#and i like ttrpgs. though i’ve unfortunately not had much experience playing them

[a-sketchy]

a persona inspired ttrpg would fuck so hard

[thessalian]

Thess vs Not-Really-Shopping

Still reinstalling so, so many games. Probably not all of the games, not right now, but ... some games I thought I’d never touch again. Like, Baldur’s Gate 3. I was going to say I’m not sure why I’m bothering, but ... I guess I know. It’s because it was a gift and it was really expensive and it does have some good qualities and maybe the bug that more or less fucked me over in my last playthrough has been fixed by now. I mean, it’s due for actual release at the end of next month, and the dev notes say they’ve been working really hard to get it done. I’m still leery, but mostly because I really do not like how the companions are written. If this was an actual TTRPG, this is the kind of thing that I would very definitely discuss with people in a session zero, because this amount of antagonistic bullshit is just ... no, for me. You’re a bunch of people in a lot of trouble working towards a common goal, so maybe you should be trying to find a bit more common ground to make the whole experience tolerable instead of leaning into your personal prejudices hard enough to make life really uncomfortable for the good-natured random stranger in your midst? I get they kind of want “dark and edgy”, does Larian, but I don’t think anyone gave them the memo about “sometimes you need some counterpoint to that or it just becomes this endless slog through unrelenting nasty and who actually wants to play that?” I guess some people do, because a lot of people like it a lot more than I do - and in fact like the companions a lot more than I do - but I’ve mostly been warming to the ones who aren’t constantly sniping at everyone, constantly trying to pick a fight, and occasionally threatening to kill the rest of the party. Seriously, if this was a TTRPG, some of this shit would land the entire game on r/rpghorrorstories over on Reddit. Buuuuuuuut my basically-brother bought it for me when it first came out on early access and it was really expensive and I feel like I have to keep trying. So I will keep trying.

(Divinity 2 can go piss up a rope, though; their companions are even worse.)

I’m also installing the Dishonored games. I don’t generally do well with first person, but I’m going to try again anyway. I’ve been running a homebrew Dishonored TTRPG; not having played the actual game feels like a missed opportunity. While those who have played told me I had the vibe remarkably well for someone who’s never touched the games, I still kind of want to try. I mean, not immediately, because between pollen and increased barometric pressure because of one banger of a thunderstorm heading in this direction, my head can’t really take it.

In a similar vein, the Bioshock games. Well, okay, possibly not Bioshock 2, because the idea of playing as a Big Daddy is kind of offputting, but I want to play the original - or maybe more the remastered original. It’s first person and that’s always a bugger in combat for me, not to mention the headaches, but I only want the story and there’s a god mode so it’s fine. That’s generally my way out of “games I struggle with playing”, honestly - it gives me some breathing room to get used to how things work before I get about eighteen different shades of headachy and / or frustrated. Unfortunately that’s not so much an option in games like Dishonored or Assassin’s Creed (I own a few of those too and I’m also reinstalling them, and at least there’s not the first-person bit to worry about), but maybe if I do things like Bioshock and possibly The Outer Worlds (though I recall a bugger of a migraine the last time I tried it; though that was before the new glasses ... except the ‘new’ glasses were a couple of years ago and I probably need my prescription checked again), I’ll get enough feel for first person to give Dishonored a proper try. I mean, going through old files, I have been forcibly reminded that I was something of a beast on the original Overwatch so that should carry over a bit. I mean, sure, I was very careful to take screen breaks between matches in a way that destroys immersion in a story-driven game, but there’s also not the “too many bright lights / bright colours / particle effects” issue with Dishonored and Bioshock that I had in Overwatch. So maybe it’ll balance out?

It’s kind of nice, this. While I’m glancing between the Steam sale and my wishlist and going, “Meeeeeeeeeeeh...” because not sure if I want any of them that much right now, I’m also getting functionally ‘new’ games at my disposal without having to spend anything. Not to mention that it’s the same shopping feel of “Do I want this enough to have it at my disposal right now?” - though in this case it’s “Does the minor annoyance of having to wait to play anything until it’s downloaded outweigh the joy I’ll have in having it at my fingertips?” instead of “Could the money be better spent elsewhere?”, so it’s way less high stakes. Which is honestly all to the good - I am so susceptible to sticker shock it’s not even funny.

Now, of course, it’s deciding which one to play first. I mean, part of my current play time is devoted to my second play through of Wylde Flowers (turned out I did miss an outfit but the dev team was kind enough to point out which one and it was an easy fix so CRAFT ALL THE THINGS achievement huzzah!), but ... so many gaaaaaaames. Though I’m supposed to have a Shenanigans session tonight so I can’t get into anything too ... involved. Though more so than I thought today because I was going to go out and pick up some things but ... pissing it down with rain with incoming thunderstorms, and I can’t hold an umbrella. Even a quick pop to the corner shop is going to be a bit much, never mind “out to the grocery store for basmati rice and more little marshmallows for my hot chocolate”. Though with three servings of lamb dopiaza and aloo gobi after a cooking bonanza last night, the basmati rice may be non-negotiable. Regular old white rice just is not the same, and I’m not paying corner shop prices for basmati; I refuse. The prices the supermarkets are charging are bad enough.

Aaaaaaaand that’s a rant I don’t want to go into so I’m going to go back to looking over my Uninstalled folder (and maybe my Nope folder) and see if there’s anything else I want Right This Second Now. Also check my zinnias because they were looking a little droopy this morning and I want to make sure they perked up after the watering. Yeah, pissing it down with rain and somehow none of it got into my window boxes.

[bronanlynch]

thursday again no (?) problem

listening: been in a Rilo Kiley mood recently, the song The Good That Won’t Come Out hits me in a place, love a soft little bop that makes me feel all melancholy

reading: I’m about two thirds of the way through The Steel Crow Saga by Paul Kreuger, I’m enjoying it, the worldbuilding is cool and I care abt the characters. the quote on the back compares it to Avatar but Imo it’s more like Korra specifically than AtLA (there are cars and trains and guns, and also people trying to rebuild their countries after years of occupation and dealing with the aftermath of colonialism). however it has a significantly more coherent grasp on political themes than Korra does (I love Korra but. hmm. I have some opinions abt some of the writing decisions). also most of the main characters aren’t straight, and there’s a trans man who is, admittedly, kind of an asshole but I like him on principle bc there are so few trans mlm in fantasy, so it’s unfortunate that this one is aggressively a monarchist but he’s also sleeping with the prince which is one of the more valid reasons to be a monarchist so he’s valid I guess

watching: so I finished Gundam Wing, and my review is that it would be a good show if the characters had consistent motivations and coherent emotional arcs. I care enough about some of the character because they have enough potential for me to want more. as far as I can tell there’s not really a thematic message beyond “war is bad but people enjoy fighting,” because most characters fall somewhere on the spectrum between “war is good because people naturally enjoy fighting, therefore fighting is beautiful” “peace is good but only if you get there by destroying all of your enemies first so there’s no one left to fight you” “war is bad which means I need to do war crimes and/or let war crimes happen so that everyone sees how fucked up war is” and “fighting at all ever is bad even if fascists are invading your country, the right thing to do in that situation is surrender and let them turn you into a figurehead”

the politics are wildly inconsistent and also, Imo, not great. don’t understand why the group trying to fight back against the organization who conquered the entire earth by force are somehow the bad guys, except that they inexplicably put some asshole who changed sides like 5 times in charge of their entire operation, and he inexplicably wants to blow up the entire earth in order to show people why war is bad. seriously.

there’s also a weird emphasis on heterosexual love as the most important thing to strive for, despite none of the m/f relationships getting any development whatsoever and the only relationships that seem to actually matter are familial or ~the bond between fellow warriors

and then the ending feels very abrupt and like. suddenly everything is supposed to be fine now because it was all just a misunderstanding and no one actually wanted to fight a war, we were all just doing war crimes to show how bad war is, so never mind all those people who died or the child soldiers who were traumatized along the way. and maybe the way that most of the plot feels like it was meaningless now that everyone has just suddenly realized that they should stop fighting is meant to be a commentary on war meaningless. maybe. or maybe they should have written a more coherent plot and a more convincing ending. because that interpretation doesn’t really track with all the emphasis on how cool and important the Gundam pilots are, so maybe this show is just falling into “fighting is beautiful/wow cool robot” line of thinking that it was trying to critique

HOWEVER, a counterpoint and also subtle plug for my ttrpg/Friends at the Table/mech anime twitter: there sure are lots of dynamics that give me gay vibes

also watching: that Supernatural clip. you know the one. I have an entire essay in me about how straight people fundamentally don’t understand what coming out means or how it works or why we do it, but everything about Cas ““speaking his truth”“ and how that’s the happiest he thinks he can ever be even though both he and the text of the script say that his feelings are unrequited is such out of touch cishet bullshit. coming out, in gay media for/by straight people, is usually framed as like, the end goal and something that we do for its own sake or so that we can be ~authentic or whatever the fuck. which, at least in my experience, is just. not how it works. and maybe I’m missing something here, because I do not feel like I’m being “fake” by not being out to everyone I meet, and also that when I lie about my identity for my own comfort and safety that’s 100% fine and valid, actually. but Imo coming out is just as much, if not more, about gaining access to community support and resources and potential relationships. you don’t come out to your crush so that you can live your truth or whatever the fuck, you come out to your crush because you want to date them. so fuck off with that “true happiness isn’t about having it’s just about saying it” bullshit

playing: I know I talk a lot abt my ongoing Beam Saber campaign but I’m really excited about it, and I spent a lot of time yesterday doing prep for both the current mission and the next few missions, including some broader faction stuff. I’d never run a campaign before this and it’s really fun actually? and I love the downtime & faction stuff that Beam Saber does that you can’t really get when you’re just doing one shots all the time.

making: didn’t take pictures because I was running late to Beam Saber but I made some pretty tasty garlic bread last night. most of the stuff I’ve been making recently has been food tbh, my big cosplay project goes through phases where I work on it a lot and then realize how much work I still have to do and take a break for a few weeks, and right now I have to alter a bunch of pattern pieces so that’s. gonna be fun

[thirteen-jades]

Get to know the blogger:

1. FIRST NAME: I guess I’ve not really kept this very secret, so might as well put it out there officially again. Jade.

2. STRANGE FACT ABOUT YOURSELF: What isn’t strange about me, honestly? If I had to pick, I get occasional taste, smell, and auditory hallucinations. The first two especially tend to be pretty pleasant, often things like cookies or other sweets.

3. TOP THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU FIND ATTRACTIVE ON A PERSON: Honestly I think the only people that I really register as being attractive are those I’m romantically interested in already? If I had to list some things, I think for women I’d say medium-sized breasts, red/brown/unusual hair colors, and… I’m not sure about a third thing, other than “not things I find unattractive”. As for men, mostly it’s non-physical things afaict, though height/strength may play into it some? Being princess carried is 10/10 super hot.

4. A FOOD YOU COULD EAT FOREVER AND NOT GET BORED OF: I tend not to get bored of the things I eat, I don’t think? I have a pretty limited rotation of foods that I step through and it doesn’t bother me much. Orange chicken is nice.

5. A FOOD YOU HATE: I don’t typically think of myself as hating foods or being a picky eater but in retrospect I don’t like: hot/spicy things (red pepper on pizza is about my limit, though I do often put it on mine), anything even remotely bitter, or things with a texture like raw seafood. That crab stuff in sushi seems to be fine but sashimi is super uncomfortable and I don’t like any non-fish seafood that I can think of.

6. GUILTY PLEASURE: It’s hard to remember the last time I really felt guilty about much of anything; mostly I don’t do things that make me feel bad. I like chocolate with caramel, I guess? Don’t feel guilty about it though.

7. WHAT DO YOU SLEEP IN: Lately it’s been sweatpants. Used to sleep naked and might go back sometime.

8. SERIOUS RELATIONSHIPS OR FLINGS: Serious relationships are great. I’ve had pretty limited experience with them and seem to struggle to do romantic love in general but would very much like to have a loyal (if perhaps polyamorous; that doesn’t seem to bother me so much) partner that I love dearly. I might not mind having more than one partner myself but I’m not really gonna worry about #2 until I find #1 at this point.

9. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN THE PAST AND CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WOULD YOU AND WHAT WOULD IT BE: Changing the past is spooky and dangerous. Do Not Want.

10. ARE YOU AN AFFECTIONATE PERSON: I don’t think so. I can be affectionate towards certain friends, and would very much like to have a better chance to be more affectionate, but overall I tend to be fairly detached from others.

11. A MOVIE YOU COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN: Rewatching/re-consuming things is painful and uninteresting for the most part. I used to reread books and stuff when I had limited access to things but nowadays I don’t see why I’d do it and hate watching movies I’ve seen before.

12. FAVORITE BOOK: I don’t really have the attention span to read books anymore unfortunately. Probably either a textbook of some kind or some TTRPG book. Or the thing I’m writing, if that can really be called a book. Which it probably can, actually?

13. YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KEEP ANY ANIMAL AS A PET, WHAT DO YOU CHOOSE: Fantasy animals included? That’s hard and would need some aggressive research to find which creature is best suited to transform me into a monstergirl. IRL animals only? Fox, cat, or snake probably. Am not really well-suited to caring for a pet now, so it’ll have to happen later in my life. But I’m in no rush anyway.

14. TOP FIVE FICTIONAL SHIPS [IF YOU ARE AN RP BLOG, YOU CAN USE YOUR OWN SHIPS AS WELL]: This one’s hard. I am not very interested in or focused on romance in general. I daydream about my own OCs a lot, but don’t really do shipping so much.

15. PIE OR CAKE: I love me some French silk pie.

16. FAVORITE SCENT: Wish I could smell well enough to have an answer for this one.

17. CELEBRITY CRUSH: I don’t care about or even know any celebrities to crush on, nor do I do crushes or romance in general afaict. So, none.

18. IF YOU COULD TRAVEL ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO: I’d have to visit my friends, I think. If I weren’t confined to earth or this reality my options would increase a lot; I’d love to visit any of my settings or the Moon or something if I were properly equipped to survive in them.

19. INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT: Wildly introverted. Spent most of the last summer talking to zero people face-to-face and was pretty much fine with that. It’s not uncommon for me to go whole days without face-to-face socializing and be unbothered by it. With my online friends, while I do interact more often I often need to pull away a little to recharge and can’t do constant contact with people. It’s also hard for me to initiate contact with anyone.

 20. DO YOU SCARE EASILY: I don’t think so.

21. IPHONE OR ANDROID: Android.

22. DO YOU PLAY ANY VIDEO GAMES: Yep. Not super often nowadays, and it’s taken me like 2 months to get most of the way through Code Vein, but I do enjoy them. I play a bit of Star Wars Battlefront 2, Classic (2005) as well, and am actually a moderator for a Discord server for that game. It’s a good time.

23. DREAM JOB: Well, some kind of engineer, I’d hope. Seeing as that’s what I’m getting my PhD in. If I were restricted to things practical in this world I’d probably pick what I’m going to end up doing, which is working with semiconductors and the like. Or an astronaut. If we open this up to sci-fi or fantasy, there’s too many things I’d love to list.

24. WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH A MILLION DOLLARS: Save it, mostly? Pay off student loans and make sure my friends are set for a good long time and save/invest the rest. I’d make sure to spend a little bit upgrading my computer and visiting my friends, as well.

25. FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU HATE: I sincerely can’t think of anyone or anything I hate, let alone a fictional character. Shinji Matou is an asshole I guess?

26. FANDOM THAT YOU WERE ONCE A PART OF BUT AREN’T ANY LONGER: It’s kinda depressing how many things I loved until I got distracted and forgot all about them, but I often enjoy rediscovering and coming back to them. Homestuck would be the best example of one I used to really love and genuinely can’t get into nowadays though. I liked it, but I think the magic is largely gone for me. Moment’s passed and all.

[thesovereignsequel]

1-49

1. What do you think your d&d race would be?

Dwarf, probably. I’m short, chunky, and do have pervasive body hair. I actually have like two actual hairs growing out of my neck and some thick peachfuzz so I feel like my body wants a beard bad enough for me to be a dwarf.

2. What class?

I think maaaaybe a bard? I have a lot of anxiety concerning performing but I could be a stand up comedy bard. If not that, maybe a barbarian? I wanna go feral at all times.

3. What two feats would you have?

Inspiring Leader and Tavern Brawler. I am good at encouraging people and literally love the concept at going feral w/ whatever weapon possible.

4. What has been your favorite d&d character you’ve played? (NPCs count for DMs)

Ooooo! I guess my favorite PC I’ve played is Viper, my assassin tiefling. My favorite NPC I’ve played is probably Daniel Devito (original character do not steal)

5. Which of your d&d characters has been the most like you?

None of my characters are particularly like me, all of them have like, one trait I can relate to tops. Same with NPCs.

6. Which of your d&d characters has been the least like you?

For NPCs, the big bad of my last campaign (Duke Maloret) but for PCs probably Viper?

7. How do you go about making a character or NPC?

I go with a basic concept when making a player character and flesh it out from there once I have an idea what the setting is like. For an NPC, I already know what the setting is like so I create someone I think would fit and have a place and purpose in the setting. And when I make joke NPCs I just come up w/ something funny that somehow usually works with lore.

8. What is the most memorable natural 20 you’ve ever experienced?

In the CoS game I’m playing, our warlock got a fuckin nat 20 and one shot an NPC, who was definitely going to kill us, mortal combat style.

9. Has one of your d&d characters ever died? How?

In a oneshot playing w/ some ppl I don’t really care for, one of my characters died. They died bc a player threw a grenade to kill a big monster even though I said “yo, don’t!”

10. What is your favorite class to play?

Monk!!! The power, the range. Lovely.

11. Have you ever fought a dragon?

Yes? Kind of?

12. Have you ever fought a beholder?

I don’t think so.

13. Have you ever fought a mind flayer?

No

14. Have you ever had a romance with an NPC or another PC?

As a DM, I have. As a player I haven’t yet, but my necromancer/life cleric is in high demand so that’s gonna change ;0

15. Do you prefer to DM or play?

I like both. I’m better as a player though so playing is usually what I prefer bc I feel like I make a better experience playing. I love DMing so fuckin much tho :’0

16. What is your favorite D&D pod/vodcast?

I only listen/watch two “dnd” pod/vodcasts, those being Critical Role and The Adventure Zone. I prefer the Adventure Zone just a teensy bit.

17. Who is your favorite “celebrity dm?”

If the question had said GM and not DM I’d have an answer.

18. Do you use props/minis/terrain in your game?

Nope. We’re digital bby!!

19. How did you discover D&D?

I knew about dnd since forever, but only started desiring to play after listening to the Adventure Zone. And it took at least a year before I was ever actually able to play (think it probably took two)

20. If you run a homebrew game, give an out of context spoiler.

Being yeeted can be fun, fresh, and flirty.

21. Drop a picture of a mini you painted (if applicable)

Don’t have one :’0

22. Write a brief scene centered around one of your characters!

I’ll answer this in another ask.

23. Do you have any art of your characters?

I do!

24. Have you ever played any TTRPGs other than D&D?

I’ve played Monster of the Week and Tavern Tales.

25. What is your favorite snack for d&d?

Bc discord is over audio I usually don’t have the option of eating a snack.

26. If you could have one potion from d&d, which one would you choose?

Potion of Animal Friendship. I want the neighborhood cats to love me.

27. If you could cast one spell from d&d, which would you cast?

Fly. I just wanna soar bby.

28. What is the most memorable natural 1 you’ve experienced?

I remember every nat one that has a negative modifier and I love all of them.

29. Have you ever been drunk playing d&d?

I have never been drunk period.

30. Homebrew or prewritten?

I prefer DMing homebrew and have no preference for either when it comes to playing.

31. Tell me about your current party!

I’ll get into this one in a different post bc I have a few.

32. Most memorable NPC you’ve encountered in a game you played in.

Flinder Flameweaver. He sold fake ostrich boots claiming they were genuine ostrich and we saw through his lies.

33. Do you listen to music while playing? What kinds?

I play professor Layton music a lot during my games.

34. Favorite accent to do for characters?

Young British child.

35. Favorite classic d&d trope

Sexey demons.

36. What was your first d&d character you made?

A Dragonborn noblewoman who was secretly so buff but wore lots of frills.

37. What is the most recent PC or NPC you’ve created?

I can’t talk about NPCs, bc spoilers, but my latest player character I believe is a yuan ti wizard boi

38. Goblins or Kobolds?

Why not both?

39. Favorite villain you’ve defeated?

This asshole from our CoS campaignwho was very much the reactionary “pleased to see you upset” white dude.

40. What d&d deity would you be a cleric of?

None tbh

41. Give an out of context quote from one of your games!

I have a couple. “DM stands for Daddy Master”, “Griffindor Macklemore is my heterosona” and “Or what, you’ll stab me?”

42. Have you ever rolled turn into a potted plant on the wild magic table?

Unfortunately I’ve only cast a few spells as a wild magic sorcerer and everyone else I play w/ is a coward.

43. Minis and terrain or theater of the mind?

Theater of the mind.

44. Mulligan, Mercer, Murphy, or McElroy?

I like Mercer and McElroy

45. What is the longest session you’ve ever had?

god I think I’ve had one that was at least six hours before.

46. What is the longest battle you’ve fought or run?

The dreaded cockatrice fight.

47. Have you ever played at level 20?

Unfortunately no, not yet.

48. Does your dm say “How do you want to do this?”

Some do, some don’t.

49. Have you ever played an edition other than 5th?

No I have not.

[daughterofsarenrae]

Hi if you're bored- re you currently in a campaign? Who do you play, what's the party dynamic & story so far? What's your favorite oneshot you have played? What non-dnd hobbies do you have? How did you get into CR/dnd/etc? (Pick any of these that are to your liking!)

Hi!! I’m both in a campaign and DM’ing a campaign! I’m currently playing a Tiefling ranger named Nihility in a Tomb of Annihilation game. She’s got a giant weasel companion named Siluareneth who has no sense of self-preservation and gives me a heart attack every time she’s in battle. She’s an archaeologist who wants to learn the secret to immortality. Unfortunately for her, digging through some ruins looking for secrets a while back led to the death of her brother and a few others, so left her mentor and stumbled across her current group. As a group, they’re pretty chill; we all get along well, though our tabaxi barbarian sometimes gets us into trouble by running ahead. They’re level 4 right now, and also have wings for a bit, which has made traveling so much easier!

I’ve only played 1 oneshot, but I’ve dm’d a couple. The game I played was one of my favorite TTRPG experiences I’ve ever had. We used the Delta Green system, and it was sci-fi themed. We were a group of scientists exploring the oceans of Europa. When we got to the station, it was abandoned, and we found some cryptic messages, and then it started getting weird. Members of our team would disappear, and our captain would have no memory of them at all, then they’d show back up. We ended up figuring out that the magnetism on Europa was messing with our brains, making us see things. Copies of our characters showed up and attacked us; halfway through I began RP’ing as my copy, whose goal was to kill the last remaining person I was with. The game ended with the other guy left with me destroying the station with us on it in order to keep our doubles from escaping. Our DM was amazing at conveying mood, and I was honestly terrified. It was so much fun

Other hobbies include reading and learning new instruments. Also I’d like to get into woodworking? I made a dice rolling tray last summer and it was so much fun

There was a post going around on Tumblr back in 2016 that one of my mutuals posted. It included a summary of the characters and a link to the moment in CR1E1 where there were some shenanigans in a bar in the underdark that included Keyleth turning into a bear, Trinket turning into a mouse, and general D&D chaos. I had known about D&D since my dad played it growing up and had mentioned it a few times but it was my first time seeing what it could be like to actually play. That summer I started with episode 1 and caught up around episode 87 ish in the next spring, and then after that I started playing & dm’ing!