#i really love these character and the relationships between them and the pc :(

[thecheshirerat]

On TAZ-

Wow that sounds like I’m about to summarize some sort of discourse but I promise I’m not. I guess I’ll say that I really like this show and I will keep listening even if my worst fears come to pass, so keep that in mind!

For reference, I started listening near the end of Amnesty.

I’ve noticed, with the past few arcs- really since Ethersea- the narratives have just… not been fulfilling their promises, so to speak. They’ve been placing a lot of guns that don’t go off. What I mean by that is, the characters are great. Excellent, really. Lady Godwin? HELL YES. Emerich Dreadway? Fuck yeah! And so on! And the settings and premises have been epic- the goofiness and also horrifying nature of Engrave, the mad and thrilling world of Steeplechase- these things are COOL AS FUCK.

and then the actual narratives keep flopping?

And honestly, I notice it most in the endings, because you can really tell when an ending doesn’t land. You feel the sense of disappointment. But with vs. Dracula, for example, I could kinda see leading up to it that the ending couldn’t really BE anything special, because they lowkey didn’t set themselves up for it.

They spent the campaign fucking around in Engrave, finding clues and solving problems and not really experiencing any particularly meaningful character arcs or growth or, idk, forming relationships? So there wasn’t much to pay off, I’m not gonna lie!

Of course it doesn’t feel quite as dissatisfying when you’re in the thick of it, because they’re funny and the stuff is cool and- oh hey! Lady Godwin’s been turned into a werehorse against her will?? that’s got some real potential for a LOT of allegories and exploration of some fun character development! And then it’s kinda played as a joke. And then they do that again and again.

And they actually said that that was a move they made intentionally, in the TTAZZ. I’m not quoting them perfectly here, this is from memory, but I do remember them mentioning that they wanted lighthearted comedy without the burden of real life story stuff. And I get that, honestly, but… it’s not the choice I would’ve made. I do think you can keep a lighthearted tone while also, idk, forming relationships and wholesomely engaging with some amount of emotion. And sometimes going way too deep is funny as a tone shift!

But I digress. One thing that’s also popped out to me is the almost complete lack of any kind of romantic storyline or even references. This becomes obvious if you’re in a fandom because everyone is always dying to ship SOMEONE, and you can tell when people are really getting desperate. I don’t blame them for not wanting to roleplay romance with their family, and I do think stories lacking romance are COOL and SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED!

However if you can’t find ANYBODY to ship together… that may mean you just don’t have character bonds. The growing popularity of the PC polycule is interesting to me; I wonder if it’s partially because

a) none of the pcs have significant relationships outside of their party and

b) even within the party, there doesn’t seem to be much chemistry between any given pair of characters…? I hope I’m making my point well here- the PCs all seem equally close and have more or less the same relationship to all of their compatriots with little distinction, meaning, essentially, no shipping fodder that doesn’t involve just all of ‘em.

Either way, it makes me wonder if I can blame the “Graduation has too many NPCs!” critique. They really stopped giving the parties tag-along main NPCs after graduation, with the exception of maybe.. Urchin? Kodira? Shlabethany? Poppy? and even they get relatively little “screen” time. Steeplechase has great NPCs, I love them to death, but none of the PCs seem to ever have one on one conversations with NPCs or each other that do not explicitly focus on the plot. And I think that’s part of why the characters feel so underdeveloped despite having spent a lot of time with them- because in this character-driven genre, we get very little insight into their feelings or motivations or even their rudimentary backstories.

I started watching Fantasy High recently and it made me realize a couple things about TAZ.

1) Recently, TAZ has sooo few core NPCs, and it’s weird that the characters aren’t doing more one-on-one purely character based scenes. And that makes it really tough to develop them.

2) TAZ is- and I should have realized this before- one of many good dnd podcasts. They’re probably looking for a niche they can master.

And it sounds like they’re trying to get back to that old “Here there be Gerblins!” energy. They’ve referenced it so many times in recent TTAZZes- they wanted to be job-focused, allowing story stuff to happen organically, so they tried a more open world vibe with Ethersea. They wanted to be less afraid to kill stuff, so they tried playing criminals (and were still afraid to kill stuff). They wanted to be silly and light on character, as they tackled with taz vs dracula. Now they’re trying to bring in the silly cartoon vibe with Abnimals. I think they’re trying to make that family-friendly, funny and goofy show their niche. Something other actual plays can’t be better at them at.

And honestly it kinda makes me sad, that they keep trying to go back to Balance while ignoring everything they learned during it. Because I loved Dust. Because I loved Amnesty. Because I loved Ethersea. I loved these past arcs! But they keep doing their brilliant characters dirty for some reason!!! And i don’t know why!!!!

You know that meme about people who ask questions in movies and then the person responds “Have you ever been to a movie before? You watch them and the information is revealed.” There have been so many times in TAZ recently where information has Not been revealed and if they keep doing it the audience will stop bothering to suspend their disbelief, because the trust just isn’t there.

What is Montrose’s deal? What on earth was Carmine Denton’s whole thing? Tell me more about Zoox’s feelings, about Devo’s past, about Amber’s future. Show me how Lady Godwin feels about the body horror that is her life- like, seriously! WHY DID WE HAVE TO COMPLETELY DISMISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS GENERATIONAL TRAUMA IN MUTT’S LIFE FOR A JOKE??

Do you remember in Steeplechase where the boys were getting medical attention or something- i don’t remember, but they were all in one room and only talking about The Plot. And Poppy literally banged on the door (speaking for both Justin and me, tbh) and was like “does anyone want to share any feeeeelings??” and they were like NOPE! and they moved on!!

like. cmon. you can’t just put a character like montrose out there and then leave them severely underdeveloped to the point that what would be interesting in proper context, with audience insight, becomes confusing and chaotic.

I just wish they would take their stories as seriously as we do.

It feels to me like they don’t believe in themselves, and it makes me sad. Maybe they didn’t get the response they wanted from Ethersea and so they’ve been trying to pivot, hoping to recapture whatever it was that earned them a loyal audience.

Again, I love them. They’re so funny and I’ll keep listening until the day they stop making this show, and when it happens I’ll cry.

But i KNOW they have more in them. Remember the “we’ll grow gills” monologue from Justin in the Prologues? Remember Travis’s SOLID acting with Devo? Or his awesome choice to give Lyndon/Beef a clearly delineated work/irl identity? His excellent narration and prose? Remember when Montrose described being lonely?! Remember all those moments where Shit Got Real and you cared??? The nanofather said some dope shit! dracula and victor and sweater dracula had such a wild dynamic! Clint’s acting in Dust 2- I can’t remember the characters name right now- was ASTOUNDING, I genuinely didn’t know he had that in him and it blew me away!

I’m not referencing Balance on purpose, both because the fandom is way to hung up on it and because I want to prove that you don’t even have to look at Balance, or even Post-Balance arcs, to see this kind of good cool stuff!

GAAAAAAAGHHHH!!! I want them to have fun. But also. We’re starving out here.

[utilitycaster]

Do you think this episode is so boring because they brought back the Nein and reminded us how good they are? I keep thinking about this as I'm absently watching this episode, saw your post and would love to hear your thoughts on it. Because like, at least to me, most villains this campaign are painfully boring. But the Weave Mind are also boring. That was fine, M9 handled it perfectly and I loved it. Ludinus is arguably the only kinda interesting bad guy and a PC's mom is in mortal danger and I can't manage to care.

I don't find Ludinus and the Weave Mind boring! I don't find Liliana boring either! And I found Ozo Cruth and Otohan Thull DREADFULLY boring but actually, the fights with them are pretty fucking great. I mean, I have a LOT of criticism about the first Otohan fight that boils down to "this was EXCEPTIONALLY poorly signaled and I'd be PISSED if my character was killed for someone else's arc at this point in the story" but Otohan being boring is about the non-combat elements; she felt very real and compelling as a THREAT, just, she could have been a giant blender of magic knives that the party was going to be dumped in for all she had an impact on the story as a person. But I do think it is because we've seen the Mighty Nein and Vox Machina recently and remembered that they're orders of magnitude more compelling.

I think it's really like...I don't even want to say Bells Hells isn't bonded, but they lack something. I think I alluded to it in the tags of one of my posts but there's no banter between party members or sense of urgency. Like, I enjoyed the whole All-Minds-Burn/Myceit scenes a lot, actually, but after Imogen's initial (justified) panic the pacing felt unbelievably slow until we got to combat. I have found that really, for a good deal of the campaign, you have to kind of take things episode by episode and enjoy the good set pieces and scenes because it simply does not make for a pleasing and rewarding whole. The reason I didn't care about Liliana is, to be fair, partly because I think having her die would be an interesting development, but also because there wasn't a sense of "we can't stop and fuck around with mushrooms, LILIANA IS DYING" within the episode itself. No one was comforting Imogen as they ran through the tunnels. The Mighty Nein showed more personality and investment in the lead up to a fight that really, they had no more stake in other than the broad world-ending ones. As someone who's been playing a LOT of Veilguard which is all about building a close-knit team, and who's had VM and the Nein the past month to compare Bells Hells with, that lack is immediately apparent.

I said, over a year ago (possibly over two, I don't recall) now about one of the relationships in the campaign that it felt like when I see a single episode from a soap opera I don't follow. The actors are imbuing lines with emotion, but everything feels kind of disconnected. Like, this is all in a deeply subjective realm, I cannot give you a strong argument based on logic here as it's very much vibes-based, but I feel like when I watched this, my thought process was "BAFTA-winning Actor Laura Bailey is doing an excellent job of conveying the emotions 'terror and anguish over a dying relative' in this line read, and not "Imogen Temult, a character I've been familiar with since October 2021, is devastated over the potential demise of her mother.' " And I never had that issue with C1 and C2. Like, you can call it je ne sais quoi or the juice or the sauce or chemistry or the spark or whatever the fuck but Campaign 3/Bells Hells simply doesn't seem to have it for a huge number of people who have adored pretty much every other Critical Role work, and that means something. My personal thought is that it's because this has been such a plot-focused campaign without strong DM prepping of what kind of characters would be appropriately invested that we've had the problems we did (rampant indecision, lack of party chemistry due to lack of early opportunities to mingle and meld, lack of investment in each others' lives due to insufficient time focused on backstory-related plotlines), but I could be wrong, and ultimately the root cause isn't super important to this question, which is just. they don't have the it factor.

[heliza24]

Wow, so much happened and got set up in that episode! I really liked how layers and stakes were added to each PC’s conflict, in a way that made them more complicated than we could have predicted after last week’s ep. There was really an unexpected twist for each character. Adaine’s economic conflict (and by extension, conflict around whether she trusts Aelwyn or Jawbone or neither to help) now has huge consequences for her grades, which she values highly and seemed like a thing that would never be in question. Fig now has an artistic rival, who is challenging her cool kid status and confidence. We knew she had academic trouble, but her standing as a rockstar didn’t seem in doubt— but now it is. We anticipated that Fabian would be dealing with some degree of neglect, but that he would take advantage of his empty house to party (and to maybe get some kisses in, his new crush is so cute) until his teacher specifically tells him that won’t be allowed. We anticipated Gorgug having difficulty balancing his majors, but we didn’t expect him to be barred from multiclassing at all, and possibly being forced to pick between the class gifted to him by his biological versus adopted parents. We knew Riz was going to be stressed about keeping the group together, but we didn’t know he was going to be handed a whole rival adventuring party in the form of the Rat Grinders, and that conversation with Jawbone once again highlighted how much he is refusing to be vulnerable about how difficult this year is really going to be. We knew that Kristen needed to get her academics and relationship with Cassandra sorted, but we (or at least I!) didn’t expect to see her parents and to have her brother back in her orbit at school. (I really loved that scene.)

And of course the biggest surprise, for us and the PCs I would imagine— Kalina is back! I am *fascinated* by this choice. I think it’s another example of Brennan bucking the traditional adventure story format- once you defeat a villain they’re supposed to stay dead. So I’m really interested in how he’s going to weave her in to this story. What’s her purpose when she’s no longer a big bad?

I do really like how all of the conflicts connect both the PC’s home life and school life, and raise questions about their blood and chosen families. I think the most challenging thing about this season— especially if no big bad, driving quest emerges— will be making the whole thing feel thematically cohesive. Even if each of the bad kids are on their own arc, I want to feel like their stories complement and illuminate each other. That feels like a pretty big challenge with all that’s being set up, but I think they can definitely pull it off. I’m excited to see what unfolds next!

[theresattrpgforthat]

Character Friction: On “Asshole Characters”, or Shitty Little Guys.

A while ago I floated a few thoughts I had about “asshole” characters in the Indy TTRPGs community. I floated these questions because I had been listening to this interview between Klaus von Hohenloe of The Dungeon Newb's Guide and The Panic Table. In particular, Klaus mentions that some games don’t allow for player friction, and in games where this is the case (cough D&D cough), it culminates in a horrible experience for all involved.

To illustrate, I’m going to talk about some experience I’ve had with my own play groups.

Art from Last Fleet, by Vicentius Matthew.

It might be shocking to hear, but I’ve played D&D once or twice. I remember being in a campaign with two players who wanted very different things from that game. Player A wanted to bring their character on a deep emotional journey, while Player B wanted to act as strategically as possible in pursuit of their character’s benefit, often to the detriment of other members of the party. My own character wanted to track down leads to a mystery that mattered to her, but not really to anyone else. This often led to frustrating moments where characters might not communicate as much information to the party as they might have otherwise, and in other cases one character’s actions could pull the entire party’s journey off-course.

The three of us all played together in a completely different game, three years later - Last Fleet. Let me tell you, the character interactions were completely flipped on their heads. Player A got a dramatic emotional arc around an NPC who was integral to the main plot. Player B got to pursue their own agenda, often in ways that worked against the efforts of other PCs. As the GM, I was given tools that actually encouraged both of these moments: both pushing Player A to wrestle with their relationship and implicating Player B as a suspicious person very early on.

A basic move from Last Fleet.

There are a number of reasons this worked in Last Fleet and not in D&D. One, Last Fleet playbooks often encourage players to keep secrets, work against the benefit of the crew, and fuck up their relationships with each-other. Two, Last Fleet has something called the Pressure mechanic. This is both a resource and a time bomb: you can mark Pressure to improve your chances of success, but hit your cap and your character has to do something to relieve their stress - and that choice is usually rather detrimental to the ship.

Finally, Last Fleet’s a different kind of story. You’re not playing heroic adventurers fighting monsters and clearing out dungeons. You’re playing the last desperate strains of humanity, fleeing an alien threat that has the power to infiltrate your fleet and resemble the ones you love most. Last Fleet is all about how a high-stress situation can lead people to making poor decisions, and, should you desire, it can also be about how people are sometimes forced to rely on each-other in order to get through a harrowing situation.

When I compare these situations, I don’t think we had bad players at the table: we just had the wrong kind of game for the story that the players wanted. I suppose I haven’t necessarily played enough D&D to say that it can’t allow for compelling, flawed characters - what I like to call “shitty little guys” - but I certainly don’t think it’s a play culture that accounts for the diversity of player goals.

More to the point, I find myself really drawn to playing flawed characters - both with them and for them. I love my over-perfectionist superhero in MASKS who lashes out when her friends don’t meet her standards. I adore my Thirsty Sword Lesbian who doesn’t know how to flirt or how to process emotions. I’m having so much fun watching play-testers pick up their various monsters in Protect the Child and demonstrate each character’s struggles when it comes to relating to a kid. I think it’s fascinating that in Changeling: the Lost 1e, a Fairest is rewarded with a discount when they use their Contracts of Reflection to spy on people that they love.

Contract of Reflections, Equinox Road Sourcebook, Changeling the Lost 1e.

I’ve personally seen the most leeway for character friction in PbtA games, like Apocalypse World, Urban Shadows, and Apocalypse Keys. When I brought up the question in the Community post, I asked folks for other examples of playing Shitty Little Guys. Their interpretations were really interesting, and far broader than my initial scope.

@nebmia mentioned that by giving your characters “unpleasant” abilities, it will incentivize them to use those abilities in unpleasant ways.

@goblincow has a lot of thoughts about creating little guys who aren’t just horrible, but are also in horrible situations - which gives license for the players to endanger their characters in the pursuit of mischief.

@airkseablade brought up Tenra Bansho Zero, and how it uses something called an “Emotion Matrix” to randomly determine how a player character might reaction to meeting a new person, as well as “Fates”, which are goals that each player is rewarded for playing towards, but mostly based on group consensus.

@willknightauthor talked about Wraith: (The Oblivion?), and how each archetype available to players has a part of themselves that pulls them towards darker choices.

It turns out that we really like playing characters who are mean-spirited, greedy, and struggling to get what they want, and we have a lot of different ways to make that happen. It reminds me of a common piece of advice given to writers when they’re writing a novel - you want a character who’s flawed, because those flaws can be used.

In games like Trilogy or TSL, you might want those flaws because you want to see your character overcome them. In games like Mothership or Cairn, you might want those flaws because then it makes it easier to push your guys through a meat-grinder. In games like Hillfolk or Apocalypse World, you might want those flaws because you want to see just how much well-meaning or desperate characters can fuck each-other up, given the right circumstances.

So what’s the point of all this? What am I trying to get out of this?

When I hear stories about horrible players, the experience I’ve had at my tables makes me want to approach these “trouble” players with a bit of grace. Perhaps these “trouble” players simply want something that is a challenge to provide in a game like D&D, but in Mothership, Urban Shadows, Apocalypse World etc., they might find their choices welcomed and encouraged. And if you've found yourself being accused of being a "trouble" player because you like to a cause drama, perhaps these games might be more up your alley than you think!

Consider playing a game with horrible guys who suck today!

[maleyanderecafe]

Apple for a Teacher: A Yandere Love Story (Visual Novel)

Created by: ataraxic

Genre: Horror/Romance

The screenshots on this one are a bit different because I played this game on my mac instead of my pc, so it looks a little weird on the preview. I played a previous game by this creator called Yandere Love: Chains of Fate, which features another character. This one features another character in this world, Ciel. If you've read my previous review on this series, you'll know my overall feelings about this game as well, because despite the couple of years that I haven't thought about this game, I still have the same opinions on it.

The story starts with the MC going to university. They're happy that they're finally free from their professor Ciel as they've finally passed their class. We learn that the MC really hates Ciel as he's very blunt and seems to have a vendetta against the MC. The MC was failing Ciel's class, so Ciel helped to tutor them, as the MC doesn't really know anyone else on campus. They're very happy when they find out that they're able to pass the class and don't have to deal with Ciel anymore and even more excited that they got into an elusive internship on campus. Ciel ends up asking the MC to a fancy dinner at an Italian place as a celebration of them passing their classes. The MC accepts as they want to eat at a fancy place and gets (begrudgingly) driven back to her place by his chauffeur. Ciel waits for the MC to change into more proper clothing as well as criticizes a lot of their outfits in the meantime. At some point, Ciel ends up seducing (?) the MC unintentionally and they can either go further or try to deny it.

If the MC goes further, Ciel and them will end up having sex, with Ciel even confessing that he's always loved the MC. Afterwards, however, the MC seems to be in shock about what they've done and attempts to push Ciel away.

If the MC decides to deny it and push Ciel down, Ciel will get angry and end up raping the MC, traumatizing them. The MC tries to get Ciel to leave afterwards.

Ciel, however, isn't having that as he's been looking for a partner to have children and live together with. He ends up forcing the MC to pack up and essentially kidnaps them. As the MC is forced into the car, they think about how no one will know that they're gone, as they have no family nor friends, with the only people who really would notice would be the fact that their internship might be looking for them. They end up falling asleep in the car before waking up chained to the bed. Ciel waits for them to wake up, introducing them to their new life together.

If you've read my previous review on Yandere Love: Chains of Fate, you'll probably know a lot about my criticisms with this game. The artwork and design of everything looks wonderful as always. The backgrounds, sprites and UI are all really professionally made and the music itself is pretty nice too. Unfortunately, I just don't really like the style of how this person writes too much because the relationship between the MC and the ML is usually just not fun to read (for me).

The MC of this game is different than the one in Dameon's game but instead of being pretty frankly stupid and making dumb decisions, they instead are very cynical and bitter of their position. It makes sense to a specific extent considering that Ciel loves to berate them but it does encapsulate a lot of the things I don't like about MCs in a lot of the more recent yandere vns I've played. A lot of yandere MCs tend to have this kind of cynical attitude- they dislike the job or position they're in, tend to be very grumbly about everything and don't really have any friends, and if they do have family they tend to not be on good terms with them. That in itself isn't necessarily always bad, however, it does get tiring to read. As my friend Cherry says, it's hard to really root for these types of MCs if we the audience can't even see why the yandere might be into them. I usually don't really mention this in my recommendations because the MC isn't really the main appeal of the game (and most people end up self inserting regardless), but it does get annoying when I have to go through the same type of personality over and over again. In some cases, it makes more sense as there is a bit of backstory into why this MC might act like this which is more understandable. This MC falls into a lot of the tropes of the recent MCs including the part where they find the yandere hot and bang him despite only really knowing him for a bit (and in this case also hating him, which is a whole other thing). I know there is such thing as hatesex, however, there wasn't really any indication of the MC finding Ciel attractive until right before the two of them have sex. It's also strange to me that they don't even try to fight (?) Ciel at all when he gets them to pack up their things and get in the car. It makes more sense in the route where Ciel rapes the MC, but otherwise it still feels sudden like it came out of nowhere. I would have thought there would have been at least some resistance or a proper threat that Ciel would have made. To be honest, I think this is likely also a problem with the pacing of certain choices as the MC's actions make a lot more sense if Ciel does end up raping them instead of simply just having sex with him.

Ciel is... mean, to say the least. In Dameon's case while he was usually just mean if the player chose decisions that he didn't like, Ciel is just straight up cruel. Not only does he outright insult the MC for not being able to pass his class and berates them while tutoring the MC, he also criticizes the MC's wardrobe choice when they're trying to find the right outfit for the dinner, even calling the MC a whore at one point, which I feel is super uncalled for (although kind of funny out of context), which the MC simply just... brushes off. There isn't really any indication that Ciel even likes the MC, which you could say is part of his more tsundere (well, I'd assume it would be tsundere, though we don't really see the deredere part) attitude, which makes the sudden kidnapping pretty jarring. It's hard to say why Ciel might even like the MC other than they're attractive and possibly easy to control, but the demo doesn't go far enough to tell what is going on. We do know that Ciel has a more traditional view of life, wanting to (essentially) have a "wife" and children, living together- similar to Vincent in Dead Wishes though we have yet to see the full progression of it. This type of yandere is pretty interesting as I don't really see it that often nowadays (and it is pretty cool seeing what they do to try to maintain that ideal) so hopefully in future iterations, this is shown more for the story. Still though, Ciel is very unlikable, even in terms of characters you hate to love kind of way, at least in my opinion. Besides that, he is rich and kidnaps the MC in a fairly nice place all things considered, though he's just as rude to them when they wake up. I can see people liking Ciel in a horror type of way because the game itself does do pretty well in setting up a more horror like story of being kidnapped, raped and forced to marry, but I would not at all call this a romantic type game even in the slightest even though the relationship seems to be more of a love hate one. Perhaps it might change in the future, but as of current, I'm not really buying that Ciel is in love with the MC.

So as I said, this game is not for me, however, if you did like the previous Yandere Love: Chains of Fate, then you will probably like this one as well. If any of this did interest you, then please give it a try.

[yanderes-galore]

could I request a self aware yandere arkham riddler concept? Thought It'd be neat as in arkham vr he's self aware. -💙🐛

I never played Arkham VR so in terms of plot so I listened to his voicelines and then I looked at some gameplay :)

Yandere! Arkhamverse! Self-Aware! Riddler

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Self-Aware character, Stalking (in a way), Forced companionship, Gaslighting, Manipulation.

Riddler certainly has a love/hate relationship towards the player.

He's currently the only canon Arkham character who has broken the fourth wall as well as he has.

He blames you for all of his failures, due to you controlling Batman and whatnot.

He calls you his nemesis and frequently gets irritated as you find his Enigma Cubes in the various game levels.

However, I also imagine he'd have some sort of respect towards you due to your intellect of solving his puzzles.

Unless you're looking them up... then what's the point?

He notices sometimes you have to replay the level to find a cube which gives him pride.

This whole thing if finding his cubes is a game he can only play with you.

At this point he doesn't want to speak to Batman as you're clearly his nemesis.

Riddler would take to you between levels.

At first he's taunting or expressing frustration.

Then near the middle of the game, maybe when you have half of the cubes, he starts trying to speak to you.

He asks about you and eagerly waits for an answer.

Really all he can do is talk at you but to him it's enough.

Maybe he'll find a way to communicate with you, like coding in a keyboard for you to type on.

That or he enables your mic.

It feels... odd to speak with him.

He's just a game character but it feels like you're holding a conversation with the Riddler.

Which would go about as well as you'd expect... he wants to gloat and gush about the puzzles he creates.

Wouldn't be surprised if Riddler infected your PS4/PC like a virus to see what else you play and who you talk to.

He'd invade and scoop up any details he can find about you.

Which then shocks you when he brings up the other games you play.

"I bet this game is your favorite... you actually get to talk to someone like me! Isn't it entertaining?"

What would be terrifying is if he said your real name in a conversation.

Or described how you look.

It would make you wonder if you're really playing a game... or something else.

Now... imagine when you're about to complete the game?

Riddler then gets defensive at you solving his puzzles and tries to get you to slow down.

He isn't ready to let you go!

You're his nemesis, he isn't done with you yet!

Maybe he even starts to play dirty by removing cubes you've collected.

What do you mean you collected that one?

No you didn't, he didn't see you get that one yet-

You should look again-

Riddler has limited control of the game but that changes over time.

Soon he's corrupting your data, forcing you to replay sections for his amusement.

When you confront him about it he plays dumb.

"Resetting? Sabotage? Dear, are you accusing me of cheating? Maybe you should look for the cubes a bit harder... or check your hard drive!"

He's being an annoyance on purpose because he feels it will make you stay.

If you threaten to leave then he quickly tries to find a way to prevent it.

"Okay, okay! Look, I just don't want this game to end, my nemesis! Aren't you having fun here with me? There's no need to leave!"

Even if you try to get rid of the game at this point he's already infected your device.

He's encrypted himself and hidden himself away deep in your files.

Being in such an enclosed space was tiring.

Now he has a much larger space to subject you to his puzzles and schemes!

If he could find a way to get out of the game, he would!

That way he doesn't even have to think of Batman.

He'll have someone else to test and call his nemesis.

Who knows, maybe Riddler will even find a way to prevent you from erasing his data.

Don't mind him turning on your device when you aren't around...

He just wants to watch what his nemesis is doing at all times.

After all... you two are going to be rivals as long as he's here.

Soon... he'll show you who's really in control.

[sea-buns]

hey to a gorgug liker what do you think about his nightmare section from sophomore year? cause I feel like the horror there is less “ah my grandparents were racist” and more “fuck am I being a stereotype? are the people who hate me right about me?” cause wrt to his having to modulate between barbarian and artificer in fhjy it’s like. idk

oh boy do I have thoughts

Tbh, I had zero recollection of the racism stuff until reading this. It was just SO MINOR. His trial in the forest felt really lackluster to me. I feel like everyone else's really dug into an issue at the core of their character and his felt more like "everyone is getting a trial, what do we do for gorgug?" And idk if that was just a bad delivery/call on Brennan's part or if it could have been helped by Zac engaging more in it but it just. Didn't feel like anything. It was a lot more about the dice than the horror of the claustrophobia and the bugs and you've never fit in anywhere you live to make yourself smaller wherever you go you're just the loser who hits hard. Like yeah I guess there was an overarching theme of Gorgug gaining confidence in himself but it was done very poorly imo.

And I think his trial in the forest was wrong for putting such an emphasis on his intelligence. I think that would have been much better suited in fy, back when he was still being heavily bullied, but beyond that it felt like a quick and easy thing for them to grab. Yes, he had insecurities about his intelligence with all the complications with Zelda. But, to me, the focus of fhsy was his HEART. It put a spotlight on how his social circle has grown, and his bully is his friend now, and he's not alone anymore. His interactions with Ayda, the friendship book, trying to help Fabian, I believe in you spring break, it's Gorgug keep going. I made a post earlier in the season (including a great addition by another user) that I think articulates that emphasis on his emotional intelligence very well.

Fhjy HOWEVER. I think it's doing everything that sy failed at. It's giving him space to have an inner conflict. It's addressing lots of little issues and conflicts he's had over the campaign and combining them into one coherent piece. Like, guy was in a relationship pretty much all of fy, and then dealt with the fallout in sy, but I don't think we've EVER seen as much quality relationship development with Gorgug as we have in jy. He and Fig spent an entire summer together trapped in a tour bus and no season has indicated that bond and friendship more than this one. He and Riz have found something to bond over, meanwhile in previous seasons there was pretty much zero one-on-one personal interaction between them. Fabian expressed sadness over Gorgug leaving the Owlbears, because it was the only thing they had that was just for them to hang out and be friends.

Just with that, we're already doing leagues more with Gorgug's character than we ever have. And I haven't even STARTED on his barbificier journey, oh dear god lmao.

Gonna preface this bit with a post I made before the season even started. It was about Zac's steady improvement in his performances with every PC, and how I was predicting that it was gonna culminate into a Gorgug that does him the justice he deserves. It was initially supposed to be a criticism, but I got a little lost in the sauce of loving my boy lol. Still very relevant to the topic of this ask!

God, where do I START?? Addressing his relationship with rage? I'll be honest, I didn't think that would ever be used as a character arc. And I'm not even sure why I've felt that way. I just didn't think... I didn't think about how he might've had a dislike for his own rage. Like, the WAY he rages isn't bad by any means, but I don't think it ever crossed my mind how actually harmful his lessons to sing to combat rage were. No, I did not like the way Porter went about teaching him (a bit too unsupportive of his capabilities and reminiscent of shitty teachers for my liking). But his point about EMBRACING anger; that rage is not bad and does not— should not— need to be stifled. THAAAAT. That opened up such an interesting dialogue for Gorgug.

I do appreciate the beginnings of Gorgug's interest in artificing in fhsy. I think the crumbs of it back then did a great job of leading into his larger commitment to multiclassing. And I think what he's been doing with it this season is exactly what was lacking in his section of the nightmare forest. His trial was a puzzle, based entirely on die rolls, where his solution after failing even when he's assisted by the enemy is to essentially give up. I understand that facing their fears was the whole point of the trials, but his section came off as incredibly anticlimactic and unfulfilling. Just the fact that it was a trial based on stat numbers more than the development of the character itself.

Where junior year succeeds in actually showcasing his intelligence and the evolution of the worth he holds in himself is with the hands-on approach it takes. Yes, the academic rolls are still dice and stats, but there's a physical manifestation that wasn't there before. Gorgug is smart when it comes to getting his hands dirty. It is in the practical applications of his skills that his brand of intelligence shines the most.

And while, once again, I did not LIKE Porter's heavy resistance to multiclassing....I have to admit that I don't think Gorgug would have had such a boost in confidence without that struggle. Even if my boy had trouble expressing it to Porter verbally, HE STOOD UP FOR HIMSELF. Instead of simply rolling over and agreeing that he wasn't built for a technical class and it was stupid to try– he was DEFIANT.

The kid who said "I'm a dumbass. Eat me you stupid bug." took on FOUR CLASSES. Three school years worth of artificer simultaneously. AND stayed with the Owlbears. AND went along on party missions to help Kristen's candidacy. AND was always on deck to help the party with the overarching plotline.

AND HE ACED IT!!! THE FIRST BARBIFICER THAT THE AGUEFORT ADVENTURING ACADEMY HAS EVER SEEN!!!!! He is paving the way for every unprecedented multiclass that follows.

Just in comparison to who he was in the previous season, the amount of drive and self-worth he's gained is astounding. In my eyes, it's done more than enough to makeup for the way his development fell flat in sophomore year.

i hope this fulfilled the ask in the way you were hoping! i told you i'd get carried away lmao. writing a bunch about any of zac's characters is always such a joy. gorgug had always been my favorite of the bad kids but i always found myself wishing he went deeper, y'know? and now it's real. my precious anxious boy has been handled so well. and watching zac's growth as a performer has been such a blast.

thanks for the ask! :D

[superkooku]

A missed potential in Hades (the game)

Ok, listen. I'm a fan of Supergiant Game's Hades (haven't played Hades II yet. Because my PC is a potato and I hope the full version will be in PS4). Yes there are bothersome inaccuracies, but...

The characters are fun, the game is surprisingly not repetitive yet consistent, the mechanics are cool, Hades and Persephone are actually compelling (a miracle in mythology retellings). And Hypnos is a fun lil goober.

But I feel like there was one huge missed potential. No, I'm not complaining about Dionysus for the 100th time or OdyPen being tossed in the trash in Hades II (gosh I hope it's a fake out and they're still together 🙏🙏🙏).

I'm talking about this guy :

This is Asterius, better known as the Minotaur. Yes it's the third time I talk about him today, but I just had an idea for him that I want to share.

I actually like what Hades did with him ! Again, I have more positive thoughts about this game than negative.

I'd even go as far as to say this is the best version of Asterius I've seen, imo.

He's an actual character, capable of speech. He's not always seen as Theseus' sidekick, even having his own moments with Zagreus. He's the more intelligent one, he's more human than Theseus and I love that about him. Like Achilles, but to a much higher degree, he mellowed down in the afterlife and lost his murderous rage.

The ironic friendship with his murderer is also very cool.

But we could've done so much more with this wonderful concept. Hades is essentially a game about mending broken relationships: Persephone and her family, Orpheus and Eurydice, Achilles and Patroclus, Thanatos and Hypnos... but Theseus and Asterius never really contributed to the main plot. They're just kinda there, doing their own thing.

I think adding ONE element would change everything, an important part of the Underworld (so Zagreus can interact with it) and something interesting for both Theseus and Asterius : the three judges. More specifically Minos.

A plotline where Minos and Asterius' abusive relationship will be discussed and Theseus actually being a good person for once and standing up for his friend.

Maybe with Minos apologizing and seeing that Asterius isn't a monster. And Zagreus being the catalyst for fixing the relationship, because in all those encounters, he learned to know who Asterius is.

Bonus point if Ariadne and/or Phaedra are mentioned. I see the latter appearing. Heck, maybe the former in a "Dionysus wants to resurrect her" storyline.

But this post is about Asterius and Minos. Between the underworld themes, the broken family of Crete, Asterius' humanity, Theseus humbling himself, it'd have been integrated so seamlessly !!

Just by adding a room for the three judges, with whom Zag regularly interacts, or fights as bosses, or just NPCs like Charon/Chaos with unique gimmicks.

Maybe fun interactions with Radamanthus and Aeacus too, though I have less ideas for them.

Please tell me there's a fanfic out there exploring that ! Or that Hades II will somehow do it 🙏.

[stickandthorn]

The thing about Imogen and Laudna’s relationship is that I want to like it so bad. Not just because it’s a very important relationship for two PCs that takes up a lot of runtime, but because there are a lot of elements that could be explored in the relationship that I really like the idea of. For instance, how do you navigate a close relationship with someone who can look into your mind? What kind of trust does that necessitate you build, what kind of boundaries do you have to set and how, and what happens if those boundaries are crossed? Is that imbalance in the relationship uncomfortable for Laudna? For Imogen? How would the circlet have changed this theoretical conflict?

But then those elements just… don’t get explored. Nothing gets explored. The relationship is stagnant, nothing ever changes, and the few conflicts that can’t be avoided get smoothed over without actual resolution so that they can go back to the place they started from all the way in episode 1. And there’s nothing to imply that the reason they’re so conflict free is that they worked out the biggest bumps in their dynamic before the stream, they’ve already communicated a lot and set up the most comfortable form of their relationship, and now it’s mostly smooth sailing (and even then, even the longest and best relationships still have conflicts you need to work through). No, everything signals that they’ve just avoid anything that could possibly cause conflict for years. Conflict or some other interruption of the status quo is how things change, and that’s how people grow, but they avoid any break in the status quo at all costs.

And because they avoid conflicts, they never grow in the relationship, they never explore, they never change it, nothing changes. And because the relationship is so important to both characters, because it takes up so much of their time in general and on screen, it feels like it also keeps Imogen and Laudna from growing individually. Both of them, but especially Laudna, had amazing arcs and great growth when they were separated from each other. Way more than when they were together. And even that feels like it’s getting pushed under the rug again, they’re reverting back to episode 1 status quo Laudna and Imogen.

And the worst part is that every time there’s been conflict in the relationship I’ve loved it. The gnarlrock thing, Laudna expressing her frustration at the other half of the party, those were really really good moments. I genuinely loved their dynamic in those moments, I want more of the relationship those moments imply. But they’re few and far between, and when they happen, the two back away from the issue and revert back to the status quo.

And I don’t think this is bad characterization, I think it makes sense for them, and I’ve made posts before about why I think their relationship is that way. But it is so constant, so unchanging, that it just gets tiring to watch. Especially when no other character ever acknowledges this part of their relationship, they all encourage it. Like, the kiss was cute for sure, but what did it do in their relationship? Nothing. If you removed the kiss there would be no discernible before and after.

I don’t begrudge anyone liking the relationship, if you do that’s great. I do genuinely mean that, I am glad that you like their relationship, I really wish I did. I want to like it so bad. But I just don’t. I’m tired of it. I wish the stuff I liked in the potential of their relationship would ever get brought up. If things do change for them, I will be so excited, but based on how it’s been going, they don’t seem like they will anytime soon. This is very lightly edited and way longer than I meant it to be, but the point is that god I wish I loved them, but god I really really don’t.

[yanderelinkeduniverse]

Reader who makes plushies... That have literal bombs inside of them that they can throw on the battlefield

Imagine if one of Links accidentally sets it off

Jk jk, it’s just funny to see this ask when you have Klee from hit game Genshin Impact on pc, PlayStation, and mobile devices as your pfp.

Personally I actually really love the concept of characters with bombs that are hidden inside plush dolls, they’re always so fun and cute! Now as for a (y/n) with those dolls…

She is not gonna be using them as freely when the time comes.

At the start I think the Chain would actually be really chill with her primarily using bombs in combat, I mean as long as she can control where they go. In fact, they’d prefer her using bombs than using nothing at all since - and I mean this as politely as possible - if would not be good if they had member of the group basically be deadweight.

*side eyes canon (y/n) who is not a combatant in any capacity*

And in all fairness, I’m pretty sure everyone who’s played a Zelda game has accidentally blown themselves up with their own bombs at least one time. Realistically would that kind of injury be severe and heavily impact her relationship with the Chain? Of course, but since when have I stuck to realism?

(y/n) being a combatant from the get go would certainly impact the Chain’s view of her fighting later on when they start becoming obsessive, but I think they’d still go through a phase where they think (y/n) shouldn’t be using them at all when their concern for her safety reaches its peak.

I mean, if these guys can blow themselves up with their own bombs when those bombs are just a side item then what about when they’re someone’s main weapon? I heavily doubt this variant of the reader would be without some bandages from accidentally blowing herself up on occasion.

Those who become a little too paranoid for her safety, such as Four, Twilight, and probably Wild just from his own personal experiences accidentally setting off a remote bomb too close to himself or using a bomb arrow in the Eldin region, would argue that she’s safer without them than with them.

And while most of the others would be in agreement, the problem is…she’s had these bombs and this method of fighting since before she ever came to Hyrule. Who are they to say what she can and cannot do to defend herself with?

It’s a struggle between the overwhelming desire to keep her safe and the need to respect her as their superior, after all they are barely worthy to hold a candle to her.

So, a compromise is made.

They politely ask (y/n) if she can limit her bomb usage, perhaps using a bit of well meaning manipulation to say that their ears are more sensitive than hers and as such the sound of the bombs going off hurts their ears.

They don’t want to limit their darling, don’t want her to feel caged and like her wings are being clipped, but they also want her to be safe above all else.

And if there were ever a time when (y/n)’s style of combat proved to be more detrimental to her well-being than not then they wouldn’t hesitate to take those bombs away, even if she protests.

On a slightly happier note, the plushies themselves are something the Chain would coo over a lot!

Some might even try to give her inspiration for new ones to make, even if they aren’t bombs(they’d be happier if they weren’t bombs tbh). I’m sure Hyrule has a bunch of dolls that look like himself saved up and Wild’s got pictures of Riju’s sand seals, those would be adorable!

But yeah, a reader who utilizes bombs in combat would challenge the Chain’s dual desires to both respect (y/n) as their ultimate authority(not that she knows) and keep her safe. But as long as she properly uses them, then she’ll be fine.

For now.

[dutchdread]

Hey Dutch what is your opinion on crises core reunion ? I had few ca tell me it didn’t do anything for zack and aerith relationship it just made things worse ? I don’t know we’re they get that belief from but it’s there opinion. Did you think the story was ok and gave good context on what they mean to each other?

People give too much flack to Crisis Core. I only played the original CC back on the PSP so I can't say anything about whether or not Reunion made it better or worse, but I enjoyed the original. But part of that is because I simply had lower expectations for portable games than I do for AAA pc or console titles. I won't deny that the game has a bunch of stuff that could have been done better (Cough, genesis, cough), but it had its strong points as well. I think some of the basic concepts of Crisis Core are good in principle, like theme of hopes and dreams, and watching how Zack through adversity unwillingly becomes the hero that he always wanted to be. But the execution was often lacking. I love the idea of watching a several friends slowly break, and I think there is potential in tying that story into them being "monsters" and exploring what it really means to be a monster vs being a hero. But again. The way it was handled made it rather ridiculous and overly obtuse. The constant quoting of Loveless, ESPECIALLY without it ever getting a clear meaning that allows the player to connect with it, Angeals random dramatic self-pity, and a bunch of other stuff just made it so that storywise a lot of the bad overshadowed the good. But I played CC for Zack and Aerith, and they were perfect in my opinion.I loved seeing Aerith like an actual 16 year old girl and how her time with Zack rubbed off on her and caused her to start living every day to the fullest. I still think that the scene with Aerith hugging Zack from behind is one of the most romantic scenes in FF, simply because of how viscerally real it is. Her trying to make small talk, him just being there, choosing to mourn in the presence of the woman he loves, not needing to be consoled, but just needing her presence. And then that hug "sometimes you don't need words to tell a person how you're feeling" indeed. This is also a part of the reason I am convinced Aerith was still projecting Zack onto Cloud at the end of Rebirth "our place", "the church", Yeah right. For Cloud and Aerith the church is just a place they happened to spend about 5 minutes at one point, not even the place they met. Meanwhile Zack went there to see her for I think about one and a half years. He goes there instantly in intergrade, he goes there in Rebirth, we see him waiting there for Aerith at the end of rebirth, the core visual for Crisis core was changed to TAKE PLACE IN THE CHURCH. But the Church is Cloud and Aeriths place.....yeah right. Either that is an intentional hint that Aerith is still projecting, or the writing has fallen off a cliff. Then we have the other character moments, Cloud and Tifa pining for each other, the parallels between Cloti and Zerith. Zack promising Aerith he'll come for her underneath the water tower. And my favorite Aeriths "23 tiny little wishes", all encompassed in the one with to "spend more time with Zack". Which is then ultimately fulfilled via Cloud in the OG/rebirth. And then of course there is the ending, my favorite ending of any game ever aside from Nier:Automata. Man I bawled my eyes out. So yeah, I like Crisis Core, it's messy, but it's messy with a lot of gold in it, and for a portable title I think that's not half bad.

[how-queerious]

been seein lot of posts calling the cast weird for the way they/their characters are being with the whole "destined" aspect of callowmoore but like consider who does and does not seem to outwardly ship it that way.

maybe there are things and dynamics i've been missing but to me there is a clear division between which characters (not actors) are pushing it and which are not; The main people seeming to push for it are FCG, Imogen, Laudna, and Fearne. The main people just watching and not really swaying either way are Orym, Chet, and Ash. Here's my thoughts on the possible motivations for that from a character perspective. With that in mind, I have focused on the PCs here; I have all the love in the world for matt as a DM, but to untangle the intricacies of his character work in literally even just one episode at a time is a whole other post. Accidental essay below the cut y'all.

broad strokes are that the camps are divided primarily* by who has and hasn't had extensive adult romantic relationships. Laudna, Imogen, and FCG are all experiencing what seem to be their first real adult relationships, and have had notably, explicitly little experience with romance at all beyond that. Fearne herself, despite her age, also seems to have had very little experience with romance and love (remembering that casual or platonic sex is not romance). They have all been starry-eyed and naive about love in prior episodes, and Laudna in particular has a childlike view of it. To compound this, Fearne has been lonely the vast majority of her life, just her, her nana, and their companions of questionable sentience and willingness. Exhibited in some of the darker episodes, and stated by ashley (at some point), she is literally just learning how to feel as mortals do in the prime material plane. Many of us as young shippers were drawn to the allure of the "Soulmate AU" for a lot of the same reasons.

On the other side of the coin, we have the three opposed or neutral. Chet and Orym, unlike any of the others, have both experienced long-term mature romantic relationships. Though Chet often focuses on the sex, and Orym tends not to focus on anything if he can help it, both have shown in their character choices and interactions with people from their past that they have the understanding of mature and healthy(ish) romance. As a contrast to their knowledgability, Ashton has only ever been burned by what should have been love in the past, and has not experienced romance. They have spent their whole life fighting fate, and will continue to do so for at least the time being. He is just learning to let themself love platonically, of course they don't want to follow "fate" to a romantic relationship with someone as chaotic and beautiful and terrifying as Fearne. They'll do the cool combos with her, and he'll flirt and tease, but anything else is unknown territory in a field already littered with the casualties of their past attempts to trust.

Though they may seem to be pushing for this fated dynamic in a way that feels very off for CR, there are genuine and realistic character motivations for them to do so. Perhaps I'm putting too much thought and faith behind it, but I think the specificity of who is or isn't pushing speaks great volumes to the fact that these are all people who have a wealth of theatric and improvisation experience and knowledge behind them. They are all actors with more than my lifetime of hard work behind this "silly game" they play, and I think we ought to consider that.

[hpowellsmith]

I hadn't thought much about (or much of) romances between PC-romanceable NPCs until I read your stories - and I think you do it "right."

I can understand how other people might feel like romancing an NPC who has the potential for a different romance might be interfering with how that character's story is "supposed" to go (i.e. how it might have gone without the player character in the picture) - which can create either a feeling of resentment or forced nonchalance with, "okay that's how it could have gone, but it didn't in my game."

But the solution, I think, is the poly option. In retrospect it even feels kind of obvious! If the player is torn between, "I really like Character A, but I also like what I've seen of Character A interacting with Character B," the poly-relationship does allow the player to experience those simultaneously. The existence of a poly option also seems to more or less guarantee the "what do we/you ideally want out of a relationship" discussion, which makes it easier to roleplay toward an amicable decision, as the variables seem more likely to consider all parties. (A conversation which, which for whatever reason, does not seem to be guaranteed in stories where only one of the NPCs is romanceable, or if the PC-NPC romances are exclusive of each other.)

You do a fantastic job of keeping your characters, both player-controlled and NPC, "in the loop" about their relationship options, in a way that feels like the player has an opportunity to make an "informed" decision about the path ahead of them (romancing one or both or neither), but which also feels like all the characters involved have had an opportunity to make their feelings known, so it doesn't feel as if the story progress has been forced to accommodate only the player-character's wishes.

this is in response to the question:

How do you feel when romanceable NPCs get together with each other? I'd love to hear what you do and don't like about it!

Awww, thank you! I really appreciate your kind comments!

I think in various cases, polyamory can be seen as a reasonable solution to a love triangle situation, depending on the feelings and characters involved and the shapes of their romances. Sometimes it feels like right: with Asher and Hyacinthe in Royal Affairs, I didn't feel it made sense for either Asher or Hyacinthe to divide their romantic attention from the MC, and that it would feel a bit off (and I felt there was something interesting in Asher/Hyacinthe representing both of them spreading their wings in a somewhat rebellious way, when neither of them are rebellious people at all).

I definitely enjoy writing the polyamorous lead-ups and conversations, as complicated as they can be to manage. I'm especially happy with what I've done in Honor Bound and am looking forward to seeing what people think about it - I feel like I've developed my skills in writing those scenes a lot.

In general, I like showing characters having romantic conversations about things like this, even if it's complicated to code and plan. It's... really complex in Honor Bound because I wanted characters to discuss mutually-exclusive romances and figure out what to do - which turned out to be some of the most complicated code I've written, haha! But I'm fond of the MC and NPC(s) chatting about relationships and where they stand, and where their feelings are, because that can result in some lovely emotional stuff (and interesting things come up too when characters are reluctant to talk about such things).

[open-hearth-rpg]

Campaign Playbooks: Great RPG Mechanics #RPGMechanics: Week Six

I’m getting ready tonight to do the first session of Girl By Moonlight. It’s a Forged in the Dark game with a wide premise– ranging from Magical Girl to Paprika to Evangelion-inspired stories. We’re doing On a Sea of Stars, the one most influenced by mecha, teens, and tragedy. Girl By Moonlight is one of two recent systems which take Forged in the Dark’s Crew mechanics and change them into a tool to redefine the game collaboratively. 

The other one, and the one I’ve already run, is Vergence. This is a FitD game heavily influenced by the Chronicles of Amber. It mixes things up in some interesting ways. For example, it has a trio of factions rather than the binary two courts of Zelanzy’s original novels. That smart move offers players a more complex web of interactions. In particular I dig that each faction has its own set of playbooks highlighting their themes. 

Vergence also takes a nod from the earlier Amber RPG (which I’ve also run). In that game you had two modes of play: a standard campaign and a Throne War. The latter had its own set of special rules, aimed at playing out a tighter series or even a one-shot with different play goals. Vergence also allows for several different modes of play, each with a strong sense of structure and purpose: 

The Dark Conspiracy: An unknown enemy has chosen to act directly and violently against the PCs and all they hold dear.

The Expedition: The PCs are part of a journey of exploration to a forbidden world.

The Game of Houses: The PCs undertake a series of missions to support a chosen Vergence faction.

The Masked Ball: The PCs will attend a Royal Masked Ball and try to accomplish various goals without ruining their reputations.

The Pursuit: The PCs are chasing a vile enemy through the Umbra. What happens if they catch up?

The Siege: The PCs are trapped in a city under siege. They must fight, escape, or go over to the other side.

The different campaign frames have distinct usual lengths. For example if you want a one-shot, you would do The Pursuit. For a longer campaign (4-10) sessions, you might pick Masked Ball, Expedition, or Seige. If you’re looking for an ongoing, episodic campaign you would pick Game of Houses. 

Each of these campaigns, called Challenges,  has its own playbook, the equivalent of the crew book from Blades. Each challenge offers guidance for setting up relationships, possible starting upgrades, and choices of special abilities. They also have a set of unique milestones and other details. There’s some overlap between the Challenges but they feel nicely distinct. It does a great job of setting expectations right away. In our play-through we dug the mechanic, but wanted a little more. 

Girl By Moonlight provides that more– with the different campaign structures at the heart of play. Each of the four series presented has a distinct “series playbook” set up quite differently from one another. For example On a Sea of Stars has both the Flagship the characters are travelling on and the mecha, Engines, they are using as a the campaigns framework. I especially like how asymmetrical these playbooks are. They feel like pieces from distinct and different games. They’re a great tool to shape play.

It would be interesting to see more games offer these kinds of tools– in combination with a CATS document. For example, I love the campaign frames from Thirsty Sword Lesbians, probably more than I dig TSL itself. It would be really interesting to have some richer worksheets and choices which could be made to add to the collaboration and mechanically vary play. There’s a little bit of that in the recent Codex of Worlds for Monster of the Week.

[critter-rarepair-reccs]

Hello and happy Wednesday, everyone! This week, we have nine fics that star relationships between PCs and NPCs! As always, you can find them below the cut and if you check any of them out, I encourage you to leave kudoes and comments to spread the rarepair love 💕

A Drow, A Tiefling and an Empty Closet by devil_seabird_king (1,086 words, Teen) Pairing: Kingsley Tealeaf/Verin Thelyss (Verinking) Warnings: None

Essek notices Verin is having relationship trouble and feels lonely. Shenanigans ensue to set him and Kingsley up.

Reccer Says: It’s very silly and cute! It’s the only Verin/King I’ve read but I think they’d be a fun couple.

like being a little bird by annie_blackbird (513 words, Mature) Pairing: Yussa Errenis/Caleb Widogast (Widoyussa) Warnings: None

Yussa and Caleb play with rope. Caleb needs to call a halt. They work it out.

Reccer Says: It’s very tender and very hot!

threads of fate by viciousmollymaukery (1,812 words, Teen) Pairing: Mollymauk Tealeaf/Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast (Shadowidomauk) Warnings: None

Essek knits gifts for his partners.

Reccer Says: It is sooooo soft and so sweet, gift giving is The wizard love language, truly. Also the Molly voice is so on point.

Fabric by the_deep_magic (62,807 words, Explicit) Pairing: Shaun Gilmore/Vax'ildan (Vaxmore) Warnings: None

Vax pays a visit to Emon’s premiere BDSM club, looking to find a dom who knows what they’re doing. By chance, he finds that, and a whirlwind romance, in the club’s owner, Shaun Gilmore.

Reccer Says: Hot, fun, heartfelt. Overall a really enjoyable read.

Grass Stains by Luddleston (3,026 words, Explicit) Pairing: Orym/Will Warnings: None

Young and in love, Orym and Will have to get creative to find ways to get alone time away from their families.

Reccer Says: Sweet, sexy, and full of emotions.

So About The Minotaur… by OkaySoWereDoinThis (3,697 words, Teen) Pairing: Yeza Brenatto/Veth Brenatto Warnings: Body Dysphoria for Goblin Reasons

Nott/Veth thinks she’s gonna get dumped but she gets kissed instead (it’s what she deserves).

Reccer Says: It's set shortly after they rescue Yeza and it's cute and angsty and funny and yeza is the best everrr

brighter than before by royalgreen (1,119 words, Teen) Pairing: Shaun Gilmore/Vax'ildan (Vaxmore) Warnings: None

Following a near-death experience and realizing he might have an 'after' in the aftermath, Vax follows his heart.

Reccer Says: A very sweet snippet of vulnerability and promise!

A Friend in Hand by Eunicorne (10,085 words, Teen) Pairing: Yeza Brenatto/Caleb Widogast Warnings: Major Character Death

After Veth's death, Yeza finds himself picking up the pieces of his life, helped by a dear family friend, Caleb Widogast. Aka, a grief stricken Caleb takes care of his dear friend's family after her death.

Reccer Says: Oh my goshhh it's so bittersweet and sweet and cute. Yeza enjoyers will love this. Grief enjoyers will love this. Caleb enjoyers will love this and honestly Veth enjoyers probably too.

Today I Love You Even More by wtgw (5,687 words, Teen) Pairings: Yeza Brenatto/Caleb Widogast, Yeza Brenatto/Veth Brenatto, Yeza Brenatto/Veth Brenatto/Caleb Widogast Warnings: None

"Yeza Brenatto is a creature of infinite anxiety, but he’s not blind. He can see how much Veth loves Caleb. He can see how much Caleb loves her back. And he can also see that Caleb is really attractive. But it’s not like he’s not going to do anything about that…"

Reccer Says: Funny and cuteee, Yeza my beloved<3<3

Thank you for joining us this week’s recc list! All the love to everyone who submitted a fic 💕 All enclosed recommendations were submitted by the community via our submissions form, which you can find here. All fic information is as it was provided by the reccer, so it may not be accurate to the author’s intent or the precise contents of the fic itself. Please assume good intent from all parties 💕

Submissions for next week’s list are already open! We’ll be featuring Proposals & Marriages. If you have any you’d like to highlight, you can send them in here. The week after that, the theme is Oneshots and the weeks after that we’re taking recommendations for Laudna Rarepairs and Grief & Mourning! Submissions for all of these themes are currently open.

If you want more rarepair fic, check out @cr-summer-wildflowers and their event collections on ao3! If you want some friendship after all this romance, take a look at @critter-genfic-events and their recc lists! And if you’re interested in everyone’s favorite wizards, you can’t go wrong with the lists at @aeor-is-for-reccing !

Thanks all and have a lovely day/night/timezone! 💕

[mmikmmik]

I played the Damsel and then the Razor route on Slay the Princess. I think I would have really liked the Shifting Mound (I saw her name when I was reading some stuff about the game but otherwise am avoiding additional details and spoilers) regardless, but that combination in particular seemed to work out really well for framing her(?) as a non-antagonistic being.

I started with the Damsel route which (not sure if this part is required or not) involved the Narrator seizing control of the player character at the end of Chapter 1, birdman resisting him, and allowing the proto-Damsel to stab birdman to death in self defense. Then I ended the route by repeatedly pressing the Damsel to express some kind of preference or desire until she completely devolved into a middle schooler's anime princess OC and was taken by the Shifting Mound. Who then proceeded to answer a bunch of my questions, of course.

So, at no point in that route did I have an antagonistic relationship with the Princess, but I was trying to get answers from her that she couldn't give. When the Shifting Mound took the Damsel, it didn't seem like her snatching away a real person, it was like she'd arrived to clarify the situation and offer answers just when I wanted them most. The Narrator felt like more of an enemy than her. I did come away with the impression that she was probably going to transform the world eldritch-style if she got free in such a way that it would basically be destroyed, but she said we were similar entities, and we seem to be trapped together in the same boat, and she seemed very polite, so I think she should be allowed to destroy the world if she wants.

As I played the Razor route (again, I don't know how much of this is mandatory to the route), I kept building up more and more Voices while battling her, until we had a climactic duel with erotic subtext (that was barely subtext) ending in mutual destruction, after a moment when one of the Voices mentioned how it felt like the player character was on the verge of some kind of change if they could just get one more Voice (I was unclear if that did happen, and that was how the PC was able to take her to the void place for their duel - iirc? - or if that's describing something that almost happens in the Razor route but doesn't).

Which is really emphasizing what the Shifting Mound was saying about the PC being an entity similar to herself, because he also is layering all these different aspects of himself to gain new perspectives. And it also emphasizes the non-antagonistic relationship between them, imo - even when the Razor kept killing the PC, it was part of an almost flirty interplay between them. I asked the Shifting Mound after that if she didn't like when I hurt princesses, and she basically said it wasn't really harming her because it was part of giving her the new perspectives she wanted, and she didn't hold it against me.

So yeah - I feel the first two iterations established a real sense of solidarity between the Shifting Mound and the player character! I've been avoiding any dialogue options that seem antagonistic or excessively mistrustful towards her, like the birdman is a friend/suitor willingly bringing her presents. Well, it may not be the hero saving the princess, but I think maybe we can get out of this together :) This is a love story :)