#i love playing dnd. and i love the game that i run. i dont love running dnd.
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okay unironically I love so much that porter is like this world SUCKS its BAD here and it HURTS you why do you care abt it!!! and literally every single bad kid is like ngl we just hate ur ass it does not matter what ur philosophy is
#dimension 20#fantasy high junior year#not art#fhjy spoilers#its!!! gods I will Be My Ass in the tags rn. but thats so like. deliciously setting typical#like porter's desire is to transcend and his contempt for the world he's in feels. idk Real#like he plays the game bc he wants to win and be done with it. how do I word this#yknow. being a god would like. be his win state. when he gets that happening thats it his story is done he checks out#meanwhile the bad kids do actually just like playing the game lmao. like they love adventuring!#theyre so solidly Of This World. they carry the values that can only be born of it and they like having mastery over it#its a meta angle that I think is very fun specifically for d20 being in such a unique position in the zeitgeist when it first started#the rat grinders are from DnD Writ Large. porter wants to escape. but this is the bad kids' home its Their Actual Play Show#which makes it so fucking excellent to me that porter's question is somewhat of merit! its their show and it tries very hard to punish them#and they just straight up dont listen to him here lmao bc they hate him but! since the moment the academic track ended its been clear#that they save the world bc they Like Playing. With Each Others#thats what riz thinks the core of adventuring is! thats why fig stayed! and I also think thats why this hovers over elmville now and#a dead god is coming back in the school gym. porter is a shit evangelist but even if hes a good one I dont think it wouldve worked like he#wants it to. the only way he couldve escaped is if he'd not involved elmville at all. thats where the bad kids met dude#its a shitty place that fucks with them but they all come back here bc they wanna play with each others#and in that regard I think thats what the stress tokens ultimately means. Is This Game Still Fun To Play. ITS A RAGEQUIT LIMIT#Im literally running from one end to another of this conspiracy board Ive pulled out of nowhere#Ill draw after this I just wanna get this out. gods this episode has done nothing but furthering my delusion of grandeur actually#Im the hottest smartest manthing on earth Im king fucking midas over here. anyways uh! great ep!
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the more i dm vs play other ttrpgs the more frustrated i get with how npcs work in 5e. my game centers around a small town with a recurring cast of npcs, as well as newly introduced npcs each arc that my players frequently adopt, and every time i open my Documents (tone: weary) filled with npcs i just wish 5e npcs were Built Different(tm) to pcs. obviously theres statblocks and stuff you can use but if youre working under the assumption these npcs are Full People who are going to take up space in the pcs lives youre going to be building them like you would a pc and frankly it sucks for a couple reasons
one, if i want to introduce a new batch of npcs of a level that will prove imposing for my pcs to fight, it shouldnt take me 10 hours to make them. two, once the fight is happening it would be great if they didnt have so many abilities and spells that im just hoping and praying i can make them function even a little smartly without grinding the whole fight to a halt every time its a spellcasters turn
and third, which i think deserves its own paragraph(s), i wish npcs didnt have the same set of skills that pcs get
i like trying to give my guys, pcs or npcs alike, pretty high mods on things, bc, you know, good for the game and also big numbers fun. but some skills are either inherently useless for an npc to have, or imply a loss of player agency if i was rolling them
like, charisma skills. deception is really useful for an npc to have, because then pcs have to roll insight against it to learn information. persuasion, however, is not something an npc should really ever roll. if theyre rolling persuasion on a pc, that player is experiencing a loss of agency over how their pc reacts to a request. if theyre rolling it on another npc, youre now just playing dollies with yourself while the pcs watch. if im ever choosing between persuasion and deception for an npc, im always going to give them proficiency in deception even if that makes less sense for their character. same problem for intimidation. either youre telling the pcs how to feel or playing dollies with yourself
stealth and sleight of hand are overall way more helpful for npcs than for pcs who arent rogues. and perception is far more useful for an npc to have than like ... survival. when are your npcs going to be rolling survival? if you have a ranger or ranger-like character whos helping your pcs navigate wilderness then why does it make more sense for them to be rolling survival and potentially mess up something they are meant to be good at, causing potentially unfun complications for your party, than just ... knowing that character can help them navigate, so they do? especially if thats the reason that npc is there?
idk like my players respond very well to the npcs being Full People and i do think theres a level of enjoyment to like. comparing pc and npc stats or players learning what feats an npc took or lore around subclasses but also. also im so miserly and decrepit and my google doc of my four bad guys this arc and their spells is 59 pages long im Tired Save Me
#dnd#dnd 5e#i love playing dnd. and i love the game that i run. i dont love running dnd.#its simply not a good system to run for so many reasons#i feel like i run a good game from like. years of original storytelling and improv experience and a large amount of homebrew#and absolutely nothing about the system itself. very frequently fighting the system itself#(before anyone says just switch this game has been going for years and is very entrenched in the fact that its dnd)#(both in characters and also the world and lore)#(but good lord will i not be running dnd again when this game eventually ends)#(getting my grubby little hands on something pbta or fitd maybe)#if any of my players see this i am only filled with immense love for our game but i tried to look up something on cavs sheet earlier#and felt my old man soul withering a bit so#This Post.
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Huevember 22
Brent, the most expressive bard to ever bard.
#my characters#oops i fell in love#i love brentholomew the bard#brent just deadpanning his support is wonderful and karen appreciates it a lot#because hey man brents hilarious esp due to the dryness and she really loves chatting with him#so having him as her support for bardic inspiration so she can murder just brings her so much joy#right and karen probably hype him up in game as a petty rivalry to paul and his npc hot bardtender#like yeah you might have your npc of your crush but WE have the better bard look hes wonderful#hes practically glowing look at him paul do you see the superior bard#and brent is just staring at paul and paul is staring back and they both dont know what to say in the situation#bc what is there to say? i prefer the npc? or maybe point out that the four are literally in a party together?#like sure hb is an npc but paul is actively running around in game with brent and like.... what do you say#brent doesnt actually want to point out theyre in the same group bc then karen and right will stop antagonizing paul#and honestly nothing against paul but its fun to watch him get quiet and confused#chris is off to the side begging them all to focus on the actual campaign - they can hype brent up later please just focus#which is a nice contrast to right having to play responsible adult at the police station#now chris has to wrangle the other adults and also keep them focused good luck!#i love brent a lot im totally biased bc hes my depression as an oc C:#so he means a lot to me and his lack of socialness and his childhood emotional neglect is a la my experiences#like brents my depression and rights my anxiety#smoosh them together and theyre soul mates haha how very ace of me as ive said before#but also i main bard in ffxiv when i play which is also possibly the bias for brent to be a bard in the dnd au#gang im so tired
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i wanted to make a post about a thing but the more i think about it the more i want to say and it's just going to end up being a big ramble essay, so instead i'll just give the thesis statement, thusly:
as the #1 Ratgrinders Apologist (self-appointed), of course they're the final boss fight to the death. i expected nothing less and the people trying to make discourse about it are ignoring the entire context of this being a Dungeons and Dragons game
#they're not playing 'discuss our traumas and and try to help strangers grow: the game'#they're playing 'murder people for getting in our way: the game'#which i know is now me being snubbing about D&D as a game but like. siobhan said it: theyve committed SO much murder#did the lunch lady in episode 2 deserve to be murdered? did the skater dwarves deserved to be murdered?#did the monsters the school sicced on the kids in their Last Stand deserve to be slaughtered like that??#its literally the name of the game!#the two things that are turning this into a bigger essay are 1) me being actually very disappointed in Burrow's End with how the players#just did not want at all to engage with the moral greyness aabria was trying to bring into the story#it was clear that was a direction she wanted to explore and i wanted to see it explored#but even OUT of characters the cast just would NOT engage or acknowledge the validity of that direction#and there was only so much aabria could do without being labeled a killjoy... because D&D often ISN'T a game for reckoning with#the justification of your character's actions! its a game for killing giant bears and saving the town from cultists!!#baked into the foundation of the game conceit is 'you are the hero and you are saving the day ergo your actions are Right and Just'#thing 2) i just listened to that WWW fireside the other day where brennan goes on about how combat does not get in the way#of story in dnd. that whole stove metaphor? and it rankled me so much lol because like aabria finally says after that:#yeah you bring your own food to the stove but when what you've got is a stove. the food you make is GOING to get cooked#combat and fighting and killing is baked into the system from its foundation. acting like D&D or even just d20 (the system)#is a resolution engine that also allows fighting and not a fighting engine that also allows other skills is. wishful thinking i think#and to bring this back to the POINT: of COURSE they're going to kill the rat grinders! because it's fun!#because thats how you resolve conflict in a combat game! straight up i honestly believe a lengthy conversation trying to win the kids over#would have been a weird energy to end the season on! it would have been a let down!#it would have been a huge tonal shift. because the tone you bring to a D&D game is 'killing this is fine actually'#and if you dont like that you /dont/ play D&D. its not a value judgment#i LOVE getting into moral implications and justifications and ive gotta tone it down when i run D&D games because it can kill the vibe#anyway. i said i wasnt going to write the whole essay and im not. but i did write most of the rant oops
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I'm playing bg3 again and trying out the honor mode (which as it turns out, might be a bad idea if you never beat the game in general, much less beat it in tactician mode) and I have been confronted with the fact that I absolutely have dnd race favoritism and it absolutely is contributing to my need for many many bg3 saves because I constantly think "hmmm I want to try playing as a deep gnome to see if I get special dialog with Barcus Wroot, the Iron hands, and the underdark" before picking Drow for the 4th time.
#simon says#to be fair!!!#for my honor mode run I picked half-elf drow heritage because I liked the male face shapes more#and also because picking a Lolth Sworn drow for the 4th time would be a sign of a problem#if you want to know what option number 2 is for character creation is when I think 'i should pick something other than drow' it's halfling#i love halfling characters I love halflings I love the adorably sweet dialog options you get and I love how the game is in a new camera#like it's so fun talking to small characters and having them just look at you normally but having every large character look down at you#it makes every threat 100 times more threatening#someome threatens you and you're a big ol dark urge dragonborn? yeah okay bud. I got acid breath we'll see who wins here#someone threatens you and you're a fucking tiny little wild mage halfling who just spent the last hour telling Lae'zel to be cordial?#yeah I believe that threat. they could absolutely just pick me up and run off with me right now and the most I could do is accidentally fog#if you wanna know default number 3 if I dont wanna be a drow and halfling is just no cutting it?#dragonborn#in actual dnd I have never played them because there's so many other races I default to (like tiefling which is 4 in this list)#but in bg3 they're just SO fun to make and look so cool#it goes in order of special favorite little cultists > special favorite little combat avoiders > the most fun thing to make and play#and finally tiefling. i don't have much of an explanation besides the fact that tieflings are fun and I love their plot relevance in bg3#but yeah dragonborn is absolutely the most fun to create in character creation and very fun to play#but I gotta choose my special little guys with nothing in common#do I pick a dark elf choosing to leave the cult of lolth to be good? a dark elf who is still Lolth's special little baby girl?#a dark elf with nothing to do with the underdark since their parent left who has lived a surface life and doesn't like cultist association#or do I pick a halfling who's here to be as cordial as possible and find the funniest ways to avoid combat#I was considering having a halfling for my honor mode because I thought romancing Halsin would be fun#but I decided a drow because avoiding the goblin combats without using the tadpole is a HUGE plus#and also because I had used the best halfling hairstyle on my other halfling and I didn't want to just make the same guy twice#anyways I still need to do like every other race and class soon so I can get the fun dialog#but here's the tough truth that funnie pony artist number 32 really loves Drow and Halflings so so so much
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highlights from the brennan hank interview (aka taking notes on things that i liked or didn't know)
HE STARTED ATTENDING COLLEGE WHEN HE WAS 14?????
immediate jump off topic from hank to ask him about d20 (this happened while fhjy was airing)
"and the greatest project of all, my wonderful family with my wife isabella roland"
bonding over their children
brennan and hank's son both corrected their father's bedtime stories 💀
many elaine lee shoutouts
"his dad met my mom and fell in love" "you did that" "we did that, parent-trapped them"
was pulled out of school in 4th grade for homeschooling because the bullying was so bad....
started a company when they (he and his brother) were fifteen?? called Bootleg Adventures
hank's little awed hiss of "what" to the above piece of information
GOT PART OWNERSHIP OF THE WAYFINDER COMPANY AT 15
"knowledge is something that, when you share it, there's just more. there's no scarcity"
hank staring off into space slightly looking like brennan just blew his mind (we're 11 minutes in)
"we were 14 year old philosophy majors, if you can imagine anything more normal than that"
brennan unable to resist doing fun voices for the people he talks about
he wouldve loved to work at wayfinder full time and said back then hey maybe ill become a famous internet comedian or something and that's how i can help camp. now he's got texts from the staff saying how a bunch of dimension 20 fans have joined and its been a huge boon for them that way 🥺
"it's funny when a really bad plan works. dont make that plan."
"every new community-- is this too sad? no its true" THOSE THINGS ARE NOT MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
anyway "for every new community i start with the presupposition that someone is going to pick me up and put me in the trash can" 😭
hank sniping him through the duplex door with "[when you do that] you kind of imagine yourself to be the value you're delivering rather than yourself, or that your value is in what you deliver and not who you are" and brennan going 😐 "that's a great point man"
both of them turning to do pained smiles at the camera 😭
"i think the value is in who you are" "that's really sweet i appreciate that" "but i also love that you deliver"
brennan quoting mary oliver
im starting to feel a little called out guys
robert mckee "stories are not about their premises they're about their conclusions"
brennan also staring off into space slightly thinking about what hank said
the REAL college advice brennan is giving is reportedly "put an egg in your ramen" because thats how you stop your eyes from going "matte finish"
shoutout to vanessa's dumplings for keeping this man alive
"i am ozymandias nerd of nerds, gaze upon my banner and despair"
the moment he felt like something changed was walking into C2E2 and seeing that the biggest hanging banner in the convention hall was of fantasy high. or, as brennan put it, "my dumb face"
"my friends moved in with their partners, the apartment i had with them scattered to the wind, the woman i was dating dumped me after three weeks, and i won a bunch of money on Who Wants to Be a Millionare" "wh- what???"
he taught emily, murph, siobhan, and zac how to play dnd 🥺 and was running a home game for lou at the same time
got hired at um, actually because his name was getting around for being a big dork
zac stepped down from troopers and sam liked brennan's character from a previous casting call (tim curry eating pizza) so he brought him in
its very charming the detail with which brennan remembers these important moments in his life
became a full time cast member in the same week he started dating izzy! "hard to beat week gang!"
"they told us they were launching dropout and everyone had to make a show, which, if you're been trying to make a show your whole life, that's like saying 'bad news guys, there's 24 birthday cakes in the break room and everyone has to eat a whole birthday cake'."
brennan was making a document for a market pitch on an actual-play show when he was called into office and THEY pitched HIM the idea of an actual-play show
"i guess i have tumbled through life to end up here ready to do this"
truly like. one of the guys of all time.
"some of the things that didn't make sense about you make more sense now" hank talking indirectly about how amazing he found all the moving parts of mentopolis and now getting to hear about how long and how many time he's done storytelling it makes sense
"yeah its the one skill"
"i wanted to tell stories before i was anything else"
🎉anti-capitalist rant🎉
"people used to say 'is ucb a cult' and i'd say 'in a cult, somebody is making money'"
HIGH FIVE!!!
#brennan lee mulligan#hank green#dropout#dimension 20#d20#txt#dropout.tv#i had fun!!!!! yall should watch this
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im ngl i thought you meant like . dungeon master for a second
PUNCHES WALL. <-GUY WHO THOUGHT ABOUT DUNGEON LORDS
#I WAS AGREEING TOO IN MY HEAD#OVER HERE LIKE ''GRAHHH I LOVE DUNGEON MASTERS THEY CAN BE SO UNNAPPRECIATED BUT THEY PUT SO MUCH CARE AND TIME AND EFFORT INTO MAKING THE G#GAME FUN!!!''#before i re read it and went . wait a minute#anyway thistle marcille and laios would all have DRASTICALLY different DMing styles#thistle would runs campaigns completely default straight from books and railroad his players 24/7 if they get even slightly off track#''if you go that way I WILL tpk you. dont you dare.''#marcille would do a homebrew world based on the Daltian Clan universe and have the characters make cameos. but she would also be so stressed#about making game perfect and optimising it#specifically bc chilchuck said she would suck at DMing so she is Dedicated to getting a good grade in dubgeon master#she probably read through every DnD handbook in a night and went ''...so i have to follow all of these rules right? okay got it'' and then j#just went off#laios....... would be very good at making encounters and encouraging people to use unorthodox strategies#but i dont know if he would be particularly interested in making an actual world for it... there's a lot of social and political elements to#worldbuilding that he would be sooo bored doing#so he'd probably do a classic ''you and the party wake up in a dungeon'' setting where its either a one shot or a really big dungeon#and it just ends when they escape/beat the dungeon probably#that way he doesn't have to worry much about the overall world#he'd probably enjoy making the dungeon layout bc he can specialise each room for the potential monster encounter to make it more interesting#and play to the monster's strengths#I DONT KNOW WHY I THOUGHT SO HARD ABOUT THIS#anyway. un-derailing your post the dungeon lords make me ill
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making this complicated on purpose is bad
making things complicated on purpose is bad
i am allowed to use simple plots in dnd games
i dont need to write plots with fifty layers of fucking intrigue that are denser than a black hole and about as enjoyable to navigate
i can run the game my players want to play in a way that is enjoyable for me to keep track of
i can run the game in a way that allows the parts of playing i love most to shine through
i can play to my strengths and spice up the parts of dnd that i find tedious
the game is meant to be fun for everyone
including the dm
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thinking about the fe games w/ routes (fates and three houses specifically but probably others idfk)
i think there needs to be more tragedy there. or opportunities for it i guess? or that fire emblem has to make unique death quotes for characters in general man
death in fire emblem feels so blah for me. more of an inconvenience than in other media. like when im playing DnD and an npc i love dies it isnt "man that sucks. anyway" but even w characters i love in fire emblem its just "man do i wanna reset the chapter for this that was so lame"
make death and especially betrayal related deaths Hurt More.
lets say youre byleth. youre teaching the black eagles, yay! but you have a b support with claude. you and claude are good buddies, maybe you just like claude as a character or its accidental because of x y z does Not matter. either way you are one of claudes closest friends. then the war starts, and you choose to side with a woman claude sees as a future tyrant (or at the very least a driven warmonger who might crush the alliance underneath her boot). imagine the hurt. the absolute fucking agony for claude.
and for byleth! byleth wakes up and their friend is gone. on another side, unreachable, 5 years of emotional distance *yawning* in front of them.
and then they reunite in the midst of battle, weapons drawn. theyve both come so far and have goals they *have* to achieve.
"I don't want this."
too bad. if you roll over, you get a game over because you fuckin failed the route. or you have to make someone else kill claude because sumn sumn mechanically you have a 0% hit rate bc of that b support. you cant do it.
too bad. claude cant run away, hes the last line of defense for a place hes responsible for. if he leaves what is he? a coward? a turncoat? would he have to believe in edelgard's future? would he have to slay his own allies, friends, the people who relied on him?
he cant. you cant.
he begs you to reconsider. you cant.
as he falls he reaches out a hand. you kneel beside him as he says a few things. calls this whole battle a clever gambit, praises your cunning in using effective weaponry, etc etc. but his voice is weaker. theres no option to spare him, you couldnt spare any *other* unit, could you? couldn't spare hilda. cant spare claude.
he mentions sometimes dreaming of the monastery. the food was good, right? hope the foods good in the future you build with edelgard. hope you name a town after him, thatd be fun. dont get stupid, teach, dont join him too soon. maybe he'll even wait for ya. keep a seat warm.
(fire emblem unit death sound)
then also: units in your own army.
lets say youre playing black eagles. its nearish endgame but not too close so i dont say any spoilers, but regardless bernadetta and yuri have an A support. they might get hitched postgame man, you havent done the A support of anyone else w those two. its a rough battle, your healer is severely low on psychic uses, you sold all your fucking vulneraries because you thought dorothea was more of a beast than she is. its dire.
unexpected sniper crit. yuri is on 0 hp.
bernadetta is within 5 tiles and instead of yuri's canned death quote, bernie interjects with one of the most well voiced anguished screams youve ever fucking heard. on the next turn, bernie gets +50 hit *and* crit on that enemy, and if she kills it the rest of the scene plays.
bernie is holding yuri, one of her few friends in her hellish fucking life. hes not gonna make it, she knows that, but shes still gonna try. shes wailing and begging him to stay like she wished she had all those fucking years ago, shes babbling about all the things he'll miss if he goes, all the things shes planned for them to do now that shes brave enough to leave her bedroom. he cuts her off to laugh. now is when she gets brave and honest with her feelings? when hes dying? oh bernie come on. he wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her in for a hug, kissing her temple like an old boyfriend and not a quiet yearning crush. he murmurs that hes glad she left her bedroom. that hes glad she can see the world beyond what abuse happened to her behind closed doors. that she'll find some other person to hold in his stead, one who wont so rudely get his blood on her battle leathers. one who wont leave her time and time again like he has. she wails into his shoulder as she drops the scraps of cloth she had been trying to use to stop his bleeding and just holds her dying friend.
(fire emblem unit death sound)
if death felt like An Event and not An Inconvenience i'd play with permadeath more man. make me sad fire emblem youre so shit at it
.
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hi!! your headcanons are so fun to read through ,, whenever i see your stuff pop up on my feed it makes me so excited and happy!!!! :D also if you dont mind, do you have any headcanon ideas for any video game series each pt character likes or games each character might like to play in general?
Aaah, thank you!!!!
I'm so glad people like my headcanons!
I did something similar to this with what computer games they play, but I can do this one with a bit different games, too!
What games do they like?
Peppino: Canonically not a fan of TF2, so I feel like he wouldn't like shooter games. I can see him enjoying relaxing games like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. Doesn't play them all too much.
Gustavo: Loves fantasy and adventure! Would definitely play DnD and World of Warcraft. I can also see him playing Animal Crossing.
BONUS Brick: Loves tug of war. Plays it often with Fakey. Too lazy to play fetch. You throw the thing, and he just looks at you. Loves to play with Gustavo's shoes. Gustavo can never catch him as he runs away with the shoe.
Mr. Stick: Not really a digital guy. Plays a lot of card games. Solitare, poker, blackjack, etc. Has a low-key gambling addiction. Likes to go to casinos and play the slots. Loses.
Pepperman: Hear me out on this one. Mario Paint. I know it's not necessarily a game, but he'd probably have a blast playing with all the tools and gimmicks it has. Would probably paint his face over the Mona Lisa and say it was his original piece.
The Vigilante: Another guy who isn't too digital. Total boomer when it comes to technology. I see him being GOOD at card games. He plays with Mr. Stick a bit. He beats Stick, and Stick storms out in a fuss. Probably plays horseshoes or something boring.
The Noise: Will play just about anything and everything. I stated this before, but I think his rat ass would LOVE the GTA series, probably even RDR, too. I can see him playing CoD and CS:GO. He's unnervingly good at first person shooters. Also loves Minecraft. (Secretly enjoys Animal Crossing.)
Noisette: Definitely a Sims girly with all the expansion packs as well as tons of custom content. She loves Animal Crossing and has the entire series. Surprisingly enough, she's also good at first person shooters, she also enjoys GTA (but not half as much as The Noise.) I can see her playing Minecraft, only to build a super cute base.
Fake Peppino: Likes Dance Dance Revolution as well as the Just Dance games! He likes to move his body. He also likes to play fetch and tug of war. He's learning how to play checkers, but he's really bad at it. He doesn't care, though, he's having fun.
Pizzahead: Probably another Sims player. Definitely has a Peppino sim. I see him as a Mario fan, having played most of the games. Probably LOVED Super Mario Odyssey. Also another fan of first person shooters. Obsessed with Fortnite. Does the emotes to piss people off. Plays Animal Crossing but usually prefers to play alone.
Pillar John: Unusually good at checkers. You can't beat him. Everybody's tried and failed. I think he'd also like GTA, weirdly enough. He probably loves Cards Against Humanity. Always gets a good laugh. Plays Animal Crossing with Noise and Noisette. Also likes Minecraft.
Gerome: Master of chess. Pizzahead has tried and failed many times. He likes relaxing games. Probably a fan of Stardew Valley. Might hop on World of Warcraft with Gustavo. Might play cards with Stick and Vigi. Also good at card games.
#pizza tower#noise#the noise#headcanon#pizzahead#noisette#peppino#peppino spaghetti#fake peppino#pepperman#the vigilante#mr. stick#brick the rat#pizza tower gustavo#pizza tower gerome#pillar john
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I’ve been reading up on dnd lately and have some thoughts.
“Druidic” is a secret languange that only druids speak in dnd.
From a game mechanic pov, druids are a Class that players can choose from.
From a lore perspective, druids are basically priests of a religion that worships nature, but they get magic from it.
I DO NOT like druidic.
Since druids are a religion, lets compare them to an IRL religion. Due to mu familiarity with it, I’ll choose Christianity.
Christianity is a large religion practice on every continent.
There are christians in europe and africa and asia and australia and south america and north america,
A christian from europe moght speak dutch or english or spanish or finnish.
A christian from north america might speak french or spanish or english.
A christian from Asia might speak mandarin or hindi or thai.
And so on.
Lets say Mexican christian Maria is travling abroad and meets Chinese christian Chang. Maria speaks Spanish and English. Chang speaks Mandarin and Japanese.
Maria and Chang meet each other. They both worship the same god, have basically the same beliefs, and go to church every week. They can see that both are wearing a necklace with a cross on it, symbolizing their religion.
they both know they are christians. But they dont speak each others languages.
The same things go for druids.
Dnd is a large complicated setting, and has many different planets, especually if you go with the Spelljammer setting.
For simplicity, lets look at toril, a dnd planet im familair with.
Notice, thid has several continents. Doubtlessly each continent has a large and varied history.
Do you really think druids would all speak the same language? No.
We're no strangers to love You know the rules and so do I A full commitment's what I'm thinking of You wouldn't get this from any other guy I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
We've know each other for so long Your heart's been aching But you're too shy to say it Inside we both know what's been going on We know the game and we're gonna play it
Anyways obligitory rickroll.
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Would LOVE that essay on combat in dnd because full agree. But not even just for people watching live play, like, combat is an essential feature of dnd as a game system and it endlessly frustrates me when i see dms be like “yeah combat is just too complicated and no fun so i dont do it in my game :)!” Like i guess thats your right, but any non-caster class is gonna be miserable in your game. I saw a video recently talking about how dnd has kind of become the default ttrpg and is marketed as the perfect system for everyone and any style of play which is just. So not true. Combat in dnd is equally as integral as roleplay is and theres really no argument otherwise. Very valid if you hate dnd combat, it sure isnt for everyone, but in that case maybe play a different ttrpg where the characters arent constructed around combat abilities, i promise you’ll have more fun.
So this is one of those things that touches on maybe 99% of my feelings on Experiencing Fiction in general and actual play in particular; I apologize in advance for the length and digressions within this response.
Here are the reasons I have seen or I surmise why people don’t like D&D combat, either in actual play or in home games:
It can get crunchy and involves a lot of rules
There are long stretches in which individuals do not necessarily act (not exclusive to combat but I think this is a factor)
It contains violence
There is a potential for character death
Now, it’s fine if you aren’t interested in D&D-style combat, for whatever reason, when you play ttrpgs. It’s just that this is a core feature of D&D. As you say, this is what the martial classes are structured around - and, frankly, no small number of casting classes/subclasses as well. By avoiding it when you play D&D, you’re avoiding the bulk of the game, and there are plenty of ttrpgs that permit open RP that aren’t combat focused that would probably fit your needs better (eg: PbtA and Savage Worlds are both generic systems that can support a heroic fantasy like D&D without the emphasis on combat skills). I happen to love and prefer D&D, but that is specifically because I love combat, and yeah, there are other games and people should seek out those games if they don’t like combat.
When it comes to D&D actual play though…skipping combat is just straight-up stupid. And to be clear I mean fully skipping it and not watching it at all; while this is piggybacking off my post about spoilers, it’s fine if you are the sort of person who needs to know how combat ends in order to enjoy it! That’s just a personal preference that I respect even if I don’t share it.
D&D combat isn’t just an inherent part of the game; it’s an inherent part of the story. The idea of D&D being split into combat and RP is a false dichotomy. There is RP and crucial story within combat scenes, and you simply do not achieve the same effects by reading an after-the-fact summary. To use examples from Critical Role, consider one of the most famous RP moments from Campaign 1, when Scanlan uses his 9th level counterspell in the Vecna fight. The weight of that moment derives from mechanics and from the fact that it is in the midst of combat and well into a climatic final battle. Or for lighter examples, there’s a ton of Beau/Yasha and Fjord/Jester mid-combat flirting running through much of Campaign 2 that informs those relationships. Molly’s death? Caleb going into a fugue state when he kills humanoids with fire? Yasha destroying Obann? Fjord dying mid-deep scion fight? Those are all moments that have deep character weight and meaning that are within the context of combat, and you cannot divorce them from that context and hope to retain the same effect.
This is what dovetails into a larger discussion of Experiencing Fiction which is a (in my opinion) worrying tendency among some people to truly believe that you can cut up media into the palatable bits and pieces and push all of what you see as icky vegetables to the side of your plate. I fucking hate this. I think it’s what drives a lot of things including a distaste for combat. This is how you get, for example, people who dislike combat because Violence And Death Bad, which, do I think that in the real world violence is most often a thing to be avoided? Do I think that in the real world death is heartbreaking? Yes, but this is fiction. There’s that great Brennan Lee Mulligan quote about how TTRPGs like D&D allow people who usually must be conflict-avoidant in real life to let out their anger and frustration in a place where it is safe and harmless, and I believe that whole-heartedly. I want stories about death because I want to know I'm not alone in how I feel about death. I want stories in which people can express their rage in ways both healthy and unhealthy, because big same. (I also think it’s absolutely not coincidental that people who believe they are ‘protecting’ people by circumscribing what is acceptable in fiction tend to be strongly associated with either bigoted, violent policies in real life, or harassment and doxxing online; maybe enjoy a fucked up movie, as John Waters once said, and you'll calm down.)
This idea that you can cut up media and only consume what you like is also what I think is behind some of the really ill-considered and overly granular timestamped content warnings I’ve mentioned previously. It is fine if there are things you don’t want to watch or which will be upsetting or even triggering to watch! It’s fine if you as an individual don’t like violence! But I think there’s a problem when people believe they are entitled to be able to watch whatever they want and have it mold to their exact wants and needs (and that it’s a failing if it doesn’t), rather than taking on the responsibility of seeking out media that already fits the bill. Actual Play D&D will nearly always have violent encounters. If this will be an issue this is not for you. It is not gatekeeping to say “you can come through this gate, but the gate is in fact here for your specifically requested protection"; and yet people think that instead, gates should be placed around everything else. So (to give an example) this is why the warnings for D20’s Neverafter strike me as a symptom of this larger problem - if you have discomfort with violence towards animals and children, that’s fine, but you are watching a D&D horror series in which over half the player characters are either animals or children. This is not something where you can skip a few seconds of a flashing gif that might be a migraine or seizure trigger, or a case where an exceptionally rough scene of gaslighting can be read instead of watched; this is inherent to the show, and if this is not for you, you need to go elsewhere.
To give one last example, I was looking for fanart for Worlds Beyond Number, and came across a picture of Suvi with a caption of “Suvi but without the imperialism�� and like…Aabria has said in interviews that this engagement with the empire is extremely deliberate; that Suvi is intended to be tied into the political structures of this world as an intentional contrast with Eursulon’s status as an outsider and Ame’s role at the smaller, community level. Suvi without imperialism is not identifiable as the same character and it throws the entire story off-kilter; she is of this empire and that is the fucking point. Any story worth telling is not just items thrown haphazardly into a bowl; they are combined and mixed. Someone is giving you a plate of brownies and you are acting like it’s physically possible to take out the cocoa powder without fucking the end result, and buddy, it’s not.
(Truly, I was not joking when I said this is like, the load-bearing pillar of most of my complaints about fiction consumption patterns in general. This is about how people will deny the flaws in characters even though any reasonably intelligent ten-year-old, and I know because I fucking was one once, understands that person vs. themself is one of the core conflicts and overcoming one’s flaws is in many cases the entire story and if you start out perfect there is nothing to be said. Like…I think a lot of people genuinely just want to watch a nonstop Monterey Bay Otter Cam of their sufficiently sanitized, focus-group-tested blorbos baking cookies together, and are affronted when people with the tiniest sliver of empathy and/or curiosity want a story with plot and character growth, which in turn require conflict.)
Anyway. I think the takeaways here are that there’s this awful entitlement people have in which they think that they can simply consume anything and it is the failure of that media if it doesn’t cater specifically to them, rather than a failure of them to seek out that which they would enjoy (and I could go on this rant indefinitely; it is truly the most constant theme among Takes I Think Are Dumb); and also I really want to bake something right now, given my choices of metaphor. Combat is part of D&D as a game and as a storytelling medium, and it is incumbent upon people who do not like combat to find something that doesn’t have D&D combat, rather than try to pull out the vital organs of the story.
#answered#faltermoth#long post#to continue with food metaphors it's really like. you are going to an italian restaurant and being mad there are tomatoes there#girl why are you at the devil's sacrament and so forth#i was going to make a joke about bombing all your coffee shop aus but actually i read a coffee shop au that was like. dark. and good.#(it was also professionally published in a work specifically about retellings though)
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https://www.tumblr.com/damnfandomproblems/757278270125424640/fandom-problem-5375-when-people-think-its?source=share
Im 20 and about to start my first job lol i do worry about having less time for fandom but i know it won't be any different than when i was in school.
Idk how kids could seriously think adults dont have interests in fiction, but maybe im used to it because my mom loves fantasy novels and even plays a lot of video games. Hell im watching her do maps in ffxiv right now as i write this. And shes 50! She also gotten into a lot of kpop stuff especially stray kids, and ever since she found out about ao3 its all she reads right now. Yeah even the abo fics lol. Shes constantly """complaining""" about how long it takes for her fav stories to update lmao.
My sisters are all really into anime and stuff too. My eldest sibling even runs dnd campaigns.
So yeah while i worry about having less time for it, i cant imagine giving it all up just because i turned a certain age or got a job.
Perhaps these kids adopted their parents attitudes about life and adulthood because their parents are miserable and don't have any hobbies and their whole life revolves around their work and kids. We've never been comfortable financially, especially after my dad passed 10+ yrs ago, but even my mom makes time for what she enjoys.
Posting as a response to a previous problem.
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What would each CC characters podcasts be about
THE QUESTION EVER!!!!!! I have developed this au so far and I love talking about it. I am going to put a cut after the background info because im going to be so annoying
So, for background, they all work for a little podcast network known in my heart as 'Bogs Hollow FM' (BHFM) <3. It was founded by Ragweed and The Narrator (David)* after their podcast was so successful that they could afford to not only expand their podcast but acquire others and fund some new ones!
*Note: I know that this mixes the two layers of fiction that we are given in CC. I know that the Narrator and Ragweed don't actually know the main characters. I know the characters are played by The Players. I know the story in CC is mostly fiction. This is just me having fun <3 Im just saying this because I would argue with myself over this.
but anyway!!! talk about the podcasts below the cut because this shit is LONG (i know you didnt ask for all the lore but i like talking)
Starting with the one that started it all, Ragweed and David have a weekly podcast called The Woodblock (this is one of the few names I'm sure of). It is just general news/guys talking. It got popular fast and good on them. It's become a huge production and most of the audience just shitposts about how they seemingly get divorced every episode. Ragweed's real name isn't Ragweed, but he refuses to tell anyone what his real name is.
Then, when The Woodblock became so successful, and they started BHFM, they acquired 3 other podcasts that were already successful in their own right and gave them increased funding.
First, The Prince (Nicholas) has a podcast which is essentially a painful rehash of alpha-male podcasts. But it did not find it's intended audience... Now it's essentially got the worlds queerest audience that just makes fun of him, but he does not notice. People assume it's a parody. It was originally just him, until he bullied Tadius into being his cohost but that's a story for another day
Then, Ella has an audience helpline podcast where she just answers questions and does general self-help/wellbeing content. We love a girl working through her trauma and helping others at the same time. She doesn't have a cohost but occasionally invites Lucy and Justine on, but they don't take things seriously enough. It is her sanctuary, and she wants to keep it as just hers. The last podcast they acquired was The Stepmother's podcast which is just an aggressive drama podcast, tragically the only way I can explain the energy is Frenemies meets Drama Alert, and I hope that gives you an idea of how horrific the energy is. Putrice and Rancilda are frequently their as well.
But when they acquired those 3, they also got handed some spin-off podcasts (which i dont have much to say about):
Rancilda has a daily riddles podcast that she is "hiding" from her stepmother (she isn't, its call "ranciriddles"). She has an audience suggested riddle every week.
Putrice has a more lowkey gossip podcast because she wants to be just like her mother but its way less toxic and tbh it's a good time.
Lucy and Justine have like a fun little sleepover style podcast, they just play games and talk and have a good time. They once did a whole episode reading fanfic about The Prince and Tadius just to fuck with them.
Crumb and Sir Hop-a-Lot (real names Chris and Harold <3) have a motivational/workout podcast, they are just the world's most chaotic duo, no one really understands what their podcast is trying to be.
The Fairy Queen has a daily affirmations podcast that she films at 3am. No one knows her real name. No one knows who she is.
and then lastly, they have a group dnd podcast run by David with the exact plot to Cinderella's Castle. It's a mess.
and that's a basic rundown of all the podcasts. There has been a lot of drama between them all including the aforementioned fanfic beef, the several times Tadius has been locked in a storage cupboard and why the Fairy Queen records at 3am but that's a post for another day.
#cinderellas castle spoilers#cc spoilers#cinderella’s castle spoilers#cinderellas castle#CC Podcaster AU
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Hc's of the ST boys
Includes: Billy hargrove, Jonathan Byers, Eddie Munson. (I did Steve in a different post I think)
If you dont agree with me, cope.
Billy hargrove
Man is a closeted home of sexual.
It's gotten to the point where he rejects anything remotely gay just so people dont get any suspicious.
He loves Queen but wont admit it.
Definitely has a skin care routine.
(Drop the routine shawty)
Has never had to deal with zits or acne ever in his life.
He has been hunting once and he fucking hated it
He wants another Tattoo but he wont get one while living with Neil because the first time Neil blew up on him.
Treats his car better the anything else.
Def a cat person.
Hes a big spoon. He likes to be the one holding his partner close.
Likes to listen to music while he cuddles.
His love language is words of affirmation and physical affection.
He walks with his arm around his partner at all times. Wether it be around their waist or shoulders, or what not.
Hates giving gifts. He hates the struggle of trying to figure out what people want. Christmas is hell for him.
Hes a horror movie enjoyer.
Though he plays Basketball, he also really likes baseball.
Hates coffee shops for some reson.
Hes scared of clowns.
If there is a clown running at him, he would throw his partner in the way so he could get away.
He has a major sweet tooth. He loves chocolate.
He wants kids but gets really anxious at the thought because he dosnt want to become Neil.
Probably has a conceal carry license.
Has the high score on one of the arcade games that max frequents. No one can beat it.
Max gave him a surfboard shaped skateboard and he put it up on his wall.
He tried skating once and fell and hit his chin on this side of the road.
He never tried skating after that.
We all know that Billy skips. The school has to call home every time a student skips. So he rushes home and picks up the phone before his dad finds out.
Hes never in class but he is ace-ing all his classes.
He would definitely like Game Of Thrones.
Gets stoned every weekend with Eddie.
Jonathan Byers
He tried to play DnD with his broth once but he just couldn't understand the game.
He played a half-orc bard though.
Hes a great cook and he loves cook for others.
Can we just all admit Jonathan is a great father figure. I mean, we all know Steve is the mom, but come on.
Unlike Billy, he loves Gift Giving. Especially foods and sweets.
Valentines with him in spectacular. He treats you like a prince/princess/royal.
Is not a big reader. He will read if he has to but he rather not.
Has said "I dont know how to read." Before.
He likes the rain. Like, really likes the rain. He likes how calming it is.
He is one dehydrated bitch.
Because he is dehydrated he has to deal with all the consequences. Dry skin, chapped lips, headache, ache, so on and so on.
Because his lips are so chapped, he also has a major problem of licking them raw.
He likes to spend money on his partner but not himself. Even though he dosnt have a lot of money, he still get meaningful gifts.
Maybe he should teach Billy how to give gifts.
He believes is Ghots, Witches, and other stuff. After everything hes seen, he basically believes everything.
Love language is gift giving and physical affection.
He likes to have his partners head on his chest while they cuddle.
A very important part of being in a relationship to him is being able to play with someones hair while they cuddle.
Also likes listening to music while cuddling.
Shit as Spanish. RIP his grade.
He can sleep anywhere. His bed, class, the car, movie theater.
He just sleeps a lot.
He fell asleep while playing DnD by accident.
Probably has a pillow and a blanket in the back seat of his car.
Also probably carrys a med kit on the back of his car now.
Seems like the type to name his car. Probably dickTurbon or something like that.
Definitely likes Steely Dan.
Gets high with Billy and Eddie on friday nights.
I personally reject season 4 Johnathan so take that as you will.
Eddie Munson
A class fruity. Not sure what flavor but his is.
Has probably played some kind of classical instrument. Cello most likely.
If he did, he quit about a year or two in.
Shit in school as we all know.
Only really was good at English. He loves reading.
He likes reading to his partners. Especially while he cuddles with them.
He likes to have them resting on his chest as he reads them Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit, other nerdy books.
He loves subs.
"The world can suck a egg!"
He loves to dance shimmy and shake.
Definitely would loved video games like RDR2, skyrim, the Sims, all that jazz.
Can not stand horror movies. Cant do zombies, slashers, thrillers, nothing. Can do it. Not at all.
He can only really stand Halloween.
Infact, he really likes Halloween.
His love language is words of affirmation and gifts.
Just like Jonathan, hes also really good at gifting.
Great listener (even if he dosnt seem like it) it's one of the main resons hes good at gift giving.
Number one gift to give is mixtapes. Obviously.
#steve harrington x gn!reader#steve stranger things#steve harrington x yn#steve harrington#steve harrington x fem!reader#steve harrington x fem#steve harrington hc#steve harrington x male reader#steve harrington x reader#steanger things#eddie stranger things#eddie munson x y/n#eddie munson fanfic#eddie munson st#eddie munson x female reader#eddie munson#eddie munson x male reader#eddie munson hc#johnathan byers#johnathan st#johnathan byers x reader#johnathan byers hc#Johnathan byers x male reader
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Could you give us a brief run down on each of your campaigns/characters?
i thought about drawing for this ask too! but you can just go to my tags if you want to see these guys fkdhfkd
Wendell Tinselfoot is my current pc. he’s a conjuration wizard and he’s traveling along with fellow pcs Danris, Orlyn, and Harper to eventually visit the faewild via a portal we opened up in Barovia in our previous game where i played…
Blythe of Silverymoon, my nb changeling rogue. this was curse of strahd! with just a good sprinkling of dm creativity on top. blythe adventured with Danris and Orlyn but also Magnus. both magnus and blythe left the party to settle down in their own lives after the game ended :)
Elna Rhomdein is my unseelie fae rogue. she’s very short and very mean, like a crusty old dog. her game is on indefinite hiatus but i would love to play her again. in her game she traveled with Ren and Humplebumple to deliver a boyking back to calimport
The Lone Desolator is my newest pc! she is a human monk/fighter and i dont want to get into her backstory yet but it’s one of my favs ive written. it just feels very good as a start to a character but leaves a lot of room for growth. she’s in a party with Thrash, Ren (yes same one elna traveled with), and Del and they were hired to steal something of great importance for Wendell’s party: Danris’s soul coin!
those are all the main ones! of course i draw random ones here and there too but this is like my dnd pc cliffnotes anyway. thank you for the opportunity to talk about all of them, i always love to do that
EDIT much later: I now have backstories for 3/4 of these guys! Elna, I'll get you done one day:
Wendell's backstory Blythe's backstory The Lone Desolator's backstory
#dnd#wendell#blythe#elna#the lone desolator#thx for new pinned post material hehe#lets go to the faewild campaign#curse of strahd#small medium large campaign#soul coin heist campaign
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