#the player character is just a chess piece. the means to an end. a toy to manipulate

[impossible-rat-babies]

I love videos essays bc it’s like. huh I had feelings on that but thank you for putting it into deeper words and coherent feelings

[ticklish-touch]

I’m With You in the Dark

Last year, I made a poll seeing who would be interested in reading a story about my tickle monster Rags meeting my favorite character in Deltarune, Jevil. Even though I got a very positive response overall, I... chickened out. :’D I've always felt very self-conscious about writing fanfics, especially ones involving my OCs with canon characters. I grew up with other weeb friends who thought fanfic in general was very cringey and taboo. But at the end of the day, as long as people aren't writing about shipping real-life people or kink shit with minors, they have the freedom to write what they want if it helps them express themselves. Ever since last year, Jevil has become a very important character to me. There are hundreds of wonderful creative interpretations of him and his possible backstory; and, as someone who has depersonalization spells, existential thoughts about reality & the universe, enjoys making other people laugh even at my own expense, and a chaotic inner voice that constantly tells me "AREN'T YOU TIRED OF BEING NICE, DON'T YOU JUST WANNA GO APESHIT??" this little gremlin has become a comfort character; one that I also highly enjoy cosplaying. And, frankly, what better year to post a story about nihilism than 2020?  👍   So, this is just a "what-if" scenario, if someone else besides Gaster with some degree of omniscience was able to show the poor jester that there's more to life than just waiting for the Void to take over. And if anyone takes anything away from this, I just want it to be the hope that things will get better. You are allowed to be hopeful, and happy, and make positive connections with people even if you've had harmful experiences with people over past mistakes from either side. We're in this together; you aren't always going to be alone, your suffering won't be in vain. This, too, shall pass. So please, stay determined. Happy Halloween, everyone!!  🎃 🦇 👻 🤡 Story below the cut!

       The mischievous Nightmare felt a peculiar pull at his mind as he lurked through the foggy darkness in search of another playmate: A chaotic soul resonating with nearly as much feral playfulness and craving for laughter as his own. But there was something...Off. This mind, this essence, was splintered and broken, re-mended into something different... A shadow of its former self. Joy and mischief and enthusiasm for the world, replaced by existential dread and loneliness...

         The silent cry for help brought Ragaeli to a reality he'd never been in: One of the many infinite parallel dimensions to Earth that existed in the endless void of spacetime. At a brief glance, he could see there was a race called Darkners. They seemed to be the joy of childlike imagination brought to life; living, breathing checker and chess pieces, puzzle pieces, stuffed toys and squeaky mallets and lego blocks.

         And, within a card castle not unlike the story of Alice in Wonderland, deep within a huge cell locked by powerful magic, a rotund little jester with a black and purple wardrobe was bouncing about, creating myriads of dazzling diamonds, spades, hearts and clovers. He appeared to be an imp with a J-shaped tail, a round noseless face, pointy ears, deep black pits for eyes and serrated, lemon-yellow teeth stretched into a smile as he laughed gleefully to himself.

        The Nightmare split open a doorway of crackling energy, leaping through, landing on the indigo striped ground with a THUD. The floor was very plush and unsteady, like the inflated floor of a bouncy castle. "Weellll now, it sure seems like a party in here~ But what kind of party only has one guest, hmm?"

        Immediately, the small jester jumped, his head launching out on a spring coil like a Jack-in-the-box. "AIYEEE-!! What, what?! Who are you? Did...Did you escape too??" He glided over to the tall figure, eyeing him over. At first, his lips twitched and seemed as if they were going to form into a frown. But instead he responded with a forced grin. "Uee-hee hee, I see, I see... It seems they've finally replaced little old me~!" He bounced up on his tail to flick playfully at Ragaeli's chest bells, spiraling around him to tug at his flaps, hair and spandex. "Hmmm, not bad~ And you can't go wrong with being a stripey lad; I guess the Kings have some taste after all! But where is your hat?? A jester with no hat is like a witch without their cat!" He glided around behind Ragaeli and his eyes widened. "A hand on your tail?? Now that's just excessive!!"          "I must say your rhyme scheme is really quite impressive~" Ragaeli giggled, his head turned 180 degrees to look down at the jester.          Jevil couldn't help but giggle too. "Uee hee hee, why thank you, thank you~!" He hovered upside-down in front of the larger monster, summoning a deck of cards, shuffling them up. "The tales must be true, that each suit has two. A black and a red...I always assumed the other must just be dead!!" He snickered, making the cards disappear up his sleeve, then turned back upright, folding his arms, his purple tail lashing about behind him like an agitated cat, his tone twinged with jealousy. "Well since they've decided that red suits their court more, you'd better not be a bore! To replace me is to replace the wittiest of all the players in this castle full of nay-sayers!"

         "Hehehe, now, don't get your tail in a twist, I'm no replacement," Ragaeli playfully flicked one of Jevil's bells. "Name's Ragaeli, but you can call me Rags, Ragdoll, Ragtime, Rag-Tag, just don't call me boring, heheh~ I'm not even from this world, you see. Would you believe me when I say there are other worlds out there? Other dimensions?"          Jevil giggled at all the nicknames, then his face lit up, his annoyance quickly shifting to curiosity. "Oh yes, yes, I know it to be true!! He chuckled. "Your world, it is a game too? Or is it more "real" than what we can perceive?"          Ragaeli raised an eyebrow. "A game, hmm? I suppose you can say that," He smirked. "My world is, in a sense, "Not real" as well. Not to the people of Earth anyways. It's thanks to their thoughts and emotions, their hopeful desires in the depths of their darkest thoughts, that I exist at all. And because of that," His grin turned devilish and he rapped his fingers together in a comically villainous fashion. "I can appear to any of them that I want. I can play all kinds of games with them~ I have no limits to what I can do in my realm, and Earth itself is my playground, a game that will never end~"

         The jester listened with fascination, then cackled again, seeming elated as he bounced around in midair. "Oh I'm SO happy!! Someone else finally sees!! There is another who's been set free!!" Then his giddy tone turned to a snarl. "THEY didn't believe me!! THEY were all blind, blind!!" Magic energy crackled around him. "I ONLY wanted to HELP them!! I only wanted them to be privy to the danger, danger they would face if they didn't try to free themselves of this pointless rat race!!"         Ragaeli's brow furrowed. "Who's them? Who put you in here? A jolly little hellion like you shouldn't be locked away like this, 'specially if you think your castle's in danger."        Jevil quickly shook his head, puffing his chest out indignantly. "It is not I that has been locked away! They chose their own prison, they dug their own graves! The court wouldn't listen, they didn't want to play, and now for their bullheadedness THEY'RE the ones having to pay!!"

        The Nightmare latched onto the images flashing through Jevil's mind, learning bits and pieces about the royal court that ruled the dark castle. It definitely appeared that things were in disarray, and the court jester's loneliness bubbled into a well of resentment...         The continued rush of memories manifested into the image of a strange entity that came to the jester before his imprisonment: A ghostly creature, cloaked in inky blackness, with large round holes in his skeletal hands and a twisted grin frozen on his skull-like head, a single white pupil glowing out from the cracked eyesockets with a sickly light. Even the Nightmare, who had seen every hellish iteration of fear and hatred, knew that this...thing, was bad news. He existed, yet was nonexistant. He was fractured across all of time and space, yet remained trapped unmoving inside the Void. He was filled with hopelessness, bitterness, egoism, an unyielding ambition to drag anything and everything down into the same all-consuming darkness. An unfortunate victim of his own hubris, now a sociopath with cold disregard for individual worth except the desire to dissect everything and everyone he could latch onto. And it happened that Jevil, who craved mischief and adventure and purpose in his seemingly small role in the kingdom, was the latest test subject.         Ragaeli's hair stood up on end and a low, near demonic growl rumbled in his throat. "And what, exactly, did this thing show you?"         The growl made Jevil gasp, stopping him in his tracks, looking up at the large entity with trepidation. "H-He showed me everything, everything!! He showed me the beginning, the end of all things, he showed me the truth of this world and all worlds in the cosmos, that nothing is as it seems, nothing means anything, but because anything can be nothing, nothing can be everything--"          "Alright, enough, I'm stopping you right there, Lovecraft," In a swift movement, he tugged the rim of Jevil's hat over his face.         "YEEE- H-HEY!!" The frazzled jester fixed his hat, puffing his cheeks out at Ragaeli, his tail whipping about even more wildly.          "Whoever this Wing-dinged handy-man is sure isn't very handy if all he can do is fill your head with nihilistic nonsense," Ragaeli stuck out his tongue. "Sounds like someone who had a rotten time of it is now trying to ruin everyone else's fun."         "No, no, not at all!!" Jevil leapt on top of Ragaeli's head and perched like a cat. "Because of him, I can have more fun than I ever thought possible!! You'll see, you'll see!! They're bringing back the key!!" He giggled madly. "Three visitors, all questing in vain to bring an end to a game that doesn't matter, and once I am back inside their world of lies I will spread my truth everywhere and everyone will thank me!!" He cackled. "But first I should thank you for keeping me company~" He leapt off and glided in front of the Nightmare. From the center of his dark eyes, yellow irises began to glow brightly. "It's been so long since someone has lent an ear, so I'll show you my favorite game~"  In a flash, he launched a glowing diamond, sharp as a sword, at the speed of a flying bullet into Ragaeli's stomach.

         But the diamond disappeared on contact. Instead of yelping in pain, Ragaeli shrieked and doubled over as the energy shot a ticklish burst through him. "GYEEEE-HEEHEE!!"         Jevil looked baffled. "...What, what?? Laughter?" He tilted his head, summoning a spinning barrage of clubs that shot at Ragaeli's legs, chest and sides like machine gun ammunition.         And again, the Nightmare was bombarded with a barrage of ticklish electricity, causing him to crumple on the plush floor with cackling laughter. "AIYEEE-HAHAHAHA!!" After the sensation wore off, he continued to let out giddy laughter as he saw Jevil's incredulous expression. "WHOOO-WEE, now that was a good one!!"          Jevil couldn't help but snort back his own laughter at the Nightmare's comical reactions, but he seemed even more puzzled. "Is someone ticklish, ticklish? That isn't how I'm trying to play, but it makes things interesting, needless to say~" He giggled a bit. "But then...How am I supposed to play my game if you've got no numbers to claim??"          Ragaeli shook his head, jumping up into the air to recline as if laying back on a sofa. "You silly little imp, do you really think that's the only way to play with others? Taking this "HP" until they're gone for good? What would you do then when there's no-one left to have fun with?" He gave a pout.         Jevil shook his head quickly. "No no, they're not really gone!! Weren't you listening, listening?? It's all a game!! They can come back!! Losing is just a minor setback~!"

         The Nightmare raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"         "Because the Stranger showed me!! He can mess with the code, he can change--"         "How do YOU know that?" Ragaeli barked. "Forget about him, can YOU bring them back??"         Jevil shrugged. "Perhaps, perhaps not, but if they lose then that's just how it goes~ Such is the way of this game we all play!"         The Nightmare rolled his eyes. "So... you wanna play by the game's rules, huh? How boring."

        The jester's malicious snickering immediately stopped, and he stiffened up.          Ragaeli narrowed his gaze, prying at the jester's mind a bit more. "What is it you've said? You can do anything? So why not shake it up and take this game into your own hands? If you're really free, then PROVE it!"

        For once, the manic jester took pause.

        "Think about what it is YOU want in this game we all call life!"

         Jevil lifted a gloved finger, unable to answer at first. Then his bright yellow irises faded again. "What I want...?" He lowered his head. "What I want..." A quiet giggle bubbled up from inside him. "I just want them to be free, free with me..." He hovered higher, seeming to vibrate with an intense magical aura, and raised his arms. The room began to spin around the central pole, as if it were revolving around the world's axis. "To break their cage and create a NEW stage, where everyone can play, play to their heart's content!! Free from this kingdom of rules and lies!!" He snarled. "I want them to PAY for making me play in my freedom all alone, every night and every day!!" He bellowed. Carnival music began to emanate from all around them, starting quiet then gaining in tempo. "I want them to say, "To HELL with rules, I will break these chains and embrace the chaos, CHAOS!!" He laughed maniacally, and from every curve of the rounded ceiling, more of his symbols appeared; Hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs, all aimed at Ragaeli, launching toward him like speeding bullets.          The Nightmare answered with his own giddy laugh. "Ohhh, how interesting! Well then, let's play for a while and I might just help you make your wish come true~!" He nonchalantly bounded away from the trajectory of the magic, dodging, swooping, teleporting and even dancing and pirouetting away. Occasionally they would hit, and once again he would shriek in surprise and burst into laughter. "GYAAAH-HAHAHAHA!!"          Jevil giggled, no longer bothered that his attacks weren't causing any 'HP' damage. "I wonder; How long will it take before you finally break~?"          The Nightmare smirked dangerously. "I could ask you the same thing!" His hair suddenly jumped to life, tendrils leaping forward and bombarding the jester's chubby belly, sending electric pulses of ticklishness through him.

         "UEEEE-HEE-HEEEE!!" Jevil shrieked with laughter and flailed for a moment before poofing himself to the other side of the room. A bright purple blush filled his cheeks and he clutched his belly, gawking at Ragaeli. "N...NO FAIR, NO FAIR!! IT WASN'T YOUR TURN YET!!"          Ragaeli giggled. "You really think a tickle monster is gonna play fair? Now what's the fun in that~?"          Jevil huffed and his pout shifted to a malicious grin. "Uee hee hee; Fine, fine, I also won't play fair!! Let's see you laugh about THIS!" With a flash, he summoned a large ornate striped sickle, teleporting close and taking a swift swing at Ragaeli, catching him in the middle of the striped pattern on his leotard.          The Nightmare's torso came clean off his legs, not with any blood or guts but with a cartoonish POP. "WHOA!! Caught me off guard with that one, took my top clean off ya did!!" His tone went cockney, and he grabbed his legs and re-attached them as if he'd been de-pantsed.

         Jevil balked, then doubled over backwards with laughter. "HYEE-HEEHEE HAHAHAH Oh my stahahars, you're a fun one, you are!!" His scythe disappeared with a flash, a new wave of glee bubbling up in him. "You really are like me!! Your body cannot be killed!! That means you can stay here and play as long as we want!! I'm so THRILLED!!" He laughed with jubilation and raised his arms, and from the walls emerged a bizarre set of carousel horses, with the bodies of rubber ducks, all of which began to circle rapidly around the room. "Go ahead, hop on~! But better watch out, these horsies have a mean bite~"

         The Nightmare snickered and dove into a cartwheel, throwing himself onto the back of one of the figures, which tried to toss him off like a bucking bronco. "Piece of cake, I've wrangled a few horsies in my d-AAGH!!" He was swiftly knocked off by a flying duck ramming him at full force, sending him careening into the spinning walls of the room. He bounced off of the squishy surface and lay crumpled in a heap, cracking up with hyena-like hysterics. Jevil, too, giggled hysterically at his opponent's prat-fall. It felt so grand to finally have someone to play with again!!

        And so, their antics continued. Jevil came at Ragaeli with everything he had, and the Nightmare almost effortlessly parried it away with his meaty hands or flexible limbs. As Jevil revealed more and more tricks up his sleeve, from his ability to shapeshift into his own scythe, to a downright unfair barrage of clover-shaped bullets, Ragaeli revealed that his tail could multiply into three, which crackled with red sparks; They lunged forward and managed to ensnare the manic jester, slithering against his round belly and backs of his knees, even slipping one of his shoes off to entwine their prongs between his clawed toes.         "AIYEEE-HEEHEEEE UEE-HEEHEE NOOOHOHOHOOO-HEEHEE!!" The ticklish shock to his system surprised the jester enough that his head launched out on its spring coil, before retreating back for him to grab the ends of his hat and hide his flushed face and goofy smile.

        The Nightmare snickered fiendishly at his reactions. "What's wrong~? Surely the court-appointed master of laughter can handle a little tickling?"         The playful taunting just flabbergasted the thrashing imp all the more. Not because he hated it; but because he, the clever jester with an unholy amount of magic energy had never been so easily bested by something that wasn't a physical fight... And on some level, it was thrilling. It felt so good to laugh with such passion; Real, true laughter, instead of a hollow imitation of happiness. Being unable to focus on anything but their game, on the consequences of each other's "attacks", took his mind off the dreadful, existential thoughts that plagued him, and made him think that maybe, just maybe, there was more to his and this world's existence after all...

          But in the meantime, it was his turn, and he was ready for revenge. He poofed himself out of the nightmare's tendrils and re-appeared underneath him, turning his scythe into a rubber mallet to send Ragaeli flying up near the ceiling. He smiled wickedly, summoning a barrage of attacks that started to morph into vaguely hand and feather-like shapes. With a clap of his hands, they rocketed up to the Nightmare, burying into his belly, ribs and armpits, slithering down the wide collar of his leotard, trapping his ankles into cuffs so that they could saw between his toes and whirl against his soles like fuzzy sawblades. The onslaught caused the monster to howl and screech with hysteria, thrashing and swatting at the symbols in vain. "GYEEEE-HEHEHEHEHEH WHY Y-YOHOHOHOUUU-HAHAHAHA~!!"         Jevil giggled devilishly. "Uee-heeheee, what's wrong, what's wrong~? You're the Tickle Monster, are you not? Or were you lying all along? Can't handle being at the wrong end of your own fiendish plot~?"         Ragaeli snarled in his laughter, attempting to swat at the jester with his tails. "GRAAHH-HAHAHAH SH-SHUHUHUHUT UHUHUP YOU L-LIHIHITTLE-!!" And yet, despite his protests at the unbearable attack, the Nightmare's laughter, too, resonated with excitement and elation. It echoed through the vast cell, emanating with such unbridled joy and wild abandon that it stirred something inside of Jevil. Something...Warm, and oddly reassuring. And finally, from the depths of the jester's scrambled mind, memories started to return to him...

         He once knew laughter as well, and more than that, making others laugh. The four Kings, laughing at his antics in the court; young Rudinns and Jigsawrys and a baby Clover, all laughing gleefully at his dazzling displays of card symbols, dancing ribbons and fireworks. The dancers in the halls laughing as the court jester pulled prank after prank on the uptight dolt Rouxls Kaard. The Spade King, telling him how eager he was for his son to be born, so that Jevil could teach him how to spread joy through the kingdom. And Seam, his dear friend, letting out a rare gem of laughter whenever he said a silly joke or snuck up on the wooly cat and tickled his sides...

         Before long, Jevil's magic was no longer set to kill mode; a fact that wouldn't have affected the reality-bending Nightmare made of laughter either way, but others caught in the crossfire would no longer be in danger of a "game over". His will began to shift, and now his projectiles were imbued with the overwhelming urge to make their target crumble into a heap of elated laughter.         Perfect. Ragaeli grinned gleefully, snapping his fingers and poofing himself out of the hold of the magic symbols, standing to face Jevil, folding his arms behind his head. "Well now, seems like something's getting through to that polyvinyl noggin of yours--"         That brief moment was all Jevil needed to re-appear behind him, lunging to rapidly scribble his fingers and prod his tail along Ragaeli's belly, snickering to himself. "You so easily let your guard down!! I thought I was the clown!!"         "GYAA-HAHAHAHA!! TH-THAT WAS ON PURPOHOHOSE!!" Ragaeli slithered his pronged tail up to scribble against Jevil's 'neck' and pointy ears, sending him flying back on his spring-coil with a yowl.

        Jevil wasn't sure how long their game went on. Minutes, hours, days? Time never meant much of anything in his personal freedom; But now, he never wanted it to end. If those three adventurers did ever come back with the key, this would be quite the sight to walk in on...         Before long, though, the jester's 'attacks' were weakening, and his large tongue hung out with panting breaths; it became harder for him to levitate, or to tap out from the tickle monster's ruthless attacks; Ragaeli could sense his growing fatigue and eventually stopped, letting Jevil collapse to the bouncy floor.

        "H-Hee-hehehe...That was fun, fun!! But enough is enough, you tired me up!" He giggled, but his grin turned to a pout. "But I don't want to sleep yet, I still want to play with everyone, everyone..."         "Ohh, I think that can be arranged~" Ragaeli's hand sparked and crackled with magic, making Jevil instinctively squeak and flinch. But he shook his head. "Hehe, don't be worried~ This will give your energy back." But he closed his fist and extinguished the magic. "But hear me out first. If you play to take away everyone's HP, they won't want to play with you. They'll just put you down here again."         Jevil snorted and folded his arms. "Well at least I wouldn't be caged in their prison again, again..."         Ragaeli could still sense negative thoughts plaguing his mind.

Not real. Meaningless. Trapped. Just a game. Not wanted, not needed. Afraid of me. They'll leave me again, again. Seam will leave me again.

        At the very least, these thoughts weren't as loud as before, and were being dulled by the hope that perhaps he could be welcomed back by everyone... Ragaeli narrowed his gaze and snuck his hair tendrils over to prod along his round belly and sides again. "UEEE-HEEEHEEE!!" He rolled over to the other side, hiding his flushed face again.         "Heheh, come on now, no need to hide that face every time I get a laugh outta you~" He managed to tug the jester's hat off, revealing short, dark curly hair and a small pair of horns. Jevil gasped, his eyes going wide and he reached over frantically trying to grab his hat back. "HEYY!! Just because you forgot yours doesn't mean mine's up for grabs!!"   Ragaeli chuckled. "Relax, you'll get it back, if you listen to me first. There's no use letting those thoughts get in the way of your fun, now is there? Even if you live your life 'confined' with the others, at least you'd still have playmates, right? You still have the chance to make amends and show your friends you're not going to let your story end. ...See, now I've been hangin' around you too long. You're turning me into a natural poet~"         The sulky jester couldn't help but snicker. "Even if I did, even if they want to be my friend, I can never see this world the same way again, again..." He trembled. "The vision, the prophecy... The skies will darken, the world will crack, the calamity will sweep away all in it's path...No matter how many broken bonds we try to mend; Whether we play or flee, everything will end!!" He choked back a wail, hiding his face in his palms, his pointy ears drooping back.

        Ragaeli rolled his eyes and sighed loudly, scratching his head thoughtfully for a moment. "Look; Of course things aren't gonna be the same. Of course things end someday. That's the point of LIVING!" The Nightmare barked and jumped up, causing another loud THUD as he stooped over on his haunches like an agitated mountain lion. "You change and you grow and you LIVE, despite how tiny or messed up you think your existence is. You CHALLENGE anything or anyone who tries to tell you that you can't find your way outta that dark tunnel. Fake? Real? Who CARES?? You're HERE! Your life is only meaningless if YOU choose to live it without meaning!!"         Jevil peeked out from under his hands as the deity ranted. He then scoffed, taking his tail and fiddling with it as he avoided Ragaeli's eye contact. "That's easy enough for you to say. Your existence, your world, isn't made to be a game for OTHERS to play."

        Ragaeli calmed down a little, patting his hair sympathetically and tweaking one of his horns. "Listen, Jev-In-The-Box. You're right about one thing. You can't change the circumstances that brought you into being. And sometimes, that really sucks." He frowned. "It sucks for those little mortals who have such little control over the society that keeps 'em prisoner. And even for someone like me...I can't change the fact that I come from a world that wouldn't exist without mortals. Any Nightmare can disappear in the blink of an eye if they aren't remembered by enough people."         "Really..??"         Ragaeli nodded. "That's why some of 'em try so hard to be remembered, even if it means playing with humans like cats torturing mice before they eat 'em. And I can't make them value life. But I also can't let them freely roam the world that imagined us up, or reality as we know it would fall apart. I can't even stay in other timelines or realities too long or I risk fading away for good."         Jevil listened curiously, a hint of a concerned frown crossing his face.         The deity shrugged. "So I just make the best of it, y'know? I have fun showing other people that their world isn't as small and hopeless as they think." The thoughtful expression left the entity's face as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a devilish grin. "So YOU had better not let me catch you moping about in those gloomy thoughts of yours again," he poked Jevil's plush belly, making the jester squeal and bat his hand away. The Nightmare snickered. "And if I see you trying to end other people's game instead of finding ways to make laughter and excitement a part of your reality... Then I WILL be back, and I'll show you what it really means to be ticklish~" He narrowed his gaze and cracked his knuckles loudly, his body emanating with an aura of electric energy, his hair tendrils raising into the air like cobras poised to strike, wriggling their fingers and forming into bristles.

        Jevil shrieked and quickly scrambled back. "YEEEP-!! ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALREADY, I GET IT I GET IT!!" The jester first pouted at being told what to do. But something about the strange monster's words...Felt to be true.

        Ragaeli chuckled, his hair calming back down. "Of course, that doesn't mean there's no fun to be had in a bit of harmless chase," he flashed a devious grin. "You can make them pay, without making them go away, so that way you can all play again and again~ The eventual catch can be the best pay-off of all~"         The implication of the tickle monster's words started to sink in. A Grinch-like smile started to spread across the imp's face as terrible schemes came to his mind. He could play a game of 'Surrender' with anyone, anytime, and they wouldn't have to lose their HP over it. It could be one big game of hide-and-tickle, or tickle tag, or a test of endurance, or another way for the King to interrogate outsiders about Lightners...         Sensing that his thoughts had changed their tune, Nightmare gave him back his hat...And transferred a surplus of magic energy fueled by laughter, adrenaline and mischief to replenish his strength.

        Jevil gasped as if surfacing for a breath of fresh air, then giggled and sprung to his feet. "Fine, you've won me over, I hope you're happy! But I think we'll have to wait until the Lightners return with that key. Once they do, I'll wreak havoc in that boring little prison of theirs and this Joker will be the one to have the last laugh~!" He giggled fiendishly and rubbed his hands together, bouncing impatiently in place.

        Ragaeli smirked. "Hehe, no need to wait for a key. Prisoners break themselves out all the time, so why not just break in~?" He hopped over to the door, grasped his large hand around the bars, his hand emanating with crackling magic again... And the lock popped open with a click.         Jevil went slack-jawed. "Wowee!! You really are strong! I can't even best Seam's magic enchantments at full strength!" he then cleared his throat. "That isn't to say I couldn't have broken in all along. I just didn't want to is all," he shrugged and stuck his tongue out. "So now it's time to say...SO LONG!!" He cackled maniacally and shot like a bullet out of the door.

        When he flung himself from inside the cell, he saw the three travellers from earlier, now gawking up at him incredulously.         "W-What the-?!" Susie and Ralsei's eyes went wide.         Jevil instantly pounced them, rapidly bombarding them with scribbling fingers, rapid pokes and his tail slithering between their limbs. Shrieks of startled laughter answered him, even from the quiet, stoic one. They were too preoccupied with trying to flail away to notice the jester snatch the key out from under their noses. As soon as he had it, he stopped and hovered above them.         Susie panted for a minute. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!!" she snarled, brandishing her axe.         "H-How did you get out?!" Ralsei questioned. "I thought you needed the key??"         Jevil merely answered with a wild grin, focusing his power in his hands until the key sparkled and crackled with his magic...And shattered into hundreds of tiny shards. Without another word, he rocketed up the winding stone steps, laughing incomprehensibly.         "WH...WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Susie shouted.         "I don't...think that was supposed to happen..." Ralsei scratched his head through his hat.         Kris just shrugged, and Susie grumbled. "We went through all that shit just to get the key and he didn't even NEED it!! I'm getting real damn sick of this stupid castle!!" She pounded the handle of her ax into the ground, huffing loudly.         Ralsei frowned. "Well, don't worry about him. I think it's time we go find Lancer, yeah?"         At this, Susie calmed down a little, sighing. "Yeah, you're right. We've kept him waiting long enough. Some mystery prisoner isn't any of our damn business."

        It was already too late, regardless of whether the heroes tried to go after him. The jester's second reign of chaos was swift and sudden. He ricocheted through the castle, his manical laughter echoing through every hallway, his bursts of magic visible like fireworks in the distance, his devilsknife and his magic attacks shapeshifting into other "weapons" like giant featherdusters, scrubbing brushes and makeshift hands. At first the guards were horrified that the infamous prisoner had escaped. But once they were reduced to shrieks of laughter and pleading and apologies, and Jevil declared victory before bee-lining to his next target and eventually leaving the castle, the denizens of the Darkner world were left flabbergasted, nervous, and perhaps even amused and curious to see if this "dangerous criminal" would return for more...

        Ragaeli watched the commotion smugly as he started to fade back to his realm. "Oh dear, it appears I've created a monster~"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        You make your way back down the elevator and stairs. You double-check your items, use the save point, and....         What the hell? The dungeon door is gone! Is this an easter egg of some kind? Did the game glitch out? You check your items again... The key is gone too.         Okay, something must be wrong. Before you make the decision to replay the whole game just for the hidden boss, you head back to Seam. Maybe talking to him again will re-trigger the events needed for fixing the key?

        But when you go inside the "Seap", it isn't just Seam anymore. The secret boss, Jevil, now has a full sprite, grinning gleefully at the player.

        [ * UEE HEE HEE, WELCOME, WELCOME LIGHTNERS! SO SORRY WE DIDN'T GET TO PLAY, PLAY. MAYBE ANOTHER DAY! ]

        You talk to Seam first, triggering his usual dialogue about how Jevil ended up in the dungeon, and how the heroes would eventually have to face the Knight. And, interestingly, an additional bit of dialogue explaining how the heroes just missed Jevil's "escape", and how his reunion with his old friend was filled with a great deal of laughs...         Talking to Jevil afterwards brings up more dialogue. You ask him how he got out of the dungeon.

[ *YES, YES, I SUPPOSE I SHOULD EXPLAIN THAT KEY. I HAD ANOTHER STRANGER COME TO ME! ]

[ *BUT THIS ONE DID NOT MAKE ME FEEL SO AIMLESS. IN FACT, HE SHOWED ME THAT I WOULD HAVE MADE QUITE A MESS! ]

[ * THIS MAY ALL JUST BE A GAME, AND YOU... YES, YOU OUT THERE...]

        His sprite momentarily came closer, his yellow irises seeming to bore right into you through your screen...

[ * -MAY HAVE MORE SAY IN WHAT RIGHTS WE CAN OR CANNOT FLAUNT. BUT I THINK, EVEN IN THIS PRISON, WE CAN STILL BE HAPPY, HAPPY, AND PLAY AS MUCH AS WE WANT! ]

[ * WHO IS REAL, AND WHO IS NOT? I DON'T THINK THAT MATTERS ANYMORE, ANYMORE. ]

[ * THAT SILLY RED MONSTER, WHO LAUGHS AND LAUGHS AND REMINDED ME THAT THIS WORLD DOES NOT HAVE TO BE A BORE...]

[ * THE STRANGE WORDS HE SAID HAVE STUCK INSIDE MY SPRINGS. NOW MY VIEW ON THIS WORLD HAS BECOME JUST A LITTLE LIGHTER... ]

[ * AND I'M CURIOUSER, AND CURIOUSER, TO SEE WHAT THE FUTURE BRINGS~! ]

[ravenquote]

OoC: Favorite Characters

I decided to focus on villains or anti-heroes, it’s hard picking just favorites in a general sense.

1. Harleen Quinzel A.K.A Harley Quin - DC Comic Universe I have been in love with this woman since September 1992 when she first aired in the Batman Animated series, Joker’s favor. Due to her brilliant creators of Paul Dini and Bruce Tim, led with the voice talents of Arleen Sorkin. She was born from her own raw desire to help people in her own best way possible, using her talents of understanding, reading and in many sense controlling people. Sadly, like Alice in wonderland, she fell into a realm of madness and uncertainty. She has been one of the most complex characters in animated history with large backstory and many turns and takes. Extremely popular on various forms and has made many appearances over the years even scoring some of her own comics and shows and now movies. When she was first created, she was merely a fill in and not meant to take and yet here she stands, a triumphant beauty whose overcome Abuse, trauma and degradation.

2. Azula - Avatar the last air bender animated television show + comics What can i say about Azula? In many retrospects she’s fierce, powerful, driven and just intelligent! I think a lot of people forget something pretty important about her: SHE WAS FOURTEEN! This young teenage, overthrew governments, taking whole cities and was the closest to killing the Avatar compared to anyone else. Not to mention her pure intelligence! People compare to playing a game of chess when it comes to moving people or controlling their actions. No, to this woman it was checkers. I truly believe if she didn’t become as over-confident as she did, the war would have ended with her taking the world. With the right nurturing, she would have become the most feared overlord the world would ever see.

3. Loghain Mac Tir - Dragon age book (The Stolen Throne by: David Gaider) and Dragon age Origins the Video game. Yeah, there’s a theme so far i am guessing you are seeing. I can’t help but appreciate sheer intelligence. Loghain is sort of obvious in the video games, it’s clear his intents. At the same time, there is far far more than what is merely on the surface with this man. An obvious villain, almost to the point of it being boring. Yet, why in the games are so many people hesitant and trusting of him? This man had proved himself, over and over, that he had his country in his heart and would do anything to protect it and keep it from the true monsters of the world. People. He was never shy about the routes he’d take, the lengths he’d go, he was brass, courageous, and deceptive. He called things out, forced people to seeing the bigger picture, he didn’t need to control or lie to people about things. He got what he wanted in the most unique ways possible, not his title, not his money, not his charisma but by being true in what had to be done. 

4. Sylvanas Windrunner - Blizzard Entertainment Video games I don’t see her as a Villain, an Anti-hero, yes. Look, we all know Blizz can’t seem to understand women or know how to write them on a large scale. I seriously feel bad for both, Piera Coppola and Patty Mattson as they have to watch this poor woman get brutally torn to pieces. I will always, always have a soft spot for her and remember the days where in many respects was like Illidain, and (above) Loghain. A woman who saw the bigger picture and would sacrifice anything to save everything she cared for. I wont drag on for her, simply because i know the most people who are doing this and following are from the Blizzard franchise and i know we have all heard many many layers to this continued argument about this particular character. If ya wanna PM about it or rant at me, bring it. I’m an Alliance player at heart, but i only got into w.o.w because of this woman. Both sides are shit. *drops mic*

5. Aaravos - Dragon Prince, Netflix television animated show. Okay, seriously, if you haven’t seen the show yet: DO IT! Just as with this theme, INTELLIGENCE, INTELLIGENCE, INTELLIGENCE! Tactful, charming, knowledgeable, i mean...look at that face! He is hands down perfect. Sadly, we still know very little of him but goshdamnit! Love! Love! Love! I can not wait to know more of him and see more of him. 

6. Maleficent - Fairy Tale story / Disney The jist of her, from stories and movies, is general: She was snubbed or insulted by the royal court and took her revenge on the child they were all celebrating. I’m sorry, but this has always been fantastic to me. What is more painful and hard to deal with then your own child being cursed? Claim petty if you want, but no, oh no my dear friend, this is a brilliant revenge. A normal person would blame the man in charge and curse him, but meh, whatever. Kings wont remember how they snubbed others, this is proven time and time again in many stories. Will this act ever be forgotten? Will the generations always remember not to snub a powerful faerie? You better believe it! She made a ever lasting mark, an impression that has lasted since the 13th century! Throughout the years no one has changed these facts: Maleficent was powerful, she was disrespected and she took her revenge onto a child. Normal stories like these over the years have changed both villains and heroes, or even circumstances. This classic has even seen the beautiful creation, directed by Robert Stromberg from a screenplay by Linda Woolverton, and still they honour the root of what was and with a focus on the villain and her origins.  How many villains get this?

7. Narberal Gamma - Overlord Anime/ Manga series Who doesn’t love a maid? Not to mention a Battle maid. Narberal is...mm, i don’t even know how to express her. She’s just generally cool, powerful, intelligent, loyal and honest with everything around her, just a demeanor of a refined perfection. She’s enjoyable to watch. Another thing i enjoy, she’s not the main villain. The show itself has many “villains”, i say in such way because it’s never really clear or obvious what you can count as villain or hero in a lot of ways. Yes, some are obvious but even then in many cases showed within it’s all about circumstances, who you are following, why you are following them. I enjoy the not so cut and dry of “good and evil”. This character also helps continue that ploy, helping and yet also killing people.

8. Carmilla - Castlevania Netflix series I’m a huge vampire fan, been so since middle school. I’m not as quick whipped as i use to be about the lore, history and so on when it comes to many Vampires and their origins. With such said, damn she made me bring out the books again, especially because she was one of my favorites to read about. I mean, Lesbian vampire. Do i need to say more? For now, i’ll only focus on the more recent adaption of her. So, yeah theme? We get it, intelligence. The world truly is a chess board for her, however she does not expect people to just flip the board on her. God, Jaime Murray, thank you so much for that wtf moment cause you expressed her sheer just horror at watching everything fall around her with perfection. Throughout the points we see Carmilla we see her truly be the tact master, stirring the pot and also showing her prowess in form. There is also a lot of restraint i don’t think people will give her credit for. We see how she expresses her emotions in violence, but i also think we are seeing it in a very, very pulled back way. I look forward to seeing how she changes her circumstances and sets things back into her own order in the coming season.

9. Akasha - Book series: The Queen of the Damned by Anne rice and movie: The Queen of the damned. Ah yes, the books that helped start the joys of vampires and how could i not fall in love with someone toying into the very beginning and trying to draw into the beginnings of a creature known throughout the world and time. Why do i choose Akasha considering i already touched base on vampires? Simple, she will always deserve a spot on any favorite list of anything. She gave so little cares about anything and only wanted the world to die and feel her wrath. Not to mention Aaliyah played this part so beautifully well it deserves every recognition it can get. I know she doesn’t seem to quite fit with the rest, but this is partly why she is so low on the list.

10. Callisto - Xena television series Last but certainly not least, we can’t forgot about this one. Good? Bad? Surely just pure chaos! She does what she wants and cares little about the consequences. It’s been ages since i’ve last seen the show i will admit, so my bases on her is a bit rusty. However, i will always remember her out of the many other villainous people we meet in the Xena universe. Fun, witty, combatant, you never knew what she was really going to do. As soon as she popped into a episode, i would recall fondly sitting at the edge of my seat just wondering how or why she did the things she did. There is my list of favorites, i’m sure you can see the themes between them all as many of them have common traits, inspirations and personalities. Hope you all enjoyed! Tagged by: @olivia-lovecraft​ tagging: *boops* you!

[stainedglassthreads]

Deltarune and UndertaleToybox Connection

Been a while since I made a Deltarune theory. 

Anyways, plenty of people have pointed out that everyone in the Deltarune World seems to be based off of toys found in the classroom Kris and Susie wake up in (Except Ralsei, who I’m coming around to the idea he’s not a Darkner, but I haven’t quite crystallized my thoughts on him yet. I will say i don’t think he’s deliberately malevolent, though. Perhaps instead being used as a vessel or pawn.) 

At any rate, we can agree that things seem to be as follows-- Various characters as a deck of cards: Spades King, Lancer, the other Kings, Roulxs Kaard, Jevil, and other enemies encountered. We can agree C. Round’s a checker piece, there are those jigsaw puzzle guys, we see a guy who’s a spinning top, and of course we see Seam as a plushy in the room. 

I’ve also already seen other theories before this speculating that this was all a dream, and one joking one that Deltarune was Susie and Kris larping for hours. 

I’d like to point out a few connections I picked up on as well, though. I’m certain I’m not the first to realize some of these, and as I said, I only picked up on some of these because I saw aspects of them mentioned elsewhere. 

The first everyone already knows, and I already mentioned. Deltarune is quite obviously a game. The Darkners are quite obviously toys and pieces of other games. But does that make them any less real? 

Whether Deltarune is a sequel or prequel to Undertale, we know now that they’re absolutely connected not just in characters, not just in the juxtaposition of ‘Responsibility to use your power to create the best outcome’ and ‘Your choices don’t matter’, or ‘Live and let live’ and ‘Violence is sometimes necessary’, but potentially in yet another theme. 

Does being a fiction or a toy make it any less real than the ones who play with it? 

The Lightners are those in a ‘real’ world while the Darkners are toys. Two Darkners seem most aware of their true role, both informed by the mysterious Knight-- Spades King, who has the strongest feelings on the Lightners for supposedly abandoning Darkners and is the impetus behind ever other Darkner who attacks you(in a Pacifist ending, the Darkners are willing to consider you their friends. It’s only if you’ve been too violent that they continue to be violent towards you after Lancer overthrows Spades King.) And of course, Jevil, who we already know the story of. 

In Deltarune, it’s the Lightners who are the ones who make their own own decisions, and who carry out the will of the story, though they have less control and fewer choices in how the tale ends. 

But this is reflected in Undertale too. Only here, the Lightners are Frisk, Chara, and Flowey, and the Darkners are all other monsters in the Underground. 

Here, the three most often claimed to be the antagonists of the game are the ‘Lightners’, the ones who play with the ones they see as ‘toys’. Flowey, who shows what a Player could be to the characters at their absolute worst. Frisk, who enacts a Player’s will upon the world. And Chara, who shows us in the end what we have become, and who will remember who we are even if the ‘toys’ don’t. 

The ‘Lightners’ of Undertale are not the only ones aware of the reality of the game. One toy is also seemingly aware and uses that in his fight. And fittingly, it’s the one who might be used to being a toy already. 

Is it possible to learn the truth of the world without losing your sanity? Is it possible to escape a reality where higher beings toy with you, to the point where you’re so easily mistaken for one of those higher beings? I don’t have enough this story to tell quite where it’s going but I really hope that this avenue is explored, also what Papyrus is if so. 

There’s something else to note here, though. 

There are two to three entities who seemingly are not Lightners, heroes, or Players, who may not even fit within the games of Undertale and Deltarune themselves, but who seem to hold as much, or perhaps more, knowledge and influence as any Players. 

We know very, very little about these entities, and we know significantly less of one than the other. But we do know their titles for certain. 

The Knight and the Queen. 

The Knight is only mentioned by Seam, Spades King, and Jevil. Seam refers to him as a ‘strange someone’ and ‘strange Knight’, who caused Jevil’s fall into madness by telling him everything was a game. The Knight also seems responsible for Spades King’s actions, the king repeatedly referring to them as ‘My Knight’ during his battle, saying the Knight has given him ‘fresh purpose’. 

A popular theory is that the Knight is Gaster, having been shattered throughout time and space and apparently now granted incredible knowledge and power as a result, including the power to spread his knowledge, and influence at least one pawn, in at least one other world. 

There is one strange and convoluted piece of evidence that makes me suspect the Knight is Gaster, and that’s the literal easter egg. There’s a secret room in Deltarune, and a man behind a tree there who gives you an egg. The egg is described as ‘Not too important, not too unimportant’, similar to what Seam says about things Jevil said after speaking with the Knight-- “He started saying bizarre things that didn't completely make sense -But didn't completely not make sense, either.” 

When Kris returns to the Light World from the Dark World, the egg is the only thing they can keep that doesn’t turn into something else, and if you try to drop the egg or put it in Asgore’s fridge, text just reads ‘What egg?’ 

And perhaps most bizarre and convincing-- translating ‘egg’ into Wingdings, which Gaster is suspected to speak, gives a hand pointing to the left, and two hands pointing up. One of the moves a Knight in chess could make. 

It also seems to be implied that Gaster was the one guiding us through creating our first vessel in the beginning. So it would be a simple guess that he has the knowledge and power sufficient to create his own vessel, he knows the nature of this game, he knows of us. 

We know even less about the Queen. The only tidbit on her we have is from defeating Jevil through violent means. 

“HA HA HA. WHAT FUN!!! YOU'RE FAST, FAST, STRONG, STRONG. BUT THERE ARE YET FASTER, YET STRONGER. THE HAND OF THE KNIGHT IS DRIFTING FORWARD. SOON, THE "QUEEN" RETURNS, AND HELL'S ROAR BUBBLES FROM THE DEPTHS... LIGHTNERS, CAN YOU STOP IT? UEE HEE HEE! EITHER WAY, A MISCHIEF-MISCHIEF, A CHAOS-CHAOS...! LIGHTNERS! FROM INSIDE YOUR LITTLE CELL!! TAKE ME AND DO YOUR STRONGEST---!” 

...Yeah I don’t have a satisfying way to wrap all this up, but I do hope you enjoyed my rambling and speculations, thank you for reading all the way to the end. ^^ 

[timeclonemike]

Delta Rune Speculation

So it’s been two weeks, and there’s already 200 plus fics on AO3 and dozens of remixes and arrangements of the soundtrack on YouTube. That’s not even touching on the theories that are coming together. I recently saw one theory that double downed on the whole discarded classroom with toys thing, with the Darkners basically being a “Toy Story” scenario and the Spade King trying to pull a “Small Soldiers” scenario.

And while the parallels between the Darkners and assorted toys, and the layout of the Dark World and the Classroom, are all too much of an overlap to ignore, I suspect that there’s something more to the whole game than simply toys coming to life and wanting revenge for not being played with. I had some thoughts that I contributed in my reblog of that person’s theory, but this post is a little bit more meta, and concerns itself primarily with the tone of the final game, if and when it gets completed. But first, we need to talk a little bit about Undertale. I’ll make it quick, I promise.

Simply put, the big thing that made Undertale stand out was how your choices distinctly affected the world you were in, and the way people responded to you based on those choices. The sheer difference in tone and content between True Pacifist and Genocide is about as different and distinct as you can get in any game that features multiple endings, especially when many games opted to make the multiple endings contingent on last second choices (Deus Ex instantly comes to mind) rather than being something that you had to commit to. Not only that, but even the small choices in the sense of dialog, the order in which characters were spoken to, and even the use and contents of your inventory meant that the game had more “immersion” in the sense of responding dynamically to player choice than a lot of Triple A games with hyper-realistic graphics engines.

The way Undertale responded to different choices was a twist, then attraction, and finally a statement about how people saw the world and interacted with it. Especially those who thought that actions taken in this isolated digital environment had no consequences beyond that environment. It was a game about how people acted when they had tremendous power to influence the world.

Therefore, I think that the meaning of Delta Rune’s “your choices don’t matter” and “nobody can choose who they are in this world” is that the game will be about how people respond when confronted by circumstances they can’t control.

For more of my rambling, click the link below.

I’ll be addressing three main points: The nature of the Dark World and the Fountains of Darkness, the Dichotomy between how choice is handled in the Light and Dark Worlds, and the few clues that we have about W D Gaster and his influence.

1. The Nature of the Dark World.

The playing card themed enemies, the puzzle pieces, the chess board and the crowned checker piece, plus some of the hints about Ralsei’s nature and origin, all indicate that the Darkners have some connection with the toys in the unused classroom and probably the materials and objects in the supply closet as well. (I still do not know what those things were in the opening area of the Dark World that shot bullets at Kris, or the significance of all that black gooey dark stuff apparently coming out of the eye shaped structures.) Susie is not the type of person to let her guard down and just skip class with Kris while playing make believe all day... at least not at the start of the game... so the events of Chapter One had some foundation in reality.

This brings us to the fountains and the legend Ralsei shares. Everything hinges on a classic balance between opposing forces, in this case Light and Dark. Too much of one or the other will break the world in some way, and in this instance, there is an excess of Darkness. Under the direction of the mysterious Knight, and the Queen that only Jevil mentions if you kick his ass, the Spade King is seeking to upset the balance by increasing the Darkness. Assuming that Kris, Susie, and Ralsei don’t stop these fountains, then the same force at work in the Dark World that drew Susie and Kris into it will spread beyond the school, and into the rest of the town.

It is my position that Darkness in this case, represents Imagination, and its ability to create worlds symbolically. Keeping a balance between the physically real and the mentally real is important; too much of the physical and you end up in an All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy scenario. The other way around, you spend too much time daydreaming - or consumed by anxiety - to deal with the actual problems in front of you. And just by talking to the people in Hometown after school, we can find all sorts of stuff that bothers people. Toriel and Asgore’s estrangement, Noelle’s father and her worries about him, Alphys being lonely, and so on. In a Dark World where people’s thoughts and ideas take on physical forms, these everyday worries become living nightmares. It is THAT scenario that the Fun Gang will have to prevent or reverse from Chapter Two onward.

2. In Which World Do Choices Not Matter?

No matter which way you play Delta Rune, you leave the Dark World at the end. In that sense, none of the choices you made matter. Only if you did a pacifist run, you have the chance to go back and say goodbye to a number of characters you encountered before. Sort of an Undertale Epilogue Lite. If you went to town on everybody, you get chased back to the Light World instead. So in a way, your choices DID matter.

On the other hand, no matter what you do in the Light World, you’re still Kris, the token human in a monster town, with estranged parents and an older brother that probably outshines the heck out of you if all those trophies and award certificates mean anything. You can’t help smooth things over between Toriel and Asgore, you can’t even hint at Undyne and Alphys getting together, and no matter what you tell Noelle, she’s still got a one track mind regarding Susie and is concerned that you are pranking her again. About all you can do is choose to be mean or nice to Onionsan; everyone else still thinks you’re some weird creepy human kid with a history of pranking, whose main redeeming feature as a person is apparently some skill at the piano. Nothing you do can change that, even if being more talkative than normal is out of character enough for folks to notice.

But then again, in the Light World, nobody can choose who they are. Choices don’t matter because so much of Kris’s life is defined by everyone else. And even those lives are more defined by primal fears like Toriel’s loneliness and deep seated resentment, Asgore’s pushover-ness, Mr. Holiday’s health, Alphys’ anxiety, and so on and so forth.

As the Dark World starts to influence the rest of town, and imagination and thought starts to overwrite physical reality, the Fun Gang’s choices will suddenly carry more weight. Maybe not enough to change everything once the Fountains are sealed, but enough to make a difference. Such as the difference between Noelle being totally inconsolable over the loss of her father, and Noelle having the opportunity for closure. Or Toriel at least agreeing to be civil towards Asgore, even if they still never get back together. Or Burgie being able to find a much better job. :P

Or Kris being seen not as “the human” or “Asriel’s brother” but as Kris, a person in town with more depth than just a history of pranks and a creepy disposition.

3. Oh Gaster, Where Art Thou?

The announcement for the Demo, the “character / vessel creation” process at the beginning, the music playing during the vessel creation sequence, the Man who gives Kris an Egg if he is found, the Entry 17 Sound FX from the cell phone in the Dark World, and the slowed down version of the same sound playing around that Mysterious Bunker south of town all point towards Gaster’s involvement in the events of Delta Rune, one way or another. Given the limited information available so far, it’s not entirely clear if he’s working towards increasing the amount of Darkness, towards stabilizing the imbalance, if he’s simply observing events with no regard for the outcome, or if for some reason he requires US as observers for the events of Delta Rune, whatever they are.

But using what little we know, we can make a few educated guesses.

First, the Egg Kris can get from the Man behind the tree, who cannot be seen and will vanish if the Egg is not accepted, is the ONLY item from the Dark World that stays the same back in the Light World. The swords become pencils, and all the other stuff accumulated in the Dark World becomes the Ball of Junk that Kris does not want to throw away, but the Egg is still an Egg. Sort of. It can be put into Asgore’s Fridge, but if this is done, somehow it turns the pickle jar into another Egg. Which raises a number of questions. Unless you hold onto it for later in the full game, or throw it away, this is the only thing you can do with the Egg as far as I know. Almost as if the only reason it exists in the world is so that Asgore can have something to eat besides pickles.

Second, Jevil’s misanthropy follows his interaction with a visitor to the kingdom, and I do not remember if this visitor was specifically stated to be the Knight mentioned by Jevil or the Spade King. The way he treats the entire world like a game fits the same meta as Flowey’s attitude after being stuck in a Determination fueled time loop for ages in Undertale, but it also aligns with the Darkner world’s toy theme. And of course Seam drops the “darker yet darker” line on us regarding his view of the world after dealing with Jevil... but at the same time, this is a literal Dark World. Kris and Susie noticed that the light was getting low in the school hallway before they even stepped inside the supply closet, so it’s not out of the question that Gaster’s experiment, whatever it was, involved discovering the Dark World.

And, while this is purely me stacking conjecture on top of conjecture here, keep in mind what I said earlier about the Dark World being a world where the power of Imagination can literally create a world. Then consider one of the lines of the Gaster Followers from Undertale: Gaster fell into his own creation. As Gaster was the Royal Scientist, it seemed logical to infer that his creation was some sort of machine or technology, such as the CORE or whatever is under the sheet in Sans’ workshop in Snowdin Town. But maybe what he fell into was a completely different reality... possibly one of his own design.

(Note to self: Undertale / Secret Of Evermore Crossover Fic. Add it to the list.)

Third, the vessel we are asked to create at the start of Delta Rune has the word Goner as part of the filenames of the assets. Its appearance also matches that of the other Gaster Followers in Undertale; greyscale, uncanny valley, and just different enough from the character we end up seeing in the game (Kris) to make the similarities stand out. Keeping in mind we still don’t know what the significance is of the Gaster Followers or Goners is in Undertale, or how exactly they relate to Gaster himself. In the completed game, though, we may have the opportunity to find out... behind the bunker doors south of town, where the slowed down Entry 17 sound is playing. (It’s also location 17, so there’s a definite number element going on here.) The thing about bunkers if that they are almost always made to protect something inside them. So unless this is a fallout or storm shelter for the folks in town (and we can’t read Gerson’s book in game so we have no idea what the political climate is between humans and monsters is in this world, though if they were really bad then somebody would probably mention it in dialog) then it’s probably intended to keep the people of the town from finding something. Like an experiment that went wrong. Or went right, for that matter.

Or, maybe the bunker is one of those less common cases where it protects everything outside it by locking something inside, for any of the reasons already stated. Either way, there might be a real True Lab situation down there.

Finally... has anyone else besides me noticed that the graphics in the background during the Vessel Creation Sequence look almost exactly the same as the background of the Fountain of Darkness that Kris and Susie use to go home, just without the playing card suites? Where exactly is that taking place?

One last thing that brings my whole post full circle; regarding the ending cutscene before the credits and Don’t Forget song, I wonder if the entire thing isn’t just Kris’s nightmare; the body rips out the Soul that used to be inside and locks it up, and is free to do who knows what after that. If Kris is aware that the player is influencing them in any way, that whole sequence could be brought on by their fears about losing autonomy, either partially or entirely.

Which brings us back to the whole “your choices don’t matter” thing.

[kaimaciel]

Q: In terms of the story in the Pixar worlds, it was a continuation of the stories in the movies, which surprised me.

A: Well, originally, the KH series has always seen Sora and his friends experiencing the [same] plot of the original movies as its basis, and [the worlds of] Tangled and Frozen are like this, too. However, in the cases of Toy Story and Monsters Inc, we were requested to show the "authorized history" of what happened after the events of the movies. Whichever [story] pattern the worlds have was largely influenced by the ideas of the creators and producers.

Q: Included in the worlds that appear this time is Olympus, which is a fairly "regular customer" at this point; do you have some emotional attachment to it?

A: Honestly, there isn't really a special reason, it's just by chance. It appears in KH3 since Sora has lost all of his powers and needs to get them back, and there was once a hero who regained his own powers in the same way, so it was a perfect fit for the start of the journey. If there's anything I have an emotional attachment to, it's that I wanted to include Hades. Hades is a fun character, so you kind of want to watch him [do things].

Q: On the other hand, The Caribbean [in terms of graphics] looks incredibly like real life.

A: In a sense, the high image quality of that world was already decided. Around the time development started, in the video that was prepared for the in-house presentation meeting, scenes were created showing Sora diving in the ocean and riding enemies while flying in the air in The Caribbean. Additionally, the experimental reproduction of certain scenes from the movie [that were included] were so well made that they might as well have been the highlight of the meeting. From that point on, around the beginning of development, it was felt that that world would be quite high-level. By the way, the coat Sora wears in The Caribbean is actually based on one of my own personal coats that I gave to the staff with instructions to include it, but I feel like they don't want to give it back yet [laughs].

Q: Talking about Sora's appearance in the various worlds, the way he looks in Monstropolis is pretty daring.

A: At first, I was thinking about something similar to the monster costume Boo wears in the movie, but Pixar gave the idea to actually change [Sora] into a monster. In Monsters Inc., there are a lot of detailed rules concerning character design, like the colors that can be used or the shape of the eyes, so after the design that was made to obey those rules was checked, I went and did the fine-tuning myself. Particularly, at the beginning, I couldn't give Sora's body a smooth feeling, so I covered him with fur, but Pixar pointed out that I shouldn't make him look too much like a cat, so trying to find middle ground was a struggle. That's why, although it looks like Sora has cat ears, those are actually horns [laughs].

Q: For example, it was shown in KH2 that the Ansem that appears in KH1 wasn't the real one, but was this decided ever since the beginning?

A: When I wrote the scenario in KH1, even I was thinking "Ansem calls himself wise, but doesn't he seem like a bad guy?" [laughs]. With that feeling as the catalyst, the scenes after KH2 reflected that. Q: Xigbar, too; when he appeared in KH2, we had no idea he would be such an important person.

A: A lot of people say this, but at the time I wanted to show that "Xigbar is a character with a very special role" by giving him a suspicious way of acting. When we were doing dubbing for KH2, I listened to Houchu Otsuka (the JP VA of Xigbar)'s voice and thought, "This guy isn't just some organization grunt, there's definitely some hidden side to him", so the creation of the current situation evolved from there. It does sometimes happen that I get inspired to change the circumstances because of the voice actors' voices. 

Q: The Final World, a place very important to the story, appeared in the game, but what kind of world is it?

A: It is a place where those just a step from death arrive, connected to the Station of Waking. Up until now, the Station of Waking was always a dark place where the floor was made of stained glass, where the condition of the inside of one's heart could be shown, but in this case I made The Final World a place where I could show [that] more concretely, a place similar to a portal to [people's] respective hearts. Within the game, it's said that sleep and death are intimately linked, so if one's heart were in a state of sleep and they found themselves in the Station of Waking, the idea is that if they moved on from there, they would find themselves in The Final World. 

Q: Halfway through the epilogue, we see that there are seven black pieces being used in the new game [of chess]. Are six of these supposed to represent the Master of Masters' six apprentices?

A: Yes. 

Q: I see. Then, continuing on, I'd like to ask about the secret movie; is the location connected to the ending? A: Yes. After disappearing in the ending, Sora arrives in the world shown in the secret movie. Q: Is the place Sora is in the same world as the one in The World Ends With You?

A: It looks that way. However, rather than saying Sora has gone to the TWEWY world, the meaning is that it's not exactly Shibuya, but ~Shibuya~ (note: this is hard to explain in English, but instead of it being written in kanji, the name for "Shibuya" is written in katakana here. This basically means it's not the same Shibuya as in TWEWY or in the real world.) Also, although Sora promised Neku and his friends that they would meet again in Shibuya, this video is not connected to that.

Q: The world Riku is in also calls up past memories with its thrilling background scenery. The man looking down from the roof looks like Yozora, who we saw in the popular game "Verum Rex" in Toy Box...

A: Yes, it is Yozora. Q: So, is this the world of "Verum Rex?"

A: It will end up being. Visually speaking, I'm sure there are people who will think it's the same as a previous title I was once planning, but it's not. Since it's a plan that was never released out into the world, there are parts I was saving that will end up overlapping, but "Verum Rex" is a completely different creation. The plan that was never released is still unknown to everyone, and "Verum Rex" doesn't exist yet, either, so I'm sure everyone is wondering what it means, but what I want to make clear is that it's not the same thing. (note: obviously, he means FF Versus XIII)

Q: How is the development of the planned DLC going?

A: Currently, I gave a list of things I'd like to have done concerning battles to the staff, who are in the process of going through it. As for additional scenarios, I told you just before that the final battle in the Keyblade Graveyard came to be [the way it is] because of a certain intention I had, so I think that's going to be the main focus. I'm hoping that it will be completed as soon as possible, but because development is happening alongside the preparations for the next project, I can't say with certainty when it will be released. For the time being, it's planned that instead of splitting up all the parts separately, everything will be released all in one pack together. Q: Are you not planning to release a "Final Mix", as has been customary for the KH series until now?

A: There aren't any plans for a "Final Mix"-type package (sold separately). If I do make one, it would be in the form of DLC that included an English mode you could switch to. Additionally, we took recent player trends into account when we created the battles [for KH3], so we held back on the difficulty level, but there have been many requests to fight strong enemies, so I'm thinking that the priority would be on releasing a critical mode in the form of free DLC, and making the addition of strong enemies, the sort that would appear in a "Final Mix", paid DLC.

Q: Now that the Dark Seeker arc has concluded, there's a pause in the KH series, so now what is your attitude mentally?

A: I thought I'd feel relieved once it was over, but I don't feel that way at all. Now we're right in the midst of developing DLC, and it's coinciding with [the development of] a few other titles. I want to hurry up and start on the next project, so I don't feel like there's a pause. Q: Fans are curious about what's to come for the KH series...

A: Nothing has been officially decided yet, so at this point in time, I can't say anything. Right now, the top priority is on making DLC for KH3, and a huge update that's coming to KHUx. As far as the developments to come, I currently have two ideas, and something that requires me to think about it separately, so the next project will actually have to be two, I think. Even if we're talking about a hypothetical "KH4", there's something that must be written before it, so I'm looking into the possibility of sandwiching it between works. To all the fans: to realize the first step beyond the Dark Seeker arc, I thank you for your continued support. 

[consilium-games]

Genresick, or: Six Ways to Heartache

As I discussed allll the way back in this post in March, I've been working busily on the supplement to Lovesick. And at very long last, it's finally, finally done:

Genresick

Go on, click on it, I worked hard on it! I'll wait!

. . .

You're back? You took a look at least? Excellent. Cause I'd like to say a few things about it here.

First, "what could have been": my initial idea was a lot more weird and high-concept. I'll probably realize it in some form later, but it entailed a bigger focus on collaboration in storytelling, and in particular, loosening up the focus on "a few main characters (PCs) in the hands of cooperating players".

Instead, it was going to or will in the future use a whole ensemble of characters that players would make, terse thumbnail sketches at first, and maneuver together and against one another, striving for one of three 'endings' to the shared story. Still centered very much on passion, internal motivations, psychological damages, and unhealthy fixation, and still both very self-aware and very determined to tell its kind of story. But that concept needs to stew more.

I've been thinking a lot lately on some of the more abstract ideas involved in storytelling: how stories about ourselves often define us, how we build ourselves out of these stories, and how dissonance between stories can feel like you've actually entered some other kind of reality, where even the laws of nature don't match what you've grown to trust as much as gravity.

Heady, nerdy stuff, in short, and I think the untitled game I didn't make--because it basically would and should be its own full game--is both a necessary step to getting where I want to work on, and still a bit beyond my reach.

Second, "what is": Genresick is a few things at once. It's a supplement obviously, a pile of toys and backdrops for Lovesick surely, but it's also a kind of reassessment. I think characters by themselves can make for a really compelling story--as long as they want things, for reasons, and do things to get them, you have a story. So people wanting relatable things to an unreasonable degree and doing dramatic things to get them seems like a perfect pitch to me!

Not so much the people who find their way to click on my downloads.

Now, I'm not defeated or even disheartened by this, so much as attentive: "hmm, that didn't work . . ." So, let's see what people make of something packaged more in the traditional trappings and tropes of Geek Culture[tm]: science fiction, unpronounceable names, airbrushed paperback covers, the kind of genre fiction set-dressing that "stories for nerds" often comes with.

Thirdly--let me dig into that a bit.

Still inflamatory after all these books

I could go dig up citations and quotations from better commentators than I, citing the operation of a kind of "low-brow chic" in the many intersecting and overlapping orbits that enclose "people who read, buy, play, and make roleplaying games". I won't though, I trust that it's not a foreign concept, but I'd like to stake out how I see it a bit, and what I think it means.

To put it really briefly and only a little reductively, science fiction and fantasy as we know them today were very strongly influenced by being relegated to the gutters of culture. Most recently as Young Adult[tm] books and over-contracted mandatory-trilogy series and hypercapitalist conventions, but prior to that, low-budget TV series, three-color comic books, and before that, B-movies and 'cult classics'. You can even see a lot of that in the earliest incarnations of Dungeons and Dragons--there's an actual robot wizard in there. An actual robot that is an actual wizard.

This influence isn't any weaker today, it's just weirder: genre mashups and "what even is genre, really" sensibilities, and the slow dissolution of previously-stable subcultural boundaries mean that the idea of a "space western" isn't a radical new thing--it's Firefly. But, what hasn't left? The genre fiction domain, and the tendency to live entirely inside it.

When a piece of Geek Culture[tm] tries to articulate itself, to position itself and give itself context, to say what it's about and what it's doing, the points of reference are always firmly inside the spheres of genre fiction, the low-budget, the literarily maligned, the 'nerdy' rather than 'intellectual'. This has to include my own work, too--RPGs as an artistic medium live more or less entirely inside the geekosphere, and I credit FROM Software in my first book--a video-game company, who made the sword-and-sorcery game that inspired Succession. Good work can come out of the genre fiction ecosystem, but . . .

But. The fact that anyone needs to point that out, even as a defensive disclaimer, is not a very healthy sign. A story set in the future exploring the possible effects of technology on society can be a true work of art--just look at Mary Shelley. But when the wealthy and lettered at some point decided that the only good stories, worth studying, involve wealthy and lettered literature professors contemplating an affair--well. Two things happened:

Firstly the academics set the standard for Good Art[tm], which you've probably seen some reaction against, say, Duchamp's 'Fountain'. But standard it remained and to a large degree remains: severe attitudes, reserved speech, refined vocabulary, abstract and sometimes even indiscernible stakes and ideas and goals, when it comes to stories and how they're conveyed. The groove carved into (white Western anglophonic) culture's psyche at large is "this is what Good Art is, and if you wish to be a Good Artist, you must aspire to this; if you cannot appreciate this Good Art, you are no artist or intellectual at all!"

Secondly they deprived the rest of us of a vocabulary, half by claiming it themselves and using it only for their kind of "Good Art", half by everyone else identifying even trying to form such a vocabulary as one of those effete ivory-tower intellectuals here only to sneer on Bad Art or even Non-Art. So weirdos like me have to travel far and dig deep to piece together analytical tools to understand how "Bad Art" stories work, what they do, how they function, what makes them work and what makes them fail.

But, as a consequence of that second thing, in Geek Culture people kept making art! But they didn't have a vocabulary for the many new concepts they kept forming and inventing independently and from scratch, and then borrowing and elaborating from one another. I think this is both why application of basic storytelling techniques like foreshadowing and mixed motivations can be so captivating for a nerd-as-a-first-language audience even when bungled: they're the same techniques refined over centuries over there in "Good Art", good techniques that work--but that don't work without adjustment. Adjustment that outsiders lack the vocabulary to discuss, and thus can't really derive for their own needs.

All this boils down to Geek Culture more often than not tending to shy away from something that looks "intellectual" unless it first looks "sci-fi" or "fantasy" or some other identifiable public forswearing of the scary ivory tower. You can see a lot of this in video-games' audience: "it's just video-games, don't put politics in my video-games, can't it just be a video-game?!" Of course it can. There will always be games for the sake of games (Chess), and songs for the sake of songs (most any pop song), and now video-games and movies just for the sake of something flashy to look at and something to do for awhile after earning a daily wage. That's not what bothers a person making that kind of complaint.

What bothers them is a lot more complicated than I have the energy left to get into, but hey, I think if I can develop and popularize and expand that vocabulary we've been denied (and denied ourselves), we can use it to make some really wicked cool things. I'm not about to tell anyone to toss out their Dragonlance and instead read Dante's Inferno--honestly, I'd have to rate them on a par if you look at the work and not at the reception. Both are fantastical fan-fiction, though Dante's is a lot meaner in spirit and departs more from the source material, though it certainly has more technical execution on its side.

Instead what I want is for us to have, as a "Geek Culture", a way to understand something like Dragonlance as thoroughly as Dante's Inferno. And we're getting there! Meanwhile, if the only way to sell people on "intense character-study and focus on relationships" is to put on a space-suit, then suit me up.

So what's up next?

Aside from stirring the new pot bubbling over on r/consilium_games, and hopefully starting some form of discourse, next is a full RPG in its own right, in keeping with my self-appointed schedule of "full game and supplement"! And since I've implicitly asked my readers and/or the RPG community at large to stretch so much in looking at Lovesick, it's only fair that I stretch myself too.

Specifically, I'm working now on a very mechanics-heavy, combat-oriented game, applying the same mechanical components I've used since Succession and especially some of the ideas in Substitute Reagents, but building them around concrete, reified, 'gamey' interactions rather than purely narrative beats and character-focused stakes.

I also intend it to dig into identity formation, structures and systems of power, how people 'cast' themselves and one another, and a few other themes very close to my heart. Come for the crunchy cinematic action, stay for the pensive meditation on selfhood!

[beingawizardisfunandeasy]

BAWIFAE One Year Anniversary

Greetings, folks. Unbelievably, this blog made its first post one year ago today and I’ve produced at least one post per day since then. All of that is kind of huge for me. Keeping to a regular schedule and sticking with projects have not, historically, been my strong suits. Part of the reason I started doing this was just to prove to myself that I could make something every day, consistently, and I’ve reached an arbitrary goalpost that I can now point at and say “See?”. I think that’ll help me next time I want to put something off or flake out.

When I started doing this I kind of assumed nobody would care, and it hasn’t really gotten easier to believe that people like the blog despite the fact I now actually do reliably get a few notes a day. I appreciate all of them, whether it’s a one-time reader who stumbled across a single post relevant to their interest or one of the handful of regular readers. It always picks me up to see likes and reblogs, and I hope I keep producing stuff that’s worth your time.

As a sort of celebration of a whole year of wizards, I thought I’d do a list of my personal favourite class from each month of the blog so far, not counting this August. All being well, a year from now, August 2018 will be the first item on the next list. You can get at this year’s list under the cut. 

August 2017 – Toonmage

Simple and small, but I think it's pretty effective and evocative, and would make for a fun toolset. Looking back I might have given them some kind of mechanical bonus or incentive for some Bugs Bunny style patter, but hey, maybe that's enough of a concept for a whole class in itself.

September 2017 – Sinbinder

I think this was a pretty strong month overall, but the Sinbinder stands out to me as one of the more unique concepts on the blog that I think came through well in the mechanics. It ended up having quite a varied kit that all tied back directly to the concept and with a mechanical thematic through-line of risk/reward and punishment for over-extending or indulging yourself. Also I just think it's pretty cool.

October 2017 – Ludocultist

Anyone that knows me would not be surprised from my top pick in a month even with personal faves like the Break Magus and Bubblegum Witch would be the class that fiddles with the normal rules of the game by adding non-standard dice types, gets meta about the nature of the medium, and references the history of scaremongering media coverage of D&D.

November 2017 – Carp Knight

November made for another tough month to pick from, but I have to go with the Carp Knight if for no other reason than I kept trying to come up with excuses to do so. I like that it tells a story with its mechanics, even if it's a simple one, and the uniqueness of it's 10-XP Dragon Gate spell. I have a soft spot for the kind of player who would choose to play a Carp Knight.

December 2017 – Little Magic Shop Keeper

This one very nearly went to Democramancer for being mechanically unique, but I just love bringing classic tropes to life the way the Little Magic Shop Keeper does. The Little Magic Shop That Wasn't There Yesterday is something that you'd usually see being represented from the other side of the GM screen, and I think the idea of a player running one as their main asset is cool. I would be eager to see how a player leveraged that into adventuring success.

January 2018 – Librarian

I think this is a pretty strong idea flavourfully implemented. I got to incorporate inspiration from Terry Pratchett, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Avatar, and I like when I get to tie different sources together like that (I've been mildly obsessed with that owl who runs the library since I first saw it). Also I think naming the class simply “Librarian” is one of the best naming choices I've made.

February 2018 – Pawncerer

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed the theme of classes based on chess pieces, with the Pawncerer probably being the most blatant example. I enjoy translating mechanics from other games or media – it reminds me of being a kid and wanting to put my smaller toys on a chessboard, and while we're at it let's see what happens if we try to incorporate monopoly money into the game - and I think the Pawncerer brings both the mechanics of using pawns and their conceptual feel to the table as well as a character class for a single player can.

March 2018 – Cocktail Alchemist

This is one of those ideas that once it occurs, it's already half finished. It's such a strong theme that you sort of have these slots that you know have to be part of the class – cocktail ingredients, little umbrellas, wedges of lime, throwing cocktail shakers around – and then it's just a matter of filling in exactly what each one does.

April 2018 – Ten-Eye Sorcerer

Probably the strangest pick out of all of these, even I was surprised to find when I looked back on this month I had such a fondness for the Ten-Eye Sorcerer. I think it's strong flavour and it does a couple of things that I think are cool in a class. Like, while it's built around using the ten eyes it can get from its first spell, the wording of most of its spells is open to having another number, should a player try to gain more in play or, for some reason, forego or delay getting ten eyes. I also like the way it uses the number of eyes at your disposal as a tangible resource.

May 2018 – Self-Fulfilling Prophet

I'm across-the-board proud of this one. Good concept, good execution, good name. Also I like conman types. I'm surprised I haven't made more classes that enable you to do that kind of thing.

June 2018 – Tetrahedramancer

This is another one that falls into the category of “messing with the rules and bringing new game pieces.” Having made a conscious choice to focus on d6 rolls for accessibility (as if I was designing an actual game and not an elaborate goof (and as if anyone can't get a dice rolling app on their smartphone)), I find it real fun to break that rule with classes like this. And after hearing d4s be compared to caltrops I find it impossible to think of them in any other way so I had to get that one out of my brain too.

July 2018 – Chainsawcerer

So any of you who have clocked how I spell “armour” and the time I usually throw posts up have probably figured out that I often post just before midnight my time. This is because I'm a mess and often don't start work on the day's post until 11PM or later. Sometimes I also don't have an idea in mind before then. Sometimes this means that I end up with a post that isn't perfect, but the Chainsawcerer is not one of those times. If I recall correctly, the Chainsawcerer was about twenty minutes' work, the result of a bolt of inspiration after half an hour of having no ideas at all. One of my big worries when I have to do a last-minute wizard is that I won't be able to do whatever concept I go with justice because I'll forget something or not have enough time for research. The Chainsawcerer feels so complete to me and the process of creating it such a driven, inspired moment that I'm maybe a little fonder of it than I have right to be.

[nintendroid]

Nintendroid and Retro Cat VS Wrestling #5: Ultimate Muscle - The Path Of A Superhero for Game Boy Advance

A small, handheld title capable of competing with the console heavyweights. I guess Ultimate Muscle: The Path of a Superhero is the Daniel Bryan of early 2000 wrestling games.

Back in one of my previous articles “NEStlemania: Wrestling on the NES” I covered a less-than-stellar wrestling title called “M.U.S.C.L.E”. The game was based around a popular North America toy line of flesh-toned mini-figures from the 80s. The North America toy line was based on a Japanese manga and anime series called “Kinnikuman” about an alien prince who wrestles in tournaments to prove himself worthy of his crown.

M.U.S.C.L.E (pictured above) for the NES is almost universally panned as one of the worst wrestling games in existence. I didn’t despise it personally, but I admit that it’s bad. It was almost guaranteed we’d never see the franchise touch another video game console. Surprisingly, we got a somewhat “sequel” almost 20 years later and the results are shockingly good.

Ultimate Muscle: The Path of a Superhero is based on the Ultimate Muscle anime that aired in Japan (as Kinnikuman Nisei)  and in North America as Ultimate Muscle. It was a sequel to the “Kinnikuman” series that follows his son “Kid Muscle” on a quest to stop the villainous dMp.

Where have I seen this logo before?

 Oh yeah!

Even if you’ve never watched the show or watched just a few episodes (myself included) you don’t need to know all this extra info to enjoy this game. Taking it a step further, even people who don’t keep up with wrestling will enjoy it for it’s storytelling, humor, graphics and gameplay.

Ultimate Muscle’s gameplay has hints of another successful wrestling game series, Fire Pro Wrestling. Competitors will lock up and you have to input your move combination at just the right time to pull it off. The difference between this game and Fire Pro is that you have a meter on the left of the screen that indicates that you pressed the button combination at the right time. If your scale hits the blue bar, you’ll successfully pull off your move. If your character is the one instigating the lockup, the bigger the blue space is to hit with your moving scale. If your opponent instigates the lockup however, the blue space is smaller making it less likely to hit your mark.

Also similar to Fire Pro, the flow of the matches progress naturally. Regardless of the cartoonish antics, it does a good job of portraying the flow of an actual wrestling match. You won’t get by simply just kicking and punching your opponent. You’ll need to weaken their arms via submissions and perform body slams and whatever else your character has in their list of moves. You have certain times that you can pull off your super moves, but if your opponent isn’t weak enough, the less likely you are to pull it off.

They’re no pins or submissions in this game. The match ends when you’ve weakened your opponent enough to hit a super move and pull off a K.O, similar to any traditional fighting game. While your character has a lifebar, your opponent's life is indicated by the color of their picture. If it’s red, it usually means they’re at their weakest. The commentary located on the bottom of the screen also helps indicate if your opponents getting weaker, either by commenting on what limbs of theirs are weak or if they look tired.

There is a learning curve, but fortunately the game provides a detailed tutorial mode that covers everything from basic offense to your finishing moves. If you’ve never played this title, I recommend spending some time with it, before jumping in. Ultimate Muscle can be pretty tough on the default difficulty, but when you get the hang of the gameplay, it’s super satisfying.

Presentation is great. A lot of wrestling games on GBA are just downright ugly to me. The WWE games had these weird 3D models at the time that just looked like garbage and would turn me off to the game entirely. Ultimate Muscle is a breath of fresh air. Sprites are big, bright and colorful and it lends itself to the light hearted tone of the game. The character designs are awesome too. You got guys who look like cellphones and giant sneakers, to chess pieces and weird dinosaur creatures. They’re really fun to look at, and you anticipate the matches with them because you want to see what they’re like in the ring.

The music does a good job of complimenting the matches and such. They’re some light voice samples here as well, though they’re pretty rough to me.

Ultimate Muscle has several modes of play including Story Mode, Survival Mode, Versus Mode (you vs computer player or a human player with GBA hookup) Training, 3 Vs 3 Team Battle and Directory. I’ve only ever played the story mode and the story borrows from the anime series. Kid Muscle is the bratty hero enlisted by his father’s former Muscle League to defeat supervillian faction dMp (Destruction, Mayhem and Pain) before they destroy the Muscle League and conquer the world.  Scenes are acted out through cutscenes and in-ring commentary from the competitors and ring announcer. 

The directory comes in handy as well, It shows off the roster of playable characters with full bios and movelists. It helped out when I wanted to learn what combination of buttons did what moves. Great feature.

Ultimate Muscle: The Path of a Superhero is a great wrestling game and I recommend it highly to wrestling fans, fighting game fans, and anime fans. It looks good, plays good, has a cast of wacky wrestlers full of charm and humor and all of this is why I give Ultimate Muscle the…

World Heavyweight Championship rating. In a sea of mediocre wrestling titles on the Game Boy Advance, this game is in it’s own class. Highly underrated and deserves to be among other great titles like Saturday Night Slam Masters and Tecmo World Wrestling.

[abybweisse]

Phantomhive Murders arc as Cluedo

We should have known the “Black Butler” would be an intended victim, and that the main culprit would be the Earl Grey. And here’s why:

Named “Cluedo” when it was first *released* in the U.K. (where it originated), the game revolved around a body found at the bottom of the cellar stairs, and it’s found by Miss Scarlett. The victim is a Mr. Black (the US changed it to Mr. Boddy). All of the suspects have a color in their name. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Cluedo_characters

Mr. Black/Mr. Boddy is the host, a rather shady character himself; his house guests generally suspect that he has invited them over for blackmailing purposes, intrigue, and/or even pure "sport". Since the earl is the host, one might expect him to be Mr. Black, but Sebastian fills that role, instead, since he acts as "co-host" in many ways (and isn't really going to be dead afterward). Besides, we need the earl alive. Otherwise the series is over.... Not only is Sebastian the "Black Butler", but he ended up with the stage name "Black" in the previous arc. It was fallout from the investigation into the Noah's Ark Circus that led to the queen asking (demanding) the earl hold this overnight dinner party in the first place.

Miss Scarlett is the first to roll the dice, since she finds the body. She’s usually referred to as blonde, in her twenties, an actress, and a gold-digger. This works well with our blonde opera singer, Irene Diaz, who dates her producer, Grimsby Keane… and uses that “scarlet” liquid to keep herself looking younger than she really is.

Next to roll is Colonel Mustard, a military type with a “glittering” past. Usually clean-cut, severe, and about 40 yrs old. Sometimes depicted as a buffoon. He is sometimes depicted as trading on the black market and also sometimes suspects being blackmailed by the host. I’d say it works well with our other intended victim, Georg von Siemens, but since we need it to be a suspect, I’d place him with our diamond merchant, Karl Woodley. As you know, he gets framed for all the murders. It’s suggested he could have even smuggled in the snake that killed Phelps (by accident), too, since it is a Black Mamba from Africa, and because Woodley’s diamonds are mostly from Africa. Though the earl and Sebastian aren’t exactly blackmailing him, they are fine with the murders getting pinned on him, since he did kill (or had someone else kill) a rival diamond dealer. Probably was heavily involved with the black market….

Third to roll is Mrs. White, usually depicted as a servant, like a maid or nanny (usually a maid). Her age can vary quite a bit. She’s usually depicted as bitter about her job. Though the other four Phantomhive servants (at the time) seem to love their jobs, I’m placing them, collectively, as Mrs. White. Besides, Mey-Rin really is suspected of being an accomplice and wanting to run off with the butler.

Fourth is The Rev. Mr. Green/Reverend Green/Mr. Green. He’s depicted as “a hypocritical Anglican priest who weakens when it comes to the Sixth commandment, murder.” This would be great as Sebastian’s depiction of the invented “Vicar Jeremy Rathbone”. However, “Jeremy” gets out of the suspect list by supplying a good alibi. Therefore, I’ll place this suspect as Lau and Ran-Mau, since Mr. Green is also often depicted as one “who has taken many money-oriented roles from mobster to businessman.” The 1963 US version even depicts him as a “cartoon caricature of a snobbish, decadent playboy wearing a green housecoat and smoking a cigarette on a holder.” Makes me think quite a bit of our opium den-running, gang leader, and importer/drug-smuggler Lau… lounging around with his Ran-Mao…. Also note that Ran-Mao means “blue cat”, so we have another “color name”.

Fifth is Mrs. Peacock. She’s *originally* shown to be rather queen-like, even wearing a tiara. I’m designating Earl Grey in this role, since he is there to represent Queen Victoria and to protect her interests.

Sixth is Professor Plum. He’s usually depicted as young, highly intelligent, wearing glasses and a bow tie, and smoking a pipe. It’s sometimes said that “with his good looks and charm he has found a dark side being sneaky.” Some renditions have him being an archeologist, an inventor, a mathematical genius… a more recent version even has him as a successful video game designer named *Victor Plum*. Our young earl is highly intelligent, wears an eye patch and (often) a bow tied at the neck. For official art surrounding this arc, he’s sometimes shown dressed as Sherlock Holmes, sporting a pipe. He has the good looks and charm, and he’s definitely sneaky. He’s a gaming enthusiast who seems to specialize in chess, but the toy industry side to his Funtom Co. has been shown to sell video game consoles (and possibly the games, too, even though this is all *highly* anachronistic). Also, his father’s name is Vincent Phantomhive. Victor Plum? Haha. Yeah, the professor thing would work for Arthur, too, but I’d rather not assign him a Cluedo character at all, since, like Jeremy, Arthur gets removed from the suspect list about as soon as he gets on it. Arthur is thrown into the role of “player” outside the game; the earl invited him just to figure it all out…. And yeah, it is the earl’s manor, so he is “host”, but he’s not a corpse, plus some versions allowed the victim to vary. Meanwhile, the earl is considered a major suspect. He's considered suspect number one until Sebastian ends up "dead", and the earl's alibi is water-tight. Doesn't hurt that he puts on a big show of mourning for Sebastian. Also note that the earl goes by “Ciel”, which can be a color, sky blue. But there are color names throughout the manga series anyway….

———

TL:DR: It’s still a bit long, but…. So, here are the people in the arc and their Cluedo counterparts, etc.:

1. Sebastian: Mr. Black/Mr. Boddy, a victim. “Killed” by Earl Grey but not the *originally* intended victim. The truth of his attacker is only (later) revealed to the earl of Phantomhive and Arthur. At the very end he acts like the “case file”, giving us all the answers (the who, the when and where, and the with what). Except regarding Mr. Phelps; he only gives that information to the earl….

2. Jeremy (Sebastian in disguise): the “thirteenth” suspect, who gets cut from the suspect list almost immediately. He sort of starts filling the role of the actual clue cards in the game. He helps keep the investigation going but also rules out false clues.

3. Georg von Siemens: another Mr. Boddy. The *originally* intended victim. Was never on the suspect list. Though he initially faked his own death, he was soon-after killed by Earl Grey. Interesting to note that the original game has the body of the victim found at the bottom of the stairs to the cellar. Though Mr. Siemens faked his death in his guest room, he was actually killed in a wine cellar….

4. Mr. Phelps: another Mr. Boddy. The only real shocker to the earl, since the earl only expected an attack on Siemens and Sebastian. Also, the intended victim was actually our earl, not Phelps. Not even Earl Grey had anything to do with this. An absolutely outside job. Talk about throwing a wrench into the machine…. or game of Cluedo.

5. Miss Diaz and Mr. Keane: suspect Miss Scarlett, the actress. Miss Diaz is at one point accused of going vampiric on Mr. Phelps…. Miss Diaz and Mr. Keane are always together, so they move as one piece.

6. Mr. Woodley: suspect Colonel Mustard, who, in return, suspects blackmail/foul play. It all pretty much gets pinned on him in the arc. Earl Grey later kills him, too, after arresting him. Mr. Woodley is accused of stabbing Siemens with a sword, stabbing Sebastian with a fireplace poker, and possibly even bringing the snake that killed Phelps.

7. Mey-Rin, Bardroy, Finny, and Mr. Tanaka: suspect Mrs. White, the servant. Out of the four, only Mey-Rin is really discussed as a suspect. It’s thought she might have wanted to run off with the butler… until the butler also shows up “dead”. For a while she is still suspected as an accomplice. The servants mostly stick together, so they can be a single piece, too.

8. Lau and Ran-Mao: suspect Reverend Green/Mr. Green, the (defrocked) priest and sometime gangster. Likes to lounge around and smoke. Shows a leniency towards murder. Yep, it fits. Lau is temporarily accused of using an acupuncture needle as a weapon to kill Mr. Phelps. Again, these two people generally move as one piece.

9. Earl Grey: suspect Mrs. Peacock, the socialite/aristocrat. Filling in for Queen Victoria. The actual murderer of Mr. Siemens (on the queen’s order) and attacker of Sebastian (basically for the funsies). Not involved with Mr. Phelps’ death. Later kills Mr. Woodley, too (essentially on a whim).

10. Earl “Ciel” Phantomhive: suspect Professor Plum, the young genius and sometime gaming enthusiast. No, it’s not Arthur. It’s the earl. Read the earlier bit about this role, if you don’t know why I paired them up this way. Though, if you like, we *could* put the earl and Arthur together, since they get literally chained together for a while… and because they are trying to work out the details together….

11. Arthur (Conan Doyle) Wordsmith: could be paired with our earl, collectively, as suspect Prof. Plum. However, I see poor Arthur as the outside “player”, since he was actually just invited to figure out the facts/details. He’s also removed from the suspect list for having a firm alibi in every murder case and is placed in charge of the investigation…. Not only that, but he's the only one (besides the earl) who gets to hear the truth of Mr. Siemens' death and the attack on Sebastian.

12. Snake: no real Cluedo counterpart, since he is the true “thirteenth” suspect of the arc. Not even Sebastian expected his involvement and didn’t know his role in all this until he found Snake (and his snakes) cooped up in the greenhouse.

——

Well, there you have it –

Mr. Siemens was the originally intended victim (Clue’s “Mr. Boddy”) and killed by *Earl Grey* in the *wine cellar* with a *sword*. (A sword is just a big dagger, right? LOL)

Sebastian (the original Cluedo’s “Mr. Black”), was “killed” (but not really) by *Earl Grey* in the *guest room* with the *fireplace poker* (and also hit on the back of the head with it).

Mr. Phelps was killed by *Snake* in the *master bedroom* with a *snake*… but this was not connected to the original plans laid out by the queen.

Later, Mr. Woodley (framed for all the murders committed at the manor) was killed by *Earl Grey* in the *queen’s carriage* with a *sword*, though this was also not part of the original plan.

You know how the old murder mystery joke goes? The butler did it! Well, since Earl Grey is a butler to the queen… a butler really *did* do (most of) it….

—–

Thoughts??

[entergamingxp]

51 Worldwide Games review – a playful history of the world • Eurogamer.net

Where to put games. In the tech section? In the culture section? In the kid’s section? Or how about this: let’s put them between the invention of farming and the invention of pottery. The neolithic! This is where the first games are found. Mankind lives in walled environments, someone’s in charge, and these game boards are being created, flat slabs with two parallel lines of holes in them.

51 Worldwide Games review

Developer:Nintendo

Publisher:Nintendo

Platform: Reviewed on Switch

Availability: Released 5th June on Switch

These extremely early sorts of games are not directly present in 51 Worldwide Games, a Switch compilation that has had me completely spellbound for the last few weeks. Even so, I like to think it’s all connected, which means that this reasonably priced compendium of dice and board and card games, of mechanical games and paper games and good old bowling, has sort of been in development for at least 5000 years. No wonder it’s such a treat to play! No wonder it’s such a confident, comprehensible thing. It puts Valve Time and Blizzard Time in the context of deep time.

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I can make it sound quite bewildering if I talk about how it works. 51 Games supports single-player and multiplayer. Some games like Solitaire variants are single-player only, as the name suggests. Most are multiplayer. Many – mainly excluding card games where you need to keep your hand a secret – are multiplayer on a single Switch, some allowing for touchscreen controls, some allowing for Joy-Cons and many allowing for both. Then there’s local play, which only requires one version of the game, and online multiplayer where everyone needs their own copy. (Online multiplayer’s quite neat incidentally: you select three games you’re interested in and then you can play solo while you wait for matches.)

In reality, this stuff is incredibly simple, because it’s all dictated by the game. Multiplayer air hockey with one system? Touchscreen affair, the Switch laid flat and two people moving the pieces with their fingers. Bowling? Joy-Cons and motion controls and it’s Wii Sports all over again. Think about how the game works, and you’ll almost certainly be able to understand how it works here.

In fact, 51 Worldwide Games could not be more straightforward. Pick a game from the list of 51 and you get a brief skippable introduction, a quick version of the rules – and some hints – and then you’re off to play it. The presentation is clear and sharp and the UI gets itself out of the way.

Maximum effort – all carefully concealed – has been put into tactility. The cards have a lovely purr and snap as they’re shuffled and dealt. Chess pieces come down with a felt-cushioned thock. Bowling balls rumble ominously towards pins. Mancala beads ping delightly into their pockets. I could go on! But I won’t because there are 51 of these things and they’re all worth playing.

At one end we have paper games – there’s a grid and you take turn drawing lines to connect dots. Whoever makes a box gets to own it and then take another turn, and the big question comes down to who makes the most boxes. Then there are board games. Connect Four, but also stuff like Mancala, which is absolutely captivating with its beads and its planting and its tidal change back and forth as the pieces go round.

Actually, stop for a second – a word here about Mancala because it gets to the heart of this collection and what makes it so special. Mancala is an ancient board game that I’m told is about planting crops. It’s probably the closest this collection gets to those neolithic game boards, and if you squint it shares their basic layout. Here’s the thing: I have always wanted to play Mancala, but I’ve never had a board, and then I don’t know the rules, and then I don’t have anyone I can reliably talk into playing a few games while we both learn the rules together. 51 Games solves all of these problems without blinking. It is truly a lonely child’s best friend.

Anyway, loads of the classic board games are here. There’s a lovely version of chess, there’s checkers and backgammon and Chinese Checkers, which I have not played in an absolute age, along with stuff like Ludo and Gomoku, which is played on a Go board but turns out to be a bit like Connect Four. Shogi! Dominos! Onwards! Loads of board games!

Then there are card games like Solitaire and Poker and a non-brand Uno and President, alongside something like War which is an absolute riot, complete chance, complete dumb luck but all delivered with pace and flair. There’s Hanafuda, which is just a total glory and seems to my idiot brain to be a deeply refined take on the rummy format, but I’m happy to play a bit more and be proved wrong. There’s Blackjack and matching and a game called Speed, which I have absolutely fallen for and would otherwise never have learned.

After that come the sports, like Golf, which is lovely and simple, harking back to the NES days, and Billiards and Bowling, which is probably the main reason a lot of people are going to pick this up and who can blame them? Motion controls and brilliant feedback and you’re done for the whole night. There’s Darts, which I cannot get to grips with, but then I am all fingers and thumbs, and then there’s a load of toy games – sports which you play using wonderfully recreated mechanical sets.

Toy boxing is very basic – guard and punch and you’re done. Toy Baseball, though, is pretty great, a stripped down version of the game which didn’t make me wish for the motion controls of Wii Sports. Toy Tennis! Toy Football! I am not being comprehensive here, and then we’re on to tank games and shooting galleries and motion control fishing that had my daughter absolutely captivated for the best part of a day.

There’s fancy stuff along the way. I gather some games allow you to connect Switches via Mosaic. There’s a piano included as a treat, and I guess if you had more than one switch you could have more than one octave. Then there are unlockables, which are mainly card backs so far, and very welcome too. There’s a sort of overworld thing with a globe and different characters who have arranged the games in certain themes, and you can bundle up your favourites and share them online too. There is probably more to this business, but in truth I am drawn back to the games themselves – particularly the option to play a random game – so I think this stuff will remain untapped for me at least.

It’s surprisingly hard for me to talk about what makes 51 Worldwide Games so special without devolving into listing its components. In this way, it works quite differently to a lot of games I love, which are often zoned in on one or two specific things that they absolutely nail. This game, the variety is what it’s nailing, the variety and the implementation of each game, which seems so invisible, and is probably all the more intricate because of that.

This is sheer potential: the potential of games, the potential of people to find things to entertain us. It’s the box or the shelf in every living room that contains battered copies of Chess and Checkers and packs of cards. But this also contains stuff like Carrom, and Carrom, an Indian game about flicking pucks around, has a huge board and is a major commitment in the real world. Where to store it? How to keep it properly polished?

While I’ve been playing 51 Worldwide Games I’ve been reading Neil MacGregor’s wonderful book A History of the World in 100 Objects, and I’ve come to realise that Nintendo’s collection probably belongs on a shelf next to it – another intimate history of our species. But at the same time I’ve been looking through Kyoichi Tsuzuki’s classic photo book Tokyo: A Certain Style. This is a survey of the interiors of real apartments in Tokyo in all their clutter and diversity. And let me tell you: not much room for a Carrom board in there. Not much room for one in my own house in Brighton.

Every now and then I get a reminder that video games are magic. And weirdly, this collection of things that pre-date video games has reminded me just how magical video games are. This is a history of the world, in part. It’s also a TARDIS of fun. It’s wonderful.

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/06/51-worldwide-games-review-a-playful-history-of-the-world-%e2%80%a2-eurogamer-net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=51-worldwide-games-review-a-playful-history-of-the-world-%25e2%2580%25a2-eurogamer-net

[unidentifiedstudio]

Sandbox With Goals

The industry has this sort of love-hate relationship with sandboxes. The appetite for them in the wake of Minecraft's revolution invited a flood of copies, clones, and knock-offs. On one hand, a cursory glance on Steam will show nine hundred thirty titles with that tag. So many games with very different scopes. Let’s explore the concepts.

Sandbox, Toybox, Roguelike

The definition of sandbox is as open as an actual sandbox!

All that really defines a sandbox is an area to play around without restraint. Not a race course or a linear level, as in traditional games, but large areas that players can move about as they please, seldom with any sort of countdown or required direction. A sandbox is about interaction with the tools you have. Interactive events allow players to control the pace at which they push forward the goalposts of the story.

Without story, you have a Toybox. Toybox is like a worse sandbox, for you often have lots of tools but very little to interact with. There may be cutscenes but the game is mostly just about existing. Without an end goal, it becomes a form of meandering.

Sandbox or toybox, games bearing such freedom allow players to explore within their boundaries and approach objectives how they see fit. Some simply have no true objective. Also, one of the most pleasant and unexpected joys of a game like this is the unintended spontaneous interaction. AI characters mixed through physics and set in motion by player behavior formulates unexpected scenarios.

Which brings us to the genre of Roguelike. This is usually defined as a combination nexus between permadeath and randomization of gameplay elements. Tweaking these two variables can provide a wide range of results but what defines Roguelike most is replayability. The variation means the game is so different every time. Sometimes the game stats impossible, and other times you coast through on skates.

There are a lot of these sandy-toy-boxy type games on the market. While some have placed the bar so high to change the industry itself, people know what they are willing to pay for. With stiff AAA competition, an indie game has to be so unique they stand out extra special in such a widely crowded market.

That is, of course, if you’re predominately promoting it as a sandy-box thing. A developer can always add sand and toys to any game, broadening the appeal.

Goals

For this game, we’ve decided to pull back our focus to board games and create a more linear experience. We’ve given the player sandbox pockets to play in but the overall the game moves more like chess.

Card games and tabletop roleplaying allow players often have no centralized board, with open direction to their play. Board games restrict the routes and rules. Streamlining the bloat down helps organize the process. Reducing probability gives definite shape to a game. It’s a balance, a pick and choose of scope and refinement. Adjusting this lens the player sees the world through changes overall experience. A lot of open games indulge in chance-based decisions, and variating probability vastly widens gameplay experience. The more things happen out of the usual, the more exciting and adventurous it will be.

The main focus we want when approaching this whole subject is to shape interaction. A linear game shapes the goals for the focus of movement. This means interaction emerges from players and objects and characters in the game.

Interaction is key, for us at least. When the world interacts back with the player, they can reach immersion. But more importantly, they can lead to a climax and end of the interaction.

No matter how much sand or how many toys your box has if there’s no point to any of it players will walk away. One facet of most modern survivor games that, in my opinion, cripples potential, is a fear of ending itself. All good stories come to an end. And if the player wants to keep going, there is always a new game or a new game plus. You can take the journey from beginning to end over and over and unlock new things to use on that journey, but eventually journey's end.

An analog can be found in Lego toys. What makes construction toys so popular is the feeling of creating something. A gun, a car, a spaceship, a moon base. The feeling of accomplishment is a core carrot at the end of every good stick. Building for improvement, for purpose. We say give the player something physical in their world. We all have a yearning inside to bring something into reality which does not exist yet. Many survival games are about making things you want to see that no one else is.

That’s drive. Goals.

Games need goals. Without goals, a game loses all purpose and direction.

Data Obfuscation and Fulfillment

Things in design are defined only by the purpose they fulfill. A perfect thing is something that perfectly fulfills its purpose. When a player has a goal, perfection comes from them the fulfillment of that goal. Goals should be presented with equal variants of strength and weaknesses for both player and obstacles. Goals should be finite and precise.

How the player achieves these goals is up to them and the tools at their disposal. But they should always have options to approach a known and defined fulfillment.

One of the main problems that limit a player from fulfilling goals is obfuscated information.

Do they know what the goal is?

Where it is?

How to achieve it?

Sometimes it seems obvious to a developer who has labored over every inch for years. But for a random person off the street, it might be a complex enigma just to get through a menu. Things should be organized and labeled so a player can get into the meat of the game instantly. A player should never have to wonder what the parts do. Now, there are games where the terror of playing blind is the main appeal of the product.

Usually, people want to know what everything does.

Strategy in Chaos

Which brings us to randomization. The act of a game never giving the same results for the same actions. Both obfuscated information and unfair randomization ruin planning, strategy, and removes control and learning. The other thing about data is that the more of it you have, the more it obfuscates itself. Analysis paralysis happens. Too many things to do, no clear progression to start.

By presenting clear information to the player, and explaining clear goals to fulfill, we can help bridge the gap between the rigid world and open world. Clarity and focus on design is the key to any game, no matter the scope or genre.

Players need a strategy to win games. The strategy requires preparedness, be it on the fly adaptability or custom loadouts. Preparedness struggles against randomization.

The player is looking for tools to solve problems, and most of the goals and interaction emerge from the tools and goals provided. These tools are guarded by increasingly difficult obstacles that give the player knowledge and skill.

Tool acquisition and knowledge gathering, aka reconnaissance, are how most games deliver through on their goals.

Summary

To reflect, let’s piece all of that together. What we believe is a good game comes from a simple line of thinking in design. Players want clear information that helps them reach reasonable goals. Increasing the difficulty allows them to work and progress, skill and knowledge and tools adding to their arsenal. Until they fulfill their goals and find closure. For our sandbox, we want the toys to not only do something but to mean something.

[REFERENCE]

https://www.td.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2012/02/Games-Vs-Simulations-When-Simulations-May-Be-a-Better-Approach

[writera]

Becoming a Dungeon Master

I feel like a fairly new DM. And most of my RPG experience is as a DM. However at this point I have years of experience, so I'm not sure how long I get to hang on to that moniker.

Getting started as a DM is pretty intimidating, foremost because there is just so much you don't know about — if your players know more about the setting or the canonical character/spell/narrative tropes than you, its easy to let them push you to make calls you wouldn't otherwise make. Trying to adjudicate for very smart, rules lawyering [fill-in-the-game] buffs sounds like an uphill battle.

Briefly, I got my start with 3.5e in college, subsequently played 40k, World of Darkness, a homebrew system, and DM'd two 5e D&D games. I've been a part of four different groups. I had some trouble running good 5e games, and this has directly resulted in a lot of research. 

In my 40k game, the primary GM was tired of GMing, but whenever his apprentice GM ran a game, he was "corrected" on a number of things that the apprentice had pretty clearly thought out in advance. Having less experience in the setting, the corrections made no sense — "wow that's a cool idea! It doesn't even matter to the campaign, why is the regular GM nixing this?".

I toyed with the idea of running a few sessions, and studied the one rulebook I was planning on drawing from. 40k has shitty encounter-balancing tools, and I never managed to put something together before that game dissolved.

In the meantime, I was playing board games with a volatile and cliqueish meetup group. After D&D 5e came out, I thought I'd see if anyone in the meetup was interested in trying out 5e. I got a game together to play Hoard of the Dragon Queen. My first time DM-ing!

I had never played with a grid, and didn't want to. I'd forgotten most everything about 3.5, so I wasn't bothered by some of the major changes between 3.5 and 5e. Anyway 5e said all the things I wanted to hear — grid? Don't trouble yourself. Rules dispute? Make a decision, figure it out later. I tried to commit as much of the mechanics and guidelines to heart as possible — even waded most of the way through the spell list, trying to figure out each one — although I seem to have failed to pay attention to class progressions beyond a cursory glance (carefully read the class progressions your players choose, after they choose them! build the game to their abilities!).

I didn't realize that half my group were hardcore min-maxers. That half was there for the full RPG experience and the other half for a glorified tactical combat game. I was so focused on trying to memorize all the narrative and mechanical details that I didn't work on tactical scenarios. Not that I knew how to make combat interesting — for all my RTS computer games, I knew how to build tactics to the terrain, not terrain to tactics. Anyway, the group itself had some interpersonal problems that ultimately was its undoing, but we played for a while before that happened.

I was enthusiastically reading advice on hooking your players and running a good game. I put together an introductory email with some setting material, key terms and character concept ideas, and a map of Faerun (with a note that it was just for context, a character wouldn't know what Faerun looks like). One thing I stressed was creating bonds and flaws that you wanted to see happening in game.

So first session, after my little speech about bonds and flaws, including a half-thought one-liner about "not picking something really far away or irrelevant", one player — hereafter known as Bob — asks me — "can my bond be the grandfather tree?" — and talks a little about the grandfather tree. I thought — great! I was worried they might not go along with this. So I make a point of praising the idea. Meanwhile the players are ignoring me and laughing at me, passing around my map of Faerun pointing at a little dot labeled "Grandfather Tree", as far away from our starting point as the map allows. So I say — That map is just for context! I can put the forest where-ever I want! It can be next door.

Half the table stares at me incredulously ... "are you sure you don't want to look at the map?"

For Bob and his friend Byron, the game was completely about optimal positioning. Eventually it became pretty clear that the power gamers were unhappy, and I agreed to use a whiteboard to draw battlemaps. This time, HotDQ prescribed an ambush. As usual, the game ground to a halt during combat while Bob ran around sniping enemies — with no idea that eight covered leveled bad guys might be above their power-level. I tried to drop helpful hints, and the rest of the party eventually got it together and regrouped, but Bob's character continued kiting to the long drawn-out end, and finally! by fair tactical combat got chased down, knocked unconscious, and dragged off "to the rape dungeon!" as Bob energetically interjected.

It wasn't all bad, but it was a constant fight. Worse, while the B-men were most excited about gaming the system, they had no interest in making believable choices. HotDQ has a lot of leading questions (it's a railroad as written) — and I was ready to try to round-about recyle the chapters under different conditions to make the game flow, and I even said so when Byron commented something along the lines of "gee, I wonder where we're supposed to go next?". I wish they had tried at least *somewhat* to assert their will in the storyline. But those two didn't really care. And the other two bought the story hooks.

Those other two players (Bianca and Eadward) probably didn't get the game they deserved, either; in part because I was focused on dealing with the first two. Bob took the floor, but also completely ignored the will of the other players. During a hostage crisis, for example, he got all the hostages killed when the rest of the party could taste victory. But I had recently moved to a small town and didn't know anyone else who might play.

Anyway, to me, that first campaign (which we didn't finish) felt flat and the combats tedious. I doubled down on my efforts to figure out why. Some time passed, my two favorite players moved away, and I found another group of players: a DM, a soon-to-be-DM, a Pathfinder guy, and a newbie nerd who wanted to play a powerful necromancer.

I hear a lot of advice repeated over and over again. The internet is kind of an echo-chamber — maybe nobody knows what they're doing. So here's my thoughts on the systems, and process of becoming a DM —

The process of becoming a DM sucks. Maybe you've got a supportive group of players, or maybe you are working with what you have, trying to accommodate them. I had ideas and creativity, but I didn't know how to efficiently turn them into encounters, social situations, and adventures. For my second campaign, I homebrewed the world, a metropolis, the society, an underlying plot, the traditional world-building minutiae, and monsters, dungeons, ... almost everything. I put in so much work — almost every day, and a lot of my weekends I went down to the coffee shop, researched, wrote backstory, adjusted power levels or made up new challenges. And I still feel like it was easier than trying to learn all the details of an established setting I've never played, like Faerun.

Because Faerun doesn't make sense to me. I make up part of it, only to find when I look for a detail somewhere else, it's tightly coupled to the part I replaced! Without a model of how Faerun works in my head, I'm not sure how to move my chess pieces. I need someone to break it down at every stage into the simplest pieces possible — treating a nation as an NPC, identifying important NPCs and their relationships, NPC roles, propensities/motives, and power. And then breaking down organizations into some kind of organization-space, treating them as NPCs, building a web, and mapping organization-space onto a geographical map. And then breaking down cities into NPCs and organizations, and then districts, and then guilds, and then society. Because, otherwise, it's too vast for me to understand out of context, and it's too easy to break immersion, to give too much political power to the PCs (so that there's no point to strive for anything anymore).

So of course, I was excited when the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide came out. I figured — this is the ticket for me to understand the broad strokes of Faerun! But it most definitely isn't. I'm not going to hate on the book, if you have time and money, and it seems interesting, by all means why not peruse it? I appreciate WotC's intent — but the book is more like an encyclopedia and less like a novel. A novel?

When I started out my second campaign, I handed out a detailed questionnaire. I listed scifi & fantasy books, and asked players to order them by favorite theme. I had questions testing interest in various settings, playstyles, character goals, greyscale morality vs black-and-white, miscellaneous ideas I had, and possible responsibilities players might want to take on (food, side-quest DMing, writing, etc). After the first campaign, I wanted to gauge player interests. I had been doodling setting ideas for a while, and wanted to know if the players would care. I decided my setting was an important demiplane or whatever man, and that there were secret portals typically accessible by ship (a plot point) which I could use to plug it into another setting whenever I wanted (I planned to plug it into Faerun). Interestingly, I had more than enough material in my own world, and my players never got to Faerun.

What did those questionnaires get me? Absolutely nothing. One player nixed "Game of Thrones style" on his questionnaire, for all the good it did him (it just made me fret about my grand plans, I should never have asked — how is he supposed to know my world-building secrets anyway? Also, what is Game of Thrones style?). The rest of it was just idiosyncratic preferences, although it was interesting to look at. So while it's good to feel your group out, I don't think you need to go overboard here. "Will you bring the drinks?" "Do you have to get up early the next morning?" and "Do you like hack and slash?" "Do you like political power?" "Do you like experience points?" "Do you like dungeons and treasure?" or something similar will suffice.

A novel? The Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (SCAG) isn't a novel? When I started out my second campaign, one player asked if the Elemental Evil supplement was allowed. I ended up with an elf, a half-elf, a drow (who I guided away from "drow, moon elf drow, because the elves can be subdivided up into sun and moon elves" — too bad I didn't think of half-drow half-moon-elf at the time), and a svirfneblin. Now, I had read the SCAG and PHB treatises on Drow. I was blissfully unaware of how crazily subjugated my Drow were, and how fanatically wrathful they must be feeling. Oh well, my world. But the EE supplement requester let something slip about the Legend of Drizzt books.

Obviously, I read the first 17 books in short order.

While these books helped fill out some understanding of Faerun, I only really feel like I understand the motivations of Icewind Dale. Possibly because it's a small setting, with easily identifiable factions, and a battle or two. It's also remote, and Drizzt didn't go adventuring to far off made-up dungeons while he was there every other day. And the underdark, which I now think is amazing! I'm going to keep reading these books, I am looking forward to learning about Neverwinter (the glosses I've read are so vague).

But I'm not sure reading those books are the right way to begin to understand Faerun.

One thing I've discovered recently is 1e and 2e settings books. The right settings books. Not even necessarily the Faerun settings books. Back when I was planning my homebrew campaign, I was researching mechanics for worlds which get very cold (and also seafaring). I did some research and bought some 2e and 3e pdfs from the DMsGuild which looked relevant. They were filled with irrelevant system-specific mechanics, outdated math, and segmented, wandering descriptions. It put me off reading anything published before 5e as labor-reducing material for my 5e campaign. And the adventures — I was building my own, I had no interest in those outdated railroads (HotDQ was the only published adventure I had tried to absorb).

But after continued research, I acquired 0e, 1e, Dark Sun, Planescape, and Spelljammer. These are amazing books, and I'm currently searching out the other best early books. It doesn't help that they're not compiled into a complete, chronological, and categorized list anywhere, and that it would cost a fortune to [legally] acquire the collected works (on pdf, no less). I'm going to come back to the fact that I bought 0e and 1e, but if I have to pick one of these books to recommend, it's the Planescape boxed set.

Planescape is the kind of thing I can pick up and read, and not fall asleep. It also is far superior to all of the DMG/PHB/wikipedia descriptions of the outer planes. I just had to remember to skip sections that didn't catch my interest. Basically, it's one man's account of the planes. He has a lot of colorful advice, much more narrative, to the point, and subjective than SCAG, which half-heartedly not-really adopted a subjective narrator. It's humorous, non-definitive!, and all-inclusive. It's also the source material which created the planes — everything else written is a revision. It's like a creative writing prompt.

Continuance

One source of DMing wisdom that has had a major impact on my thought patterns is The Angry GM. He might repeat himself and slowly elaborate on the same ideas he's been stewing on for years, but I only realized this after reading the majority of everything he has on his site. I could put together specific article recommendations if anyone cared. Also, support him on Patreon!

I like articles like Angry’s because he lays out his thought patterns while constructing the models you want to use. These are self-contained predictive (crassly, "generative") modules. How do you build a chase scene?

You deconstruct the idea of chase into its components parts, examine the theory of roleplaying, identify the important parts of roleplaying for various players, apply literature theory (I read a number of books on authoring fiction, I guess you could do that too), add tension, modularize, and reconstruct.

When you're done, you have either an encounter to play out with triggers and mechanics, or an encounter and encounter-mechanics building set of meta mechanics, or perhaps even meta-meta encounter-mechanics mechanics building mechanics, if you're applying yourself.

I really appreciate being able to read and understand an adventure or optional rule. By applying structure to some pile of text you hand me, I can start to compile your input into a useful program of sorts, that I can use to reason, and generate predictions for behaviors of various chess pieces.

After I read a lot of The Angry GM’s articles, I bought all the published 5e adventures, and set to analyzing them. There's a great variety. I wouldn't advise you to do this: maybe only one at a time.

I also watched youtube playthroughs of most of them (and some extras, on top of that).

In my opinion, Princes of the Apocalypse has the most interesting story structure, followed by Storm King's Thunder. Out of the Abyss turned into an amazing playthrough. And if I understood the Ravenloft better, Curse of Strahd might be my favorite of them all. But I don't understand it hardly at all yet. So I'd be more likely to run the other ones I mentioned.

The Angry GM mentions in passing a number of divides in the RPG gamer community, none of which should come as a shock to anyone who has used the internet to read about D&D or any other RPG ... storytellers vs tacticians, "improvisers vs railroaders" (a meaningless dichotomy, he explains), the choice of maintaining thematic integrity (think Dark Sun) vs allowing players any choice or capability they can articulate with their mouth-things (think Acquisitions Incorporated). I knew all the echo-chamber soundbytes about these divides before, but now they mean a lot more to me.

Most importantly. I watched a youtube video which talked about the evolution of D&D — and I was very surprised how 0e and 1e read. I had heard about the ebb and flow of mechanics vs DM intuition. But when I actually looked at the early D&D texts, they read like creative writing prompts, not rulesets or algebras. Eg, here is a system I made up. I wanted to do a thing, and so I hope you like it. Oh, and another thing might help you mitigate some problem — to the point.

I'm a scifi buff, and I thought it might be easier to run a science fiction RPG than a fantasy game like D&D. I tried to research the best scifi RPG, and the first time I searched, the jury cried out "Traveller"! I'm currently watching Babylon 5 for the second time (and honestly, I'm getting impatient writing this, I want to watch B5, but if I stop writing I likely won't continue later).

If you like Babylon5, you probably agree that Traveller has a pretty great premise. I unfortunately made a rookie mistake and bought Traveller5, which was supposed to be the ultimate be-all-and-end-all of Traveller RPGs. It's not, because it's an algebra book.

I can't stay awake reading Traveller5, no joke. It requires intense mental exertion to see and make sense of the unexplained patterns and arcane rules. It's very complete — with systems for social interaction (which I feel divided about), crafting, and detailed world-building. It doesn't provide a setting beyond a few pages (out of 700!), but instead tools to build a cohesive setting. It really is the distilled machinations of years of game design, but it's inaccessible to the layperson. And from some of the reviews I've read, that's not an uncommon opinion.

But the thing that really is the kicker — some people like Traveller5 style rules, and some people like 5e/1e style rules. And there's nothing you can do about it to change their minds. Some people like rules lawyering — this occurred to me while listening to Happy Jacks RPG — they like to sit down for their session, use their encylopediac knowledge of the rules to optimize and evolve their character and actions, sticking to every last convention — sitting down and debating the best course of action. Not quickly resolving actions and moving on with the action or story, not the excitement of battle, nor promise of immersion. Some people like tactically planning every move before execution, and won't hesitate to spend every moment of their time evaluating, debating. Because that is the fun part for them.

I've read flamewars on forums between these two camps — and anyone with a bone to pick will claim the buzzwords for themselves. My way is "immersive"! One bozo claimed that 5e was terrible because DMs weren't required to build NPCs using the same process PCs are built, so certain pregen NPC stat block abilities weren't accessible to his PC — because this inconsistency in *rules* breaks *immersion*. To me, this sounds like a bit of stretch — I think thematic (which heavily involves adjudication) inconsistencies break immersion, not rules inconsistencies. Or maybe he is immersed in something, and it's just not the story.

Anyway, this guy liked 3.5e better than 5e — not only, but he thought 5e was trash.

Is it? My final closing remarks here are going to be on 3.5e versus 5e, which is I think the question you have been waiting for — or maybe not, I don't know.

Most recently, I have been cross-referencing 3.5 with 5e. Some of it's coming back to me now, and some of the surprised questions my second group asked about rules are making more sense to me.

3.5e is better in some respects. It has more structure. It makes more sense, in a limited capacity. The rulebooks are much more poorly written. They are extremely repetitive. I appreciate the crafting system, because it unifies spells, magic items, and provides the ability to create new spells. In 5e, there's not really a difference between rods, wands, and staffs.

In my 5e games, I've been surprised at how useless the low level wizards have been. That statement is flamebait, and I've seen it in action

In 5e, magic users, and wizards in particular, have been nerfed hard. No matter how you phrase it (and I've seen people try), wizards are much much less powerful in 5e.  Yes ... they got ritual spells, disposed of Vancian magic, and got some silly cantrip pseudo archery attacks, sure;  but they have fewer slots, less spell selection, no ability to create magical items or bank spells, all the spells have been made less powerful, and no ability to create new spells.

As a DM, you can add all that back, but it will break 5e's balance. I've heard it said that in 5e, all classes are magic users. Well, I have to say, in 5e, all classes are fighters. Chew on that?

Full disclosure. I like 3.5e wizards.  I feel that unfair level of power is appropriate  —  when you read Order of the Stick or other D&D fantasy literature, the wizards are 3.5e style powerful. It feels wrong and disappointing to me for wizards not to hold Earth-shattering power. (But, my first character was a melee tank, who once dealt ~150 damage in one turn.)   Restricting a wizard to a supporting "role" instead of encouraging a supporting role seems like a loss to me. Who would want to play a wizard then? If you don't get earth shattering powers? Non-earth-shattering powers is mundane, and I'm playing a fantasy game.

Detractors will argue for the poor oppressed mundanes. As a DM, you have the power to make everybody cool. You can keep balance in check, allow wizards to be powerful in and of themselves, and keep fighters and the like out of their shadow. If a wizard is overshadowing a fighter, talk to the wizard, tell them to get off his toes.

And/or maybe beef up the fighter. In 3.5e you could add a prestige class. I'm sure you can figure something out in 5e.

Anyway, if you love balance and hate wizards and 3.5e, you're in good company with 5e. But if you love rules to the bone, you might like 3.5e better. Or if you somehow want to be involved in what I consider the DM's work, you might like 3.5e.

Regardless, 5e has easier to remember rules, is better balanced, easier to introduce new people to, is on the other side of the scales from the abstruse algebraic systems with idiosyncratic notations, and you can always modify it to make it imba. So I approve of 5e, but I have to say —

I had to do a lot of research to understand it. I feel like a 500 page, non-wandering, topical, focused essay on the art of DMing and RPG gaming would do wonders for a D&D 5e companion book. Because those missing rules — they are missing — it is good that they are not hard and fast, but it is bad that there are few well motivated optional functionality modules which you can pop into your game to improve it.

Long story short — make it up when you feel like something is missing, and find what inspires you — really inspires, not what you think inspires you or you think will improve your knowledge. Be fair, attentive, and pro-active.

PS On the topic of good combats — Angry wrote an article titled something "Running Combats like a M#@&*^## Dolphin". Having an efficient style, having a style at all, to running a combat, as he describes, speeds combats up and makes them seem more interesting. I mean, it only speeds it up a little bit, but come on.

Just as useful — building good combats — if they're dragging on, get them over with as soon as possible. If you're employing good tactics for your baddies, and/or providing useful tactical features, you might be prolonging the battle. You don't have to stop doing that, but do be aware of it. So, you can just throw falling lava into the battle, and KAPOW, both sides take damage faster! Fight end sooner! And adding interesting features is standard advice, but *active* features — if the PCs don't use them, let the NPCs use them. That way even "passive" features are active — and I prefer to deal side-neutral damage than provide cover or healthy unrelenting reinforcements. There's some other advice out there, read Angry's long diatribes.

Also, standard DMG advice — use objectives. So what you say? How will that speed combat? Make sure to change the situation enough to cause a re-evaluation of how best to achieve the objective, and BAM, a properly applied change might reduce battle time.

And, what? You are doing nothing now but just attacking over and over again? Just call it. Unless your players rebel. "They don't stand a chance." "You guys are heading for TPK ... "

I guess I have had trouble running combats in the past.