#didn't choose the ttrpg life

[unfortunate-beetle-and-friends]

*snort in 99% of us were once roleplay characters*

How I feel as a fictive joining a roleplay as myself

[acealistair]

RPG Character Development Questions!

Trying my hand at making one of these, specifically aimed towards D&D characters but it should also work for other TTRPGs and video games like Dragon Age.

Send me any number of emojis for any of my characters! Anyone is welcome to reblog! 😊

~*~*~CHARACTER DESIGN~*~*~

👀: Describe their physical appearance in as much detail as possible. Facial features, colors, height, build, etc. 👄: How do they talk? What's their vocabulary like? What does their voice sound like? Any accent, verbal tics, etc? 👃: Do they smell like anything in particular? Why do they smell like that? 🏷️: What is their full name? Do any of their names have any special meaning? How did you come up with them? 🌳: What physical traits did they inherit from their biological parents? Do they look more like one parent than the other? ♦️: Are there any motifs you associate with them? What do those motifs represent thematically? 🎨: What is their color scheme? Or at least colors you associate them with? 🔮: If they were to feature in the art of a tarot card, which one would it be and why? 💭: What was the original concept for your OC? Has it changed at all since then? 📺: Is your OC inspired at all by characters from other media? Which one(s) and what traits do they have in common? 🛡️: How does their class inform their characterization? How does their personality match or clash with the stereotype for that class? 📖: Describe your ideal character arc for them. How do you envision them changing by the end of the story?

~*~*~SKILLS/HOBBIES~*~*~

📊: What is their best stat? What is their worst/dump stat? How do these affect how you roleplay as them? 🗡️: What type of weapon do they normally use? Is there a particular reason for it? ✨: Are they a magic user? If so, how did they come to learn it (born with it, studied, acquired, etc.)? What does their magic look like when cast? If not, what is their attitude towards magic? 🖌️: What is their go-to hobby? When did they start learning it? Why do they like it? 🔨: Do they have any practical skills they wouldn't consider a hobby? What sorts of skills and how/why did they learn them? 🍳: Are they good at cooking? Do they like to? Why and how did they learn to cook, or, if they didn't, why didn't they? 🎵: Are they any good at singing? What situations do/would they sing in? Would they sing in the shower? 🎻: Do they know how to play an instrument? If so which one(s)? Do they enjoy music in general? 💃: How do they feel about dancing and are they any good at it? Do they prefer solo, partnered, or group dancing? 🚗: In a modern AU, what kind of job would they have, if any? 🎁: If they needed to give a friend a gift, how would they go about choosing one? Would they buy it, make it, or do something else? Would others consider them good at gift-giving? 📚: Do they like to read books? If so, what sorts of books do they prefer to read? If not, why don't they like reading? ✍: What does your character's handwriting look like? Do they write letters often? What other contexts do they usually write in, if any?

~*~*~PERSONALITY~*~*~

🙂: What are three of their personality traits that others would generally consider positive? 🙁: What are three of their personality traits that others would generally consider negative? 😱: Do they have any irrational fears/phobias? How do they cope with them? Has a phobia ever impacted the game you play them in? 😭: How easily do they cry? Do they ever cry in front of other people? When was the last time they cried? 💢: How quick are they to anger? What is a surefire way to piss them off? What do they act like when angry? 😄: How can you tell when they're really happy? What sorts of things make them happy? How often do they smile? 😳: How easily are they embarrassed/flustered? What sorts of things catch them off-guard and make them lose their cool? 🏁: What do they consider to be their main goal in life, the thing that motivates most of their actions? 🤲: Do they have any deep desires that they don't talk about and/or don't even realize they have? Do these desires conflict with their main goal at all? 🗣️: How social are they? Do they speak to strangers because they like to or only when necessary? How differently do they act with strangers vs. friends? 🐾: How do they feel about animals? Do they have/want any pets? Do they have a favorite animal?

~*~*~BACKSTORY~*~*~

😬: Did they ever make a major decision in their past that they regret? How are they handling it now? 🙏: What are their feelings on religion? If they are religious, what do they practice? How much of an impact does it have on their daily life? 🎓: What was their education like? Do they have any favorite subjects? What is their preferred learning style? 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦: What is their family like? Are there any family members that are particularly influential and/or important to them (whether in a positive or negative sense)? 🛝: Do they have any childhood friends? If so, are they still in touch with them? What is their relationship like now (or why did it end)? 🧸: What was their favorite childhood toy and why? 🚸: Would they consider their childhood to have been a happy one? Why or why not? Does their perception of that differ from yours as their player? 🌹: Are they experienced romantically? How many romantic partners have they had? How has this affected their view of romance? 😡: Do they have any enemies and/or rivals from their past? How serious of a threat are they to your OC?

~*~*~RELATIONSHIPS~*~*~

💘: Do they have a "canon" romantic partner? If so, who is it and what is their relationship like? If not, what kind of person would be the optimal romantic partner for them (the most interesting narratively, not necessarily the healthiest/what they think their preferences are)? 😍: What traits, physical and/or mental, do they find attractive in other people? 💒: How does your character feel about marriage? Have their feelings on marriage ever changed? 🎉: Who are their party members/companions? Describe each of their relationships with your OC (however brief or detailed you want). 💍: Among their current companions, are there any that are narrative foils to your OC? How so? 🍼: How do they feel about children in general? Do kids get along with them? Do they have/want kids of their own (now or down the line)? 🤝: How do they express platonic affection? When does an acquaintance become a friend for them? 🥰: Who do they currently consider to be their best friend and why? Has their best friend changed over time? 🫂: How are they with casual physical touch? Do they have different boundaries based on how well they know a person? Is there a specific reason behind their comfort level?

[dear-kumari]

Okay, topical Malevolent ep 44 reaction. Based on the wiki, it looks like the characters' choices to not return to the windmill and to get the witch's body were made by voting patrons, which further convinces me that the votes don't improve or even significantly change the story most of the time. Whenever Jorthur (yes, Jorthur) make a Patreon decision they usually have to justify it in-universe with a little debate, and besides just being kinda tedious, the justification often doesn't line up with the story's action. The patrons understandably wanted to explore the hallways over the windmill, which was justified in-universe by saying Arthur was too weak and injured to climb back there. But then the only interesting loot on offer is a piece of the witch, and once they chose that there's suddenly a big pool in the way and the world's most stabbed man suddenly has incredible lung capacity (I checked, he's underwater for 3:20 minutes and is yelling as they're launched out) and can swim with a metal breastplate on and cut through limbs once he's down there. He even conveniently brought all his shit with him despite the potential for water damage, so they didn't lose their inventory by being unexpectedly spat out. (John doesn't even sound like he's all that worried about him drowning either lol, though that's a separate issue of him being a slow horror podcast narrator first and an active character second.)

I understand why you would gamify a story loosely based on a role-playing campaign, but as someone who already doesn't get the appeal of listening to other people play TTRPGs, I struggle to imagine what the patrons get out of this (besides financially supporting a show they like, obvi). It's not really like a role-playing game because you don't control everything the protagonists do or have the context you need to make the best decisions (in this case, the characters know they dumped the witch in a deep pool, but the patrons probably didn't), nor is it really like a choose-your-own-adventure story because you don't get to try the alternate paths and everything will lead back to the author's planned narrative anyway. It's good for the story but presumably not much fun for the players that the author has an outline and an ending set in stone iirc.

Since someone could see this and go "well here's when the voting really worked for me," I did want to be fair and find an instance where the voting mechanism (probably) led to a good story choice. I like that the seemingly innocuous choice to ring the doorbell in ep 33 leads Arthur to realize that he fucked up several episodes prior by leaving his name at the hotel. That was a nice reveal, and maybe the lack of context actually made the vote more fun. It would have been revealed either way by Daniel being shot at the door, but ig Arthur stopping him before he opened it saved his life or something, idk. It feels pointless to speculate on when we're never going to see what happens if he knocks. Ultimately the difference between that and ep 44 to me, a non-patron, is just that Arthur fucking up by trying to be smart and realizing it at the last second is a good story beat, one with a clear line between cause and effect. Jorthur faffing about in the halls when they apparently could've just left through the windmill and then diving with armor on to mutilate a woman's corpse because the author is on a birth imagery kick is not.

Uhh other thoughts, I guess I am pretty glad they're finally out of the weird yonic caverns, even if I can tell that Jorthur entering civilization will lead to more ~historical liberties~ that will cause me actual pain. The voice acting is great as always. I like Yorick. I don't like that we're getting more dad!Arthur moments because come on. Also personally I would not have named the cute owl sidekick after the heavily implied CSA victim with no voice or agency from Oscar's grimdark edgyboy backstory, but that's just me

[major-nasya]

She has no idea what butterflies are 😔

I drew this piece for the art event in bluesky where we drew our OCs with blue butterflies and I like this piece so much 😭

Actually, this is Kairai and her team, made up of my other dnd characters and npc's from our campaign (DM allowed me XD).

Raven, the winged one, an Aasimar. She's a Cleric (Life Domain) of Selune and my first character for a big campaign. A big part of Kairai's story, I'm going to make a comic about, based on Raven's story from the campaign that I won't spoil for now :D

Ruby, the tiefling. Honestly, she's not from dnd as a ttrpg, but from BG3 as my first tav whom I couldn't leave aside. I’ve drawn a lot of art with her and Kar'niss here as you noticed XD

Douma, an NPC from Raven's Campaign. A human rogue and her good friend, whom she saved from death once.

And the last one, a deep gnome artificer that I made up suddenly because my heart needed an old man for this team XD I didn't choose a name for him for now, but I'm still excited about his future design and story.

✨ Post in bluesky and speedpaint ✨

[noodlesoldblog]

I feel like the BBEG has used that spell in like half the games I've played...

- Mars

The BBEG casts their ultimate spell, Banish Game. It changes the Party's schedules so that the campaign fizzles out

[temporalhiccup]

Play Diary

Nahual: So a Priest and an Angel walk into the bar...

In an effort to display how awesome indie ttrpgs are, I thought I'd start sharing some cool sessions I experienced first hand and how I think the design of the game and the play culture was part of that!

This year, Thomas and I are sharing a weekend time slot. Nowadays I'm running Bite Marks and he's running Nahual! We take turns running a game to avoid GM burnout.

Nahual is a fascinating game. Player characters are always three things: they are Mexican, they are poor, and they are angeleros. They hunt angels, terrible parasitic and violent creatures from the invading conquerors long ago. But the Angeleros don't do it out of duty, killing angels and harvesting them is a means to survive. Our group creates tequila from angel blood.

Today was our first real session after making our characters a few weeks ago. Some truly fun stuff happened this session, and the more I think about it, the more I feel it was a really good mix of game design, GM facilitation, and player ingenuity.

The Expendido Move happens at the start of the first session or when time passes. It's a way to see how your business is faring. We didn't roll well: the option we landed on was that one of our regulars brings their troubles to your cantina at the worst possible time.

From the Cantina sheet we choose who our regulars are, and one of them is Zofiel, a double-agent angel, working for both Heaven and Hell, who can be in the right place at the right time.

So you can imagine that the kind of trouble a double-agent angel brings is legitimately awful. At the start of the game we're hit hard with how tough life is for an Angelero, and I loved it! It really sets the stakes for the premise.

A powerful angel, one not to be trifled with and way above our abilities, walked into the bar with a suspicious priest alongside him. They were looking for Zofiel, to take back something important.

Each player had a cool moment thanks to their playbook moves, but my favorite had to be what Josh did as Marco, the Tlacuache. As an Angelero with access to the scoundrel Opposum Nahual powers, we were in for quite a few surprises!

Marco transformed into his Nahual form and used one of his totem moves, Guise. He placed a mirage of Zofiel on himself, and rolled high enough that it was impossible to tell the difference between the two.

One thing lead to another, and a brief fight broke out. We collectively managed to force the angel to leave the bar, but not before he reached out to grab Zofiel - and thankfully he had grabbed Marco in Guise instead! Normally, being dragged into the sky by a deadly angel is a bad time. But Marco had one more trick up his sleeve! Thomas, our GM, couldn't believe it. "You want the angel to drop you? From high above? What?" That's when I said, "Josh, I think you should read the Play Possum move out loud so Thomas gets how cool it is."

"They can BURN your body? And you're UNHARMED? WHAT?"

I marveled at how many things had to go right for this move to be pulled off so perfectly. The guise's mirage needed to be perfect. The fight had to be violent but controlled enough that we would 1) survive it and 2) force the angel out but take fake Zofiel with him.

Play Possum by itself is already an incredible move. But getting to line it up perfectly so that a terrifying angel thinks one of your regulars is dead, so you get to protect them a little longer? Sheer perfection.

It was a great way to start our game. I've played Nahual as a one shot a few times during its crowd funding period, and I'm so glad I get to play the final version of the game as a campaign. I'm really looking forward to playing more soon!

[ethankyou]

A while back I had a chance to play Cyberpunk Red, which is the 4th edition of Cyberpunk by Mike Pondsmith.

Red is also the successor to Cyberpunk 2020 which was the inspiration for the notorious Cyberpunk 2077 - haven't played, don't intend to, not the subject of my discussion here!

So how did it go?

Cyberpunk Red is a lot of crunch though plays really easy once you get past the initial learning curve of the rules.

But there are a lot of rules.

I find my go to when learning a new game is to find a video of someone trying to give a briefer on the game system and then go to the book to cement those ideas myself.

I found this video pretty helpful when researching character creation. XPLoveCat does a whole series guiding through the creation process. If you like to listen to someone explain things (it's a big help for me) this might be a great place for you to start too!

Once you pick your lifepath, if you're going with the beginner one (i don't remember what it's called it's been nearly a year sorry!) the creation process is pretty smooth, it's just following some steps. There's a medium and veteran version of the life paths that add more complexity to your character creation process and I feel like since our group was a bunch of RPG vets we could have handled that, but it does speed things up to go with the quicker start for a one shot.

Meanwhile Red is like "You have 60 skills and one of them is fashion and one of them is looking good."

Whenever I'm starting a new game I also like to have a character sheet handy so I can piece everything together. And once you get Red's character sheet in front of you, it really begins to feel like a game from the 90's with a modern coat of paint.

The character sheet in question. 3 pages!

There's a lot of fun to be had in older systems! But newer systems have opted to streamline things like skills and stats and stuff nowadays. I remember being glad that 4th edition D&D cut skills by more than half by just folding a lot of similar ones together, something that would continue into 5th edition as well. There were some casualties along the way though (rip use magic device, and all the extra knowledge skills!) and typically the stuff that got cut was stuff that would facilitate like... You know.... Playing a character? Not just murderhoboing your way across the country.

Pictured below, everything that is "Cool" in the year 2045 (taken from a custom character sheet)

Creating a character is an interesting process because it follows this lifepath system. So you choose one of several paths and the game streamlines the creation process by directing you which page to go to next in an almost "choose your own adventure" sort of layout. This is very helpful, but while it's easy to go forward, it's not so easy to go back. If you went to the wrong page or just didn't like what you read and want to try something else, you'll be searching for where you made that wrong turn. A lot of ttrpg books can be like this so this isn't exactly a new problem, but the way the book is laid out it really does need you to follow this path to new pages instead of discovering the information yourself by reading on. I guess just write down the page numbers of places you want to go back to before flipping forward.

Initially finding things on the sheet is tough because if you're told to make a "Tracking" check, you might not immediately assume that's an Int skill. Since the skills are grouped by attribute, you'll have to go through the process of figuring out what skill belongs to which group. I don't think this is a bad thing, because the alternative would be an alphabetical list of 60+ skills, which might make it harder to figure out their associated stat, or would just make the sheet more bloaty with repeated stats beside each and every skill. All games have an adjustment period to them and this is a pretty minor one. I remember this being a sticking point for our group after playing it originally but having some time to think on it I think there's a valid argument to be made either way. Someone in our group even mentioned this was one custom character sheet away from not being an issue and I agree. And apparently others do too because there's a lot of them out there! Many of which sort the skills differently and many also try to condense the 3 page sheet to 2. I know there's a lot of wasted real estate on the third page but it's pretty cool!

There are also apparently free quick start rules that come with premade characters and everything! Free is free and you can check that out on drive thru RPG! It's called easy mode but my understanding is this includes the core rules too. This would probably be the best choice for a one shot game to test the water but we just weren't aware of them at the time.

But a major part of creation is your role. This is the part I might be the most critical of. While they give you a lot of skills and everyone has access to the same skills, each role has basically one major ability that only they can do. The med tech can use medicines to help the groups, the netrunner can take more actions while in a netrun. That kind of thing. But that's pretty much it. Improving your role may allow you to use your role abilities better or more frequently, but there's not a lot in the way of new abilities.

And also the divisions between the roles feel pretty arbitrary. Like the med tech is the only one who can use a bunch of medicines. But why? Everyone has access to the first aid skill, which is something the med tech is also proficient in. What's stopping someone from taking one of their medicines and using it?

I think having well defined roles for each player is very important! And the roles do provide this, but I don't feel like they go far enough. We did only play one session though so perhaps this is something that would be more evident over time.

I played a Netrunner (a hacker) which ends up also having to play a little minigame separate from the rest of the action. I knew what I was getting into but wanted to try it out to see how the game handles it. In previous games that I've played a hacker, it bogged down the game by either having an entire session play out for the hacker while everyone else waits, or does nothing while everyone else is in the middle of the action because they have to stay with their big cool hacker rig. Red deals with this in a really great way - your rig is a headset that has wifi. And if you want to hack a secure system, you need to be hardwired into that system. This means the Netrunner has to be on site and still has an opportunity to join the action. Or may even be forced to do both at once.

As far as the actual hacking game goes, I really like the implementation of hacking a cyber infrastructure. You bring programs that all serve different functions, such as attacks or other actions and then you have to fight your way up the digitial infrastructure, with each level offering more rewards, but higher threats. The programs all have a fantasy aesthetic and the architecture functions kind of like a dungeon in Netspace. You can take multiple netspace actions, but you're still able to act in meatspace as well during this time. Sometimes you'll have to balance your actions in and out of netspace.

The biggest problem I had with the Netrunner goes back to my problem with roles. There's a Tech stat and several Tech skills so what kind of check do you make? Why, you add your role to your roll! The Netrunner uses their role, which starts at +4. Compared to their Tech skills which are floating around a +10 or so. Now the DVs for these checks are all lower to compensate for this but... Why do we gotta do it this way?

There could easily be a skill that could have covered this and the DVs could have been comparable to everything else in the game. You might think, well if other characters were allowed to hack, they could prove to be just as effective as the Netrunner so it has to be a balance issue right? Well the Netrunner role allows them to take 3 actions a round in Netspace which would make them much more efficient than someone without the role. But also having the role is what grants the interface feature, which is required to take NET actions at all! But even though the Netrunner is obviously the best choice for the task, what's stopping someone else with a rig from attempting the same thing and just being less efficient at it.

The way I guess this is addressed, is that you can take on other roles potentially? You have 4 in your starting role, so I believe you'd start with 1 in a new role. But with a +4 in my Netrunner role I found that I struggled a lot, so I can't even imagine floundering around with just a +1. You'd be at the whims of the dice.

Despite that though, I appreciate the game does allow this sort of multi-classing. Especially since many of the roles seem to be very gear based, so it feels silly to not allow any crossover.

In the end, the hacking did feel balanced, which is important. But it didn't feel awesome, which i guess is what it came down to for me. But I also failed a lot of those checks Netrunner checks, which brings me to my last major gripe.

Rolling a single d10 for checks is fine, but if you critically fail on a 1, which is 10% of the time, that is lame. I don't mind using a d10 for checks but without some kind of way to mitigate 1's it makes things brutal, not in a fun or challenging way. I feel like if I was going to play again, I would need the crit fails to just be gone altogether.

Overall, I did enjoy Cyberpunk Red! I think it's a bit hard to dig into for a oneshot, but we managed just fine. If you really wanted to get a feel for it though, I'd recommend you play a 3-5 session arc. This game is definitely worth your time!

I'm also curious about going back to previous iterations to see how it's changed over time.

So, fun fact time, Cyberpunk Red was published in 2020, 30 years after Cyberpunk 2020 was originally published which is goes hand in hand with every scifi media that has predicted a date in the "far future" that we have now reached (and passed!).

See you in 2045 for the 5th edition of Cyberpunk I suppose!

[heelycular-manslaughter]

I've been working on a ttrpg inspired by Hades and Kill 6 Billion Demons, modifying my Lumen game, Luminous Vein. It's definitely still early in the process, and I have so many projects that this one is a bit on the backburner, in part because I hate figuring out random generation and it'd feel more right to have a more official vibe to it with art & stuff. Anyway I do however think some of it is cool as hell so I put out a poll asking people what they'd like to hear about; you guys chose my problematic trans rep, who I dont have much to say about that I didn't already put in its description, so I'll just put it in full:

Hollow, Goddess of Rot

It/its, she/her, they/them

Feared among mortals to its elation, Hollow is a heavy shadow of positivity in the pantheon of gods. It loves trying to find new ways to disgust and horrify mortals, sometimes going so far as to create minor planes to trap them in and play with them. It, however, is not a real threat to anyone; her domain only ever affects those that have already died.

While plenty of wildlife loves her, human cults are rare to form, but those that do are often social outcasts, finding beauty in not just the way rot provides new life, but to death on its own merit.

Hollow is the shambling corpse of the first dead god, born in the abyss that could not be filled by anyone else. Its skin is grey and thin, tearing at the joints; its eyes have long been forgotten by physical existence; its form is too old and rotted to make out what the dead god once looked like. There's a gaping hole in the center of her neck, leaving its voice whispy, almost pained. They have a series of spindly, metal legs modeled by Eralth, the God of Craft, to support their slowly withering divine legs. Smaller beings of rot reside in the fungi and holes growing around their flesh. Hollow is extremely proud of the body they claimed, and, even as the gods respond to her presence with discomforted silence at best, they will all admit that she shows more joy than the first dead god ever did, or most other gods in the pantheon, for that matter.

Hollow loves dead things and is, therefore, happy to help runners escape hell so they can fulfill their full potential as dead things. She only shows confusion when asked for clarification.

Core Mechanic: Rot

When enemies inflicted with rot die, their bodies will remain to fight alongside you, becoming undead. Undead have the same actions made on the GM turn, but directed at enemies, and their health is based on how much rot you inflicted on them.

Boons of Hollow:

Rotting Wounds: Your weapon attacks inflict 1 rot

Trail of Death: Inflict 3 rot when you move away from an enemy

Decay: When you kill an enemy with an attack requiring 2 actions, they are given 1 rot

Spores: Your cast inflicts 2 rot to all enemies in Close range of the target.

Contagion: All undead attacks inflict 1 rot.

Self-Actualization: You can choose to target actions or casts on yourself, dealing harm but giving you any included rot effects as well.

Angry Dead: All undead deal +1 harm

Slough: Living targets inflicted with rot will take +1 harm.

Probably should've guessed the website with all the freak transgenders would vote for the freak transgender, now everything after her is gonna be a letdown. This is my best girl and also literally me so if anyone is mean to her I'll kill yo u

I'm not entirely sure how many possible boons I want the gods to have, Hades has a massive swathe of them but it turns out that can be kinda hard. I might add more mechanics to the core combat system to play with, the big issue I'll have to deal with is the randomness and the fact that the upgrades aren't weapon specific

Congrats! You read this far! or scrolled down and clicked words! You are now granted voting rights on what I should bring up next. if you want

[keplercryptids]

for my new ttrpg campaign, Choir (scifi, multi-system, set in a homebrewed universe based on the machineries of empire books' setting), we've been playing a bunch of worldbuilding games in preparation, including one- or two-shots for each PC to play out specific moments from their backstories. (for more general campaign info, see this post!)

anyway, i thought i'd write up brief summaries as to how these backstory games have gone, because they've been a blast and i highly recommend doing this for a campaign that'll involve deep character exploration.

1. Love Triangle in a Death Cult Regency

PC: Idona Noci (they/he)

TTRPG: Good Society, "a collaborative regency rpg that seeks to capture the heart, and the countenance, of Jane Austen’s work."

Backstory situation: How teenage Noci chose duty over love.

Present-campaign Noci is a trained torturer and professional indoctrinator, but they were just a teen once who had to choose between an arranged marriage or a continued relationship with a lower-class boyfriend. We played out one week set 25 years pre-campaign to show how Noci chose marriage and responsibility over love. The setting was a space station that floods with time-keeping tides, set during a week-long celebration of the faction's revered saints. Good Society was such a fun vehicle to play out the intricacies of a death cult space society, and the two-shot was honestly so moving???? i have not stopped thinking about it???? A++++.

2. Chase Through Space

PC: Moment's Pallor (she/zie)

TTRPG: HOUNDs, "a dice-stacking roleplaying game about the bond between a mech pilot and their robot companion."

Backstory situation: How Pallor was caught trying to run away with a stolen, sentient spaceship.

Present-day Pallor is a coder, a scientist, has already been executed once, and doesn't understand why it didn't stick. We changed HOUNDs to be about a computer coder/hacker and a sentient space-moth that had been harnessed and augmented into a ship. Five years prior to the campaign, Pallor connected to said moth, realized that it was sentient, liberated it and tried to escape the empire. Zie was caught and executed for this, then brought back to life under mysterious experimental means. HOUNDs was so much fun and did a great job ramping up the tension of the chase and allowing touching, calm moments too. (We play online, and used Tabletop Simulator on steam for the dice-stacking, which worked very well!) I love this mothgirl and i can't wait until zie can be with hir moth again wahhhh.

3. Divorce Negotiations

PC: Attra Rose (she/her)

TTRPG System: A Long Night in the Mech Bay, "A TTRPG about Relationships Reforged in Conflict."

Backstory situation: Rose and her wife (an NPC) negotiate a divorce while reminiscing about their relationship.

One year before the campaign starts, Rose got divorced (but they will be on the same crew once the campaign starts, oops). We used an albeit incredibly hacked version of LNitMB to play out the seven years of Rose and Han's relationship, from meeting up until and through the divorce negotiations. This was mostly accomplished by completely rewriting all the questions so that they were specific to this couple, and reversing which kinds of questions were asked first, so that it started with happy memories before we entered The Agonies. We also added NPC opportunities and setting description stuff so that the other two players could contribute, but the basic framework was still really useful for this kind of exploration, and I love the idea of starting a brand-new campaign with scar tokens lollllll. anyway i am unwell and having a GREAT time.

[faggotflint]

Help decide the fate of Night City

(A Cyberpunk RED TTRPG poll for my partner and I's home game, propaganda below the cut, and please reblog for a larger sample size)

Help decide the fate of Night City by voting for the new mayor of Night City. You can choose to read the propaganda or cast your vote randomly, but only you can decide the fate of my dear friends

Night City hasn't had a mayor in 19 years, instead, it has been run by a Council of Representatives of each of the major brands that own a share of the city, but recently there's been a call for an election for a singular body to be at the head of the city, as the people of Night City have come to believe the council to be corrupt (and yeah, they think electing one of those said corrupt fucks into office will fix things, but are you really one to judge right now?)

So, let's meet the contenders shall we

First up we have Phillip Roland, Phillip, care to say a few words?

"A Vote for Roland is a Vote for family values. Night City has become an unsafe place to raise our children. Philip Roland understands that if you want to do something the right way, you should do it the old-fashioned way. I promise to establish a foundation for public safety and truly earn the NC's title of 'The City of Dreams'"

Right, and your official corporate sponsor is?

"Petro-Chem"

Alright, thank you, Mr. Roland, next up we have Gerald Albertsun, Mr. Albertsun, a few words?

"A+ for Albertsun, give it already! When the people watch me stream on the Net, they don't think; "Oh, he's gonna fund another war with Croatia" no, they see a guy who screams in his underwear, who also got his start by making Company Garrison 2 tutorial videos, betcha didn't know that!

Uh-huh, right, and uh, your corporate sponsor?

"Danger Gal"

Wonderful, next up we have the Representative of the Hot Zone Hadel Greene

"Let me ask you something, when you look up at the sunset, what do you think of? I think that it's a red sky we all live under, rich or poor. That's why if I'm voted in, I can assure the people that union houses will be built, they will be full, and ready to meet the demands of the-" *mic cuts out*

Wow, that is wonderful, thank you for that Mr. Greene, and, your sponsor is?

*A dubbed voice over an image of Hadel Greene says* "Rocklin Augmentics"

Thanks again Mr. Greene, Now let's move on to Vogel Grill, care to say a few words Mr. Grill?

"Let's get real, the shareholders of Night City know what's best for the people! You don't think the drug addicts on the streets know what to do if you gave them a house, a car, or even a job right? That's why if I'm voted in, I'll ensure the equity of Night City commerce to exceed expectations!"

Wonderful, thank you Mr. Grill, and your sponsor is?

"SovOil"

Right, now, next up is Turanga Ogawa, the Official Arasaka sponsee in this race *interviewer winks at the camera knowingly*

"Arasaka has been the moral compass to which I've lived my life by, they have never steered me wrong. They were so gracious to give people employment, including my fellow candidate Hadel, after the terrible attack in 2023. That is why, when I am sworn in, I shall uphold the same values as I was raised with."

Alright, now, lets take a look at the other side of the gender line here, starting with the fiercest feminist you know, Mrs. Karen Horvolt

"When I'm in charge of Night City, I'm going to ensure it's by women for women, too many men have and abuse too many positions of power, that's why we need to have a feminine perspective. A reset if you will, why don't we make them stay at home and cook and clean for us? Honestly what else are they good for?"

Wonderful, and who is your sponsor in this race?

"See, this is what I mean by men being useless, my sponsor is Continental Brands"

And last, but Certainly not Least, we have Ms. Esperalda Rodrigues

"All this talk of protecting Night City, and no one here has been deployed save for me. Too many unruly characters are let through customs both on to the East and West, why do you think we have such a high rate of violence? You need someone with Military expertise to put people in their place whether they like it or not, that's what I'll do for you Night City."

I see, well, thank you Ms. Rodriguez, and your Sponsor Ma'am

"Militech"

Alright, well, I hope this has helped you to learn a little bit more about each of the candidates and what they can offer Night City, please don't forget to cast your vote this September 11th at your local Night City Polling Station

[re-dracula]

Do you need more Draculas in your life? Of course you do! We didn't make this game, but we're sure as heck excited about it.

Oops, All Draculas! was created for Dracula Jam 2021 and one of the first games to use the Buddy System emphasizing teamwork and found family. Sometimes called a "What We Do in the Shadows" simulator, Oops, All Draculas! is a ttrpg that can be as silly or as dark as you choose.

[themsource]

Who's your GF favorite character?

Stanley!

I really love how under his seemingly carless and indifferent old man attitude is actually a family man who simply wants to have connection. I also find his backstory the most tragic what with having been abandoned as a teen. While Ford's life could be classified as tragic too for his 30 years of wandering dimensions and his struggle he went through with Bill it just doesn't compare to Stanley being forced to grow up hungry and alone and scamming to get by. Which honestly I feel his scams didn't start out ill intentioned just for money, but as legitimate attempts at having a respectable business, however they all just kept going wrong so he settled for being a scammer more than actively wanting to be one. He had to work with the hand he was dealt, Ford got to choose his cards even if his Ace (dream school) slipped through his fingers. Ford still managed to be successful comparatively.

Which brings me to Ford being my second favorite. I find him relatable when it comes to how left out and isolated he felt as a child (even if for different reasons than I can relate to), and I actually have a lot of similar interests to him. TTRPGs for one, and I actually love investigative media on super and paranormal happenings/entities lol

Mabel is my third favorite, she's a hoot.

[ampleappleamble]

i feel like something i've learned playing ttrpgs with a very open minded DM is like - very rarely does something 'not work' for a character. like i think it's so easy to stereotype and put people into boxes when making a PC and it's like wait, why? people aren't that generic, so why limit yourself in a game? like i genuinely can't think of a reason why an aristocrat from the white DOESN'T work. there's always hierarchies, and economic systems, and manipulators. it might not be the SAME kind of aristocrat that say. the republics might have, but that doesn't make it invalid. it also doesn't mean that actual republic aristocrat didn't make a life somewhere else specifically for power. like - there's so many options. skill issue tbh.

EXACTLY YES THANK YOU. "b-b-but the white that wends is mostly nomadic clans of glamfellen" what is the clan leader's daughter if not effectively nobility. or what if they're descended from immigrants who were nobility in another country and they grew up in that same social structure in their colony. or or or. c'mon. if anything i'm just miffed that certain backgrounds aren't available based on your country of origin! like why can an artist only be from old vailia but a darcozzi paladin can be from anywhere? i think sawyer touched on that too in his response to that ask but i can't remember. in any case, these are meant to be guidelines– there's no option in that first convo with calisca for a character with a scholar background to say "oh yeah, i was a linguist who traveled to another country to study their language, fell in love with a native and took them home to marry them, had a bad break up with them instead, and then came to the dyrwood to try and start over" but that didn't stop me from making axa's background exactly that! i worked with the (generous, imo) options i was presented with! and that's part of what made it fun and engaging– i got to choose and fill in the blanks!!!!! and this extends to gameplay too– there is no build that's gonna make the game impossible to beat. you really can make whoever you want, pretty much! well, except a dyrwoodan, readceran, glanfathan, or (not old) vailian. but there's good reasons for that.

[wildfairies]

it's wild how life happens. i started replaying a hacked version of the kim kardashian game in december 2021 to avoid the reality that i was failing 2 of my college classes. because of that, i googled 'a tale of crowns,' which is the name of the game of thrones ripoff the kk:h player character stars in. that's how i stumbled across one of my favorite things of all time: the interactive fiction called a tale of crowns. then i became obsessed with this choose-your-own-adventure format and barely slept the next three days while i played the sword of rhivenia and wayhaven and the soul stone war. i spent all spring obsessively playing every if i could find. then my desire to create atoc fanart reminded me that i'd been dying to learn to make cool sims edits but i forgot about it after going back to school. so then i started making my mcs in sims and slowly learning photoshop while i should've been in class for all of spring 2022. then i saved up in the summer and bought a new laptop that could run gshade and handle games and editing much better. then i wanted to have a simblr presence so badly and started posting and spending time on tumblr. then i decided to branch out and play dragon age because of an offhand comment the author of wayhaven made answering a tumblr ask. because of that i fell in love with rpgs and played the whole da series, mass effect, skyrim, and bought bg3. then i got into critical role bc of simblr, and at first i didn't think dnd was for me but i liked watching it. then bg3 came out and became my obsession and i realized maybe dnd was for me. and now here i am looking up ttrpg events in my area and joining a beginner dnd discord server and all the things that are the most interesting and important to me rn i never would've gotten into if i hadn't done the worst thing i ever did.

[mysteries-x-mistakes]

a little Q&A about the cowboy ttrpg I'm writing

What made you want to write this game?

So a card game I play (Magic the Gathering) came out with a wild west themed expansion set recently and I didn't pay too much attention to since it seemed a bit too... campy. But I randomly saw a card from the set and did a double take saying "Is that a SNORSE? (snake horse)". And it was! It was pretty cool creature design, I thought- like a centaur with the head and torso of a snake on a horse's body and legs. or like a whole snake with horse legs. And then I started thinking, ok what if we were all cowboys in a ttrpg riding snorses? And it all spiraled out from there since I couldn't find a cowboy game that I liked, that hit the vibes I was looking for.

What makes this game different from other cowboy ttrpgs?

Most cowboy ttrpgs that I could find were crunchy or gritty (or both) and I wasn't looking to play a game where everyone is covered in dirt and miserable all the time. And I'm so tired all of the time irl, I didn't want to play a system with dozens of things to keep track of or do math on. So that's a huge part of what sets my game apart. I designed this game to be light-hearted and rules-light. I wanted it to focus more on the narrative than the math. (But I also didn't want a game that was "cozy"; I still wanted there to be some combat since that's a huge part of the genre.) That's why I chose the Kids on Bikes system! It's so elegant in its simplicity and seemed like it would be a great fit, reflavoring the space ship mechanics (in Teens in Space) to be horse mechanics. (Or just mounts, you can make your friend any species!)

Speaking of mounts, that's also part of what makes this game unique. Many of the cowboy ttrpgs, despite being super crunchy, didn't focus much on the mount. Like sure it was there, but it felt more like an object or a character feature. I grew up on Horse Girl™ media; I wanted a cowboy game where you become friends with your mount, where it feels like it's its own character with thoughts and feelings and actions of its own. I wanted to design a game where your bond grows over time and is meaningful to the way the game works.

Who is the intended audience?

Adults. There is space in the rules to run games for kids/teens, but the intended audience is adults due to the inherent adult nature of many of the genre conventions. You know, things like drinking and gambling and visiting the brothel. In fact, one of the Tropes you can be is the Saloon Worker. I was not about to leave out something so important since the saloon girls were a significant part of any frontier town's economy, but I also don't want to imply that teens could be saloon girls. (Hence me not naming it "Teens on Horses".) Just the same, I don't want to encourage teens to be gamblers.

I'm also designing this for adults because I wanted there to be room for adult levels of nuance and to discuss mature topics. I'm an adult and want to engage with media for adults- I have been getting tired of having to choose between adult media with gratuitous violence or blood and children's media with often simplified storylines and messages. I recognize that there are outliers, but the vast majority of things fall into the binary. I was looking to make a game be any of the above, but be mainly designed for stories that fall into the middle- something that is neither "cozy" nor "gritty". I wanted to play a cowboy game that could be anywhere from a light-hearted romp to an emotionally heavy story following traditional western storylines where life is a struggle to survive. So this is for anyone else who feels similarly.

I'm particularly aiming this towards anyone else who grew up on Horse Girl™ media like Barbie Horse Adventures and The Phantom Stallion, on The Saddle Club or Horseland, on Heartland and The Black Stallion, on all the cheesy movies. People who want to play a game with horses where you can build a friendship with said horse, where the horse is its own character.

You mentioned the Kids on Bikes system- what did you add to it or change?

I explained a little about Kids on Bikes in my previous post so I won't rehash how the system works here. I reflavored the space ship to be a mount. So as you progress through the campaign you get points wit which you can purchase Improvements for you and your mount, to show the training you are going through together or new skills you have learned. But I have added a trust mechanic and a mechanic where your mount can help you on various skill checks while you are riding it. I'm pretty excited about how it feels!

I added and changed up the magic system to attempt to balance it with the guns and other physical weapons. Unlike in Kids on Brooms, magic is always reckless and impulsive since there's not really anyone to teach you magic out on the frontier. It has potentially deadly consequences and can kill you if you aren't careful. Magic is also not endless. I introduced a "spell slots" system, as reduced and simplified as possible, like the rules for the Powered character in Kids on Bikes.

I added a Reputation system based on- Honor, Notoriety, and Bounty. This changes how the other characters in the world see you. I also used this system to allow characters to make a name for themselves, a title or nickname they are famously (or infamously) known by. All of these are huge parts of the western genre.

I added a handful of optional rules if you did want a little more crunch for your game. One of them is for Survival, if you wanted to focus on how difficult life was out on the frontier. One is Cattle Drives, if you wanted to participate in this classic activity. One is the Rodeo. I came up with some little minigames for the events which also encourage everyone at the table to participate even if their character is not the one competing. One is owning property- if the players wanted to buy a ranch and do some base-building. (I've been doing a lot of research to find out the average costs for things in the american wild west (about 1880) and other various agricultural metrics (like how many calves to expect to sell vs how many do you need to keep to continue to grow the size of your herd))

The game starts off with some collaborative worldbuilding- I came up with some questions to ask the table so you can create your own frontier if you don't want to play in the traditional american wild west setting. You can make it as fantasy and as wild or as peaceful as you'd like. (I also added a sensitivity note about including indigenous people to your frontier.)

Lastly, I added a bunch of new Tropes and Improvements, both for you and your mount.

[two-reflections]

Been ill for the past week. Still not doing great now. (More info below.) But whatever, I'm back, though I'd be surprised if anyone noticed I wasn't around thanks to my queue. 😅

Haven't written anything for MMM because I haven't been awake for long enough each day to do much writing aside from bits for the upcoming exchange. I suppose I'm awake enough now to do a quick story audit, though. Click the Read More to see what I'm working on, and how I'm doing.

Writing Audit:

Aside from the first, these are vaguely in order of completeness/when they're likely to be posted.

TOP PRIORITY - Fic for the summer exchange. I have been doing some reading, and have put together an outline. I'm excited about this one, I really hope my giftee will like it. The problem? If I stick to this outline, the story will be several chapters long, and I'm probably not well enough to write all of it before the deadline. I wonder if it's acceptable to only put up a chapter or two of a gift exchange fic and finish it over the next few months?

Of Steel and Flesh - The next chapter was largely written back in January after the game that inspired this story, but as a consequence, it feels a bit too much like a TTRPG summary... It needs to be fleshed out more. Also, should it be split into two chapters? Unfortunately, while I love this story, it probably takes me the most effort to write, so it has been hard to work on recently. (Update the next day - Put out a chapter of this! Took me weeks to get it together.)

Alpha Legion short - I have a Alpha Legion short I threw together for an MMM post a while ago but I didn't post it because it was more silly than hot. My concern with this one is that I could easily see it becoming something much longer, like Iron Will, Crimson Whispers did. I don't have the space for another long project now, so I've been ignoring this one for a while. But I like it, and it shouldn't take too long to edit it...

Even in Death - The final chapter is basically complete, I just need to decide if I'm moving one section earlier so all the flashbacks will be in chronological order or if I should leave it as it is so there is a happier flashback following a sadder one. Once that's done, I can edit and post it.

Vulkan x Roboute short - Started outlining something for a friend. The pairing is cute and I want to make her something nice involving her OTP. This one will take me some research, though, so it probably won't be ready until after July. (Update - I guess I have to put on my clown makeup now, because I was reading The Art of War for unrelated reasons and ended up YOLOing this one.)

July MMM - One of the discord servers I'm in has been very keen on MMM recently. We're choosing a couple of prompts each month. Problem is, I recently wrote two stories that were a bit similar to July's prompts ("It's raining outside" is a thing in Feel for It, "knives and blood" was a thing in Afterparty). I've got something ready for it, though. Just need to wait til next Monday to post it.

Techmarine Story - This one is still in EARLY days. It doesn't even have a complete outline, just like 7-8k words in disconnected sections. I think I may need to severely narrow the scope of this one and make it either a oneshot or 3-6 short chapters. But I can't think about it anytime soon now I've signed up to a fic exchange.

Salamander Slice-of-Life Romance - My comfort project. It's coming along bit by bit, I probably add about 1k words to it a month. Still, I'm not in any sort of hurry to finish it. This is the one I really don't think anyone but me will ever want, haha. It's literally just an Astartes' first year or two on the job in a reserve company. Lots of mundanity, city life, squad dynamics, smaller deployments, and a romance with his brander-priest. I love it. It'll be ready when it's ready.

How I Am:

Warning, this is kind of a rant.

I miss being well. I was SO prolific just a month ago, before I got Covid again and had to go off my narcolepsy meds for an unrelated reason.

Even mild Covid sucks, but untreated narcolepsy is fucking shite. I've been on meds since I was 19, so I forgot how disabling it is. It felt less crushing before I was diagnosed, but at that point, that was the only way I had ever lived. Now, I've spent eleven years without the constant sleep attacks, and I can't remember how I used to manage this. (Probably badly since I ended up doing a full sleep study, lol.) It feels like I'm out of practice, if that makes sense? This whole thing has really thrown me for a loop.

Aside from writing, I haven't been painting much because I fall asleep when I sit still for more than a few minutes. Coffee helps, but I can only have one a day, so I'll drink my one coffee and then get a decent hour or two of painting at most before I'm back to being a bit useless. That may sound like a lot, but I'm a very slow painter. So, that's no fun.

I really don't want to just complain. My life is great, I'm very lucky to have a lovely spouse and not to be in a position where my narcolepsy could endanger my job or leave me homeless. I'm also lucky to be in the UK, where my diagnosis was free and I could actually afford eleven years of treatment without difficulty. But, fuck me, I want to be able to do normal human things again without falling asleep. This isn't forever, I'm off them for a good reason, but it may be a long time before I can go back on.

Ending on a happy note:

Hopefully, two friends and I will get to play Blood Bowl soon. She has played the digital version, he used to play but hasn't played for decades, and I've never played at all, so it should be a lot of fun. Plus, if there's three of us, whoever isn't playing can sub in for me if I fall asleep, haha.