#I don't know if the game they're playing is strictly d&d

[strixcattus]

Thinking about my STP D&D AU (need to come up with a name for it so I can stop with the abbreviation salad) and I'm in a "this is an in-universe D&D campaign" mood

—The Voices are generally all friends with most of the others outside the game, and most of them have played a campaign with the Narrator as DM before. Hero is the Narrator's friend who's never played before, and Broken is Hunted's roommate (Hunted is trying to get him some form of social interaction for his mental well-being and he agreed to try out D&D) —Skeptic, Paranoid, and Cheated have been playing the longest out of the group (Skeptic's and Cheated's characters are probably concepts they've been waiting to play for a while) —Cold and Broken both got stuck on character backstory and the Narrator offered to let them roll on a d100 table to give them a place of origin. He immediately regretted that decision. —Most of the Princesses are NPCs. The Razor, Witch, and Thorn are the only ones who are actually PCs, though their players tend to show up more sporadically than the Voices. —The reason the Narrator is so annoyed by the Voices refusing to slay the Princesses is 70% because his plot didn't account for it and 30% because he backed himself into a corner with their voices and he's too proud to admit it's really hard to pitch his voice up that much —Smitten deciding his character was going to fall in love with the Damsel is so far the campaign low for him, because not only does he now have to flirt with one of the players, but he has to do it while putting on an anime girl voice —The group does appreciate his anime girl voice though

[pix3lplays]

May I request HSR boys reacting to their S/O. Who's usually smiling and calm. Like nearly never gets angry or cries, just a sweet person in general, kind to everyone kind of thing.

Just one day they break down in front of them because some people pushed them pass their limit and now they're crying. How do you think they would react seeing their usual cheerful S/O crying because of someone? Oh and if you don't mind could you include Blade? :>

Thank you and I hope you're doing well :D

I am doing well, thank you! And thank you for the request!

-Honkai Star Rail Men with a lover who’s usually calm and smiling but suddenly breaks down-

Dan Heng: is quiet when he sees you break down in front of him. It hurts him, so much, to see you so upset, especially to this extent. He’s not good at handling this sort of stuff. He just…awkwardly and wordlessly holds out his arms and let’s you collapse into his arms and cry. He pats your back, tells you everything will be okay, asks if you wanna talk about it or something. If you do, he’s there to listen and offer advice. If not then fine, he’ll distract you. Maybe you can just browse the archives for a while to take your mind off of it.

Gepard Landau: is heartbroken to see you so upset. He takes you with him on patrol the next day to help get your mind off of it, even if that’s strictly against regulations. He’s willing to break a few rules for you. He’s glued to your side, pointing out the different sights of the city, hoping to distract you from the pain. He’s there if you want to talk about it, or if you just need distractions. Honestly he’s really good at cheering you up.

Jing Yuan: surprises you by getting genuinely upset. He’s so…irritated that someone would hurt such a sweet and gentle and kind person. But he doesn’t let his righteous anger get the best of him. Most of the time. Instead he’ll take you into the gardens and you can feed the birds or play a few games to take your mind off it. He lets you know that they’re not worth the time of day, but he’s mostly telling himself that. They’re lucky he’s not a few years younger, otherwise he would’ve hunted them down and given them a few choice words.

Welt Yang: places his hand gently on your shoulder, and guides you to a seat aboard the Astral Express. He pulls out his sketchbook and listens to you rant while he doodles. He occasionally asks a question, or offers some advice when appropriate. It’s a good system for the two of you. He draws something peaceful and serene, like a field of flowers, and gives it to you once you’re done. Then the two of you will share some tea together, and suddenly you’re feeling much better. He’s not done though. He also treats you to a fancy dinner as well.

Sampo Koski: definitely isn’t the best choice for advice in these kinds of matters. It breaks his heart to see you so upset and sobbing. He listens to you, nodding along with what you’re saying, and once your done he pipes up with his brilliant revenge plots to get them framed for a crime or something like that. And once you say absolutely NOT, he considers for a second doing it anyways. A person like you doesn’t deserve to be treated so coldly, and there should be a price to pay. But he lets it go for you. Instead he finds ways to use his antics to put a smile back on that lovely face of yours.

Blade: You regret breaking down in front of him. He immediately wants names, addresses if you have them. You beg him to not do anything crazy, but oh is he Mad to see you upset. It takes him longer to calm down then it does you. By the end of the discussion, you’re basically holding him back, begging him not to hurt anyone, which he eventually will agree to, for your sake. But what you don’t know can’t hurt you. Maybe he gets some revenge for you. He just…hates to see you cry. More than anything. You’re the one thing he has to protect, and he would do anything to keep you happy and healthy, even if that means hurting other people.

thank you for reading~

[thydungeongal]

During a recent discussion someone said that to them my extremely wide definition of role-playing (as simply the act of playing a role-playing game regardless of what stance you as the player take with regards to your character) seemed flawed because it erases all distinctions between role-playing games and other games. This is something I disagree with for a variety of reasons.

First of all, I think role-playing games of the tabletop variety are different from computer role-playing games in ways that can't be quantified as simply different ways of interfacing with the fiction, and even a role-playing played in pure challenge mode (for an example, D&D played as a pure dungeon crawl with minimal distance between player and their avatar and with next to no what is traditionally normatively defined as "role-playing" [characterization is a better term in my opinion but even that has its issues] in between) is different from a dungeon-crawling board game.

There are a couple of reasons for this: first of all, there's the fiction, and secondly there's the purpose of the rules and mechanics and agency.

Role-playing games are ultimately about the fiction, the fake imaginary space that the game takes place in. The fiction is something that is constantly altered through the process of play. The fiction is of course a nebulous term but when you, the player, say that your character Gorzog Mancrusher crushes a man, you are describing an event that takes place in the fiction. Now, while not all role-playing games take a strictly fiction-first approach (PbtA games are very much fiction-first, meaning that you don't invoke the rules by invoking them, but to invoke the rules you must do in the fiction something that satisfies the mechanics coming in) but there is always a fiction. This still keeps in CRPGs because they also have a fiction, visually represented on the computer screen, but board games are on flimsy ground. Sure, they have some framing for their mechanics, but a board game without any fiction and just the rules is still playable, because the rules are the primary way for players to interface with the game. The fictional layer can be entirely ignored. Meanwhile, in a tabletop RPG your character actually needs to talk to a guy in the fiction for the "talk to a guy" mechanic to kick in.

But the purpose of rules, mechanics and agency are the ultimate spice. In role-playing games, goes the common wisdom, you can do anything. And this is actually true even though it's something of an empty statement without qualifiers. In a board game you can't milk a cow unless that is something prescribed in the rules. In a computer RPG you can't milk a cow unless milking cows is one of the verbs programmed into the game. In a role-playing game you can milk a cow because that's a thing you can do. Whether it's mechanically meaningful depends of course: most games don't put a lot of mechanics on cow-milking because that's not part of their focus. But you can still milk that dang cow.

Even in an extremely challenge mode type of game the fiction is still there and the players know they can interface with the fiction by the rules of the fiction. In a CRPG you can only examine a painting if the devs found it important enough to be worth examining. Same in that tabletop dungeon crawler. In a challenge mode tabletop role-playing game that painting is always there and you can always examine it simply through acting through your character, even if that wasn't a pre-written interaction.

So yeah, in general people should stop dropping the accusation that other people are not really "role-playing" just because they're engaging with games in a different way. A challenge game style dungeon crawler is no less of a role-playing game than a high intrigue political drama game of Vampire: The Masquerade. Whether the former is a style that you personally enjoy is another matter, but there's no need to judge someone as having low moral character because they're pretending to be elves wrong.

[dailyadventureprompts]

How do you feel about romance in a tabletop setting (strictly in character)? My friends and I joke with each other IC and have even OOC discussed our boundaries for PC/PC or PC/NPC romance, but then I see posts about how romance always makes people uncomfortable in their games (or those "D&D isn't your dating sim" memes). Sincere question from an autistic player that wants to trust my friends are being honest that it's okay, but doesn't want to make anyone uncomfortable either.

Heavy Topics: Romance in RPGs

Every group is going to have a different preference when it comes to exactly how they like to engage with topics of romance, flirtation, and sex, and if it hasn't been covered already the best idea is to talk about it with the rest of the table. D&D is a shared storytelling game after all, and that sharing comes from a place of shared vulnerability on behalf of the players and DM: Once you know what everyone's comfortable with, you can colour inside the lines as vividly as you'd like.

Likewise there's a sliding scale to how much these elements are focused on in roleplay and in storytelling: A player might have a character who's conceptually a dashing ladykiller but doesn't want to specifically make that part of their roleplay focus or engage in drawnout scenes of seduction. Alternatively, a character might not be conceptually built around flirtation, only to have important story-defining romance emerge as their tale unfolds.

Regardless, it's always about setting boundaries, and from what the asker says they're in exactly the right sort of group.

Now, addressing those "D&D is not your dating sim" people, I have to bring the hammer down a bit harder, especially because I've had people in my inbox before asking me how they can punish players for perusing romantic relationships in the first place. Simply put, if the DM isn't comfortable running romantic or flirtatious scenes, they're responsible for telling the group that upfront. There's no shame in saying no, plenty of people have certain topics that they're not comfortable indulging in, but its just as much their responsibility to let the group know that as it is the rest of the group's job to respect those limits. Flipping that on its head however, you can't get angry at other people, especially people that aren't in your playgroup for enjoying types of stories that you don't. D&D is absolutely a dating sim if everyone at the table is cool with that.

Personally? I make characters that are flirty, that have high or low libido as one of their character traits. I've even given PCs I've played kinks that I don't have because I felt like it would fit them, or specifically made characters with the understanding that a romantic heart would be their primary heroic motivation.

Art

[woodstoneb-b]

OK, so it turns out that when you've got a B&B the Christmas season is hella busy - which seems like something that should have been obvious. But yeah, the wife and I have been run off our feet.

But, I've finally had a chance to play the game so let's get into it!

Not gonna lie, this hits a bit too close to home, we just started the game and the kitchen sink is already broken!

Flower: Wow...a waterfall indoors, this is totally groovy, man!

Hetty can be...kind of dramatic.

Hetty: I did not give permission for such an image to be shown... Although...are there Cheetos in this game?

Afraid not...but that looks pretty good.

Hetty: Yes, as you can see I'm simply thrilled.

Hetty: I will say that I very much appreciate the punctuality of the workmen is this game... Certainly not Irish.

Hetty: When I was alive I never would have allowed outsiders to see me in my swimwear, but...seeing as this is not actually me, I suppose I can allow it. And I'll even admit that I was most fond of swimming, a very refreshing pastime indeed! I can't say I ever went swimming on the ocean however...which is a shame if the scenery is like this!

Meanwhile back at the Mansion, these two are fully immersed in reading.

Isaac: I say, that's a most accurate representation of myself! These computers are amazing.

Thor: Isaac speaks for himself, Thor does not read.

Sass (low voice): It's more like he can't.

OK, I'm not sure why No-Pants went down to the beach...

Trevor: All the babes hang on the beaches!

Hetty: I'm not sure if I should be flattered by that...?

Trevor: Your Simself obviously thinks so, you got me a little gift!

Hetty: Well, now I understand why it's called virtual reality...

Thor: This is more like it! In life Thor was well-regarded as a fisherman, Thor could name all varieties of cod in the area, there was the -

He had a lot more to say, but...yeah, there's a word limit on these posts, so...

Hetty: Why on earth am I sleeping on the beach like some sort of vagrant?! And why am allowing you to show such outlandish images of me?

Trevor: Sleeping on the beach is totally cool.

Hetty: In the middle of summer? I'd think not.

Thor: Jay's game is learning, Thor does not abide messiness! If only Thor could clean in real world...Jay leaves sink in unspeakable state.

For any current guests and possible guests reading this, this is not true.

Sam: It really, really isn't, our B&B has received the highest hygiene certification.

Hehehe, Sims have to do whatever you tell them to, so here's No-Pant's being useful.

Trevor: Seriously?!

Trevor: Oh hey, I did it! Not that I'm surprised, I've got the magic touch.

Hetty *giggles*

My eyes! MY EYES!

Trevor: Hey, just giving the ladies what they're asking for.

Pete: Why am I there?

Trevor: Well, it's my bedroom, so...you tell me.

After that horror, I sent my man, Pete, downtown to the library, now I feel like this is a Sims 3 thing, because the one nearest us sure doesn't have tropical drinks!

Pete: Wow...somewhere that's not the mansion?! It's so...weird. Almost as weird as me drinking out of a coconut. That's strictly a vacation activity

Pete: This takes me way back! Identifying animals out in the wild was something I was a master at in the Pine Cone Troopers.

Sass: As much of a master as you were with archery?

Thor: Heh, burn.

Isaac: Thorfinn, you're asking about my book! :D

Thor: Game has once again not lived up to reality.

Alberta: I am loving my look here, Jay, you've got everything right.

Thor: Even funny hat.

Alberta: I'm pretty sure Sass is telling me a secret about you, Cod-man, so watch it.

Flower: Hey, Trev! Isn't this so cool? We're in a game!

Trevor: Totally.

Flower: Except...why do you still have no pants?

Sass also headed out...and proved to be pretty good at pool.

Sass: I did hear a phrase once... "Talk softly and carry a big stick" and that's a pretty big stick. I approve!

Thor: By Odin's beard why so much mess?! Why is puddle even in room of Jay and Sam?!

Sam: I really don't want to know...

Okay, and on that note, I've reached the image limit, so I think I better wrap this up here...

And yeah, we totally have that hygiene and safety certificate, and can produce it on request, I swear.

Until next time.

[benevolentgodloki]

Who are your top 10 favorite muns to write with and why? If a mun is a multimuse also tell which are your favorite characters to write with and why?

(The order in which you list the people doesn't matter unless you want to assign them specific places.)

Question Master

// Hngh, I hate playing favourites BUT since I actually only write with 12 people now I'm gonna cheat and list them all. Fair warning, my neurodivergent ass is appalling at expressing love but at least you know when I say stuff I mean it. I hope people find me friendly, but I know I'm reclusive and a bit robotic, and it's really hard to break my bubble so I don't get close to more than like 3-4 people. I digress. In no strictly particular order, but a little bit with some closer peeps!

@araedi / @compassofsouls / @minimizexaggrandize Mojitooooo. My love, my male bestie. We've written perfect pairings together across fandoms since all the way back in 2005/2006 when we first started chatting. Mojito is one of the wittiest, kindest, most creative people I know and he can blow your mind with the stories you can share. One of my two fave people to hang out with online and off. He's busy af at the moment in life but he's worth the wait. I love all the muses of his that I write with, but my special faves are his Thor, his Clint, his Scott, and his Geralt. For Loki, ofc. I have faves in Jade and Nate for my pirate boy and X/Theta for my time travelling XI. Why? I'm terrible at explaining. He gets the characterisations spot on and he's willing to explore so much range with his muses.

@forevermuses Linaaaa. My love, my female bestie. You can blame her Stephen for me kicking life back into Loki's blog after I ran rampant on Jack's for a while. Lina's superb. She writes snarky, brilliant characters, delicious plots, and juicy ships. The other of my two best on and offline peeps. Now she's a multimuse I guess I have to pick favourites so it's gonna be Stephen and Peter for Loki and Norrington for Jack but extra bonus love for Sylvie and I'm excited to write more with Sherlock and Theo. Shallow reason really for why they're my favourites but Stephen and Norrington are amazing for ships and Peter is all round hilarious. She writes him with no shame.

@kissedbymischief Trish is a sweetheart with great taste in muses :U Thoroughly recommend for indulging in magical muse exploration, gratuitous abuse of Google Translate, fandom squeeing, and splurging (ahem) out some quality smut. Super friendly mun, quality content.

@stxrksarc / @mxtalwings Archer/Iron Mun does one of the best characterisations of Tony I've ever seen and I'm loving terrorising Sam as Lokitty. Archer is a wicked funny and giving dude, open to a variety of ideas and brings so much to the table; also admirably takes no shit (a semi-colon just for him <3). Epic gif content as well as dash entertainment. Hoping life gives him a break soon!

@paragonrising / @shorndivinity Smaugieeeee. Love, love Smaugie. Friendly mun who writes a badass Carol and Sif that have Loki absolutely smitten, even if he's not revealed it yet. Quality person and writer who I can chat all sorts with especially D&D and video games. If epic plots and novella posts are your bag, very much recommend! I love her for also being forgiving that my replies are usually so smol XD

@antvnger @blindbastard @brooklynbred @cordeliabarton @mischieftomake @sonofirishseas @the-mjolnir-owner

Honourable mentions to all these lovely muns who I have fewer threads with but am enjoying the stories we're telling when we get chance and love seeing them on the dash. Friendly peeps I recommend! I have a secret no. 13 mun too but I haven't started up things with them yet so keep your eyes peeled :P

[spectresyne]

would you ever consider making video content of your model design/animation process?

or give any advice to someone who’s desperately trying to break into mod creation 😸

Wow, hello! I never get messages here, haha. Unfortunately, I'm like.. genuinely terrible at trying to teach what I know to others, and I'm not even sure my computer could handle recording a video while still working the programs I use. Not reliably, for sure. I can try to offer advice, but on more of a question-and-answer basis. It's hard for me to know where to even begin if someone doesn't ask about what exactly they're aiming to create, first, y'know? idk if that makes any sense. As far as mod creation goes, I have nothing to offer- I don't know how to code a mod in java. I've only made models using the infrastructure of existing mods and plugins, namely Optifine, MorePlayerModels, and ModelEngine, and a lot of vanilla work lately, too. These all involve some kind of coding, but it's pretty strictly limited to .json files, and nothing with actual java code.

I self-taught myself everything I know. Found out Blockbench was free, opened it up a few years ago, and just started brute forcing my way into making it do the thing I wanted (at that time, it was making a horse into a griffon with optifine. 'Start small' is not really my M.O.)

I looked up a lot of documentation for the plugins and mods I was using. Those helped a lot, as did searching up minecraft's own resources (they put a lot of articles and guides out for making this stuff, nowadays, though it's more for bedrock than java.) I also opened up things that others made and released, just to see how they did things- eventually I could pick them apart and kind of reverse-engineer the ideas to understand what I should be doing, too, with my own work. I encourage anyone wanting to learn to do this to my work, too! Bust 'em open and tear 'em apart, get at the inner workings! You can always re-download the file if you break it beyond repair :D Understanding the base of what I had to work with went a long way toward knowing just what I can make a 3D model do when it came to Blockbench, such as knowing if it could use emissive glow textures, animations (texture or model based kinds), or translucency. Or even knowing just how hard I can push an animation- for example, with MPM, animations can do a LOT, but it takes a lot of fiddling to make, say, a realistic quadruped walk cycle fit into the very short window of time the minecraft walk animation plays for. Because with MPM, there's no way to control the time of an animation- only the amount of frames within it. Stuff like that. And that's different for every mod, so you'll have to look into the one you're using, or making, and work within its bounds. I do tons of trial-and-error of loading and reloading things in-game to see what something I changed will do... then go back to fix whatever broke in the process. I often have to redo this kind of thing even for techniques I've done before, because I forget to take notes, and then also forget what I did correctly in the first place. It's kind of awful lmao. Anyway, this became a huge ramble and I don't think I even answered the questions very well... sorry.

[bucketsquid]

After like 10 failed runs, finally beat Side Order's main story, yay. Thoughts under the cut, tl;dr at the bottom.

Yeah, it's good. I really enjoy roguelites, I've been playing Binding of Isaac since it was released in 2011, 100%'d it and then immediately picked up Rebirth when it dropped and have a good 1000+ hours across different versions of it; if that says anything about my love of the genre and the style of game, I don't know what does.

My first immediate criticisms are "there's not enough variety in bosses, and there could be more stages", but that's really... it. I guess there could be more enemy types, since there's a lot of Octarians and Salmonids to get inspiration from, but I can see why they wouldn't want to overlap too hard with other game modes, and every enemy has to be kill-able by every weapon type. I'd love to see bosses from previous entries replicated here, though, even as just "corrupted memory" versions or something... we more or less got the Octowhirl back, so I'd love to see stuff like the Octomaws and Octo Oven come back in remixed flavors.

But that's about it for actual gameplay critique. The ability to customize your experience with hacks is really nice, it plays well into the gameplay loop and makes the game more accessible for people who don't like roguelite gameplay. I play it strictly with 1 life and no continues ever, so that keeps it spicy for me personally. The different palettes remind me of how different weapons work in Salmon Run: they change your priorities, approaches to challenges and general mode of play, and that's a really good thing.

The feeling of creating a good or wacky build, and then being able to crush situations where your build works, is definitely there. That's one of my favorite things about Isaac: the glee of putting together some really stupid items that together cause gamebreaking or at least very player-skewed situations, and Side Order does that perfectly. And even when you do dominate, there's still Danger conditions that can throw you for a loop, or you might struggle against xyz boss due to your palette.

So yeah, for $20? Pretty good gameplay experience. I'm not sure I enjoy it more than Octo Expansion's weird goofiness and stage design, but it has way more replayability overall. OE was a one-and-done for me, clear all the stages + story mode + Inner Agent 3 then go back to finish all the stages again with all the weapons. It was an incredible experience, but I can't see myself playing it a ton more outside of just revisiting the story and aesthetic/funky stage design. Side Order will have me coming back again and again until I've 100%'d it and gotten all the Prlz exchange items, though.

I think it's going to be hit-or-miss for people who enjoy one-and-done experiences vs. the roguelite experience, though. The grind and self-challenge and experimentation isn't for everyone, and they might feel disappointed once they finish a palette or two. But I'm enjoying it a ton.

As for story...

I'd put it at "structured better and more unified than Splat3 story mode, but weaker than Octo Expansion". It was a very nice follow-up to OE, it reminded us that there's living Sanitized Octarians + Octolings and went "hey, yeah, we can save these people actually" and that's really nice. It established more about Eight and their bond with Off the Hook, dug more into Marina's life and psyche and relationship with Pearl, and gave us more context about the Octarian Shogunate, all of that is great. Acht was a big surprise from the start, and getting to know them + their story was an absolute treat, even if I wish they had actually done more during the main story... I think that's excusable in-universe because they're still recovering and are injured until the end, but ehhhh. But character writing was great, we got a lot of small details and backstory that I enjoy a lot, and also they/them Acht yeaaahhhhhhhh

It wasn't the dark and political story that Octo Expansion was + left us wanting more of, but I think it's a mistake to compare Side Order to OE, really. It's impossible not to do, but you have to look at them independently, and for what Side Order set out to do, yeah, it's good. It's a short story mode focused on a few people and one of their big dreams to save people, tied into a roguelite mode; that's pretty different from the "underground conspiracies that tie into the big picture" main-story-mode-on-steroids Octo Expansion. I think that there could have been more elevator dialogue and lore tidbits, because you can tell the writers were having a lot of fun with that.

The visual design and its direction are fantastic. It really pushes a visual narrative of "coral reef bleaching from pollution" crossed with neurobiology imaging, it fits perfect with the antagonist's aims and the art+design team did a great job with that. The way things get creepier and more distorted the further up you get in the Spire is great! It's all very consistent and coherent and feels distinct from everything else in the series so far, so props.

And all the music, as usual, are fucking bangers, both for the instrumentals and tracks with vocals. I'm looking forward to snapping up the soundtrack for this one.

tl;dr

It's not perfect but I'm getting my money's worth of gameplay and having a lot of fun. The setting/visual themes are fantastic, the music is really good, the story is different than the norm but not bad and focuses a lot on character development.

Try not to compare the story and setting to Octo Expansion, because they're doing different things. If you have Splat3 already and enjoy roguelite gameplay + character lore (feat. the lesbians and a "new" friend!), I think it's worth the $20 pricetag, especially if you 100% it.

[waldwasser]

We know through the Scions and lore that 'jobs' as we know them mechanically in game, are not as binary as the skills and spells were assigned to when we play. Keeping this in mind, do you play your character strictly to one 'job' - even if that's literally just a crafter/gatherer - or do you pick and choose spells from other classes? Do you incorporate abilities and spells from other media?

Hello, I'm so so sorry for the late reply!! I got this message while I was quite busy, read it, thought "I'll reply once I'm back home" and... well. That didn't happen ^^'

That said, on to the actual questions, they're interesting! While I don't imagine my WoLs as 100% 'by the book' ability-wise, I have never thought about stealing skills from other media... much to consider, there are so many possibilities :D I do have some little headcanons about how my WoLs perform their combat jobs, though!

For Susumi (my EU character and main WoL), she has an affinity for living aether (for echo reasons), as in 'aether within living beings'. Comes in quite handy when healing, especially as a White Mage, since she can very easily track down where aether isn't flowing as it should in a body, and influence it to promote healing. However, as a result of that she sometimes cut corners when it came to learning the scientific basics of magical healing. She got away with it as a WHM, but that lack of a solid theoretical foundation came back to bite her when she tried to pick up Scholar later ^^' She's not the most studious or book smart person, and still struggles with that aspect of magic regularly... She also cheats a bit when it comes to being a Dark Knight, since she is not quite fit/buff enough to wear plate and swing around a giant weapon for extended amounts of time! She amplifies her own flow of aether while tanking to enable her to wield her greatsword, which means that afterwards she is extra exhausted.

Hnaba (my NA character) meanwhile comes from a tradition where healing and stories are connected (think a healer job close to WHM with a touch of BRD, but with stories being recited rather than sung) and was on track to be trained in that art before she left the forest. However, when she left she closed herself off to the more magical side of that tradition. She is now mainly a Bard, albeit one who prefers instrumental to sung performances.

Huh, this got longer than expected ^^' Thank you so much for sending this ask <3

[peachpitss]

finished reading your deltarune and ut tics and i am so fascinated by the player's presence and the way you write them!!!

like, they appear to be this powerful, otherworldly entity, with compassion and hostility untold, but in reality they're just Some Guy™

like, i guessed from the whole 'skip his dialogue' section that this was someone who'd watched a play through and wanted to fight sans, but couldn't get past him and rage quit. which is a very relatable experience, but in the context of the Universe its absolutely terrifying.

This Some Guy has caused untold suffering, and continues to harm their host, but... they don't know that? i mean, they do, we all do, but we don't know know that, on the level that the characters understand. is a no mercy runner who goes on to play deltarune in a pacifist fashion someone hiding from their true nature like a coward? no! of course not! and the game cannot punish you for that, because you are just exploring the avenues it gave you. and it feels mean, from mr fox's end

of course, this gives way for fanfic to explore these questions from the character's perspective, so ty for sharing your fic :D

finally have time to sit down and answer this!! first of all, this is SUCH a sweet message. thank you so much for taking the time to send me all of your thoughts! with the deltarune fics (particularly "arcane apocrypha") it was definitely all about how a presence like the player would be interpreted by the characters in canon, but in a much more meta way. it was fun to play on the idea of eldritch horror there + i wanted to envision how the characters who are aware of the player would interpret differing/inconsistent inputs from them. how can you interpret the character of an entity that appears benevolent 99% of the time, but the other 1% of the time veers off the rails entirely into depravity? they'd surely feel really unknowable and mysterious, even if it's Just Some GuyTM trying to mimic something they saw a let's player do on twitch or something. haha whereas with the UT fic approach, it was a lot less...medium-aware, if that makes sense? the DR fic knows it's a game, the UT fic does not. and i find that a lot scarier, in some ways. the idea of someone reaching down and controlling you but not being entirely aware of what's going on or where outside influence might end and your own desires or actions begin. that version of the player is ABSOLUTELY someone who rage quit the no mercy route and reset. haha! i wanted to own that player input matters in all routes, but it was hard to work that in without losing focus so i added a small bit of dialogue mentioning that "the voice" may have been present in multiple timelines, but that it was all a blur. i think investigating what that maybe less jarring influence might look like in a...less stabby timeline would be interesting in the future, but i'm not sure if it's something folks would want to read. i may write it anyways for myself! (: you're absolutely on to something here in that at the end of the day, UTDR is here to explore tropes and tell a story. and that it shouldn't be taken as a litmus test for someone's actual morality or anything. how can we possibly gain anything from a narrative with which we refuse to engage? we really shouldn't feel bad about playing, because we're supposed to. i personally don't think DR will end in a way that is strictly accusatory because i don't think toby would want to punish us for playing his game, per se. i've seen people express distress and say that they feel bad for playing DR. but at the end of the day, even with their meta commentaries, these games are meant to be played. we can't possibly crack open their shells and slurp up that good good lore juice if we don't. and these are stories that are certainly valuable experiences. i've said it before, but fanon is frequently much edgier and much less charitable than anything toby fox would write himself. so we should all keep playing and appreciating his story. (: anyways, fanfic is a great place to explore these story implications and take them to their current logical conclusions. so i'm glad you enjoyed the ride! thanks again for this really thoughtful message! <3

[spewagepipe]

Plumbing the Depths: Ben Milton's subscriber's hot takes, Part 11

See Part 1 for context. The final hot take of the series is:

A game master is not a voice actor, nor is he a storyteller or a writer. He is a referee first and foremost

Neither a nice round number, nor the most exciting take to end on. I blame Ben Milton, of course.

Quick note on the masculine pronouns here: there are women and non-binary GMs out there, folks. We old bearded men should make an effort to help them feel welcome; gender-neutral pronouns are an easy gesture.

Also, I feel like we've adequately addressed the significance of "voice acting" in previous posts, and I specifically mentioned that I think RPGs should not require specialized story-writing skills – but what about this "referee" idea?

Whether it's "first and foremost" is going to depend on the system. Many RPGs have no GM at all, and most non-RPG tabletop games only need referees if they're being played at a tournament level – so referees are by no means strictly essential. But it's probably safe to say that, among systems that entail a GM, "referee" is almost always going to be one of that person's important functions.

So what sets "referee" apart from "storyteller", "writer", or "voice actor"? What makes it desirable (or for some systems, vital), while the others range from extraneous to actively undesirable?

Every game (RPG or otherwise) has certain prerequisites that must be met for people to play it and have fun. Sometimes those are modest – stuff that the overwhelming majority of working class people in our society have well in hand. Other times, it's rare and exceptional, like "competent storytelling", "improvisational acting", or "advanced arithmetic". Sometimes it's a one-time investment (like learning the rules), other times it's an ongoing expense of labour and time (like adventure prep).

We should always be critical of these prerequisites. No matter how enjoyable a game may be, if it there is an easier-to-run and more accessible version of the same thing, the latter game is going to be a better experience for more people. The fact that D&D all but obliges its GMs to be writers, storytellers, and that it's somehow customary for them to be voice actors too, are among the causes of the GM shortage within the D&D community, and why D&D still remains a niche hobby.

But no matter what game we're talking about, there is one prerequisite that cannot possibly be avoided: someone must know the rules. For RPG systems that feature a GM, the GM's responsibilities are almost always in excess of those of the players, such that the game can barely operate at all unless the GM knows the rules forwards-and-backwards. As a result, even if those rules don't explicitly define the GM as a referee, they will usually become the de facto referee all the same.

I'll leave you on a related idea: because learning the rules is an inescapable prerequisite, accessibility also demands that the means by which that system is communicated from one person to another – i.e., usually chiefly by the rules text – should simultaneously be as elegant, as comprehensive, and as comprehensible as it can possibly be. The fact that the 5E D&D core books are simultaneously sprawling, incomplete, and ambiguous, is a catastrophic failure for what is the most popular introductory game in the medium.

[8bitsupervillain]

End of the Year 2023: Games of the Year!

Honorable Mentions:

Mortal Kombat 1

I like the story mode this game has in it, I thought it was a very entertaining eight hours. Problem is I just really don't like the way the actual fighting game itself plays. Perhaps my instinct for fighting games has been tainted from playing anime fighters and Street Fighter 6, but I just find the controls in Mortal Kombat 1 to be frustratingly slow for my liking.

Final Fantasy XVI

Another game whose story I am just loving to pieces, but there's just small annoyances in the gameplay that really stops me from putting it on the list. That and I've not completed the story, and I've begun to not put RPGs that I haven't finished on my year end lists because that can come back on me in a most irritating way. Cough, Pathfinder, cough. It mystifies me that people can play this game and come away with the idea that this is the worst games they played all year. I enjoy this a whole hell of a lot, I just don't feel right about letting it on the list since I haven't finished it.

The winners of the prestigious awards I don't have:

10: Hammerwatch II

I am not immune to hyperbolic statements. Sometimes I'll read a statement that just knocks the wind right out of me for its audaciousness, especially when it's a needlessly combative statement comparing two games to each other. A writer for PC Gamer, I believe, did a preview for Hammerwatch II where he compared it to Diablo 4 and just raked D4 over the coals while talking about how Hammerwatch II was what he wanted from it. I played the demo and thought it was a nifty little game. I had never played the original Hammerwatch so I couldn't compare it, but I liked what the demo offered me. It's a very fine time waster game, much as that might sound like an insult. I think it's a good game to play to just sort of keep my hands busy while doing other stuff. It's a nice little ARPG, and I think it's a fun game to just mess around in.

09: Demon Lord Reincarnation

For the longest time, even while playing it I kept thinking the games name was Demon Lord Resurrection. I don't know what it is but something in 2023 just reignited my love for Dungeon RPGs (DRPGs, or Blobbers as they're apparently known, for some reason), I was spoiled for choice this year Wizardry came out with two games, and then I saw this. I was instantly drawn by its delightful lo-fi aesthetic, the crunchy look of its low resolution late eighties graphics style. I love a good strictly monochrome visual style, and I was highly impressed by this game. It's a challenging DRPG, a surprisingly straightforward one that's not weighed down with pretension. Despite its relative simplicity I also found it a game that is extremely emotionally draining because of how captivated I found myself getting by the plights and trials of my small bands of doomed adventurers. Outside of a sentence when you recruit them there's nothing really to endear you to the characters, but it kept happening to me every time. I would beam with satisfaction and pride when they manage to scrape through a tough fight. I would become extremely morose when a total party wipe happened. It was a surprisingly touching game, and I wonder if the the emotional experience would have been lessened if the game had been slightly less monstrously cruel?

08: Amnesia: The Bunker

Cards on the table here I didn't expect to actually play this game. I've played past Amnesia games and I haven't really liked any of them so I wasn't particularly sold on going back to the Amnesia well for another chance to be let down. I'm glad I did though because this is a very fun, surprisingly tense game to play through. It is also a source of massively untapped, but extremely great comedy as well. In the game during your exploration of the bunker you find yourself in you come across hand grenades and a bevy of locked doors. The game lets you know early on that you can break locked doors. So with no idea where to go, or what to do, I decide to use the grenade as a lockpick. I throw the thing at the door when the monster who hunts you down throughout the game rounds the corner right next to the door. My grenade bounces off his face, and detonates. Me and the monster have similar thoughts and immediately run back the way we came away from the explosion. It was such a funny experience, it really made me appreciate the game more.

07: Dead Space

Confession time here as well: I didn't think Dead Space remake was going to be any good. Can't really justify why, I just went about my life hearing about the remake and just sort of internally groaning at the idea of playing it. It's Dead Space, the series doesn't stand out in my memory as particularly great, this remake sounds like a waste of time and effort, etc. etc. But time rolls on, and I decide what the hell, I'll give it a whirl. I quite liked it, and it makes for a really interesting comparison of remakes when you look at it next to Resident Evil 4. They seem to have taken off some of the rougher edges and just made the remake a more tightly put together experience. I find the idea of one day these guys getting to remake Dead Space 3 to be an interesting thought experiment. On its own however, I think Dead Space (2023) is a very fine time, and I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a good horror shooter. Especially if you have access to a time machine, and an Xbox Series X and buy it when it was on sale for the ridiculous price of $5.

06: Armored Core 6

Tis very fun building your customized robot and seeing how it performs combatwise against some of the biggest jobber enemies in the universe and some of the cruelest, most vicious opponents that can be put in a game. This game made me realize something about myself. The cruelest thing a game can do is plant the seed in my head that my plans can work. I will throw myself against the wall repeatedly far past the point of reason if I think a plan of action can work for a given situation. If it had the decency to just kill me and prove that I need to revise my plans early on I would absolutely do so. But if I can get a boss down to the last third, or quarter of its life bar I will keep trying this same plan again and again. Only I'll do so slightly harder. If you played the game you probably think I'm talking about the usual suspects that have arose from the controversy surrounding this game, but as far as I've seen I'm the only one who really had an issue with the boss I fought for multiple hours (the boss of the mission: Intercept the Red Guns). Never before has privatized corporate warfare looked so visually stunning. So all that said, I think you should get in the robot. Because we dig giant robots. Incidentally people who complain about giant robots being "unrealistic" are very annoying.

05: Class of 09 (and Class of 09: The Re-Up)

Just goes to show the power of becoming somewhat popular on Twitter I suppose. Never heard of these two games until someone I follow on Twitter reposted some scene from The Re-Up, and then I got intrigued in what the game was actually about. I was expecting a rather low effort western developed VN where they would brag about how unlike those silly other VNs this one is about the plot. I didn't expect the funny ha ha visual novel about a teenage sociopath to actually affect me emotionally, or to have some pretty relevant and deep messages about society in a way that doesn't really beat you over the head with its message. I'm counting these as one game because there really isn't much that's different between entries, and it works really well as a double act.

04: Pizza Tower

To be completely honest with you when I first heard of Pizza Tower I was not impressed. I didn't care for it, it didn't look good, and so I wrote it off and moved on with my life. Somehow, some way it dug its claws in, eventually I take another look at it, "that could be fun," I say to myself. Unfortunately this was at a point where I wasn't willing to gamble on buying things, so I went to websites of ill repute and acquired it. I played a couple levels, and I'm struck with an intense feeling of "it's fine." But in November I was compelled to give it another shot, and this time it really stuck with me. Just as a pure gameplay experience I greatly enjoyed my time with Pizza Tower. Just running through the levels on the purest base level is great fun, but eventually the game starts filling your mind with the idea of trying for these higher skill level attempts. Maybe you could make your run through a level just a touch better than you'd done it previously.

03: Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Nioh set in the Three Kingdoms period in China. The process of game development is a fascinating mystery to me, you spend multiple years making these elaborate things that must fire off just so, that the slightest mishap can doom weeks or months of development time. Eventually you get so adept at the process you're able to bang out these large hundred hour games on a near yearly basis. Wo Long takes the formula of Nioh that has been tinkered, and improved upon in Nioh 2, Stranger of Paradise and releases this, fundamentally the ultimate distillation of the process. I love this game, I love the general feel of the gameplay, the hamminess of the voice acting, it all just comes together in a beautifully crafted and wonderful experience. I know it will never in a million years happen, but it's my earnest hope that Blizzard one day taps Koei Tecmo to make a Diablo version of these games. But as it stands I will be more than happy to replay this game to get my fill of a level-based Soulslike. It works well to differentiate it, because not every damn game needs to be an open-world experience.

02: Resident Evil 4

I admit to a certain wariness when this remake was announced. How far is Capcom willing to take this concept? What will they do when the time inevitably comes for them to remake Resident Evil 6? Or after that, will they remake RE7? Start the process over again? Also I feel a certain dread because they keep putting these out on a yearly basis, something's got to give eventually. Anyway I have a tremendous amount of love for the RE4make, it is such an utter delight to play that I've done gone through multiple times in 2023 alone. Which astounds me, because much as everyone claims the original Resident Evil 4 as one of the all time greats I was never the biggest fan. I prefer the remake of the first Resident Evil myself. And the release of the Separate Ways DLC was such a masterful shot in the arm that it improved what I feel was already a nearly perfect game. Also not to derail the conversation too much, but I don't understand people who say Resident Evil 4 shouldn't be in consideration for a GotY (from more popular sources) because it's a remake. It's a silly thing to try to exclude the game over. That said, given what they've learned from Resident Evil 7, 8, and the remakes I think Resident Evil 9 just might be the pinnacle of the series when that comes out in 2025.

01: Baldur's Gate III

I bought Baldur's Gate III back when it first came out in Early Access. I never really planned on playing it during that period, but I know how it goes with Early Access games, the price always goes up, and I wanted in on the cheap. The thought was I would play the first two Baldur's Gates in the meantime to get myself good and prepared for the sequel made decades later by a completely different company. I never did, the two versions of the originals still sit unplayed in my GOG account. Well maybe like a minute was played to verify they would actually run, but you get my point. I went into this thinking it would be fine, nothing particularly groundbreaking, but a decent enough adventure. I was not prepared for how the game completely obliterated my expectations. Just the sheer size and scope of the interactivity is mind boggling to me, the fact they have seemingly planned for every stupid and wild idea the playerbase could come up with astounds me. You don't need me to tell you why Baldur's Gate III is good, hell odds are you've probably played it yourself. I just think it's really commendable how the folks at Larian seem to just have accommodated every single type of person with something in this game that would just sink its hooks in them.

Also have you seen Minthara?

I mean, come on.

How could she not win this award?

Plus now they've made it so cowards can recruit her, so everyone gets to delight in her magnificent radiance.

[krawkpaladin]

Minor Plot/Gameplay Spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3, Act 2 below the cut, but it's mostly discussion on the mechanics of a specific encounter with some plot.

So when you enter the temple of Shar by the House of Healing and get down into the Gauntlet of Shar, there's a gauntlet (heh) of trials you have to go through in order to get these magical gemstones to be used later, pretty typical "test of skills/character" stuff. There's a lot of cool things you can do, including scouting out the rooms if you pick the locks before starting the challenge, disarming traps in advance, that sort of thing. One of the challenges, however, is called the Self-Same challenge and is... a clone fight.

If you've played a lot of CRPGs or JRPGs (or lots of other games, say hi Ocarina of Time!) you've seen this type of gimmick fight before. The party (or character, if it's a solo deal) is confronted with a clone/dark reflection of themselves that is a perfect copy in every way and you have to defeat the clone(s). The in-universe intended solution to this sort of gimmick combat is generally superior skill/tactics, but D&D 5E's combat is swingy enough that even superior tactics can't save you from rolling a fat 6 for damage on Guiding Bolt only for your clone to turn around and hit you for 30 damage at a time when you likely have a max HP of around 40. On top of this, your clones have several additional abilities that you normally don't: like many Act 2 enemies, they turn invisible when not standing in a light source, they are immune to being pushed/moved around, and they are immune to spells like Hold Person. The last component of the fight is that you receive a stacking debuff (-1 to all ability scores until your next long rest) from attacking your allies' clones until you defeat your own. So your tactics end up having to be a lot of "hit your own clone and hope they die first" since you get a debuff for doing the reasonable tactical action of, say, using your rogue to gank the wizard clone first thing.

Of course, there are ways to reduce the difficulty of the fight, partly because it is a video game. You can do this in a couple ways, usually by manipulating how the clones generate. The most straightforward is to strip your party of all their equipment, generate the clones, and then put all their gear back on and beat the snot out of a bunch of naked people. I... I don't particularly like this solution. The logic is overly video-gamey, as it's hard to imagine how anyone would make the connection between a clone fight and removing all their equipment without already knowing the conventions and limitations of the encounter. The other way is that you can send in only one person to start the challenge, and then have the rest of the party follow by breaking into the room after it is sealed so you're only fighting a single clone. I do think that this solution is actually pretty clever, and given the nature of the dungeon and Shadowheart's storyline, can be a fun little potential thematic rejection of Shar's faith in her own temple.

Though to be perfectly honest, I just don't like clone fights the way they're implemented 90% of the time in RPGs. It's either a slug-fest where you hope you roll better on average, or you strip down naked and then get back in your armor faster than the Dragonborn Skyrim eats 10 wheels of cheese to recover from a sword stab mid-battle. There are some interesting ones out there; Final Fantasy 4's Dark Knight fight comes to mind, where the solution is not to attack at all. (It is also, strictly speaking, not a real clone fight, as it doesn't scale with Cecil's level, but it is very much thematically a clone fight.) This has got me thinking though of how to make clone fights interesting, especially in the context of TTRPGs, but I'm still sorting my thoughts on that so I'll probably make a follow-up post assuming I don't get lost in more BG3 or prepping for my group's Sci-Fi Campaign 2 Space Theft Boogaloo.

[prokopetz]

Do you know of any RPGs where you play as a dragon, or at least where playing as a dragon is an option somewhat supported by the game as written? I don't care if it's free or not.

Normally I don't respond to requests that could easily be Googled like "do games about X exist?", but I'm making an exception in this case because I understand that tabletop RPGs about dragons are probably a little difficult to search for owing to how many tabletop RPGs that aren't about dragons have the word "dragon" in their titles!

In terms of tabletop RPGs where the player characters are exclusively dragons, the first one that springs to mind is Marissa Kelly's Epyllion. It's basically My Little Pony, except with dragons instead of horses; the advancement mechanics play on Dungeons & Dragons style notions about dragon lifecycles, whereby you increase in size as you level up, starting play as a hatchling and evolving into a weird dragon god. As you might expect from a game where everybody plays as a dragon, it takes place in a setting populated entirely by dragons, and much of the setting lore and mechanics are concerned with what a society whose members operate on such widely varying scales of action would look like. Based on the Apocalypse Engine, of course – that's practically a given for games of the type!

If you'd prefer something more old school, there's also Council of Wyrms, a first-party setting hack that was published way back in the mid 1990s for Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition. Another game set in a society of dragons, rather than taking Epyllion's approach of supporting multiple scales of action by starting the player characters out small, this one assigns each player two characters, a dragon and that dragon's demihuman "familiar", switching between the two as the current scale of play warrants. I wouldn't necessarily recommend playing it as-is unless you're already familiar with older editions of D&D, but you should be able to find any number of fan-made conversions for 5th Edition with a bit of searching.

Fireborn splits the difference between the preceding entries, both in terms of old-school versus new-school mechanics and in terms of how it handles varying scales of play. Like Council of Wyrms, you have both a dragon character and a human character, but they're the same character, the latter being the former's reincarnation. I'm putting it last because it's sort of an edge case with respect to the whole playing-as-a-dragon thing, insofar as you only get to play the dragon version of your character during flashbacks to the mythic age – action in the present timeframe is strictly small-scale urban fantasy. The mechanics are also not terribly functional, particularly in combat; the rules have some interesting ideas, but they're not always well executed.

As for games where you can play as a dragon more generally, that’s a tougher question to answer. There are a great many games that support playing as a dragon in the sense that there’s an archetype for that and/or you can bash one together with the right combination of optional material, but very few of them have anything interesting to say about the topic – playing as a dragon is basically like playing as a tall, scaly elf, and I suspect “games where there just incidentally happens to be a ‘dragon’ playbook” isn’t what you mean.

One notable exception is Fellowship, another Apocalypse Engine title whose central conceit is that each player takes on the role of a paragon of their people, and has GM-like authority over those dimensions of the game’s setting that pertain to their people. For example, if you as an an elf, you’re The Elf, and you get to decide what elves are and how they figure into the setting’s lore. There’s a Dragon playbook, though I believe it appears in one of the supplements rather than the core, so it’s a slightly steeper buy-in. Still, it’s a great option if you want to play a game about a mob of weirdos where the particular kind of weirdo that you are is, by definition, a keystone of the game’s setting.

[tronrpg]

what are Sirens?

what are Sirens? we just don't know.

but i'm getting ahead of myself.

To my knowledge, there has never been an officially-released Tron pen-and-paper RPG. There certainly would have been a market for it around the original film's release, had it done better at the box office. And assuredly there have been dozens of homebrew splats and rulesets shared between fans and friends over the years. The Fract, in an ideal world, would eventually be a complete RPG system, enough to fill up a corebook and run a game. But in thinking about worldbuilding, I've run into a storytelling problem that, if not unique to the world of Tron, is certainly still a sore-thumb kind of issue.

Tron--that is to say the OG 1982 Grid, the New Grid, and whatever metatextual setting that the Fract takes place in--is neither science fiction nor science fantasy. For those who aren't clear on the delineation between the two, the plainest I can describe it is to say that "Star Trek" is (generally) science fiction, and "Star Wars" is (generally) science fantasy. Science fiction is nominally supposed to adhere to scientific rules or at least bend them to a reasonable degree in order to tell a story. Science Fantasy bends and breaks those rules, sometimes with impunity, because space wizards waving laser swords around speaks for itself.

The setting of Tron, taking place as it does outside the Grid, is a simulacra of a modern-day "real world" as we know it, with science and computers behaving the way we know they normally do. Except for in the Grid itself. We have to assume that both the Old and New Grids were special in some way, or at the very least that Grid-like systems with sentient programs are few and far between; because computer systems and programs as we know them do not behave like they do on either Grid. If they did, why would Flynn have bothered to create a new one if there are Grids within every computer in the world?

And that's where the science fiction of Tron falls down. Stephen Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird were not computer experts, and they wrote the original screenplay during a time when computers were widely known but not widely understood, particularly by the common person. They can be forgiven for leaning hard on the fantasy and spirituality elements that make Tron a work of more consequence than oh, say, Computer Warriors. But by the time Legacy was released, the world was a very different place, and the ubiquity of computers and technology meant that the average person had a basic knowledge of how a computer works and what it can do; and the OG Grid does not fall into those parameters. So it's hard to say that Tron is strictly science fiction, where rules have meanings, or science fantasy where rules are up for grabs, because each of us carry around a real-world analogue to the Grid in our pockets all day and by now we are all pretty sure that Google Chrome does not, in a metaphorical or spiritual sense, fight for us.

(This, incidentally, is where I feel Legacy did the right thing by having Flynn starting from almost-scratch with the New Grid instead of attempting to apply real-world IT logic to the Grid like Tron 2.0. Divorcing the fiction from things like emails and spreadsheets allowed Legacy to retain some of the spirituality and potential of 1982; and inasmuch as Tron 2.0 is a great game that I intend to revisit soon, I find the "real computer" stuff to be kinda cringey.)

And here's where we come around to Sirens, finally. What the hell are they? Aside from being conventionally-attractive female-coded Programs in white vinyl outfits who appear to have largely representational or ritualistic roles in the New Grid, it's not entirely clear what they do or what separates them from a garden-variety Program. We see Gem and the three other Sirens in Legacy, there are a handful of Sirens in Uprising, including Lux, who appears to have been a...battle Siren? Maybe?

When it comes to putting together an RPG, you have to lean on rules. You have to nail things down and say, outside of GM fiat, a dice roll does that and a stat means this and an attack is performed thusly. So in thinking about squishing the world of Tron into an RPG format, which unlike most video games does not contain a single linear storyline; you have to think about making the world digestible and processable by squaring the edges and making definitions. You want the players and the GM to be able to exercise the vastness of their imaginations, but you want to set the parameters of the playing field, or else why have a themed RPG at all?

That's where I started thinking about how Tron's mish-mash of science fiction/fantasy elements make it a unique challenge to format as an RPG setting. Would it be better to emphasize the fantasy theming, or would players prefer a more grounded approach with real-world computer elements? Is it possible to have a balanced approach? How do you color in the missing information about how the Grid and Programs work, the stuff that the original works never really explained? Just what the HELL are Sirens anyway? Is there some sort of unspoken caste system in the Grid? Are there male-presenting Sirens? Can they suit up and play in the Games? Can they all do that synchronized-walking-backwards thing? Do Sirens just show up when Programs are about to compete at something? Why so much eyeshadow? Why does it rain in the Grid? Why did Flynn serve Sam and Quorra a roast suckling pig? Why does Clu 2.0 look more like Lord Farquahd than Jeff Bridges? WHAT HAPPENED TO RAM? IS HE PART OF THE JUNKY RECOGNIZER NOW OR DID HE TURN INTO THE BIT OR WHAT? KEVIN FLYNN, WHERE ARE YOU NOW?

...okay, got that out of my system, thanks for bearing with me. The point is that there are a lot of fill-in-the-blanks when it comes to worldbuilding lore in the Tron universe, and that may be by design. I love Star Wars, but the industry that has been built up over the last 40+ years to make sure every puppet, alien and CGI blob with a nanosecond of screen time has a full backstory and Wookieepedia entry, I find, largely detracts from the magic of the original movies. Not having everything explained adds to Tron's lasting allure. On the other hand, it makes a project like the Fract a product of guesswork and blue-skying.

So let's say I was creating a Tron RPG, like you do. And I wanted to make Sirens a playable class (which I intend to). Based on the information given to us by the canon, which isn't much; I'd say that Sirens are, first and foremost, specialists. They have specific skills that they hone and adhere to and do not deviate from to take on other roles, which makes them in-demand as bodyguards or enforcers but their specialization limits a players' build choices. They are also largely recognized in the Grid as having ritualistic or shamanistic public roles, perhaps representing the link between Programs and Users. (Maybe Dumont was a Siren 1.0. He could have had on a white vinyl singlet under that getup, who knows?) Maybe they're like priestesses or shrine maidens, maybe they take vows like nuns. This might make them like Monks in D&D.

You see how narrowing the possibilities of what Sirens are in order to fit them into an RPG character class box also reduces their potential in canon--but of course canon's not being contradicted here; this is a fan work and is not intended to overwrite the creative work of others. I just hope that if it ever gets completed, it plays enough like the work that inspired it, so that other fans can get the same rush of imagining what it's like to be on the Grid.

[tareloin]

What do you think Frey and Allon's fighting styles are? Do you think they've had practice spars with eachother? o.o

What do you think Frey and Allon's fighting styles are? Do you think they've had practice spars with eachother? o.o

Thanks for sending in an ask, Marlin! <3 Putting a read more because this thing is gigantic.

Word count: 1,560 (not including TL;DR)

TL;DR is also provided below!

=== TL;DR: ===

Frey is strictly melee and is limited in speed due to his axe's weight. He makes up for this by fighting efficiently and using his warhorses to travel quickly and thin out large crowds of enemies. Allon has a little more flair in his fighting with his swifter attacks and quick movement. He utilizes magic to increase his range, but melee takes preference as magic takes time to cast. Yes, Frey and Allon do spar with each other (mostly for training) and they're pretty much on equal playing fields, especially if they're using the same weapon. They also take responsibility for the other if they ever manage to harm the other on accident.

=== RAMBLE START ===

As we'd expect, there's canon fighting styles that we need to account for before I get into headcanon territory.

Unfortunately, I don't have a high quality gif collection of Frey or Allon's skills. I might get them in the future and update this post when I do, but for now... just text, gifs, and links to videos. Sorry! :'D

ALLON (ONE-HANDED SWORD)

When entering battle, Allon will sometimes jump and tumble into the battle. Yes, it's canon, and no, I have no idea how he gets so much air. Usually though, he just runs up to the enemy.

His standard attack is just a slash to the right.

Another attack has him swinging his sword backwards before thrusting it forward. He then swings it back again before reverting to his attack stance. (This attack is provided below.) There's also a variant of this attack that sends out a spinning blade when he stabs forward.

[Fun fact: Knight's Stinging Flurry skill was actually taught by Allon, who showed her the technique!]

Allon also seems to have a "buff" skill (aka he "shouts" like a Super Saiyan and gets a blue fire effect around him). I don't know what it does, but I assume it increases damage and possibly even attack speed.

You can see more of his attacks in this video (0:35-2:31) and this video (2:30-3:30).

FREY (ONE-HANDED AXE)

There's not much to say here (thankfully)! (The reason for this is because Frey doesn't appear as often in dungeons compared to Allon.)

Frey enters battle as you'd expect (running up to the enemy). He also has warhorses that he rides into battle with (but we never see him riding it because game limitations lolol)

When attacking, Frey's usual attack is just a slashing motion from left to right. Like Allon, he also has a "buff" (it makes him glow red in-game) that only appears during a special attack. This attack consists of a spin jump and an axe slam at the end.

Here's some gifs from Sky Fortress's launch.

Okay, that's all for canon stuff.

=== HEADCANON TIME WOO ===

Since the two of them use different weapons, it's going to be hard to give an even comparison. I watched one video a while back about the differences between axes and swords (therefore take all my statements with a grain of salt), and axes are generally heavier than swords.

It makes sense then that Frey would have more moves that rely on momentum for impact, which is reflected in his attacks. It's important to keep the weapon moving in a fluid motion rather than sharp/sudden motions (like stabbing) because the axe's blades are pretty heavy (especially if you have four like Frey does)! It's going to leave you exposed as you're reeling back from your swing.

I imagine that final blows are done with the spin jump because it uses the entire body's momentum for impact. The amount of dead time for recovery also wouldn't be ideal either if you're still trying to swing at an enemy.

I also want to mention that since Frey was (probably) trained by Condor, he likely shares a similar moveset. (See Condor's attacks here.) It's possible that Frey utilizes these attacks during battle, but it's not certain because Condor's axe is more likely to be lighter (thus opening up more possibilities).

I mentioned Frey's warhorse earlier mostly because it's related to his general combat. They're trained to trample the enemy to death and possibly even gore enemies on their armor (Alexion, for example, is very spiney and has armor with a horn on the top). We as the player are allowed to mount on one of Frey's warhorses and have a skill that has us charge into enemies, so it's not unreasonable to assume Frey's warhorses are made to ride in and kill.

Frey's axe may look unwieldy and be more difficult to use swiftly, but he makes up for it in blunt-force damage. His attacks are probably pretty devastating when they need to be at the cost of speed. That's why I imagine he often prefers to use warhorses for swiftly cutting down masses of enemies and goes on foot for smaller, close-contact groups.

That's not to say Frey is slow-hitting. He's just slower than people like Allon, who have lighter weapons.

Speaking of Allon, unlike Frey, it seems that a lot of his attacks rely on stabbing or swift sweeping gestures (as opposed to methodical sweeps of the arm). This is probably due to the lighter weight of the weapon in general, but also possibly because of his capabilities as a Lumiknight.

If you looked at the videos for Allon (provided above), you probably noticed a lot of magic being used in compound with his physical attacks. This is likely due to his Lumiknight status as they (probably) have some sort of magical capability that can assist them in battle/whatever they want, really. This is due to their connection with the Goddess of Light. I imagine that the magic puts Allon at a greater advantage due to their range, but since it's not his focus, he's not capable of holding these ranged attacks for long.

Instead, Allon moves swiftly to close the distance between enemies. If the distance is too far, then he might resort to magic to deal damage while still rushing forward. When he's closer, he can make up for the lost time by maiming the hell out of them with his sword.

But you might wonder... what's the point of the tumble roll? Is there really any time saved using it? And my answer?

lmao no

I feel like Allon is just an extra sort of person. In fact, he used to have/still has a taunting motion (it looks like beckoning) that sometimes triggers when he's fighting enemies. Unfortunately I can't find the gif of it because the link expired some time ago, but believe me. That is by far the cockiest thing one could do.

His skills are flashy and sometimes unnecessary, but if it gets the job done, then so be it. Actually, I imagine that's one of the bigger differences between Frey and Allon's fighting styles.

Frey doesn't necessarily need extra flair for his attacks. All actions are done for a reason and are quickly executed, mostly because when he's on foot, he is limited by not only his weapon speed, but the weight of it too as he travels from place to place. But hell, he sure can do some cool stuff with his axe if he's not in battle.

See? Wow, so cool, spinning a literal axe in his hand! Guy must have hella arm and hand muscles.

Allon has a little more leeway in the way he can attack due to his advantage in speed. Plus, a sword swing can only do so much. I can't imagine it can do as much damage as an axe could, so what the sword lacks, magic makes up for it. And since Allon isn't exactly a magic user, the more devastating magic skills he uses likely take more time to channel (especially holy light, which is what I imagine he uses).

Compared to other magic-focused users such as Orde (who is a wizard), he's pretty slow! But put against other melee-focused characters (see: Rolling Thunder), he has a much greater advantage.

=== DO THEY PRACTICE SPAR? ===

Short answer: yes!

They're friends, and I can't imagine a better way to refine your skills other than to beat the hell out of your friend and assert dominance over them fight against an opponent who is on an equal skill level as you.

But you also might be wondering how they do that if Allon has a significant advantage over Frey, with all his magic and faster movement. (You might also be wondering how Frey doesn't kill Allon either with his axe, lol)

That's also a simple answer: they agree on what should be and shouldn't be done during training. It varies depending on what weapon they're using, too!

Frey used to be a guard (or at least a cadet in training) whereas Allon used to be a knight/squire. It's not unlikely that both guards and knights are trained to use a multitude of weapons in the event they need to be moved to another post/have a shortage of XYZ weapon users. For example, you can see Tria guards with a variety of weapons: a spear, sword, crossbow, and even knuckles.

Of course, Frey and Allon both have preferences for their current weapon. But it's not to say that they aren't proficient in the other weapons either! They both believe it's good to be well-rounded and flexible in battle so they probably swap out weapons for some spars.

When using their regular weapons without utilizing magic, Frey and Allon are pretty evenly matched. Allon probably does have a slight advantage still, but honestly... they both make up for each others strengths and weaknesses. Plus, they don't really keep track, so neither should I!

Sometimes, though, they get caught up in the fighting. They don't mean to hurt each other, but whenever it happens, they make sure to tend to each other's wounds. The injuries aren't severe, usually it's just a scrape or something similar, but there's still a sense of responsibility over the other.

And I think that's it! Thanks for reading, and thanks for asking Marlin!! This was really fun to think about :]