#feel free to use in your dungeon campaign lol

[hntrsvg]

[the-witty-pen-name]

Love is Blind (Part 3)

Eddie Munson x PlusSize!F!Reader

Summary: In a last ditch effort to evade the normal disappointments of dating, a group of misfits desperate to have someone see who they are on the inside volunteer for the most recent brain chemistry study at Hawkins Lab. 

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: 18+ ONLY, smut in later parts (part 4), reader has low self-esteem and struggles with self love/acceptance, anxiety/trauma related to bullying, tooth rot worthy fluff, Eddie being a major flirt, cursing, mentions of substance use, descriptions of bullying & people being jerks but like also very overdone tropes, mentions of smut

A/N: Please let me know if you liked it!! Feel free to send me an ask if you want to fangirl with me over these two because I cannot stand them at this point. LOL Or if you want to share any ideas/predictions for upcoming parts with me or other ideas for future stories with Eddie, I would love to hear them. Also, if I forgot to include a warning that should be included, please let me know!

Series Masterlist

“Eddie.” 

“Hey, Eddie.” 

“Earth to Eddie.”

“EDDIE.” 

“Shit! Sorry,” he says, breaking out of his thoughts and coming back to reality. He stares at his notes in his DM folder and he literally has no idea where the campaign has left off. He clears his throat and awkwardly flips through the pages. “Umm..”

“We just made it to the fishing town and we were tasked by a local merchant to kill a sea serpent that’s poisoning the local fish in exchange for..”

“Oh yeah,” he interjects, grabbing the correct script he needs to continue. “Uh, did you roll..?”

“Are you kidding me, man! What the hell?” Gareth exclaims, exasperated. “What’s wrong with you today?” 

Eddie’s face turns pink, shaking his head and ignoring the question. He was not going to admit to being distracted. He’s not embarrassed to talk to the guys about you, but he hasn’t told anyone he signed up for the study. He didn’t want to admit he was desperate or lonely, he’s too proud. He knows his friends don’t care, but it’s a mental block he can’t pass. 

“Nothing, I’m good. Just let it go,” he says defensively. 

“No way. Fucking spill it,” Jeff laughs. 

Eddie racks his mind for the most sane way to answer their questions. He sighs, pushing a mess of his curly hair out of his face. 

“Who is she?” Gareth asks, raising an eyebrow. 

***

DAY FOUR

“I’m mad at you,” Eddie says, and you roll your eyes. 

“What did I do now?” You ask, playful sarcasm evident in your voice. 

“You’re throwing me off my game”

“I don’t even know what you mean by that.” 

“Obviously because I’m really cool and popular,” he jokes, “I’m a Dungeon Master as you know.” 

“Yup, I’m familiar,” you toy. 

“My friends called my ass out so many times last night for not paying attention and I kept fucking up.” 

“I don’t appreciate you pinning this on me,” you chuckle. “I didn’t do anything.”

“Lies!” He says in a bravado. “You are the distraction! You have managed to weasel your way into every aspect of mind- I hope you’re proud of yourself. I’m probably going to be dethroned. My reign is over.”

You bite your bottom lip, to hold back the goofy smile you know is creeping over your whole face. Never before has anyone made you feel like this. The notebook to keep track of other “dates” is long forgotten. You only want to continue talking to Eddie. You wonder if any of the other people you spoke to felt a connection this strong. You’re dying to know if there are other people who feel as good as you right now. 

“What were you thinking about?” you ask shyly. You can hear the way it makes Eddie stop in his tracks. You assume he wears some sort of chain on his pants cause you can hear it when he paces, but suddenly, his end of the wall falls silent.

“How honest do you want me to be?” he asks, suddenly sounding shy. 

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, I could go the cheesy, romantic, ‘I was thinking about you’ way- which is true. Or, I could be brutally honest because ‘I was thinking about you’ in this context has much more implications than that.” 

“You’re confusing me,” you laugh, “just tell me.”

“Do you ever fantasize about when we get out of here? In like, a you know-”

“Like sexually?” you ask, throwing him a bone. He was drowning. 

“Yeah,” he admits, and you can hear the chain on his pant leg as he fidgets. 

“Yes,” you answer honestly, “I do.”

“I think about it all the time,” he says, the confession spilling out, “The fact that I can’t touch you is driving me fucking insane. It’s not even like just like the thought of getting to fuck you- it’s like being close to you and like feeling your body heat, or like the weight of you sitting on my lap, what it feels like to just touch your skin- just everything that we’re being denied. I don’t even have a visual in my head to go off of it’s just like- I don’t know, man…”

You wince at the mention of sitting on his lap. “I don’t know if you’d want me on your lap for a long time..,” you sound defeated. 

“Um, don’t speak for me,” he cuts you off, playfully. “Any man who doesn’t want the full weight of his woman on his lap is a fucking idiot. Ugh, I don’t even think you understand just how amazing it is. I don’t care if you try to fight me on this, princess. You’re sitting on me, and I will love every second of it.” 

“I’m not thin, Eddie,” you whisper, feeling defeated. You hear him blow a raspberry and then he knocks on the wall. 

“I… don’t… care,” he emphasizes by drawing out each word. “You need to believe me. I couldn’t care less about your weight, your height, your hair… whatever  it is. I like you! And that means I like every part of you.”

His voice begins to raise, like he is yelling up, “If these fuckers would realize we’re done already and let me out.” He then lowers his voice like he’s looking back to the wall. “I want you. The experiment fucking works, I wish I could show you what you do to me cause maybe then it’ll finally stick. I’m going out of my mind that I can’t touch you and show you how much I want you, your body, everything. Do you need me to spell it out?” 

“Would you have still found me attractive if we met outside of this experiment?” you ask, “I bet you wouldn’t have even looked my way if you saw me at a bar or something.”

“Sweetheart,” he coaxes, “absolutely. I know that I would’ve been annoying the shit out of you for your number. You’d have been the one to reject me, I guarantee it.” 

“I would have never,” you reply. 

“So if it’s possible for you to know that you wouldn't have rejected me without seeing me,” Eddie muses, “why can’t you believe the same for me?”

“You haven’t asked me a single thing about my appearance,” he continues, “Do you care how much I weigh? Do you care if I’m short?”

“Not at all. I haven’t thought about it,” you admit. 

“I haven’t either. Now, please let me have my fantasy of you sitting on my lap please,” he whines, “I need something to get me through the day, Christ.” You laugh at his fake annoyance. 

You’re so happy at how he’s able to talk you down. It amazes you how he’s able to see through the insecurities and brings you back down to Earth. 

“Okay, okay,” you say, settling back into the couch and getting comfortable. You rest your head back. 

“I don’t know, basically, we’re in the middle of the campaign- I literally spent weeks writing it,” he continues, “and I literally just can’t stop thinking about how amazing it would be if you were there. I’m just sitting there, thinking about what it would feel like to just have you sitting on my lap while we’re playing and then I’m thinking about how I want to feel lean back on me and I’d have my arm around your waist holding you, and maybe I’d rub little circles on the side of your thigh and I thought about how soft you probably feel and then suddenly I’m sporting the most embarrassing boner which thankfully no one saw- Fuck, this is what you’re doing to me.”

***

“Is there any way to end the trial early?” Eddie asks, sitting in the interview room. There’s a man putting a pulse oximeter on his right index finger and another testing his blood pressure with a monitor on his left side. 

Two other technicians sit across from Eddie, taking notes from Eddie’s answers on a clipboard. They have tested his levels of dopamine and norepinephrine. They’re taking extensive notes on Eddie’s physical reactions to you, and the same is done to all of the candidates- including you. They continue to ignore Eddie’s questions as they ramble on about his levels of oxytocin. 

“In order for us to gather all of the information necessary, this isn’t possible,” one of them finally answers. 

“But I’m telling you how I feel- I’m telling you it works,” he insists. 

“Mr. Muson,” one says, closing a file folder that contains his charts. “This is a study in brain chemistry. You agreed to participate for the designated number of days and in exchange you’d receive compensation. Your conversations between yourself and the other candidates is not our business, nor what you choose to do afterwards. Our job here is to collect data, not the details of your personal life.” 

“I can’t believe this,” he scoffs, rolling his eyes. He pulls off the oximeter and grabs his jean jacket. He walks out, despite their protests, flipping them off as he goes. He couldn’t care less about the lousy $200. As far as he was concerned, they poked and prodded the two of you enough. 

Of course, he did show up the next day. Promptly with a big grin on his face, he walked in with a happy go-lucky attitude that the entire lab team was secretly sick of dealing with. These sudden outbursts and dramatic tirades were becoming a staple of Eddie’s interviews and they equally couldn’t wait to be done with him. 

***

DAY FIVE

“Are these dice?” You ask with a chuckle, opening the small, black velvet bag that’s been left for you on the table in the room. You empty the bag out into your hand and watch as the dice roll into your palm one at a time. They’re all red and shimmer as you move them around in your cupped hand. 

“Well, I wanted you to have them,” you hear his voice explain from the other side of the wall. You’re beaming as you carefully pour them back into the bag and tie it off. 

“This is so sweet, Eds,” you marvel. “I love them.” 

“I also brought my guitar and like in a non-douchebag way I was kind of hoping to play something for you,” he says, his guitar perched on his lap. “I’ve just been working on this song and I wanted your opinion on it.” 

It's surprisingly soft sounding. You were expecting heavy guitar, something really metal based on what Eddie has told you about his music taste and his band. It’s slower paced, like a dreamy, slow rock ballad. 

You wished you could see him, observe how he looks when he’s concentrating or how his fingers look strumming against the cords. You just know he has the most beautiful hands. You imagine his fingers and try to visualize them flexing as he strums. You’re so distracted by it that you almost miss him singing a verse. 

“It’s not done yet,” he prefaces, still strumming. “I’m still working on the lyrics so don’t think too much about them, just like the meaning and the melody you know?” 

“Yeah totally,” you hum in agreement. “I think it sounds great.” He smiles at the praise. 

***

Before

You anxiously sit by the front window, peeking out between the blinds occasionally. You smooth out the skirt of the new dress your mom bought you, and you make sure your hair is still how you requested. Your mom let you wear makeup and you picked eyeshadow that matches your dress and you feel like a million bucks. It’s your ninth grade formal, and the star of the JV basketball team asked you to be his date. 

The minutes tick by and the time changes from reasonably late to stood up. You still hold out hope, and reject your parents' offers to just drive you to the dance. It’s been 45 minutes now, and you still hoped he’d be there. It was long past an hour that you admitted that he wasn’t coming. 

The following Monday you learned the whole thing was a prank, and he never wanted to ask you to the dance. It’s in the school paper that he’s at the dance, dancing cheek to cheek with one of the cheerleaders, who you can’t help but compare yourself to. 

***

Eddie is sitting at the middle school cafeteria table alone. He’s about a hundred pages into the Hobbit and the crusts of his peanut butter sandwich are forgotten about on the crinkly brown paper bag Uncle Wayne packed his lunch in. He’s long forgotten he’s sitting alone, far too engrossed in the story to care, when suddenly his head is yanked back by someone tugging on his t-shirt. 

“What’s up, Freak?” the voice asks before shoving Eddie back towards the table. He catches himself on the edge before his head comes in contact with the surface. He winces as anger boils up inside him. The three jocks laugh amongst themselves until a familiar voice shoos them away. 

“Sorry about them,��� she says apologetically as Eddie looks to see her. Chrissy. He notices how she glances from him to the cafeteria table where the cheerleaders sit, and Eddie knows she doesn’t want to be seen with him for too long. 

“You can go, I’m fine,” Eddie says, forcing a laugh to make her feel better. “But, uh, I wanted to ask you-” 

“Okay, thanks,” she says, cutting him off and practically skipping to sit next to the prick who shoved him. Eddie recoils as the jock’s arm wraps around her. Eddie rolls his eyes and gets up to have lunch outside. Along with the remains of his lunch, he shoves the necklace he meant to give her in the bin. He’d stayed up past his bedtime, Wayne showing him how to drill a small hole into the top of one of his guitar picks to put a metal jewelry loop through so it could be put on a silver chain. 

***

You’re sitting at the table in the dimly lit restaurant and sipping on your cocktail when you see him walk in. He matches the description your friend gave you, and you feel yourself smile at how cute he is- definitely living up to the hype. Your friend spent weeks convincing you to go out on this date- one of her boyfriend’s best friends. They’re in the same fraternity. 

You can see as he walks into the dining room, he’s looking around trying to find his date. You offer a smile when he makes eye contact, and you offer a small wave. 

“James?” You ask, “you’re exactly like how Donna described you.” He offers a polite closed lipped smile, and a nod, taking a seat across from you without saying anything. 

As the date continues, you notice you’re doing a lot of the talking. You ask him questions and you’re met with a lot of one word answers. He looks detached, checking his watch and his attention seems to be wandering throughout the restaurant at anything but you. By the time your entrees arrive, he yawns. 

“I’m sorry, did I do something or say something?” you ask, hesitantly.

“No, no you’re good,” he says, straightening his posture like it would correct the behavior he’s been exhibiting. 

He pays for dinner, and you ask if he’d like to do this again sometime (just to be polite, you knew it was going nowhere). He sucks in air from between his teeth, and lets out an exhale. 

“You’re a nice person,” he says, putting his hands in his pockets as he waits for the valet to bring his car. “I’m sorry, but you aren’t really my type. Tom didn’t tell me anything about you really. I just felt like we didn’t click.” You notice the way his eyes scan your body, the unspoken awkwardness of you knowing what he isn’t saying. You nod, and say strained goodbyes as he gets in his car. You wished you were more surprised. 

***

Eddie is met with dirty looks when he approaches a girl at the bar. He feels her eyes on his tattoos and on his clothes, judging him. He sees her friend, who's also looking at him, lean in and whisper something and they both laugh. He knows the joke is on him, yet again. 

He opts to hang where he is, leaning against one of the high top tables, when he watches another guy approach her. He’s muscular, of course he is, and Eddie looks down at his own torso in comparison as this guy’s abs strain his shirt. Eddie scoffs, but now feels incredibly insecure at how his own shirt hangs loosely on his figure. 

***

DAY SIX

“Are you still worried about tomorrow?” Eddie asks, playing haphazardly with his rings as he sits with his forearms rested on his thighs. 

“A little,” you admit sheepishly. “Are you?” 

“More excited than nervous,” he replies honestly. “This whole thing has been fucking wild,” he chuckles, shaking his head. 

“Insane,” you agree, laying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. 

“I just wanted to ask, no pressure,” Eddie says, clearing his throat, “Uh the other day, when we talked about, you know- what’s gonna happen when we see each other…”

“Yes?”

“You said to not hold back, I don’t remember exactly what it was but along the lines of ‘I don’t want you to hold back. Just whatever feels right to you in that moment, do it. Kiss me, touch me, I’m down for everything.’ Or something. I just want to make sure…”

“You don’t remember exactly, huh?” you tease. 

“Is that still what you want?” he asks earnestly. 

“Without a doubt,” you smile.

PART 4

TAGLIST

@woahnotmecryingoverafanfiction @ali-r3n @cherrycolas-things @hellfirebabe666 @trixyvixx @stardancerluv @i--wont-run-this-time @mewchiili @muamazon4 @1975lily @sadbitchfangirl @strangerthings36 @fanficfanatic000 @andrearose89 @sosawwycantrelate @animechick555

[catgirlforeskin]

Since Wizards of the Coast is torpedoing all the good-will they have with DnD to wring more money out of it, I want to make a guide for people who recognize they should jump ship, but don’t know alternatives.

If you’re deeply invested in DnD and want something as similar as possible, Pathfinder 2 is what you want. It’s the next biggest game in the tabletop scene (in the US), you can find physical copies in stores easily, and Paizo allows free resources online to exist without constant threat of being taken down like WotC does. It will remain free to play on any VTT while DnD will require you to subscribe to their proprietary one.

Most importantly, though, it improves on almost every aspect of DnD. Combat and class balance is extremely well thought out and makes all combats engaging and difficult in a fun way, requiring teamwork and clever thinking. Roleplay is integrated into character creation and play better, and you no longer have to choose between being good in combat or exploration or roleplay, you get to play and feel useful during all aspects of the game. It’s hard to emphasize how much better it is without just playing, if you still want something like DnD, play Pathfinder 2.

If you like high fantasy adventuring but are willing to get more out there, Fellowship and Dungeon World are good options. Fellowship is a more free-form adventure game focused on creating a cinematic experience over getting bogged-down in rules-heavy play. If you want to play a Lord of the Rings style campaign and have it feel like the movies, Fellowship is the way to go.

Dungeon World is called “Powered by the Apocalypse” which means it was inspired by Apocalypse World, an amazing ttrpg that revolutionized the scene and became the gold standard for interweaving roleplay and gameplay. Dungeon World is meant to be a bridge between DnD and indie rpgs, and it’s good for that, though there are better PbtA games. It’s a good introduction to principles like failing forward and playing to find out what happens (and hell, a good introduction to games having principles lol). There’s also an Avatar the Last Airbender licensed PbtA game that’s very good, if that’s your thing!

Speaking of licensed games, Free League Publishing sets the benchmark for rpgs built for existing intellectual properties, and while I haven’t played all of their games, I’m a big fan of what I have played. They also have independent settings, like Twilight 2000, a really good apocalypse survival game set in a collapsing warfront between an alternate-history NATO and Soviet Union as the two dying empires bring all of society down in their death spiral. I’m using it as the base for my Halo rpg, it’s very good.

Blades in the Dark is another big name in the indie scene, and for good reason. It’s a heist game that has been adapted to lots of other settings (games that say they’re “Forged in the Dark” take inspiration here) and it’s clear to see why so many have used it as a foundation once you’ve played, it’s an exciting crime procedural where you play a group of scoundrels punching above your weight and facing the consequences

There’s a million other amazing rpgs I could mention here, and I’m sure people will talk about plenty of lovely ones I’ve missed in the notes, but I think the most important thing I want to convey with this is that there’s a whole world of diverse and interesting rpgs at all levels of production, from big corporate teams to one girl with a laptop who barely knows how to make a pdf, and there’s no better time to start exploring them.

A common refrain is that DnD can be modified to do anything, but once you’ve played other rpgs you’ll see why that’s not true, and why those creative efforts would be better spent in other systems. Hacking rpgs is as old a tradition as rpgs themselves, but if the only tools you know are DnD, you’re being limited with what you can create more than you could possibly know. There’s no better time to leave this Plato’s Cave and see the beauty and wonder of the whole ttrpg scene

[virtues-end]

Hello hello! I'm a new reader and I have to say I've become obsessed with your story (may or may not have had dreams about shea......)

I wanted to ask what made you write virtues end? And have you made anything else? Just wondering if there's more goodies out there 👀

Ps which pronouns do you go by?

Hello! Welcome!

Firstly, feel free to use any pronouns. I'm pretty GNC so everything goes. 🤙

I first started working on Virtue's End in early 2020. Pandemic had just started, lock-downs in full swing, and I really was looking for some sort of escape. I've always loved reading, and writing, ever since I could, basically. So I started writing. Just some silly little scifi story that was entirely too dramatic, lol. But I found that I liked it.

And then one evening I discovered interactive novels on Steam. I stayed up late reading several very well-known staples of the genre, and I was hooked. And I'm the kind of person who, when discovering something new, really wants to try it out for themselves. So pretty much the next day, I started figuring out how these things were made, and learning how to code, all that.

At the time, I was also working on a setting for a tabletop rpg campaign. I've always wanted to DM, but I wasn't really comfortable sitting at the head of the table, and just generally being the centre of attention and just... having to do a lot of talking. So I converted some of the setting to fit the interactive game I was working on, and the beginnings of Virtue's End were born. :-)

Many of the themes prevalent in the story are things that I've always felt drawn to. Writing it just felt very natural. The words flowed. Dark (fantasy) settings have always been a big inspiration for me; anime like Berserk, Claymore, and Hellsing, games such as Dark Souls/Bloodborne (and later Elden Ring), Dragon Age, and Darkest Dungeon, books from writers such as Joe Abercrombie, Robin Hobb, G.R.R. Martin, and Sapkowski... just to name a few.

Well, I realised I just wrote an entire essay, lol. But basically I am a little dark fantasy nerd and writing is my form of escapism. 👍

As for your other question, I'm currently only working on Virtue's End, though I've also been brewing a more 'realistic' story set in medieval times featuring knights and royalty and betrayal and all that good stuff--though I suspect it'll be a while before it sees the light of day.

[crewdlydrawn]

Feel free to ignore this if you don't want to do it!

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals and followers ❤️

(In order of how quickly I found a photo to use for each, lol)

1. Nature. My brain is soothed by colors, by living organisms thriving, and especially by water and the ecosystems it supports. A day—even just an hour or two—in the park, walking along the river, can be healing.

2. Tiny creetchers. Having a coworker who fosters small animals for a rescue / sanctuary pays off *handsomely*. As in, look how handsome this tiny lil dude is! 🥰. Fuzzy therapy.

3. This heckin’ gooberific furrball. My Chuckathan. Charlotte the Harlot. Chuckbert. Chucklynn Spears. ChuckChuck my beloved.

4. Art. I’m extremely grateful to be on a health management path that has me able to create things again. I promised gifts to friends, which helped kick me in the pants to get moving. ❤️

5. Being a total nerd. My little social pod added Dungeons & Dragons to our repertoire of activities, at first just so one of us could practice DMing. It’s closing in on two years with this dumbass party of characters, and we’ve done one shots and alternate campaigns and I didn’t know what I was missing all these years because omg these are the best shenanigans ever. 👏👌👌

[fablestudios]

So y’know when you have too many projects already but you just wanna keep tacking on to that list and can’t for your own arm and sanity’s sake because you still have school and an actual life? No? Ah well, that’s what I’m going through. This is just a ramble/rant/braindump below the cut, so feel free to move on with your day!

Well, first of all to list off my projects: Tales of Ismaria (an ongoing worldbuilding and story project that I keep making other art and writing for, check out my side blog for ToI if you’re interested, lol), V&T7K (the animatic series of it I’m hoping to start in the next month or two!), my friends’ D&D campaign (I’m dungeon master and just got a renewed energy for dming!).

Well I got another project idea! One that’ll probably sit in the back of my head as I work on others! Maybe if I finish V&T7K before I can reasonably start up toi (Tales of Ismaria), I’ll do it but who knows. Anyways, the idea!

I like to read. I don’t do it very much but I do enjoy it. One of my all time favorite comfort books series is this older series called Sammy Keyes. It’s not very popular as far as I know and that makes me sad. So my brain (that I think believes I’m able to clone myself and get more stuff done than I can) went “Hey, you’re making a series of this little-known concept, why not make a little animatic-style thing about Sammy Keyes”. And you know what, that is an amazing idea. Safe for the book in Vegas and the book on a cruise, I’d be using the same sets over and over, so it wouldn’t be much work, and I’d get to show love to something I’ve never seen much love shown towards.

Anyways, if you have thoughts, lemme know because I’m off to bed

[vivi-the-goblin]

Coolest thing I found out about Pathfinder 2e as I've slowly moved in is the adventure paths. The main paths have player handouts for free on the site. Most modern ones tend around 7-10 pages (though the early ones were practically books by themselves.) They give a synopsis of the themes of the campaigns, an explanation of any adventure-specific gimmicks, background info the characters would know, and all the character options like backgrounds and spells and such. If you have a home base or reoccurring starting town, they even give little maps with a few important NPCs, so the players can plan things out easier. Best of all, they let you know "hey, there are moments where diplomacy can shine, but you're spending a lot of time in dungeons so there's not a web of intrigue in this one." or "Hey, it's a magic school, but martial classes will work, ranger especially. We ask the GM to use the free archetype rule so martial classes can grab some magic."

1- That's just useful as hell and I don't know how I hadn't thought of that before. Like, it's a summarized session 0 for reference, along with some basic notes to tide them over for the first few sessions and some places they could poke around. Maybe I'll start making a list for my campaigns too, a little page or two of "here's things the character would know, here's the people in your home base, here's the world map as you know it." 2- I get that it's half preview so DMs know what they're buying, but putting the new spell options and backgrounds in such in a freebie for everyone is bold! You gotta have confidence in your adventure for that. Especially because the wiki, archives of nethys, seems to be officially sanctioned to slap every source book and free thing onto itself. 3- Reading through some of these...yeah they have good reason to be that confident. I figured that they wouldn't get worse since the ones I used to read in 1st edition, or what I read for Starfinder, but still! Granted, this is my type of book. I prefer a book to tell me everything I could want to know, flesh out all the characters, and let me cut out stuff I don't want. I don't like 5e's "here's a vague idea, ~you can make the rest whatever you like!~" It's just refreshing. Many of them go all the way to level 20, NPCs don't just vanish into air when you're done, wide varieties of themes between adventures. And again, consistently giving me rules and options and things to do instead of saying "lol just do what ya want?" Feels good. Though take with a grain of salt as I've yet to really run through these, just some cursory playtests to see how encounters feel. I'll follow up if opinions change, but I've run paizo books before to good success. 4- I'm really digging how the adventures come out in 3 to 6 books, often nearing 100 pages each. Like I know the actual reason, there's at least 1 per month with enough content to last that long or more, keep you on that monthly adventure subscription. However, if your party goes off the rails, you can just decide to not pick up that last book. Party decided they didn't like it? hurts a lot less when it was just the $20 for that opening section. And yeah, it's better to get them all at once so you can set up better foreshadowing...but you can just look at one of the many community guides for your section that will point out what parts will be coming back. Honestly, community support for most of these paths seem pretty good, both in guides and homebrew supplemental material. Glad to see that never changed.

[tygergm]

One Shot Recs

I've either run or played these all as one shots, and are ones I recommended to a friend recently. I also have links at the bottom to a bunch of free quickstarts for more games to look at that might be good for one shots too.

Blue Rose - AGE system from Green Ronin. Romantic fantasy where royalty is chosen by a magical stag and the rich are appropriately taxed. Cool Stunts mechanic to do extra abilities during a turn, easy system to get used to but has that crunchy feel too. Sentient animal race that forms bonds with people is an instant love every time. Free quickstart.

Heart: the City Beneath - Resistance system by Rowan Rook & Decard. A dungeon crawler where the dungeon is an NPC. Take stress until you can't, go out in a blaze of glory with one time Zenith abilities, such as summon a train to wipe out everything in its path - including you. Heart's the love of my life and the first RPG to make me cry(in a good way). It's earnest and grotesque and something about going in knowing you will End, and choosing it, does something to me. Also you can be full of bees(on purpose). Quickstart is PWYW($3ish suggested) but you should give them 1 million dollars actually.

Bones Deep - Troika! system based by @technicalgrimoire. The other love of my life. Be a skeleton on the ocean floor! What happened to your skin? Not important! Do jobs for witches, get credits from the crabs, join the cephalopods in their nefarious plans. The classes are fun(shapeshift your bones, or carve spells into them), and the mix of horror and humor is immaculately weird. Many random tables and a couple scenarios to make it easy to start swimming walking. Also not free($15 for digital), but worth every cent and then some(and the website is awesome resource!).

Index Card RPG - d20 system from Runehammer Games. It's 'simple enough to fit on index card'. There's actually lots of stuff, but it's easy to get a game rolling fast! Be a gerblin, get a bunch of loot. If you're a chronic low roller like me, a nice mechanic is when you fail you get to put points in a pool to use for later rolls. Probably the easiest one on this list to jump to from DnD. Free quickstart.

Wildsea - Wild Words system from Mythworks(took me awhile to find the name for it lol which isn't important just play it xD). You can be a mushroom person piloting a giant whale bone ship with a chainsaw on the front above a sea of trees. The world is so cool and unique. Health is measured in stuff to lose/break and there's a sliding success mechanic(you succeed, you succeed BUT- etc.). Free quickstart.

Tales from the Loop - Year Zero engine by Free League. Be kids in an alternate 80s-90s Scandinavia(or US) setting trying to navigate growing up alongside strange tech and apathetic adults. I really like how they tweaked the system to make it fun being kids for this, with iconic items and luck points, and it's very collab focused. I used this scenario as a one shot. There's a starter's set for $4.99.

Old Gods of Appalachia - Cypher system by Monte Cook. Face horrors man-made and monstrous in the haints and hollers of an alternate 1930ish Appalachia. Based on the podcast(don't know anything about the podcast? Even better imo). Cyphers are neat one-time use items you find during game to make you stronger/invisible/etc. Free quickstart.

Under Hill, By Water - OSR hack by Rise Up Comus. Hobbits! Okay, "halflings" for copyright but...it's hobbits. While some are off saving the world, your greatest worry is finding the lost pig before your wife realizes it's missing. It's not a boring life, just a quiet one. Random table generators for Events to happen each season make this easy to pick up, or come up with your own! $10. We loved this one so much we turned it into a mini campaign.

Mörk Borg - OSR-ish by Free League. Last but not least in the amount of shelf space in my room! The basic rules fit on one piece of paper, but the books are packed with amazing art and delicious disgustingness. It's easy, quick and deadly, with so many random tables for generating baddies, loot, etc., and usually each version of it has a doomsday countdown calendar with horrid new things to add, and then a final horrible event to end the game. It IS very dark and gloom, and I don't normally play it as rough as the OG, which works out fine! You can get a free version of the core book on the website linked, and tons of other free goodies there. My current fav hacks are Pirate Borg and Ork Borg.

List of free Quickstarts I found(and some I'll be playing soon!):

Coriolis

Dune

Fabula Ultima

City of Mist

Rapscallion

Fifth Season

Symbaroum

Dragonbane

SCP

Root

Fantasy AGE

Modern AGE

Myth-Stakes

Dead Air: Seasons

Broken Tales

Legacy: Life Among the Ruins

Heckin' Good Doggos

Star Trek Adventures

Flabbergasted!

Familiars of Terra

Daggerheart

Coyote & Crow

7th Sea

Candela Obscura

Fallout RPG

Happy Gaming!

[bthump]

I firmly believe that Guts is someone who indulges in self-sabbotage while Griff is someone who indulges in self-destruction.

Thoughts on this? since i trust your analysis on the characters i would love to know! :)

Thanks, I'm glad you're interested in my opinions!

Honestly though I don't think I make much of a distinction between self-sabotage and self-destruction? I'm not sure what the line between them is for you.

If we're talking self-destruction as borderline suicidal behaviour and self-sabotage as like, career/plan/relationship-ruining behaviour, they both do both imo. Griffith getting himself thrown into a dungeon can be considered both self-destructive and self-sabotaging, he sabotages his own plans by falling for Guts and risking them over and over for him, and he destroys himself by eventually becoming a demon. He also sabotages his relationships by staying aloof and trying to maintain a perfect persona that doesn't let people be close to him emotionally.

Guts' monster-hunting revenge campaign is very self-destructive in that it would kill him if he didn't have a magic healing companion, he wears a suit of armour that can take over his mind and it does several times, his obsession with sword swinging goes hand in hand with self-harm very pointedly, such as in the parallel to child Guts trying to commit suicide by wolf and instinctively fighting. And he sabotages relationships by leaving the Hawks, abandoning Casca and Rickert which Godo admonishes him for, tries to drive Puck away a lot before finally accepting his presence, etc.

That said, if that's the distinction we're making between self sabotage and self destruction, you can probably make a case that Guts is more inclined towards self-sabotage than destruction with his refusal to die, but then I think you could make the same case with Griffith, since his transformation into Femto isn't really death, but perseverence. It's strongly hinted that Guts' refusal to die could lead to him losing himself to his inner darkness, when it's treated as a tempting power-up, and when other monsters we see are temped into using a behelit because they refuse to give up and the prospect of death/defeat makes them despair, eg Count Slug, Ganishka.

So yeah, I guess my take is that Guts and Griffith can't really be distinguished this way imo. But please feel free to elaborate on what you mean, because I'm just kind of guessing anyway lol.

Thanks for the ask!

[rainia]

Rain!!! I finally started jrwi and I am fully enjoying it (I haven't gotten super far but it's amazing). But also. I agreed to start DM'ing a campaign for some of my friends and I have next to no D&D experience. If I'm remembering correctly, you also did a similar thing where you started a campaign having never done it before—do you have any advice?? I think it'll be very fun (all of us just want to cause chaos with it) but also I am so scared please help

OFF!!!! I'm so glad you're enjoying it!! :DDD (apologies if I accidentally spoil you with all my posting hahah). I love jrwi so so much, it's unashamedly taken over my whole blog lmao. When will GIllion catch a break frfr

ooohhh that's so exciting!! :O Yeah, that's right - we've only done two actual sessions but it's been so, so fun. And DMing is such a blast heheh.

I also had never fucking done this before so yeaah. I'm actually running a little pre-written campaign, which you can get for free on dndbeyond: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/lmop (you can also get it as a pdf, from erm, places. on the internet. dm me if you want that lmao). I've also been getting a lot of inspiration from this youtuber's guide here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmtuNGN3ZDJEFDhOcwfFc0-OpZ7omueRx (PLAYERS AVERT YOUR FUCKING EYES LIL SHITS DO NOT GET SPOILED)

I've actually changed the plot a bunch to fit all the backstories. It's almost completely different to the actual prewritten material, apart from a few key details. But I'm using the prepped combats/dungeons because I am not confident enough yet in that area lol. This has actually helped me a LOT because the skeleton of the campaign is there, but we have free creative reign yknow? I think there are bunch of similar pre-made campaigns if you um, look in the right places. yeah.

We're using dndbeyond for all the character sheets etc. It works pretty well!

I also binge-watched this interview series on youtube to get an idea of running campaigns: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhOoxQxz2yFN70xDSNNI8PKgxabBNvPhY And I found this youtuber pretty helpful: https://www.youtube.com/GinnyDi

But I think what's helped me the most, is how awesome my group has been! We're all absolute beginners so it's no stress to be like, yeah tell me what I'm doing right and wrong. Help me lmao. and then each time I'm trying to improve from there.

I do recommend having a session zero to talk about backstories/tone/setting/expectations/boundaries etc. Because after we had that conversation, I was super inspired by everyone's ideas and changed a FUCKton of the plot. So yeah! Also feel free to ask me for anything else. I'm still learning but I'd love to know how your campaign goes!! so fucking exciting!!

[anxiety-and-fandoms]

hey the little.. podcast (?) people on my dash look very interesting. so- how would one go about getting into jrwi?

JRWI (aka Just Roll With It) is an absurdly powerful dnd podcast featuring Charlie Slimecicle, Bizly, Grizzly, and Condifiction. It is also unfortunately my latest source of brainrot

(cut because I talk too much /lh)

JRWI on YouTube, along with many podcast apps/websites (I don’t know the specifics because I only use Apple Music lol)

If you have any specific TWs sometimes in the YouTube comments there’ll be a list of the TWs along with time stamps, plus you get the bonus of seeing the visual bits and sometimes art, especially in the thumbnails!

Since it is a dnd podcast, most episodes are somewhere between 1-2 hours, and as of now we’re over 90 episodes into the campaign, so chances are you’ll need to spend a lot of time catching up. As of right now they update every other week, with episodes filmed live on twitch every Wednesday and officially posted the following Friday, though later on they may move it to every week. If you want to interact with the community, be very cautious (because, well, spoilers), however I accidentally spoiled myself of a pretty major moment and I was still able to enjoy it, so you do you. Feel free to message and/or send in asks if you want to chat about it with me while watching :)

There are multiple campaigns, however only one is completely free: JRWI/Just Roll With It: Riptide, which is the one you’ve probably seen me reblog. It’s pirate-themed! There’s also JRWI: Prime Defenders (more modern/superhero-themed) and two finished campaigns, JRWI: Apotheosis (God-themed, I guess? Hard to put into words) and JRWI: Blood in the Bayou (aka BITB, which is a mini horror Call of Cthulhu campaign based in the 1970s or somewhere along that time), however all those besides Riptide are only fully accessible on the JRWI Patreon (besides the first few episodes, which are also uploaded for free)

If you don’t know anything about Dungeons and Dragons you can still definitely enjoy the podcast! The stories and characters are always very thought out and more often than not very heart-wrenching, equal parts angst and crack if you will

(though I will mention, it is run by four white Americans so sometimes the jokes are a bit yikes. nothing too bad, and nothing that seems actually ill-intentioned, but still sometimes yikes. from what I’ve heard from poc who are also fans of the show, it’s fine to continue watching as long as you’re aware of why it’s not okay, which is pretty much a good rule of thumb for most media, especially social media, in general. Just wanted you to know before you start watching)

There isn’t really that many ways to actually ‘start’ jrwi- you just pick the first episode and continue along the series! It’s up to you whether you want to start interacting with jrwi blogs and tags from the start, or wait until you’re all caught up like I did, or just share your thoughts with me if you want! You just have to take it head-on, yknow?

I do hope that you enjoy this absurdly powerful dnd podcast, my friend! :D

(p.s. noticed you liked mcyt, there’s a lot of overlap between the mcyt and jrwi community :])

[babyrdie]

Hey!

Vetted Palestinian Campaigns

Donations Masterpost

Basic things

You can call me Birdie.

NO AI!!!

I'm a woman, but don't worry about pronouns.

I'm Brazilian. If you are from a Portuguese-speaking country, feel free to speak to me in Portuguese. If you're Hispanic and prefer to speak Spanish, I can also understand some Spanish although I'm not fluent. I'm not fluent in English either and I'm better at reading than writing, that's why I still have to use online translators. So please consider that there may be a miscommunication when you find something I wrote strange.

If that matters in your decision to interact, I'm an adult. There is some NSFW content here, specifically nudity. It's not a big deal, but if that matters to you please be aware.

I like a lot of stupid and silly headcanons, be warned!

I'm aroace and sometimes that affects my headcanons. I KNOW the characters aren't really aroaces, they're just headcanons! I say this because I've seen some people misinterpret things like this.

I post mostly about Greek Mythology, but I reblog about a variety of things because 1) I have multiple fandoms 2) I reblog beautiful art even if I don't saw the original work. The fandons I'm currently most invested in are Dungeon Meshi and ATLA, but I have others like tgcf, kny, etc.

Interaction

Please don't take everything I say as definitive.

I accept comments, reblogs (when enabled), asks, DMs, tag games, etc. Feel free to interact!

In case you're going to send me an ask, consider this: I know more about mortal characters than I do about deities, so I probably won't be much help when it comes to deities! Keep in mind that this is a hobby for me and I'm not a classicist or historian or anything like that, so I'm bound to make mistakes, and in that case I'm fine with being corrected. I recommend that you check your sources if possible, because my posts aren't meant to be intellectual sources lol. I differentiate between Roman mythology and Greek mythology, posts that don't have "Greco-Roman" or "Roman" written somewhere you can assume are just about Greek sources. That said, if your ask is about Roman mythology, I probably won't be much help either because I'm quite dumb in this regard and I recommend you to search for a blog focused in Roman or Greco-Roman mythology. Also: I'm agnostic, I'm not speaking from the point of view of a worshiper.

More here.

[wolfcat-hybrid]

i saw your post where you tagged abt some kenku headcanons and I Would Like To See Them. kenkus good.

Kenkus..... Good!!!!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a7y5ijNgj5VMJncoAvqklTXBb5egr1kphtDh9dzT-Ks/edit?usp=sharing

I wrote most of this when it was late so I can’t promise it will be like. Coherent.

For context, Sigh is my robin kenku rogue who is very far from home!

[to-be-frank-i-dont-care]

I desperately need to update this lol but the links and everything are all good to use

@starryeyedrogue’s partner in crime 💅 (also matching pfp with her >:)

Links: (dm if you want my ao3 lol)

Playlists: 1917 | Narnia | School Bus Graveyard | Joandeavour | autumn | pirate | Bri & Amox | Aiden Clark | LOTR | @fellowship-of-the-doodles: LOTR doodle blog @schofieldshelmet: 1917 blog @helpforintrusivethoughts: what it says on the tin @always-a-king-or-queen: Narnia blog Proud SHHEEP Member and Protector of Midnight Snacks 🥓🍅

Heyo! What's up? My name is Lizzy, and I'm pleased to welcome you to this blog of utter chaos. Call me Frankie if you want (<- courtesy of my friend Fridge 😌)

First off, I'd like to say that I am a Christian. I believe that God sent His Son to save us and that someday we will be with Him in heaven if we believe in Him. Unfollow/block me if you want, but let me just say this: I will not judge you. Trust me. I don't care who you are or what you've done. If you need to talk, I'm here, and I’ll do my darndest to help you. I've been told I'm good at encouraging people, so I hope I can do so for you. And, if our opinions really do differ, does it matter that much? We’re both human, aren’t we? We don’t need to agree to get along.

Away from the serious stuff now! I am an avid fangirl and can often be found shrieking over my various fandoms. I’m also a proud member of Roach DnD, a Dungeons and Dragons campaign that is absolutely insane XD

For a little info about me, I am a crazy, insane (though those are basically the same), stark raving fangirl, and I love reading and writing. I hope to become an equine vet technician someday, and maybe publish some books :) I also go feral over anything art history related (I took APAH; iykyk) so feel free to rant to me about that, I’ll gladly die for you if so. Also, I am a die-hard Endeavour fan; season 9 was not canon in any way, shape, or form. I’m always up for screeching about that/Joandeavour in general :,)

Anyway, that’s just some stuff about me! I also LOVE getting asks, so feel free to go ahead and talk to me!! (Not that I'm begging or anything. Far from it 😂). I also love getting tagged; it’s always such a delight to be involved!! :D and if you’d like to be tagged in something, just let me know!

SO anyway, I hope you enjoy your stay, and that we can, frankly, not care about anything together. :)

🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄

[pemfrost]

D&D interest check/info

This is something I've been debating about doing for a while... with my current campaign ending soon now seems like a great time :) 

I've sent a msg to those who responded to my original post :) Here is some more information:

Basic Information:

Beginner Friendly

No D&D experience necessary!

We will do two small introductory maps (one combat heavy and one rp based) before jumping into a full story/campaign 

Character creation will be done on dnd beyond. The website is amazing and walks you through the entire process so you can focus on your character and not numbers.

I will guide you on when/what to roll, and combat will be simplified a bit because we are playing via text instead of live.

All time zones welcome

This will be a text based campaign over discord with no set session/meeting times

There may be optional live sessions, and we will take time zones into consideration for everything (My current campaign has players from multiple countries, so I am familiar with the difficulties live sessions can create lol)

Content 

We will discuss any triggers or squicks players have before beginning. The goal is for everyone to be comfortable. This will be done anonymously, though you're also welcome to talk to me directly anytime.

I ask all players be 18+ even if it is a completely sfw story.

I'm still deciding on a campaign, but I plan on using a premade oneshot to acclimate us before diving into a bigger story.

The goal is to have fun, so the larger campaign theme will be tailored to fit the players' preferences (ie, sandbox, dungeon crawler, epic quest, ext).

Game play basics

Text based 'play by post' with supplemental maps/images 

No minimum words per post

Rolling will be done straight in discord via a bot

Gameplay will be slower than traditional games, a session spread out over days/weeks/months instead of one 3-5 hour session

Pacing will be dependent on how often players are available.

Each player will have a set time period to do actions/roleplay before we progress. We will work out what works with everyone's schedule. Ideally, players will be able to post within 2-3 days, with a max stretch of 1 week.

I will be fairly active as the DM, responding as needed with NPC actions/World info. (Lite stuff between 11-4 est and heavy/detailed stuff between 7-10 est during the week, weekends vary for me).

Roleplay your comfort level. Feel free to describe in detail or simply state what your character does. Everyone will have different preferences and playstyles. 

If you read that wall of text and are still interested HURRAY! Reply to this post or send me a private message. I'm working on setting up the dnd discord with information and stuff. My goal is to send invites soon and start to get a feel for the type of campaign everyone is interested in so I can get started on prep

[silverskyy]

some dnd questions for you!

10, 19, 21, 25, 28, 36

hope it's not too many haha

Oh there's no such thing as too many questions about D&D, thanks for all the opportunities to ramble!

10. What is your favorite class to play?

Clerics my absolute beloved ❤️ My first ever character was a cleric, and while looking back I know I didn't play her particularly optimally, I think it set the tone for what I enjoy in a PC since I'm now on my third long-game cleric PC and planning a fourth. I love the high wisdom skills (especially passive perception when paired with the Observant feat), their versatility is fantastic to the point that I feel constrained playing classes who "learn a spell list", and I'm a sucker for a good upcast Inflict Wounds to put the literal fear of God in an enemy. Plus the inbuilt depth of which deity you worship, why, and how is a great way to kickstart turning a character into a person—feel free to ask for more details about how that's gone for me if it sounds interesting!

19. How did you discover D&D?

So technically I discovered D&D via my older brother. He played years and years ago, which meant I was aware of it from a young age. I was never allowed to join in his D&D stuff though, so despite casual attempts to get into the ttrpg scene on my own over the years, I actually started learning about and playing the game through my partner. It was one of the things we talked about when we first met, since they were already playing, and when they started putting together a campaign they invited me to join. (Also they introduced me to Critical Role, which fanned a lot of the flames lol) And thus, an obsession was born!

21. Drop a picture of a mini you painted (if applicable)

[ID: two painted miniatures. The first is an armored woman with pointed ears, tan skin, and very shortly cropped red hair. She holds a small round shield in one hand and a golden mace in the other. The second is another armored woman, this one with long blond hair and fairly pale skin. She's raising a large shield in one hand and swinging double-bladed axe in the other. /end ID]

These aren't minis that I myself painted, but they're both minis my super talented partner painted of some of my PCs. The first is Felda (I'll talk about her later) and the second is Joanna, although she goes by her last name, Yfar, with most folks. I played Yfar from level 5 to 17, she's a human fighter who changed weapons literally the session after my partner finished this (sorry babe 😅), and I love her to bits!

25. What is your favorite snack for d&d?

For once I'm not going to ramble—I don't tend to eat during gaming. It's weirdly distracting and I don't have a strong hunger instinct that would force me to do so anyway.

28. What is the most memorable natural 1 you've experienced?

Let me set the scene: it was the climax of my first real dungeon crawl adventure. My two other party members and I were facing off against a strange woman who'd been performing some sort of magical ritual in a cave system that the DM had indicated unsettled my PC specifically, as well as her son and a couple mooks. In retrospect, we made some poor tactical decisions and the DM admitted they'd made her too overpowered, on top of truly crappy rolls, but regardless, we were getting wrecked. My being the only healer, it was thus pretty bad news when the woman's son got taken out and in her fury she struck me down too. It was time for my first ever death saving throw...

And I rolled a one.

Fucking pandemonium hit. The DM genuinely didn't want to kill any of us, but the woman was standing right over me and we'd literally just seemingly killed her son. The other players were frantically measuring distances and seeing if they could grab me and run without dying themselves. Eventually someone remembered that the woman had been particularly interested in me when we'd arrived, almost as if she knew and wanted something from me. After some very stressed table talk where I explicitly told them to go, one PC made a desperate shout at the woman about how she must want me alive, then they both booked it.

Spoilers, I lived! This resulted in a private session of what being kidnapped entailed and my playing a new character during the next two sessions as the other PCs gathered a rescue party from the nearby town and got me back. Here's a picture of my traumatic experience:

[ID: a picture of a D&D battle map. On the far right side is room with two prone minis, with another standing right above one. An arrow is drawn on the picture to the guarded mini from text reading: Me.

On the far left side, out of the room and down a few hallways are two further minis, being pursued by a third. An arrow is drawn to them from text reading: My "team". /end ID]

36. What was your first d&d character you made?

It was Felda, the aforementioned death save unlucky half-elf Light cleric! She worshipped Sune, the goddess of beauty, and was very kind and awkward, yet with a seed of something darker that came out once when she spammed Fireball at a shadow dragon until it fell from the sky to burn at her feet. The game is on a very long hiatus (the DM/my partner and I refuse to say it's abandoned) so I don't know a lot, but she was raised in a temple after her mother died there in childbirth and from what I gathered her mother had escaped from a cult right beforehand. Oh and that strange woman? Supposedly Felda's aunt working within said cult!! Who said there were plans for her and, now that she'd been found, she couldn't hide from them...

Moreover, while she was confined Felda started exhibiting strange abilities (I got Perception proficiency, officially spoiling me for it always) and was from then on in a constant state of being extremely freaked out. I actually recently rolled a so so very retroactive Perception check, to notice that a Detect Magic spell didn't pick up her magic items. Due to conversations we'd just been having, that was an obvious hint from my partner that Felda has an Amulet of Proof Against Detection and Location—specifically the amulet her mother said was from Felda's father, that she wears as a reminder of her family. Ooooh there are no plans to start it up again any time soon, but that was such an exciting reveal and I miss my shy little half-elf so bad! 😭

Also tagging @strangeite if they want to give any further details on Felda stories (no pressure).

Thank you so much for asking! If there are other questions people want to ask, you can find them here.