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deepdive002 · 9 months ago

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An Apology

About 2 weeks ago I posted an art gig on Tumblr. There, my price estimate was probably off by a factor of 5.

I hadn’t really thought about it. If the gig is like a part time job and you are not working weekends and my timeline was 512 hours and my budget was $512 that would be about $5/hour. I’m kind of embarrassed about that.

In this repost, I’m boosting the price to 150% and asking for 1 image instead of 3.

With this adjustment it’s more like $16 an hour. I know $16/hour isn’t great in 2024, but the timeline isn’t certain. If you can get it done in 256 hours (about 10 days) instead of 512 hours (about 20 days), then you would be making $32/hour.

Everyone who applied to my last post will be included in this new selection at the new price, but please re-apply here if you can.

The Image: A Diverging Path

I need an image of a diverging path with fame and fortune to the left and connection and knowledge to the right. Like this:

Please review the updated details of the project on my new Reddit post. If you have time, you can see the full scope of my website for political live streamers on my other Reddit post about it.

Shout Outs:

I had some comments on my last post that really hurt. If @beesmygod and @sparkledog could review this new post and let me know if we can be friends, that would be awesome. If that's not possible I understand.

I also had some very supportive comments. If folks like @honestlyvan, @ex-libris-craux, @flavorgate, @nerdygirl2000bbse, @bambambunny, @bliss-bliss-bliss-bliss or @shining-dawn are up for helping me find an artist again, I would be grateful.

I look forward to working with you!

#comission #lovesite #artists on tumblr

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gorgonarcher · 10 months ago

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Different Character Creation Methods Weaknesses and Strengths

These first two (on this blog) character creation bits have had me thinking a bit about the advantages and disadvantages of different character creation methods.

Now, I'm not going to be completely unbiased here and the styles that fit my preferences better won't be as easy for me to see the downsides to.

Level-Based Template System (D&D and Pathfinder)

The biggest downside to level based template systems is that you will not be able to complete some concepts immediately at level one. Some powers and abilities will often just not available at lower levels.

For example, the lowest level you can get "Living Hair" to do snake hair for a gorgon concept IS 1st level, but only if you're a Human Witch and you take the Natural Ambition feat. 2nd level if your a Witch of any other Ancestry and 4th level if you are not a Witch.

Now, you can certainly fluff having snake hair before that, but knowing there's a mechanical representation that you can't get easily kinda dampens that.

Also note that there is a Medusa's Wrath ability that gives the stoning stare but it's a 16th level minimum Monk feat.

The main issue here is that games like D&D and Pathfinder tend to flavorgate some stuff to only appear at higher level of game play. It's certainly possible to create low-level appropriate equivalents to the stoning gaze, snake hair, and other features mentioned for a gorgon (or other powers for other concepts), I do have a gorgon sorcerer heritage sitting around for D&D 5e that does this, but by and large the more bizarre the power, the higher it's power floor will be in these games.

That's the biggest downside. With a lot of concepts, you're going to come out of the gate with an incomplete build for the overall concept. Which to be fair, a lot of concepts assume a somewhat higher competency level than a first level character. Even with masterful warriors, rogues, or martial artists... key components of your vision are likely to only appear at higher levels.

The upside is that it tends toward being simpler to build a character. You pull from a menu of options and place them together. This makes it easier to immediately grok how to build a character and move forward. That said, with more complex games like Pathfinder, a newbie is more likely to make choices that don't work well with what they want to do. Overall, building a character in a template system is very simple and easy to comprehend.

Point-Based System

A point-based system directly answers the issue of starting the game with an incomplete build as you can start the game off with exactly the suite of powers and skills that you want to fill out the concept. There may still be holes dependent on your skill with budgeting your points. So you can start right off the game as a snake-haired gorgon with a stoning gaze and archery skills.

The problem I mentioned at the end of the previous section about complex template level-based games is much worse here. Increased granularity makes it easier to accidentally create a character that just doesn't work mechanically. Sub-optimal play can still be very fun, but there is a wide-variance that comes with increased granularity where a character can become so sub-optimal that they are simply not fun to play.

Another problem that point-based character creation faces is the lack of advancement milestones. When you earn experience in most point-based games those points spend exactly like the points you got at the start. So, if you start with a 450 point character in Hero System and you earn 4-10 points a session, those points have the same value as the initial points.

This tends to mean that advancement is very incremental and unless you save points you won't get the feeling of hitting 5th level and unlocking 3rd level spells or Extra Attack in D&D 5e. Instead, you'll see the skills and attributes you started with growing strong over time. This makes advancement a bit less visible as each step isn't substantially different from the one that game before it.

You can set aside some points for bigger purchases later, and some systems have ways to make new abilities easier to acquire. But knowing to do that comes with expertise in the system.

Narrative Systems

Narrative systems address a lot of the same concerns that Point-based systems do but in a different way. Instead of purchasing powers or attributes individually, you instead declare yourself a gorgon and that assumes you have every thing that makes a gorgon be a gorgon.

The downside of this style disproportionately impacts people used to Template-based and Point-based systems. The lack of guide rails and limits presented by those styles can cause someone to just feel very lost when approaching narrative systems. The questions of "what does this mean?" and "what can I do?" comes up quite frequently among players used to having their capabilities spelled out by the feats they selected or points they spent. Players new to roleplaying games take this much easier, coming straight as they are from pure make-believe and improvisational theater.

Narrative games are also very inconsistent with how much attention they pay to developing mechanics. For every game like Fate Core that makes sure that mechanics are clearly stated, come with thoughtful advice, and have appropriate heft, you have dozens of games whose mechanics is virtually Calvinball. This is part of why a lot of people think Narrative RPG and Rules Lite RPG are the same thing.

To be clear, there's also low-effort versions of Point-buy and Template-based games and products as well. But the lack of effort is more readily apparent in the "crunchier" games. A lot of this is admittedly due to lack of exposure. There's more people who've played D&D than Fate, so it is harder for people to understand why Fate works well and thus recognize when a narrative system is poorly conceived.

This also impacts coming to narrative games from other styles of system. You CAN play Fate with the same perspective as you play D&D, but if you do that then it will feel like a sluggish version of D&D. And if you haven't played too many systems, you're more likely to fall afoul of this error in approach. Similarly, if you try to play D&D like you should play Fate, then it will feel like a restrictive, straight-jacketed version of Fate.

Even with true rules-lite games like one-page RPGs you have good, well thought out products that know exactly what they are, what they want to accomplish, and pull it off beautifully. And then you have rules-lite games where the maker clearly lacked understanding, effort, or both.

Hybrid Systems

This is where I've started to settle in recent years. Games like Monster of the Week have the narrative element of "you are what you say you are and have everything associated with that" you get from Fate aspects, but it also has the templates and leveling bits of games like D&D with appropriate milestone advancements to allow for very visible advancement.

Then there's Scion from Onyx Path, or perhaps I should generalize it to Storypath. In this case, there's some elements that function narratively, like the Paths acting very much like Aspects. Other systems are very much point-based, such as purchasing skills and attributes. Or a mix of templates and point-buy where you can buy individual Knacks. And there also a substantial part of the character creation that functions like a level-based system where raising Legend comes with specific benefits and clear advancement milestones.

Even the way I run Fate tends to borrow from a lot of optional systems, not just in gameplay but also in character creation.

Side note: I should make some more gorgon archers in Hero System, Scion, and other systems.

#tabletop roleplaying game #tabletop rpgs #rpgs #roleplaying games #roleplaying #theorycrafting #ttrpg #character creation #gameplay styles

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