#if the game can't keep its own lore straight i don't have to either

[ophidian-bite]

Chains of Harrow for Lavos, Patient Zero for Operator Valadis, and Sands of Inaros for Drifter Valadis! :3

- grineerios

Chains of The Harrow- For Warframes: What keeps them loyal to their Tenno? Does their Infested nature ever surface?

Aside from something of an incurable spring in his step whenever he's taken to be worked on by the ship's helminth, Lavos rarely responds without input. The thing about Lavos is that his strain wasn't an organic infection- it was a deliberate transmutation. There was no pretense of evolution or cultivation, it was *designed* for this right from the get go. Consequently, control over the frame rests entirely with the operator. Or at least, control over the main body of it. The trade-off, the equivalent exchange, is that the snakes have minds entirely of their own. While the Lavos that Valadis now uses is merely a copy of the original, Javi and the Warden still live on through the serpents on his arms and it is only with their willing cooperation that they can be made use of.

Patient Zero: How altruistic is your character? Would they go out of their way to help someone, even if they didn't deserve it?

Valadis likes to *say* that they selfishly look out for themself to the exclusion of all else, but often they're just justifying why they're helping people anyways. Like take Solaris United- they claim they're just in it because they think k-drives are sick as fuck and all these corpus checkpoints are in the way of them shredding, but really they already hated everything about Nef Anyo and finding out about brain-shelving absolutely horrified them. However, when it comes to being "deserving" their judgements are very... lets say *vibes* based. They don't tend to think much about things like "consequences" or "implications," so whether or not they're willing to help is a lot more about if they feel like it than if it's "deserved."

Sands of Inaros: How much of their childhood do they remember? Is there an event from their childhood that impacts who they are today?

In contrast to Operator Valadis, who is very much a child that has not and will not ever grow up despite having to mime and flounder their way through an assumed adulthood, Drifter Valadis is an adult who has been forced to wade through a child's world with no connection to a childhood of their own. Obviously, they did *have* a childhood- one that was very similar to the Operator's, up to a point- but they don't remember anything more than brief impressions of it. It wasn't a happy one, and they likely would have repressed a lot of it even if the void hadn't taken it from them, but it does still affect them subconsciously. It's why they share the Operator's deep-seated hate for authority, even if they express it in different ways. But, ultimately I think their perceived lack of a childhood affects them far more than the remnants of it do. Part of why they spent so long mired in the spiral of Duviri is because they couldn't make the connections to understand it, and hell- they didn't even recognize themself in the Operator initially. Even if they now know otherwise through their coexistence with the Operator, to the Drifter's own memories their life started with a hazy dream of a deal on the Zariman and then loop after loop in the islands of Duviri.

OG post link

[starlit-mansion]

I've been rewatching a couple older hbomb videos and hey

halcyon dreams: the legacy of dragon's lair watches a lot more like a dry run of the oof noise video than i remember. it is a deep dive into an obscure section of video game history, complete with its own misattribution to a famous studio head. it's fun, both on its own terms as a spectacular technological failure that was a bit too ahead of its time, and as a running thread within harry's ouvre.

outsiders: how to adapt h.p. lovecraft in the 21st century is. well, it feels very weird because in a way. it reads a lot more like somerton's work than i would have expected, while predating it entirely (i think. it's a five year old video and well. i can't check somerton's timestamps cause he did the dirty delete). harry is darkly and thematically lit, addressing the camera straight on without the high-energy that his other videos tended to have, speaking thoughtfully about how queer and marginalized fans of Lovecraft relate to his work despite being hated and feared by the author himself, and that his understanding of the mythos was upturned by a quiet adaptation that centered around a gay man's alienation from his home town loosely based on the shadow over innsmouth. it engaged thoroughly with queerness as a place of vulnerability and strength without inventing some infinitely weak yet unfathomably strong queer agenda. there's no real hint from the thumbnail that it's about queer themes, but that's because harry is doing the same thing that happened to him, creating a piece of overt lovecraft media that might shock the viewer that was here for cosmic horror as a lore element.

i'm genuinely not trying to say that somerton ripped off harry's one video specifically or anything, but it does make if feel more personal, to be reminded that harry did this once, when he had something incredibly personal to say on the subject and years of genuine passion and systematic research to back it up, with intent to reach out to other people who loved and were repulsed by lovecraft the same way he was. and at 1.5 million views, it's not like the video was languishing in complete obscurity or anything, but it's not culturally significant in the way that sherlock or some of the later videos are. people keep making a bit of a joke of harry reminding everyone that he's bi to dodge the homophobia allegations, but people genuinely do not really talk about hbomb as a queer creator, to the point where a good chunk of posters just. genuinely did not know about it. i'm not really sure what to say about it either way, other than... yeah, this happens a lot to bisexuals who don't make their entire brand pink purple and blue, and it's not like. THAT funny to keep using the sonic fandub screencap about a real person who's been out for half a decade, even if it was news to you.

[innocentgoblin]

CAMPFIRES & VAMPIRES!

Camps & Vamps is a new TTRPG I am working on! I want to give you the first sneak peak at this game, it's mechanics, what it should play like, what I am excited about, and a few ideas I am playing with!

Before I say anything, LOOK AT THAT GIF!!!

regal_bones is an actual genius and commissioning her on this was such a great experience! So please check out her amazing stuff!

Campfires & Vampires has been heavily inspired by Gothic Horror, the inner conflict between two sides of oneself that either results in the acceptance of both sides or utter distress as they deny half of themselves.

As the name suggests, Camps & Vamps is a TTRPg where you get to play as Vampires in a number of settings, each bringing their own setting, lore, and additional mechanics. I don't want to go to into the settings I have planned so instead I'm just going to leave this picture here

STATS

Campfires & Vampires will only include two stats: Human and Monster These stats will change and adapt as you play, reflecting your character's evolving actions and morality on their journey. As one stat rises, the other lowers an equal amount.

DISTRESS & INNER CONFLICTS

If your stats reach 23/1 in your stats, your character falls into Distress. You gain a major negative trait as your character deals with whatever Inner Conflict is driving them

CHARACTERS

Everyone wants to make an amazing Vampire and with Camps & Vamps we have made 3 major 'archetypes' these are mainly to allow you to pick your starting stat ranges and what that would mean for the character. These archetypes are Temperance Traditional Turned

Temperance Vampires try to keep themselves as human as they can, they don't like to embrace their monstrous side. Many refuse to drink Human blood, instead turning to various indulgences to keep them from faltering on that oath.

Traditional Vampires are charismatic, charming, well dressed and alluring. They tap into both their Human and Monster sides and tend to be more well adjusted. Older Traditional Vampires can get very into their own lore and enjoy playing up the various Vampiric myths

Turned Vampires have truly embraced their monstrous side. Many have lived for such a long time they have grown detached to the Humanity they once clung to. Turned Vampires often have a more animalistic form, their ears more bat-like, their skin more leathery

ABILITIES

You can't be a true Vampire without a bunch of strange and wonderful abilities! Whether you want massive claws, to turn into an animal, mind control, innate charm and straight up immortality, this game has you covered!

CHARM

Vamps are innately charming and in Camps & Vamps, you have the ability to make people charmed by you or to manipulate and use it for selfish reasons. But you have to be careful, if their Charm for you goes below 0, they can become erratic, scared, or outright hostile

FEAR

On the opposite of Charm, every action you make impacts the settlements you are in. acting against the people in that settlement could raise its fear level. The more Fear the area has, the more they less they will trust you and the more erratic and dangerous they'll become

FAMILIARS

Not much to say here, you can have a Familiar, a thrall and other such helpers! You can also choose to reward them with the ever hunted for conversion whenever you want!

COMBAT

This was one area I wanted to get right! Combat in this game is quick, dangerous, and potentially deadly! Each hit is felt as you fight for your lives!

With a game that is so focused on morality, major safety tools will be included, and I am considering commissioning someone to help me flesh that out and ensure it is perfect! Also if anyone doesn't like the idea of those safety, maybe this isn't the game for you.

I am also hoping to put this on kickstarter so I can commission some amazing artist to bring life to the game! And hopefully even commissioning some of the amazing game designers and homebrewers of the community to help flesh out the game in whatever ways they are inspired to do so But I am 100% getting ahead of myself!

So, if you read this far - thank you! What part of Campfires & Vampires is catching your interest? What kind of Vampire would you play? And which of the setting names is getting you hyped?

[dammitkat1e]

But you dont need to spend that much to start an army? Most people dont start out with a 2000 point army because you still actually have to actually yknow paint it all.

If youre buying straight from GW then youre a fool, local gaming stores will have their product at around 20% less than GW, its how they do business and keep stores that arent their own selling. 3D printing will always be cheaper but its not as dire as it's suggested in this thread.

The problem with 3D printing isn't the strength (which does have issues, resin is more brittle than regular plastic) or the detail, it's that they're all facsimiles to the real thing.

Sure the models above look similar but either have sweeping changes like completely different looking weapons, or minor details such as accessories or the aquila looking completely wrong, 40k lives in the small details with lore attached to almost every skull and a fully 3D printed army is going to have a complete variety of what each 3D artist thinks a bolter should look like enough to not get sued.

This is not to mention how monopose a decent amount of available models are, if you're printing out 60+ dudes having the same 3 dudes 20 timed over just kinda sucks.

I believe 3D printing for 40k is a viable option for people who are looking to play the game as fast as possible and don't exactly care about the models they're using but if you're actually looking to paint miniatures and get into the hobby as a whole then you really can't beat the actual plastic.

3D printing is not supporting the hobby.

Your minis may be cheaper (After a ludicrous set up cost) but they are not tourney legal.

So what is the point?