#laserproof

[valtharr]

In the last few days, I've now had two run-ins with people on this site regarding the idea of a TTRPG's mechanics and rules impacting the roleplay aspect of said game. And from what I can tell, these people - and people like them - have the whole concept backwards.

I think people who only ever played D&D and games like it, people who never played a Powered by the Apocalypse or Forged in the Dark system, or any other system with narratively-minded mechanics, are under one false impression:

Mechanics exist to restrict.

Seeing how these people argue, what exactly they say, how they reason why "mechanics shouldn't get in the way of roleplaying," that seems to be their core idea: Rules and mechanics are necessary evils that exist solely to "balance" the game by restricting the things both players and GMs can do. The only reasons why someone would want to use mechanics in their RPG is to keep it from devolving into

"I shot you, you're dead!" "No, I'm wearing bulletproof armor!" "I didn't shoot bullets, I shot a laser!" "Well, the armor's also laserproof!" "Nuh-uh, my lasers are so hot that they melt any armor!" "My armor's a material that can't melt!" And so on. Because we have rules, the players can't just say "we beat this challenge", and neither can the GM say "you haven't beaten this challenge." Because the rules are clear, the rules are obvious, the rules tell you what you can and can't do, and that's it.

So obviously, when the idea of mechanics directly interacting with the roleplay - generally seen as the most free and creative part of a TTRPG - seems at best counterintuitive, at worst absolutely wrong. Hearing this idea, people might be inclined to think of a player saying "I'm gonna do X", just for the evil, restrictive mechanics to come in and say "no, you can't just do X! you first have to roll a Do X check! But you also did Y earlier, so you have to roll the Did Y Penalty Die, and if that one comes up higher than your Do X die, you have to look at this table and roll for your Doing X If You Previously Did Y Penalty! But, if you roll double on that roll..."

But like... that's not how it works. Roleplay-oriented mechanics don't exist to restrict people from roleplaying, they're there to encourage people to roleplay!

Let's go with a really good example for this: The flashback mechanic from Blades in the Dark (and games based on Blades in the Dark).

In BitD, you can declare a flashback to an earlier point in time. Could be five minutes ago, could be fifty years ago, doesn't matter. You declare a flashback, you describe the scene, you take some stress (the equivalent of damage) and now you have some kind of edge in the present, justified by what happened in the flashback. For example, in the Steeplechase campaign of the Adventure Zone podcast, there was a scene where the PCs confronted a character who ended up making a scandalous confession. One of the players declared a flashback, establishing that, just before they walked in, his character had pressed the record button on a portable recording device hidden in his inner coat pocket. Boom, now they have a recording of the confession.

How many times have you done something like this in a D&D game? How many times did your DM let you do this? I think for most players, that number is pretty low. And for two reasons:

The first, admittedly, has to do with restrictions. If you could just declare that your character actually stole the key to the door you're in front of in an off-screen moment earlier, that would be pretty bonkers. Insanely powerful. But, because BitD has specific mechanics built around flashbacks, there are restrictions to it, so it's a viable option without being overpowered.

But secondly, I think the far more prevalent reason as to why players in games without bespoke flashback mechanics don't utilize flashbacks is because they simply don't even think of them as an option. And that's another thing mechanics can do: Tell players what they (or their characters) can do!

Like, it's generally accepted that the players only control what their characters do, and the GM has power over everything else. That's a base assumption, so most players would never think of establishing facts about the larger world, the NPCs, etc. But there are games that have explicit mechanics for that!

Let's take Fabula Ultima as another example: In that game, you can get "Fabula Points" through certain means. They can then spend those points to do a variety of things. What's literally the first thing on the list of things Fabula Points let you do? "Alter the Story - Alter an existing element or add a new element." I've heard people use this to decide that one of the enemies their group was just about to fight was actually their character's relative, which allowed them to resolve the situation peacefully. I again ask: In your average D&D session, how likely is it that a player would just say "that guy is my cousin"? And if they did, how likely is it that the GM accepts that? But thanks to the Fabula Point mechanic making this an explicit option, thanks to rules explicitly saying "players are allowed to do this", it opens up so many possibilities for story developments that simply would not happen if the GM was the only one allowed to do these things.

And it's only possible because the mechanics say it is. Just how your wizard casting fireball is only possible because the mechanics say it is.

[shitty-mechs-headcannons]

The mechs have their own flawless diamond, and a good chunk of them have tried Ulysses’ trick with their own laser weapons.

Some highlights include Jonny managing to split the beam in three, and getting hit in each eye and the neck, Tim pulling off the splitting the beam into all 12, but mostly just hitting the walls, and Nastya attempting it once, hitting only Jonny and Tim, after getting fed up at them shooting holes in the Aurora trying to get it to work.

Any furthur testing was taken over my only Raphaella in a laserproof chamber

-mod andy

[squids-comics]

For this weeks writing post, have the first chapter of Supernova, a novel I started writing over the summer.

Chapter One: A Plan Comes Together

The gentle morning sunrise cut through the thick orange smog, shining brightly against the wall of Reva's cramped living quarters. "The sunrise was to die for". That's what they've told the underground workers on the planet for generations. But most of them died before they could judge for themselves. It was sick. 

Reva peeled the sweat soaked blankets off her bronze coloured skin and climbed out of bed. She took a deep breath, before doing some morning stretches. She couldn't do anything fancy, as her room was rather small, but she managed to work in a few different yoga poses. She threw some clothes on and tied her hair up. She was wearing her uniform, a light beige-y brown with green highlights. On the chest of her button up shirt was a tree with bright red leaves. Her wavy hair was a dark green. 

She walked out of her quarters, and down the hall past several other rooms, all packed closely together. She could hear noises inside from people shuffling around, going about their daily routine. Freshly awoken citizens groan and stretch, children run around playing, practically bouncing off the walls. She could hear singing and yelling, laughing and crying. The place reminded her of an anthill, extremely well organized and filled to bursting with people. She hated it. 

She walked down a few flights of brightly lit stairs, leading to a heavy metal door. She put her ventilator on. It was a cold metallic device, covering her entire face. It kept the toxins out of her lungs and the dust out of her eyes. But it limited her vision and made a funny sound when she breathed. She hated it. 

She slowly creaked the door open as she stepped out, onto the street of the underlayer. Above her were the buzzing electric lights of the city, underneath the midlayer, where the wealthier citizens lived. The roof of the underlayer stood about fifty feet in the air, and was made of welded sheet metal, supported by large concrete beams and buildings. Large brick buildings stood on each side of the street, reaching up to the roof. The walls of each building were graffitied, with most of the windows smashed. The air of the underlayer was thick. It smelled like burning brimstone, even with the ventilator on. The ventilator was uncomfortable, but it was a necessary evil. Thanks to the heavy mining operations on the planet, each breath of air was ripe with toxins. Breathing it in, even in small doses, was enough to take you out of the workforce for days. And on this planet, that was practically a death sentence. 

Reva walked down the street, passing dingy looking street markets selling whatever they could get their hands on. People ran up and down the street, from building to building, on errands or for jobs. Armed Phonocoptrian peacekeepers kicked down doors and arrested people for even the slightest grievances. The peacekeepers were the galaxies security force. Wearing laserproof red armour and armed with automatic laser rifles, civilians were just as scared of them as criminals were. They served the law, and the law served them. But this was nothing new for Reva. That's how the underlayers were on most planets. 

The smog was so thick Reva could barely see, but she knew the route to work well. She could walk it with her eyes closed if she wanted. Or at least, she thought she could. She walked directly into a Phonocoptrian peacekeeper on patrol. Reva hit her face off the cold metal of his chest plate. He shoved her back before raising his rifle at her. Her nose stung from hitting him. She stumbled back as she was pushed.

"Watch where you're going civilian!"

Reva looked him over. Only the skin around his mouth was visible. It was a pale pink, almost like the skin of a pig. He licked his lips with his long, slimy tongue. Reva gagged a little. She looked up into his big, bulbous eyes, puffing out of his skull like the eyes of a frog.

"I'm sorry Sir," Reva muttered. "I'll be more careful next time."

The Phonocoptrian scoffed before lowering his gun and turning away. He kept his gun in his hand, perhaps because he liked the feel of it, or the way it made him look. He walked away, as did Reva.

"@$$hole," Reva whispered under her breath. 

Reva continued walking until she got to work. She reached a large, glass wall extending up to the midlayer, with a metal door built into it. She opened the door and stepped into a cramped, metal airlock. She drained the air out of the room and opened the far door. She removed her ventilator and breathed a deep sigh of relief. 

Reva stood in one of twenty nature domes on the planet. Each one was a safe haven from the pollution and smog ravaging the planet. It was a small dome of glass reaching up past the midlayer of the planet, past the upper layer, past the top layer. Inside the glass, which was about the size of a soccer field, stood a clearing with tall trees reaching up to the sky. It was the only spot in the lowerlayer with natural lighting and vegetation. It was also the only spot with fresh, unfiltered, unpolluted air.

Reva was the ranger. Her job was to ensure all the plants were growing the way they were supposed to. She grabbed a watering can and got to work. There were all different plants of all different sizes. There were trees that looked like great blue coral reefs, huge blades of grass reaching to the sky, multicolored flowers that only bloom on the bottom of lakes. There were stone pathways throughout the dome, lined with a glowing blue moss. Reva walked down the path, stopping to smell some brightly coloured mushrooms giving off a rather sweet smell, like that of chocolate.

Reva loved her job. The nature domes were the only place she felt at peace.  She loved the natural light streaming through the leaves, the fresh air, the plants. It was the only place she'd ever felt like she belonged. Some days she would get visitors, but today didn't seem like one of them. Reva was completely alone, or so she thought.

Reva walked past a tree when all of a sudden a man came swinging down from a tree branch. He had black skin, with long dark blue hair tied in braids and hanging low. He wore a flashy yellow jacket and purple visor sunglasses. He was upside down. 

"Boo!" The man yelled. 

Reva jumped back, raising her arms in front of her, before lowering them and clutching her chest. 

"Vee! You scared me..." 

Vee leaped out of the tree, laughing and brushing his hair down the left side of his face. 

"Just keeping you on your toes!" Vee said with a smile. "But I got them!" 

Reva's face lit up. "The plans?" 

"Yeah! Looks like those four months incognito were worth it!!" 

Vee pulled a small metal disk out of his pocket and pushed a button in the center of it. A blue light streamed out of the disk, creating a hologram of buildings. A spot between the buildings was marked with a red dot. 

"That's where our gateway to the mines is," Vee calmly explained. he pointed at a small, rundown brick building next to the door. "Security is rotated at 3:14 am. That's our window in! We'll meet at this building here. We can storm tonight if you're ready." 

Reva smiled excitedly. "Let's do it!" 

Vee turned off the hologram and tucked the disk back into his jacket pocket. 

"Ok! Sounds like a plan! If you've got the weapons I can stash them near the entrance." 

Reva handed Vee a dirty, well worn shovel. 

"Of course I got the weapons! Follow me." 

Reva led Vee to a plot of freshly moved dirt. Vee started digging, eventually finding two pistols and two blade-less knives. 

"A laser pistol and a light knife for each of us?" Vee asked. 

"Yep," Reva responded. "Should be enough. We do have stealth on our side." 

"Yeah we'll be good!" Vee said, picking up the weapons. He pushed a button on the side of one of the knives. A bright red blade of energy shot out of the handle. He pushed the button a second time and it returned to normal. He hid the weapons in a pocket in his jacket. "I'm going to go stash these. See you tonight!" 

"See ya!" 

Vee left, leaving Reva to her gardening duties. Reva gardened for a few more hours before packing up. She took one last deep breath of air before putting on her ventilator and walking back to her living quarters. When she got there, she walked over beside her bed, to her projector alarm clock. She started programming it to show a sunrise at 2:30 am. This would be the last time she'd ever use it. By the end of the day, she'd be off world. She'd see real sunrises again.

[smol-blue-bird]

my favorite thing is fountain pen ink with insane properties nobody would ever need or use. so many of them are like THIS INK IS LASERPROOF AND FIRE-RESISTANT. YOU CAN TAKE THIS INK TO ANTARCTICA AND IT WILL NOT FREEZE. THIS INK WILL OUTLIVE YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN. BURN THE PAPER AND THIS INK WILL DRIP OFF UNHARMED. like yes I’m 100% here for this energy even though I have zero need for laserproof crimeproof anti-forgery ink that flagrantly violates the laws of physics

[vole-mon-amour]

2x04, part 1.

Cool frame out of context.

Ah yes, straight to serial killers and abductors we go.

Yeah...

Thinking about Drakcest and Silverdyne. And Sweetnessa. And Daniel x Grace (literally!!!). So many of my otps.

Homelander be like: "I'll fuck you up." Dude has so many triggers, but the lies and manipulations are one of the biggest.

First of all, you're an asshole. Second, isn't she bi? Or has she 'dated' Homelander out of fear for Elena?

He's so unstable :')

Yes. Lmao.

Stop lying :)

baby.... baby stop shouting. i'd call you a grandpa, but the grandma is right in front of you (and she might be your mother as well? i don't understand the lore yet)

Isn't it curious how he's still more powerful than everyone there? And no matter what, he CAN kill them. They might be bulletproof, but not laserproof. :)

lady, stop touching him and get away from him.

he's so me, lmao.

mmmm. Butcher, that's not what you tell to the woman you love. good that you're keeping it real with her but damn.

[graffitibible]

He traces the tattered ridges of his laserproof vest. He was a buzzkill and then he was an exterminator and what is he now? Runaway. Fugitive. Once again stranded between two words, kind of like how he was in the city. Both a citizen and a rebel, now both a soldier and a traitor. He wouldn't classify himself a killjoy but he doesn't know what he counts as anymore. Both and neither. Something in between.

Something tells him that he's not unused to the feeling.

[shadethechangingman]

bloodlines in general isnt amazing but gunfires real standout trait is that hes part of one of those “me my love interest and my best friend” groups they are dc’s Singin in the Rain to me

[ID: Three comic book characters, Yvette Andrew and Ben, staring through a burning hole in surprise. Yvette: Cher, your armor! Ben: Okay, so the first thing we’ve gotta do is make this sucker laserproof! end ID]

[desireandduty]

@skyhaunter sent "Yes, you are. You're brilliant." from Turn Left Sentence Starters | Accepting!

Of all the ways Padmé had imagined celebrating Anakin's safe return from his first deployment, spending the afternoon in a blaster range somewhere in the mid levels of Coruscant had never once crossed her mind as an option. But he'd asked her this morning to teach him how to shoot a blaster, and really, the request makes sense. The more types of weapon he's mastered, the more likely he is to always come home to her. Hence the field trip.

Now that they're both suited up in laserproof vests, she sets the setting the controls in the practice room to an advanced training module and takes a stand in the center, her blaster held loosely in her right arm and hanging at her side. The simulation begins, and she takes down all seven targets at various points in the room in under 20 seconds, explaining to him as she goes: "Most beginners start with a two-handed hold, but you might as well go straight to one-handed. It gives you better flexibility. You can take down more targets faster."

Holstering her blaster now that the simulation is done, she turns to look at him and realizes he is just staring at her with that look on his face. A warm blush steals over her cheeks even as she teases him, "Anakin! Were you even listening to a thing I said?"

He nods, but his expression doesn't change. Still blushing, she walks over to him, holding out her blaster to him to use. "Honestly, I'm not even that good. You could find far better teachers, but I'm happy to show you everything I know."

"Yes you are. You're brilliant," he says, and the way he is staring at her makes her feel as if she could take on an entire roomful of Federation droids.

"Here," she says, placing her blaster in his hand. "Before we try one of the training scenarios, just get a feel for it first. Try..." She looks around and points to a stack of crates in the alleyway scene the previous simulation had created. "Hit the top crate on that stack."

[wormteeth2004]

oh. well i have a laserproof forcefield around my home so like you could maybe consider yourself fucking stupid

i’m sending my fastest ships to blow you up

i'm sending my strongest waves to kill you and your entire crew

[germanshible]

Feathered fun for father 😱 #firsttattoo Call 416-929-7330, Dm or email hello@germanshible.com to book. ‌• ‌• ‌• #tattoo #tattoos #tattooartist #tatouage #tattooart #toronto #torontofashion #art #btattooing #blacktattooart #blackworkerssubmission #drawing #girlswithink #girlswithtattoos #ink #illustration #laserproof #хоумтату #black #minimalism #torontotattoo #darkartists #tato #tttism #equilatera (at Passage Tattoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq0UHIHF-AN/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zdnbm9oplfqa

[jlinoo]

New flashes! For appointments please email me at tattoo@linoschwarz.com or click the mail thing in my description. . . . . . . . . . . . . #tattoo#tattoos#tattooartist#tatouage#tattooart#art#btattooing#blacktattooart#vienna#ignorantstyle#girlswithink#girlswithtattoos#ink#illustration#laserproof#black#minimalism#blackworkerssubimission#berlin#ignorantland#tattoer#blackink#homemadetattoo#ignorantstyletattoo (at Vienna, Austria)

[shitty-mechs-headcannons]

tim and brian have laser eyes. tim doesnt use it bc he thinks it's unsportsmanlike, except when jonny really angers him. the aurora has locked him in laserproof rooms for days on end after he cut clean through the wall and suffocated everyone several times. brian just uses it to give TS temporary tattoos. or anyone else who annoys him on MJE when he doesn't feel justified in killing them.

---

love all of this

-mod andy

[southfloridaconnection-blog]

#Laser #lasercut #laserhairremoval #laserena #lasers #lasercutting #lasertag #laserproof #lasertattooremoval #laserengraved #lasertreatment #laserengraving #lasershow #laserlipo #laseraway #laserremoval #lasercutter #laserclinic #LaserTherapy #lasergame #laseronline #lasergenesis #laserlight #LaserResurfacing #laserterapia #lasertreatments #laserpointer #laserco2 #laserhair #laserfocus @laserhairremovalbymichelle https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWN76sAJJU/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=w8vulmabinpr

[gerbertools]

Laser Proofing for beloved customer Gerber-tools.com #thankyouforyourbusiness#customerservice #laserengraving #laserproofing (at Gerber-Tools.com) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqDmQlAhnzz/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=17v7z3mq5le2s

[wyrmoftheweb]

this is NOT related to sirenoid being gus's mom theory or w/e whatsoever gus has a perfectly normal vestal mom she just happens to be a #girlboss like that.

spectra: so, if you don't mind me asking, how did you survive?

gus: im immune to lasers

spectra: fucking what

gus: yeah on my mom's side

[itscutebookworm]

As Mark Hamill said about The Last Jedi, it's all about the hands. Rian Johnson indeed used body language in this movie (and very often, not only in Reylo Hand Porn and Gingerrose Bite My Finger scenes which are just utterly Freudian full of hidden eroticism), and that's awesome. And I decided to sorta follow this concept in my new Gingerrose gify collage.

So, let the hands tell the story of attraction and passion – a story of love defeating hate and prejudice, and light overcoming darkness. Even today, in our galaxy, we all need more stories like that, don't we?.. 😉

Yeah, the quote and hand-in-the-window scene are from Titanic. You can imagine this window is a porthole aboard Supremacy or Finalizer, or, if you prefer TROS timeline/postcanon, Rose's ship to where she took her beloved spy saved from execution; or maybe it is the window of their house where they are happy together after the end of war and amnesty of former general made important contribution to the Resistance's victory. There're so many plots for these two. But in any case, they undoubtedly will get a much happier ending than the other Rose and her poor Jack. No more fucking stupid deaths in our headcanon realm! Hux (canon Hux, not that absolutely out-of-character dumbass JJ has shown us in his shitty TROS), after all, is very smart and cunning boy who knows about laserproof vests and has extensive experience with survival in his hard life.

So, make love not war, my darlings ✌❤😇