#ttrpg 101

[boblingoblin38]

I got the chance to work with Choopo on his Wizard101 Lore series and I'm extremely appreciative that I got the chance to help him on his quest.

It was a lot and I'm not done documenting yet, there's plenty of Arc 5 speculation going on and I'm interested to see where this EarthBorn plot point from the end of Selenopolis will take the Wizard next.

I'm also working on an overall for Mage The Ascension (from the line of World Of Darkness TTRPGs) that will allow you to play as a wizard from any angle or side of the Spiral, I'll make sure to post updates here.

(This currently infant pet-project will absolutely/most-definitely be free because I have no idea what kind of legalization surrounds both KingsIsle and WOD these days but it would still be fun to get the chance to play as a Wizard of the Spiral and even more so to shape a system to allow you to do exactly that)

Thank you for this opportunity, and I look forward to working on many future projects.

[introspectres]

I’ve tried to answer this ask many times, but my answer kept bloating into this massive unwieldy text wall. So, I challenged myself to fit as much as I could into an 8-page mini zine—something bite-sized I could just hand out to people—and this was the result!

Resources & Further Reading:

* Looking for Games: [reddit] [roll20] [dndbeyond] * DnD Beyond Character Creation * DnD Youtubers: [Mark Hulmes] [Ginny Di] [D&D Official] * Multiplayer ttrpgs that aren't dnd * Single-player ttrpgs * Shop: [$2 physical copy]

[unanimoustwins]

i love that we have two really cool n important character convos and then charlie slimecicle on the hunt for the most op item that of fucking course grizzly is not going to fuckin give him because hes sane man

[dragonkid11]

Siren's Song, A Mountain Remorse, a Lancer first-party supplement, is out! So let's about the talents within it!

[tlwebb]

[bonusexperience]

Hello Bonus Babies,

Today Monica invites her friend, Jacqueline Bryk, to join her and discuss something she considers a blank spot in her traditional game literacy: LARP. We discuss what makes a LARP, and general LARP design principles as Jax gives a detailed 101 crash course. We also kick around designing our own together, for a bit. Also discussed in the extended cut (https://www.patreon.com/posts/80223748):

- Jax at MAGFest and Monica's day job

- the implications of torture in games and the meddlesome Victorians

- headcanons for the Scarlet Empress and the Ebon Dragon

 - online RPG discourse

[legionofmyth]

Shadowrun 1E - Character Creation

🎲 Shadowrun 1E character creation is very simple but comes with meaningful choices. Let's look at how to create your Shadowrun character. #Shadowrun #TTRPG #CharacterCreation #HowTo #Cyberpunk

Shadowrun 1E [PDF]Shadowrun is a science fiction/fantasy role-playing game first published in 1989. Set in a dystopian future in the year 2050, the game takes place in a world where magic has returned, advanced technology coexists with ancient mystic traditions, and powerful megacorporations hold vast amounts of control and influence. Players take on the role of shadowrunners, a type of mercenary…

[toskarin]

A question of curiosity - assuming you play them due to your involvement with a bunch of them, what are your favourite kinds of characters (be it mechanically or narratively) to play in TTRPGS? And do you have any associated anecdotes to go with them?

courtesy readmore

mechanically kinda depends on what's on the menu, but if it's combat-focused, I personally really enjoy characters who "deny" things

not really the kind of character who I'd ever expect a GM to put in their element on purpose (I usually make a conscious effort to remind the GM of things I'm capable of so that I don't trample on any fun setpieces) but definitely the kind of character who modifies objectives just by being in play. I also like magic-users in concept, but that's more of a flavour thing

I think that's reflected a good bit in the kind of narrative play I enjoy, too. when I make a character, I prefer to do it with the rest of the party in mind, less to make the character "compatible" and more to make them sharply contrast in ways that encourage the other characters to have moments where they can reaffirm who they are (both in narrative and out of narrative)

there's a fine balance to strike here. on one end of things, you risk yes-manning so hard that the party quickly becomes a problem solving engine with a single striking surface. on the other end of the things, you risk being The Chaotic Neutral Guy

the space in the middle there represents the characters that people often want to regularly interact with, but rarely want to play. the sort of character who isn't actively disruptive, but raises a lot of red flags when they suddenly show enthusiastic agreement for what you're doing. the kind of character you almost need a diminished sense of discomfort to play without getting in your own feelings about

I adore playing characters who are catered to find plot hooks in other players' characters and tug them just enough to pull them to the surface

most parties have characters who disagree on things that aren't easily resolved. that's always fun, but (because people courteously tend to avoid conflict) it's very rare for those conflicts to come up without GM prompting, and "create productive conflict between two characters without leaving out the rest of the characters or starting a fight between players" is often an equally uncomfortable situation for a GM

lots of fun directions to take it!

have an arc that would benefit from a character taking charge but their player doesn't feel comfortable just Doing That? it helps to have someone else try to take charge who obviously should not be allowed, just to get everyone behind the alternative

have someone with a pure heart who doesn't really get to show that in a party of players who don't want to be mean? maybe someone who's a little more morally-compromised could give them a window for explaining what they actually believe

have a character who's part of some mysterious cult that nobody else is going to find the time to look into? the party could benefit from having a nosy character to justify cracking open that backstory

GM needs to fuck something up to remind the party of how dangerous things are? why not add to the mood by showing what your often-cold character looks like when something manages to actually upset them

[WARNING: DOING ANY OF THIS WALKS THE PRECARIOUSLY THIN LINE BETWEEN BEING COMPELLING AND BEING ANNOYING]

observant readers (well, those who have followed for a while) might have noticed I periodically go on rants about the much-maligned "evil character in a good party" and how both sides of the argument represent a communication and courtesy breakdown. that also very much ties into this sort of thing. I won't go over Tolerable Villainy 101 again, but you get the idea

distilled, I like playing the sort of thoroughly worldly bastards who often end up important in their own right, but mostly on accident, by virtue of being important to what makes other characters compelling

[supatroopa]

gotta figure out some way to reference some random conversation I have locked in my memory with the DM about lying

send help I got a bit too excited and now have too many ideas for a dnd character and idk if there will be enough time for the ideas

[cobaltsoulsearcher]

I have been using something other than an intro as my pinned as a while, so y'all probably already know me, but...

did you know I take requests/trades/comissions? I really want to do/make things for people, free, trade, etc <3

Anyways, I'm Soul! You can find all my links and stuff, including that, hereeeee: linktr.ee/soulingual

I'm a part-time linguistics student! I speak Spanish and Indonesian and I would like to write and read more. Recent obsessions include Critical Role, Stray Gods, and Hadestown. I love ttrpgs and am constantly delighted and dissappointed by fandom.

I'm also hypermobile, autistic, and have OCD (optimization and tourettic subtypes). If you have any questions about this, I'm actually really happy to answer.

Sideblogs:

@redundant-ominious-threats (kinda dormant)

@polldownhadestown (dormant)

@tlosc (I don't post there, but that's not the point)

and a few I mean to delete

If you're in a good or neutral mood, I love to recommend fiction/poetry/movies to folks! If you're in a bad place, I recommend HELLO, CRUEL WORLD: 101 ALTERNATIVES TO SUICIDE FOR TEENS, FREAKS, AND OTHER OUTLAWS by Kate Bornstein. We'll get through this.

Free Palestine. Reject Dystopia. Human rights belong to all. Don't forget to be awesome!!

[button-kin-games]

Little Wins, June 2024

Hustle, hustle, hustle. June is the month where the UK Tabletop industry doubles down on the “industry”, puts on its best suit, prints up new business cards, and shakes a bunch of hands. It’s UK Games Expo month, you see. Seeing what everyone else has been working on this year has a way of lighting a fire under all our bottoms. We all come away a little more ambitious than we go in. Even small timers like myself are not immune.

This year I was pretty busy at the con. I worked the TIN stall Saturday, then did my first panel in the evening. Then on Sunday I helped out on Three Sails Studios’ stall demoing their upcoming ecology and exploration TTRPG, Mappa Mundi. All of this was great fun and much less stressful than constantly promoting my own games. Speaking of which…

The marketing for Jude’s World won’t do itself, so this is where I plug. In case you’re new here (hi) I’ve been developing a solo, tarot-based TTRPG about a plucky preteen who is striving to reunite their separated parents. It’s a coming of age story about the complexities of love in all its forms, and works as both an homage to and critique of Parent Trap-style narratives. If that all sounds intriguing please step this way and follow my Kickstarter prelaunch page to be among the first to know when the campaign goes live later this summer.

I know, I know. Clicking links is a bore. Pressing buttons is played out. And I surely will remind you when the campaign is live anyway. But marketing 101: big numbers are good. Every follow goes towards generating a buzz of enthusiasm around the game and to a small creator like me this is a big deal (and greatly appreciated!)

[ipsl0re]

One thing I really love about the Secret Histories ttrpg system is how it’s built around the players at the table not knowing anything about Cultist Simulator.

Because, yeah, odds are that you won’t have a bunch of friends who want to learn about the political ramifications of the intercalate. But you might well have a bunch of friends who are willing to play something occult and 1920’s-y.

Still, the real best part is that I can plop a fallen Skaptodon in front of my players, lay out 101 clues, and only when one of them is an explicit extract from De Horis will they be able to put stuff together, while I lean back, cackling about how the guy briefly mentioning eating chicken explains everything.

[zarvasace]

I’m sorry to hear you’re having a rough time! I hope everything goes well.

I’ve been curious about this, and I’ve been enjoying your Linked Nexus and Experimentation AUs, so I wanted to ask: What gave you the inspiration for each of them, and what can we as readers expect for future chapters???

Things are okay now, I was prepared for another two-week hospital stay (not me, a family member) but it isn't as bad as that. Phew! But thank you very much. :)

Linked Nexus happened mostly because I love sci-fi designs. I actually think I became obsessed with them while watching Star Trek TNG, those uniforms are so slick and I loved the idea of color-coding them! My love of sci-fi stuff has expanded since then, though I've always loved the trope of "found family flies a spaceship," and also stuff about alien biology and galactic worldbuilding. the Starfinder ttrpg definitely contributed to that as well.

The experiments AU is mostly based on two old original stories of mine. One was about magical creatures like a mermaid and a vampire in a lab-like setting like this, and one was about a war between animals and goblins and how they had hidden information about their plans in people's DNA. I kinda mashed the two concepts and wanted some angsty whump. This AU is really self-indulgent and I'm really surprised (but not upset!) that people have taken to it as much as they have!! XD

Some ideas I have written down for linked nexus include:

- ln: Shadow takes over four briefly

- ln: four talks to flora and gets repaired

- ln: depths drive fails

- ln 16: on a need to know basis (Hyrule)

- ln 17: field care 101 (wars?)

- ln 18: the doctor is in (alt: screaming?)

- ln 19: just a scratch (Legend)

And for experiments AU:

Escape scene? 

Outsider perspective 

Table experiments 

Four and Time shorties 

Sky and Legend oof

Mixed media format!!

Sky bad time: stumbling

[temporalhiccup]

So, this is a thing that's happening?

(I made the cover, I guess it's happening!) I AM THE DUNGEON will be my #Dungeon23 project. Ostensibly it's a daily exercise to create a megadungeon (or something similar) throughout 2023, an idea Sean unleashed unto the indie ttrpg space.

It's a cool idea I was unsure about participating in myself BUT I half-joked about making a lyric game dungeon instead AND unfortunately that piqued @ostrichmonkey-games' interest and his own cool dungeon23 stuff hyping me up means...WELL, I guess I'm doing it.

A lyric game can be many things (and arguably I still don't feel like we've reached a collective agreement on its nature), but this is what I hope to explore in my lyric game megadungeon in 2023:

A lyric game is played when you read it - This is one of my favorite things: by reading the megadungeon you'll already be playing it. @jdragsky has created phenomenal lyric games, such as Games For Lost People and 101 Games for Survival with Maria Mison. I have been told that The Mermaid Spell is an example of a lyric game that does such, and Angelica Estorica was a mindful attempt at play-reading.

A lyric game creates a window to the writer's emotional landscape - Sure, every game I create does this, but the lyric games I write tend to be especially open and vulnerable. Doing so through the lens of a daily megadungeon will certainly be interesting.

A dungeon exists for a GM in a way it will never exist for a player - I think about all the games we collect, the monster manuals and supplements, and only being able to share the smallest portion of these thrilling treasures with players. A dungeon is ostensibly written for the players to experience, but in most circumstances it will never leave a DM's space of potential and imagination.

I AM THE DUNGEON is my exploration of merging the GM, player, writer, and reader into...something? I have the barest of an idea what this means, but I suspect it's a year long exploration at the thing. I may not pull it off at all, but the attempt should prove illuminating.

I AM THE DUNGEON is an exercise of tarot as inspiration, pattern, and constriction - I use the tarot on a daily basis, it honestly just felt like a natural fit here. But I'll be sharing what each card pull is, and I'll be keeping each daily entry to a few sentences.

I'm still prepping for I AM THE DUNGEON, but I'll share more here as I ramp up for it and when I actually start doing the thing! Are you doing #Dungeon23? 👀

[dragonkid11]

Dustgrave, a Lancer first supplement is out, so let's talk about the talents within it!

[tlwebb]