#fallen london npc fight

[fallenlondonnpcfight]

The Liberation of Night is in Trouble

[justsleepyrune]

going to be completely honest, all my voting in these polls is either by vibes or whatever propaganda i have seen last

[101flavoursofweird]

Title: Starting Over

Description: Espella reunites with Carmine in London… Eve is also there.

Spoilers: For PLvsAA

Set: A month after PLvsAA

Warnings: Mentions of the Great Fire and Espella’s catatonic state following that, but not in much detail… Vague descriptions of a car crash (of course) and a broken leg.

Note: For Day 2 of @layton-npc-appreciation-week - I went with V.S Phoenix Wright. Not sure if Eve and Espella count as NPCs, but you don’t get more NPC than a character who appeared for like 2 minutes in the opening cutscene.

Carmine hadn’t seen Espella Cantabella since he’d crashed his car into the Riverside Park, one month ago.

In Carmine’s defence, they had been pursued by witches… or rather, what Carmine had perceived to be witches.

It had been nothing more than an illusion evoked by a mind-altering drug, according to Professor Layton.

The Professor had also revealed that Labyrinthia— the medieval city plagued by magic and witches— did not exist as Carmine remembered it.

All of it had been a facade— a story— constructed to help Espella live with the trauma of a devastating fire from over a decade ago.

The Legendary Fire that had consumed a town and the majority of its inhabitants… except for Espella, Arthur Cantabella, Newton Belduke and his daughter.

A young Espella, convinced she had destroyed the town after being possessed by the ‘Great Witch Bezella’, had entered a catatonic state.

It seemed nothing could break the spell that had fallen over Espella… but then, Arthur Cantabella had written her a story about the banished witches and the triumphant townsfolk. 

More stories had followed, until Labyrinthia came to be.

Carmine had stumbled into Espella’s story by mistake. He had been extremely lost and subsequently, stupefied by the events he’d witnessed in Labyrinthia.

At the best of times, Carmine was strapped for cash… How was a detective meant to survive in a medieval town when he couldn’t tell fact from fiction? The illogical court system had made his head spin!

He had wandered through the streets— penniless and hungry— until he’d bumped into a girl who took pity on him. 

She had brought him to a bakery and given him of a loaf bread for free…

The bakery owner— upon discovering this transgression— had decided Carmine would work at the shop to pay her back, and she would put a roof over his head in the meantime.

And so, Carmine had found himself living alongside Espella Cantabella, Patty Eclaire and Eve the Cat.

What had started as repaying a debt became Patty and Espella patiently teaching him how to bake (and forgiving Carmine’s many mishaps!), listening to the neighbours’ gossip, exploring the Great Archive with Espella, learning the history and the strange customs of Labyrinthia…

Hurrying home with Espella and avoiding the Order of Knights’ hard gaze…

Laughing with Espella and Patty during a flour-fight—

Getting interrupted by the intrusion of five knights, who accused Espella (kind, gentle Espella) of being the Great Witch…

Defending Espella while Patty warded them off with a rolling pin… 

After that, Patty had begged Carmine to take Espella and flee— far away from Labyrinthia. Carmine had agreed.

But he and Espella had been followed, and  knocked off the road.

(Curse his terrible luck and his last name…!)

Carmine had been injured, of course, but Espella could still run. He had urged her to go without him— to find Professor Layton and deliver his letter.

Much to his relief, Espella had obliged; she had left him to traverse a city she didn’t even know the name of.

Carmine didn’t blame Espella. Not for anything at all.

He’d wanted her to be safe and he knew Professor Layton would ensure that.

And the Professor had succeeded! He had solved the puzzle of Labyrinthia! (With some help from his assistants and an American defence attorney…)

Most importantly, he had helped shed light on Espella’s troubled past.

Espella was free now. Free to be herself. Free to process her trauma. Free to leave Labyrinthia, at long last…

She was meant to be visiting Carmine today, at the hospital. 

(He’d recovered from the injuries he had sustained during the car crash, but since then, he had broken his leg while trying to escape out of a window on the ward.)

Carmine glanced at the clock on the wall of his hospital room. Espella had said she would arrive at 3pm… but it was coming up to 4pm now.

He frowned. Where was Espella? Had she simply been delayed during her journey? 

Had the boat ride from Labyrinthia gone smoothly…?

Or had something happened to Espella when she reached London? 

Was she travelling alone? Could she have gotten lost? What if she had been waylaid by some lowlife in a dark alley?

Just as Carmine was envisioning every misfortune that could have befallen poor Espella, he heard two tentative knocks at the door.

“C-come in!” Carmine exclaimed as he leapt out of bed. His left leg, wrapped in a cast, crumpled under him as soon as he tried to stand. “Ahi—!”

He landed on the floor just as the door opened…

Espella was standing in the doorway. 

Her beaming smile faded when she realised Carmine had collapsed.

She let out a cry that sounded both ecstatic and concerned.

Carmine was nearly bowled over again as she caught him in a hug.

Somehow, with her arms locked around his neck, Carmine choked out a laugh. “You made it, then?”

Espella’s grip loosened. She looked at him and nodded. “Made it.”

He smiled. “I’m so glad!”

“There’s someone I want you to meet…”

Espella’s head turned towards the door, where Carmine noticed a figure waiting in the shadows. 

The figure glided into the room and Carmine recognised her.

“You—!” Carmine gasped. He pushed Espella behind him, but he kept glaring at the intruder— the one who had once posed as the ‘Great Witch’. The one who had caused Espella so much grief. “Stay back, you…!”

“Carmine— it’s alright!” Espella protested, gently moving him aside. “This is—“

“Are you— being influenced again, Espella?” Carmine peered at her. (She seemed lucid…)

There was a sigh from across the room. “Espella… Haven’t you explained everything to him?”

“I did, in my letter!” Espella insisted. She pointed from Carmine to the purple-haired woman. “Carmine, this is my friend, Eve—“

“Eve?” Carmine repeated. He glanced around. “Where is Eve?” Aiming another glower at the purple-haired woman, he demanded, “Have you done something to Eve?”

The woman rubbed her forehead with her hand and huffed, “I think you’re confused—“

“Eve the cat is fine and she’s back home,” Espella clarified. “Eve Belduke, my childhood friend, is here.”

Eve— the woman, Newton Belduke’s daughter— gave him a small wave.

“Ah…” Carmine cleared his throat. “I’m sorry— can we start over?”

“I believe I’m the one who owes you an apology,” Eve Belduke said solemnly. 

Espella gave her a reassuring smile. Carmine hummed.

Eve exhaled. “But yes, let’s start over…”

[centaurianthropology]

General Thoughts of Candela Obscura E1

So, for those who are waiting for the drop for Youtube, I’m just going to put these under a cut.

The first episode was ... fine.  I like the characters, but the story was a little less horror than I was hoping for.  I think this is likely a side-effect of it being an introduction to the system and the world, and I hope we dig deeper and get into way worse and creepy things in Oldfaire, because the town gives off some serious Yharnam vibes, and I really want to see much worse below the city.

The horror seems currently on the level of something like Fallen London (another strong similar vibe I got from the setting), where it can be mildly creepy, but nothing to spook even the biggest scardey-cats.  And part of that, I think, is Matt being first and foremost a D&D DM.  His favorite horror is body horror, clearly, and his sensibilities are geared for D&D combat and monsters.  And that is no bad thing, but so far I really haven’t seen him dig deep and come up with a really strong horror hook.  

And to be fair to him, doing horror in a TTRPG is HARD.  The sci-fi horror series ‘Eclipse’ had only one episode out of three seasons that really got me properly creeped out.  Taliesin’s Call of Cthulhu one-shot ‘Shadow of the Crystal Palace’ had some great horror moments, such as the moment with the guard and Travis, but that’s as close as we’ve come to proper horror content from CR.  And this introduction to Candela Obscura, despite being hyped as proper horror spooks, lacked any real fear.  We got ..blue ghosts?  A big warrior spirit?  Cool, sure, and definitely some fun visuals, but nothing that felt actually scary in that existential, unexpected way.

I also sort of wish Taliesin was playing the group’s Lightkeeper, as I think he’d bring more gravity and spooky shit to the table, essentially acting as a junior DM and NPC.  He would give the circle instructions and would be available to discuss lore and such with them as needed, but would always give off a vibe that interacting with him for too long might be dangerous.  It would also make his intros feel a little less separated from the rest of the episode.  

Now, all this may sound like I was pretty down on the episode, but I did enjoy it.  The characters are fun, they’re good horror tropes (particularly Laura’s crazy-eyed occultist, who gives off some delightfully weird vibes).  Having them have personal connections to one another is also great, as it gives them more to lose (and I am really hoping we do lose a few by the end of the third episode, as I want Matt to ratchet up the danger hard).

And as I said at the beginning, this is very much the first episode, with some kinks to work out.  I’m hoping that, now that the establishing episode is over and done with, Matt can destroy all my doubts and show me that he can really embrace the fucked-up horror vibes this show really needs to have proper teeth and linger with the audience.  Having a system weighted toward failure or only partial successes, with true success seeming like a rarity, could really help with this, and giving the characters more resource crunch could also be great.  ‘Call of Cthulu’, for example, has very few rules about fighting, but a lot about running away, because that’s what you’re supposed to do.  So it’s great that none of the characters in this current run are active combatants.  Sending them into Oldfaire with no real means of defending themselves and barely enough information to keep them alive could really up the terror, and leaning into reality-breaking cosmic weirdness seems like a great angle to take if and when they descend below the city streets.  

Setting up proper scares and paying them off would also be a huge benefit.  Taliesin had some great moments of this in ‘Shadow of the Crystal Palace’, as I mentioned, and though the rest of the series never quite rose to the same heights, the third episode of Eclipse, ‘The Dark Zone’ is frankly a masterclass at being properly spooky and unsettling that could be referenced for ways to get your players spooked and keep them there.  So it is doable, but it requires the DM to go in with spooks set up and ready to go.  Matt is fantastic at set-up and is an incredibly diligent DM, so I do trust he can do this.  And he’s got a good buddy who has experience doing it if he needs any ideas.

I am looking forward to following this run, and I think a lot of my issues with this first episode are simply early growing pains of a new system and new players.  I think by the third episode, if Matt really cranks up the horror, I am going to love this series, and I am both a big fan of CR and a big horror fan, particularly cosmic horror.  So I’m very excited to see what the next run might be like after the growing pains are over and the kinks are worked out.  I hope we get at least three runs with three different DMs, because getting to see how this system plays in different hands with different approaches would be really beneficial to those of us tempted to run Candela Obscura ourselves.  I would love to see Ivan van Norman DM one of the runs, as he’s got a great sense for horror.  And I would really like Taliesin to take the reigns.  This is his baby, and right now his distance from it is probably deliberate, as he wants to see how it plays without his interference, but I think his DM style from ‘Shadow of the Crystal Palace’ would really bring this setting to life, dragging his investigators into darker and darker places.

All in all, not a bad start.  Not great, but first episodes of any of CR’s campaigns (or frankly pilot episodes in general) are often weakened by everyone being new to their characters and the DM still figuring out the tone they want to go for.  I think that we’ll be seeing a lot of improvement, and a lot of what’s already strong (the characters) getting built out to the point where, if we start losing them in episode three, it’ll have some serious impact leading into the formation of the next circle for the next run.

[alexis-royce]

all your posts about it piqued my curiosity so i looked up and started playing fallen london! any helpful tips for a newbie just starting out? :D

Ooooh, you’re in for a treat!

What I wish I knew when I first started: Fallen London is a game which you play a little at a time. Your actions per day are limited, which can be very frustrating. You haven’t picked up a game which you can binge, but a tiny living world where you will get to grow and change with everyone else. Focus on exploring places that interest you and enjoying the text. The sense of wonder and mystery is a huge part of the appeal. Don’t cheat yourself by checking the wiki if at all possible! The wiki is over here, and I’d recommend using it when you feel lost, but not as an alternative to exploring the game on your own.

In the example image above, there’s a darker circle in the top-right corner, with a little pencil on it. Clicking that will allow you to save text to your journal, which is displayed on your profile page. This allows you to keep a record of your choices, so you can reread them later! If you're out of actions but you still want to play, use your journal to think over what your character has done. Why did they make the choices that they did? Do they regret them? Who are they now? Fallen London is a Role-Playing Game, and that means that the gameplay in your head is just as important as the gameplay on the site. How does your character feel about the locations they've been? Which NPCs do they like? Who scares them? What items are they proud of? Consider writing these things down in your own private journal. Maybe try drawing your character!

Try not to fret about leveling up fast, or maximizing the amount of items you get per turn. Someday, you will be big and powerful and have max stats and best-in-slot items. But you only get to be fresh to London once. Enjoy this stage of your character's life, while they're an underdog fighting to make their way! You're laying the groundwork for an OC who will grow and flourish over the course of several years.

There is a big new event going on right now (July 29, 1899 2022), so if the site feels slow, that's why! If you can join in, then go for it by clicking a weird little option that is probably showing up wherever you go:

And lastly! My account and the fellow I drew in the comic is The Ex-Disgraced Academic. Feel free to add me as a friend! I don't, as a rule, RP. But during one of the annual events I do like to send in-character cards to people, and since I'm a Paramount Presence, I'm in a position to assist with masterclasses and such. You can also find more friends on reddit, on the discord, or here on tumblr. Anyone who's reading this, please feel free to comment or reblog with your account name if you'd like to make some more friends!

[strangestcase]

i still cant forget about that sunless seas npc one of my captains romanced... i remember it vividly it was my third captain. he wore glasses and had their head bandaged a la invisible man... their dream was to publish a book with all the wonderful things discovered at zee... and then in london they met this afro-british poet with sad puppy eyes and the MOST ridiculous mustache-sideburns combo and a gay little bowler hat and was like Gulp!!! ive fallen in love!!!! anyway they had bi4bi t4t romance, they got married... and my captain bought a lovely flat for them and their husband... then there was some bi4bi t4t sex involved and he got pregnant with a child and he gave birth with the captain present... and their child was this adorable kid who was so curious and my captain made them call them captain so it was captain and daddy... my captain loved to spend time with their family and also writing their book... then when we were i think at cecil's the crew revolted because we had spent too long at zee and they killed them in a bloody way not without a fight and then threw them overboard </3 i made a new captain, the first mate of the previous one, but ive never forgotten the npc. he was so handsome. so charming. somehow i saw a gleam in his eyes after my captain met him... i think of him, i think of the poet that one day when his lover was out at zee, as usual, noticed they weren't returning even after weeks or months and i wonder if they ever knew how the captain had died, or if they had died at all and if he and his child kept on waiting... like i feel so emo over a nameless fictional man my bandaged avatar canonically fell in love with married had sex with and impregnated. and then left a widower. </3 i felt so bad for him and their child like damn........ i made a whole widower and a whole orphan........

[dipodiidae]

fallen london oc ask meme

(themed around the masters because why not)

hearts: why did your oc come to the neath? do they miss the surface or regret their journey? if they were born in the neath, do they ever want to see the surface?

stones: which quirks (ruthless, melancholy, etc.) would be their top three? which chiropteromantic zodiac sign do they have?

apples: which faction is your oc the closest to, and why? which faction do they oppose the most? which npc would they get along the best with?

spices: do they indulge in any of the neath’s many vices? if so, to what extent do they do so?

iron: how good is your oc at fighting, and what is their favoured weapon?

wines: if your oc was a companion, what stat boosts (or penalties) would they give? what would be their ingame title and description?

veils: if your oc was a master of the bazaar, what would their title be? what would they trade in?

cups: what is your oc’s opinion of the masters (and the bazaar in general)? if they had to pick one to ally with, who would they choose?

pages: which artistic school is your oc part of (or would be part of)? would they favour benthic or summerset college?

fires: which ingame ambition did your oc pick (or if they don’t have an ingame counterpart, which would they pick)? which ending would they choose, and why?

mirrors: what would their parabolan reflection look like? which dream quality fits them the most, thematically?

eaten: how much of the deeper mysteries of london does your oc know? what price are they willing to pay for knowledge?

[marloart]

Recently for the tabletop game I GM we started this new arc that’s roughly inspired by “The Great Gatsby” (I keep referring to it as the Murder Mystery Party Arc and it takes place in a fancy magical mansion with a 1920′s costume theme but all the suspects and npcs are actors - lol it’s complicated) and I homebrewed these masks that have special stat buffs and are blessed by our campaign’s deities. These are 4 out of 7 of them. 

further details under the cut! 

The first is The Moth: Blessed by The Guardian of the Otherworld, Manannán mac Lir. Which slightly borrows from Irish folklore but specifically for our campaign he’s in charge of Liminal Spaces, Air, Longevity, and Illusion. (The mask slightly inspired by one of the Hallomas masks from Fallen London)

Our campaign is a blend of dnd5e and fate core rpg so the benefits it has are +2 Lore and Notice (for a dnd5e rule set it would be like +2 History checks or Investigative checks) 

Second is The Trickster: Blessed by a chaotic forest fey spirit named  O’ Cellaigh the Enfield a type of large chimera creature with the face of a fox, talon like front appendages with feathered wings, and the body and size of a wolf, and a bushy tail. Not much is known about this spirit yet. (This mask was partially inspired by the Kitsune Noh Masks but with Perriot comedie d’arte painted features.)  Stats: +2 Stealth/Deceive 

Third is The Demon: Blessed by Yzara, Godex of the Knife. A non-binary deity that’s all about war, courage, valor. Ae is always prayed to right before a fight. I’m not sure yet but I’m toying with the idea that this mask is one of the depictions of aer face. (Kinda like a oni mask but in general mostly my own creation of a scary halloween like mask)  Stats: +2 Fight/Provoke 

Forth is The Star: Blessed by our other non binary deity Uros. Who is mostly the immortal in charge of putting the stars in the sky and recording the stories of the constellations. They also are known for their spirit of Pleasure, Feast, Indulgence, and Youth.  Stats: +2 Rapport/Heal

[cultofthedrownedman]

My Experience Playing Pathologic 2: Day 1

I decided to pick up Pathologic 2 a few weeks ago because I wanted to play a game about surviving a plauge due to circumstances, it’s a similar genre to other games I’ve played, and it’s gotten interesting positive reviews. This was my experience with (most of) day 1 of the game (some spoilers for day 1, try not to get into anything completely experience ruining but in case you want to play blind I’ve put up a read more anyway)

The game has difficulty options but if you try to pick anything other than the ‘Intended’ difficulty it practically begs you to change your mind. I picked it the game wanted me too but since I know enough about the game to know that the Indented difficulty is piss hard I fully expect to lose. Badly. Multiple times. And then be forced to a lower difficulty anyway to actually see the rest of the plot. We’ll see.

Pathologic 2 is portrayed as a stage play of the events of Pathologic (the game this is a remake/sequel of) and I think that’s very cool. They go all-out with the play aesthetic too, with a director that bitches at you for not playing the role right, creepy looking stage hands that explain the game mechanics to you, and stage lights that swing by when you walk past certain places. Adds another layer to what seems to be an already complex game and I really like that.

The one thing that I can’t figure out game-play wise is the combat. Part of the problem is that my computer is a hunk of junk so the frame rate drops significantly when combat starts and part of it is that I seem to have shitty depth perception so I keep swinging at people when I’m nowhere close to their face and get hit when I think I’m at a safe distance, but at this point I really hope that combat isn’t required to win the game because if it is everyone’s gonna die of plague :(

I did however get fairly decent at stealth, which is good because everyone hates you most of day 1 for plot related reasons and NPCs patrol the streets looking for you, so a lot of traveling around to the different plot areas was sneaking behind a tree and waiting for them to go away.

The absolute relief I felt when I was successfully able to run to one of the few areas that didn’t have everyone trying to kill me.

Throughout the dialogues with other characters I was conflicted between wanting to ask questions about the lore that I didn’t know and trying to RP like the guy whose dad is the village healer and has lived in this village for god knows how long and surely must know this stuff already. A lot of conversations were me trying to sound like I know what I’m talking about while being at least three levels of confused.

That moment when this guy comes up to you and straight up goes “I sell organs on the black market, but it’s illegal for you to get organs so you can’t help me.... unless?”

I ended up being uncharacteristically antagonistic to half the characters I talked to (I usually pick the ‘nice’ option in video games) but maybe it was because I had little idea what was going on and half the characters seem like they’re lying to me.

In the middle of my play session a child character asked me if killing someone was ever acceptable and I straight up didn’t know how to answer. I tried to reconcile my personal feelings, what I thought the opinion of the character I’m trying to play might be, what I thought it would be a good idea to teach children, and what would really make me seem like a hypocrite for plot reasons, and in the end I stared at my screen thinking for a solid ten minutes. There was a lot of interesting dialogue with world-building and foreshadowing and all that cool stuff but that one question from a child that appeared to see me as an authority figure was was stuck with me most during the entire play session.

I had to look up a walkthrough once was when the game said there was someone to talk to near some rocks but I couldn’t find them anywhere so looked to see if there was something I was missing (they were there, they just blended in really well with the rocks).

The part that made me really sad was when I saw three guys trying to lynch someone they thought was me and I tried to tell them I was Spartucus to be heroic, but ended up in a fight with all of them at once and got caught in a loop where I would get pummeled and wake up somewhere near by, only to have them come right back and pound me again because I continue to suck at the combat. I had to reload to a earlier save and not try to save that person not because I didn’t want to, but because I couldn’t :(.

All in all, very interesting game so far. I rarely come across a game where I can’t stop thinking about it (the last one was Fallen London). I’ve been putting off playing it more mostly because I haven’t had the energy for games the last few days but I can’t wait to see how this goes.

[believerindaydreams]

my sunless sea OCs reenvisioned as a D n’ D party

the Captain: Welsh bard (it’s a family tradition). Can charm any cat he encounters, strong on nautical lore, occasionally has useful visions. Compensates for this with a crippling irrigo addiction, which unfortunately means the visions are never of much use. 

the Herald: passes as a paladin for most purposes (the definition of paladin in Fallen London being fairly loose). It’s easier than explaining that she’s using an arcane truenamer class build that isn’t even from the same rulebook as everybody else. 

the Student: has been on an epic quest to dual-class warlock and wizard (no, nobody’s told him better, and he wouldn’t listen if they did). Efforts are complicated by the fact that he’s actually a sorcerer and hasn’t noticed.

the Engineer: claims he’s a monk who has put exactly zero effort into studying unarmed fighting, and carries a bladed weapon he doesn’t use. Instead spends all his slots on gnomish mechanics that are effectively the same as magic, but insists they’re more “sciency”. In actual fact, he’s a rogue with highly mixed feelings about his class, but has sunk too much effort into it to switch now. 

the Crewmember: they say they’re an NPC and you can’t prove otherwise

[fallenlondonnpcfight]

Parabolan War Part 2 Electric Boogaloo

Manager art by @thedeafprophet.

[hawthorn-and-nettles]

Pop Sugar Reading Challenge 2015

A book with more than 500 pages: Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness 

A classic romance: Safe Haven - Nicholas Sparks

A book that became a movie: Odd Thomas - Dean Koontz

A book published this year: The Stranger - Harlan Coben

A book with a number in the title: The Woman in Cabin 10 - Ruth Ware

A book written by someone under 30: Touch - Clair North

A book with nonhuman characters: Guardians of Ga’holle: The Rescue - Kathryn Lasky

A funny book: Dead Star Island - Andrew Shantos

A book by a female author: Silence Fallen - Patricia Briggs

A mystery or thriller: Night-bird - Brian Freeman

A book with a one-word title: Nod - Adrian Barnes

A book of short stories: Fight No More - Lydia Millet

A book set in a different country: A Cook’s Tour - Anthony Bourdain

A nonfiction book: Trooper: The Bobcat Who Came In from the Wild - Forrest Bryant Johnson

A popular author’s first book: The Fall of the House of Usher - Edger Allen Poe

A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet: Fire Touched - Patricia Briggs

A book a friend recommended: NPC - Drew Hayes

A Pulitzer Prize-winning book: Less - Andrew Sean Greer

A book based on a true story: Alone on the Ice: The Greatest Survival Story In the History of Exploration - David Roberts

A book at the bottom of your to-read list: The Power - Naomi Alderman

A book your mom loves: Garden Spells - Sarah Addison Allen

A book that scares you: The Ritual - Adam Nevill

A book more than 100 years old: The Pit and the Pendulum - Edger Allen Poe

A book based entirely on its cover: When We were Animals - Joshua Gayland

A book you were supposed to read in school: Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut

A memoir: 127 hours Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Aron Ralston

A book you can finish in a day: Trust No One - Paul Cleave

A book with antonyms in the title: The Death Cure - James Dashner

A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to go: Ranger Confidential - Andrea Lankford

A book that came out the year you were born: Guilty Pleasures - Laurrell K. Hamilton

A book with bad reviews: Where the Wild Things Are -  Maurice Sendak

A trilogy: The Darkest Minds -  Alexandra Bracken

A book from your childhood: Secrets of Droon: The Hidden Stairs and the Magic Carpet - Tony Abbott

A book with a love triangle: The Host - Stephanie Meyer

A book set in the future: Pines - Blake Crouch

A book set in high school:The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

A book with a color in the title: Black Cat - Edger Allen Poe

A book that made you cry: Nights in Rodanthe - Nicholas Sparks

A book with magic: Grave Witch - Kathryn Price

A graphic novel: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - Gerard Way

A book by an author you’ve never read before: A is for Alibi - Sue Grafton

A book you own but have never read: Grave Dance - Kathryn Price

A book that takes place in your hometown/home-state: The Silent Wife - A.S.A. Harrison

A book that was originally written in a different language: Cockroaches - Jo Nesbo

A book set during Christmas: Polar Express - Chris Van Allsburg

A book written by an author with your same initials: Sideways Stories from Wayside School - Louis Sachar

A play: The Mask of the Red Death - Edger Allen Poe

A banned book: Call of the Wild - Jack London

A book based on or turned into a TV show- Naked Heat - Richard Castle

A book you started but never finished: The River at Night - Erica Ferencik

[oldschoolgaming]

Dragonmeet 2018

I find it hard to believe that it’s December all ready but it must be true because I’m just home from Dragonmeet, my last gaming convention of the year!

Dragonmeet has been around for decades in one form or another but this year’s event was only the second I had attended.  

I set off early on Saturday morning to collect my mate Darran from Derby.  He’s recovering from a broken leg and knowing he normally relies on public transport I thought I could help a fellow GM out.  I’m sure navigating the tube in London would be hard work with crutches but it wasn’t completely altruistic; sharing accommodation costs made the trip much more affordable and it was good to have company on the long drive.

We made good time down to Hammersmith.  I’d booked the same B&B I used last year which, even with the extra (but very affordable)  parking charges worked out cheaper than a room at the convention hotel.

I’d booked to run two games this year.  In the morning slot I ran Stephen Newton’s ‘Children Of The Fallen Sun’ for Mutant Crawl Classics RPG

Initially I was unsure the game would run as sign ups were thin on the ground for some of the morning games.  I had two confirmed players but picked up more as other games were cancelled and late arrivals drifted in, finishing the adventure with five players at the table.

The game was great fun with some really memorable moments including a near TPK when our Yak manimal fumbled his artifact check on a control panel, blowing the thing up and killing himself and two of the party’s Porcupine men companions!

Some quick thinking and good rolling got the rest of the party back on their feet but it seemed that the party’s very own ‘great disaster’ didn’t put them off prodding and poking the rest of the artifacts.  Before long we had a mutant with a freshly acquired set of gills and (despite reasonable warning) another who was reduced to a dehydrated husk and spent the rest of the adventure rolled up in another character’s backpack!  It’s a great module and I look forward to running it again soon.

Mutants, Manimals and Humans united!

During a swift lunch break I sat down with a sandwich and a pint of Guiness and was finally able to meet up with with fellow tabletop nerd, twitch streamer and 3D printer geek LaughingBoy who was visiting Dragonmeet for the first time with his son.  We’d missed each other at the Expo this year so it was great to catch up!

On the subject of the expo I also caught up with Kalum from the Rolistes podcast who had recorded one of Brendan’s DCC games at the Expo this year.  I also had a chat with the non stop ball of energy known as Lloyd Gyan, who works for Modiphius but is also involved with the ‘Games On Demand’ at UK Games Expo   It looks like I’ll be running some shorter ‘on demand’ Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, X-Crawl  or Mutant Crawl Classics sessions at the Expo next year.

Me & Lloyd

I didn’t take any photos in the trade hall this year but l behaved and was almost on budget, December being and expensive time of year!  I picked up physical copies of a couple of bits I’ve already got as PDFs: 

The Midderlands is fantasy OSR setting based in the part of the country I reside in, which I picked up from Squarehex’s fantastic stand.

Mothership, an awesome OSR Horror/Sci fi game with simple mechanics and divine artwork and layout.  I bought a physical copy mostly because the home printed version I made from the PDF doesn’t do the product justice (or my eyesight any good!)

I also picked up a new Lamentations Of The Flame Princess T Shirt (the Ramones shirt of the RPG hobby?)  but made my saving throw against James’ sales pitch and avoided buying any more product for that game - I have a backlog of stuff to run already having overspent at both last year’s Dragonmeet and the UK Games Expo this year.

My afternoon game was Julian Bernick’s ‘Outlive, Outsmart, Outkiill’ a funnel adventure for his Noir/Urban fantasy ‘Nowhere City Nights’ setting for DCC which I reviewed here.

The adventure is a fairly linear dungeon - not a bad thing for a funnel in this judge’s humble opinion.  The simple premise is that characters from all walks of modern life (fast food chef, executive, cab drivers and IT worker, stripper and so on) have been kidnapped and are forced to make their way through the trials of the dungeon, whist being constantly taunted and ‘encouraged’ to fight each other by a hidden group of sadistic NPCs.  

We had some PvP early in the game resulting in one of the players knocking another of his OWN characters into a spiked pit trap, but the group mostly worked together.  

Highlights included an attempt to make an improvised flame thrower from a bottle of vodka and a length of rubber hose; one character aimed the device, another blow the vodka through the tube.  As judge I was desperately hoping for a crit or a fumble on that roll, but it was not to be!  

The adventure is a good mix of combat, traps and a wicked trapped puzzle encounter that had the remaining characters playing very cautiously.  

We had a death toll of just over 50% as we reached the final encounter.  I tried my best to encourage PvP by offering a ‘special prize’ (I had a full set of funky dice to give away) but no one took the bait and the players opted to stick together and fight their way out of the dungeon.  The final encounter was pretty chaotic and good fun despite me rolling a  ‘1′  on the bad guy’s initiative check!

After the game I did another lap of the trade hall, resisting more goodies from The Dice Shop and Atlantis miniatures. (check out their awesome Dwarf sculpts!)  

The real downside of a one day convention is how quickly things seem to wrap up in the evening.  I thought about trying to get another game going but although the mind and heart were willing the body (and voice!) was weak so I decamped to the bar with friends for more Guinness and an excellent, if expensive, portion of fish n chips.

Another great Dragonmeet experience and an excellent finish to convention gaming in 2018!

[caladblog]

2017 The Year in Review

jesus h. fuck, we’re still doing this whole... “the passage of time” thing? really? ugh. okay. give me a moment.

*drags hands down face*

*sighs*

okay! it’s been another year! goddamn look at us go! welcome to my Second Annual Recap of New Fiction Stuff!!

(hark! a disclaimer: this features things that i experienced for the first time in 2017, not necessarily things that were released in 2017, because i live literally underneath a rock and it’s a bit out of step with the zeitgeist down here)

Books

Nominations: Neuromancer by William Gibson, The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Winner: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. Neuromancer was good but this fic did it better. The Fifth Season was excellent and beautiful-- if you’ve read Jemisin’s previous trilogy about gods, there were aspects and elements from those stories that were really brought into perfect focus here; it’s a testament to her growth as a writer and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next two books in the series.

But The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet takes home the title because it is pretty much everything I want in a space opera. Everything. A galactic civilization that isn’t just an echo of European colonization. Interspecies conflict that isn’t a thinly-veiled allegory for racism. Aliens that are truly alien, different from humans and different from each other, with societies and cultures and values that logically follow from these differences. Lush worldbuilding (universebuilding?) that never sacrifices the plot or the characters. An artificial intelligence who sidesteps or directly refutes every frustrating AI trope in the book. Three-dimensional characters! Found family! ‘Xe’ being used as the linguistically-normal gender-neutral pronoun! A lesbian relationship between a human and a reptilian!

it’s good is what i’m sayin

Movies

Nominations: Rogue One, Thor: Ragnarok, And Then There Were None

Winner: Thor: Ragnarok. Stop the fucking presses, I saw a movie less than a month after it was released. This has only happened, like... twice in the last decade. Literally.

Anyway. Rogue One was good, but I’m not a huge fan of the war stars universe. I’m even less a fan of the marvel cinematic universe, especially what it’s become since cap2, but Thor: Ragnarok just fucken blows everything out of the water. No contest. It’s hilarious, it’s epic, it’s the first movie to get Thor’s characterization right. It loses points for including B******t C*********h, but it gains more points for everything described in this post, especially the way it specifically called out the way that societies built on imperialism try to cover up or whitewash the shameful bloody parts of their history. (“Proud to HAVE it. Ashamed of how he GOT it!!”)

Video Games

Nominations: Space Pilgrim Saga, VA-11 Hall-A, Fallen London

Winner: Fallen London. Confession time: I played a lot of video james this year, kind of went wild at the steam summer sale, and it was really hard to narrow it down to three nominations. Ultimately, though, Space Pilgrim Saga was nominated for humor and space and an endgame relationship between a gray-ace woman and a bisexual woman. VA-11 Hall-A was nominated for design and good music and queer representation and me being super gay for Dana.

But Fallen London wins because I’ve never played something that so naturally and regularly validates my gender identity and queerness. Not only do you get to choose a nonbinary option when creating your character, you also get to choose how the game addresses you and change it whenever you want, however many times you want. It’s always there (being referred to as a ‘gentleperson’ or any one of several non-gendered titles) but it’s never the defining aspect of your character or the subject of scrutiny/ridicule/whatever by any NPCs. Similarly, every point at which a romance is ‘required’* provides you with a male and a female option (and, as far as I’ve seen, the option to romance them both at once, too) and your choice of these is never determined or impacted by your character’s gender. Despite the ‘historical’ setting.

*in scare quotes because it’s needed to advance some stories and unlock others, but you do have the option of just. not doing them. or seducing the character for money or social status or some other personal gain, and not love. i'd like it if there was a non-romance option to advance these storylines, but eh.

It’s also just really well-written and interesting and funny and free to play-- there are storylines that cost money, and I’ve got my eye on several, but you never have to spend anything to advance. Even just keeping to the free storylines, there’s a ridiculous variety of things to do for whatever sort of person you want to play as. Go sign up now! Beware of wells! Don’t go North!!

Comics

Nominations: Harrow County vol. 3 “Snake Doctor”, Bitch Planet vol. 2 “President Bitch”, Ms. Marvel arc “Mecca”

Winner: “Mecca”

Okay.

I don’t remember if I ever posted it anywhere, but when this arc was being released earlier this year I had a Debate(TM) with myself about escapist storytelling vs. storytelling that holds up a mirror during rough times--how can you write escapism when hiding from problems does nothing? how can you write realism when the world already does so much to grind us down?--and I eventually settled that we need both, to read and to be written. Realism to show us how to fight. Escapism to help us rest so we can get back up.

This arc is so real it hurts, especially when you can only read it in monthly installments, but it’s the same hurt as pressing on a sore muscle. It’s necessary. There’s not a single aspect of this story that isn’t directly related to what’s happened this year, and what will go on happening next year, and the difficulty of resisting it, and the importance of continuing to do so anyway.

Also G. Willow Wilson appears to be the only Marvel writer who remembers that hydra is literally a splinter group of fuckng nazis so like

Podcasts

Nominations: Archive 81, Wolf 359, The Magnus Archives

Winner: Archive 81. What can I say? It’s precisely my shit. In fact, it’s so much my shit that it’s kind of hard to believe I’ve only known about it for a few months. Time is fake? I’ve already written in depth about how much I like this podcast over here, so I’m not gonna repeat myself.

Has to be said though that The Magnus Archives was a very close second. Like, when I started writing this post a few weeks ago, I had most of the winners already chosen, but this one was a last-minute decision. Especially when episode 81 (*EXTREMELY LOUD TWILIGHT ZONE THEME SONG*) was released and marked the first time in my life I’ve ever related to a male main character. Maybe a main character, period? At some point I’ll post a list of sampler episodes you can listen to without being too spoiled for the main plot to see if you wanna invest in a thing that’s got 86 installments so far.

so there we go! that’s been a sample of my year’s experience in fiction. see you all on the other side of this arbitrary dividing line that’s only marginally related to physical reality!

[enterinit]

New Xbox One Games for April 15 to 17

New Xbox One Games for April 15 to 17.

Journey to the Savage Planet: Hot Garbage – April 15

The planet of DL-C1 has it all. Tropical beaches, lovely views, toxic waste, and killer robots. There’s only one person who can handle a job this dangerous and that’s the person sitting on the closest planet… you! Lucky, lucky you.

Space Engineers – April 15

Space Engineers is a sandbox game about engineering, construction, exploration and survival in space and on planets. Players build space ships, space stations, planetary outposts of various sizes and uses, pilot ships and travel through space to explore planets and gather resources to survive.

Blind Men – April 15

As the nephew of a retired super villain, there's nothing Keegan wants more than to become one himself — and what better way than to join the League of Evil? All he needs to do is commit a crime to complete his application. Unfortunately, Keegan soon finds himself in more trouble than he could have ever imagined when his plans are interrupted by a couple of spies from opposing agencies. Pick choices that drastically change the story. Will Keegan’s plans be thwarted or allow him to be successful? Features: 2 romanceable charactersMultiple different endings depending on your choicesKeep the game as a cliché-filled parody, or turn it into a straight spy adventureOriginal catchy soundtrack

Vampire: The Masquerade – Coteries of New York – April 15

Vampire: The Masquerade - Coteries of New York presents the conflict between two vampiric factions: the traditionalist Camarilla and the fiercely independent Anarchs. It's a unique, atmospheric, single-player narrative experience, set in the rich universe of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition. Choose one of three pre-defined characters and play as a Ventrue, Toreador or BrujahEach playable character offers a selection of powers (Disciplines), different ethical approaches to certain issues, and unique dialogue linesCharacter-oriented quests allow you to meet four unique NPCs: a Tremere sorcerer, a Nosferatu detective, a Gangrel of conflicted loyalties and a Malkavian multifoliate online personality with their own agendas. Win their hearts and minds and up to two of them will assist you in the finaleDepending on your choice of the Clan you will be able to see the events from a distinct perspective. One playthrough is not enough to see all the game has to offer!

Machinarium – April 16

An award-winning independent adventure game developed by the makers of Samorost and Botanicula. Help Josef the robot to save his girlfriend Berta kidnapped by the Black Cap Brotherhood gang in this classic puzzle platformer.

Save Your Nuts – April 16

Go nuts in this insane 1 to 8 players chaotic arena party game. Put your cooperation skills to the test over intense physics-based battles mixing casual offline modes and competitive Online matches. In Save Your Nuts, crafty squirrels organize a tournament to challenge other animals in a physics-based competition for the ages. Make daring plays alongside your teammates, grab food power-ups, and tackle your opponents to steal their nuts in this wild multiplayer-focused party game! Features: Couch Party from 1 to 8 PlayersOnline MultiplayerEasy to play but hard to masterReplayability with 3 game modes and 10 interactive environmentsCustomizable and complementary charactersAccessible, Cooperative and CompetitiveChallenging AI https://youtu.be/1sFHq3z4qsk

Cryogear – April 17

Cryogear is an passionately hand crafted Metroidvania inspired Pixel Art platformer with souls-like mechanics set in an open sci-fi world. Gameplay is driven by exploration and rewards curious, creative players with new items, abilities, and ever increasing possibilities. You take control of the newly repurposed clone G.3.4.R and explore your new surroundings, uncover its many secrets, and strive to unveil the mysteries of the ever present Emperor AI. Will you survive and thrive in this strange new world, or will falter and fail as the clones before? Only your skill and determination can decide G34R's fate! Cryogear combines a versatile platformer core with exploration, shoot 'em up and RPG elements to an entertaining new game experience. Explore a dangerous open world with over 50+ different regions to discover. The changing world is filled with obstacles, boss fights, different enemy types, riddles, hidden areas, minigames and loot for a unique rewarding exploration experience. Cryogear features a full-scale RPG inventory, combined with equipment, skill and crafting systems. Switch freely between active abilities and weapons during the action, which allows dynamic, skill-based strategies for every situation. While progressing through the game, you get introduced to different new abilities, weapons, and equipment to customize your clone to match your playstyle. Your clone G.3.4.R. is ready to boot up! A unique journey into the World of CRYOGEAR awaits you... Features: Run, jump, dive, fly, hack, freeze and slide your way through over 50 Sci-Fi themed areas with varying environments in your quest to uncover the mysteries of the Emperor AIUncover the truths and history of the world around you as you venture through destroyed cities, abandoned wastes and factories in a post-apocalyptic dystopian futureLava, Floods, Fire, Ice, Pitfalls, Epic Boss fights, a plethora of evolving enemy types stand between you and your goals.Use Psi powers to shield yourself from dangers and manipulate your surroundings or even your perception of time!Learn to master 4 vastly different weapons with their own unique strengths and weaknesses to overcome the various obstacles.Spend energy harvested from your fallen foes to gain new or improved abilities from 4 different upgrade trees.Search for hidden items, upgrades, and areas just waiting for those clever, lucky, or determined enough to locate them.Discover new armor, items, upgrades, and crafting materials as you explore.Use these items to craft a pair of helper drones, more powerful weapons, and spent consumables; or recycle them into energy to fuel faster development.- Multiple endings, branching level layouts, customizable character development, and the freedom to explore at your own pace and in your own way helps ensure that no two playthroughs are alike.- Speedrun and NewGame+/++ await to challenge even veteran players and extend replayability even further. A Casual mode is available to those who struggle or prefer a casual metroidvania experience. https://youtu.be/GUwV9VbJiiE

Sinkr – April 17

SiNKR is a minimalist puzzler. There is just you, hooks, pucks, and various contraptions you need to finish each level. Sink all the pucks to advance. Features: Handcrafted levelsVisual tutorial level for each mechanicNo scores, no timers, no distractionsResponsive ambient soundscapeNo in-game text, suitable for all languages

Sunless Sea: Zubmariner Edition – April 17

"LOSE YOUR MIND. EAT YOUR CREW. DIE. Take the helm of your steamship in a Victorian Gothic roleplaying game of discovery, loneliness and frequent death. Find your father’s bones. Determine London’s destiny. Defy the gods of the deep sea. Build up your story across generations of zailors who braved the sea and lost Real-time combat against ships and Zee-beasts, spider-crewed dreadnoughts and sentient icebergs Stray too far from civilization and your crew will grow fearful and eventually lose their sanity Upgrade your steamship with powerful engines, cannons and pneumatic torpedo guns Hire unique officers, each with their own story Discover the treasures the zee has claimed Choose a ship’s mascot Trade or smuggle silk and souls Sunless Sea: Zubmariner Edition includes the base game and the extensive underwater expansion." Features: Find your father’s bones. Determine London’s destiny. Defy the gods of the deep sea.Build up your story across generations of zailors who braved the sea and lostReal-time combat against ships and Zee-beasts, spider-crewed dreadnoughts and sentient icebergsStray too far from civilization and your crew will grow fearful and eventually lose their sanityUpgrade your steamship with powerful engines, cannons and pneumatic torpedo gunsHire unique officers, each with their own storyDiscover the treasures the zee has claimedChoose a ship’s mascotTrade or smuggle silk and souls

Freakout: Calamity TV Show – April 17

A top-down, dual-stick shooter inspired by old school arcade games and die & retry shooters. In a disturbed dystopia filled with mutants and killing machines, you’re the star of a reality show which might get a bit too real. Fight your way through the deadly enemy waves, join the revolution, and try to take down the evil Fizzy Corp.

Woodle Tree 2: Deluxe+ – April 17

This time a new menace is taking over the wood lands with a black substance that is absorbing life and energy from all living creatures. Will you be skilled enough to help Woodle in his quest to repel this enormous new evil force? Explore the wonderful lands and restore balance in this open world platform adventure. Read the full article

[terryblount]

All The Game Announcements From The Ubisoft E3 2019 Conference

Ubisoft had some big leaks leading up to E3 2019, so some of the surprise reveals didn’t get the reaction it could have gotten. Still, there’s a good lineup of games being showcased here, all making sense why they exist.

Here are all the game announcements from the Ubisoft E3 2019 conference.

Watch Dogs Legion

The big new open world game is more ambitious than ever. Set in London, you take control of anyone. Though you have to recruit them to join DeadSec first. And there’s a big variety of NPCs you can take control of- including old nannies. If any of them dead, they will be permanently dead but you can always recruit more into your pool of playable characters.

And they all have voice-overs, and can take part in any of the story missions.

Watch Dogs Legion will be out in March 2020 for the PS4, PC and Xbox One.

Rainbow Six Siege

The still-popular and now-excellent shooter Rainbow Six Siege gets a short trailer to remind everyone the new operaion- Phantom Sight- is now live.

Adventure Time X Brawlhalla

Jake The Dog and Finn The Human are now guest characters to the free-to-play platform fighter Brawlhalla. They are out now.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint

More footage of the sequel to Ghost Recon Wildlands’ new villain played by Jon Bernthal. He also appeared on stage with a dog, for some reason. Not that we’re complaining.

They are also launching the Ghost Recon Delta Company, a program for content creators- from cosplayers, fan fiction writers, to the usual video editors and streamers to more hardcore players with many feedback on their chests, there’s something for anyone to contribute.

There’s also some Terminator content teased.

The game will be out on October 4th for PS4, PC, Xbox One and Google Stadia. A beta is slated to be held on September 5th.

Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad

All of the operatives in the Tom Clancy universe collide as a strategy game for mobile. Assemble a team of all-star cast, from Rainbow Six to Ghost Recon to even Sam Fisher of Splinter Cell and take down whatever is needed taking down.

Just Dance 2020

The conference didn’t open with a musical number, but there is still a musical number for Just Dance. The game is now 10 years old and is celebrating its achievements the community has done this far.

The new Just Dance game will be out in November on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii (yep) and Google Stadia.

For Honor

A new in-game event, Shadows OF The Hitokiri is now live. This includes a new game mode, Soul Rush. The event will run until June 27th.

Rainbow Six Quarantine

A new PVE, co-op based Rainbow Six shooter. Developed by an all-new team at Ubisoft Montreal, it’s a three-player shooter where you have to survive a mysterious threat that is infecting human hosts.

If Siege is PVP, Quarantine will do the same quality of game for PVE.

The Division 2

A few new tidbits of updates were shared. The co-op RPG looter shooter is having a free weekend from June 13th-16th. A new update will see players journey outside of the Washington D.C. map.

Episode 1 will be out in July where you go to the jungle, and fight in a zoo. Episode 2 will be out in fall where you visit the Pentagon, now fallen under the control of the Black Tusk. So you have to reclaim that back. Plus, the second raid will be added in this episode.

The final episode, Episode 3, the last for Year 1 of content, is teased here, coming early 2020:

UPlay+

Ubisoft is also joining the subscription craze with UPlay+. This is available on PC, with 100+ games available with the subscription program for $14.99USD (roughly RM62) per month.

With UPlay not supporting local currency for Southeast Asia, don’t expect to see this coming soon to our region just yet. The service goes live in September, with early signups getting to try it out for free.

Next year, UPlay+ is also be available on Stadia, Google’s game streaming platform.

Roller Champions

A new, fictional sports games about rollerbladers grabbing balls, dribbling at 100mph on banked arenas and dunk the ball on side-way mounted goals. So a game taking racing and sports element together in some interesting way. Or essentially, a Rocket League competitor.

It is free-to-play, and a demo is available on UPlay right now.

Gods & Monsters

The team behind Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has a new IP, and a full-on fantasy RPG. Gods & Monsters is based on Greek mythology, features bring and pastel colours and will be out on February 25th, 2020.

All The Game Announcements From The Ubisoft E3 2019 Conference published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/