @stannisfactions - What if Aemond was born with dragon features and hidden away, and Helaena is his bride. Hi yes I scream about this story a lot, Kinderhook is one of my all time favorites, and not only is this fic amazing, but they have a ton of TG fics. A lot of the content is of the angstier variety, as well as a lot of dub con so please mind your triggers.

Aesthetic Chills - sloelimbs - An Eddie/Chrissy fix it picking up where Vecna started, and the Party's adventure taking a different turn. - It's an Edissy fix it fic and just very thoughtful, very moody, very everything. Pretty sure this was the only ST fic I read and it sits in the bookmarks for a reason.

[greghatecrimes]

for the ask game: 1, 3, 31, and 49 (49 specifically about Thirteen)!

Eee thank you for asking! <3 I know you said only 49 was specifically for Thirteen, but if you don't mind I'm going to answer all of them for Thirteen since she is the blorbo ever for me xD This got long, so answers are after the read more!

Canon I outright reject. Oooh, this one was hard because I actually love most of the canon details the writers gave us about her. The only thing I personally reject is her having a sister. They never verbally mentioned her sister (unlike her brother), so I just go about that as if her brother is her only sibling and a sister never existed. Either that, or her brother IS her "sister" and just transitioned sometime during their childhood.

3. Obscure headcanon - I got lots of asks about #3 for Thirteen! Instead of repeating the same thing, I'll link my answer for it here.

31. If they had a tumblr, what would it look like? I love thinking about this as;ldfjalsf. If Thirteen had a tumblr, I think it would totally be super nerdy and completely dedicated to fandoms she's in (like Buffy if this is Thirteen as a teenager, or something like Star Trek, Final Fantasy (I can see her liking XIII but I haven't played through the whole thing myself yet, so we'll see if that holds).[EDIT to add: oh my fucking god, I pronounce the final fantasy numerals as vee-eye-eye, ex-eye-eye-eye, etc. so I didn't realize until hours later that I said Thirteen. Would probably like Final Fantasy *13*. That was unintentional I swear 😂😭] She'd have it set up beautifully with a custom theme, a banner and icon she made herself, and an intricate tagging system that makes finding anything on her blog an absolute breeze. Her url would have absolutely no connection to anything that someone IRL could identify her with and she'd go by a pseudonym (I can also see her just going by "R"-- her first initial). It would be her escape from any and all stress in her "real life" and a place where she could relax and nerd out without worrying about keeping up an image, or about what other people would think. Even Foreman wouldn't know about it while they're dating. It would be an absolute and total secret from everyone in her life, and that's how she'd like it. I think the only person she would've considered making an exception for would have been Kutner, if he had lived long enough for them to get closer.

49. Favorite toy as a child. I originally thought of this when planning out stuff for my fic, In the Dirt, but it works for canon, too. A very well loved stuffed bunny that was given to her by her older brother when she was little. At the start of ITD, she keeps it tucked away in a duffel bag that holds the last remnants of her childhood and teenage years. But I like to think that at some point after moving in with House, she gets comfortable enough to let the bunny sit on her bedside table. For her, it's a positive reminder of her brother and how close they were when they were younger (in no small part due to their dad being so pre-occupied with their mom's Huntington's). It definitely has a name, but I'm not sure what it is. I've always pictured it looking sort of like this:

[theresattrpgforthat]

Got anything that lets you play as monsters (vampires/monsters/etc) in the modern world in the vein of VTM? Ideally something in the PBTA/FITD area of system, but open to others for sure (: Thanks as always for your recs!!

THEME: Urban Monsters

Friend, the difficulty with this post isn’t that I don’t have recommendations for it - it’s that I’m trying to find recommendations that I haven’t talked about ad nauseam to this point. So I hope you don’t mind a fairly extensive “Past Recommendations” at the bottom of this post, because most of the PbtA games I know of are going to be there. I have limited experience with Vampire: the Masquerade, but I’m a big fan of Changeling: the Lost and other World of Darkness games, so I’m going off of general knowledge rather than specifics.

Bubblegum Vampires / Bubblegum Wizards 2, by Gormengeist.

You're a vampire in an infinite urban cauldron of muck and rot, of psionics and wizards, of danger and shadows. Though you are surely terrible, great, horrifying, (etc.), half the day is an enemy to your people; so set forth through the night to make your coin, secure your dwellings, and vanquish your infinite enemies.

You're a wizard who chews bubblegum and collects trading cards. That is to say, cards with the trapped souls of items and enemies within, obviously. An insignificant wizard in an infinite city has lots to prove and you've got to get help somehow. Break heads, steal money, drive stupid, chew gum, trap souls. Simple as.

Neon-Bright art and d6-based rolls, that’s what’s common across both of these games. This is the same world, but you’re living in two different spheres of it, depending on which game you play. As wizards, you collect spell cards that hold the souls of creatures you’ve vanquished, and use them to get yourself out of sticky situations. As vampires, you accrue vampiric powers through blood sacrifice, and your opponents are usually folks with especially tantalizing veins. Both games have various factions that have different goals than you, so if what you like about Vampire: the Masquerade is the amount of different ideologies that have the ability to fuck you up, you might like this game. Thematically, it looks a little more upbeat and pulpy than your typical V:tM game, but if you like one, you have another game in the same system ready to go.

The Hidden, by Dragons Are Real.

As children our parents read us fairy tales, ghost stories and recounted local myths. We’ve always assumed these stories are told to entertain or scare….what if these aren't just stories….everything you have been told is true. 

The creatures from fairy tales, mythology and folklore all exist.  Have you ever thought you saw something strange out of the corner of your eye but when you look again all looks normal. These creatures live in plain sight, unseen by the majority of people, only those who know they exist see them in their true form. Every culture has a name for these creatures but we know them simply as The Hidden.

The Hidden is a modern urban fantasy game powered by the Breathless RPG. It is inspired by such media as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Constantine and The Dresden Files.

Another pulpy sort of game, the Breathless system that powers The Hidden is great for replicating diminishing resources, putting your characters in more and more difficult situations every time they pause to take a breath. This makes this game great for horror-style stories, and World of Darkness games firmly find a home in the horror genre. If you want something that’s fast-paced and can cover a lot of ground in a short session, The Hidden might be for you.

Tween Wolf, by Ibi Deficit Orbis.

Tween Wolf is a micro-RPG about middle schoolers experiencing both the fantasy of being exceptional, and the fear of being humiliated. As these kids come to terms with their awkwardly developing human bodies, they will also be faced with lycanthropy. And in the process they will experience supernatural heroism and intense shame—and learn to manage both.

It is designed to be played with a bent towards exploring the unforgiving social cruelty of middle school, self-image, and dysphoria. It requires one Game Master, 1 to 4 additional players, a few hours, one six sided die for each player, and two additional six sided dice for the table to share.

This is a very short game, with very few rules and a big focus on trying to keep your wild side under wraps. If what you like about WoD games is the struggle between the monstrous and the human, this might be the game for you. There’s not nearly as many big moral quandaries as there are in typical WoD games - you’re middle schoolers, not eons-old bloodsuckers - but to a middle-schooler, your problems are massive. I feel like the movie Seeing Red might be a good touchstone for this game.

Glamour of Our Youth, by Yuri Runnel.

Glamour of Our Youth is a roleplaying game based on the Forged in the Dark system. Drawing inspiration from media like Riverdale, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina among others, it works to tell stories of supernatural teenage adventures.

Building on the FitD framework, Glamour serves to tell exciting stories with high stakes, putting the youths through their paces as they try to make their way through a strange and hostile world, struggling with conflicts both internal and external, arcane and mundane. 

This game doesn’t cast your characters as specific supernatural beings, but the character options certainly make it possible. You cobble your character together from two different halves: Archetypes and Arcana. Your Archetype hails from classic high school cliques, such as Rebel, Outcast, Socialite and Athlete, while your Arcana details your supernatural ability, including Shapeshifter (which might translate to werewolf), Oceancaller (which you could turn into a selkie) or Shadow (which feels rather ghost-like to me). There’s also plenty of ways to play a teenage mage.

This game is in playtest, but it’s considerably far a long, with recent updates that indicate that the crew is hard at work refining the final product.

Protect the Child, by MintRabbit (that’s me!)

Humans have always been protective of their young, sometimes overly so. Humans have also always feared that which might make their young strange or different, and so insist that only humans can raise their own young. Monsters cannot raise human young. This is known. You have a human baby. You cannot find its parents. What is even worse, is that this child has powers, powers that others covet, and so everyone wants it. If you want to prove that you’re not the heartless monster that everyone says you are, that means you’ll have to raise it, at least until you find someone who is better suited to it than you.  You are creatures of fur, scales and fangs. You have claws that can rend flesh, faces that can crack mirrors, howls that can cause ears to bleed.  And your charge wants a blankie.

Protect the Child is a Forged in the Dark game about monsters caring for a young human, a human who contains strange and mystical powers that make them a valuable asset in any monster crew. The setting and factions present in this game are flexible: you might be aliens in a far-flung future galaxy, fantasy monsters from rival kingdoms, or even everyday wild animals that fear human society. 

So I’ve only just started play testing this game, which means that it’s very much in barely-playable mode. This game is also setting-agnostic, meaning that you can decide exactly when and where your game takes place - including as modern-day monsters trying to take care of a human baby with magical powers. The game is very specific in the themes of the story you’ll be telling - that is, themes about monstrosity, parenthood and responsibility, but if you all want to play different kinds of vampires, you can absolutely do that!

BloodLite, by ruan8000.

BloodLite is a role-playing game (RPG) designed to be played solo, but can be played in a group. In this game, you will create a Vampire following the rules and you will also create the world that this vampire interacts with, as well as the conflicts and obstacles that he will face. The world in BloodLite is like ours, but a little darker and more dangerous, full of supernatural creatures.

This game has no ties to PbtA or FitD, but it cites Vampire: the Masquerade as a direct inspiration, and you can see it in the Bloodline options available at character creation. You have a supernatural gift that give you advantages and also trigger your Hunger, which is your character’s thirst for blood. The goals of the game are represented through an Oath track, which fills when you fight enemies, overcome obstacles, and solve problems. This a fairly stripped-down game, but if you’re familiar with V:tM, then you probably won’t have a problem filling the world with factions, back-alley deals, and political wars.

Hearts of Yokai, by Lowell Francis.

So, this game isn’t out yet. But I can’t stop myself from talking about it a little bit. It’s the product of a Changeling:The Lost PbtA hack that Lowell has been working on for a very long time. I’ve been a bit fan of Changeling: the Lost and I also love PbtA games so I’m really excited to see more of this.

The link in the title leads to the current google spreadsheets that detail the current content of the game and the associated playbooks. The link for Lowell is to a blog post he wrote about the game, talking about the history, the changes he’s made, and the ideas behind what the current iteration is. What really intrigues me is how it incorporates "the actions of the Gentry through the lens of colonialism.” I’m really eager to follow the progress of this game.

Games I’ve Recommended in the Past

Urban Shadows 1e, by Magpie Games.

Bite Marks, by Black Armada Games.

Monsterhearts 2e, by Buried Without Ceremony.

Strays, by kumada1.

Eldritch Investigative Drama Rec Post

[smaller-comfort]

WIP game, on Retail Hell?

Ding! You found some of the original stuff!

This was kind of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Scooby-Doo/X Men thing spawned by my unending distress over my own shitty retail job at the time. The premise: a bunch of queer misfit teenagers with psychic powers all hang out at a haunted music store, where most of them have part time jobs. They solve crime! Or, really, just the one crime, which is the murder of the girl who haunts the store.

It's very funny to look back at my old original work and see the character templates I'm still using. There's a scene where the main character and his love interest finally get together that hilariously looks like I cribbed it from gotta start somewhere. Gay idiots, man. An eternal weakness of mine, apparently.

Here's a fragment that doesn't involve those two particular goofballs together, but does involve some of the Retail part of the Hell.

"Oh my god, Rose, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Shh, shh, it's okay." Rose patted Derrick awkwardly on the shoulder. She almost had to stand on her toes to do it. "Of course you didn’t mean it. Insurance’ll take care of it, I’ll just need your help cleaning up. You need a few minutes to freak out?"

Derrick’s face was wan and ashen, and he nodded jerkily, locs swinging violently.

Rose gave him a gentle push in the direction of the back door. “Go on, have a sit down and a bit of fresh air. Ian will mind the till for you.”

He nearly tripped over the smoking ruin of the vending machine in his haste to get outside. Rose shook her head and balanced the fire extinguisher on one hip. “Ian, love, do you need a few minutes to freak out? Because you’ll have to wait 'til Derrick’s back before you can take your fifteen. It’s not good to leave Michelle alone up front for too long.”

“Michelle?” There was something hysterical and sharp clawing its way out of his chest, and he didn’t know if it was a scream or a laugh or a toothy fucking alien, but at this point anything was possible. “You let Michelle watch the store?”

“She can mind the front door in a pinch, but it’s not like she’s any good on register.”

“Right." Ian covered his face with both hands and took a deep breath. "Right, of course, Michelle can't cover the register. She’s dead. Of course I can't take my break now. I have to cover for Michelle, who is dead, and for Derrick, who just set the vending machine on fire with his brain.”

Rose gave him a deeply unimpressed look. “No need to be rude about it.” She shoved the fire extinguisher into his arms. “You stay here and point this at anything burning, then. I’ll see if Robin wants to pick up any extra hours on short notice.”

[livlepretre]

Hey there 👋, I loved reading fairytale ending and am currently on my 4 read through and have followed you here on tumblr for awhile.

Ijust wanted to ask if you have played baldurs gate 3 or heard of it. I feel like you'd love the charecter astarion and was just curious?

And also on top of all that your thoughts on twilight and any other vampire centric media?

hello there :)

I have extremely peripherally heard of baldurs gate 3 but I don't actually know anything about it... unfortunately, I haven't had much time to game since my son was born, although I miss it!

and as for vampire media...

well, I'm pretty much a fool for this genre haha

I actually have very fond memories of twilight. I was the right age when the first one came out-- 15-- and I was struck by how atmospheric it was, and how there was a real sense of danger to the vampires. Also, I really enjoyed that Bella was just crazy and because of the narration being in her voice, she never thought she was. I think twilight gets a bad rap because it blew up, which exposed it to a level of scrutiny that maybe it was never prepared for-- it's always struck me as unfair because it never set out to be a great work of literary fiction. it is an interesting story, though, of a genre that I read heavily when I was about 12-16 or so, and honestly one of the best in that little funky genre of pararoma for young girls. so I am pro-Twilight.

(although, i do not think Smeyers ever understood that the vampire bite/process of being turned should be sexy. I'm still disappointed by the whole thing where Edward injected his venom via syringe into her heart. all of my teenage fantasies came crashing down in one fell swoop)

I suppose the other vampire things I like a lot are Buffy the Vampire Slayer (of course. my favorite. my OG), True Blood, and Underworld. The weirder and and more insane the vampires, the better, imo.

[lonepower]

Oh, I am so curious about Forspoken because I've only heard negative things about it. Would you mind talking about more of your thoughts about it? What's it like, and would you reccomend it?

Nonny, I am not surprised, and it is a continual source of raging frustration for me because this hate is absolutely unwarranted in every possible way!! I can't even track the tag here because, despite the small but absolutely wonderful fandom, it is so full of people hating on it that it clogs out nearly everything else.

First off: YES, I WOULD ABSOLUTELY RECOMMEND IT. PLAY THIS GAME. THAT IS A THREAT. 🔪🔪🔪🔪 

The tl;dr of my feelings about Forspoken are in line with that one excellent Jupiter Ascending review that I can't find for the life of me now, where the author is like, "is this what guys feel like all the time?" because the movie is just plucked straight from her 14-year-old self's wish fulfillment fantasies. Like, is it a deep, brooding, erudite Auteur Piece? Well, no, but... so what? It's self-indulgent to the max and so earnestly not-shy about it that it's just an absolute joy to play. It's fun. Like... it's just fun. Have we all just forgotten the sensation of joy??? 

(This got quite long, so full review under the cut:)

The game is a pretty straightforward changeling fantasy/isekai—heroine with a mysterious troubled past gets sucked into a magical world and just happens to be the exact thing needed to save it from impending doom—and it isn't shy about its own tropeyness. Like, it's not trying to be clever or subversive with its premise, and if you're used to the HBO theory that '"'"good"""(/heavy sarcasm) storytelling is completely unpredictable twists at every turn, then yeah, you're gonna find it predictable. (I called 2 of the 3 major reveals within seconds of their first being foreshadowed, but I love being right more than anything, so that was more of a bonus for me!) 

With that being said: It is absolutely excellent at doing what it sets out to do. It's not Complicated or Psychological or Edgy because that's not what it wants to be: It wants to be a fun, glittery, self-indulgent, richly detailed, joyfully tropey fantasy game, and by god it does that fantastically. It's got really deep, extensive lore and some subtler worldbuilding than I expected, it's a lot better written than people give it credit for, it's fun, it's rewarding to play. Frey is such a good protagonist, she's the epitome of "pathetic wet cat poor little meow meow blorbo from my shows" etc etc etc, and I feel like the only reason people aren't realizing this is because she's a Black woman with poor social graces who spends the majority of the game in extreme crisis mode. Water is wet 🙄

Is the dialogue cringy at times? Yeah, honestly there were a couple moments that made me go 😬, but from what I hear about other square enix games that's really nothing new. I will also die on the hill that yes, the banter is a little Whedony, BUT: 1) Whedon banter (esp. pre-2012 firefly/buffy/resurrection banter) is NOTHING like what "marvel dialogue" has become, and the Whedony bits of Forspoken are much more like Firefly than like the written-by-committee shit that marvel spits out now; 2) Joss Whedon is actually really fucking good at writing witty, funny banter, and it's just that he's so unpleasant in his ideals that we're all sick of hearing about him. I have LOTS of problems with the guy but his dialogue is Not one of them. And the banter in this game is one of the main draws for me. I fucking love banter because I am a brilliant bitch with excellent taste who will never change 💁‍♀️

Additionally—and crucially, because it indicates that 99% of the game's detractors haven't even gotten out of the first hub area—only two characters in the game talk like that, and they are explicitly seen as off-putting and not that funny (Frey) and extremely, maddeningly annoying (Cuff) by everyone else around. Frey is a homeless kid with no friends and Cuff has been trapped in a bracelet in an antique store for decades, so it's literally in-universe canon that they have no social skills. Everyone else in the game talks normally. They're both just huge dorks.

The gameplay itself is also really, really good too—this actually seems to be the One Thing that Gamers™ have decided is acceptable to not outright froth with rage over, so I'm putting it closer to the end, but yeah, it's awesome! It's one of three (3) games that I completed on Normal rather than story/casual/Idiot Weenie Baby difficulty (the others being Ghost of Tsushima and Horizon Zero Dawn), but it also has a lot of really excellent accessibility modifiers so you can customize your playstyle extensively. It's heavily focused on mobility and versatility, so you get better rewards and XP and stuff for combos, switching power sets, being fast & evasive, etc. The open world is also very well-designed: it's one of the only games where I actually really enjoy dicking around in the postgame doing sidequests and killing monsters (rather than just immediately starting the main story over), because parkouring around with your flashy cape and your awesome flaming spear is just that much fun. VISORIA MY BELOVED.

Also, you can pet every cat. They'll even follow you around and pick up items for you! GOTY for that alone tbh.

I have very few complaints about the game—the music not being quite up to par is one, and some of the lore/backstory could've been presented a little bit more clearly in my opinion, especially in the DLC, but that's not a problem that everyone had. I know there are also some valid criticisms from Black players on the way Frey is presented, but I'm not 100% sure what the specifics are, and obviously googling "what's wrong with Forspoken" or w/e is absolutely not going to be helpful. (I can guess, as an Extremely White person; for one, her having a criminal backstory is maybe not the best look, although I will say that in the very first minute of the game I saw "left on a doorstep" and "compulsive theft" and my immediate thought was "oh, she is some kind of changeling for sure." I wasn't...entirely wrong? (Spoilers!) So that seems more like two separate factors combining in an unfortunate way than any actual stereotypes the writers were playing into. (Again, I am Very White, so I defer any interpretation to those who actually know what they're saying and would like to weigh in!!! 😅))

In summary, I think a combination of misogynoir and Gamer Brain Rot have just created the perfect unfair storm against this game, because I genuinely do not understand how else it could be so poorly received. It's genuinely one of my favorite games. Please play Forspoken.