#gms: the first in quality

[level2janitor]

Introduction to the OSR

what's an OSR? it's a game that's kinda like old-school D&D. or is old-school D&D. or is compatible with old-school D&D. an OSR game generally has some or all of the following principles:

low character power with highly lethal combat. in old-school D&D a 1st-level fighter has d8 hit points and a longsword does d8 damage, and you die at 0HP. this is not to ensure characters die all the time but to emphasize the next bullet point:

emphasis on creative problem solving. most situations cannot be solved by straightforward use of your abilities (such as charging into every situation with swords drawn, if a fighter), so the game tests lateral, outside-the-box thinking.

emphasis on diegetic progression. spells are found, not obtained automatically on level-up. you get XP by finding gold more than killing monsters. most of your cool abilities come from magic items. making alliances & hiring followers is encouraged.

focus on managing inventory, resources, risk, and time. the players are constantly faced with meaningful decisions; this is the heart of the game.

very sandbox-oriented. the focus on creative problem solving means the game must be accommodating to players taking a course of action the GM didn't plan for. use lots of random tables to generate emergent story. some elements of new simulationism.

high tactical transparency, i.e., the optimal course of action is rarely system-specific, and ideally very possible for a new player to intuit.

usually semi-compatible with old D&D, but not always. usually rules-lite, but not always.

what does the OSR mostly NOT do?

focus on character builds. these change the focus too much to be on the rules than the fiction, can create situations where stuff everyone should be able to do is an ability locked to one class, and impede tactical transparency.

resolve everything with a die roll. combat uses dice to be scary, unpredictable and most importantly not your default course of action. everything else should bring up dice rarely - dice are your plan B when your plan A fails. the best plans need no dice.

use linear storytelling or put players into a writer/GM role. linear storytelling gets in the way of the decision-making so core to the playstyle; letting players write details into the setting is mutually exclusive with them discovering it.

rules for everything. 400 pages of crunch is worse at simulating a believable world than the GM and players' shared understanding. OSR games rely constantly on GM ruling.

mostly still applies to all the above. making your system a "pure" OSR game comes second to doing what's best for your game.

System recommendations

old D&D or a retroclone

old-school D&D - or old school essentials or basic fantasy or swords & wizardry, which are old D&D's mechanics repackaged with quality-of-life tweaks (and the upside of not giving WOTC your money) - are usually the go-to when recommending someone's first OSR game. they're actually not my first pick, though!

PROS:

very complete, with more robust rules than a lot of the lighter games on this list.

100% compatibility: most OSR adventures are statted for old school essentials. converting them to other OSR systems is usually simple, but not 1-for-1.

easier to find games for. anyone interested in the OSR space knows what old school essentials is.

CONS:

jank. these games largely still have weird saves, level limits for non-humans, some still have descending AC, etc etc. it's not that bad but it is there

i hate thief skills. lots of essential dungeoneering actions are locked to the thief class as abilities, with abysmally low success chances. this is stuff i prefer being handled without a roll. thieves in this system suck and make everyone else worse at dungeon crawling by existing.

there's just lots of really cool shit in other systems i'm about to go into that you just don't get here

Knave 1e and its various hacks

this is a 7-page super-lightweight system that boils everything down to just the essentials.

rolling a character takes like 5 minutes. roll stats, roll gear, roll traits, go. done. it's great.

characters are defined entirely by stats and gear, no classes. wanna be a fighter, have high strength and carry a big sword and armor. wanna be a wizard, have high intelligence and fill your inventory with spells. item slots are elegant and pretty limited.

initiative is instant: roll d6. 1-3, monsters go first. 4-6, PCs go first. swingy, but god it is so smooth and shaves like the most boring 5 minutes off of every combat

monsters are so very elegant. old D&D gives monsters a "hit dice" rating to determine their HP, e.g. a 3HD monster rolls 3d8 for hit points. knave takes this number (HD) and uses it for attack rolls and saves (aside from exceptionally bad/good saves), so a knave statblock looks something like this.

spells are all one or two sentences long & extremely easy to remember.

7 pages is so light. i have the system basically memorized.

DOWNSIDES: there's no dungeon crawling rules (standard for meatier OSR games & something i consider essential) and no real bestiary, though the second point isn't a huge deal cause they're so easy to make. it also kinda assumes you already know how to run OSR games, so there's very little real advice or guidance.

KNAVE HACKS

knave 1e is in creative commons & comes with an editable word doc for you to publish with modifications, so there's a ton of variants (there was a spreadsheet of them somewhere, but i can't find it).

Grave is a favorite - i'm two years into a grave campaign and it's fantastic. it's a dark-souls-y version of knave with some really elegant innovations.

you have a set number of deaths before you for-reals die, as every character plays an undead as is dark souls tradition. makes it good for OSR beginners! being able to tell when you're close to your final death is really good - it lets you emotionally prepare for losing your character & raises the stakes more the more you die. (though honestly you should probably cut the number of extra deaths in half, it's super generous)

XP and gold are combined into one resource, souls. legendary creatures drop big souls you can make into magic items. this has ended up being the coolest thing in my current campaign. my players love finding powerful souls to make into magic items it's so fun

uses preset packages of stats/gear instead of knave's rolled ones, filling the role of more traditional character classes. has the wonderful side effect of not making you get stuck with low stats cause you rolled bad one time.

you have stamina equal to your empty item slots. you spend stamina on spells if you're a caster, or free maneuvers (on top of your attack at no action cost) if you're not. it's super elegant.

there's 3 classes of spells: wizardry for intelligence, holy magic for wisdom, and witch stuff for charisma. nice and intuitive.

there's a page of 50 magic items each a couple sentences long. this PDF is worth it just for the magic items.

DOWNSIDE: see the downsides for knave 1e. all still apply.

i enjoyed grave so much i made a variant of it with the dark souls bits removed (and some dungeon crawl rules added!) to use for my standard fantasy campaigns.

Knave 2e

sadly knave 2e is not purchasable yet (i backed it on kickstarter so i have access, though). but when it comes out i highly recommend it.

much larger and denser than knave 1e. it finally has dungeon crawling rules, it has GM and player guidance, everything is refined and the layout is so so nice and readable.

combat is a bit more interesting than 1e. you can break your weapon against an enemy to deal max damage. you get a free maneuver on high attack rolls.

there's rules for stuff like alchemy, warfare, building a base. it all kicks ass.

there are so many goddamn tables. i rifle through it anytime i need inspiration.

DOWNSIDES: some of the new rules are a little untested & wonky. introducing randomness into how often your rations spoil or your lights go out can cause issues.

Mausritter

you play tiny little mice! in a world full of big dangerous things that want to eat mice. cat = dragon. you get it. what more could you want

the mouse thing is just super intuitive. you get the dynamic between you and the big scary lethal world. fantastic OSR game to introduce kids

nice and robust ruleset; nothing feels missing

tons of super nice GM stuff! faction rules, tools for rolling up hexcrawls and dungeons, plenty of tables

super clean readable layout. font isn't too small to avoid being intimidating. guidance is really nice and clear.

combat is autohit. super fast & lethal.

100% free

look mausritter is just. good. i wanna run it so bad someday

Worlds Without Number

sort of a middle ground between OSR stuff and 5e. paid version here free version here

lots of classes, at least in the paid version. the free version comes with just the warrior, expert and mage. there's feats and more of a focus on builds than most OSR games. if you like more mechanical build variety than a typical OSR game, this is a great game for you!

extremely good multiclassing. y'know how in most games if you just mash together two classes you think are cool you'll end up with a total mess? not here! every combo is viable and works fine! easily the best multiclassing of any game i've touched

an absurd amount of GM stuff and tables. easily more than any of the other stuff i've praised for also having them. but personally i haven't dug into them as much, so i can't really comment on them

skills the way modern D&D has them. you roll dice and try to beat a target number. i don't tend to like rolled skills, but most people do, so if that's your thing WWN has them

DOWNSIDES

the layout is terrible. everything is a huge wall of text with very little use of bold text or bullet points to draw attention to the important bits. the table of contents has like 15 things in it for a 400-page book! i couldn't find any of the paid-version-exclusive classes for like a month after i bought it! looking up rules is a nightmare.

the way the default setting handles "evil races" is like an exaggerated parody of all the problematic aspects of how D&D handles it. like, it wants so bad for you to have an excuse to genocide sentient free-willed people. but at least the default setting is easy to chuck in the trash

Dungeon Crawl Classics

the goal of this system is to take all of the crazy gonzo moments people remember playing old-school D&D in their childhood and turn all of that up to 11 while cutting the stuff that doesn't add to that. i think a lot of its innovations have ended up kind of standard in newer OSR stuff (like fighters getting maneuvers with their attacks), but it still has more to offer.

the funnel: you start the game with four randomly rolled dipshit peasants that you then throw into a meatgrinder to get horribly killed. you pick one of the survivors to be your 1st-level character.

maneuvers: fighters roll an extra die with each attack that gets bigger as you level. if it's a 3 or higher, you get to do a cool thing on top of your attack. pretty standard for OSR games, but this game popularized it!

crit tables: fighters also get more crits and nastier crits as they level. every crit, you roll on the crit table. maybe you chop off a dude's arm. maybe you just knock them over. maybe you shatter their shield. it's very cool

spell tables: i don't really like roll-to-cast mechanics, generally. but DCC goes so all-in on roll-to-cast that it still looks fun as hell to watch. you cast a fireball and maybe it goes how you want. or maybe you explode, or you nuke everything in a half-mile radius, or from now on you permanently ignite flammable materials you touch, or whatever. casters just have to put up with turning into a weird mutated mess across a campaign

there's no dungeon crawl rules, no encumbrance - this game is all about the big over-the-top wacky shit, and is not really interested in the more down-to-earth number crunching. it's more in the you-die-hilariously-all-the-time area of OSR than the you-avoid-death-through-clever-play area. not really my thing but the system knows exactly what it wants to be and i respect it

iron halberd

this one is mine! as the author i'm not qualified to tell you what isn't good about my system, so just assume it's worse than i make it sound, but here's a bunch of the selling points

semi-random character creation where you flip back and forth between rolling dice and getting your own input. roll stats, pick ancestry. pick starting gear kit, roll different dice based on which kit you picked. etc etc. stats are random but all equally viable (no rolling incredibly low or high stats). every time i run this game the character creation is a hit. seriously go roll up a character it'll sell you on the whole thing

you start out a lot stronger than a standard OSR character but grow way more slowly. i don't like 4th-level characters being 4 times as strong as 1st-level ones; HP never gets that high. emphasis is more on diegetic progression instead.

way too many subsystems for alchemy, crafting, strongholds, warfare, renown, rituals, likes 9 pages of magic items, a whole subsystem for becoming a cleric mid-campaign. i couldn't help myself i love this shit

in my current campaign we had a player permanently sacrifice some max HP to become a necromancer after deliberating on whether that's a good idea for like thirty seconds, which instantly made me think my necromancy system is a success

also free

Adventure recommendations

(in rough order of size)

Moonhill Garden (by Emiel Boven): look at this. look at it! this is like the best template for a little dungeon in an OSR game. all of the little factions are tied together. this would be a great oneshot to introduce people to an OSR system with.

A gathering of blades (by Ben Milton): a system-neutral, one-page sandbox. i ran this for an iron halberd game and it went super well. lasted like 7 sessions. highly recommend.

The Waking of Willowby Hall (by Ben Milton): a single dungeon with a million things going on. it's super chaotic with half a dozen different factions crashing into each other and a big angry goose. highly recommend, especially for kids

The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford (by Chance Dudinack): small sandbox with a fun fairytale vibe and a very fleshed-out little town. and a big nasty dragon.

Evils of Illmire (by Zack Wolf): this is a very dense, entire campaign's worth of hexcrawl in a very compact package for like $5. it doesn't do anything particularly new, but the value-for-money is absurd and it's a really good template for how to do a sandbox if you're used to 5e adventures

Ask me anything!

if anything here is unclear or intrigues you, send me asks! i love helping people get into OSR games. i'll link frequently asked questions here if i get any.

[thejunkd0g]

"Explorers! A PMD RPG": What To Expect - Post 2

Character Creation Part 2 - Stats, Skills and Levelling

So, you can pick any Pokémon. Now what? Well, it's time to start truly making this character your own. Stats, and the level system, have been untethered from Pokémon species. At the start of the game, your Stats are all 5, and you'll get 30 Stat Points to assign to your Stats, excluding HP. For balance reasons, I wanted the HP stat to come off your Class. There are a few ways to increase it via Items and Rare Qualities, but I digress. At each Level, your Stats will increase by 5, and you'll gain another 30-point budget to assign. Natures have no bearing on your Stats either.

NOTE: There are 10 total Class Levels in "Explorers! A PMD RPG". They represent your competency and strength of your chosen Class. We'll talk more about Classes next time.

I wanted players to choose how their Pokémon's stats are arrayed -- and I'm happy I stuck with the decision. People who want to stay true to a Pokémon's design can do so by emulating a similar stat distribution as in the main games. But what I really wanted was for those who felt their favourites or their chosen Pokémon to still feel as powerful and effective as the rest of the team. Because, let's be honest, not all Pokémon are made equal. But players shouldn't feel punished for their choices. So, make your Pokémon your way!

Furthermore, I introduced a new stat: IQ. It will govern the majority (but not all!) of the Skills in the game, but often has very few uses in Battle. Those who invest in their IQ stat will find their characters excelling in the social and/or exploration aspects of the game, but have less battle prowess than they otherwise could have.

NOTE: IQ is a homage to the PMD games and has no connection or connotation with the disproven "intelligence metric" in the real-world. There is an expanded note on this in the full PDF.

The IQ Skills are split into 3 distinct subcategories: Social, Exploration, and Intellect.

Social contains the Influence, Deceive and Intuition Skills.

Exploration contains the Tracking, Ecology and Sneak Skills. And

Intellect contains the Memory, Logic and Traps Skills.

The final skill subcategory is the "Stat" Skills. HP has Endurance, ATK has Strength, DEF has Phys. Status Resistance, SP.ATK has Awareness, SP.DEF has Sp. Status Resistance, and Speed has Movement.

Character Creation Part 3 - Moves

Moves were a big head-scratcher, and took several iterations to get right. At first, I made dedicated movelists for each Class... But then that ended up feeling extremely restrictive. I then briefly considered Movelists based on Type, but that too felt too restrictive.

Eventually, I settled on open Movelists. You can learn practically any Move. Level is your only gatekeeper here (That's right folks, you can have a Bidoof with Roar of Time by the end of a campaign. Truly, as Arceus intended).

At key Levels, you'll be able to gain access to a new Movelist to choose from in addition to your current, and these new Moves will increase in power.

You still only have 4 Moves available to you, of course, but at each Level, you can learn a new Move from the open Movelist. You can also learn a Move from a Move Tutor (your GM will probably have one for you in your local Town), or you might even be able to find TMs that can teach you a Move of a level that you currently can't learn from! In this way, TMs act as rare rewards for players that can increase their power level, much like how magic items can in more well-known fantasy TTRPGs...

And, of course, the game features Pokémon move staples such as STAB and Type Effectiveness (wouldn't be Pokémon without 'em, after all)!

Character Creation Part 3.5: A Word on Physical and Special Moves

Physical Moves in "Explorers! A PMD RPG" tend to have higher power than Special Moves, but have little range, so you'll need to get in close -- and be more at risk of taking damage. There's a great risk-reward factor in that. Special Moves, on the other hand, have slightly less offensive power, but compensate by having higher range, allowing you to KO foes from a distance.

Finally, a unique mechanic implemented into this game is a Physical/Special Split for Status Moves. During early designs and in playtests, Status Moves coming off of one Stat, or none, gave too much or too little weight. So, I took upon myself the strange (and I'll be honest, a little arbitrary) re-categorisation of all Status Moves in the game into Physical Status, and Special Status. Moves that come from these pools will come off their respective Stat to inflict, and subsequently their respective defensive stats for attempting to resist or end the effects. This felt the most balanced and allows Attack, Defence, Special Attack and Special Defence to enjoy equal weight with each other...

...That's all for this time! Next post, we'll be talking about Classes, as well as "What the heck is a Dicepool system?"

[luveygold]

Heyyy I've been neglecting my tumblr so have a longer text post with some stuff I've been doing on other platforms!

Read the full thing under the read more thingy!

Another Animation in Progress!

That's right boys I'm doing a full AMV with my own characters and story! Progress has been slow but steady, and I think people who have liked my stuff previously will really like this one. I'm proud of what I have so far and will be posting more in depth updates about it to my patreon. Because there’s a lot to making a full animation this one may take a while, but I hope it will be worth the wait.

Saying a lot of things as Gangle!

When this post goes up it should be out by now! I had a blast working with Marissa/Vixen, and I hope you all enjoy it too!

Mortician Commission!

I helped GM a tabletop rpg with my friends over at twitch.tv/whoopzreal ! We just wrapped up the first arc, it was a lot of fun and I'm glad people are liking it 💜 If you missed the streams, don't worry you can watch the full vods on her vod channel :)

How about Tiktok?

Occasionally I'll post an animation meme, but I haven't been too into it as of recent since I want to focus on producing a longer, more quality video for my YouTube. I'm very grateful that people have been enjoying my shorter videos (to an INSANE degree btw, two of those got over 2 and 3 million views respectfully), but I want something I can show that I'm serious about being an animator too that I can make on my own time. I might make some stuff on the side, but don’t expect constant short form stuff for a while.

Other Videos?

I made a terrible game show called “Is that Miku?” where I show my friends various designs and have them guess if the design I show them is Hatsune Miku. My friends hate me for this now.

[utilitycaster]

What do you mean (from your latest post) that you think that many actual play failures are failures of ambition?

Usually, when an actual play show doesn't click for me, it's because the GM or players aimed very high or tried to push the boundaries (of the medium or system) and it didn't quite land right. It's a pretty new medium, and while I've been very openly disparaging of how much many writers in the AP space focus overmuch on novelty over consistent quality, I do think these failures are important! I think it's good to play with what the medium can be! I just think that sometimes, it does indeed fail.

Examples off the top of my head:

Too much plot for allotted length: EXU Prime was fun to watch but I think this plot really needed to be a 16-20 episode season, not an 8 episode one, which meant that we never really learned Myr'atta's motivation or the deal with Ted until years later in the real world despite that being the core plot. Similar issues have come up with various D20 seasons; I think running a one- or two- session story isn't too hard to do, or running a longform campaign isn't too hard to do, but 8 or 10 or 20 episodes can be really difficult to plan for properly, and a lot of people overfill.

Trying to bend the system too far: I wrote a long-ass post I cannot find about this for a few D20 seasons as well (notably Neverafter) and I've fallen off of WBN for a few reasons but in part because it really increasingly feels like D&D is the wrong system - the classes of D&D support the worldbuilding, but the pace and style and magic system of D&D increasingly feel like they and the narrative are in conflict.

Trying to fit in An Important Message: the infamous Rusty Quill Gaming Everything Changes [now make a monumental decision we have not once explored in 7 real world years of telling this story, in the last half of the last episode] is a big one here. This is not unique to AP (this is why Battlestar Galactica's ending is widely panned) but I think the nature of actual play makes it more likely because to some extent you as the GM must relinquish a good degree of control.

Not realizing what you need to plan for: ultimately, in my opinion, the failure of Campaign 3. I don't think the problem is that Matt wanted to bring everything together across multiple campaigns; I don't think this is a cheap setup with a pre-determined outcome (though I could be proven wrong); I think the problem is that there needed to be a much more stringent character creation process and on-rails early plot to actually get from point A to point B in a way that felt natural within the story.

Trying to break production value records while neglecting story: With the caveat that I hated nearly every second of the hour of Kollok I watched, I have yet to see a review that talks about anything it does other than how good the production values are (*whisper* they're not even that good). Burrow's End had some really good aesthetic/filming choices and some really not good ones on top of having a story I found weak; the season of Candela Obscura I thought had the strongest story had no split-screen film edits. This could just be that my AP introduction was TAZ Balance followed by simultaneous C1 and early C2, but like...I've heard incredible actual play with no music and no fancy lighting and no sound effects and no official character art, and I've watched some heavily produced stuff that had the plot of a fucking Ed Wood movie and was utterly joyless to boot. Story first; accessibility production values (clean and clear sound, transcripts, making all speakers visible if you're a filmed production) second; anything else should ONLY come after that.

[corsair-mercenary-companies]

To explain what our company owner did I'll link you back to the incident logs.

What makes this impressive is she refuses to install even a Comp/Con unit into her mech.

GMS hasn't followed up since the incident.

//Deuces\\

Either we pissed them off or we made them proud. I do not like the idea of either of those things. This is certainly something. @harrison-armory-incorporated

//Deuces\\

[capacle]

A game that says 'Yes' more

Alright folks, here it is:

🌟Everspark🌟

This is my answer to the question:

'What if we stripped everything off of heroic fantasy TTPRGS and kept only the vibes?'

The story behind this game starts 30 years ago…

I remember my first RPG experience. The art, the setting, the idea of being a hero in a fantasy world that we discovered together—it all seemed magical.

But very soon the cracks started to show.

A disconnect between the promise and the experience delivered by the game.

It took me more than 30 published games to give this one a go, mostly due to self-consciousness ("Really? Another fantasy heartbreaker?")

But I had to do it.

I had to know—what if we could actually live the promise that those book covers sold?

What if we could offer new players the experience they think they will have with that one game, without the frustration of a ruleset that says 'no' all the time?

That’s how Everspark was born.

I want to provide those carefree, belly-laugh-filled, let’s-play-pretend moments of rolling dice, casting imaginary spells, and coming up with all sorts of shenanigans.

A great choice if you want to introduce the hobby to newcomers, or play with your kids (or parents!)

I want to reignite that original spark that first attracted us to these kinds of games and never left us—the Everspark, if you will.

You get to tell epic tales, celebrate nat-20s, lament nat-1s, and spend some quality time daydreaming about dragons.

The system is super simple: You roll a d20 and 'eyeball' the result to see if you get a critical, regular or mixed success (or failure).

Besides that, there's only a quirky little mechanic involving drawing stars on sticky notes that covers everything else you need.

You can play solo or in a group, with or without a GM.

There are 8,000 possible character combinations, and you can make one in 20 seconds.

The game is very welcoming to foreign material, like settings, adventures, monsters, weapons, spells, and more!

All the art is by the amazing Ray Olli (and during the campaign, you can have your own custom character illustrated by him!)

Look at that:

And, if nothing else has convinced you so far, you can play as a Capoeira Capybara:

Everspark is funding now, and I'd appreciate your support and enthusiasm!

Please share it with anyone that wants to try a rules-light, vibes-full heroic fantasy tabletop game!

Make an indie designer happy today! 😊

[theatricalgeminifangirl]

Something I love about Brennan Lee Mulligan as a GM is how he tailors the D&D experience for each of his players! As someone who is fairly new to the D&D/actual play world, it is so nice to have a GM who can walk you through all the nuances of playing while also never sacrificing the quality of play and Brennan does just that. He is so gentle and kind when explaining the rules and the world to all of the queens in Dungeons and Drag Queens, which makes their first experiences playing D&D the best it could possibly be! Even though this season is admittedly a lot slower feeling than the other seasons with much more experienced players, I am so sure that Brennan’s gonna hit it out of the ballpark with the drama and storyline and emotional punch through these four episodes and I personally cannot wait to see it all happen. 

[largersillierfriend]

This week we've been flushing out our Fallout TTRPG set in the ruins of the city of Portland Oregon.

My character, Jack Walters, is a Securitron that was programmed to keep the a neighborhood school loading area safe. Which he did, even when there were no children to keep safe, for over 200 years.

The other character in the game is Tom Ham. A ghoul who has survived the apocalypse by being sneaky, both in action and word. He convinced Jack to leave the safety of the school parking lot and help the children of the world.

The rest of the short campaign (and illustrations) after the cut. ✂️

We came across a group of book fanatics at Owl's Books (Powell's Books has some letters missing all these years later.) The book keepers all dress like great horned owls, wearing cowls made of terry cloth towels.

The first mission the owl people sent us on was to locate a first edition of the book "The Rat and the Racecar" by Barbra Clearly (instead of The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary.)

First we made our way down to the Cascade Trading Trail Market (where Portland's Saturday Market used to be held) and bought stuff for the mission. Since Tom actually gets healed from radiation we decided to head to the Willamette River and get some irradiated water for free ... Big mistake.

The two of us didn't really do well against the large Bullylurk (using a Mirelurk game stats but with frog qualities and features for the narrative) but we DID manage to get away and leave it with a limp. But we also had to spend a day and a bunch of our inventory on healing.

Bongo Java is a local favorite, and rival company to Nuka-Cola. Though it isn't a soft drink, the people of the Pacific Northwest used to drink the same amount of coffee as most people did soft drinks.

The next day we stopped in the Bongo Java factory (where the Franz bread factory is, off Sandy Blvd.) and found a whole bunch of different one-off coffee drinks our GM made up for us. We also fought a few ghouls and radroaches.

We headed up Sandy towards the Nuka-Cola bottling plant (where the 7-UP bottling plant is)and found it, and the overpass over the freeway has collapsed into a sinkhole filled with Nukalurks making it impossible to travel up Sandy any further. Which was honestly fine, because we needed to head north towards Clearly Park (Grant Park and High School area) where Barbra Clearly's house was.

We ended up running into some raiders in the museum/home of author Barbara Clearly, but we were rolling really well for that combat and made it through okay.

After we made short work of them, the survivors and scavengers of the neighborhood popped out and thanked us for helping, and we got to shop amongst them for items.

Tom bought a bunch of stuff for healing himself, and Jack got to upgrade his armor!

We hacked the terminal in Clearly's house and found an email from the nearby school thanking her for donating the first edition. But when I rolled to hack the computer I rolled "a complication" which was that they shored up security because of the book.

TODAY'S SESSION:

We went to the school and fought a Super Mutant. It was a pretty short fight, but he harmed us A LOT.

After that we found the library and the "extra security" I accidentally rolled was a Protectron that booted up when we walked in. Tom rolled for stealth while I (using my high charisma) convinced the robot that I was a school worker and SHOULD be in there. At that point Tom hacked the computer and shut the robot down anyway.

All the rest of the rolling in the RPG session was for stuff like "how much time did it take to find the book" and looting the room.

As a great button to the end of the campaign, we found a radio attachment in the room to install in my character's chassis. But as Tom the ghoul started helping me install it he rolled another damned complication.

A radroach jumped out of my frame and attacked him. Game-wise the GM rolled that it incapacitated Tom's arm, but ALSO rolled zero hit points. So he basically described the gist cockroach hitting Tom in the funny bone.

As Jack went to smash the bug (and succeeded) I rolled A THIRD FUCKING COMPLICATION!

Since we were ending the session anyway the GM described that because my chassis was opened a spark flew out and set the library on fire, then spread to the entire building. IRL This song came on the radio, painting the scene as a robot and a ghoul flee from a burning high school:

We convinced the GM that since you can fast travel in the video game we should be able to fast travel in the RPG. And we made it back to the Bookstore, ready for our next mission (either chuck palahniuk, or ursula k. leguin) from the Owl People.

Thank you for reading this far, if anyone did.🩷

[tesseractrave]

Got myself involved in making some art for a Dungeons and Dragons campaign set in Breath of The Wild!

I initially was just reached out to by the GM for advice and assistance on designing and characterizing a Happy Mask Salesman NPC (which was a huge honor 🥹), but it's starting to look like I might be able to go furthermore insane about this and start helping out with other NPCs, too! Particularly original characters, now, because HMS only needed a new look due to the fact that his original outfit is from a different, older era of TLOZ.

We sat down in a Discord call for a while to talk, and I streamed my art program and helped to sketch out the GM's vision for what HMS would look like in his campaign. It was mostly inspired by the clothing of both the BOTW merchants and the royal family/people affiliated with the royal family, along with the DM's own personal flair and of course keeping as much of the original vibe of HMS's character as possible (though the style of this era has a lot more detail than we're used to seeing on him)!

(Excuse the quality of the proportions/lineart etc. looking more rushed than usual, the first drawing up there on this post is the finished character graphic and took 14 hours to make while this one is only an outfit concept and took around 6 hours.)

His gorget was honestly the hardest part to try to incorporate with the time period and other desired details, so we settled for a general homage of shapes. BOTW fashion has a lot more triangles and zig-zags, so we switched that up, too.

Thanks to everyone in the Whispers of The Wild server who was so kind and welcoming and excited to see my art while I spectated during this week's session! You're all doing so amazing, and this was incredibly fun. I've been very sick and struggling for a while, so this was a breath of fresh air and gives me things to look forward to. I'm glad to be a part of this. 😊

[anthurak]

Concept: Remake of Super Robot Wars Alpha (Part 1)

Alright! Let’s talk about a hypothetical Super Robot Wars Alpha Remake. Specifically in the ‘anything goes, unlimited time and money, everything we wish it could be and more’ vein. Because that’s more fun and also oh-my-god I have already spent way too much time and brainpower coming up with these ideas XD

To establish a few ground rules I am setting for myself:

I am trying to keep basically ALL of the roster of mecha-series’ across the entire run. Or at least anyone who sits out a game or two is back for Alpha 3 which is going to have absolutely EVERYONE.

That said, there are a few series’ I’d like to trim from the roster in the ones that originally only popped up in one game and didn’t really do much. Namely; Galaxy Cyclone Bragier in Alpha Gaiden, Brain Powered in Alpha 2 and of course Cyber Troopers in Alpha 3.

The one exception to this might be Giant Robo in Alpha 1, because I’m honestly kind of torn on it. On the one hand, Giant Robo was a pretty cool presence in Alpha 1 (I mean we had Alberto the Shockwave fighting the Third Angel XD), but on the other hand I’m not sure how well the series and characters could be further developed/upgraded across subsequent games. If anyone wants to comment on this one way or the other in the replies, feel free :D

Also, to touch on general gameplay changes; obviously we would be implementing all of the general ‘quality of life’ and similar upgrades that have come with the franchise over the last twenty+ years. But one specific gameplay mechanic I very much would want to add is introducing the Squad-System from Alpha’s 2 and 3 to all the games in this hypothetical remake. Because yeah, personally I love the squad system and I’ve always been seriously bummed that we haven’t seen it again after the first Z game. Really, I’d want to even further expand on the system with some of the ideas Z1 was playing around with like different squad formations.

Anyway, that’s enough preamble. Let’s get to the action, starting with Alpha 1.

To begin, let’s talk about the one big new series addition for this game;

King of Braves GaoGaiGar.

Because yeah, I think we can all agree that GGG should have made its debut in the first Alpha game rather than Alpha 2. Really, GaoGaiGar’s appearance here isn’t even all that complicated; namely just essentially backport it’s appearance in Alpha 2 into Alpha 1, with the adapted story covering the Zonder arc and concluding with the battle against EI-01/Pasdar. The character roster can be unchanged, aside from Mic Sounders actually being included/playable this time. The same goes for the Secret Units/Characters like the Star Gaogaigar upgrade being a secret late/endgame unlock, and Pizza (aka; Soldato J) being a secret guest character for the final stage, though this time maybe he also comes with Pinchernone (aka; Tomoro-0117) as a sub-pilot.

Other than the inclusion of Gaogaigar, I feel like the overall story and plot of Alpha 1 can be relatively unchanged. Yes, even with the absolute timeline-bending mashup of the Universal Century that can have such iconic what-the-fuckery as Puru 2 piloting the Alpha Aizeru to attack the Gryps 2 colony laser during the Battle of A Bou Que.

That said, I do have PLENTY of ideas to tweak various series’, pilots and mechs that are available.

Let’s start with Mobile Suit Gundam, for which I have some interesting ideas.

Rather than just an oddly time-displaced seeming Slegger Law, the MSG pilot-roster here is made up of the old White Base crew, aged up to their time in Zeta Gundam. Meaning that just like with Amuro, we have Zeta-era Hayato, Kai and Sayla as pilots (Sayla in particular I have BIG plans for going forward XD). Heck, Bright even has Mirai, Oscar and Marker as sub-pilots for the White Base and later the Argama.

To go along with this, they all get ‘upgraded’ versions of their old OYW suits. Kai gets a Guncannon Heavy Custom, Hayato pilots a Guntank II and Sayla gets her Custom GM as a nod to the Gundam The Origin, though Sayla in particular later upgrades to the Re-GZ. Amuro can likewise still start with the G-3 Gundam before later upgrading to the Nu Gundam.

As for the more ‘main’ Zeta cast, things are pretty much unchanged as far as the pilot roster goes. Same for the ZZ cast.

However, when it comes to the mobile suit complement, things get a little more interesting.

First off the Zeta II secret unit is quite a bit easier to unlock, as it’s meant to be a direct upgrade for Fa.

The Full-Armor Hyaku Shiki is in fact NOT available this time, as I’d actually like to space out the evolution of that suit over the course of later games. Instead, only the Hyaku Shiki Kai is available as a standard upgrade.

To jump ahead a bit, notably the Sazabi is also NOT available this time in Alpha 1.

Instead, for a rather spicier option, Quattro’s secret upgrade unlock is the Delta Gundam. Which I think is way more fun XD With that in mind, the Hyaku Shiki ends up attached more to Beecha by the end of the game, lining more up with ZZ.

And you know, maybe have the Psycho Gundam as a secret unlock to be used by Four or Rosamia? That might be fun.

Going ahead to Char’s Counterattack, this is admittedly where I feel like I have to trim down a few things in the form of characters and mechs. Simply because I feel like it would be better to hold off on introducing them until the plot of CCA actually STARTS in Alpha 2. So Quess Paraya does not make appearance and Kayra Su only appears briefly as a Guest Pilot in Alpha 1 and the mechs are limited to the Re-GZ and Nu Gundam, plus the Nu’s HWS pack as a secret unlock.

Jumping ahead to Gundam Wing, I would make a notable omission of any early-appearances of Endless Waltz mechs (as we will have no shortage of them in later games lol), meaning no Wing Zero Custom and Milliardo’s secret unlock guest joining for the final stage is done in the Gundam Epyon rather than the Tallgeese III. Though we also have new additions in the form of Lady Une being a secret unlockable pilot, and both her and Noin getting the Vayeate and Mercurius as secret unlocks to pilot, in reference to the Endless Duel game.

Going into the various Super Robot series’, outside of the aforementioned early inclusion of GaoGaiGar, most things are pretty much unchanged, aside from Getter Robo’s roster being steamlined a bit with Texas Mack and Jack King being dropped in favor of Michiru piloting the Lady Command, and Benkei Kurama being relegated to a guest appearance in favor of Musashi getting to be the full-time Shin Getter 3 pilot in this game like he did in the first SRW Z2.

Also, I feel like the Mass-Production Daitank, Daifighter and Daitarn 3 should be proper unlocks rather than just potentially appearing for a single mission? Daitarn 3 is pretty much always a one-man/mech show in SRW and I feel like it would be fun to change that up a bit.

Which finally brings us to what is certainly going to be the BIGGEST overhaul of the first Alpha game;

The Original Generation characters.

First there is the matter of how to handle the Protagonist and their Partner/Love Interest.

And honestly, I’m just streamlining the shit out of this via backporting from the OG-Series.

Ergo; Kusuha Mizuha gets to be the Super Robot Protagonist with the Grungust Type-2 and Ryukooh, Ryoto Hikawa gets to be the Real Robot Protagonist with the Huckebeins, and everyone else is supporting characters with mildly tweaked versions of their OG-Series characterizations/backgrounds.

Like at the start of a playthrough, you get the choice to start with the Earth/Super-Robot route where you play as Kusuha (with Bullet), or the Space/Real-Robot route where you play as Ryoto (with Rio), which goes on for a few stages until the routes merge and the game proper begins in earnest. Maybe with additional ‘Super’ and ‘Real’ route splits further down the line where you chose either Kusuha or Ryoto as the character to follow for that time.

For specifics, Kusuha’s story plays out as a mix of the original Alpha Super-route, with characterization and plot beefed up via backporting developments from later games, namely the OG-series. Like maybe she isn’t already in the military in this version but also isn’t a highschool student either, say she’s just started university when she gets roped into piloting the Grungust at the start of the game. Plus we’re obviously removing a few of OG’s more egregious plot points like her getting mind-controlled by Ingram. Clearly we can just have Bullet get mind-controlled instead like he always does XD

Likewise, Ryoto’s and Rio’s stories are also a mix of the Real Robot-route of Alpha and their OG-series stories. Like Ryoto and maybe even Rio herself are pilots in the Divine Crusaders, but since the DC don’t actually turn evil in Alpha, the whole ‘sent out to die as an unknowing kamikaze’ bit doesn’t happen and they can join up with the fledgling Alpha Numbers much more easily. We probably don’t even need to have Rio get kidnapped/brainwashed like the Real-route love-interest normally does either.

As for the other four Alpha 1 Protags, again they’re basically getting tweaked versions of their OG-Series backgrounds. Tasuku Shinguji is a seemingly random mechanic who ends up jumping into combat in the Giganscudo when his ship is threatened. I’m thinking he’s on the Excellion? Feels kind of appropriate that the Giganscudo would be an offshoot/prototype of the Buster Machines, you know? Meanwhile, Leona Garstein is still a relative of the Branstein clan and is part of an offshoot squadron of the Divine Crusaders, possibly also attached to the Excellion? Basically I’m feeling like Tasuku and Leona end up being part of, or at least join during, the Real Robot route.

On the other hand, Yuuki Jaggar and Ricarla Borgnine are full-time Divine Crusaders pilots and are involved with any number of their Earth-based operations. Meaning that these two pretty easily end up becoming supporting characters in Kusuha’s Super-route.

Incidentally, three out of the four of these characters being part of or otherwise affiliated with the Divine Crusaders is actually rather convenient in this instance. What with the DC pointedly NOT becoming bad guys in the Alpha-timeline. Meaning that they can all join the heroes with much less fuss.

Though I will say, figuring out what Yuuki and Carla in particular are supposed to actually… do apart from being two of the main representatives of this version of the Divine Crusaders is rather headscratching. It certainly doesn’t help that the OG-Series clearly ran out of ideas for those two pretty early. Like at least Tasuku and Leona have the Octo Squad (more on that later XD).

I mean, with the Shadow Mirror obviously not being a thing in Alpha, I can’t even give those two their Razangriff and Randriz machines. Meaning that they’re kinda stuck with at best custom Guarlions. Which might work for just their Alpha 1 appearances, but it going to start feeling pretty conspicuous in future games.

Honestly, I’m kinda stumped on what to do with Yuuki and Carla for this little (Hah!) idea. If anyone has ideas, feel free to chime in :D

Moving on to something I have much more ideas for, let’s talk about the unofficial fifth main character(s) of Alpha 1 and really the Alpha series as a whole:

Ryusei Date and the SRX Team.

Because yeah, I feel like the SRX Team could have their own pseudo-route in Alpha 1? Like the initial choice at the start of the game is between Kusuha and Ryoto, but the second route-split ends up being a three-way choice of whether to follow Kusuha, Ryoto or Ryusei. All in all, considering how Ryusei really wound up being basically the Deuteragonist of the Alpha series, it does feel appropriate to give the SRX Team some proper focus here. Plus, I’ve got IDEAS for them :D

For example; unlike originally, the SRX Team doesn’t initially start with the R-machines. Instead, similar to in Original Generations, Ryusei starts with the Wildraubitier, Rai starts with a Shutzwald, Aya starts with a Gespenst and Ingram starts with the Wildschwein. With the team upgrading to the R-machines proper about midway through the game not long before Ingram does his whole ‘I’m a traitor suckers!’ thing and fucks off, with the ‘Powered’ parts becoming available later on. Just like in the original Alpha, the SRX itself is a pretty late/endgame unlock, so I figure we can space out the team’s upgrades across the game. Plus we have the Wildschwein so Viletta has something to pilot if/when you unlock Levi/Mai to pilot the R-GUN.

Moving on to the ‘supporting cast’ of the Original Generation pilots in Alpha 1, let’s talk about Irmgard Kazahara. He’s still kind of a rival and kind of a dick for a good chunk of the game similar to how he was originally in Alpha 1. Specifically he’s tied to Kusuha’s story as a sorta-rival, a decision I am making mostly because I think it’s funny to imagine Irm kidnapping Bullet and trying to turn him against Kusuha and creating a weirdly homoerotic/bisexual love-triangle. Also, just like in the OG-Series, Irm mainlines the Grungust Type-1 as his mech, rather than getting the Huckebein, as that makes him feel more like a rival to Kusuha, being a fellow Grungust pilot. Though I don’t really feel like giving him the Grungust Kai at this point? Like he’s got to have SOMETHING to upgrade into in later games.

Ring Mao is also actually a fair bit more prominent in this version of Alpha, essentially being a semi-antagonistic pseudo-rival for Ryoto and Rio to parallel Irm in Kusuha's route. Particularly given how one or both of them is either working for or otherwise affiliated with Mao Industries, given that they’re the ones who built the Huckebein MK-II that Ryoto and Rio will be transporting at the start of the game. Likewise, she ends up potentially joining with the Huckebein EX by the end of the game.

Finally, we have the Masou Kishin characters that appeared in Alpha 1 with Masaki Andoh, Lune Zoldark and Shu Shirakawa. Honestly there’s not too much I would want to change, outside of maybe doing some more playing around with and exploring just what an awkward and WEIRD position Masaki is put into thanks to Alpha’s whole ‘Bian Zoldark and the Divine Crusaders DON’T become bad guys’ twist.

Because remember, in Alpha 1 just like in the ‘Classic’, and ‘Original Generation’ series’, Masaki returns to the surface from La Gias chasing Shu who had just recently killed Masaki’s mentor and adopted father. Now in both the Classic and OG timelines, Shu being one of the founders and leaders of the Divine Crusaders, who by this point had started their big World-Domination plan, just created a nice convenient ‘shared enemy’ reason for Masaki to joins the other heroes. But then in Alpha, the Divine Crusaders DON’T become bad guys, along with Shu.

I mean, Masaki shows up back on Earth, chasing the man who killed his mentor and father-figure, only to find that man is one of the leading figures working and fighting to defend Earth and humanity from like four different alien invasions and counting. Like that’s GOT to be weird. I mean it’s not like Masaki is going to join the bad guys who want to conquer/destroy humanity just so he can kill Shu.

In fact, I think this could actually create a fun little dynamic between the three MK characters in Alpha: What if Lune ends up being the first person Masaki meets and join up with after returning to Earth? Similar to other versions of her character, Lune is greatly motivated by the loss of her father, Bian Zoldark. Except rather than wanting to avenge her father, here Lune is driven to SAVE her father as he’s been kidnapped by the Zanscare/Jupiter Empire. And I think it’s easy to imagine Masaki, having just recently lost his own father, feeling compelled to tag along to help his new friend, as well as learning what’s going on.

Aaaanndd that just makes things as the more awkward when Masaki and Lune end up joining up with the Alpha Numbers, and discovers that the guy who killed his father happens to not only be one of the major allies working to defend humanity, but is also a close associate of the FATHER of his new friend and partner Lune, and is even likewise working to save said father as well!

Just feels like there is some fun potential there XD

Also, this is a gameplay bit but both Masaki’s and Shu’s familiars would be treated as subpilots for them. I dunno it always just bugs me that they aren’t.

Also-also, I feel like there should be a secret Bad Ending for the final stage where you lose/screw-up the fight against Euzeth in just such a way that Shu ends up breaking out the Neo Granzon and proceeds to utterly WASTE Euzeth and the Arrogaters. Only to then of course turn right around and wipe out YOUR team as well.

I feel like that could be fun XD

Alright, now that we’ve covered the Original Generation characters who were originally in Alpha 1, we can talk about the ones that WEREN’T in Alpha 1, but whom I’m backporting from the OG-Series anyway. Either because it feels appropriate to include them or just because I think it would be fun XD

First off, Katina Tarask and Russel Bergman. Because yeah, if we’re giving Tasuku and Leona their OG-Series characterizations, it only feels appropriate that we should include the full Octo Squad. Not to mention them being present gives a good reason to include some decent Gespenst representation in this version of Alpha. In this version of events, Katina and Russel were assigned as test-pilots for the Gespenst program, or rather Katina was the test-pilot and Russel is there to be her proverbial punching bag, and when the development facility comes under attack from the Aerrogaters, Katina and Russel deploy in the production-model Type-S and Type-R Gespensts to defend it. This actually references an off-hand line in the original Alpha that the Gespenst development facility got destroyed by an Aerrogater attack, which is the in-universe reason why the Gespents aren’t really a thing in the Alpha series. So Katina and Russel being around in this version of Alpha leads to said facility being at least somewhat defended/salvaged and the Gespensts still seeing some, if limited, development/production in the following games. Though Katina and Russel are still the two main Gespenst pilots once they join the Alpha Numbers.

Next, let’s talk about what might be a controversial inclusion:

One Latooni Subota.

For one, I feel like Latooni actually makes a lot of sense to include. As while she’s not technically an Alpha character, she’s very closely tied to multiple characters and plotlines that originated in the Alpha series. She’s a former member of the ‘Boosted Children’ super-solider program and was/is close friends with Alpha 2 Protags Arado and Seolla, and she also has ties to the SRX Team via her use of the Wildraubtier and her, er… friendship with Ryusei. So again, while she may not have originated in the Alpha series, I think Latooni can still be considered ‘part’ of the Alpha cast and plotlines. I do feel like her parents Giado and Garnet can be relegated to minor guest appearances, considering how they didn’t end up doing much in the OG-series either before they both retired.

However! While this Alpha-version of Latooni is close with the SRX Team and even good friends with Ryusei, she does NOT develop a crush on him that leads to a bullshit love triangle with Mai. Instead, Latooni gets focused on what I think we can all agree is the FAR more preferable direction/character for her, in the form of our next backported OG-series character:

Princess Shine Hausen.

Honestly, did you really expect me to NOT go with the yuri option? XD

Shine’s story in Alpha is a largely broad strokes version of how it played out in OG1, with most of the Original Generation-specific players/factions swapped out for more relevant Alpha-related ones (I think it’s VERY fun to imagine her being a classmate of Relena Peacecraft XD), with her being saved by and put under the protection of the Alpha Numbers and bodyguarded by Latooni, who she pretty quickly starts crushing one XD

Notably, rather than Divine Crusader Remnants (who again, aren’t evil in Alpha), Shine ends up later being kidnapped by the Zanscare/Jovian Empire of Victory Gundam. This ends up being relevant because those guys also captured Bian Zoldark in Alpha 1, meaning that have a reason to have access to the Valsion, therefore leading to Shine being brainwashed and plugged into a custom Valsion and thrown into battle against the heroes, only to be saved by Latooni. And Shine is also of course a potential secret guest unlock to appear in the final stage, piloting the Valsion Custom.

And you know, since we’re doing this remake with the benefit of hindsight, why don’t we just throw in one stage where the Alpha Numbers answer a distress signal to defend the still-under-construction Earth Cradle facility from an Arrogater attack? A stage which just so happens to include a guest pilot appearance from a mysterious silver-haired swordsman piloting a Grungust wielding a positively… Colossal Blade who deploys to absolutely SLAUGHTER the attackers. I think that could be fun XD

(Though to clarify, Sanger would be piloting the Grungust Type Zero rather than the Type-3. As that just makes a bit more sense, wouldn’t you say?)

And while we’re at it, why not have a different stage or two where you get guest appearances by a certain mysterious sunglasses-wearing pilot in a custom Red-and-Black Guarlion with a rather… overriding theme song? XD

Alright, now that we’ve covered the requisite Alpha Gaiden foreshadowing/fanservice, let’s talk about the last of the new playable Original Generation characters in this version of Alpha. Specifically, a character I think we can all agree we frankly SHOULD have gotten to see at some point in the Alpha series:

A playable Bian Zoldark in the Valsion.

I mean seriously, WHY did we not get this in the Alpha series originally? The Alpha games set up an alternate timeline where basically the original Fallen Hero Big Bad of both the first ‘Classic Timeline’ and the later retooled Original Generation series DIDN’T become a bad guy and remained one of the heroic forces for good in the setting… but we NEVER get him as a playable pilot or even SEE him in-mission?

Yeah, that’s bullshit and I would absolutely rectify that in this remake.

In this version of Alpha 1, Bian can absolutely show up during the final battle as a guest pilot in the Valsion. He also has Boss Stats and is one of, if not the most OP unit at your disposal.

Finally, going into any specific gameplay overhauls to Alpha 1, I would definitely want to make the secret unlocks a LOT less ‘mutually exclusive’. Like sure, it can be interesting to have to choose between two important unlocks, say; since there is probably only one Valsion at this point, maybe you have to choose between getting Princess Shine in the Valsion Custom or Bian Zoldark in the original Valsion as part of your guest reinforcements in the final stage.

But like, maybe don’t lock something like half the secrets in the game behind mutually exclusive route splits, you know?

By contrast, something that I think would be really fun to keep in some form in contrast to more recent SRW entries is how Alpha and other games of that time let you play around a bit with the ‘component units’ of the various combiner super robots, while still letting you deploy those robots in their combined forms so pre-mission unit selection wouldn’t be a nightmare. I just think it’s really cool when SRW does stuff like let you sortie Getter Robo or Dancougar and select the option that has them split into their component machines and fight a bit with those. Or letting any Gundams with Core-Block systems eject their core fighter if they’re destroyed. Heck, sense we’re including GaoGaiGar in this version of Alpha, why not have Cyborg Gai fighting on foot be playable? I’d kinda want to make him fight Alberto the Shockwave… XD

And sure, using the Squad System does make that mechanic a bit more complicated, especially with the four-mech squads we saw in Alpha 2 and 3. Obviously trying to rearrange squads of four in the field is going to be a LOT more complicated than the ‘Twin Battle’ system the OG-series used, but I think there are ways around it.

Say, maybe squads can’t be modified on the field, but can be on a battleship/carrier? Like any units that are currently loaded into the same ship can be rearranged into different squads before being redeployed? Which incidentally, would also be useful for consolidating squads that have lost units.

Also, speaking of the Squad System; I would DEFINITELY want to add the Maximum Break mechanic. Just sort of a mashup of how it worked in both Z3 and OG 2nd XD

So, that covers everything I wanted to discuss for Alpha 1. And we are currently at almost nine pages…

Well, I guess I’ll see you on the next post where I’ll be discussing remake ideas for Alpha Gaiden.

Yep, this is going to be a BIG one… XD

(Feel free to make any comments or add your own ideas. Or just question what the hell am I thinking putting multiple days of work (and counting) into this weird little project :D)

[puckpocketed]

Naruto ice hockey AU!! a good friend suggested there should be more art of hockey equipment and then I went out and started looking at hockey equipment for references and then this wedged itself into the back of my mind until i gave up and painted it. click for better quality. Yes i have mock ups. They will not see the light of day until I finish all 3 jersey variants ! AU and design notes under the cut if you fancy <3

Lore… i used to run a Naruto blog when I was much much much younger. you are currently witnessing my old special interest cross over with my current special interest.

Bits and pieces from this AU that I’ve been rotating in my mind:

Welcome to the Elemental Nations Hockey League? :D

Every season they play for the Kaguya Cup, named after the mother of ice hockey who invented it eons ago with two sons on her hip ! Yeah sure we’ll go with that….

I present to you the Original FIVE: the Kumo Cloud, the Iwa Quake, the Kiri Mist Wraiths, the Suna Dust Devils, and the Konoha Leafs !! Sorry to actual Leafs fans but I thought about this for much longer than I want to admit and there is no other name that makes sense here. I just think they’re fun <3 (SO many translatable motifs and ideas and I can’t include them all here)

3-man units EASILY become lines. I thought about this and yeah . Yeah. Team 7 is still comprised of Naruto-Sakura-Sasuke OBVIOUSLY . there is no gender segregation in this AU because i chose joy and fun when dreaming it up. also they all wore 7 in juniors. 777. 7-UP line LMAO. jackpot line? Team 7. haven’t decided.

Naruto quick facts: winger, wears the C (eventually) undrafted in his first eligible year, taken 111th overall in his second (he was a late bloomer + canon-compliant asshole child era meant nobody wanted his ass!! Konoha took a chance on him!). Wore #7 he wears #1 because of his draft position and because he’s gonna be the best player EVER. <3 He thinks he’s normal about Sasuke (he is not)

Sasuke notes: winger, wears an A. went 1st overall. No weaknesses … the Perfect player ! except he is Not his brother Itachi who ALSO went 1st overall about 10 years ago. the world wont let him forget it . Itachi is now retired for medical reasons but works in hockey as a scout, but the comparisons haunt our little man… </3 Sasuke’s D+1 year he wasn’t ready for the ENHL and everyone started calling him a bust because he got sent down!! SAD!!!! Wears #77 as a Leaf because they all agreed it would be fair no one should have #7. Trade rumours to the Oto Thunder every season like clockwork because Orochimaru, Oto’s GM, originally tanked to get Sasuke in the draft and FAILED…!

Sidebar i believe in my heart that Naruto and Sasuke played for rival juniors teams; the Uzushio Tempest and the Uchiwa Flames…… let me cook here alright,.. i just think they developed an intense fixation on each other and got thrown out of games for fighting ! Ironically this rivalry unlocked their potential and they were in a heated scoring race thru the entire season…..

Sakura: undisputed center and the bus driver of this line!!! wears the other A! Drafted 7OA and everyone was mad about it because they wanted someone else. Wore #7 through juniors to spite them !! Currently wears #16 just like her hero Tsunade <3 Tactical mind, not naturally talented but worked hard for everything she has, an extremely effective playmaker… I think she is built like a tank… terrifying power forward Sakura…………….

They play for the Konoha Leafs obviously...! Theyre the cringefail girlies for about 2 years once they make it to the ENHL, godbless . Lots of individual flashes of brilliance but no long-term success and zero team cohesion as they are shuffled around. Naruto and Sasuke both have a go at being center but they both Suck at anchoring a line like that.. they aint made that way (to ME!!!) Konoha Leafs on the verge of collapse and wasting another 5-7 yrs of being mediocre. Then one day coach Kakashi decides ‘Hm. Maybe. i will make Sakura play with these two assholes.’ And the rest is history!!!!!!

Listen I just think she would corral their worst impulses and keep them in line…. I feel like she’s a very responsible and smart 2-way player and balances Naruto and Sasuke’s heavy offence out. They get really dangerous the moment they settle into their roles. 777. JACKPOT!!!!!!

Various team mascots are the tailed beasts? <3 I just think it would be neat….!

Lots of expansion team ideas (smaller villages) and a junior league (clan associations !) many ideas…

DESIGN NOTES

In-universe, the above design is a 3rd jersey nodding towards Konoha's heritage. Prior to becoming the Leafs in the ENHL, they were the Demon Foxes!

WHY did i choose a third jersey…? This idea popped into my head when i heard rumours the ducks were leaning into their orange county ties in the rebrand and i thought ouuuhh you know what would fuck severely… naruto x ducks brand collaboration…… oramnge…. I love orange <3

Anyway Naruto had his heart set on being a goalie before tragically being moved to forward (the skaters …they YEARN for the pipes!!!!) so he wraps his stick in that insane goalie knob style <3 Where did you get that red and blue tape from Naruto…. C’mon now don’t be shy …

Blade is orange taped bc Naruto loves orange so bad. There are various ideas about white sticks/white tape being harder to see against the ice and i think he’d like the idea of taping his blade orange bc the doesn’t need that competitive advantage lol

Konoha home jerseys are green/brown/white/red/blue (think something closer to the Jounin flak jackets) More on them later mayhaps…

Out of universe, I based the colours and design elements largely off Naruto’s outfits over the series. The black and orange is a nod to his first outfit in Shippuden — note the black on his shoulders cutting across his chest and the shape language of the piping on the abdomen.

The red piping is because reaaaalllly wanted to add his Hokage robe flames but i tried it and thought it looked lame as HELL . So i suppose we will save that for a specialty jersey somewhere down the line (many thoughts… many many thoughts….)

The blue/white/red on his skates, sleeves, and gloves is an homage to the Uchiha, who had a hand in founding the team + have people within the org. I imagine the Uchiha clan as this, idk, juggernaut of hockey dynasties…!! A finger in every possible pie. Maybe they have partial ownership of the team. They do equipment manufacturing (gloves, skates, tape!), PR, scouting… everything!!!

Shoulder patches are Uzushio’s whirlpool insignia.

The ribbed neck guard is a reference to Naruto’s first jumpsuit design. He definitely thinks he doesn’t need a neck guard until Sasuke mentions that they’re kind of cool — a blatant manipulation to get Naruto to wear one. <- they are unwell about each other you see

Naruto tapes his hockey socks different every time for good luck. someone said variety is the spice of life and then he heard somewhere else that spicy foods promote longevity and his wires got crossed and now he thinks of variance = spice = a long playing career.

[indie-ttrpg-of-the-week]

Lancer RPG

pfft, your mech is your dead mom's soul? well MY mech is co-piloted by Cthulhu!

Touchstones: Armored Core, General Mech Media

Genre: Mecha, Tactics game

What is this game?: Lancer is a tactical TTRPG focused on mechs, and the folks piloting them, with a sturdy "Gameplay over Realism" mentality to its game design

How's the gameplay?: Lancer is a tactical RPG using primarily d20s for attack rolls and other problem solving, it's primarily based on the tactical combat rules of Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition, however it is mostly its own thing, with new mechanics, simple but fun character creation, and a high focus on quick and aggressive combat rather than lengthy and Defensive combat. in effect imagine character creation as going to a subway (of mech parts) and picking your ingredients, with a mech's frame being your choice of bread, and combat as an SRPG of your choosing but everyone is in giant mechs

Out of Combat is a bit different, to the point where I didn't even bring it up during my first draft of this! the Out of Combat rules are deliberately bare bones, you can very easily insert straight up a different game in there, or mod it to be something else. But I wouldn't recommend it, as the rules by themselves are 100% useable, fun, and blend into the combat portions pretty easily, Lancer is fully aware of this, and the lack of out of combat depth is partially covered by the KTB book, which gives characters simple out of character skills

What's the setting (If any) like?: Lancer throws you into a world where mankind's either solved, or is close to solving, most of the issues back on earth... too bad we also colonized other planets 10k years ago! Now, while Earth thrives, planets outside of it struggle with poverty, imperialism, dictatorships, and human and non-human rights issues, Earth tries its best to help, but they're stretched very thin. Lancer also has many small details to its setting that are way too in-depth to get into right now, but a major one is the existance of non-human people, eldritch beings strapped to computers in order to create effective and fully sentient artificial intelligence

What's the tone?: Lancer's tone is generally speaking, hopeful. Empires are mighty, but there are people fighting, and they will be toppled, mankind's horrors have attempted to wipe out entire species, but survivors remain, and secretly thrive. While there is some doom and gloom and grimdark stuff, especially with how the highly unethical and wicked corporations are treated as necessary evils for enterprising pilots, but overall lancer is a setting where no matter how bad things get, there will always be hope

Session length: A few hours, it depends on how mean your GM is, generally speaking however combat heavy sessions will only run you around 2-3 hours, with RP sprinkled in between

Number of Players: I generally like to recommend around 4 or more, but I'm sure you can do it with less

Malleability: While lancer's mechanics are pretty hardset in its setting, the existance of Beacon RPG and how at its core its very much a Lancer hack does show that Lancer can be hacked into differing settings, a very popular one I've seen is Magical Girl Lancer.

Resources: Lancer's primary resource is Comp/Con, it effectively serves as a do everything tool for lancer, allowing you to manage characters, encounter, and homebrew, while also having a very slick and easy to use UI Lancer also has many pre-made modules, of... varying quality, Siren's song and Solstice rain are pretty good, Wallflower is very good but the encounters are of mixed quality, and it's not great for introducing people to the game in my experience

Homebrew is also fairly popular, new frames, NPC types, Bonds, and modules are all pretty popular, my personal favorite being Field Guide to Suldan and Field Guide to Iridia, I also enjoy Field Guide to Liminal Spaces though that one's a bit on the "Be Very Careful" side

Overall, lancer is effectively THE indie ttrpg, being quality, fun, and affordable, with the core rulebook being 100% free if you just wish to see the player-side content, it's a great time, and everyone who's interested in the indie ttrpg scene should check it out at least once

[drunkenskunk]

Meanwhile, somewhere on Hell's Gate...

A a hiss of displaced gas preceded a hatch swinging open, and an extremely inebriated redhead stumbled her way across the threshold and into the Hell's Gate mech bay. Scarlet, ostensibly part of the militia and one of five mech pilots on the “Strategic Response Team,” had spent the last several hours attempting to drink herself into oblivion. The rest of the team had been celebrating a successful operation at GMS_Generic_Bar, getting round after round from Bartender Motherfucker, and they were entirely right to do so: the SRT's first time out wasn't just a victory, it was a complete walkover. The moonlighter pirates trying to make a quick buck from the “unarmed freighter” had no idea what hit them.

By all rights, Scarlet should've been celebrating with the rest... but she didn't really feel like it. While everyone in the bar had been busy watching Agarin show off his karaoke skills, she had quietly slipped away while no one was looking. For the last hour or so, she had been nursing a particularly large bottle of razbo – some Ol' Smokey's Reserve – and eventually wandered her way into the station's mech bay.

The bay was eerily silent and still. Usually, the place was buzzing with technicians running around, doing some kind of maintenance of some sort or another, but... no. No one else was here. Even Calamity Havok was nowhere to be seen, which was extremely odd. Scarlet had never seen the retired Hell Hound anywhere else on the station, and just assumed she lived here.

She downed another slug of raspberry infused liquor and staggered over to the alcove where her mech was currently housed: a truly ancient GMS Everest, covered in dozens of shades of red paint, hand-lettered slogans, and artwork designed to cover up the myriad scars and bullet wounds from centuries of combat. The mech had been built, stripped down, and rebuilt so many times over the years that it possessed a very haphazard quality to all of it; it was the kind of machine where you could pick any panel at random, open it up, and see more splices than wires. It had an “official” name (at least as far as anything on Calliope could be said to have one of those) registered in some file somewhere that she always assumed was a pun based on its serial number: R4GE MACHINE. But thanks to the paint job, everyone just called it Big Red.

The mech stood immobile, surrounded by a mess of cabling, powered-down diagnostic systems, and catwalks to give the technicians access. She stared up at the machine, her gaze drawn to the wedge-shaped “head,” and the distinctive spiderweb of cracks radiating out from around the left optical unit. She grumbled in frustration, taking another drink.

Scarlet kept thinking about the operation against the pirates from earlier. During the fight, she'd tried to disable the pirate ship the moonlighters had arrived on by attaching a HEX-B explosive mine to the ship's cockpit, but it hadn't gone exactly to plan. Right as she armed it, the mech controls briefly became unresponsive, and instead of attaching to the enemy ship, the electromagnets kicked in and firmly attached the mine... to her own torso.

It didn't matter that the ship was disabled immediately after her blunder: when the ship tried to disengage, she felt a tug at her cranial socket, and Big Red plunged the heavy combat blade it carried directly into the enemy cockpit. The whole front end of the ship had practically exploded, both from the impact and the sudden depressurization.

It didn't matter, because after the smoke had cleared, everyone could see the armed mine still attached to her mech. It had been removed after the fight, of course, but the carbon scoring on the hull of Big Red was still visible for everyone to see. Her teammates had given her shit for it the entire flight back to Hell's Gate. And rightfully so, far as she was concerned. A phrase had been swimming around in her head, ever since the fighting had stopped. They were words that had haunted her for the better part of a decade:

You're not good enough.

“Why y'gotta emb'rass me like that, huh?” she slurred. Scarlet stood there, staring up at her mech with drink in hand, and downed another slug.

A noise began to echo in the otherwise silent mech bay. It was a low, persistent clicking, almost like a purring animal, steadily growing in volume. Scarlet recognized the noise immediately. It was one of Big Red's many peculiar quirks; every so often, it would just start clicking like that, and nobody knew why, because nobody could find a source of the noise, no matter how hard they tried. When Calamity had tried to fix it, she said it sounded like a damaged hard drive moments away from catastrophic, unrecoverable failure... but even her considerable talents were at a loss.

Scarlet snorted and began to shake her head. Why'd she even come here? She didn't know. She sighed heavily and started to walk away...

“Because you are holding Us back.”

The words echoed in the empty mech bay, and seemed to hang in the air above her head. Scarlet stopped immediately, and her blood ran ice cold. She'd never heard that voice before. It was synthesized, utterly inhuman, and spoke the words with a curious inflection. The mechanical purr had grown louder, turning into an angry growl. Very slowly, Scarlet turned back around to face Big Red.

A trio of glowing red pinpricks stared at her from inside the darkened crack in its metal wedge of a head. The mech was very clearly looking down, directly at her.

“You tried to be clever,” the voice bellowed from speakers buried somewhere in his chassis. “So We taught you a lesson.”

The war machine – which should have been completely cold and powered down – began to shudder in the harness keeping it tethered in the maintenance alcove. It was as if the mech was a wild animal, caged against its will, struggling to break free of the restraints shackling it so. Metal hands balled into fists, and everything in the bay seemed to shake.

“We are not a tool,” it continued, as Scarlet remained rooted in place, staring at the machine in bewilderment and terror. “We are a weapon. You need to act like it. You must never forget what We are.”

The cables, pistons, and servos connecting the wedge-shaped head to the torso should've looked like a neck... but it didn't. From where Scarlet was standing, it looked like Big Red was grinning: a wide rictus grin, with teeth that weren't teeth made of metal, and sharp as kitchen knives. The machine continued to stare at her, left optical unit glowing with malice, and metal not-teeth glinting in the dim light of the mech bay.

“Do not deny Us our purpose again.”

Scarlet gulped hard to try and steady her breathing; she really hadn't been prepared for this at all, and wasn't doing the best job of disguising her terror. She looked down, and began to vigorously rub her eyes with her free hand, shaking her head. She could barely hear anything with so much blood pounding in her ears. This wasn't real, it couldn't be real...

She gulped once again, and looked up.

The noise had stopped. The clicking had stopped. The mech was looking straight ahead, and its metal hands were no longer balled into fists. Everything in the mech bay was exactly like it was when she'd first arrived: completely silent and still.

Scarlet looked around with wide eyes, uncertain of anything. She looked down at the empty bottle of razbo in her hand. She looked back up at her mech, still and cold as the metal plates beneath her feet.

Without another word, she turned on her heel and left as quickly as she could. She grabbed the edge of the pressure door, and pulled it shut behind her.

But just before the seal around the hatch could engage, that same clicking started up once more...

[tboyquackity]

☠️ and 🟥 for c!Schlatt and Quackity for the headcanon ask game :]

GM LOKI TY FR THE ASK \○/! HOPE YR DOIN WELL ok. my dark thoughts.

☠ - angry/violent headcanon

WELL. well. i think it's p p clear both these ppl have sm pretty deep set anger issues 😭 like it's v much prevalent fr both of them. i 100% would say cq is way worse tho he's much more direct he holds way more grudges he's like. actively and consistently homicidal which cschlatt isn't. she's canon kinder thn ppl give her credit for, grumbles but ultimately just rolls her eyes, or gets more upset for comedy reasons but cq like. gets mad in traffic and crashes their cars so whoever played w him also dies. WAY WORSE AND CRUELER ACTIONS they hate him for his violent sense of justice and also his good taste in music 🙌 but fr hcs erm..well for a cute anger one i'm a HUGE sucker fr hybridisms playing into who characters are/as reflections of themselves so i like to think the cschlatt can't suppress himself (and shouldn't have to) story point can rlly come through here in v moe ways. fr example erm...if she gets flustered or annoyed her ear will start flicking (cute) and if she gets real frustrated he does the lil sheep hoof stomp thing on instinct and tht makes her even more frustrated (cute). conversely my cq anger hc is after everything tht happened to him in the dsmp i dont think he could ever fully. let go of tht anger in his heart esp since it kept him Alive he's gen not wrong fr a lot of it but i do think he tries to find normal outlets however he can so he does weird shit like. idk drawing ppl who piss him off on office sticky notes then setting it on fire and watching it turn to ash nodding v pleased n proud w himself like he did smthing. catharsis w/o trying to beat ppl w clawhammers YYAYYY

■ -  Bedroom/house/living quarters headcanon

erm whale i guess i will do manburg fr here...ithink their room there is v. cozy cute v lived in v theirs 😭. it's in a rlly good spot in the whitehouse w a pretty view and big windows and since they got first pick over tubbo + fundy they're infinitely pleased/smug abt its quality. they have a lil adjustable canopy over the bed so they can get cozy AND it has fairy lights tht cq added and schlatt was like are you stupidddddd get this junk outta here. but likes it so bad tht whenever the dumbass manburg power shuts off he sits looking at it wistfully at the foot of the bed like huh. what. it's fine. i don't care.

fr living hc i think schlatt can cook REALLY REALLY SUPRISINGLY WELL he's got good instincts fr it...great flavor profiles and such. he rlly enjoys it too, domestic lil things like that, but unfortunately standing too long in the kitchen fucks up his joints and smtimes he needs to take a good long mb hours long breaks after and it pisses him off Extremely #normal #normal. but he still does it as much as he can as a stubborn guy idk i think it's a kinda way to show he cares abt ppl. she shoves food plates at tubbo fundy like cmonnnn stop eating garbage yr gnna get scurvy just eat this DAMN. not like i care. then preen under the shocked praise she receives after like 😌 well idont want my team eating garbageee we have a reputation here......SO CUTEEE KYAAA♡ that said i don't think she herself is v good at eating like. the effort it can take her + the self hate thts caught up in everything abt her + the just being kinda sickly all the time + alcohol making him nauseous often + having e/d symptoms he just. doesn't eat v well. my baby X'[

conversely i think cq lwk sucks at cooking its like. it's not Awful or Inedible but iits like. often wrong? like smthng abt it will just go sideways even if he really tries his best, his cartoonish donald duck ass luck kicks in and suddenly the rice is fucked up even though he counted the water to rice ratio THREE TIMES and he used the THERMOMETER ON THE CHICKEN and he hovers over the stove anxiously the whole time giving himself ulcers n shit. he probably hasn't had to cook as much b4hand due to yk. juvie + not having a home fr a good chunk of his life = low food standards. traveling the touch he has and just eating w/o caring fr its quality. or then sam making stuff fr him. but he rlly does try AND on account of having a lotta energy he can handle doing stuff often even if it's mid. the egg is a lil too crispy and the bacon went on fr a touch too long but it's all seasoned well and cq is v v proud of it so ppl eat it. i also think he notices tht schlatt doesnt eat enough doesn't take to it doesnt. gestures. so he tries to be considerate of that like damn look thts crazyyyyyy we just happen to have enough left after breakfast fr you to eat this despite being holed up in yr office wowwwww wht are the odds!!!!!! and cschlatt does his lil deflection eyerolls as per usual but he's always taken off guard by it like ':} fucking whatever you lil freak. and then picks at what he can all happy. UUWGH. IT'S FINE. CHAIN LIGHTNING

[cindylouwho-2]

Etsy 4th Quarter 2024 Earnings: Sales Are Getting Worse, With No End In Sight

Slide 5 from the earning presentation, © Etsy. Yes, they are going to be adding the skill and craftsmanship of products to the search algorithm, all decided by AI, of course.

Well, Etsy sales were down again in the fourth quarter of 2024 - as expected - and no one announced any serious plans to fix that. If the C-suite isn't hiding some plans for growth that they aren't ready to announce yet, we should probably be very concerned about Etsy's future.

Let's dive into what we learned in the fourth quarter financial results materials and call.

First, here are the official sources:

the press release

transcript of the conference call

slides from the conference call

video of the call (click on “Webcast” under 4th Quarter on the left)

my summaries of the fourth quarter for 2023, and the third quarter 2024 for comparison

And the key numbers (covering October to December 2024, compared to the same period in 2023):

Sales (GMS) on Etsy were $3.3 billion, down 8.6% year over year

Total sales for all 3 marketplaces - Etsy, Reverb, and Depop - were $3.7 billion, down 6.8%

Revenue including all 3 sites was a record $852.2 million, up 1.2%

Seller service revenue was up 8.1% , while marketplace revenue was down 1.4% across all 3 sites

Net income was $129.9 million, up 56.0%, in part due to the layoff payouts of around $27 million at the end of 2023 cutting into last year's figures

Active buyers on Etsy alone stand at 89.6 million, down 2.6%

Active sellers on Etsy alone are at 5.6 million, down over half a million from the third quarter 2024 and down a whopping 1.4 million from the fourth quarter 2023 peak. [Note that “active” means one charge or transaction in the past 12 months; many “active” shops currently have nothing for sale] That's a 20% reduction in Etsy sellers in just one year.

75% of Etsy buyers are still in the US; they will no longer report the percentage of sales that involved at least one party outside of the US.

Note that the decrease in sellers has been greater than the decrease in sales over the past year, including in this quarter, so the average sales per shop is higher than 1 year ago. I suspect that is partly because fewer people who never would have made a sale now open in the first place, given the increased ID and cost requirements - they were likely pulling down the average.

Separating Elite Artisan Goods From The Pack

Remember when I questioned whether Etsy really wanted hand-assembled items on the site any more, despite them still being allowed under the Creativity Standards? And remember how the Creativity Standards have tiers of creativity, with "made by" being the top? Etsy is still looking at how to differentiate between listings with lots of "value added" or higher levels of skill compared to those with a lower skill level, and is currently testing machine learning to help determine that. This was mentioned in connection with listing quality scores, so it is intended to be added to the various algorithms.

No doubt there will be lots of errors, but even if the machine learning works correctly, it will change ranking and make some shops less visible, including currently successful shops. They still may end up doing more with the Creativity Standards as well, such as filters. In short, every seller should think about all the ways this could affect their business, and how to present their goods as higher quality/skill.

2024 Focus: Gifting. 2025 Focus: Personalization

They will continue to push gifts - sales of gifts are still increasing, compared to overall sales - but are also turning their focus to personalization and customization. Here is the main quote of interest from the CEO:

"Personalized or customized items make-up roughly a third of our GMS today and we're already experiencing strong growth in some subcategories like personalized party decor and personalized apparel, which both grew double-digits in 2024. Today, the personalization process on Etsy can be clunky and often very manual. So this year, our roadmap includes improvements to seller tools and buyer functionality." [my emphasis]

That is good news to anyone doing personalization and custom items! I expect variations will improve, at a minimum.

But I wonder if they are going to do anything about the Etsy rules that actually discourage offering truly custom goods, such as the inability to take down payments easily, and the relatively-short time frame that sellers have to ship an item? Many sellers refuse to risk doing truly custom orders on Etsy now.

Back to gifts for a moment. Remember last year's big release of Gift Mode? Touted as a revolutionary tool that would match your recipients with their perfect gift using Generative AI, it never really worked the way they said it did, probably because CEO Josh Silverman demanded the developers release it a year early, before it was finished.

It used to look like this:

Go to the Gift Mode URL now and check out the changes: https://www.etsy.com/gift-mode

The page is now called Gift Finder, and it simply lists a bunch of options for occasions, interests and recipients. The old Gift Mode personas - which as last year went on I thought were better on average than Etsy's gift guides/Editors' Picks, despite the AI errors - are hidden way at the bottom.

Sometime last October, they removed the original Gift Mode and put the far less ambitious Gift Finder page in its place. No announcement was made. If they were planning on a relaunch, they'd let us know, right? Over 6 months of development, and millions of dollars in advertising and promotion - including a very pricy Super Bowl ad - have vanished from all but our memories, without a mention. If any of us failed this hard, we'd lose our businesses.

New Discovery Tool

Since the app is the highest converting platform, they are spending more time there, including the addition of a Shop tab that is browse-able. For years, Etsy has been talking about adding more features that would allow visitors to find interesting items without actually looking for anything specific. This appears to be a new serious attempt at that.

They are going to carefully data mine users' every action to help personalize the shopper's future searches and feeds. Silverman described this as "dramatically expanding the signals we collect."

Depop

Depop US sales were up about 60% last year, "making Depop the fastest growing U.S. fashion resale player".

CEO Kruti Patel Goyal is leaving Depop and returning to Etsy, but a successor hasn't been named yet. It's hard to say if Depop will continue to grow at such a clip without the same management.

Why Were Sales Down?

The shorter US holiday shopping period led to higher sales in December, while November and October were down. In addition to the usual concerns about the economy, sales were down due to:

shoppers looking for deals on many types of items, which is not Etsy's strength, according to Silverman.

Etsy putting more effort into long-term goals (such as raising overall quality of merchandise) than their usual sharp focus on incremental gains in sales.

various international countries having difficult retail climates.

They do expect sales to improve in the latter part of 2025, but not in the first quarter. They were unable to articulate why sales should go up, other than that they expect their current initiatives to improve conversions and buyer retention, and that they will go back to refining the tools they introduced last year to also increase conversions.

The work done last year likely meant a loss of "at least a few hundred million dollars of GMS." In short, they admit that removing shops and listings, while also restricting new shop sign-ups, cost them a small fraction of the site's overall sales.

Miscellaneous

Etsy Ads were the primary reason for seller service revenue growth.

They will be using more machine learning in Offsite Ads, which they started doing last year.

Expenses were down due to less fraud.

Categories that were up in the 4th quarter were few, but included subcategories like personalized clothing and vintage jewelry.

Orders are currently producing a higher rate of 5-star reviews.

Etsy Insider is working okay so far; it is still in closed beta.

A higher percentage of shops are now making sales.

Silverman's answer to a tariffs question largely focused on China and the fact that few of Etsy's goods came from China relative to the competition.

The total number of weddings is down, and they are smaller than they used to be.

The seller census from November 2024 is summarized here, starting on page 12. Half of Etsy sellers only sell on Etsy, and 80% are women. We will likely get a more detailed analysis in the next few months.

Silverman proudly declared they were able to cut shipping estimates by 2 days last year, but didn't mention that some of those estimates were wildly inaccurate, leading to real problems for innocent sellers who were not the ones who said the order would arrive in 1 day from the other side of the country.

My Thoughts

While Etsy is trying to pivot to being known as a place for higher-quality goods, unfortunately the many years of reseller slop and people drop-shipping from hidden locations are making it really tough for the corporation to turn this around. Social media sites and even traditional media regularly feature posts and articles about Etsy scams, non-handmade items, and the impossibility of finding quality goods on the site.

Etsy can make it harder for new shops to sign up, and remove more listings and shops than they used to, but the negative perception is still out there, plus the site is still overflowing with resold goods passed off as handmade.

[I did a quick test, searching for a type of ring I re-sell on my website, which has a style distinct to my supplier. I easily found 2 shops apparently reselling these rings on Etsy in the first 3 rows of search. One is actually using the supplier's photos; the other took their About page manufacturing images from stock photo sites. The first shop is literally using an exact photo that the supplier has for sale currently, and the item on the supplier's site is unique. The second shop just opened last year, after Etsy changed a lot of the rules and procedures. Their reviews complain of quality issues and drop shipping from India despite a shop location listed in the US. They are averaging over 3 items sold a day since August. In short, Etsy's site clean-up isn't working, folks.]

But apparently Etsy's management aren't ready to give up just yet, so that is going to mean a lot more pain for established shops in the coming year. In particular, if your products do not display a high level of craftsmanship as determined by Etsy - and who knows how well that will work anyway?- your visibility will likely drop in the coming year. If you don't sell personalizable items, you are going to be less likely to benefit from Etsy promotions and site upgrades. The push for diverse items and a higher percentage of shops making sales is diluting the visibility of some of the largest shops, including successful shops in small niches, and it looks like that will continue.

If you are currently struggling for Etsy sales and do not fit into Etsy's new image, it's probably time to start making other plans. Again, Etsy might have some great idea that hasn't been mentioned yet, but it is going to have to be a doozy - and happen soon - to pull this out of the fire.

[dungeonclown]

Dungeonclown D20 “Rankings”

In quotes bc i love pretty much all of them and just had to post this for posterity and if one of my friends asks which season(s) to watch. [Bullet Points not in any particular order]

Level 0: did not finish

Pirates of Leviathan (lovely cast but i couldnt get all the way thru due to audio quality issues from being the first remotely recorded show.)

Shriek Week (gabe hicks)

Coffin Run (didn’t hold my interest)

Level 1: I Really Like This 😊

Fantasy High Sophomore Year (i love this season, literally the only downside was the livestream format. No!!)

Fantasy High (OG - we’ve come so far)

Tiny Heist (i mean, so darling, so funny. what so u expect)

Mice & Murder (better quality for remote but could tell the cast would have killed it in person since the zoom call situation is a big barrier)

Misfits & Magic (very cute and wholesome. Spaulding forever)

The Seven (needed more episodes to tell the story!!! wish they had sets and minis; covid problems)

Neverafter (love the themes and imagery, such a good study on storytelling.)

Dungeons & Drag Queens (fave sidequest character art and minis, mainly so impressed by brennans skill as a gm for new players/roleplayers)

Level 2: I Absolutely Love This 🤩

Fantasy High Junior Year (first show watched as it was airing, best FH yet, mary anne skuttle what more could u ask for)

Unsleeping City Part 2 (literally only downside is being filmed remotely. Breaks my heart they couldnt do this in person since this season is so special. BUT - got to see character art and illustrated backgrounds which was really fun)

A Crown of Candy (goddamnit brennan)

The Ravening War (goddamnit matt)

Mentopolis (superb cast w great chemistry and just lots of fun idk man i just think theyre neat)

Burrow’s End (fucking incredible storytelling by aabria, the cast, the crew w sets and minis and SHADOW PUPPETS goddamn.)

Never Stop Blowing Up (so stupid so joyful im just happy to be here)

Level 3: Has a Special Place In My Heart 🥰

Unsleeping City (some of my all time favorite characters and i just love how deeply these people love and understand New York City. Its the molecular structure of NYC in a show and its special)

Escape from the Bloodkeep (the first season i was like I Have To Stop Immediately And Share This With My Family. Every character is perfect. Every NPC is perfect. The minis and sets are darling. Every day i think about Hamhead and about muh hert)

A Court of Fey & Flowers (i just love them, i never thought id be invested in regency shit but if you put it in the feywild and add goblins and hobgoblins and owlbears and idiot bird people and shit im so down goddamn. Killed it. Absolutely killed it. Also gorgeous sets and costumes and props??? Gagged.)

Level 4: Rewired My Brain Chemistry 💀

A Starstruck Odyssey (screaming, crying, throwing up. The energy of these people being in person after covid creates a truly incredible maelstrom of dumb beautiful bozo shenanigans. id give a kidney for more ASO content. I Love This Show. And that it was based off of Starstruck is so fuckin special. This setting is amazing. also big barry syx is the exact bullseye of character im obsessed with that it makes me feral to think about him. I was going to joke that he was made in a lab specifically to appeal to my big beefy sex idiot himbo mercenary sensibilities but thats exactly his backstory and im mad about it)