#cult discord rpg

[secretsofthepines]

Secrets of the Pines is a Discord Based RPG based in Millbrook, Montana. The group is full of dark themes around the town's loss of 5 teenage girls who went missing in 1995. The darkness in Millbrook is because of The Enlightened, a cult that causes chaos.

Discord Server in source link

[lonepine]

BREAKING NEWS. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2023. Gyðjuþorp, Iceland.

Lone Pine University has long been known for its prestige. It's been mentioned in the same breath as Oxford University, the University of Tokyo, and Harvard University. But as of late last night, the Ivy League school now has a new blemish on its record: an eerie, cryptic set of grisly murders in the schools famed Biology Department.

Last night at around 2AM a student complained of the smell of smoke and went to investigate. What they found is enough to turn the stomach of even the most experienced of investigators.

Inside of the burned-up biology lab were the corpses of a tenured professor and his students. Each of them had been mutilated in a way that implies ritualistic torture. The Gyðjuþorp police department has declined to comment. The Lone Pine Gazette will continue bringing updates to you as they become available. 𝚂𝙴𝙰𝚂𝙾𝙽 𝚃𝚆𝙾 𝙾𝙵 𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙴 𝚄𝙽𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙸𝚃𝚈 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚁𝚃𝚂 𝙵𝙴𝙱𝚁𝚄𝙰𝚁𝚈 𝟻𝚃𝙷. 𝙰𝙲𝙲𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰𝙿𝙿𝙻𝙸𝙲𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 𝙽𝙾𝚆.

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN A HORROR-BASED COLLEGE TOWN AU RP SERVER? JOIN LONE PINE UNIVERSITY !! SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION HERE.

BEFORE FILLING OUT APPLICATION : MAKE SURE YOU HAVE READ THE RULES AND ALSO MAKE SURE YOU FILL OUT YOUR CONSENT CHECKLIST.

application template:

𝚆𝙴𝙻𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙾𝙽𝙴 𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙴 𝚄𝙽𝙸𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙸𝚃𝚈 . . . Hey, is that [character name here]? I heard that they're [a student/professor at Lone Pine University] and that they look an awful lot like [face claim here], which is pretty wild, right? I think they're [age here] and they're a [if student: major(s)+extracurricular. if professor: what subject/classes. Some told me that they're [list three positive traits] and also [list three negative traits], but maybe that's just small college town gossip. Do you think they heard the rumors? . . . 𝚈𝙾𝚄'𝙻𝙻 𝙽𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙰𝙽𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝙻𝙴𝙰𝚅𝙴! [discord username] 

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Trans made TTRPGs

Due to… recent events that I would rather not talk about, today's post is a highlight of different tabletop games made by trans peeps! These games are fantastic in their own right, of course, but you can also know that they were made by incredibly cool and attractive people

(Also, these are flyover descs of the game, they'll get more in-depth singular posts later, this is because I am lazy)

Perfect Draw is a phenomenal card game TTRPG that was funded in less than a day on backerkit, it's incredibly fun and has simple to learn hard to master rules for creating custom cards, go check it out!

Songs for the dusk is fucking good, pardon my language, but it's a damn good post apocalyptic game about building community in a post-capitalist-post-apocalypse-post-whatever world. do yourself a favor and if you only check out one game in this list, check this one out, its a beautiful game.

Flying Circus is set in a WW1 inspired fantasy setting full of witches, weird eldritch fish people (who are chill as hell), cults, dead nobility, and other such things. It's inspired by Porco Rosso primarily but it has other touchstones.

Wanderhome is a game about being cute little guys going on a silly adventure and growing as the seasons change, its GMless and very fun

https://weregazelle.itch.io/armour-astir Armour Astir has been featured in here before but its so damn good I had to post it twice. AA demonstrates a fundamental knowledge of the themes of mech shows in a way that very few other games show, its awesome

Kitchen Knightmares is��� more of a LARP but its still really dang cool, its about being a knight serving people in a restaurant, its played using discord so its incredibly accessible

https://grimogre.itch.io/michtim Michtim is a game about being small critters protecting their forest from nasty people who wish to harm it, not via brutal violence (sadly) but via friendship and understanding (which is a good substitute to violence)

ok this technically doesn't count but I'm putting it here anyways cuz its like one of my favorite ttrpgs of all time TSL is a game about baring your heart and dueling away with people who you'll probably kiss 10 minutes later, its very very fanfic-ey and inspired by queer narratives. I put it here because its made by a team, and the expansion has a setting specifically meant to be a trans "allegory", so I'll say it counts, honestly just go check it out its good shit

https://willuhl.itch.io/mystic-lilies

Mystic Lillies is a game inspired by ZUN's Touhou Project about witches dueling powerful foes, each other, and themselves. Mystic Lillies features rapid character creation and a unique diceless form of rolling which instead uses a standard playing card deck.

https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/141424/nobilis-the-game-of-sovereign-powers-2002-edition I… want to do a more general overview on Jenna K as an important figure in indie RPG design, but for now just know that Nobilis is good

https://temporalhiccup.itch.io/apocalypse-keys Apocalypse Keys is a game inspired by Doom Patrol, Hellboy, X-men, and other comics about monstrousness being an allegory for disenfranchisement. Apocalypse Keys is also here because its published by Evilhat so its very cleaned up and fancy but I love how the second you check out the dev's other stuff you can tell they are a lot more experimental with their stuff, this is not a critique, it is in fact a compliment

Fellowship! I've posted about this game before, but it is again here. Fellowship has a fun concept that it uses very well mostly, its a game about defining your character's culture, and I think that's really really cool

Voidheart Symphony is a really cool game about psychic rebellion in a city that really does not like you, the more you discover for yourself the better

Panic at the Dojo is a phenomenal ttrpg based on what the Brazilian would call "Pancadaria", which basically means, fucking other's people shit up. Character Creation is incredibly open and free, meaning that many character concepts are available

Legacy 2e is a game about controlling an entire faction's choices across time, its very fun

remember to be kind to a trans person today! oh also don't even try to be transphobic in the reblogs or replies, you will be blocked so fast your head will spin

[thesiltverses]

The Silt Verses RPG has just launched from the acclaimed designers of Brindlewood Bay and The Between!

Investigate stray angels, strange haunts, and murderous cults in a world of gods and sacrifice as a disciple of the Saint Electric, Trawler-man, Watcher in the Wings, Cairn Maiden, Pox Martyr, or the Waxen Scrivener.

Delve into backwoods towns, floating markets where sacred relics are bought and sold, bustling clinics where medical 'miracles' come at a hideous cost - and even a towering skyscraper of conjoined steel, glass, and flesh.

You can purchase a copy over on DriveThruRPG, or at the Silt Verses or The Gauntlet Patreon, netting you the rulebook, 8 Assignments, 6 Faith Sheets, 8 Journey Sheets, and more.

This game really is a labour of love from a small team of innovative indie RPG creators, and already a genuine work of art (so we'd be incredibly grateful for your help in playing, giving feedback, and spreading the word far and wide) - we think it's an absolutely fantastic achievement, and we know The Gauntlet are only going to keep building and improving on the game from here.

You can find out more by joining The Gauntlet Discord.

[thedenofravenpuff]

How do you feel about other ship's?

Like jack-o-moon x bloodmoon?

Sun x foxy?

Ruin x kc?

I've seen those ships and I canda like them

What's your opinion about the ship's?

Oh boi. I don't consider myself the biggest shipper, though I do find it fun to explore certain relationships just for the heck of it. I love observing how such things get handled in stories and art around in fandoms.

And for these specific examples, you be giving? Well, let's see..

Jack O Moon x Bloodmoon:

Purely platonic to me. For one Jack is too much of a kid, a young AI still learning, to really feel right to ship him with anyone. He's just a sweet bean still learning and growing. More interested in friendships and family than anything else. Let him reach robot puberty before I'll consider anything beyond that with him.

And Bloodmoon is absolutely not interested in anything, physical or romantic. I do adore Jack liking to hang out with him because of the things they have in common and I do hope they can build a brotherhood or at least a friendship together.

Kids Cove aka Sun x Foxy:

Nah, that one was purely crack from the show. Just them making fun of shippers and how things often get read too much into if two characters stand too near each other one minute too long.

So far in the show Sun's showed no interests or preferences since Roxanne, besides the funny commentary on game videos like Cult of the Lamb. Yes I do be a suneclipse shipper, just because I like the idea of the fixer-upper with the anxious ray of sunshine together. And Sun's attraction to the right mixture of toxic traits.

Foxy's also the most straight guy on the entire SB Show. Although I do like he's comfortable enough in his own masculinity to play into Kids Cover just for funzies and clickbait. He really hasn't moved on from Mangle whatsoever.

Ruin x KC:

Yes

I entirely blame @witchysolfan and @dana-chan-the-control-brain for this one, I just find it entertaining in all the right ways! I love a silly ship you can really dig into and look at from all sorts of angles to see how it'd work!

KC being a floozy on tinder already a funny joke on its own, to make one wonder how he swings. Throw in a chaotic nihilist like Ruin? Yeah, I'm bringing popcorn!

Heh, well, these are just my over all quick thoughts on these ships. There's no wrong or right way to ship as long ya respect when others go about it their own ways. Is just about having fun.

Enjoy!

The Roan RPG Project ScreeCon Server on Discord Leave a Tip on Ko-Fi

[theinstagrahame]

This is the post where I show off the stuff I've gotten in the last month-ish. And it's been another good one!

(I mean it's always a good one, I have excellent taste)

Coffee and Chaos: I'm tickled by the concept of a coffeeshop AU, and I know that this game isn't explicitly for that. But it's also not *not* for that. Comes in a like conference-style folder, with all the bits you need to play tucked into the sides, which is also a great presentation that I felt deserved a shout-out!

Far Horizons Guide to Cults: I'm friendly with some Far Horizons folks, but wanted this book because it's awesome. A book containing notes and pre-made cults that have goals and drives beyond just "Be A Cult". I am intrigued by the occult, and I hope this gives me more nuance.

Neurocity: Picked this up on vibes alone, but I'm hearing more and more rad things about the creator. It's dystopic, a little cyberpunk, and the book is dripping with style. Can't wait to dig deeper.

You're In Space and Everything's Fucked: Station and Struggler's Guides: The title alone sold me, but I like what Dinoberry Press puts out in general. This is a solo survival space horror game with a cool respawn mechanic. I also splurged on the fancy version because the covers are very cool.

Dead Belt: The pleather folio for this honestly is what sold me, but the game itself is really cool. Salvage ships by laying out cards, exploring, and managing your air and tool resources. Try not to die. I haven't really succeeded at that last part yet...

Exquisite Corpse in the Maggot's Keep: Technically, this isn't a TTRPG, but it's go so many TTRPG folks in it that it might as well be. It's a choosable path adventure written by a variety of people in (if I remember the pitch) exquisite corpse style.

Best Left Buried: Throne of Avarice and In Calamity's Wake: As we already know, I'm a SoulMuppet fan (as in, I've written for their other big series, Orbital Blues). The main book, Throne of Avarice, was written by a creator whose work I've been trying to get more of. I haven't read Best Left Buried as fully as a game, but I am really excited by the excuse to dig in.

Between Clouds: I like air islands and big monsters and found family. Partially, I grabbed this because a friend got really excited about it, and it seemed like it could be fun to run a campaign with them, but I'm also curious about the Year Zero Engine, and glad to see people using it.

Kitchen Knightmares: Grabbed this as an add-on for the You're In Space crowdfund, but I'm glad I got it because it's loosely inspired by This Discord Has Ghosts In It, and that game rules. I might be able to pitch this to my friend group, who enjoyed Discord Has Ghosts.

In a Mirror Brightly/Handbaskets: First off, plug for the RTFM podcast, because it's very good. This two-games-in-one book is created by the two hosts of that show, who are great designers and seem really lovely. But, two wildly different vibes in a single volume is a great idea.

You Meet in a Tavern, You Die in a Dungeon: I've been following the creator for this since some of my earliest days in the RPG scene, so I was happy to help make this a reality. Feels very tropey, and I mean that in the best way possible.

In Other Waters: Tidebreak: Honestly, I have barely scratched the surface of In Other Waters, the PC game this is based on. But this is a Mothership solo hack that returns to that world, and it had me curious based on that pitch alone.

Aaand because I'm a doofus who forgot to include it, here's one more book! PLUS A guest appearance from my new desk mat.

Teeth: Been into Forged in the Dark lately, and as much as I enjoy Monster of the Week, the pitch for this seemed like it was more my speed. You're monster hunters, trying to keep the occult under wraps, while keeping secrets of your own. Plus, horror comedy!

The mat is the cover art from Friends at the Table's current season, Palisade. It's an Armor Astir campaign following up on some of the characters from their Partizan series.

[dreamdiaryjam]

Dream Diary Jam 7!

Jam runs from May 15th, 2023 to June 26th, 2023. You can join before or during those dates!

Welcome newcomers and veterans to Dream Diary Jam 7, a game jam all about the creation of fangames for the cult classic RPG Maker 2003 game Yume Nikki. The goal is to create a Yume Nikki fangame, a demo of one, or to even update one of your previous entries. You’ll be given 6 weeks to work on your fangame, starting on May 15th and ending on the June 26th — Yume Nikki’s 19th anniversary.

Submission types:

Traditional Yume Nikki Fangame - The most common type of fangame. Typically follows the same formula/style as the original Yume Nikki, but with an original cast of characters and environments, and sometimes new mechanics. You can get as experimental as you want!

Examples of this type include: .flow, Yume 2kki, Lcd Dem, and Answered Prayers

A Fangame of the Yume Nikki setting - A fangame that uses the characters/settings of the original Yume Nikki, rather than a new original cast. Think something along the lines of fanfiction. This can be any kind of genre, JRPG, dating sim, clicker, etc. You can even make a fangame of YUME NIKKI -DREAM DIARY- if you want to.

Examples of this type include: NASU Plus, Memories of Replica, Dream Kombat, and Yume Nikki Hazard

An update to a previous submission - Didn’t get to make as much as you wanted in a previous jam? Need an excuse to work on your fangame? Don’t want to start anew? This is for you! If you can provide a substantial update to one of your previous entries, then it’s also an acceptable submission, even if you’ve been chipping away at it outside of the jams.

Want to participate? Just sign up on our itch.io page! Feeling social, like working in a community of fellow devs and Yume Nikki fans? Check our our DDJ7 Discord! Late to the party, but still looking to hang with fellow devs? Feel free to become a part of our year-round Dream Diary Development community!

And if you have any questions, feel free to send them to this blog or the itch.io page! And as always, be sure to have fun, dreamers!

[salora-rainriver]

The Sympathy Problem, or "Why I'm Too Much of a Monsterfucker to Get Into Horror"

I don't know what the fuck this is, but I'm writing an essay about a problem that, as far as I know, only applies to me (but i might be totally wrong, who knows).

I think the title speaks for itself, but lemme just elaborate on what the fuck happens inside my brain, and how that fundamentally affects the way I handle horror media, to the point where I cannot truly appreciate it as horror on the same level as everyone else.

now lemme post a cute bat here so that there'll be an appropriate image to represent the whole essay when its link is shared on stuff like Discord:

trust me this was important. Okay, let's keep going.

Part 1: Why I'm a Monsterfucker

Let's start at age 4. I'm a dinosaur kid, like roughly 1/3rd of all autistic bitches. I'm a dinosaur kid to the point of owning multiple Land Before Time movies, and tie-in games, and I think I even had like two plushies at one point.

you know it's serious when this is your childhood.

I also had miscellaneous dinosaur plushies, and dinosaur toys, and a dinosaur book I frequently read front-to-back, and you get the idea.

dinosaur love evolves into dragon love, evolves into "funky monster creatures and animals of all kinds" love. I become a freakish savant of the wonderful world of the animal kingdom really quickly, to the point where my child-brain career prospects include "vet" as a pretty high finalist.

And then I find Starcraft, a game in a genre I otherwise wouldn't have given a shit about... but guess what? it has bug dinos.

it's all over for me.

But like, why? why do I like dinosaur so much?

... because I am dinosaur.

Look. LOOK. I can't give a good comprehensive list on the connections between my particular strand of autism and the state of Being A Dinosaur, because by this point, me being autistic and me being a dinosaur are so completely intertwined that it's often a chicken-egg situation. But the point is,

I make weird noises instead of using my words. I toe-walk. I don't like shoes. Sometimes I like to not wear clothes at all, even. I like to hide in small crevices when spooked. When I'm in a meltdown, I scare people.

Me dinosaur. Or at least, me some type of feral.

So is it any fucken surprise that when I go into an RPG, I latch onto the animal shapeshifter, the furry species, or the person who fights unarmed and/or uses a claw weapon?

Is it any fucking surprise that I am the opposite of spooked by snakes and spiders and other such creepy crawlies?

is it any fucking surprise that I have a fursona?????

is it any fucking surprise that I picked Pokemon Scarlet without the slightest HINT of remorse?!

Part 2: Wait, That's not the Intended Response

now let's talk about horror. Let's talk about the elements that make horror into horror: the fear part.

So what scares people? Well... people scare us. A serial killer, a mad scientist, a cult leader, a corrupt government entity, maybe? or maybe even society itself, its darker side full of atrocities and danger and problems where there's no easy solution and things can often seem hopeless?

... lmao who are we kidding that's not the vast majority of what scares people in horror. IT'S MONSTERS! Monsters scare people!

From Xenomorphs to Jean Jacket to The Babadook, it's monsters! Shit that ain't human and never could be human, and maybe it's pretending to be human, maybe it used to be human, but now it ain't, and it's gonna getcha!

And it just.

I'm a monsterfucker.

I'm not scared of ghosts. Sure he's fucked up and wailing in endless pain and lashing out at everything, but that just makes me feel sad. Like, poor ghost dude. We should help him.

I'm not scared of vampires or werewolves. They're people like anyone else, and sure, there's an inherent danger from being around them, but there's also an inherent danger from being close to an alligator, and I'm sure as fuck not scared of an alligator chilling on the side of the road. Cautious, maybe, but not scared.

I'm not scared of zombies. I mean, if they were real, I'd be a bit spooked, cause I have no combat expertise and would definitely be Fucked. But the same would apply if my hometown became a war zone. And... a war movie won't scare me. So a zombie movie wouldn't, either.

I'm not scared of xenomorphs. I mean I don't want to die, but that just means I should be entering alien environments with all proper safety procedures. TBH I'm more pissed at Weyland-Yutani than anything else.

I'm not scared of the Babadook. I'm worried for the well-being of the family as they try to come to terms with grief, and the monstrous shape that grief has taken. But it seems like they're coping in the end, so that's good.

I'm not scared of Jean Jacket - okay no. I'll be honest. It makes me uncomfortable. I will not be going into detail on the difference between this discomfort and actual fear. That is not a Salora Lore I want to disclose here. If you Know, you Know.

Part 3: Horror ceases to be a genre for me

So the monsters in horror movies don't scare me. And yet... I've watched some horror movies. And I've liked them. From this one list I've been using as quick reference to remind myself of What Horror Movies Exist out there, I've watched a few of these, or am at least familiar with them. You know, I've seen some classic horrors like "The Shining" because I went to film class in high school, and I've watched some installments of classic franchises like "Scream", or oddball picks like "Warm Bodies" and "The Relic", because I was having watch parties with friends.

Even beyond film, I read some Lovecraft once, and I've played plenty of spookier-themed videogames, like... well, like Silent Hill 2. Didn't finish that one. Bcs I'm bad at puzzles. But I loved the atmosphere.

And even when I'm not directly experiencing the horror media, I often look it up, read the synopsis, and watch video essays about it.

I know way too much about Hereditary, Midsommar, Get Out, the Slasher Genre in general, Creepypasta, Resident Evil, and mascot horror, for someone who's supposedly not able to properly engage with horror as a medium.

And I like some of that shit! But uh...

... not. as horror.

I just. Don't engage with them as horror films. I engage with them as whatever other genre you could slot them into. Hereditary is a tragedy. Get Out is political allegory. The Babadook is psychological allegory. Ghost stories are dark fantasy. Alien is sci fi. Slasher films go back and forth between mystery, action, and dark comedy. Warm Bodies is a rom-com. (like. that's not even a weird hot take. I don't know why this Rotten Tomatoes editorial decided it was horror, but I'm not gonna dispute their assertion, Bcs like. this entire essay is about why I'm not a good judge on that sort of thing) Silent Hill is a puzzle-adventure game with light action. Five Nights at Freddys is a time-management simulation game that would stress me the fuck out if I ever played it. Amnesia: the Dark Descent is a stealth game.

You get the idea.

So I'm just... in this really weird position. I'm a huge fan of spooky monsters, strange happenings, stories that engage seriously with the anxieties of mankind through allegory,

but I can't. truly enter the horror genre community as an insider.

Cause I ain't scared.

And honestly, it gets even worse when I start to imagine myself maybe, idk, *writing* a horror story of my own. Because... since I don't get scared by them, how am I supposed to know what scares others? Apologies to my fellow disabled folk for this clumsy analogy, but... it feels like trying to paint while visually impaired. I mean... you can do it. You can do it super well if you push yourself. but it's a strong disadvantage, and it might result in an artwork that could baffle the seeing people in your audience.

And maybe there could be merit in that. In writing my attempt at a horror story from the perspective of someone who doesn't find any of it scary. Maybe it's be intriguing, even surreal or dreamlike or alien to the audience who doesn't engage with this subject matter in the same way I do.

Or maybe it'd just end up similar to that one phase of the creepypasta fad where folks were going "wooo! hyperrealistic blood! isn't it spoopy n fuked up????" and it'll be garbage idfk

Bonus Round: ...Okay I Might've Lied a Bit

There is one movie that for me, truly could be considered "horror".

It genuinely terrified me as I watched it. It shook me to my core and opened my eyes to how other people feel when they see some shadowy monster figure with too many teeth reach out and eviscerate a poor bitch. I fucking get it now, to some extent. I don't know *how* the spiky boy elicits that response in you, but now I understand how it feels.

Because I watched FUCKING M3GAN

[SPOILER WARNING: I'm not saying the exact plot beats of the movie but I AM going into detail about its themes and the character development of the protagonist. It's massive spoilers but they're all vague spoilers.]

Me and my friends didn't pick this movie thinking we'd get spooked. this is the movie where the doll does some sort of modern dance routine while carrying a katana. It's goofy shit! We figured this was goofy ass modern trash and we were gonna laugh.

MOTHERFUCKERS I WASN'T LAUGHING????

Is the premise unrealistic and goofy? yeah. are the characters exaggerated and cartoonish? yes. are there like, numerous jokes throughout this film, that are portrayed as jokes? yes. was the dancing robot doll chase sequence goofy as shit? yes*

*ok but the context of That Scene made my brain gloss right the fuck over how goofy it was bcs I was too fucked up over everything else that already happened!

So like. What? How? How is goofy robot doll horrifying? Salora, you know how many stories about rogue AIs and killer robots there are? Why doesn't skynet scare you?

It's not about the doll. It's about the humans who created her.

This film is as subtle as a fucking anvil when it comes to it's social commentary. Like, "opening sequence is a kids commercial for Deranged Knockoff Furby" and "a therapist character explains attachment theory for a whole scene" levels of unsubtle. and honestly that makes the horror fucking worse. in this bizarre cartoonish parody of society, we're seeing a laid-bare and raw allegory for the real harm we are inadvertently delivering upon real fucking people. Weirdly enough, the exaggeration just makes it feel more real.

and what's "It"? Not the uncanny valley of a too-perfect silicon face, the gruesome deaths, the murderous AI,

No, "it" is the commodification of childhood, the degradation of familial ties and human connection through overwork, the way we try to patch these broken ties with product, the outsourcing of parenting to toys and machines, the disastrous consequences of allowing an orphan to vanish into wish fulfillment fantasy instead of being given space to work through her grief,

the exploitation of her grief in order to market the very thing that's spiraling her further into an unhealthy dependency, to do the exact same thing to children worldwide, all because of profit.

Look. Monsters, ghosts, demons, serial killers, zombies, predatory animals, rogue AI, they're not scary to me, because I know them. and if I don't know them, I want to know them. The solution to the threats things like that pose are simple. Keep your distance from the crocodile. Punch the shark's sensitive nose to make it back off. Invest in security measures so your house doesn't get broken into. Don't anger the ghost. Exorcise the demon. Shoot the zombie's head.

How do you, an overworked engineer for a toy company, find the time to connect with your orphaned niece on a human level?

How do you take away said niece's beloved doll when you slowly come to realize that her attachment to it has become unhealthy?

What the fuck are you supposed to even do when you realize that you might have created a murderous monster and marketed it to hundreds of kids, and your overzealous boss is in your ear pressuring you to get it ready for launch?

WHAT A FUCKING NIGHTMARE.

Conclusion: But fr am I like the Only One

so uh. yeah.

My fear response is mucked around by an unusually high level of sympathy for the monsters that tend to populate horror media. I'm Too Kinky To be Tortured, and it puts me in an awkward relationship with the horror genre, where the only things that can well and truly terrify me are unhealthy relationships and capitalism, and even then, only if those topics are presented in just the right way to make me feel like this shit is Real.

And like you know how there's a whole language of like, scares and signifiers and shit that's been well-researched, all these tiny tips and tricks to exploit primal fears in humans? (I dont know if language is the right word but im just gonna call it that until further notice)

well, a lot of that Language of Horror doesn't quite work on me, because it's all related to monsters and physical threats, and I love the monsters too much,

and I imagine there is a whole different Language out there of the shit that can be exploited to scare me,

but fuck if i know what it is. I only got a single movie as my frame of reference. How the fuck would you even find a movie that handles social anxiety like that?

Like idk, do y'all think Carrie would spook me? Carrie's about societal ills, right?

[quietautumn]

hi!! i'm crow, and welcome to my blog! ^_^

20 || he/they || aspec nonbinary lesbian || white || disabled

art tag: #crow draws

bluesky: quietautumn

my main interests include:

persona

undertale and deltarune

the legend of zelda

final fantasy vii

ace attorney

splatoon

doki doki literature club

super mario bros (especially the rpgs and paper mario)

pokemon

hades (the game)

cult of the lamb

art (especially digital art)

music theory

game development

speedrunning

video game bugs and glitches

other info:

i don't really have a specific dni i'll just block you if i don't like you <3 exclusionists and bigots fuck off or die by my blade

i try my best to remember to tag sensitive topics, so feel free to let me know if you need anything tagged!

mutuals can ask for my discord or an invite to my mutuals server!!!

[the-pale-chancellor]

i literally cant remember if i asked you about saer'llith yet so im just gonna ask/again cuz why not!! wooohoo!! obligatory answer as many/little as you want hehe 🧡🧡

🧼 Soap - Does OC have good hygiene? What is their routine or methods?

💸 Money With Wings - Would OC commit tax evasion?

🎮 Video Game - What would OC's gamertag/username be?

✍🏽 Writing Hand - Your OC is given five seconds to edit/alter/adjust something about themselves (or their story). What do they try to change?

📈 Chart Increasing - What company/nobility/etc. would sponsor OC?

🎨 Artist Palette - If OC was a color (or palette), what color would they be? Would others assign them the same color?

👔 Necktie - Does OC dress Modestly? Skimpy? Classy? etc. Do they have a dynamic, loud, quiet, etc. style?

👑 Crown - What textures are part of OC's clothes? Fluffy? Spiky? Leathery? Puffy? Feathery? What about shiny, silky, lacy, etc.?

🐬 Dolphin - Would OC be a JJBA character?

🎭 Performing Arts - If others wanted to join a cult devoted to OC, what choices would OC (or you) have in the style, theme, design?

📖 Open Book - Share a moodboard you associate/made for OC!

🛒 Shopping Cart - OC suddenly has a lot of money. What is most likely the cause of this? What do they spend it on?

🎼 Musical Score - Share an OC playlist you associate/made for OC!

🎸 Guitar - Someone hands OC a guitar and tells them to play Wonderwall. What do they do?

👂🏽 Ear - What sounds does OC enjoy? If OC likes ASMR, which types of ASMR?

💋 Kiss Mark - Is OC promiscuous? Do they have a lot of lovers, partners, and/or friends with benefits?

😏 Smirking Face - How freaky is OC? What does OC do that they believe is freaky?

🎓 Graduation Cap - OC is giving a motivational speech. What do they say? Who are they saying it to?

🥰 Smiling Face With Hearts - What do you love about OC? What events, art, work do you love to put OC in?

👩🏽‍⚖️ Woman Judge - Why don't some people like OC? What did they do?

💀 Skull - Is OC cursed? Haunted? Possessed? Fated to tragedy?

🔮 Crystal Ball - OC has witnessed a dark omen. What is the omen, superstition, or message that is witnessed?

🪓 Axe - What tragic/dark events, art, work, do you love (or love to hate) to put OC in?

Nope, I haven't answered it yet mhwhahwhah. Here we go then :>

1. Does OC have good hygiene? What is their routine or methods? -We're in Barovia, what's a hygiene lmao /j -Everyone says that Saer'llith reminds them of a cat so he probably behaves like one in terms of cleaning himself. -Loves a good bath, sinks into the water like his life depends on it. -Would put a rubber duck there. Or Escher. -Never had enough shower products in the Underdark so when in Baldur's Gate, he'd just buy the whole stock. -Would also buy shimmering bath salt, not caring about the fact that he already shimmers in the dark because of his white freckles. A drama queen at his best.

2. Would OC commit tax evasion? -We've already committed it by entering Vallaki tbh. -Would do that again. -Only to irritate Strahd (and Vasili). -"Money? No, I don't have any :D"

3. What would OC's gamertag/username be? -Would either go for something simple or the most dramatic one you can find in the whole Internet. -Others would still call him nothing but Saira (rus for Saury fish). -Would always have the "Don't bother" sign in Discord and other social media. -No one would care and would write them 24/7. -Is somehow good at playing RPGs, would easily beat Dark Souls series or Elden ring but never a simple UNO game. -His own autocorrect hates his name so you get something like Safety'line Deer. (Our master's autocorrect called him Malolitrazhka which is like..a small car that doesn't need much fuel or smth)(We stan the autocorrect)(Has someone already called a drow a small car? I doubt)

4. Your OC is given five seconds to edit/alter/adjust something about themselves (or their story). What do they try to change? -Oof, I bet someone from our campaign is going to read this and thus I won't answer straight away. It's something Strahd will propose to him hehe. -But would also probably change his decision to enter Barovia. he hates it there lmao.

5. If OC was a color (or palette), what color would they be? Would others assign them the same color? -Dusty violet, pale red, white and black are totally his colours. -/insert Lex's joke about everyone being colourful bastards and him being just plain grey/ -Others in Barovia would just think that he's a dusk elf and not a drow and would call him "Oi, black elf!"...Despire him being slightly violet and having like 6 ears.

6. Does OC dress Modestly? Skimpy? Classy? etc. Do they have a dynamic, loud, quiet, etc. style? What textures are part of OC's clothes? Fluffy? Spiky? Leathery? Puffy? Feathery? What about shiny, silky, lacy, etc.? -Eh, it's more of a quiet classy style. He prefers to wear a white puffy-sleeved shirt tucked into black leather corset. Sometimes a coat over the shoulders. -But oh boy if he sees something shiny- Probably has little chains over his boots, chained earring, silver rings on his middle fingers and other trinkets that he collects for exactly zero reason and purpose. -Has a white crescent tattoo on his chest under the clothes. No one knows probably hehe. -Dinner!Saer'llith would have an awfully dramatic shirt with red beads stitched onto it to look like blood. Escher would probably be the one to offer him this.

7. Would OC be a JJBA character? -I had to google what this is. Ah yes, Jojo. -nO? I am bad at anime lmao, I have no idea about the plot whatsoever. -But his stand would totally be Lychdrow Dyrr.

8. If others wanted to join a cult devoted to OC, what choices would OC (or you) have in the style, theme, design? -First - he would hate it. >:D -Second - little crescent piercing over the right brow would totally be a symbol. Or anything moon-related overall, even the earrings. -No, he isn't a Selune enjoyer. In this house we stan Ilmater. -NO SPIDERS.

9. Share a moodboard you associate/made for OC!

10. Share an OC playlist you associate/made for OC! [ https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqbNSCxPt0jzsz_Il_7apeWauF8AeJm8e&si=y3ep2ZyZRyKpUl3P ] [ https://vk.com/music/playlist/439090691_18 ] -The latter one may not be working if you don have a VK account so you just get the same one in youtube :(

11. Someone hands OC a guitar and tells them to play Wonderwall. What do they do? -"What's a guitar? What's a Wonder-..what?? Do you make up new words as we go or something?.." -Totally cannot play any musical instrument or sing..or dance. I doubt the Underdark had any of these, especially where he was imprisoned for like a hundred years. -Escher would make him learn the organ or a lyre. He wouldn't be able to say no. -We stan bard!Escher in this house.

12. What sounds does OC enjoy? If OC likes ASMR, which types of ASMR? -They enjoy running water, wind in the forest, crackling of a fire. Genuinely every sound that he's never heard before while in the Underdark. Everything fascinates him but he doesn't like to show much of these emotions on his face. -But not any voice ASMR, absolutely nope. Not even when someone whispers in his ears.

13. Is OC promiscuous? Do they have a lot of lovers, partners, and/or friends with benefits? -He's demiromantic asexual that leans more into aromantic spectrum. -He absolutely doesn't have any lovers or partners and it is difficult for him to form a relationship with anyone in general. -Though ever since he escaped Menzoberranzan one of his true wishes was to find his "Home". And that word alone does not mean a single place. He was looking for a person, someone he can finally be safe with. -And oh boy how painful it was for him to understand that his heart beats twice not only for some god forsaken human, but for a vampire who threatened them and the whole Vallaki at some point. -He still has hard time understanding himself honestly. -Bonus points!: [baldur's gate AU] where Escher actually died during the last battle with Strahd and the Emperor chose Escher's appearance to come into Saer'llith's dreams. The latter one hated it with all his heart but wished for nothing but to have another dream where he can see his Home.

14. What do you love about OC? What events, art, work do you love to put OC in? -I honestly created him randomly at some point of time. I just desperately wanted to play as a drow (and let me say that I've never played dnd before the CoS campaign we're having now). So 30 minutes in Wikipedia, House Agrach Dyrr and you have a Lychheir Wild Magic Sorcerer. -Love skribbling him on a piece of paper. Especially his 6 ears. No one can draw them properly lmao. Just imagine an axolotl and here you go. Why does he have 6? No one knows..apart from the Abbot apparently, do not ask. -He technically has a predcessor OC from another fandom that I never got to roleplay as so they were left as a rough idea. Their name was Xie Hentian (a scorpio who hates the skies, this is a translation of his current name atp), a MDZS character, Jin Guangshan's blind concubine (not by their choice), later a merciful demon who seeks for a Home. You get the idea. -But apart from this information you won't see Saer'llith in any other fandom other than DnD.

15. Why don't some people like OC? What did they do? -The fact that they're a drow is enough for like half of the Faerun population honestly. -That's why he hates this half of the population back. -In the Underdark the other drow were afraid of him (and hated him altogether) solely because of his lych powers as a sorcerer. -Yeah, you heard that right. His existence was enough for them to hate him. -mrdr

16 Is OC cursed? Haunted? Possessed? Fated to tragedy? -Again to the Lychdrow we go. If you google who that is, you'll probably know how powerful this guy was and that he's like...dead. The very day he died, a part of his soul merged with Saer'llith's, giving him his powers. -After that he literally has to supress this dark part of his soul, otherwise it can escape and make him its puppet. -If entering Barovia counts as a curse cuz we're playing Curse of Strahd then yes, he's cursed twice lmao

17. What tragic/dark events, art, work, do you love (or love to hate) to put OC in? -Again, that one Baldur's gate AU is the thing that makes me a mess. Especially when we consider the fact that I also befriended Astarion and killed Cazador. Like. If Saer'llith had a nickel every time he got stuck with a vampire and kill their master, he would have two nickels. That isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice. -He would also refuse to tell his companions about any of his time in Barovia. -At some point he would make a fake grave near Daggerfort and write Escher's name on it. Once a year he would come there, sit silently for all night and go back to the camp in the morning. Astarion wanted to ask a few times but never had enough strength to do it. -Also ever since his return from Barovia, he would never take his blindfold off. No, he doesn't need it at all, he's used to the sunlight already, but he wears it as a sign that he'll never open up to anyone anymore. Escher was his only Home.

[thelightofmeridian]

Jour 6 : mode de vie ; le Culte des Eléments

Bonsoiiir, j'espère que vous allez bien ! N'ayant pas pu être présente ces derniers jours pour vous révéler de nouveaux extraits de l'annexe du Royaume de Meridian, je vous propose de me rattraper ce soir avec quelques informations concernant la religion du royaume : le Culte des Eléments ✨ Bonne lecture !

RELIGION : le Culte des Éléments

Le Royaume de Metamoor pratique le Culte des Eléments, qui dépendent chacun d'un équilibre entre l'Ombre et la Lumière plus ou moins précaire en fonction des périodes. En effet, selon les croyances des métamooriens, toutes les forces naturelles doivent coexister pour maintenir l'ordre et l'harmonie.

— l'élément Terre est représenté par la divinité Xydis, elle-même fortement ancrée dans la culture didéroise ; on l'associe à la lumière. — l'élément Feu est représenté par la divinité Bigrid, elle-même fortement ancrée dans la culture grendalienne ; on l'associe à l'ombre. — l'élément Eau est représenté par la divinité Yarae, elle-même fortement ancrée dans la culture hoëlaine ; on l'associe à la lumière, bien que l'équilibre reste fragile et il n'est pas rare de l'associer à plusieurs reprises à l'ombre au cours de son histoire. — l'élément Air est représenté par la divinité Uldir, elle-même fortement ancrée dans la culture brandéenne ; on l'associe à la lumière.

J'en profite également pour annoncer que le projet est inscrit au Concours de Projets (catégorie projets dérivés) organisé par Pub-Rpg-Design 🤩 Si vous avez un peu de temps devant vous et que vous pensez que le projet le mérite, n'hésitez pas à voter pour TLOM en passant sur ce sujet. Merciiii 🥰

Enfin, je cherche toujours une ou deux personnes pour me rejoindre dans le staff, n'hésitez pas à me contacter sur tumblr ou bien sur discord si ça vous intéresse 💖

[secretsofthepines]

Secrets of the Pines is a Discord Based RPG based in Millbrook, Montana. The group is full of dark themes around the town's loss of 5 teenage girls who went missing in 1995. The darkness in Millbrook is because of The Enlightened, a cult that causes chaos.

Discord Server in source link

[wikipete]

Seroca – Bearer of Secrets

The first of Mindoriel’s children, though Seroca is mostly featureless and was given little in personality. Never was it decided if the being was a daughter or son, and little did Mindoriel ever think of it as a child yet more as a tool. Seroca was able to show Mindoriel all that transpired beyond her sight, while keeping itself hidden. Even when Mindoriel was defeated Seroca maintained its place in hiding until it was revealed by Erdrydion as it attempted to sow seeds of malcontent under the instruction of Myrothlir. Still Seroca maintains its secrets and often weaves discord into the people of Tharador, baring influence in strange cults that dot the land.

This was DM Stash's free mini for May 2022. DM Stash is a minis+campaign Patreon company who includes 5e rules and gives away one of their .stl models from each month.

On Her Own; https://www.dmstash.com/product/seroca-bearer-of-secrets/

The Full Set (she's at the middle - left) https://www.dmstash.com/product/april-22-rpg-pack-divine-awakening/

Okay ... beggars can't be choosers; I neither paid for this model or pritned it - that was Autum Witch, so, go check out here channel. https://www.youtube.com/@bl_tree_gaming

Anyway - I'm becoming frustrated with 3d printed models. These are always such delightful concepts but they seem to cram in detail that looks good on renders but doesn't translate to prints.

Maybe. I know that SLA printers are making really nice things in some worlds, but, I'm not 100% sure if "nice things" is "up there with Wyrd / GW / etc"

Maybe more tweaking will produce better prints, maybe a different printer will produce better ones, maybe differen sculptors produce models that work better when printed. Something to look into once I finish the pile I have awaiting.

... oh, I forgot to add her to the spreadhseet when I got her so ...

[mk-tozier]

a bit more of self-promo

The truth movement is a rpg based safe for work, safe for lgbtq+, All races and genders, chatting server. We offer fun chatting, vc, memes, venting and more! Join to find out!

Welcome to the truth movement, where we uncover the truth about the government and the power they are Hiding from us. We shall bring justice and war forward. We are looking for soliders and members to recruit. Join us in the war. https://discord.gg/wXf983EK

Me and my friends made this for fun and tbh i dont know what the hell it is but we want people to join :). (Lowkey a cult)

[limelocked]

Under this read more is a more or less directly transcribed account of my recent thoughts about sword art online, this post is not meant for you, you my dear followers may read and enjoy it if that is your fancy but i post this bible length ass thing for my own flurishment

Day 1 of my crazed discord ramblings

Thinking about how Sao could’ve been such a good piece of media if it 1 looked at actual game design 2 went for less angst and went more in the vein of actually exploring the trauma that they dust the characters with, like it’s there in the text very obviously but they don’t really punch into it which is a shame

Like it’s a meme at this point that kirito in real life will pull for a sword like he did in game but if the show had taken its time with the themes it’s presenting then the implications of that is actually so interesting

Like you’re locked in a vr mmorpg between like age 14-16 where if you die you die, if you become a soldier in that time it’s not at all unthinkable that you’ll start reaching for a weapon that kept you alive in an active war zone for two years even if the weapon is very much not real

If Sao was made for adults instead of being a very marketable shonen property it could’ve gotten critical acclaim honestly

Make the first half of Sao into at least a full season or double season (12-24 episodes) then do the same with the alfheim arc but focus more on the trauma of the survivors and less on the incest love story

Sao deserved to be good Looks at sao I can fix it

Imagine filler episodes that focus on side characters that are coping by acting like npcs or going Deep into the character they were supposed to play because it is an rpg after all

Oh if only sao and log horizon could combine, log horizon actually doing the game building even tho it’s stupid and contrived if you look under the hood as I did but which has a game and an interesting tech tree idea plus saos high stakes and trauma caused by wizard hubris

Four days later, my brain still has worms, status: sleep deprived

Thinks about sao Imagine if it was good I can fix him

There’s so many interesting ideas you could look into with a “people are trapped in a game where if they die they die irl too” setting and Sao did none of them

Did you know that world of Warcraft has been the subject of epidemiological study? There was a literal plague due to a bug with one of the bosses and a pet became an asymptomatique carrier that spread it to the wider population

How many hackers do you think played sao on launch or entered after the news came out that it was a death game

Do you think players would make a police force to hunt hackers down? Do you think players would see them as gods because they have command access?

Sao the series did not take advantage of the religious opportunity that comes with such a stressful situation as living in sao the game

Rhymes and songs would become common to remember the timing of combos and during two years it might escalate to a belief that you Have to do certain things for shit to work or for a crit to happen

Orphans are canon to sao There are orphanages and its barely brought up How do the children cope? How are the children protected? Are they taught specific things by guilds that look after them?

What is the real class divide between lower and higher floors, how do they see each other, the communities that thrive on the 1-5th floors of people who don’t want to die and thus stick to the towns like it’s the thing to do

Less people will move as more levels are cleared so the 35th levels town must feel like a ghost town except for npcs and what amounts to war veterans

I can fix sao

Is there a cult that venerate kayaba akihiko as the creator of the game because their lives were just That Shit, abuse victims who are conflicted yet thankful that in this world they are free of the abuse, workers so stressed and depressed that their life might’ve been on the line and now they’re in this game

Heres a thing ive heard

I’ve heard, and I can’t remember where from, that if you put an adult in a child avatar thru something like vr there is a decent chance that the adult will (consciously or otherwise) exhibiting child like behaviour

What does that mean for sao as a roleplaying game

I know that there was that whole thing with the mirror that copies how you look irl but that’s fucking bullshit not everyone would’ve done that

So imagine exploring someone who made a loli character Or someone who’s character is of the opposite sex

Someone who was cis but wanted to rp as another gender and thought hey this is fun and the mirror is still in my inventory And transes their gender

Sao had so much fucking potential

i. Can. Fix. Him

Even on a character level if sao just let kirito be emotional at all and explored his mental state we could look at how this nerd was relatively fine until he was the lone survivor of a slaughter and decided that if he was gonna die he was gonna do it alone and not make it anyone else’s problem because forming a party did not end well for him

Like kirito has so much trauma and we are exploring none of it

There must be speedrunners in Sao, it wouldn’t look the same and they’d be found usually on the lower levels but people who either don’t care for their lives or got complacent after over levelling and are now trying to set time records for who can kill which strong mob the fastest

Speedrunners being sought after on the higher levels for certain raids but them rarely being accepted because so much is up to chance on the upper levels in comparison to rigorously studied monsters in the first dungeons

If you think for a second that scientific study would stop in Sao you are wrong

There are people who were therapists irl who might choose to help others, there are people who document and categorise monsters, there are people who look for and document the games shortcomings

AKA

Glitch scientists

No game is without fault and considering the outside response to sao there’s not a huge hope that they could just Roll Out a bug fix update considering half the company is in jail

So there are people who have gone out of bounds There are even people who survived

Thinks about politics in sao Thinks about a strong guild going down to the lower levels

Thinks about how they accidentally invent feudalism because they just want to chill for a bit and they keep their senses sharp by killing monsters on the town periphery thus keeping the town safe and suddenly they’re collecting taxes

Thinks about the game story that we never get to hear about because saos plot doesn’t require sao the game to have a storyline But its an rpg so it must right?

Thinks about lore historians who try to figure out if there’s some better way to beat monsters hidden in the lore, lore historians who accidentally turn into priests after drinking too much and suffering too much trauma

Thinking about the expressions that must spawn because of sao, survivors avoiding worlds like dying or game over, some calling death to be fried because that would’ve been their death irl, “youre fried” being something like its over or youre dead

Depending on circles an in joke might’ve gone outside the group and ended up making it impossible for some people to go back to normal society Because someone accidentally said “you’re fired” instead And it caught on Because it’s more comfortable to say than death or fried or other fatal words, you’re just fired

Expressions around being weaponless, talking about people that won’t wear obvious weapons as if they’re naive or careless, or on the upper floors, dangerously competent

I think there kinda has to be discrimination, the obvious one is player vs npc, but later on people who use poison weapons or people who make poisons being seen in a negative light but still being needed because tick damage is an amazing tool but also poison makers being seen as a shifty lot

There must be “foreign” areas in Sao where people who jumped on the Japanese server/ bought the game even tho they weren’t Japanese live in small communities with more or less contact with people who they might not even share language with Like an english district

A cosmetic item that on certain levels denotes you as a translator, someone with good enough English skill that they can help you translate between guilds or find wonkly translation differences in the game between the japanese and other language versions

What happens to people in Sao who adopt one of the orphans, who for a good amount of time is taking care of this child either out of goodness or want of a child of their own

The parents knowing that this probably won’t last forever, yet what happens when they’re free The child waking up irl and missing their parents, but the irl parents are right there

The parents maybe not even knowing each other’s real life names so they only meet up after individually finding their child because kids are careless with personal info The parents are under 25, the kid helped keep them sane, the real life parents feel conflicted

If Sao as a property of media wasn’t about “what weird mmo will kirito solve problems for this time” and instead just the same time in eizenwald (I think that’s the arcs name (it’s called einklad)) but from different peoples povs as they’re forced to live their lives thatd be cool

Actually on the note of found family, what about players who get into relationships with npcs and survive til the end, widowed because the game brought their family with it

Beloved pets and items that hold value because it’s the only thing they had that made them happy for two hellish years but it’s all bits and when Sao is shut down there’s the bittersweet feeling of being free but your entire life went with the hell that brought it

Sao is a living tragedy not because people die but because they live and they survive and they adapt and then when it’s all over they have to deal with the aftermath

And that is not what the show focused on at all

All the angst was in the “people die when they are killed” not the “all the happiness I’ve achieved here may be gone in a heartbeat if the admins finally lets us out and I don’t know if I will be happy or sad” There is a different untapped potential existentialism of Sao and by god I’m prying the pipe open

Imagine the laws Would the players consider a player killing an npc as murder? Maybe language evolves Player on player murder will always be PK, player on npc is now murder, when the survivors enter the real world again they have to relearn that the victims of murder are real people, not just victims of PK

I can fix him, but only in broad strokes cuz writing actual chapters and not outlines is Hard and drawing comics is even harder (that’s why you make it a light novel ig)

The final day, less than 24 hours ago

thought about another sao thing that wouldve been so interesting if they thought to bring it up

theres this huge deal made about there only being 10k copies of the game, huge lines to get it

ignoring the common argument that that many players is way too few like, not all the people who bought they game wouldve played it at launch, people have shit to do and prior engagements

so the people who narrowly avoided being saod now have a death game copy under their name and thus we need to think about what law enforcement does

once the news come out about the deaths i think law enforcement would force game stores who sold the game to cough up the regestry of who games were sold to for the sake of public safety what with a particularily long blackout being able to kill a Lot of people

before the law comes knocking theres probably people whos thrown the game away, there might be people who bought it for someone else and dont have it anymore, but what were interested in

is people who Sold It

because doubtlessly there are people who for some reason would want to get saod

imagine if you will; you live on floor 10, life has been hell the past month, you have to fight for survival at every turn

and you hear a rumour just a rumour

that someone spawned in on floor one a week ago, fresh avatar, fresh person, spawning in for the first time

w h y

the paranoia caused by someone who willingly would enter the death game, for what fucking reason?? for evil??? because delutions of grandeour??? or imagine someone who disconnected entirely from the internet to avoid spoilers and managed to enter the game after launch but before the cops came, someone who has to learn all the information about sao being a death game from the starter town residents

In my theoretical Sao clone the game is made by an eccentric billionaire who thinks he can get away with death game crimes because he can buy the law and the game is made as a social experiment which means it has more than just combat mechanics as it’s focus

Due to the existence of glitch scientists and large number of players who don’t want to risk death by mobs there’s a relatively large market for farmers

Why did I mention farming and glitches in the same message?

Potato war

In this theoretical clone there’s not an endless amount of skills like in sao because what the fuck But there is a submission system to which you can suggest a new skill and if the ai that runs the suggestion box thinks it fits the perimeters set by the creators to avoid new skills being completely busted, it’ll make the skill or pass it along to the billionaires minions who more or less are living large off unethical money trying to bug fix while players are online

This, theoretically, would benefit combat the most would you not think? But too many options and suddenly your tool belt is cluttered and if you try to fine tune a skill it’ll be spit out as the closest similar skill so you can’t just change a skill by +1 damage and have a new skill so the combat skills are pretty standardised at this point

However comma

If your tool belt is infinitely big and you are getting your kick from something that’s not conventionally dangerous, like picking fruits, then you can start to exploit the faults in the ai and create some absolutely bonkers skills all for that extra seed or faster harvesting time

I want to add the idea of log horizon that game food tastes horrible unless it’s prepared by a player and that’s why there’s such a market for people to make food

harvests dont follow a standard year and the calendar in the game is probably different to reflect this (some plants grow in a week, some in a month or two at most, never the full fucking Thing that our fields take) which would make it fun when people come back and they have to relearn the year

a follower of mine gave me a good idea that im gonna steal for the farmers, instead of aincrads big ass floating layer cake of a castle i want each level to be its own floating island (pov steals from hypixel to avoid making an open world or invisible walls)

now theoretically you could get to one island from the other physically but that is NOT intended, you're intended to teleport at specific places that only start working after the major dungeon is clear

however comma

something not being intended has not stopped anyone before, especially in a game with glitch scientists

for our purposes we wont be talking about the amount of people whove passed away into the void of forever falling or how someone with a flying mount managed to save themself once and in the process figured out that they forgot to put a killing box in the void so you could fall forever (however if you stop falling you get all the built up fall damage and get fucking annihilated)

no

we will be talking about loading zones

because housing is a must in mmorpgs and yes its possible to own a house in town and yes theres multiple instances of the same house so theoretically you and your crush could not only live in the same apartement complex but the same fucking half mansion 

but in a game with farming there also needs to be farmable land and if that was allowed in the monster hunting wilderness itd cause some problems so theres private or guild owned islands that can be bought basically from the games land god and thats where you can farm and set up houses

you can have more than one of these but due to costs the highest number seen is three and thats still fucking outragious to pay for

now

what is an enterprising young gamer supposed to do with little space and much need for produce?

you see the floating islands arent horizontal, theyre a bit all over the place, but the farming islands are smaller and off a bit from one of the main level islands, its obvious that theres nothing on them because you can look down on them and theyre just there for continuity basically, thats where the farm islands are but thats not the instance of the islands where your farm is (re: you can fly to the mining island manually from the main one in hypixel but when you get there its all set dressing because youre not on the right instance of the area)

notice how i said you can look down on them? and notice how i said that flying mounts are a thing earlier?

thru a lot of testing and a very safe clip out of bounds, people start being able to go to those islands and because of a quirk of area classification these arent wilderness or town, these are still a farm, but everyone can use the land that can get there

pov you say you have to go check on the farm by which you mean you have to teleport up to level 17 specifically and clip out of bounds with a specific mount and pet equipped so you dont die of the fall damage as you fall down onto the farm island without touching the invisible walls seperating it from the main island

“now lime” you say “why dont the devs patch this out?“

because its a social experiment and suddenly theres public farm land that doesnt cause the problems of farms in the wilderness area and also has a very select pool of people to study because only certain people have the right things for getting there

So I’m thinking about the level design of this hypothetical Sao clone and thinking about if the climate should make sense or not (higher/lower islands having colder environments vs climate based on other things like themes or game lore) but this ties into farming again I fooled you because if there’s 100 floors like in sao then it might be divided in 3-5 parts or something and I thought hey what if at every new boundary there’s a new farming area because of the different climate (like on the highest farming island is the only place you can grow fields of low gravity fruits used in levitation potions)

1: plains 2: desert 3: mediterranean 4: jungle 5: cold

I’d be tempted to switch desert and mediterranean since desert to greece is a pretty big climate leap in difficulty (going down) but it could be pirate themed so it’s all good

Thinking about the Shonen Protagonist of this hypothetical clone who would with the power of friendship and this gun I found finally beat the game and free everyone inside I want him to wake up with gray hairs from stress

[dreamdiaryjam]

Dream Diary Jam 6!

Jam runs from May 15th, 2022 to June 26th, 2022. You can join before or during those dates!

Our beloved Yume Nikki is turning 18 years old this June 26th... And to celebrate, it’s time for our annual Yume Nikki Fangame Jam!

Welcome newcomers and veterans to Dream Diary Jam 6, a game jam all about the creation of fangames for the cult classic RPG Maker 2003 game Yume Nikki. The goal is to create a Yume Nikki fangame, a demo of one, or to even update one of your previous entries. You’ll be given 6 weeks to work on your fangame, starting on May 15th and ending on the June 26th — Yume Nikki’s anniversary.

Submission types:

Traditional Yume Nikki Fangame - The most common type of fangame. Typically follows the same formula/style as the original Yume Nikki, but with an original cast of characters and environments, and sometimes new mechanics. You can get as experimental as you want!

Examples of this type include: .flow, Yume 2kki, Lcd Dem, and Answered Prayers

A Fangame of the Yume Nikki setting - A fangame that uses the characters/settings of the original Yume Nikki, rather than a new original cast. Think something along the lines of fanfiction. This can be any kind of genre, JRPG, dating sim, clicker, etc. You can even make a fangame of YUME NIKKI -DREAM DIARY- if you want to.

Examples of this type include: NASU Plus, Memories of Replica, Dream Kombat, and Yume Nikki Hazard

An update to a previous submission - Didn’t get to make as much as you wanted in a previous jam? Need an excuse to work on your fangame? Don’t want to start anew? This is for you! If you can provide a substantial update to one of your previous entries, then it’s also an acceptable submission, even if you’ve been chipping away at it outside of the jams.

Want to participate? Just sign up on our itch.io page! Feeling social, like working in a community of fellow devs and Yume Nikki fans? Check our our DDJ6 Discord! Late to the party, but still looking to hang with fellow devs? Feel free to become a part of our year-round Dream Diary Development community!

And if you have any questions, feel free to send them to this blog or the itch.io page! And as always, be sure to have fun, dreamers!