#attacking a player personally is not a way to judge a character

[meadowsofmay]

i reeeally shouldn't have read the comments on those early eps of vox machina campaign because the amount of people not understanding the fucking reality of stressful situations, piling of factors — such as morals, beliefs, previous experiences that make you either resistant or prone to more explosive reactions, — and actual need of diverse characters and hence, their diverse way of coping with/after traumatizing events... it's astonishing. everyone has their own breaking point, everyone has their own moral line that they would not overstep. and just because one character acts stupid or impulsive or explosive — just fucking irrational, doesn't mean its bad. it means that it's humane because humans tend to act irrational. why? because all of us have their own level of sanity preserved for stressful situations and me and my friends would act in completly different ways pre-during-post emergency happening.

and yes, humans do act fucking cringe. deal with that as you wish but don't be disgusting pile of shit towards a person doing a role playing for a tabletop game.

[monster-effer]

Baldur’s Gate 3 Player x LaDS headcanons 🎮

Summary: My headcanons on how the LaDS men act in a BG3 campaign with the you, the reader. Content: Xavier x reader, Zayne x reader, Sylus x reader, Rafayel x reader, Caleb x reader (separate), very silly, Caleb and Rafayel being chaotic, gn!reader, no reader pronouns mentioned, multiple and major Baldur’s Gate 3 spoilers throughout (1.1k wc) A/N: A brainworm or mind flayer parasite entered my head at 4 pm on Saturday and has not left since. This is for my fellow DnD, BG3 and LaDS lovers!

Xavier – you never made it out of Act 3 because he couldn’t help but fall asleep to the OST and white noise once you reached Baldur’s Gate

Set-up: console, couch co-op Difficulty: Balanced, he wanted a little challenge but was ultimately here to chill with you Race: Half-elf Class: Paladin or Cleric of Light Time in Character Creator: 1 hour, he liked reading through all the origin character descriptions but decided to build a custom character instead. Then read over all the different race and subrace options.

He really enjoyed looking around the Nautiloid ship in the opening act.

He tried to read every book and note he came across in the game for the lore.

Xavier served as your guard dog throughout the campaign, especially if you played as a magic user.

He got jealous at the flirty lines the companions threw your way.

“Xav, these are not real people they are pixels.”

“…so, do you like me or Halsin more? You haven't answered me yet.”

And he almost had a heart attack when Harleep offered themself to you in the House of Hope.

He really enjoyed Wyll’s company and made sure to reserve a space for him in your party.

Regularly got lost despite the in game mini map.

When Jeremiah asked to join your campaign, Xavier told him “No.”

Zayne – you made it to the end of Act 3, but it took months and months due to your busy and conflicting work schedules

Set-up: console, couch co-op Difficulty: Balanced Race: Human Class: Wizard who favored frost damage Time in Character Creator: 30 minutes, he made the most basic custom character and spent the majority of his time choosing a class

Zayne was mainly interested in completing the main quests in the beginning. But he changed his mind after completing the quest to save Mayrina from Auntie Ethel.

He was in a passionate bromance with Gale and developed a personal vendetta against Mystra because of it.

He desperately wanted to befriend Gale’s cat, Tara.

“Tara is lovely, please tell me I can have her as a companion.”

“I’m afraid you cannot, unless you’re playing as Gale.”

His anguish was loud in the silence after.

He also became a big Shar hater after progressing through Shadowheart’s personal quests.

He was NOT a fan of Astarion. But, after learning about his past then destroying Cazador together he begrudgingly tolerated him in the party.

Zayne was flabbergasted – to say the least –  when he met Malus Thorm in the House of Healing. After you walked in on this “doctor” mutilating an innocent patient in his care, the frost wizard showed no mercy.

He silently judged Volo for his “scientific research,” especially after you agreed to his offered eye surgery.

Zayne usually does not care much about fashion over utility when it comes to armor, but you noticed he did not take off the Wavemother robe once you obtained it as a quest reward.

Sylus – you made it to the end of Act 3

Set-up: PC, usually online multiplayer but couch co-op when you visit his base Difficulty: Tactician (specifically for enhanced enemy tactics and increased long rest supply threshold because Sylus is a loot hoarder) Race: Dragonborn OR the hottest Seldarine Drow you’ve ever seen Class: Barbarian fighter multiclass who can attack 4 times a turn Time in Character Creator: 45 minutes

Your playthrough started out with just you and Sylus. But you created a separate save for when Luke and Kieran wanted to play as a full customized character crew.

Sylus REFUSED to cheese fights with you, instead he preferred to strategize heavily like y’all were going to war.

“We are clever enough to win without the help of bugs sweetie.”

Sylus initially liked Raphael because they both enjoyed making a good deal.

But he changed his mind when he witnessed the chess game scene in Last Light Inn.

You two somehow breezed through saving all the prisoners, Duke Ravengard and Omeluum from the Iron Throne.

He had a soft spot for Karlach but who didn’t?

If Sylus chose to play as the Dark Urge, he immersed himself in a redemption arc because he was all too familiar with resisting strong urges.

He wanted to adopt Mol and her band of misfits so bad.

Rafayel – you’re currently in Act 3

Set-up: PC, online multiplayer Difficulty: Explorer – you’re both here to have a good time, not struggle 🤷🏾‍♀️ Race: The prettiest elf/half elf OR tiefling you have ever seen Class: Rogue assassin that dual wields daggers OR Bard that uses Vicious Mockery often Time in Character Creator: 1 hour, he chose race based on aesthetics but got trapped by the customization options

His character has a crazy amount of charisma points and could persuade their way through any encounter.

He gleefully chooses the sassy/deep cutting dialogue options.

Consequently, you two end up in plenty of unnecessary fights but it is chaotic and fun.

Rafayel was downright frightening on the battlefield once he tried out multiclassing. IMO he would love the Gloomstalker Ranger + Assassin Rogue build.

He was fond of the Underdark section in Act 1. So much so that he produced a few paintings depicting the sussur tree and members of the Myconid colony.

He got the both of you obliterated by Vlaakith when he questioned the legitimacy of their alleged godhood in the githyanki creche.

As you both sat in silence staring at the “game over” screen he chuckled then whispered, “No regrets cutie.”

He was enamored by Orin’s outfit. So, you immediately stopped playing to find an armor mod to download.

Caleb – you’ve completed 3 campaigns together

Set-up: PC, switch between couch co-op and online multiplayer Difficulty: Honor Mode (rip) Race: Half-orc or Dragonborn because he thinks they look sick™ Class: modded gunslinger class that dual wields firearms🔫 Time in Character Creator: 20 minutes, you’re both veterans at this

He is the most chaotic force in the game outside of the netherbrain and Orin’s shenanigans.

Caleb ALWAYS saves Scratch and the owl bear cub just to watch their camp interactions. He also summons Scratch to come along with y’all on your quests throughout Faerûn.

Without fail he roasts Gortash every time he is introduced.

“Are we sure that he is the ‘handsome’ younger man everyone has been describing because…”

Caleb unironically loves Lae’zel and relishes exposing her to the truth about Vlaakith.

He volunteered to turn into an illithid this playthrough.

Caleb has memorized various strategies to get through the Gauntlet of Shar while you’re still fighting for your life during the Faith Step Trial.

Gideon along with the legion of Caleb’s friends have begged for an invite, but he always finds a way to keep it as an activity for just you two ♥︎

A/N: Also feel free to leave your takes on which race/class/mods each LI would choose in BG3 or any RPG!!! I want to nerd out in my comments/DMs ♡

[utilitycaster]

The Long Mechanics Post

First things first: as most D&D players will know, there is not a perfectly objective metric of Best Build. Even “most optimized” doesn’t mean anything until you define what the character is optimized for; Caduceus and Percy are both “optimized” builds with very different skillsets. Unsurprisingly, given my URL, I have a penchant for versatility and spellcasting, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate an effective barbarian or fighter. For a bit more on what I tend to judge build by, see here; I’ll also elaborate further down. Note that relevance to the character is important to me. This is not simply a metric of combat ability (which, again, could mean anything from tanking to healing to damage output); it is also a measure of out-of-combat skills that enhance the RP and the ability of characters to progress the story on their own power (eg: recon/infiltration abilities; mobility both in and out of combat and both physical through wildshape/polymorph and teleportation, research capability, etc.)

Second: when you start talking about parties and not individuals, this becomes even more complex. To give an example, Percival de Rolo is an incredibly strong build of a massive damage output ranged fighter; he also has respectable HP, very high dex making him useful in stealth missions; is capable of melee combat if necessary; and is highly intelligent and educated. Percy works well in Vox Machina. However, imagine if he were in a party of a wizard, a rogue, and a (ranged) ranger. This would in fact be a bad party build, no matter how good the individual builds were. Only the ranger has healing capacity and would likely be far from the others. The rogue would likely have to burn their bonus actions to hide most of the time as no one would be in melee, depriving them of sneak attack (though the wizard could perhaps try to grant advantage in other ways). Percy’s intelligence would not be a detriment but it would overlap with the wizard’s skillset in a comparatively small party, and if no one had high charisma the party might struggle in social encounters. A run-of-the-mill paladin who made sure to take Cure Wounds would do far more for this party than Percy despite not having the same sheer DPS, just on the basis of filling in needed gaps.

This is quite long, so there's a readmore!

Things that make character builds good:

Versatility. This is, again, my personal favorite, but it’s also a longstanding fandom favorite. Keyleth is not a high damage character much of the time, but the sheer versatility of Circle of the Moon Druid as a base subclass makes her incredibly powerful with little customization needed. Druid subclasses provide wildshape, which can be used for spying in the form of a small animal, and at higher levels permits flight. While there are few direct damage spells, Keyleth served as secondary tank and a formidable melee damager also through wildshape. Druids can heal and cast Greater Restoration; they can deal area of effect (AOE) damage; between Wind Walk, Transport Via Plants, Polymorph, and Wildshape she was also Vox Machina’s primary source of transportation. Speak with Plants, Commune with Nature, and Scry served as key means of gathering information. While Scanlan largely covered buffs and debuffs (making his party members stronger/weakening the enemy), Keyleth had a few major ones, notably Feeblemind. There is very little Keyleth could not, in some way, manage to do, and most of that which she couldn’t do was handled by other party members (Percy, Vex, Vax, and Grog all being strong dealers of individual weapon damage). Fjord is a similarly all-around versatile character with tanking, ranged (magical) and melee damage abilities, and even a decent amount of healing once he multiclassed; unlike Keyleth, he is a formidable physical attacker, able to navigate the party’s social encounters with ease, and has access to Counterspell, but he lacks her transportation abilities (which aren’t necessary, as Caleb, Jester, and Caduceus, all quite versatile in their own rights, have these abilities). 

Optimized specialization: If you cannot do everything, do one thing incredibly well and reliably so. This is where your min-maxers go; often the realm of fighters and barbarians especially. I think two of the greatest examples are Percy and Grog: Percy has, as mentioned, a number of skills including a very high intelligence, but at his core he is able to do a positively ridiculous amount of damage, at range, very quickly. Similarly, Grog has nearly 300 hit points and high mobility, making him the ultimate meat shield; the amount of damage he can also deal while engaging with a foe is similarly nothing to sneeze at.

Regardless of build, another consideration, particularly in combat, is action economy and resource allocation. If you’re an arcane trickster rogue or a bard, for example, you have core class features that use a bonus action (cunning action, inspiration). That doesn’t mean you can’t have bonus action spells, but it does mean you may find yourself wanting to both cast Healing Word and grant Inspiration, but be unable to do so. A paladin who gets two attacks might not want to cast a spell to deal damage, since saving that for smites and getting in two chances to hit is probably better than one. How the character is played matters just as much if not more than their build; a suboptimal build played thoughtfully is better, mechanically, than the greatest wizard build of all time who exclusively casts magic missile.

Note that many characters aren’t exceptionally versatile nor super specialized. Indeed, a lot of characters aren’t quite as good at a bit of everything as Keyleth or Fjord, nor as singularly honed as Percy or Grog, but are still quite respectable. And for PCs, that’s a good thing, because you’re not working alone, which brings us to…

Things that make party comp good:

This is a list of “things I think nearly every D&D party in a longform campaign should be able to do.” I would also add that the more characters you have, the more non-negotiable this becomes. If the three-person parties of (for example) The Adventure Zone, NADDPod, or Worlds Beyond Number are missing some abilities that’s understandable, but if Critical Role’s 7 or 8 person party lacks some, that’s a poor allocation of abilities. Also, as mentioned, this is for longform campaigns where the characters are likely to run into a wide variety of situations; a shorter-form more specific game doesn’t.

Combat focused

At least one primary healer (or two half-healers); preferably some backup.

At least one primary tank; preferably some backup; this pretty much always doubles as a melee damager

Characters with ranged damage (magic or weapon)

Magic damage generally, ie, damage with types other than slashing, bludgeoning, and piercing

Buffers (giving bonuses/advantage/benefits to their own party)/debuffers (granting disadvantage or detriments to the enemy)

Characters with area of effect (AOE) damage

If you have a primary rogue in the party you should have at least one melee damage to grant them sneak attack; more than one is better since then the rogue has options.

The ability for the entire party to get the fuck out quickly. This can be via druids, polymorph, teleport, everyone being very fast, but part of combat is, at times, running.

Story focused

Ability to Find Things Out Through Magic: easy access to spells like Identify, Detect Magic, Scry, Commune/Commune with Nature, and Speak with Animals/Speak with Plants (those slashes are “or’s”, not “ands” in this case, ie, just commune with nature is fine). Obviously only relevant at levels where the party can take these spells.

Ability to Find Things Out Otherwise (possibly through magic): you should have a decent language spread, if relevant, or someone who can cast Comprehend Languages; people with good insight, perception, Int-based skills (all of them). Survival and Medicine can be useful as well.

Ability to Sneak Around Physically: stealthy people, people with invisibility, people who can become tiny creatures, or people with unobtrusive familiars.

Ability to Sneak Around Socially: disguises or Disguise Self/Alter Self + decent charisma; here again is a place where language proficiency or Tongues is useful

Ability to Get Places - mid level and up only as these start at level 9, but: teleportation circle/teleport/transport via plants/word of recall/plane shift.

Mechanical Cohesion

Ability to build upon each other’s combat moves, ie, Keyleth casting Faerie Fire means that even if no one is in melee, Vax (and later Vex) now have advantage and get sneak attack; Scanlan throwing or carrying people with Bigby’s Hand; Jester using Dimension Door to bring people to the right place in combat.

Some overlap is fine (indeed, you ideally want more than one person with some healing capacity, and most parties have a range of weapon damage) but you do as a rule want to avoid having two characters who are very similar in skillset; it’s better to have character who is good at A and B; character who is good at B and C; and character who is good at C and D, rather than two characters good at A and B and one good at C and D.

Customization to the story

If you’re in a Curse of Strahd game, you might want to be extra strong on things like healing/detection of evil. You might want to focus on a lot of radiant damage, survival skills, and stealth to be able to get through Barovia and kill vampires and ghouls; but it might not be as important to speak a wide variety of languages or be able to hit history checks, since your characters wouldn’t be familiar with Barovian history anyway. An Oops All Rogues party is good for a heist and an Oops All Paladins party probably wouldn’t be, but the reverse is true for dealing with a cursed temple full of ancient undead. Mechanics are highly situational.

I’d categorize characters as follows. This is not a perfect match, but I think this might help understand party comp better.

Versatile: Marisha described Circle of the Moon as a swiss army knife of a subclass and she’s right. As mentioned, Keyleth and Fjord can do a little of almost everything in battle, and quite a lot out of it as well. This is an exceptional case and not the rule; druids and martially focused support/utility classes or very good multiclassing and good stats are kind of the only way to get this kind of character.

Support caster: Casters who focus heavily on healing, buffs, debuffs, and crowd control, and less so on damage. Caduceus and Scanlan are both skewed in this way.

Utility caster: Caleb, Jester, Pike, Dorian, FCG, and Fearne all have access to a decent number of support spells, but also focus extensively on damage in combat. Not quite as versatile as Fjord or Keyleth, but not a pure blaster either. Tary is also arguably in here.

Damage caster: The famous glass cannon; a spellcaster who has some out-of-combat-skills but primarily focuses on damage. Tiberius, Imogen, and Laudna are all here - as you can infer, this is where most sorcerers fit, and I’ll talk a bit more about the classes below.

Tank/melee damage: Good at taking a hit and staying up, or being a target but being very hard to hit, drawing fire from weaker characters. I’ve combined this with melee damage because, to be honest, you have to work hard at building a character who is a tank and doesn’t deal considerable melee damage.  Barbarians are tanks by design; many paladins and melee fighters serve as tanks as well. Grog, Yasha, Beau (dodge tank) Ashton, Chetney, Braius, and Orym all serve in a tank role, but also see below.

Support martial: Not the best name for it, but: martial classes that are good at dealing status effects and controlling the space of combat - often highly mobile and often able to either shield others or cause status effects to their party’s advantage. Monks and many fighter classes cover this; blood hunters are also this. Stunning strike, battle maneuvers, and blood curses. Beau, Chetney, and Orym do double duty here. Molly is here; he probably would have grown into more of a tank over time had he lived longer, and I’d put Kingsley here as well. Veth also is here thanks to her arcane trickster subclass; Vax is here after he took paladin levels. Braius can be put here thanks to his bard levels; Yasha had a few tricks like her battle cry. I think Ashton’s class was intended to be this; however, its unpredictability makes it hard to put here as it sometimes was and sometimes was to the party’s disadvantage.

Ranged damage: Rangers, ranged weapon fighters. These are also often your stealth crew in addition to rogues; rogues are sort of in this space, but they tend to lack the same degree of range as a longbow (or gun). Vex and Percy are the core ranged damage folks. As you can see, ranged damage can be covered by utility/blaster casters. Veth and Vax both manage slightly less far-ranged damage.

Out of combat:

Skill monkey and/or linguist: the classic classes for this are rogue and bard - Expertise abound. Rangers are often also decent, especially if they take rogue levels (or, from what I understand, in 2024 rules) - even in 2014 rules, they usually have access to a ton of languages and some specialized knowledge. Vax, Vex, Scanlan, Veth, and Dorian. Beau and Caleb manage to hit a lot of this as well thanks to expertise and skill proficiency feats; it’s very easy to manage this through a smart race/subclass combo and feats alone.

Stealth/Infiltrator: Rogues! Vax and Vex, though much of Vox Machina could manage (honestly they were so good at stealth and at a high enough level that Keyleth turning into tiny creatures wasn’t super important). Veth, Beau, and Caleb (via Frumpkin) did this for the Nein. Fearne and Chetney covered this for Bells Hells, who often used invisibility. As for the disguise form - Vox Machina had the cap of disguise plus Scanlan had Seeming to cover everyone, and Keyleth had Alter Self (and Vax’s subclass explicitly makes him able to disguise himself). The Mighty Nein’s casters all had disguise self from a very early point; Beau and Yasha (and earlier on, Molly) were less able to do this. Bells Hells struggled here - they could stealth, and Imogen and Chetney could go invisible and Fearne could become a creature, but there’s a reason why getting through enemy lines never really got easier for them when it would have likely been a snap for the other parties.

Arcanist/Diviner: people who are good at getting information via magic, as discussed. Keyleth is the only real option for Vox Machina, hence the frequent check-ins with Allura, Gilmore, and Zahra. Caleb is obviously heavily focused on the arcane side of this, but Jester ends up being the point person for Scry. Both she and Caduceus use Commune regularly to gather information, and Caduceus notably casts Legend Lore. FCG does use Commune, but not frequently, and has one use of Identify per day; later, Fearne has Identify. Interestingly, Chetney ends up doing quite a lot of work via Grim Psychometry.

Transporter: Keyleth is Vox Machina’s; Caleb is the Mighty Nein’s though Jester and Caduceus have Word of Recall (used to great effect during the Vergesson Heist and mentioned during the Uk’otoa two-shot). Bells Hells have the Staff of Dark Odyssey.

The summary post put this all together, but to do it again - as you can see, Bells Hells was sorely missing key out of combat skills; combined with the lack of time to develop relationships with new NPCs, it mean that former PCs or NPCs ended up ferrying them around half the time. The Grim Verity, I would argue, could have been a compelling way to do this, but Ryn’s petrification meant it was always Keyleth, Allura, and Essek doing the same work they’d already done for past parties, mostly because Bells Hells were Assigned Main Character (and unlike how Caleb took on transport once he hit the right level, Bells Hells did not take the spells to do this). They also had a very weirdly balanced group in combat - three tanks, with FCG doing tanking and damage rather than playing pure support, and complicated by the fact that Ashton’s abilities were unpredictable by design; and three casters mostly focusing entirely on damage or their own protection. Otohan was a formidable opponent, and I can’t fault the party too much in the first battle, but I truly believe that either other party could have destroyed her in the battle in 91 at a comparable level with little difficulty (and, notably, I think either other party would have been able to do their earlier missions more efficiently, leaving them less drained at that point). Vox Machina’s gaps in ability were usually either within a single battle because Keyleth couldn’t do everything all the time; or were, as discussed, specific arcane skills that were organically outsourced to their allies. The Mighty Nein meanwhile had a spread across pretty much every skill imaginable and were exceptionally focused on high utility and support.

I think another really worthwhile consideration is that Bells Hells’ builds and especially subclasses almost all were either more focused on the self than others; actively working against versatility/flexibility, or in some way a liability, though again, as with all criticism of Bells Hells, a big part of this is that the campaign was really never customized to them as a party the way Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein’s campaigns were.

Most of Bells Hells' subclasses or builds in some way either actively worked against more support/team-focused efforts in combat, which led to them being able to do a very large amount of damage, but not having much ability to work together and build on each other in combat. Orym is of course the exception here - Battlemaster is a class that allows a fighter to specifically assist or protect others or debuff the enemy, and the maneuvers he took, particularly bait and switch, made him honestly one of the stronger support characters in the party, which is a wild statement to say in a party with a druid, a cleric (much of the time), a bard, and two sorcerers.

Going around the table, Chetney had the risk of attacking other people at low health. This actually was kind of a non-issue because it was rarely enforced later in the game, so really, he mostly played as a straight tank, and actually, through a combination of magic items (Shatter as cast through Turmoil) and the blood curses, he managed a decent amount of support.

Laudna's build was heavily dedicated towards keeping herself up or helping herself (form of dread, hound of ill omen, strength of the grave, blur, mirror image, gift of the everliving ones). Spell Sniper would have made extremely long distance combat a good option; but she also took the (helpful to others!) Silvery Barbs and Counterspell which only work when in much closer range; plus as a two-caster multiclass for the start she was already cantrips Georg, so taking more via a feat was a weird choice with no underlying story reason to justify it. She also had a massive number of reaction spells, which is generally unwise from an action economy perspective. Most of her other spells were damage focused, and she rarely used the AOE spells she had despite a tank-heavy party. And, as discussed, she and Imogen cover almost the exact same area in a party with massive ability gaps. The versatility warlock invocations would have offered could have been of immeasurable benefit; I also may make a post that simply covers how uniquely poorly her build and backstory fit together.

I was an early critic of FCG's subclass, and frankly, still am: transfer suffering is a tanking/damage ability in a party that was desperately in need of pure support. The rest of it is honestly fine, but as a first level core feature, it set a standard that was hard to overcome. I also would have gone with Potent Spellcasting or a different build of stats with Divine Strike; FCG was really not much of a weapon damager. Braius was honestly fine; I don’t have much to say here.

Wildfire Druid is an incredibly good class and Fearne did quite a lot of support especially outside of combat (notably, she is a big part of why Ashton didn't die permanently when they took the shard), but in combat, she did focus heavily on targeted damage when again, this party desperately needed crowd control/AOE, which her subclass even offered. And, as mentioned, rogue really was a good individual character touch [and I’ve been pretty vocal about thinking that Fearne especially got a raw narrative deal] but the party as a result lacked some serious utility.

Imogen’s build was for the most part standard sorcerer, and it’s again a party comp problem, but there are choices that could have been made. I think Careful Spell would have been a far better metamagic option that would have opened up the possibility of AOE without damaging her party; I also don’t know if Laura swapped out spells, but, for example, Synaptic Static is great and on-brand…but highly limited in when it can be used. Because sorcerers are extremely limited in the number of spells they can take and do not have prepped spells, every spell counts, and teleportation circle (or, again, Careful Spell that made Synaptic Static more useable around her party) would have done quite a lot of work. I also think that her dedication to psychic and lightning was good as a character choice, but as the party were often fighting creatures like her, a shift towards other damage types would have been wise.

As discussed, Orym was great.

Ashton’s build has similar issues as others above: it was unreliable. When it worked out well, it really worked; when it didn’t, it didn’t. As a tank they were often running around rather than controlling the center of the combat as a tank frequently should, in part because of these abilities, and I think as with many of my criticisms, it’s “this character would have been fine in a party that had more support focus and versatility, but in a party that was almost all tanking and damage with a lot of confounding factors that made them unreliable, everyone kept leaning further into tanking and damage and unreliability, rather than trying to address these gaps.”

Dorian is also, honestly, a build I have really liked elsewhere, both in EXU and in other shows (Fabian Seacaster from D20, and Jens Lyndelle from NADDPod) but the thing about Swords Bard is again, you’re using inspiration not to inspire others but to empower your swords. This works for Fabian, who is in a party with Adaine, Kristen, and Fig, all of whom have extensive support abilities (plus he is part battlemaster); it works for Jens because the premise of Trinyvale is that all three characters are kind of terrible people (and because he still does a great deal of healing). For Dorian, it works in EXU, but again, Bells Hells really could have used pure support as from a lore bard or similar.

It is, as with many things in Campaign 3, less a problem of any single character’s fault, and more a lack of session zero and cohesion among things that would have been fine in a context more suited for them, but this was, still, a constant problem.

[roxxiies]

hiii :3c i see that requests are open! so if you don’t mind, may i request hcs for ling, aamon, hayabusa (not sure if you have a character limit) with a tank reader that always has their backs / ready to sacrifice for them :D thank you in advance ♡!

it’s always support healers when it comes to fics and, as a carmilla main, the tanks need some love too ✊

— ☁️ anonnie

head canons of assassins with a tank!reader (separate). sfw, gn!reader

✩　featuring: ling, aamon, hayabusa

Ling is fond of supports and it all makes sense that he is skeptical around tanks.

Thinking that he doesn't need them with how he dives in, secure kills, and escapes unharmed. Oh but when it comes to you? He's uncharacteristically impressed. No matter how he denies it.

He just likes how fast you manoeuvre your skills and how quick your responses are with his combos.

Then there, he would often follow you and respond quickly to your set-ups... and somehow he couldn't help but have a preference for players now.

Ling was surprised with himself, at first, that a tank user such as yourself could make the matches effortless and finally enjoyable for him. 

He'll find himself more competitive in matches when you’re on his team and he will no longer just play to win.

^ Now, he plays to impress you, to show that he’s not just some flashy assassin but an assassin that you'll be amazed at.

Something he does is when you pull off a big combo with your set-up and he responds right away, he'd glance your way, just to see if you noticed.

He tells himself that he needs to thank you at least but all you'll get is a satisfied huff and a pat on the back.

Ling's full of himself, you see, but he hopes you'll eventually understand just how much he appreciates having you as his partner on the battlefield.

Aamon, ever the battlefield tactician, will subtly direct your movements during a fight.

He doesn't judge you or belittle you; he only leads you, making sure that you two will always have the upper hand in battles.

During intense battles, he'd stick close to you, using his agility to dodge attacks from enemies who would try to overwhelm you.

Your role as a tank is immediately evident. Aamon, though reserved, gives you genuine praise for your performance.

He'd notice your willingness to take on significant damage and protect your teammates; he can't help but notice that you're selfless… and yet someone he can count on.

But when the battle turns unfavourable, Aamon guides you through a tactical retreat easily. 

Despite your imposing presence on the battlefield, your personality might be warm and approachable. It's a contrast to the duke's more reserved nature, but either way, this makes you a reliable and trustworthy ally who he deemed easy to get along with.

Your confidence in your skills, along with Aamon’s strategic demeanor, makes enemies wonder if they'd use their main heroes or what HAHAHA

In rare moments, Aamon might share a light-hearted joke about the battle. You'd be surprised, but your heart swells knowing you're this close to the duke.

Hayabusa is a competitive man, and he will initially see you as a rival, someone who could potentially overshadow his own power.

But as you continue to fight side by side, he begins to see something different in you... a partner who can keep up with his relentless pace.

And when you start taking a step ahead of him, he’s captivated, thinking that your skill might just be the perfect complement to his own.

Though he’d never say it out loud, he’s secretly happy with how effortlessly you two can dominate the battlefield together.

Following the battle, Hayabusa would invite you to a traditional tea ceremony. It’s rare, one he reserves for only his closest allies, and something he now looks forward to.

Hayabusa swears that it’s your fault he’s so impressed—your skills have intrigued him to the point where he now offers convinces you to train together. He'd be pleased and happy when you taught him your techniques as well.

Back on the battlefield, he now has the habit of staying just out of sight, observing you among the battlefield from the shadows. You'd use it to your advantage and play aggressively because you know that Hayabusa is always nearby, ready to strike if things went south.

Your teammates are amazed—and perhaps a little intimidated—by your combined combos.

Together, you and Hayabusa have become unstoppable. A duo who can knock em out without those men realising what's even happening 👆

[imagobin]

🐲Grandpa Zeno HCs🐲

Because Zeno is unironically one of my favorite HxH characters, idk why, this grandpa's vibes are immaculate. So I tried imagining how it'd be like to be his grandkid! Don't judge me fhgjkd I know I got requests to work on but I need to write some sillies for me as well çwç

A new Zoldyck is born:

Zeno prides himself on being a cold blooded assassin, laser focused on his job, but old age has definitely mellowed him out a little when it comes to his daily life.

He's definitely a lot less strict with his grandkids than he was with his own son, just like any old man. Though he has a tendency to play favorites even among his beloved family.

The day you were born, he took one look at you and knew from that moment that you were definitely going to be one of his favorites. Just that peculiar glint in your eyes was enough to activate his caring grandpa side.

Even Silva and Kikyo were surprised at how his personality seemed to flip every time he got to hold you as a baby... it was an odd, but sort of sweet sight to see Zeno behave like an actual grandpa, bouncing you on his knees or telling you stories from his younger days.

Of course, that's not all he ever did. He's a Zoldyck, and his idea of 'fun with his grandchild' went on to include flying on a dragon's back, teaching you what each torture tool does, and showing you where human weak points are. Even when you were a toddler, he was already thinking of useful things you had to know in order to grow up and be a fine Zoldyck.

Once you were old enough to start going on missions, he'd also reward you for your success, way more than your parents ever did. He'd call you to him, and would sneakily place a piece of candy and a couple bills in your hand and gently close your fist, telling you to buy whatever you wanted with that.

In your free time:

Nowadays, grandpa Zeno is a bit more focused on Killua, but you're still his second favorite at least. Naturally, because of your strength, but also because you actually listen to him and not just dismiss him like the other family members do.

You're often busy going on missions, on your own or with your siblings, but whenever you're actually home, he often asks you to get tea with him.

He has a tendency to start rambling about the "good ol' days", talking about his most iconic missions and showing you pictures of past family members.

He may still be a sharp assassin, but his memory isn't as sharp as it used to be, so sometimes he might tell you an anecdote he's already told you. If you bring it up he'll get a little embarrassed and apologize. "Ah... did I tell you already? My bad, my bad"

He tries not to let it get to him, and he definitely wouldn't tell you, but he genuinely hopes that doesn't annoy you, because it's rare to have someone who seems to genuinely enjoy listening to him.

He doesn't go out of the house too much, but when he does, sometimes he asks you to accompany him, not for any reason in particular, he just wants some company while he's out and about, and he finds the butlers quite boring.

Collaborative effort:

Grandpa Zeno doesn't take on many missions unless they're of the utmost difficulty, and he usually teams up with his son, Silva, since they're the two most experienced Zoldycks.

But he's not beyond making an exception. He recognizes your abilities as phenomenal, and compared to some of your other siblings, you're also a great team player, quick to react and synchronize with anyone you're working with. So there have been some rare times, where he's asked you to come on a mission with him.

Seeing your grandfather fight, really makes you understand why he's so feared. Despite his age and smaller build, you would NEVER want to find yourself against him. He attacks with precision and no hesitation whatsoever, like a true veteran.

If there's one frustrating thing about him, is that he's stubborn. He always wants to be the one who gets to do most of the fighting, while you're stuck on support duty.

At first, you believed it was because he didn't trust you to be strong enough, but as it turns out, it's because he enjoys fighting that much. It's not even about the kill, he gets no satisfaction from killing, he's just always looking for a good fight.

He's an old, powerful man, you figure there's not many people in the world who can surpass his strength... he's always looking for a worthy opponent.

The few times he's taken you on a mission with him, it's always been very nostalgic, because after you succeed, he always insists on going to nearby cafes, as if nothing happened, and even though by now you have your own money, he still has that old habit of putting a couple bills in your hand, to go and order whatever you want at the counter.

[billveusay]

I just watched Iron-Blooded Orphans and...

Man, I first picked that as a recurring title for these reviews back when I shared my thoughts on Hathaway's Flash, and then I needed to retroactively go over everything I had watched beforehand. Which meant three months of playing catch up on shows and movies I'd seen weeks to months ago, and so I had to remove the "just" part. But no more! From now on these reviews will be seasoned with ripe, freshly picked opinions!

Anyway, Iron-Blooded Orphans then! Definitely one of the best, and as I said before, finally one I can quite easily recommend. The characters are great, the action incredible and the story gripping, with excellent themes and ideas woven into it. However, it's far from flawless and I do have a lot of gripes, but as I go into it, remember that none of them are deal-breakers and it did end up fifth on my ranking, overtaking MS IGLOO 2: Gravity Front (yes, it's this high and yes, only Gravity Front, check my review of it in the links below) and landing behind War in the Pocket.

First off, one of my biggest critiques relates to the worldbuilding. It's great, but there's a very recurring dissonance between what we're shown and the supposed scale of events and powers in place. This is a story where the players are intercontinental, even interplanetary coalitions, all overseen by an organisation powerful enough to have supreme authority over all of humanity. And yet Tekkadan, who doesn't seem to have more than 100 members, can go toe to toe with them on a regular basis even in situations where Gjallarhorn 1) knows exactly where they are 2) Has enough time to gather as much troops as they need, like on Makanai's island or the Edmonton siege. For the latter, I vaguely seem to recall Gjallarhorn not being able to intervene for political reasons, but if the capital city of an intercontinental super nation can be locked into a week-long siege by twenty mobile workers, all focusing their attack on a single bridge, it does makes me raise questions. There's also the worker uprising and their protest of like 80 dudes, which was especially funny to me as a french person for self-explanatory reasons. I know the point is to show how fucked they are in the face of Gjallarhorn's supremacy, but even then, it feels weird that they even thought they had a chance. Not to say that this problem is omnipresent, the space battles feel much more consistent with the player count we're presented with, but they're are also much easier to fill with of troops, vessels and debris, so it does make me wonder if it was due to technical limitations for the ground battles.

This discrepancy between what we're told and what we're shown remains in season 2. Tekkadan has allegedly grown much bigger and is now a major global player, but it's not apparent in any way. They have like 20 new guys. Then a "war" breaks out between two of the superpowers, and the fighting seems limited to a meadow and two shrubberies. There's manipulation at play on both sides to destroy Tekkadan and draw out McGillis, but only the strategy of Galan Mossa gets called out, and not the minuscule scale of the conflict. Maybe other battles are happening all around the border, but we don't see them, we're never told about them and everything important happens around Takaki and the earth branch. It's present all the way through the final battle. The Arianrhod troops wait a few days so it looks like they gave Tekkadan the chance to surrender, fine. But once the hostilities begin, it shouldn't take all of these mobile suits so long to destroy their base. They're surrounded in an open field, they only have five mobile suits to defend them, and they're good, but I have trouble believing that they can hold off all of the enemy suits at the same time. Not a single one is able to go around one of them and destroy the base? Even though, judging by how many get destroyed, there are probably more than a hundred (not sure because they never give us a wide establishing shot of the enemy forces, which is another issue).

On a similar note, it's also weird that we only see mobile workers, mobile suits and spaceships used in battles. I mean... if they have spaceships, what happened to fighter jets? Bombers? Long range artillery? That one would have definitely been useful during the Edmonton siege, where they mainly faced mobile workers. Maybe they've been banned like the Dainslef, but even that made me raise question. It's just a big nail gun with explosives, it's efficient but doesn't seem toxic, radioactive or prone to collateral damage, so why would Gjallarhorn ban it for everyone if they can just make it illegal for anyone other than themselves to use them. I may have missed something.

To explain these weird dissonances, you could make the argument that the calamity from 300 years ago has vastly reduced the human population, but it doesn't really fit. It's mentioned at one point that the Turbines have 50 000 members, and yet the story always treats them like they're limited to the crew of the Hammerhead.

And for the sake of comparison, 00 is undoubtedly inferior, but for all its flaws I can honestly say that they made the large scale of the conflict much more believable, save for the final battle of the show being the incarnation of conservation of ninjutsu. Despite Celestial Being being... ahem, despite Celestial Being having even less personnel than Tekkadan, they spend the first few arcs establishing how the balance of power is tilted in their favour. First the stealth provided by the GNovsky particles gives them the initiative most of the time. Second, early on the gundams are several dozen cuts above every other mobile suit and can demonstrably mow down through hundreds of grunts no problem. So in the first season, the economic blocks can only put them on the back foot whenever they manage to both ambush them and outnumber them with their most state of the art mobile suits, I.E the ones that are too recent and expensive to mass produce by the hundreds. Even when they even the playing field by acquiring solar reactors of their own, they still don't have enough to completely overwhelm them with numbers, and it's also the point where the gundams get upgrades of their own. All in all, it remains balanced and believable. Plus, most mobile suits can fly and are ostentatiously fast enough to outpace artillery fire, so it doesn't feel weird that they're the only war machine around. Tekkadan are certainly more underdogs than CB, but most of their battles feel like 1 against 3, when it should feel like 1 against 100.

Now, for the pacing and structure. It's pretty good, especially in the first season, which benefits from a clear goal that they continually move towards, the same thing that gave the second half of Turn A Gundam my beloved its edge. Season 2 was more hit and miss for me though, mainly because in several arcs, they build up the stakes a lot to the point where I thought that we had entered the main plot, only for the problem du jour to be dealt with pretty quickly. For example, I was very surprised to see Galan Mossa get killed so early, but the biggest one was the Mobile Armor. Really thought it would play a major role in the rest if the story, or that more would show up even if they managed to destroy that one. And each arc did have consequences that changed the statu quo, but never to the degree that I was expecting given the weight they gave each of them. So it kind of felt... stop and start? Or like the plot of arcs were connected by bottlenecks. But frankly, it's probably just a me thing, I won't even say it's a critique.

What I will count as a critique is the weird... u-turn on the tragic ending. Overall, the last arc was incredible. I love how everyone realises that actually, powerful speeches, reckless stunts and heroic sacrifices can't always carry you through the finish line. And as they get driven into a corner and the protagonists fall one by one, you really feel the tragedy.

But then everything turns peachy. Mars gets its independence, the legacy of Makanai gets carried on on earth, and I don't know how to feel about it. On one hand, Rustal Elion is definitely not evil just because he opposes the protagonists, in the same way that McGillis being on their side doesn't make him not a dick. But even though his politics weren't very clearly established, he did seem to stand up for enforcing order and the statu quo and make Gjallarhorn even more powerful, so I don't get why he'd use his position to actually give more power to the people. Maybe it's because he knew that despite the failure of the revolution, Gjallarhorn was untenable in its current state so they had to chill, but because it's not addressed, I'll admit that for now I gravitate towards "they didn't want the ending to be a total downer".

Next on my list of niggles... the choreography is great, but they regularly fall back on very used tropes and beats. The classic "I push you out of the way to take the bullet myself" happens a bunch of times, and it always made me grit my teeth. If you have enough momentum to propel someone, you don't lose your inertia the instant you touch them, it takes effort to stop and stand in front of the attack. You wanted to be hit by that. And no one ever tries tackling the attacker instead of standing in front of them with arms stretched out. It's one of my personal pet peeves. Another combat beat that they repeat a lot is having the secondary characters struggle in a fight, and when all seems lost, the cavalry (I.E the Gundam) arrives and turns situation around. It felt repetitive the eighth time it happened, but I'll admit it's a very very minor complaint. However, it's not exclusive to IBO, and most of the Gundam shows have a tendency to do it repeatedly, even the bests like Turn A... with the exception of the original show. Alright, I mainly brought it up to remind everyone that Mobile Suit Gundam 0079 can still give lessons to the rest of the franchise, especially when it comes to making every fight unique and interesting in an episodic format.

There's also the morally dubious to downright fucked up elements, and the choice to present them as normal and just the way things are without anyone calling them out, making it clear how harsh and nasty this universe is. Kudelia, an important political figure, allying with the mafia to accomplish her goals, McGillis and Almiria, Atra ending up pregnant at... I don't know her age but I refuse to believe that she's older than sixteen. It's certainly audacious, but honestly I don't feel qualified to tell if it was handled well or not, so I won't touch upon it, I just felt like I should mention their presence in the show.

One last gripe to segue into the characters round up. Like G-Witch and like 00, isn't there too many of them? It mainly concerns Tekkadan: it's nice that we get to know a lot of these guys to show how this is not just a mass of disposable characters, and after some time I could identify basically every named one, but even when I reached that point, I basically had to play catch-up on who did what in the first 15 episodes because it was still a big blur of faces and names at that point. This may also be a me thing, IRL I'm equally bad at remembering people, and especially matching their names, faces and the context in which i met them.

Now, on to the characters! Starting with Tekkadan.

The main duo are an great pair, and I don't think I've seen a dynamic like theirs before. The way they slowly build-up the core of Orga's deal and his relationship with the rest of Tekkadan, their toxic feedback loop of "we have to push forward" making them spiral onward to their doom... very nicely done, I'm ruined. As for Mika, he could have easily come across as edgy (like early Setsuna) or bland (like late-stage Setsuna) but they managed to convey the fact that he's a terrifying little weirdo very well through subtle understated acting and writing. He genuinely kept me on my toes, wondering if or when he was gonna do something completely ruthless and horrible, like icing an innocent civilian because they witnessed Tekkadan doing something illegal or something. It's also hard to write a character that seems consistent but has an unique internal logic driving all of his actions that's very different from the one most people operate with. It's easy to make this type of character come across as random, but here they did an excellent job.

Atra is cute as hell, and seemed like a perfect sacrificial lamb, so I'm very happy that she survived.

Kudelia... works well enough in the plot but she's still a pretty basic archetype and I don't have much to say about her. I was sad when sad things happened to her and happy for her when things went well, but she's definitely not the highlight of the show for me. Plus, because her character is at the center of the global geopolitic, she was often the one who suffered the most from the confusing worldbuilding.

Biscuit however is a highlight, and the absolute best boy. I love how we can see in retrospect how important he was as the Jiminy Cricket on Orga's shoulder, and how his death could be seen as the first step on Tekkadan's road to ruin. The circumstances of his death seemed a bit contrived (why would you bring up your mobile worker so close to the fight for no reason?) but nonetheless, it was well deserving of maybe the most bone-chilling scream of grief in the whole franchise.

Akihiro is also cool. He's a very classic character but an effective one, he had some great moments, and giving his Gundam a giant pruner is a bold choice. I have some niggles with the Brewers arc, like the way it starts: "Oh by the way Yamagi/Takaki (I genuinely don't remember which one it was), did I ever tell you about my brother, with whom I was separated when we were children? I still hope I'll find him somed- OH CRAP, WE'RE BEING ATTACKED! AND WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT, IT'S BY MY BROTHER". But aside from that, I like him alright.

Shino was a delight and oomph, that final scene with Yamagi might have been the one that hit harder for me. Even though... technically, wasn't it a tad bury-your-gays-ish? In any case, I'm not the best one to judge that, and at least his death was very meaningful in the larger plot, it was far from throwing him away just for the sake of not having nice things for more than 3 minutes.

Ok, rapid fire. Eugene is alright as well. Chad and Dante were maybe the most "who are you people again?" of the bunch. I really liked Takaki and his arc with Aston, very sad. Ride, also alright. I love the old guy, but he's one of my favourite archetypes so that's hardly surprising, and him and Nina Purpleton Merribit Stapleton are very cute. Hush, Zack and Dane are an okay addition, but I don't think Hush needed to have a whole arc just so they could justify him being the one to lug Mika around like a potato sack.

Next, the Gjallarhorn guys.

I really was expecting McGillis to be the final boss against Tekkadan, so nice job subverting them expectations. I also wasn't expecting him to be that much of a Char Clone but wow, that scene at the end of season 1, where he shows up in a red suit to betray and kill his lilac-haired childhood friend, that's confidence in assuming your status. Actually he feels more like a mix between Char and Guin Rhineford, being on the side of the good guys for most of the show despite being very obviously morally questionable, plus the downfall caused by hubris thing. I'm really interested in how things would have turned out if his plan succeeded, and if Tekkadan would have eventually turned on him or the reverse. Probably a lot of fanfics out there exploring that.

As for Gaelio, he 100% was written by a Garma simp who wrote a whole fanfic about him surviving and coming back to get revenge on Char by pulling a Monte-Cristo on hi- wow, I can't believe it took me this long to realize Char was already basically Edmond Dantès in a different mask. Anyway, I'm not complaining, and it was cathartic to see McGillis also have his moment of "but... the narrative... you're supposed to be a mini-boss, I didn't even get to confront the big bad... is that allowed?". His relationship with Ein is also quite touching. On that note, Ein is a good mirror to Mikazuki, progressively losing their bodies to their mobile suit as they becomes a single-minded machine of destruction. They should hang out with Daryl Lorenz. And Carta Issue is very extra, I love her.

Now for the season 2 gang. I've already mentioned how weird it was for Rustal Elion to be nice as pie in the epilogue when nothing in his character indicated these tendencies up to that point. He cared for his subordinates, but he was still willing to commit atrocities to remain in power and prevent McGillis from reforming Gjallarhorn. But before that, he's an effective enough master tactician type antagonist. Better than Paptimus Scirocco because he does seem to have a plan, but still far from an Aiguille Delaz, again because of the confusing worldbuilding making some parts of said plan equally confusing.

Next, Lok Kujan. Because we've had many Char-clones, but not enough Jerid-clones (save for Poe in Turn A). But unlike Jerid, the writers were very aware of how much of a fuck up he was and had fun making him the most pathetic upward fornicator of them all. He is quite delightful in that regard, and his death was very satisfying. As for Julieta... I still wonder about whether or not she was necessary to the story, frankly. I don't dislike her, I don't like her either but in the end... I guess I just don't mind her. Very neutral feelings all around.

On to Teiwaz then. Naze is... likeable and charismatic enough, I'm still not sure about how to feel about his harem crew. It can be interpreted as just a front he puts on in... front... of the other Teiwaz members, and in actuality some of the women of his crew could be people he helps out with no strings attached. But unless I'm forgetting something, I do think it's implied that every of them is his wife. No shade on polyamorous couples, and Naze clearly genuinely cares about them all to a high degree, but it does make me question the implication that none of them turned down his offer, especially considering that their relationships starts with an imbalance if the choice they're given is between marrying him and being exploited. Actually, maybe the women on his ship are specifically the ones that wanted to be his wife, while the rest are part of the 50 000 working in the Turbines network. But even if that's the case, some of the crewmates do seem uncomfortably young, and we don't know their age but... alright, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and move on.

The gals themselves are okay, if a bit redundant (I kept confusing Lafter and Eco). Lafter and Akihiro were very cute, but her death was a nasty case of fridging. Still hit hard though.

And finally, in the category of "helpful old dudes", McMurdo and Makanai are also alright, though the latter's behaviour in season 1 seemed to hint that he wasn't as well intentioned as he seemed, but it turned out he was just an old little troll and that's fine too. The fact that he provided a very simple path to Kudelia's success and Mars' independence with a clear goal could be seen as a tad artificial, but there's a fine line between convenient writing and efficient writing, and that's certainly efficient.

For the visuals, not much to say cause it's all great. Great animation, good character designs (as I said, some characters look a bit similar and that made it hard to tell them apart at the beginning when I didn't know them well, but it's leagues above the lanky playmobils of 00), great mechanical design, the tops, maybe even my favourite. I actually wonder why I didn't check it out sooner because it's the closest thing to Armored Core that I've seen so far in this franchise, and Armored Core is what got me into Gundam.

By the way, I have to mention how good Tears of Orphans is. Definitely in the top 5 of my Gundam songs ranking that I will definitely make.

Now, this would normally be the end of the review, but I have been following a certain someone by the name of... Adverbs and Androids, I believe. He has oft praised this show in much detail, 40+ essays' worth of detail to be precise. As of writing these words, I have refrained from reading his thoughts before I had put down my own to paper (or screen) but I shall now go check it out and see if that changes my opinions. See you next paragraph.

...

Re-emerges with a 2-month beard. Oh boy... I feel like I was giving a testimony on the stand and the defence attorney left the room, before coming back pushing a hand truck with a pile of alibis and counterarguments reaching the ceiling. All of them very convincing and instructive, I have indeed changed my opinions and learned a lot about this show. And the persisting influence of the nobility in modern day British politics for some reason.

So yeah, this made me reconsider and withdraw most of my criticisms, or at least rephrase them to "an imperfect execution of a rock-solid idea". I'll go quickly over these two categories, starting with the former. It is indeed dubious to call the tragic death of Shino bury-your-gays when his death is not only essential to the tragedy, but also when several straight members of the cast get the exact same treatment. What also led me to wondering if that was the dreaded BYG was the fact I hadn't really noticed the build-up of their relationship leading to their tearful separation throughout the show, partly due to my trouble identifying characters and partly because I'm just very oblivious in general, which I'm not ashamed of admitting because that gives me something in common with the magnificent idiot in question. But because of that, it was pretty much "oh my god, they're- oh he's dead" for me. But that's my B.

Reading a bunch of very detailed breakdowns of the plot, themes and character trajectories also helped me see the importance and repercussions of each arc in season 2, some aspects of the geopolitics, the true tactical brilliance of Rustal Elion and the value of certain characters like Julieta and Kudelia. So I'm also withdrawing the statements regarding these.

As for the Turbines situation, obviously I count it among the "it's the farthest from ideal situation, but that's the way this world works" and they're all doing their best. It is also apparently stated that some of the women in his crew are indeed not his wives, so again, my B. As for the points where I accept the counter-arguments but still have doubts about the execution, let's go back to Rustal Elion and the ending. I did not miss the fact that his reformed Gjallarhorn had him as the "democratically" elected leader, with supreme power he did not have to share with the six other stars any more. And it's true that if you think about it for five minutes, this is far from a happy ending for the survivors, and there's still a lot left to do. But I wonder why the show had to frame it like a full-on happy ending, as if to trick the viewer, when there's no more story after that and no expectations to be subverted. I guess it could be seen as a satisfying conclusion for those who were only watching for the surface level entertainment, leaving more depth for those willing to go deeper. But even as I was closer to the first category because I had not yet read a War and Peace of dissertations, the tonal shift was less satisfying than jarring. And I didn't want a brick of depression to the face either, I'm all for ending on a positive, or at least hopeful note. But what we got seemed a tad excessive.

Also Lafter's death. It definitely makes sense in the context of the plot to have her die as the final spark that sets the powder keg ablaze, and the abruptness of her death reminds the viewer of the harshness of this world. It is still a tad regrettable that this ended up resembling an unfortunate trope very closely.

But on a final note, I stand by (most of) my remarks on the weird scale dissonance and the recurrence of poorly staged sacrifices in combat. Still, I must salute you @wordsandrobots for having produced such a massive library of incredibly insightful commentary and analysis. You truly deserve your Ao3 username. And in my defence for missing many essential plot elements and character beats, I was watching this show at the rate of one to two episodes a day so it took me a month to finish it which, combined with my attention span and temperamental memory, meant I wasn't in the best situation to appreciate the series in all of its complexity and depth. While I am tentatively gonna go a limb and assume that you have maybe, probably, watched this show more than once ;) Phew! These reviews of 50 episodes series always take a while. I am taking a Gundam break because I desperately need to watch something else and catch up on other shows. But as it turns out, I will return with another long one. Because I have received an invitation to the birthday party of Gundam Wing, and I will accept this invitation and not threaten the life of its sender. I'm sure the protagonist of this show will be equally polite.

(I just discovered that Gundam Wing began airing in April 1995, and since I'll probably start watching in a week or two, this joke became unintentionally very à-propos)

I'll see y'all there!

My gundam Reviews :

> Hathaway's Spark > Mobile Suit Gundam > Gundam Zeta > 0083: Stardust Memory > 0080: War in the Pocket > 8th MS Team > The Witch from Mercury > Gundam Thunderbolt > The Origin > Turn A Gundam > F91 > Gundam Unicorn > Gundam 00 > MS IGLOO > Gundam Narrative > Iron-Blooded Orphans > Gundam Wing

[marketableplushieenthusiast]

Inside me are two wolves.

One recognizes the Spamton NEO fight as horrifying and disturbing, even spared on a regular route, both for Spamton himself and Kris (or whoever gets slotted in the betrayed player spot in the dozen different crossover AUs I have bouncing around my brain). It is his ultimate mental breakdown, the freedom he wanted all this time being just out of reach, so he turns on the one person who went out of their way to help him. Kris is terrified and disheartened, but fights for their life anyway, and just when it looks like they got through to him - just as Spamton realizes that, for once, someone didn't give up on him - he falls. Because that's what happens when a puppet's strings are abruptly, forcibly cut. And Kris gets to see this play out right in front of them. Spamton's only hope is to give up his desperation, his passion, his hope that has kept him going all this time, and settle for less, and Kris is notably distraught afterwards. And I know all this. It's why I became so obsessed with it in the first place.

The other wolf freaking loves the thing. Gets all excited and giddy just thinking about it. The cutscene lead up is so terrifyingly, awesomely tense, the music SLAPS, the yellow soul mechanics and attacks are so FUN. Despite the meta storytelling - the very reason I love Deltarune and Undertale so much - silently judging it, I have a save file set permanently before the Spamton NEO fight just so I can go refight him. (And I am THIS CLOSE to booting it up rn-)

The inherent contradiction of being invested in the characters' perspectives and arcs and wanting to take them seriously, but also wanting to go replay some of their most traumatic moments for FUN because WHEEEEEEEEEEE-

Ugh.

[allieda]

now that ive thought on it more the sheer audacity square enix had playing around with zenos' personality and ATTACK PATTERNS in retsarra's trial is outrageous to the point where it feels like parody. he says almost the exact same dialogue. he uses 'triple direction' attacks (unmoving troika / etc), one of his raid-wide AOEs is named 'intergalatical pursuit' (endwalker reference). the way retserra stares at the wol with his head down, the trial shot referencing endwalker, and more, its extremely blatant if you are someone like me, who has a deep fascination with zenos as a character and narrative force of power.

and i wish i could say i like this. but i do not. sadly, in my opinion, retsarra is not a compelling character outside of this staged behavior. aside from his friendship with brute bomber (i found his sadness for his friend touching, but the weight of it is not dwelt upon.), he is uninteresting, and his intrigue leans heavily on the fact that zenos yae galvus was a good character with actual intrigue and mystique for the player to think about and unravel. i dont think theres any more to be shown about retserra, especially since he is likely a 'raid questline only' character. but its too early to judge, since arcadion is not yet complete. but it makes me wonder. its really unusual!

petty opinion: making him eutrope's 'boyfriend' is an obnoxious decision, and them leaning her mortal fear on losing him is a tired writing choice.

[bhaalble]

While I'm on my script doctor shit: I want to talk about Karlach.

Karlach's not dealing with the same level of narrative neglect/hasty rewrite fingerprints that Wyll is. As a standalone entity, her arc works. I Am Not Immune To Weeping at the Post-Gortash Fight Scene etc etc. But it does feel oddly discordant with the other companion quests. Karlach doesn't really experience any moral evolution or make meaningful decisions. When we meet her she's a kindhearted friendly hero, and she will be that regardless of whether she dies in Faerun or goes back to Avernus. She's incredibly likeable while she does that, and I also don't want to come across like I think her writing is shallow. But in a game where all the companion quests follow a pretty intentional pattern regarding the cycle of abuse, it sticks out like a sore thumb to me that the resolution of the Gortash plot doesn't really impact her character arc one way or the other.

As always I feel compelled to point out that this isn't me going "actually she's secretly a bad person and the game won't admit it". This is more me attempting to mine some more in-depth conflict, using the existing arc as a template. With that in mind, these are the changes I would make:

-Make the use of Soul Coins MUCH MORE of a character point. With how much attention is drawn to acquiring these things for the first time and a special dialogue choice for whether or not you'll have her use them, it feels very much like a dropped thread that it doesn't really go anywhere storywise. Leveraged correctly I think this could've been the chance to show a crack in Karlach's persona. She's your big loveable attack dog who's been having the worst decade, yeah. But she's also a survivor, who's not only been deployed into an endless conflict but who also hasn't had a single person she can trust other than herself. I think you could make more of a thing about how the conditions she lived in in Avernus forced her to make her peace with occasionally stepping on other people, even some innocents, so she could live to fight another day. There's shades of this in some of her conversations with the tiefling refugees already, she mentions to Dammon that she felt like she couldn't really do anything for Elturel. Push into that guilt, and with it, that denial. Have ten years spent with devils maybe just maybe given her a slightly more removed view of the value of a life that isn't her own?

-Whether the player feeds her Soul Coins or not I think it should be specified by Dammon that her routine use of them during her time in Avernus has sped up her engine breakdown by putting it into almost permanent overdrive. Its a damnation of Zariel (who probably knew what the coins were doing, but didn't care) and a startling moment for Karlach, that there are consequences for being cavalier with the souls of others. High Approval Karlach either asks to stop taking them (if the player has been giving them) or thanks the player for encouraging her to hold off. Low Approval Karlach will ask to keep taking them on the grounds of "in for a penny in for a pound", arguing that they can't afford to lose the advantages the player has seen it gives them (if they have been giving them) or becoming frustrated that the player is judging her and what she's had to do to survive (if they haven't).

-Make the reveal that the Steel Watch run off infernal iron MUCH MORE emotional for Karlach, as she realizes she was an experimental run for Gortash to do this. Double down on this when the player discovers that they have corpses inside them (also, put this reveal before the Steel Watch foundry quest can be completed). Its both horrifying on a gut level to find out the stupid evil reason for all her suffering...but also she can't help but feel culpable for LIVING. If she hadn't been strong enough to survive it the experiment might've ended there. Its not true but it is one of the worst thoughts you can have when you've just found out you're going to die anyways.

-I would make the relationship between Karlach and Gortash much more mutual and much more (initially) positive relationship. Have him be genuinely glad to see her, genuinely impressed that she survived the hells. Its what he always liked about her, her grit, her ability to face down impossible odds and come out the victor. Compliments that would've made her happy back in the day and now feel like a punch to the gut. Its all build-up, though, to the Choice which will define Karlach's route.

-By virtue of his experiments Gortash has gotten very good at working with Infernal Iron. And he believes he can fix Karlach's heart, in exchange for her basically taking up a more elevated version of her old job. He could use a bodyguard powered by hellfire and with a strong understanding of devils. Its also, just good optics for his man of the people image to have his right hand be some outer city kid elevated to greatness. He makes a lot of promises in that moment: she won't die. She'll get a chance to have a LIFE back, but now a life with all the power and security she could ask for. More than that, they could change things in this city. Give its residents better lives, improve things for all the little Karlachs out there. And after that...who knows? The Hells might be ripe for some conquest back. Gods know they've both got old scores to settle

-She takes time to think about it, and talk with the player. In addition to all the other hang-ups she might have this is where the Steel Watch comes up again, with her feeling like she's poisoned by that knowledge. A player trying to persuade her into taking the deal can point out, in the end its not so different from soul coins. Why draw the line now. If this Persuasion check is passed she can note that at least they could afford to be choosier with their victims, putting the worst baddies to use for the protection of everyone. That wouldn't be so bad....would it?

-You meet Gortash for a final time. If persuaded by the player to not take the deal (or if left to choose for herself with High Approval) Karlach will kill him where he stands. His soul rises in the form of Bane's Chosen and you have a proper boss fight. If persuaded to take it (or left to her own devices on Low Approval) Karlach will take the deal. This will mean losing Karlach from the party (with the exception of the House of Hope mission where she will appear Jaheira style) as she will be busy protecting Gortash. The player gains custom armor from Gortash and an assembly of Steel Watchers they can summon in the Final Battle.

-If she doesn't take the deal her endings play out pretty similarly to how they do in canon, either dying or returning to Avernus. This time, however, its with a new lease on life (or death). She's gotten to choose to be better than the things that dropped her here. She's still scared, still angry. But she's also proven something to herself. That Zariel and Gortash and them were wrong about her, and that she is much more than the mindless weapon they wanted to turn her into.

-If she takes the deal it unlocks a new ending for Gortash. Rather than come to the Elder Brain himself he will instead give you his Netherstone as a show of good faith, trusting you to take the chance to subdue the Elder Brain for your mutual rule.

-If the Player subdues the Elder Brain you and Gortash move it back underground, pretending to have defeated it and using the fear created by the mind flayer outbreak to rule the populace. Karlach in the Epilogue talks to you about how the two of you are making massive moves in the city. She seems to be trying very hard to convince herself at least most of the changes are positive....from a certain point of view.

-If the Player destroys the Elder Brain, Gortash skips town and takes Karlach with him rather than face his disgrace. In the Epilogue Karlach says he's starting to rebuild in another city state, "not tellin you where, though. Don't really think I want to have to fight you if you decide to come smash this one too....even though I'd definitely win." She seems extremely worn down in this ending and trying to cover it up. Gortash lost a LOT of favor with Bane having his plans blow up in his face like that and its made him. Snippy. Still, "its a living. And it probably wouldn't even be that if it weren't for him." The player can hint that it may be time for her to start moving on to a better environment, and she says only if she can find someone to do a more permanent fix for Ol' Rusty. Gortash still has to do check-ups almost monthly to keep her stable.

-She still keeps in touch with Dammon, though....who knows. He might have some new thoughts after seeing all the blueprints Gortash has drawn up....

[kerubimcrepin]

Liveread: Dofus tome 3 - Les larmes turquoise

I finally got around to reading the bits of this book that have a crepinjurgen cameo. Like the last time, I learned about this cameo from a post by @julith-jurgen, and have sourced the translation of said book from a discord server, where @uelman runs games using these books and translates them.

Unlike last time, there are sadly no crepinjurgen illustrations in this book, the only thing we get is text — and Joris's appearance is far smaller than Kerubim's in the other book. Still, it's very nice to see even more Dofus MMO-era content of the two of them... (<- Guy who is normal about Dofus MMO-era crepinjurgens)

In these books, you make up a character, and try to get the six dofus, one book at a time. That is all of the context that you need.

You attempt to delay the inevitable by moving to a spot that'll make things harder for your enemies. You defend yourself doggedly, drawing power from the two Dofus. One sea creature is taken down by the crimson fire. The other two intensify their assaults. You lose 1 Hit Point. Thanks to the Emerald Dofus's energy you don't feel tired yet, but you know that soon your movements will be slower, more uncertain. Defeat seems inevitable... Suddenly, a huge piece of wood knocks down on a cultist's skull. A few seconds later, another assailant is biting the dust, knocked out. The two last robbed monsters try to understand what's happening. You take advantage of their surprise to attack... Very quickly, the fight's finished. Your opponents lay on the floor, unconscious. Now that's a turnabout!

Yeaa that's a classic Joris entrance, especially in the MMO times, since this series of books canonically more-or-less takes place in the same timeframe. He has a knack for drama.

[I am referencing the moments at 5:44 and 18:07, he has overdramatic ways of meeting the player two times in a row...]

In disbelief, you discover the source of this unexpected rescue: a small-sized being, wearing white and blue, whose face is hidden by a hood. To whom do those eyes filled with intelligence and that long pointy nose belong? Your benefactor is probably not an Imp: judging from the size of the imposing bludgeon he handles like a feather, this strange person wields extraordinary strength. Also, his hoarse voice isn't that of a child. "Best go back up without delay. The mermaids will take care of the Sea Witch's servants."

This is all very accurate except I really doubt Joris's eyes are filled with "intelligence". I'm sorry.

With bewildering agility, the gnome rushes upstairs. You follow on his heels, but you have a hard time doing so. A few instant later, you're at the beach, before the turquoise sanctuary. Girle Pylot is swinging over the palm trees. The creature you owe your life to turns towards you. "You can join your friends in an instant. But first, I have a question to ask you. Who do you serve?" (Answer chosen by the discord players): 2. "You proclaim that you're at the service of the witch Meriana, who saw in you the future wielder of the six Dofus."

Like in the last post I made about these gamebooks, I want to point out that Meriana is an important character to the lore of Krosmoz, especially the Dofus MMO era.

Also, she's friends with Kerubim: and both in the last book, and the game proper, she often has you contact him for various information and tips.

The hooded figure gives you an inscrutable stare. "You're loyal to the one who guided you to the Dofus, and that's commendable. But take care not to take a wrong turn." Are those words threats, or well-intended warnings? It's hard to say.

I'm pretty sure this is just his idea of small talk because he's crazy.

You ask the enigmatic person who they are. The gnome lets out a small laugh. "You do not need to know my name. Know only that I am interested in dragons. Bolgrot is attempting to force its way into the World of Twelve and, if it succeeds, nothing good will come from such an event." You ask your mysterious benefactor if his help was merely coincidental. "It's Furye's minions that lead me here. You earned the attention of the Sea Witch: she ordered her creatures to get ride of you. When I saw you in a bad spot, I decided to intervene. I do not think you'll have any complaints regarding my decision..." The conversation with your saviour having ended, you go back to your friends.

Loving his decision to stay anonymous ngl. Girl why? Anyway, of Course he'd be interested in dragons. Fork in kitchen spotted.

"We were starting to get worried! At one point, I thought I noticed some suspicious movements near the building's entrance, but that must've been my imagination playing tricks on me... You seemed to be talking to someone earlier, since when do you speak to yourself?" You turn back: the hooded gnome has disappeared as quickly as he appeared. But something tells you that you'll meet him again in the future... You check that you still have Aguabrial's tear on your bag, then announce to Girle Pylote that you're ready for your next destination: Badmorva's mark.

I really do hope you meet him again, lmao! Here's to hoping we may see him or his family in this book series once again in the future.

[justmeinabigolworld]

@spilledinkpot @ninjiisbetterthanyou @bunnybluemagic

So, a little while ago, we talked about maybe making a little "writefight" as like a writing version of artfight. If you guys are still interested, I've typed my idea for how it'd work here. Tell me what you think, if you have suggestions, etc.

Like artfight, it would start on July 1 (time zone doesn't matter) and go through the month. Participants would "attack" each other by writing one-shots about each other's characters. You can involve as many characters as you want, or just focus on one.

Now, in artfight, the players are separated into two teams, and the teams attack each other; here, though, I was thinking we could just do a free-for-all where anyone can attack anyone, since there aren't that many of us.

After receiving an attack, you can counter the attack by writing a one-shot about the attacker's characters, or you can pay it forward by attacking someone else.

(Bunny said that she's not so experienced with writing but can retaliate with visual art; this isn't some big formal thing with strict rules, so that's totally fine! Character art is so cool! Just remember that if you do choose to write something, the writing doesn't have to be the most amazing thing in the world, and nobody's gonna judge you when you're writing something about their characters; as Ninji said, most people are just excited to get a thing of their guys!)

In artfight, the attacks are scored with points, and the team with the most points at the end wins, but I'm not sure how we would do that, so I figure we can just all attack and have fun and all be winners :D

So, what do we do until July? We post refs! Unlike artfight, these don't need to be visual, but images of the characters certainly can be in there. What we need are descriptions of the character's personality, mannerisms, backstory, role, relationships with other characters from the same story/canon you also have refs for, that sort of thing. If your characters are from a story up on the internet, link it! Snippets are also great! It would also be a good idea to talk at least a bit about the setting the characters are in, so I'd recommend grouping character refs by story/world/concept/whatever you're cooking.

As in artfight, we should all also list any things we'd be uncomfortable with in terms of receiving attacks. For example, you might not want anyone to attack you with something gory or nsfw, or involving certain subjects. Or perhaps there's a certain character you wouldn't want to be involved in certain scenarios. We're small writers, and we want to be considerate, so let's make sure to put that in the refs as well.

Some other notes:

There's no limit on the amount of characters you can have refs for, though I'd recommend organizing them by either putting them all in one post or having one post per story/setting.

No minimum or maximum wordcount for attacks. We all write in different ways, and they're all valid :D

This probably goes without saying, but, y'know, be nice, follow standard internet etiquette, all that stuff

By "characters", I'm going by artfight's general rules: original characters from original stories/concepts, original fanfic characters, and AU versions of canon characters.

Now, to put all the writefight stuff in one place, I was thinking I'd make a sideblog and call it writefight or something similar. Refs and attacks and such would be tagged #writefight and would also @ that sideblog, and then I'd reblog them all. The sideblog's pinned post would list the rules and link to lists of the refs (and eventually attacks).

(In terms of attacks, they can be posted wholly here on tumblr, or you can just post them on a writing side -- ao3, for example -- and link to them, or do both!)

While I mostly made this post in response to the people who showed interest when I first talked about a "writing version of artfight", if anyone comes across this post and would like to join, you're all very welcome! It would be great to get some more people to join -- the more the merrier! You don't need to ask or jump through any hoops; just make refs and tag/mention them like I discussed two paragraphs above.

I'm so excited!!

Update: sideblog created! It's @writefightblog

[theresattrpgforthat]

TTRPGs that are played specifically through the framework of the Discord app? I'm reviewing a work in progress game that's being set up to work like that and I wanted to know if there are others!

THEME: Discord RPGS

Hello there friend, I know you mentioned This Discord Has Ghosts In It in another ask, but I’m going to mention it anyways - along with some other awesome options that exist out there!

This Discord Has Ghosts In It, by Will Jobst.

You’ve been invited to a haunted house. That haunted house is a Discord server.

Find your greatest fear, spill your worst secrets, and get to the thrilling seance in This Discord Has Ghosts in It.

I played this game for Halloween one year and it was great! In this game there are two roles: investigators and ghosts. All of the players will hang out in a voice chat, but only investigators can speak. Meanwhile, ghosts are the only ones who can type inside the game channels - and they are allowed to add new rooms to the house, upload pictures, and alter the text.

I definitely encourage players to use Lines, Veils, and the X card for this game, as it’s a horror game and you’re often met with images, not just descriptions.

MUDSLURP, by Will Uhl.

MUDSLURP (Multi-User Discord Server Lore-Universe Role Play) is a roleplaying game about asynchronous communication, intersecting storylines, and carrying a piece of your characters with you in everyday life. Everyone involved controls at least one character and participates in a shared text chatroom integrated into a fictional setting.

MUDSLURP is also compatible with other tabletop RPGs - bring a new dimension to your story with a chatroom for all your characters! Host server events, build out the world, and learn more about each other. MUDSLURP even supports multiple tabletop campaigns sharing the same chatroom, including guidelines for avoiding & resolving canon disputes.

This is something that really intrigues me, as I run a Discord server myself and I’m always looking for options that incorporate more people and give people multiple ways to interact. Since this is compatible with other tabletop games, I’m assuming you can have real-time sessions alongside something more like a play-by-post format - although I haven’t bought the game yet so I can’t say for sure.

Tournament Arc, by SystemxEmotion.

Tournament Arc is a text-based, real-time, head-to-head, fighting roleplaying game. Most importantly, Tournament Arc is a game where you create any character you can think of (or steal from your favourite media), and fight your friends.

When you play Tournament Arc, you will create a powerful fighter and you’ll try and beat other fighters in arena combat. Fighters can be anything you can fathom, from talented martial artists to alien creatures from other dimensions, and from off-duty superheroes to ordinary people granted arcane powers by elder beings. The one thing that they all have in common is that their powers come from spirits. Spirits are strange entities that recently appeared in the world, and are as diverse as the fighters themselves. 

As a text-based game, Tournament Arc depends on a third, neutral party for each battle. This third player is called the Conduit, who will judge both attacks and determine an outcome. I can see this being a great game for large groups, especially because each person gets to pick up the GM role at some point. You create move sets using different abilities that might be active or passive, and the book comes with advice on how to make the combat dynamic and interesting. If you are playing with a group that likes feeling powerful and enjoys big action scenes, this might be the game for you!

Eccentric Millionaire, by nickwedig.

Somewhere in the wilderness, an eccentric millionaire has buried $50 million worth of bearer bonds, gold, historic artifacts and art treasures. 

You’re going to hunt for it, from the comfort of your own homes. 

There are a lot of other people also searching for the treasure, too. Work with them for more clues, but don’t trust them. If they get the treasure first, they get millions of dollars. Second place gets nothing.

Eccentric Millionaire is an online game of logical deduction and social deception. One player acts as the host and organizer of the game. They will also play the role of the Eccentric Millionaire. The other players take on the role of treasure hunters. The game is played online, through chat systems like Discord or Slack, and via online map tools like Google Maps. Gameplay takes place over days or weeks, as the treasure hunters uncover more clues and zero in on the location of the treasure. Eventually, one player will find the treasure and win the game.

I love games that use innovative online tools, and this game's use of Google Maps is a great example. This is also great for large groups, of up to 25 people! I caution you though, the organization for a game like this definitely requires a lot of set up - you might have to customize a Discord Server before you are ready to play.

Games I've Recommended in the Past

Subway Runners, by Gem Room Games

[riabunn]

weirdcore tower au characters part 2! 👁️🗼

THIS TOOK ME 6 HOURS ACCORDING TO IBISPAINT SO IMMA JUST STOP THERE

also yeah… i’ve gone way too far with the designs that they’re basically straight up OCs at this point I AM SORRY XD but you should already tell who they are supposed to be judging by their appearance and personalities. anyways without further ado here’s extended info about them

Mushroom Man (He/They) has the same personality and strength as pepperman, except he is a stitcher. he has excellent sewing skills, so excellent that he can craft anything such as clothes, costumes and fabrics quickly. they also utilize anything they sew as means of attack, for example they can bring out a cloak to trick their opponent and trap them like a bullfighter does

Bebe Bleu (He/Him) is a sparkleslime two-way baseball player who is the most notorious of his kind, and also regarded as the greatest baseball player in the tower. he wants to be silly, but he’s forced to be serious in the stadium. he’s got two modes, his natural silliness, and being serious just like the vigilante. he’s inspired by the batter from the game called “OFF,” big cheeses in PT, and the scrapped cheeseslime attack where they use a baseball bat when the scrapped heat meter is filled during PT development

The Giggler (He/Him) is an absolute gremlin who is a crazy ass man that messes around with people for shits and giggles. he giggles a freaking lot. also he is THE Giggler, he is THE greatest out there, saying “The” is absolutely required when referring to him, or he will rip you to shreds! he plays pranks, but he goes overboard A LOT, he’s just as much of a menace as the noise. for example, he can throw giggle bombs, which you have a half chance of them exploding into confetti, or if they actually hurt you like actual bombs

Gigglest (She/Her) is the giggler’s girlfriend, she giggles even more than him which is why she is called gigglest. and of course, she’s even more annoying than him, she’s annoying even to his standards. gigglest is a cheerful and upbeat woman just like noisette, but she runs a bakery where she bakes all kinds of pastries such as cakes, donuts, bread, along with serving beverages such as coffee and milk. most of the time she adds strange ingredients such as eyes, organs, teeth, glitter, etc

i’m still brainstorming on the next batch of characters. which will come sometime later whenever!

[utilitycaster]

If I can make a small inference about Laura as Imogen, is that she's not indecisive. She had some major swings - opening with her (at the time) highest spell against Otohan before initiative and Psychic Lanc-ing Zathuda are two examples (and she was actually heavily judged by the internet police both times).

I think she is able to be decisive when the story speaks to her directly - another sign that the Predathos plot does not. Imogen's personal arc, IMO, finished when she saved her mother from being absorbed. The Predathos fight feels like an epilogue, and not an exciting one at that.

The problem, I think, is that the overarching plot is too abstract and uncertain to warrant a gut reaction. It's always a "I guess this is it".

I disagree on all points:

Two cases of attacking a pretty obvious enemy does not undo pretty considerable indecision with regards to the campaign-long choice of unleashing Predathos; the complaints about indecision are largely based in RP. I do not give a solitary fuck what the "internet police" say. Their opinion has no bearing on mine and is entirely irrelevant to this discussion.

There are multiple problems I have with Imogen and Liliana that I've outlined previously, namely, it really feels like she saves Liliana, who has almost never helped her and whose alliance with her is predicated on a lie (and who even outright failed in her own attempt to prevent Imogen from getting involved, and who, as a character, suffers from kind of the same problem of "I think Ludinus is a bad person but I am going to carry out his cause, which is ultimately exactly what he wanted and the action that led him to do all the things that lead to our assessment of him as a bad person") out of some vague romanticized sense of "but she's my mother". It feels like a path of least resistance, and as I've said before it feels like someone handed Laura a script an hour before and said "okay you're a woman begging for the life of your estranged mother." Imogen's dedication to Liliana is genuinely one of the weakest throughlines in a campaign that does not lack for weaknesses. You're welcome to feel differently but this doesn't feel remotely satisfying or even convincing as a character beat at all to me let alone the culmination of a character arc. The endpoint has always been facing Ludinus and deciding whether to become a vessel, and doing the latter with absolutely no conviction and barely any intent is pretty dull.

The overarching plot is extremely simple: "Ludinus Da'leth, due to trauma incurred during the Calamity that led him to hate the gods, wants to release a god-eating creature that needs a Ruidusborn as a vessel, and is taking the actions to do so, among which involve straining the very fabric of magic and killing a massive number of people. Much of the world is trying to stop him." Now, the choices involved (ie, should Bells Hells ally with much of the world to stop him, or should they join this cause) are, I think, something Matt wanted to feel complicated. However, I and I think a lot of other people here have found that the case for eating the gods has never been presented as anything but a combination of petty vengeance for personal slights that in some cases are outright imagined; or a vast overreaction that fails to address root causes (ie, colonialism and the death of the titans will not be remotely fixed by this) and introduces a host of new problems. I do think there is something to be said for cast members missing some things that were pretty repeatedly directly stated (the shard being bad for Ashton; Predathos being a cosmic entity from outer space that required a Ruidusborn vessel) and that perhaps the messaging from DM to players was lacking in a way that wasn't clear from an outside view but the core plot is perhaps the simplest one across all campaigns, poorly paced though it may be.

[sweetmage]

I saw a Sebastian gif set get shared where he's talking about how Hawke should be careful with Anders because he's selfish and will always put his own needs above Hawke. Which like yeah, that's a very Sebastian way of thinking, I almost reblogged it because I love Sebby and his hypocrisy.

But then I had a look in the notes and all the reblog tags were like "He's so right!!!"

Like I'm sorry, when have we EVER seen Anders put himself first? Anders neglects and overworks himself constantly, always downplays his own suffering to put others first, ran a free clinic to the point of near collapse just to help others, puts himself in danger to help mages escape abuse and persecution.

The only thing he puts first is the rights of mages to not be slaughtered and abused. Is he always correct in his methods? No. He has still had Chantry propaganda beaten into him (literally) and he doesn't know a thing about intersectionality, as we see with both Fenris and Merrill. But at the end of the day, even that isn't selfishness, at best it's tunnel vision towards goals he personally has investment in, but it's never about himself. In all of Dragon Age 2 he barely even discusses his own experiences without pivoting, he is always far more concerned about others.

Like play your Hawke however you want, it's genuinely okay and I'm not judging! But mine at least doesn't see an active genocide with no resolutions in the works and think "Wow, I sure wish these selfish mages would shut up about being imprisoned, abused, sexually assaulted, lobotomized, hunted for sport, and up for consideration for mass execution." If yours does then that's totally fine! It's all roleplaying. But as a player? That's just an actual misunderstanding of the story and a bad faith reading of Anders as a character.

Sebastian on the other hand literally wants to return to Starkhaven and seize power, even if you spend the whole game validating his desire to stay with the chantry, just so he can attack the innocent people of Kirkwall (even knowing full well Anders is long gone) for revenge for killing Elthina. So like 🤨

[willknightauthor]

I'm so stoked! I've had so many breakthroughs simultaneously on this system!

I've been churning through RPG after RPG, trying to find everything useful, see every way it's been done. It's been a whirlwind, and I'm still in the middle of it, but I've been surprised at how little variation there is. Even the free form, "roleplaying forward," GM-less jam games do a lot of the same things as each other. Even if the mechanics are technically different, using different dice, the goals and ethos of the designs are identical. And we're all aware of the hoard of OSR/NSR games.

It started out with my fascination with balancing simulation and character-driven storytelling in a fun way, eventually becoming a desire to fix my frustrations with the World of Darkness. While I enjoy the campy, B-movie side of horror in the World of Darkness, I myself am more of an A24 type of writer (e.g. Midsommar, The VVitch, Under the Skin). The worlds I like to build, even when surreal, have solid internal logic. I crave that balance between the impossible and the gritty, between the beautiful and the horrifying.

I figured out how to tie everything to one health system, which itself is tied to one 10d6 dice pool. Now stress and health are one thing, and it directly affects what type of dice you roll, which changes odds and side effects. Your stats and your combat exhaustion determine the number of dice rolled, which means the more you do in combat, the fewer dice you have, and the lower your odds of success.

Because it's a d6 pool with success on one 6, the probability changes roughly linearly compared to other dice pool systems. Because there's only one vector for probability--more or less dice--difficulty is an easy thing for the GM to determine, and the probability of the roll quickly judged.

By tying actions to the dice pool via fatigue, I realized I can encourage scrappy, gritty, tactical combat by rewarding players with a second wind, meaning they get dice back. Now there's momentum between attackers and defenders. If you get backed into a corner with no options you start getting exhausted, but if you find a way to scramble out of it, jab them in the eyes, utilize the environment, make them hit their ally, then you recover and turn the tables. Even the initiative system ties into this scrappy back-and-forth, since initiative changes non-randomly during combat. And this is all in a zone-based “theater of the mind” combat system.

I've completely eliminated experience. Instead when you do difficult things and take risks, you get temporary boosts to that skill for future rolls. To permanently advance it you must engage in training, either as a side activity or during down time, over a realistic amount of time. At the highest levels you have to go on personal quests to advance your skills. Thus your skill advancement is tied to roleplaying.

Going up a single point in anything is very difficult though. Most of the "character advancement" instead is about character change. You gain new skills and abandon others, and via your new skills you can acquire a new "class." Basic advancement is quantitative, but all significant advancement is qualitative, using skills themselves as currency. You don’t just advance, you adapt.

Your "class" is advanced through a customizable narrative achievement tree. Thus to become a better mage, you must pursue life goals, narrative turning points, and personal transformations, based on their own ambitions and your ambitions for them as a character.

Almost every stat is an abstract representation of the character's internal qualities and state. Those internal states then have mechanical effects during the game if you can roleplay them: goals, passions, memories, knowledge, social ties, reputation, etc. It's conceptual, but it's not the loosy-goosy LARP style. There are mechanics with numerical and statistical effects, they're just tied to qualitative stats driven by roleplaying.

Importantly, there are many hooks for alternate or additional systems, especially weird and supernatural ones. I hate it when "magic" just amounts to a list of very narrow spells and their usages. Now there are many mechanical hooks for supernatural things tied to capabilities, knowledge, motivations, social role, self-image, core memories, etc.

I designed it backwards from multiple future games which will be very weird and abstract. The system as it stands represents the gritty foundation of any number of future games emphasizing social intrigue, personal horror, heart-pounding combat, and Lovecraftian worldbuilding. It's the ruleset for the regular, mortal humans, doing possible things in the real world… but with mechanical possibilities for much more.

Here are the games which inspired or influenced the design. I think it gives you a sense of how diverse and specific the design choices are.

Wraith: The Oblivion

Alien RPG

Over the Edge

Heart

The Wildsea

The Burning Wheel

Fate

Thousand Year Old Vampire

Na Ratunek Marsowi

Feng Shui

Barbarians of Lemuria

Mythras

Exalted

Fireborn

Delta Green

Reign

Gumshoe

Shock: Social Science Fiction

The True OSR: Obsolete Shitty Rules

The Devil, John Moulton

Cyberpunk RED

Dune RPG

Mothership

Streets of Peril

His Majesty the Worm

The Cypher System

Next I need to look into more (genuinely) experimental systems, especially ones involving memory and investigation. "The Between" and "Brindlewood Bay" are next on my list. The closest vibe design-wise I've gotten is from "Broken Empires" (which I'm so stoked for).

It's getting to the point where the overall rules are all set enough that I can drill down to specific numbers for everything, make some premade characters, and start playtesting. Fuck yeah.