#i love playing dnd. and i love the game that i run. i dont love running dnd.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

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

[psychhound]

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

[moeblob]

Huevember 22

Brent, the most expressive bard to ever bard.

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

My gf is the GM of a cool little ttrpg group I'm in, but she's been busy this week and the session was going to be cancelled

I couldn't deal with losing the weekly game night, so I asked if I could GM a "beach episode" (which ended up being a holiday episode actually since I've now written it)

I've never been a GM before. I want to, desperately, but it's daunting. So I figured a holiday episode would be a really good start!

It's two days before the session. I've never been a GM. Never planned a session. I got the idea while procrastinating my job and immediately asked my gf if I could. I didn't think it through.

Consequences of my actions

But I actually kind of wrote down what I want to do and it's been very fun, and I have another day to finalize this plan

[pagesofkenna]

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

[real-fire-emblem-takes]

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

.

[manicplank]

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.

[rxsolvx]

//gonna briefly bitch about something compeltely unrelated to anything lmao

one of my biggest hobbies is ttrpg and usually DnD - I'm a DM so I run 99.9% of games I play (i've probably played less than 10 sessions as a player). As a DM I know dnd quite well and also as a DM i'm desperate to play as a player

so a friend offered to run a game (after... abandoning the first game they tried to run for me and others after a session). A oneshot heist inspired by arcane and dishonoured setting vibes. And for oneshots, theyre usually less energy and usually predesigned/prewritten before players get involved. And I know this person is... a bit unreliable and difficult to communicate with so I consider this a 'design a basic character whos fun to play but you dont care if they never get used' type of thing (for context they pitched this in november last year to 'play soon' and im playing it next weekend, feb. honestly impressed its happening at all)

But all the info they give is. 'Arcane vibes heist.' they keep asking for a full backstory. There is no setting, they want to build the settings around our backstories. But how can I make a backstory if I know literally nothing about the game setting. I manage to make the most... adaptable could fit in literally any setting. i give that to them. i still dont know anything about the setting. i still dont know anything about the game or what the heist job is for or anything. they never tell me anything when i ask

out of nowhere they ask what type of heist archetype character me and my partner are making. ive never actually seen a heist movie; and also they did not ask us to align with archetypes. i just made a fucked up wizard. i made a dnd character, because we're playing dnd.

and the really funny thing is that i own a different ttrpg that i love with a prebuilt setting that would suit the arcane theme, that is built literally for doing heists and crime jobs, thats builds are based around archetypes and is meant for oneshots. its literally everything they want and its one of my favourite games but i wont be mentioning it because again, i already knew this was going to be a clusterfuck and i was emotionally checked out the second they pitched it

anyway.

imagine ffxvi sleipnir, ffvii rufus and arcane viktor fused into one asshole with gravity powers and thats my fuckass wizard

[same-pic-rick-roll]

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.

[utilitycaster]

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.

[pwnyta]

Speaking of DnD characters... I did draw my lil guys that I dont think I ever posted and I created a lot more characters since then (Coin has an entire team and they all have family & stories lol).

Stories under the cut!-

Steve was my first DnD OC I made for a friend who wanted to play with us (useless hos who didnt know anything about the game). I dont remember much about him TBH. Im assuming he was a flirty dumbass.

---

Dust an Undead Long Death Monk who was my second DnD OC made for literally the exact same reason except we didnt get any where with it. LMAO. I also dont remember much about him except he hated mages (except one).

---

Coin (Azriel Kim) is a Swashbuckler Rogue. The youngest son of a noble family who made a deal with a devil to gain their wealth. As a consequence their baby was born a Tiefling and they decided to hide him away from the world to save face as the city they lived in was VERY superstitious and religious.

Coin as a young boy stayed in a windowless room in their mansion, not even being able to see his siblings and while he was not treated cruelly by his parents they did start to neglect him as the years went by and he could start doing things like eat/bathe/etc by himself. He loved his 'fairytale' books and wondered what it would be like to go to the worlds outside and eventually sneaked out of his room and found a window to see the world from his books looked very similar and is struck with a wanderlust.

His mother caught him and told him he couldnt do this anymore because he had a 'condition' that made it so if he left his room for too long his skin would burn and his tail would shrivel and his fangs would fall out (etc) and he is very thankful for the warning and stays in his room for a few more years.

Until one day his elder brother got into an argument with their parents. Angry that they could never go anywhere and since they had a diseased baby they didnt even have servants anymore so they were mostly stuck in their lame home all the time. Which leads to the parents discussing things amongst themselves which Coin overhears. He learns the real reason why he's been locked away was to save face and decides to run away. If what his mother said about his 'condition' was really a lie, things would be fine. He could go off on an adventure like he always wanted... but if not and he dies well... either way his family would be free of him. He leaves a note and sneaks away in the night.

Of course nothing happens cuz hes just a regular Tiefling. The first group he joins wanted the map he had of some cave that supposedly had treasure but after a string of bad luck they start to blame the little Hellspawn which results in them turning on him. Coin isnt much of a fighter so loses badly, losing his fangs that they pull out trying to get him to admit to sabotaging him and almost having the end of his tail bitten off.

He starts fixing himself with the gold he earns in his travels. Replacing his fangs with gold ones and covering the scar on his tail with a band. Whenever he gets injured he keeps doing this. Rings on his fingers, piercings, necklaces, tattoos, etc (a reference to kintsukuroi). He also starts memorizing maps and other things to protect himself from people would otherwise just rob him since hes not a particularly good fighter.

He meets his next group while theyre trying to find a way through a cave system he knows very well and injects himself into their conversation and offers his services. They hire him and things go without a hitch... though at the end of their first adventure together Coin just leaves them- but he eventually comes back for a steady job... and then a steady family.

(Little does he know one of his actual family(his older brother Ardit*) did go to search for him... (he finds out later after an INCIDENT))

*Both Coins siblings are named after gold. Ardit and Gilda... he only noticed some time later which is part of the reason he changes his name to Coin. Since thats what his family seems to value most... he seems to have inherited that from them too.

A super rough idea for the GANG. The pic is small and illegible on purpose jsyk.

Wicke a Drow/Wood Elf Phantom Rogue whos Drow father kidnapped her older sister to earn some favor with his original clan. She doesnt actually know that, her mother never told her, but she figures it out when her sister shows up (as an enemy). Shes joins the group on and off at the start after they help her fight her sister for the first time. She grows close to Talia and eventually stays in the group for her before really growing fond of the others.

Talia Shea a Halfling Light Cleric who had a pretty normal childhood until her village was attacked and one of her dads was killed. She trained to be a warrior to protect her village and once it was secure she went off to protect others. She gets brought into the group from Dante who she befriends in her travels.

Xander Hertz a Human Devotion Paladin who was a guard for a city that was attacked by dragons. The city was completely leveled killing (what he thinks) is his entire family (wife, son, father, cousin) as well as most of the people in the city and is forced to flee. On his way out he finds a young boy who lost his family too and decides to take him to safety. the only thing keeping him going after losing everything is the hope he could find the boys other relatives and when that doesnt work... he just kinda adopts and trains the boy, sort of gaining another son.

Dante Papadopoulos is a Human(perhaps) Evocation Wizard who was raised by his grandmother (who is probably not a Hag) after she died under mysterious circumstances he decided living in an isolated cabin in the middle of swampy woods really wasnt for him so he dipped. Hes very dedicated to studying all sorts of magic and eventually notices he doesnt seem to be aging past a certain point, which is why he grows out his hair/beard to disguise his weird aging. Hes friends with Talia before the rest of the group... she calls him 'Papa' which he hates and has noticed his weird aging but says nothing except to make fun of his dumb beard.

Olivier Ricci is a Half-Elf Eloquence Bard who was from the same city as Xander, losing his family but gaining a new 'brother'. Hes a mostly cheerful, fun-loving type and tries very hard to keep up the positive vibes which can be hard when Xander is such a stern and melancholic kinda guy. Hes quite happy when they find Talia and Dante and help them and eventually join into a bigger group. (not that it helps Xander be less of a worrywart... Olivier would just like some independence now that hes a grown adult man DAD(he would never call Xander dad but thats the vibe)). The guitar he carries was his fathers, it was broken in the attack but Xander had it fixed for him.

Eric Straight is a Human Aberrant Mind Sorcerer whos mother, father (who were famous mages) and twin brother were murdered. Since he was the only survivor of the massacre and was unharmed and 'couldnt remember what happened' it was assumed HE killed them. There was no evidence to suggest anyone else and his older sister has never forgiven him... he wants to find out what really happened and clear his name (if he can, sometimes he thinks maybe he DID kill them but he just cant figure out why he would). His sister wont talk to him but her wife will thinking its kinda suspicious that a boy that young could kill two highly trained wizards... shes the middleman of communication between the siblings.

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LMAO... none of my other characters are that much....

Caligo Zephyrsend is a very particular Owlin(based on a melanistic Barn owl) Grave Cleric with a real love and interest in the life/death cycle of all things. People often pronounce his name incorrectly calling him Zephyrs End which sounds very ominous and not his name! Please. He politely corrects people every time. He only LOOKS spooky and has some spooky interests.

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Bumble is a Plasmoid/Goblin Shepherd Druid who was just a little blob of goop creature until a Witch found and raised her. Teaching her to be a proper lady... tho Bumble doesnt speak common very well and not very often she is very polite. The shell she has is a modified Bag of Holding but it only holds an infinite hive of BEES. Though she is very sweet (personality!) and looks like honey... blease do not try to eat her she does not taste good. Shes lived in swamp water most of her life.

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.... I dont feel like writing anymore you can find my other characters in the tag LOL.

[damnfandomproblems]

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.

[tnoy-keraxis]

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.

[kotoneshiomiofficial]

this may sound controversial, but as a dm and player, i fully believe that if you're playing at a table for any game (but im mostly talking about dnd, particularly online culture's idea of dnd and how it should be played) for longer than like 2 weeks, you should have read the core book front to back and should own a copy of it (digital pdfs "acquired" online very much included). i do not think it is the responsibility of the GM to fill in the holes left by the designers, nor is it my duty to explain like 300 pages worth of rules to someone who wants to play this game with me but wont commit to a few nights of reading. the difference is, one of those problems is fixable. i know nobody likes homework, but its not fair to me to spend hours writing and designing a cool dungeon or boss encounter only for the session to stall because i have to explain how initiative works for the 3rd time tonight because im the only one who actually read the rules.

in the same vein, i also think that anyone who can figure out how to play a character in an rpg can figure out how to run a game. the solution to GM burnout and a "lack of GMs" is to run a game for your GM. every week or so, switch campaigns, so your GM doesnt get stuck in the Forever GM role and never get to be a player. its not actually hard to get a campaign started, you just need a couple villages, a larger town, a big city further away, and a villain who's threatening it. you dont need 400 pages of worldbuilding behind the scenes, you dont need to know the 1000 year history of your world. start small, with an interesting conflict, and take it from there.

and i really need to stress, im making this post because i know people love making player characters. im right there with you, what i want you to do is realize that your GM very probably also likes that and wants to play as a PC too. you do not have to live up to critical role worldbuilding to make a world to play in. hell, you dont even have to do that. there are plenty of beloved settings already written for you to make your own story in. grayhawk, ebberon, or even dark sun if your table is down for it. i want to encourage more people to GM because its very frustrating wanting to play but not being able to because everyone else says "oh i could never DM". 99% odds say you *can* do it, just start small and dont be judgemental to yourself or others. i want to tell your character's story in my world, but i also want to tell my character's story in your world.

[2bit-sunshine]

I figured id toss a pinned post for folks to get to know me a bit. So hi! Im danny, or 2bit or that silly guy over there liking all your memes and selfies. This blog is my personal but another blog i run is @favoredsouls where i reblog religious type character art for dnd clerics, paladins and chosen one type vibes.

I like to most share memes here but also reblog neat art i find with the #art tag. None of it is mine i just like to share amd safekeep neat stuff. I also love aesthetic or #atmosphere stuff with rain, ocean, storms, clouds and sunsets.

You'll find my personal thoughts with #personal and #my face thing has selfies and pictures of me. #shilo posting or #shilo time also has pictures of my pitbull angel Shilo. Shes my sunshine and i love her and you are observing a photo of her now

This was the most recent one i had of her so you are now blessed by the Angel of my Heart.

I do reblog naughty stuff some times but dont tag it as such because i dont trust tumblr to not slap pixels on my face. So theres a heads up. You might see semi or fully naked people or such and such.

I used to not care about sharing much about myself when i started this blog in 2013? 2014? Ive been here ten years dear gods-

Anyway to talk more about me I am a guy with a love of games, beautiful things and people as well as lore of games you may never play. I also like to write and world build in my spare time and might share more of that stuff soon! I love to make maps of the fantasy world persausion.

Ignore the overwatch tag those days are behind me i promise. Cass and gabriel are still hotties though.

Finally a picture of me so you have a face to the 2bit moniker i have used since high school.

[ramabear]

WIP folder game

I saw @eidelvyd and @duplicitywrites post this and decided I wanted to participate as well. I'm only listing unposted WIPs for this (i dont want this list to get too long) but if you want to ask about the others that are posted, go ahead

most of these fics are either tomarry or harrymort in some capacity unless explicitly mentioned.

these are the ones on my "Rabbit Warren" document, aka: the smaller wips i poke at until i have to move them to their own document

Accidental Heir - my Tom/Lily 1980s fic bc i fuckin love this rarepair too much and have read pretty much everything about them posted already

Dungeons and Death Eaters - Harry learns how to be a "proper wizard" from a handful of kids in his neighborhood playing DnD

Just a Blade - twin!harry au, Harry lives in the shadow of his hero brother and catches the attention of Professor Riddle right from the start

Aberration - Obscural-Horcrux harry who is out of control, until Voldemort discovers him [actually a prompt from Penrot that i've saved]

War Ravaged - Post-nuclear war Harry steps back in time and stumbles upon 13 yr old Tom Riddle, and he decides, well, why not tell the boy about the future? Tom Riddle is not impressed with the future.

Love potion soulmate AU - Harry gets expelled his last semester of Hogwarts because he's accused of making amortentia--a potion made illegal by Minister Riddle. Years later, Tom runs into his soulmate who is living in the muggle world.

Timetravel Omegaverse- inspired by a comment and a partial fic i read once: Harry accidentally gets sprung back in time via the diary and meets Tom. He decides they're friends and Tom thinks that having the new Potter heir in his back pocket just might get him past the roadblocks put up in front of him because of his secondary gender

Transplant - Tom's closing up shop at Borgin's shop when a kid flops out of the fireplace and onto the floor. clearly, this is a floo accident.

Eldest Sister Heather Dursley - Tom helps Heather get revenge

Blind Loyalty - Variant of Just a blade, but darker. one or the other of these two WIPs will win out. probably

Single Father of One (1) Flour Child: Hogwarts decides to give the sixth year students a little magically animated doll for six weeks. Harry ends up taking care of his own his own and after the six weeks are up, refuses to give up his little Tommy.

Accidental Father - Tom returns home to England late November first, only to wake up to his wards being interrupted by an unusual delivery: a one year old orphan has been left on his doorstep with a note saying that they're related

Spider boy: Harry grows up with just one friend: Anne, the spider that lives with him in his cupboard.

and then from my actual unposted folder

(he's a) Maneater -- Non-BWL!Harry: he learns his animagus form early from his godfather Sirius and uses it to ...dispose of the sorts of people who make Hogwarts a miserable place. (a Theo/Harry fic, most likely)

Henry and Clover - fem!twin!Harry, left to live with her muggle relatives discovers that she has a family--one who really should have paid better attention to her, even if they didn't give her the love and care they gave to her twin brother (Theo/harry fic)

One Door Open - the Floo system is inexplicably failing and the Ministry decides to ask Former Dark Lord Voldemort to find out why. He agrees, but with the caveat that Harry Potter will be his new jailer. (not a ship fic, for reasons)

Wretched AU - theres so much shit that goes on in this one i honestly couldnt even put it all in a single line. basically its what it says on the tin: Harry has a Wretched time.

You're OK (I'm not OK) - a soulmate au where the marks shared between V and Harry are the lies your soulmate tells

Parental Return - in the graveyard, Harry, somehow, accidentally brings his parents (and cedric) back at the age that they were before they died. Having parents doesn't go exactly as Harry expected it would

Unspeakable Parentage - during the fight at the MoM, two unspeakables come to Harry's aid against Voldemort and later reveal that they are not from this world (tom/lily fic)

dear fucking god i forget how long these lists can be. what am i even doing.

i even omitted any nonHP works (of which there are Several) and even also omitted at least one sequel (EE's wedding fic) and a handful of others that i just dont wanna put on the list.

no wonder i have decision paralysis when i sit down to write lmao

i won't tag anyone, but if you get the itch to do this from me, go ahead and tag me cause why not? i'd love to see your WIP list