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alovesongshewrote · 4 years

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Douxtober Day 6: A Lot Happens in a Short Amount of Time | Hisirdoux Casperan

Plot: You remember the child surprise from the Witcher? yeah, this was it’s distant cousin, the surprise child. (No one is pregnant, I promise)

Word Count: 2,442

Warnings: Children (and i ignore how both kids and adoption work)

A/N: Oh look, a Douxtober fic! no whump here! And it’s technically a part of aaty (if you want it to be)

Tag List: @furblrwurblr @einahpetsyarcip @sorrels-scribbling @anxious-stitcher @alive-and-afraid @animedweeb333 @douxiesdamsel @saroski05

Life was a funny thing. Sometimes you got tortured, sometimes you moved in with your boyfriend, his familiar, sometimes your boyfriend died and came back to life trying to save the world, and sometimes, you accidentally adopted a child.

It just be like that occasionally.

And you could explain this! You totally could, 100%. This wasn’t just the two of you plus Archie and technically Zoe shoplifting a kid, there was a lot more to it than that.

It was about a month after all of the Arcane Order nonsense. You and Douxie, your aforementioned boyfriend, had returned to Arcadia. Everything was calm and chill, which was a really nice change from the usual world-ending chaos. However, Arcadia was still Arcadia, and that meant monsters.

You were decent in a fight, Archie could turn into a goddamn dragon, and Douxie had saved the world multiple times, so you took it upon yourselves to defend the town from the things that went bump in the night. Besides, you wanted to give the rest of your troll-hunting friends a break.

This turned out to be a pretty good plan. It kept the town safe, let Archie get some fresh air, and gave you and Douxie time alone. (Remember kids, monster-fighting is a great activity for date night.) Sometimes you dragged Zoe out with you, which she enjoyed more than she let on.

All was well, and then suddenly, kid.

As has been stated, it be like that sometimes. You know the child surprise from the Witcher? Yeah, this was its distant cousin, the surprise child.

You’d been caught in a battle with another friggin shadow mephit or ten, and it wasn’t going super well if you were completely honest. Zoe was fighting on a roof, Douxie was stuck in a tree, Archie was trying to free Douxie from that tree, and you had given up on your usual weapon for a folding chair. It was mildly effective, but not enough to save you. One of the mephits knocked you to the ground, preparing to take a sizable bite of your arm before a blast of purple slapped the bitch away. You got to your knees, looking out into the night to see a frickin eight-year-old, arms outstretched, purple light surrounding their fists.

“Uh, are you guys seeing this?”

Zoe gracefully leapt from the roof while Douxie fell out of the tree he was in.

“The child? Yep.”

“Ow.”

You winced, walking over to help your boyfriend to his feet, “Ah, you okay, babe?”

He nodded, although his focus was on the kid, who was taking out shadow mephits like a bawse. You would have been confused, but hey, you could fight like that when you were that age. Though that had come from years on the streets fighting for your life, so there was a place for concern.

“Hey, should we be helping them?”

“Yeah, probably,” you said, picking up your folding chair and yeeting yourself into the fray.

With the extra assistance, the mephits went down a little easier. You and your gang made sure to watch out for the sudden child, but they were pretty damn capable. It only took ten minutes for the tide to turn. Douxie opened the portal to limbo, banishing the mephits from the material plane.

You took half a second to be excited before turning to the random frickin kid who just kicked all the ass. Their expression was grim, with no trace of pride. It was kind of a mood, actually.

“Hey, kid! You ok?”

Their attention was yoinked from the pavement to your face, “I’m fine.”

You nodded, cautiously approaching them, “You fought really well. Where’d you learn to do that?”

“Why does it matter?” their tone was biting and angry. Or as biting and angry as a child’s tone could be.

“It doesn’t, I was just curious.”

“Don’t be. It’s fine.” Man, did this kid sound like a younger version of you? or what? It was kind of scary actually.

“Alright, I won’t be,” you raised your hands in surrender, taking a step back.

This ‘fun’ conversation had caught everyone else’s attention. Archie flew around the kid before landing on your shoulder, “They won’t, but I will be. Where are your parents?”

“Don’t have any.”

Oh, mood. For all of you, actually.

“Do you have another guardian?”

“No.”

“Why are you fighting monsters at this hour?”

“Because I feel like it, ok!?”

Archie pulled back a bit, “It’s a school night…”

You gave the familiar a pat on the head while Zoe made her approach, “No, the cat is right, it is a school night.”

“Cat? That’s a dragon!” you smiled a little as the kid finally acted like a kid.

“He’s a shapeshifter, actually,” Douxie said, almost making you jump. You hadn’t realized that he was behind you. Arch made his way off of your shoulders and onto your boyfriend’s.

“A sHAPESHIFTER!?” the kid cried, magic again at the ready.

“No, no, no!” you exclaimed, putting yourself between the kid and the cat, “He’s a friend. I promise.”

“Your words mean nothing to me! I don’t know you! Any of you!”

Ok, that was fair. You sighed and got down to the kid's level, “Ok. My name’s (Y/N). The shapeshifter is called Archie, but that’s not his full name.”

The kid blinked a bit, lowering their hands, “Wh-what’s his full name?”

Archie flew down to the ground beside you, continuing towards the child, “Archibald. Pleased to meet you.”

“It’s… nice to meet you too-?” the kid sounded confused, and they were reminding you of yourself more and more with every second. On the bright side, they dropped their hands completely, magic fading into the night.

“Right, well,” Douxie got on your level, kneeling beside you to meet the kid’s eyes, “I’m Douxie and this is Zoe-”

“‘Sup.”

“What’s your name?”

They hesitated, looking between you and Archie, who was currently sniffing the child.

“My name is Robin.”

You smiled, the ice officially broken, “It’s nice to meet you, Robin.”

You let the kid follow you home. Through a bit of careful chatting, you learned that Robin was about eight, and their parents were wizards when they were alive. After their parents passed, Robin was on their own, running around the country and fending for themself. They reminded you so much of yourself that it hurt. Now there was a child sleeping on your couch, arms thrown around Archie which the familiar didn’t really mind, and you had no idea what to do next.

You were sitting on your counter, a cup of coffee in one hand while the other messed with Douxie’s hair. Zoe was at the kitchen table, lying limply across two chairs while her tea cooled in its mug. Your lovely, lovely wizard boyf was leaning on the counter next to you, pretty relaxed considering the day's events.

“So, what do we do with this child?”

“They might have to stay with us for a while. It doesn’t sound like they have anywhere else to go.”

Zoe laughed a little, trying to keep quiet for Robin’s sake, “You two just straight up adopted a kid. Good luck with that one.”

“Thanks, Zo,” your tone was flat, but you too saw the amusement in this situation, “Thank god I studied medicine, honestly. If I hadn’t we’d be sooo screwed.”

“Well, you know the people in this town,” Douxie moved closer to you, “Nobody tips.”

You nodded your agreement, kissing the top of Douxie’s head.

“We should be careful though. These days, you never know where the next ‘end of the world’ will come from.”

“Eh,” you said, looking at Robin asleep on your couch. They looked so peaceful, and you wondered if you ever looked like that at Robin’s age. They reminded you so much of yourself, so much of what you had once been, “I think it’ll be okay.”

There was a moment of silence as you all lost yourselves in thought.

“Well, I’d love to stay and watch you guys sign the adoption papers, but I have a shift tomorrow, so,” the pink-haired witch jumped up from her chairs and wandered past you guys, “Later nerds.”

“Bye Zo.”

“See you tomorrow.”

You lept off the counter, picking up your mug and Zoe’s and putting them in the sink. Douxie watched you, still leaning on the counter. You moved past him again, and he wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you to his chest.

“You’re sure we can watch this kid?”

You bit your lip, looking back at the couch before turning back to Douxie, “When I was that age, all I wanted was a home. Somewhere safe where I didn’t have to worry about tomorrow. If we can give that to this kid then-” you cut yourself off and shrugged.

Douxie smiled, placing a hand on your cheek, “I love you so much.”

You leaned into his touch, “Besides, we have Archie, and he took care of you, so…”

You both laughed a little at that, pulling each other closer. His lips met yours in a soft kiss. You pulled apart from the kiss grinning, but something in Douxie’s eyes confused you.

“Babe? You good?”

“I’m better than good, darling. In fact, I-” he cut himself off, looking behind him and around the room before patting himself down, “Oh, fuzzbuckets.”

“Babe? What’s up? What are you-?”

“I’ll be right back!” he said, giving you a quick kiss before running out the door.

“Uh… ok.”

You ran a hand through your hair before walking through your apartment, making sure everything was locked and warded.

“Why are you helping me?”

You spun around to see Robin, clutching Archie in one hand and keeping the other levelled at you. Purple magic surrounded both hands.

“Well, good morning to you too.”

Archie seemed displeased with your little joke, but he stayed silent for now.

“No jokes!” were they- were they crying? “Just tell me why!”

“Robin, I-”

“I was supposed to kill you! I was supposed to find you and kill you but-” their voice broke, “But you aren’t-” oop, crying child! Crying child in your living room!

“Woah, hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong kiddo?” you approached Robin slowly.

“Why-” sob “Why are you like this?”

“I ask myself that question every day,” you knelt down to their level once again, “You don’t have to do this.”

“I do! I have to, or they’ll-”

“They?”

“They… the titans. If I don’t kill Merlin’s successor then they’ll… they’ll kill me.”

A little smile crossed your face as you took Archie from Robin’s grasp. The kid was so worked up they didn’t even notice.

“I was in the same place once, almost a thousand years ago.”

“No. You aren’t old enough!”

You giggled a little at that, “Looks can be deceiving. Back in the day, I was a spy. I worked for some very bad guys. They sent me to get information from Merlin himself.”

“Wh-what did you do?”

“I did what they asked. I was scared and alone. But do you wanna know what Douxie did?”

“Douxie’s old too!?”

“Yes, Douxie’s old too.”

“What did he do?”

“Well, he fought with me at first, but in the long run, he saved my life. He wouldn’t let the bad guys hurt me, and now, we won’t let them hurt you.”

With a sob, Robin jumped at you, not with an attack but with a hug. You were a little surprised, but you rolled with it.

“Please don’t let them hurt me.”

“We won’t. I promise.” you let Robin hug you for as long as they needed, making frantic ‘be quiet’ signs at Douxie when he came through the door. He looked confused, but stayed quiet and snuck into the kitchen, waiting for you.

“Thank you.” the kid said, looking a little embarrassed as they pulled away.

“It’s no problem kiddo. Now, to bed with you. It’s late and you are a child.”

“And the floor is made of floor. Goodnight, (Y/N).”

“Goodnight little bird.”

You made sure they were safely tucked in before motioning for Archie to follow you as you grabbed Douxie from the kitchen and silently dragged him into your bedroom.

“Ok, we’re adopting the kid.”

“I thought we agreed upon that already?”

“Yeah, well, I’m confirming it now. That’s our kid.”

“And you’re not going to tell him about-”

“Time and place, Arch, time and place.”

Douxie looked between you and his familiar, trying to figure out what he’d missed. You sighed, knowing that this wouldn’t be something you could keep from him.

“It isn’t my story to tell but the kid was sent here to kill us, but they couldn’t. Doux, I know that sounds bad, but Robin is eight. I was nineteen when I was sent to spy on you and Merlin, and you know that messed me up. We can’t let this kid-”

“I know,” he put his hands on your arms, trying to calm you, “(Y/N), I know. We won’t let this kid get hurt the way you were, I promise.”

You said nothing, but you hugged Douxie hard enough to make him stumble back a little. Archie shook his little cat head, but joined in on the hug, “We’ll keep them safe, (Y/N), that’s a promise.”

“Thanks, guys,” you pulled back, absolutely beaming, “I love you both, just a fun fact.” Archie gave your face a lil’ headbutt as cats are prone to do, but Douxie got that look again. You were about to say his name when he pulled you close to him, his lips grazing your ear as he slipped something into your hand.

“I love you, too. Marry me.”

There was a ring in the palm of your hand. Douxie left a kiss on your neck before pulling away to look at you.

“I-”

“Yes.”

“Wait, I had a speech prepared-”

“No speech needed, just,” you kissed him for a second before pulling back, “Marry me.”

“I asked you first.”

“I asked you second,” with that out of the way, you got back to kissing.

Archie realized what had taken place before him and did the cat/dragon equivalent to a face-palm, “Really, Douxie? The bathroom?”

I mean, fair point, the bathroom wasn't a traditionally romantic space, but love followed you and Douxie around wherever you went, so it didn’t really matter. You laughed anyway.

“Thanks, Arch.”

The familiar grinned as much as a cat could, “No problem. Congratulations, though. I mean that sincerely.”

“Thank you, Archie,” you gave the familiar’s head a lil’ scratch before kissing Douxie, your fiancé, again (and again, and again.)

#fluff #hisirdoux x reader #hisirdoux casperan x reader #douxie x reader #douxie imagine #hisirdoux imagine #aaty #hisirdoux #hisirdoux casperan #douxie #toa douxie #toa hisirdoux #douxtober #tooth rotting fluff

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curechocolattymilk · 3 years

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TES V OC Thingie

[Got tagged by @jessaryss ! ]

Pause your game! Wherever your OC is in their game currently, tell me about their story so far.

✧✧✧ General

Current Level: 56

Name: Jeer-Tei Perdes

Name Meaning: Literally got it from a name generator lol. But lore wise it was a name gifted to them in honor of an Argonian who served beside Tei’s mother during the Great War

Pronouns: They/Them

Age: Early 30s where they are story wise???

Race(s): Argonian

Place of Origin: Hammerfell

Pick A Theme Song For Them: oof that's tough... From a Crowded Wound or maybe even Firstwake? If you really played around w personal interpretation/the lyrics that is haha

✧✧✧ Locations

Where Did You Begin Their Game?: Argonian Assemblage, Windhelm (Alternative Start)

Where Are They Currently In Your Game?: Whiterun

What Are They Doing There?: Just finished attending a party held in their honor (Post Blood of Kings)

Homes?: Breezehome, Proudspire, Lakeview & Autmnwatch

# of Locations Discovered?: 274

Dungeons Cleared: 104

Misc. Quests Completed: 87

Favorite Areas and/or Locations: Falkreath / Lakewview Manor. Both areas are where Tei heads off to in order to collect their thoughts/feel some sense of calm.

✧✧✧ Main Quest

Are They Dragonborn / Do They Know It At This Point?: Yes & yes

How Do They Feel About Being Dragonborn: It's...complicated, being thrust into the role of savior by gods of the Cult, which in turn are followed by the folk who see you lesser than them. Tei already has a dislike towards the Divines, this doesn't really help lol

Main Quests Completed: 21

Where Are They In The Main Story Line: Alduin's dead, currently trying to ignore the Civil War as long as they can before the Empire forces its hand into forcing them to join their ranks

Dragon Souls Absorbed: In total overall? 147. The amount currently stored in Tei? 45

Words of Power Learned: 64

Shouts Mastered: 21

Favorite Shout: Firebreath / Dragonrend

✧✧✧ Combat

Most Used Weapon(s): Daedric war axe OR Dragonbone battle axe. Tei technically has both on them at all times during adventuring, alongside a shield, so which they used depends on the situation/which they grab fastest.

Combat Style: Two/One-handed tank. Main tactic is to rush in, cause as much damage/chaos as possible to shake up the opponent, & clean up what the ranged attackers of the party (usually Rumarin, Inigo and/or Lucien) weren't able to deal with.

Armor Type / Level In It: HEAVY ARMOR BABYYYYY (Level 100 + 35 extra points via enchantments)

# of Training Sessions: 99 in-game, lore wise its a lot of self-teaching/keeping their skills learned from Hammerfell sharp. Some of these are magic but lore-wise this doesn't happen cus Tei is not a magic user, save for shouts. I just did those in-game for exp OR so I can help Lucien raise his magic skills :'D

Who Taught Them?: In-game?? Fuuuck so many npcs. Lore-wise? They learned this from their schooling in Hammerfell, going off the canon-lore that it's p much expected for everyone to have a grasp on combat & weaponry! Though they did learn a few things from Kaidan & Anum-La.

Favorite Enemy Type: Dragons! Despite the fact Tei does not have the best magic resistance, it's one hell of a challenge they love to meet.

Least Favorite Enemy Type: Automatons, because of a bad experience with them as a child. Also Undead, because they were raised not to disturb them & it just feels so wrong having to fight them/go into tombs.

People Killed: 945

Animals Killed: 749 (Hunterborn makes hunting fun lol)

Undead Killed: 766

Automatons Killed: 105

Daedra Killed: 136

✧✧✧ Magic

Favorite School(s): None, actually. Destruction is okay though....they guess

Most Used Spell(s): Firebreath or Dragon Aspect. Tei doesn't consider shouts spells though. It's totally different guys shut up they ain't no smelly mage gods

Spells Learned: 9 in-game, mainly due to the spells you're kinda forced to learn for some quests/the ones you automatically know

Items Enchanted: 19 (Tei technically doesn't enchant, and wont next playthrough for sure I wont give in this time >:[ )

College of Winterhold Quests Completed: 8

Where Are They At In The Questline?: Main quest is done bcus i dont like seeing unfinished quests in my journal lmao. Tei's involvement is completely different from canon though in my take. Moreso was hired as a guard for the expedition & was, unwillingly, dragged into the rest of the mess. Is not offered the Archmage position, that went straight to Tolfdir.

Opinions on Magical Guilds (Arcane University, Winterhold, Psijics, Synod, Radiant Dark, etc.): As they get older, they tolerate the guild & magic users more n more, BUT, Tei grew up in an environment that frowns upon the practice of magic, & it shows. They mainly mistrust necromancers/illusionists & still hold onto that belief that reliance on magic, especially for combat, is a weakness.

Bold words for someone with shit magic resistance.

✧✧✧ Crime

Current Gold: 10,640

How Did They Acquire Their Gold?: Odd jobs, selling a lot of the items they made/harvested from smithing & hunting (jewelers are their go-to hirers bcus Tei is great at getting things like ivory), Dwemer ruin diving (they refuse to loot the tombs), also yknow....being part of the Dark Brotherhood helps

Largest Bounty On Their Head: 11,240

For...?: Unfortunately they did not stand down when they were being falsely accused of murder in Markarth. First time Tei called down dragons (Sahrotaar, specifically, Tei managed to get command of Miraak's dragons post-Dragonborn) to absolutely smite some fools.

Current Bounty: None! They're good at not getting caught/threatening and/or bribing guards. :)

Locks Picked: 15 i think?

Jail Time: 1, Cidhna Mine

Jail Escapes: 1, teamed up w the Forsworn lol

Murders: 28

Assaults: 307....In their defense people keep getting in their way during dragon attacks

Items Stolen: 37, most of them from the nobles of Windhelm

Thieves Guild Quests Completed: N/A (wont be doing this storyline unless i cant find a mod that'll let me get the shouts locked behind it)

Dark Brotherhood Quests Completed: 20

Where Are They At In Those Questlines?: DB is completed main arc wise!

✧✧✧ Relationships

Relationship Status: Married to two lovely fellas

Current Companions: atm? none

Housecarls: Lydia & Rayya

Friends (outside of party): Zora Fair-Child, Inigo, Lucien, Anum-La, Morndas, Aela the Huntress, Nazir, Babette, Scouts-Many-Marshes, Isobel, Madesi

Children: Khash, Chases-Starlight, Ram-Ku. (going of where Tei is now - Otero & Mei come around later on in Tei's story!)

Romantic Interest(s): Kaidan & Rumarin.

Sexual Orientation:

GAY

✧✧✧ Religion

Pantheon: Yokudan, with a hint of Hircine worship in there

Patron Deity(ies): From the Yokudan pantheon: Tei mainly views HoonDing as their main patron, but also prays to/pays respect to Satakal.

They are also Hircine's champion.

Daedric Quests Completed: 3 (Hircine, Vile, Dagon - the last Tei didn't really help, moreso pissed off)

Aedric Quests Completed: 1 if you count the whole Alduin thing I guess?

How Devout Are They?: Tei is rather devout, esp to their Yokudan patrons, praying or making offerings daily. They aren't the type to really push it in your face though, but have no issues answering questions one might have.

How Do They Feel About Talos Worship?: Deep down they acknowledge & admit trying to ban worship is terrible, but....Tei also lets their bias/experience with Windhelm, the Stormcloaks & especially Ulfric kinda cloud over this. If the Nords want their old ways so damn much, why fight for a divine from the Imperial Cult? Why not go back to the actual old ways? No, this isn't about worship, not to the men leading this so-called rebellion, they just needed something other than their racist bullshit to fool the common man into throwing their lives away for the nobles sitting comfortable in their thrones.

Also during their whole thing of getting into their role of dragonborn, they get a bonus 'fuck this dude actually' towards Talos, Ysmir, whatever the fuck he calls himself. (tldr; it sucks but good luck hearing Tei say that fully)

✧✧✧ Politics

Gray-Mane or Battle-Born?: Neither, ask them again they will punch you for the love of Ruptga they get asked that every time they enter Whiterun.

Stormcloaks or Imperials?: Also neither, Tei hates em both n think they can all choke. Unfortunately they were forced to join the latter due to, yknow, calling dragons & causing massive damage in Imperial territories during isolated fits of rage and the group being more aggressive in wanting something in return for "letting it slide"....oops

Opinion on the Thalmor?: Oh absolutely despises them, they loudly complained having to work with them during the CW & would go out their way to disrupt their plans/piss them off. Sneaking was an option they did not take during the Embassy quest, if it helps paint the picture.

Opinion Of Ulfric Stormcloak?: Tei doens't say they hate people often...but they sure as hell hate Ulfric. Again, their experience in Windhelm added to this heavily, how both the Dunmer & Argonians were treated like shit, with no help whatsoever from the Jarl or guards when the local Nords targeted them. It's still up in the air if I keep this for Tei's story, but I have it where they knew Chases-Starlight's parents, who were killed. When Tei went up & demanded justice/an investigation, only to be brushed off because it "wasn't a priority," it completely destroyed what little empathy or hope they had left for Windhelm as a whole.

Opinion of The Empire?: Cowards too weak to continue fighting back against the Thalmor, in their opinion, & holds these views they grew up with even when being strong-armed into aiding them. If anything they're at least attempting to use their influence to hint towards a rebellion against the Thalmor, but the Empire could also full-on dissolve & they could give less of a shit.

Civil War Quests Completed: 0

✧✧✧ Personal

How Are They Doing? Need Some Juice? A Nap? A Hug?: The whole event of Blood of Kings has fucked with their head, to say the least. It's the starting point of Tei's eventual spiral. So uh...yeah they're not sure how they're doing everything they knew about reality was kinda challenged & they don't rlly have anyone to talk to about it so its cool, its fine, its all good.

A nap is probably needed, not sure about a hug theough they're super flinchy rn

Days Past In Game: 196

Hours of Sleep: 846

Food Items Consumed: 1833

How Many Playthroughs Have You Done With This Character: Tei actually is an older character from the 360 days so uh...maybe 5 at most? This playthrough & their S:EC one coming up when the mod releases being the main ones focusing on their story

Overall How's Your Level Of Fun: Alright I would say! I just been stepping away from Skyrim more often lately to avoid burning out from it

Must Have Mods To Play This Character (for story or other reasons): Ordinator, Wintersun Faiths, Immersive Armors, Sarcastic Player Dialogue, 3DNPC, Inigo, Lucien Flavius, Kaidan 2, Khash the Argonian, Alternative Start, Leviathan Animations, Beast Race Body Paints, Beast HHBB, Apocalypse Magic, Deadly Dragons, Growl: Werewolf Overhaul, Pronouns, uhhh....idk what else without actually listing my current modlist lmao

----

And that's it for Tei! Anyone who wants to do this go on ahead!

#tes v #tes v skyrim #last dragonborn #ldb oc #jeerteiperdes #tes #skyrimblogging #oc meme #long post #character meme #finished this just in time for me to start registering for my online courses neato #also its almost 12am so if you notice any misgendering of tei (calling them he) lmk im tired haha

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radiant-flutterbun · 3 years

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Lair Review for Tomswifty

@tomswifty-fr

Thank you! I will be reviewing 5 of your dragons

Stratemeyer: Ooo I love to see a world hopper. Her skinscent is so cool and the art in her bio is cute. The Arcane halo is very fitting and looks almost like a helmet around her. I hope she learns a lot in Sornieth, and if she wants to she’s welcome to visit my own clan with it’s own other worldly beings.

Rusty: “Doesn’t get paid enough for this nonsense” I’ve been there bud. I think Rusty’s wine jaguar is very pretty and I like how that accent looks on her!

Five: I LOVE how opal looks on Five! He reminds me of a black opal. I love his lore too! I think hiveminds are a fun concept to play around with, and I really feel for Five since he was forcibly disconnected from his. I’m glad he seems to have found some place where he can be safe and accepted, but it still sounds lonely for him. Maybe he can befriend Rusty? But whatever happens, I love that he’s now starring as a monster in movies. That’s amazing.

SixtyEight: Oh neat another drone! who was never part of a Hivemind and instead the fact he was a drone was kept from him. Oh no. I feel bad for Jellybean. He seemed to mean well keeping the truth from SixtyEight. As for the dragon’s appearance, he’s very pretty! It’s hard to go wrong with wasp/bee/capsule TBH. That accent looks stellar on him too!

Utah: Stop drop and roll! This dragon is on fire! Both literally and figuratively. I love how this guy looks. That skinscent is just *chef kiss* and it perfectly blends in with obsidian ripple that I had to check to see if this wasn’t a 100% cover skin. And the apparel you’ve chosen really amps up his flames. he’s just beautiful. I love him. And that lore? he was so bad that the afterlife rejected him? Damn that’s some good lore. I love that.

#lair review

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surskip · 5 years

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tagged by: @vhsgf thank you!!! :DDD

rules: share 5 facts abt myself for everyone to get to know each other better!!

when i was little i used to collect snails. i would put them in salad boxes with grass and dandelions and such and mist them every so oftne and then release them after like a week. i wanted to do this with ladybugs but snails just seem hardier... i used to put both on my arms and face though which is a little gross. bugs r neat

id be like 5′6 if it weren’t for my extra vertebra

ive been fishing only a few times but ive caught a fish every time except once. every time a fishing minigame is in something i will spend most of my time doing that. love me some fishies

the first time i heard hozier i was like 11 and immediately afterwards i was depressed for like 3 straight months. like it now though it took me a qhile to relisten

im a pain to watch any movie or play any game with because i predict wildly things that i am 100% certain of but the only time they are oddly accurate is like mystery genres

tagging:

this or that tag game: arcane elements cycle wip aesthetics by @aesterea

RULES: copy and paste the entire post. do not remove the credit in the above title. bold the option(s) you feel most connected to. tag who tagged you, and tag at least three others. (sorry i cheated)

tagged by: @vhsgf!!

SENSUAL: the meadow or the mountains? the desert or the winter wasteland? castle or village? palace underwater or castle in the clouds? ghosts or beasts? sparks or snow? black or red? red or blue? silver or gold? light or dark? day or night? silhouette or shadow? tarot cards or playing cards? fire or water?

SENTIMENTAL: defiance or devotion? memory or prophecy? beauty or mischief? creation or destruction? control or submission? like calls to like or opposites attract? live for love, die for love, or kill for love? chaos or cleverness? mystery or history? friendship or romance? haunt or be haunted? you are mine or i am yours? secrets or confessions? treasured waste or wasted treasure?

ARCHETYPAL: death or the lovers (tarot)? the magician or the wheel of fortune (tarot)? the moon or the hermit (tarot)? the savior or the martyr? the healer or the assassin? the damsel or the dragon? the songbird or the dragon? the siren or the sailor? the dreamer or the dream? the captor or the captive? the rose consumed by the flame or the flame that consumes the rose?

tagging: anyone who wants to do it!! you can do one or both or neither or all.... thank you for tagging me i had fun and sorry this is so late!!! <:~] <3

#ask games #mine #long post

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words-writ-in-starlight · 6 years

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Hey do you have any advice for DM's or players? My friends and I are fairly new to this and I would appreciate any advice! Sorry for the bother

IN FACT I DO. Now, again, my DM style could generously be called “freewheeling” and “unprepared” so like...go elsewhere if you want to learn The Numbers. (Can someone explain how to use challenge rating usefully to design my encounters please I’m begging.) However.

IN GENERAL

DnD is a collaborative effort. I’m gonna harp on this one a little, but seriously. DnD, or any other RPG, is a group effort. That means everyone should be having fun, no single person should be controlling everything, no one should be wildly out of tone with the others, and no one should be playing with the intent to fuck over the group.

Host provides the snacks. Traditionally this is the DM, and it’s still sort of generally agreed that, in lieu of a host, the DM is still Snack Bearer, but no matter who you are, if you’re hosting DnD then give your party something to eat. This is partly because there’s a long history of enjoying a salty snack while killin’ dragons, and partly because your average DnD session runs three or four hours and if you don’t eat a meal immediately beforehand or provide snacks, people will get pretty cranky at some point. Everyone needs to be thinking clearly while they fight Y’gathon the Ravenous or whatever.

Loosen up a little. Playing pretend feels awkward at first, and there’s an inclination to make the whole thing a joke as a defense against feeling like you’re being a dumbass. And you’re totally free to make your campaign as goofy and joke-filled as you want! But also try to embrace your character, try to embrace the fantasy world, try to just generally set aside the need to be a “grown up” and just play pretend. Especially if you’re looking to hit some emotional beats, or hit a more serious note than “dick jokes, the DnD party”, it’ll take a little doing to get people to stop feeling shy and awkward about it. This is going to come up again in the DM section.

PLAYERS

Party balance does matter--yeah, seriously. That’s not to say you shouldn’t play exactly the character you want to play! Make that dark elf prince DeviantArt OC you swore would never see the light of day! Indulge your lifelong desire to Animorph--Druids do that! Give your character the angstiest backstory and the most overdramatic appearance you’ve ever discarded for Real Writing! The world is your oyster! But if you party doesn’t have at least a healer and maybe at least one person with more than fifteen hit points (looking at you, All Spellcaster Parties), you may find yourself in a bit of a pinch and your DM may not be sympathetic. If your group is big enough, I’d suggest trying to hit the classic four-person RPG starter party at bare minimum: Healer, Tank, Rogue, Damage-dealer (probably a caster). That’ll cover most situations, both in and out of combat. Get creative from there. If you don’t have enough people (party of three), see if your DM will give you an NPC to fill out that roster--if they won’t, maybe drop the healer and blow 100% of your cash on healing potions. IDK, that’s not my problem. Which brings me to...

There’s no such thing as a boring class. I know, I know, some dude’s about to show up and give me a bunch of crap about paladins. I know. But honestly there are so many options to mod the fuck out of DnD classes that everyone needs to calm down. Homebrew your shit and stop whining. Specifically, this is regarding two categories: Tank and Healer. Nobody wants to be the guy casting Punch when everyone else can cast Wall of Fire, or making sure that your delicate little thief doesn’t get one-shotted before they can net those sweet sweet Sneak Attacks, but honestly the builds are still pretty fun. If your cleric build is boring you, look for a cleric build that’s more interesting! If you don’t like the classic Fighter or Barbarian, rummage around in the alternative paths! Especially the 5e builds have a lot of really cool options right there in the Player’s Handbook, and if those aren’t doing it for you, the Internet has your back. Finally, if what you really want is to be able to just fucking 1v1 the boss or to be Deeply Beloved by your party, Tank and (useful) Healer are your respective tickets to those outcomes. And if you really, really still want to be an arcane spellcaster, try a Warlock for your kinda delicate tank and a Bard for your healer.

Don’t play to sabotage. This sounds obvious, but this is “it’s a collaborative effort” for players, and it’s extremely important. You shouldn’t be playing to sabotage the group and you shouldn’t be playing to sabotage the DM. It’s not going to endear you to them, it’s not going to be funny, and it’s probably going to make your party turn on you in-game at some point, at which point it won’t even be fun for you. If you’re not going into DnD with the honest desire to have a good time and do your best to work with everyone so you all have a collective good time, then let me ask for the sake of your future party that you maybe...don’t. As far as the DM goes, your DM puts a lot of work into your sessions! Probably more than you’re aware of! That doesn’t mean you have to let them put your campaign on rails, but it does mean you shouldn’t go out actively looking for ways to upend their work. That’s just rude.

Share the spotlight. You’re not always going to be the center of attention. Learn to love the other characters in your party and get invested in their arcs! Build emotional connections between your character and the others, so that when they get plot advancement, you get plot advancement! Above all, don’t try to hurry things along so that the narrative gets back to you, if someone else is getting a moment in the sun. A good DM will get to everyone. Just go with it.

You’re gonna have a dump stat--make it narratively interesting. A “dump stat” is that one stat you put your lowest ability score into and subsequently become known for being Absolutely Shit with. Mine is almost always Charisma. My mother is playing a Barbarian: her character is as dumb as a sack of hammers, with the Intelligence score to match. Play into that dump stat! In fact, play into all your stats! Why is your character so uncharismatic--are they brusque or just shy? What part of their backstory informs that? Why are they buff (Strength) and tough (Constitution)? How did they decide to get that way? Why do they have the skills you chose for them? Stats aren’t just numbers on a page, they’re the core of the character you’re building, so make them part of the story. And on a related note, my final bit of player advice...

Give! Your! Character! A! Backstory! Your character DID NOT spring fully formed from the ether (I mean, unless, of course, they did, which is a pretty interesting backstory to be going on with), and the more you buff out your character’s backstory and tell your DM about it, the more they’ll be able to work you into the story they’re telling. I would personally suggest having, like, a couple people who might still be alive out of that backstory, so that your DM has some easy stuff to work with, but bare bones you need to answer the question “why are you [CLASS] and what event brought you to that?”

DM (Under the cut because, like, trade secrets and also this is pretty long already)

You are all-powerful. Not even the rules can tell you what to do. If you want elevators, include elevators. If you want to include house rules, distribute those motherfuckers and use them. If you want a nat 20 to always, always succeed, regardless of circumstances, then it always succeeds, no questions. If you like the Dawn War pantheon but not the Dawn War universe, stuff some deities in your pockets and make a hasty escape to your homebrew setting. You are the DM and at the end of the day, nobody can stop you from changing the rules to suit you. This means that, if you don’t know the rules as well as you would like to, a confident tone of voice and some degree of consistency is just as good! It also means that, until you say it aloud, absolutely everything is in flux--if your characters just are not making progress on the mystery you set up and are continuously interrogating the wrong people, you’re totally free to just give one of those people some relevant information! It’s easy to feel beholden to whatever you previously decided on, but seriously, you’re a god, you can just change stuff to make it work. On the other hand...

You are ultimately responsible for the narrative--and therefore everyone’s good time. That might sound like a lot of pressure, but it’s the truth. With great power comes great responsibility. This means not abusing your power as DM to target someone, to manipulate events to match your preferred outcome, or to dramatically alter the narrative your players are constructing. Ultimately, you are there to give them a sandbox, they’re not here to play out your story. Sometimes in order to let your players do what the party really wants to do, you need to give up some narrative threads that you spent time and effort plotting out. That’s not to say it’s never worth it to put things on rails--especially in shorter campaigns, a party might really benefit from the DM keeping them on track--but a narrative will always be more fun if you build it together, rather than trying to sabotage their attempts to keep them to your planned path. Moreover, as DM, you are the authority figure, so if you see something in-universe or out-of-character you’re not comfortable with or seems in bad faith, say something. I know the rule of improv is “say yes” and DnD is, at its heart, an improv-based story, but you have the responsibility as the DM to ensure that everyone is having fun and sometimes that means saying “fuck no.”

Be a fan of your party. I boosted this one from the Powered By The Apocalypse games, because I think it’s a great rule. Basically, you, as the person running the game, should be a fan of the characters! That means giving them lots of chances for badass moments, emotional connections, and interesting personal plots. The more you as the DM spread around the narrative love and the exciting beats between your party members, the more your players will enjoy seeing each other in the spotlight.

Get in touch with your inner sadist. Remember those backstories I encouraged players to create? Make them tell you every detail. And then make them bleed. Your character has a long-lost brother? Sounds like you just got a convenient villain! Your character’s village was burned down and they’re the sole survivor? Mmm, what tasty opportunities for necromancy. Your character spent their whole life loyal to their king and lost everything defending the throne? Guess who just became the Big Bad? Every person your character includes in their backstory is a leverage point, every place they’ve ever cried is now a destination on the party map, every tragedy they’ve ever suffered is a gift that they’ve given to you personally. The more angst they include in their backstory, the less work you have to do coming up with personal plot arcs. They’ll hand you that shit, all you have to do is take merciless advantage. Have fun.

Make NPCs, and then make your players love them. A helpful tavern keeper! A beautiful guardswoman! A stablehand with a secret! An ornately detailed world is all well and good, but good NPCs are what will make your players get into the game. Are you low on ideas? Spend an hour thinking about supporting characters you love, and then insert them wholesale if your players are unfamiliar with the source media. If you can’t get away with that, rename them, give them a new face, and now you have an NPC. Example: I just met Gilmore in Critical Role! I love him! Now my players have a flirty shopkeep friend named Renwick who’s a tiefling but is otherwise indistinguishable from Gilmore. No one has caught on yet. I’m looking forward to putting his life in danger again to make them Upset. (Did I not mention? The full text of this rule in my mind is “make NPCs, make your characters love them, and then brutally kill them off” but then I’m told I’m a very angsty DM, so YMMV.)

Make failure narratively interesting. This one is pretty straightforward--if your players fail at a task that’s plot-relevant, the failure should be as interesting as success would have been. It may mean your characters spend a lot of time breaking out of prisons, but it’ll also mean that your players will be less likely to fudge dice rolls in order to “win” DnD.

The dice are your friends. Someday your characters will try to fight something they really shouldn’t fight. They will try to enchant something you didn’t give stats to. They will try to do some dumb shit. When all else fails, just roll a fistful of dice, assign purposes to each at random as needed, and wing it. You didn’t give that character a Dex stat and now your cleric is casting Sacred Flame? Roll a d6, that’s their brand new Dex stat, add it to a d20 and confidently report the outcome. Which brings me to my last point...

Confidence is better than actual knowledge. Not even Matt Mercer is right all the time about DnD rules. There is literally too much information and too many myriad ways to tweak it in order to know everything about even a single edition of DnD, let alone the many other RPGs in the world. Keep a computer near at hand for quick rule checks when needed, admit when you’re wrong when applicable, but if you can’t find something quickly and don’t know the answer, make a command decision and then stick to it. As long as you’re consistent, confident, and fair, I guarantee you your players will not complain.

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #dungeon master #rpgs #advice from starlight #the CORE of a good dnd campaign is: YOU ARE NOT COMPETING #YOU ARE WORKING TOGETHER AS A GROUP TO BUILD SOMETHING #ONE PERSON'S VICTORY IS EVERYONE'S VICTORY #DMS: DON'T TRY TO SABOTAGE YOUR PLAYERS #PLAYERS: DON'T TRY TO SABOTAGE EACH OTHER #EVERYTHING ELSE WILL COME WITH TIME #god this is so long i'm so sorry this is 2400 words #i should honestly just post each of these individually it would be so much more palatable #but also i don't want to flood my dash forever and ever with dnd advice #i could've gone on i have a remarkable amount to say on this #queue deeper than the sea of stars #Anonymous #asked and answered

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thecryingcryptid · 6 years

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Hey ive been following you for a while and im not sure if its just my bad memory,but I haven't really seen a post about your ocs? They sound really fun from what I can tell from the tags of that last post. Id love to know more about them?Hope Im not bothering you! 🌟

not at all! yeah idk i have a couple sideblogs for them (but it’s more of a what their tumblr would look like not so much things specifically about them if you get what i mean). you precious monarch butterfly have some lil quick bios bout my top 3 girls

Reywynn Nightstar | D&D | rogue + warlock | Queer Table Universe

- Chaotic neutral/good moon elf who is an arcane trickster. She has ginger hair and one green eye, she lost the other eye to a cursed beholder eye charm thing. She is hella chaotic and loves lame jokes and pulling pranks. She is also hella pansexual and is drawn to lovers who are fun and know how to have a good time. She worked for a rogue organization in the Feywild traveling the wilderness to ruins and shit (and sometimes cities) to...reclaim items of arcane and cultural value. On one mission she tripped a plane shift trap and was sent to the Material Plane. She is not educated on inter-planar travel so she had no fuckin clue how to get back, she just kinda travelled around Faerun taking up odd thieving jobs until she teamed up with the group to work a bigger job with more pay. She is the SMOLEST bean (next to our gnome ranger) at 5ft tall. FUN FACT: that was 100% not her original height but when the DM asked me how tall she was at like level 6 I realized I had not written it down anywhere so randomly rolled for it right then and there. Rey is a smol rage bean with the lamest sense of humor AND I LOVE HER. She has also written a romance novel based on the group’s adventures! It’s not like the penny smut novels she favors but more of a dramatic love epic. I have not actually written out the novel, and probably never will, but I DO have a basic plot outline written if anyone ever wants to see it (you won’t understand how the plot relates to in-game events but it still might be interesting).

Likes: bad jokes, smut novels, and stabby things

Amaris | D&D | wizard | (future) Empire universe

- Neutral good tiefling with moonstone skin and black antlers. 6ft tall with wavy silver hair and bright purple eyes against black scleras. She is probably my bean with the saddest backstory. Her father travels as a fortune teller, though he was more interested in using his good looks and mystic background to seduce women (especially wealthy women). On one such occasion his affair with a local landowner’s human wife resulted in a child that was very obviously not her husband’s. For whatever reason, maybe he really did care for her, he agreed to raise Amaris and keep her away from the anger of the husband. That being said, he was NOT a good father. It was very obvious from a young age that Amaris had a talent for learning magic that he did not, and he greatly exploited that to make his life easier and help him make more money as they travelled. He was very emotionally and verbally abusive and it wasn’t until her mid 20s that she gained the courage to run away from him. She left with some fancy arcane armor she was supposed to be making for him, but now it helps keep her safe as she explores the world on her own terms. She also has the mystic background, but to her father’s annoyance, she doesn’t flatter patrons and tell them what they want to hear instead choosing to give the blunt truth. Sometime in her teens they were close to the town where her mother lived and she went to try and see her, but was discovered by the husband and was chased down and attacked with scythes/sickles. Her back now has a thick scar from the base of her skull all the way down her spine.

She HAS made a cameo in the Queer Table universe as an npc and is married to a nice (and hot) water genasi smuggler and they have a daughter. In that universe she also has a half-brother, Rexes, who is a Monster Hunter ranger.

Likes: books on arcane theory and astronomy, cinnamon rolls, and lavender

Nalaia | D&D | druid | (current) Empire universe

- Neutral/chaotic annoyed 6ft tiefling with green and peachy skin and short-ish horns (think typical devil horns). Long ass denim/blue hair that really needs cut (it’s almost to her knees) and is grumpy AFFFFFFF. Her mother died shortly after giving birth to her so her father raised her himself in the underdark. He was also a druid and took a lot of joy in helping her develop her abilities. When she was about 17-18 he died of a fever and urged her to explore the above world and all nature had to offer there. She set out and ended up staying at a smallish town and falling in love with townmaster. Lots of backstory plot I haven’t FULLY worked out but the townmaster pressured her into focusing more on healing magic and only growing crops the town needed BUT THEN some shit was happening in the forest and despite Nalaia’s pleading the townmaster had the forest burnt down. Being fucking distraught and betrayed by people she thought cared about her she ran off to The Mist Moors and lived as a hermit in a secluded cabin in the swamp. Occasionally people would find their way there if they needed potions or something and sometimes she would help, if only to get them to leave her alone. She couldn’t stay secluded in the swamp though after ALL the dragons rose from the dead AND ATE THE SUN. So now she travels with some cool people to help restore the sun and save The World Roots which are responsible for all the growth of nature. She still generally does NOT like society as an organized concept and gets really uncomfortable and clingy to the paladin when they have to be in whatever post apocalyptic towns they come across. She is (at this point in her life/adventure) very likely to choose nature over people.

Likes: moss, walking barefoot through the mud, banjo music

#THIS TURNED OUT SO LONG #if there's anything SPECIFIC you wanna know bout any of them #just shoot a message #my ocs #Anonymous

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syverce · 7 years

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The Saturday Game/No Glove No Love

So most of the Beer & Pretzels slot games, the characters have had artifacts that they get early in the game and power up with them as they level. It requires a feat to attune to one, and writing them up works something like writing up a weapon of legacy. Typically each artifact will be either an interesting historical set piece that fleshes out the setting, or have plot tied to it (for example, Oisin’s gun from the first game had plot that continued through the second game, but unfortunately never got resolved. One of these days he’ll have the second gun and be dual wielding Outlaw Star style caster guns pew pew!) This game is run by a different GM in the same setting as the other Beer & Pretzels games, but we still got items.

Ashraf’s is a glove that does stupid shit with the spell Moon Blade, and some other things (like the last tier is casting AE’s Bring Down the Moon), even though that’s not 100% fitting with his motif as a priest. The item is also designed such that if I have to miss game because of work or if I feel like shit, the GM can steer the party cleric around without having to worry about accurately RPing one of my characters (which is notoriously difficult for others to do, because my characters’ motivations and interests are often not obvious in the slightest). In short, if I’m not there Ashraf is possessed by some entity that is tied to the artifact.

This finally happened in a situation where he could get real, useful information about the entity, and confirm that yes it really is something else and not just him randomly losing an hour or two here and there, and he freaked the fuck out and took the glove off. Cue Ashraf playing with his wedding ring (and me sitting there physrepping this) for several in-game days across two sessions because he was no longer wearing gloves.

After he took it off I spent some time examining his reasons for being upset, and came to realize it was because he’s married and doesn’t trust someone else driving his body around to honor his vows. His chances of ever seeing his spouse again are exactly zero, but he intends to be faithful. I found this hilarious considering the type of promiscuous characters I usually play, and am going whole fucking hog with this loyalty to a distant figure he will never be able to communicate with again, let alone see. Two things are going to be the driving factor in my RP of this character, I think: the fact that he is still very much in love and intends to honor his vows no matter how impossible ever getting home/seeing his spouse again is; and the changes this sort of emotional deprivation are going to wring out of him, which I’ve already begun reflecting with class level choices. This game slot is specifically for happy fun times games we don’t take seriously, and yet I still torment my characters in them!

Back to the point, though, he finally told the party what the fuck is going on with the glove, and enlisted the help of the two arcane casters in interrogating the entity to figure out what it is and if it’s particularly dangerous or not. It involved them having to throw UMD checks at it to force it to manifest, which they succeeded at. One of the party members intuited from my physrepping the shit with the ring Ashraf’s reason for being uncomfortable with the entity, and specifically extracted a promise from it not to violate his vows (which is amazing since it was the evil party member, who shouldn’t give a shit). They also discovered that it used to be one of the moons, and was ripped out of the sky in ancient times by a furious sun god after it blotted out the sun to save someone it loved (who happened to be undead). It turns out it’s a dragon, as well, which is pretty significant in this setting since dragons after a certain age category become intrinsically tied to some concept--so it both was a dragon, and really, literally was the moon. Just like in the second game we met dragons who were the concepts of death, fire, knowledge, and our party rogue started cultivating a dragon of thieves.

So Ashraf is wearing the glove again for now, but he’s still really uncomfortable with it. The dragon has promised to give the party some kind of tell if it takes over, since it’s completely random when it happens from both it’s and Ashraf’s perspective, and we’ve discovered the two arcane casters in the party are able to push him out by UMDing the thing. Putting it back on means I can continue with my previously intended build, though I still got permission to rewrite a couple of things anyway.

#Tell plays D&D #Ashraf of Night #Glass Dragons party #the item is written on my sheet as 'no glove no love'

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fantasticalscholar-blog · 7 years

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Getting Started - Building a Character! - Part III

Jobs

Alrighty folks. This is it. The Big Ku-pola. The Omega Weapon and Shambala.

Time to talk about Jobs!!!!! One of the most iconic and intimate and coolest parts of Final Fantasy (in my opinion XP).

But now to the Nitty Gritty!

Every PC has a Job at all times; this helps determine their Stats that have been previously mentioned, whether or not they can learn spells, what armor they can wear. Lots of stuff. And with 18 Core Jobs provided in the PDF, you have a lot of options! But if this is your first dance with Final Fantasy, you may not be familiar with the capabilities and intentions of every Job. That’s okay too!

In either case, I highly suggest you doing your own research in the PDF or at online resources to better understand the Jobs. But at a glance, you can check out pages 15-16 to see how Dust summarizes the various Jobs of FFD6. If you proceed to do that, you’ll notice that Dust also utilizes a four crystal system to explain if the Job deals offense, defense, utility, or support options (Page 14)

However, I’d like to go ahead and try my hand at some flavor texts, and my own descriptions of the Jobs with a more traditional approach to describing their Roles, or their typical functions in a party.

The Four Roles I will recognize are:

Tank: Individuals who are considered tanks boast either hefty physical defenses or ludicrous amounts of HP. Tanks can be relied on to withstand even the most devastating of attacks so they can assist and protect their allies.

DPS: The abbreviated form of “Damage Per Second”, DPS characters are typically the heavy hitters of the party. Whether or not this means they use a blade or magic to decimate their enemies, DPS Jobs can be a good choice for first time players due to the straightforward nature of damaging foes. Not to say you may not be performing more calculations, though...

Support: A support Job focuses on either empowering and healing their allies, or crippling foes to make them more easily taken down. Support is a role comes with a lot of responsibility, due to the fact that, if you play the only Support character, the party will look to you for getting them out of dangerous situations. But that in itself comes with it’s own rewards.

Utilitarian: Why differentiate these characters from Support roles? Utilitarians, though they may help out party members in combat, primarily have a lot of Abilities or techniques that are incredibly helpful outside of battle. Either that, or many of their Abilities focus on indirectly affecting targets.

It should be noted that, even if I classify a Job under a certain role, you the player can choose to perform whatever roles you’d like to as your character. Don’t let Jobs control how you want to play; let them accentuate it! And, if you have better ideas for categorization, though, I’d love to hear it!

But with these Roles explained, let’s go ahead and take a glance at Jobs, and what Roles they typically play so you can have a better idea of what Job you’d feel most comfortable playing!

~ ~ ~

Black Mage: Often obscuring their faces, one can often recognize a Black Mage by their mysteriously glowing eyes beneath their shrouded faces. The namesake and primary wielders of Black Magic, these spell casters proudly serve their parties by obliterating obstacles and foes through the sheer force of their destructive, elemental spells. Thundaga!

Innate Ability: Focus - So long as you’re HP’s at 100%, nothing can interrupt your spell-casting!

Starting Weapons: Arcane

Starting Armor: Light

Role Suggestions: DPS

Job Introduced: FF I

Blue Mage: If you enjoy a hands on learning approach to magic, this is the Job for you! Clothed in azure garb, Blue Mages endanger themselves to study and mimic the magics used by Monsters. In this way, they can learn to unleash numerous spells from the eclectic Blue Magic school. And don’t underestimate their capabilities in physical combat either!

Innate Ability: Learning - Sure, it’ll sting for a few moments; but if you’re hit by a monster spell, you can add it to your Blue Magic repertoire!

Starting Weapons: Arcane, Blade, Concealed

Starting Armor: Light

Role Suggested: DPS, Utilitarian

Job Introduced: FF V

Dark Knight: With fiendish powers at their disposal, Dark Knights walk on a treacherous path of morality and mortality to harness ultimate power. Able to dish out ludicrous amounts of damage (often at the price of their own well being) and harrowing status ailments through Black Magic, Dark Knights are some of the fiercest warriors known to the Universe.

Innate Ability: Darkside - By sacrificing 25% of your maximum HP, your next attack deals Physical Shadow damage AND it’s power is boosted! Just make sure to keep track of your HP!

Starting Weapons: Blade, Brawl, Huge

Starting Armor: HeavyRole Suggeted: DPS

Job Introduced: Technically introduced in FF II (through the Character Leon), the option to play as a Dark Knight was more prominent in FF III.

Dragoon: Fighters who embody the majesty of their legendary namesakes, Dragoons utilize incredible acrobatic attacks to overwhelm their opponents. Armed with ranged weapons, to see a Dragoon sail through the sky into battle is akin to seeing a Wyrm take flight; both terrifying and awe-inspiring.

Innate Ability: Jump - With a mighty leap, the Dragoon defies gravity, taking to the skies until their next turn and removing themselves from combat. And upon their descent, any foe that lays beneath will surely be smitten with draconic fury!

Starting Weapons: Reach

Starting Armor: Medium, Heavy

Role Suggested: DPS, Tank

Job Introduced: First seen in FF II as a group of dragon riders, but became more prominent in FF III.

Engineer: Do you dream of programming the perfect fighting robot companion? Inventing an almighty laser gun to incinerate foes? Then an Engineer may be a Job you should look into! Deeply focused on imbuing ally’s equipment with incredible properties, Engineers always have just the right machine to make things go boom. The enemy. I meant the enemy.

Innate Ability: Invent - Even in the heat of battle, Engineers are willing to whip up the perfect augmentation for equipment! From a list of select item properties, you may bestow one property of your choice onto either the weapon or armor of an ally! Just handle with care, since it also gains the Explosive property!

Starting Weapons: Brawl, Huge, Ranged

Starting Armor: Light Medium

Role Suggested: DPS, Utilitarian

Job Introduced: In the game FF IV, Cid Pollendina was a party member whose Job was classified as Engineer.

Entertainer: A wandering minstrel to inspire allies; a charming dancer to dazzle foes. The world’s a stage, and Entertainers are here to steal the limelight! With the ability to empower their friends with an enchanting voice and to manipulate the world around them through song, it’s not hard for this Job to find their niche in a party!

Innate Ability: From the Heart - Rock that music! Passively grant your entire party an Attribute bonus equal to half of your Perform skill! Either that, or let sweet melody soothe the hearts of your foes.

Starting Weapons: Arcane, Brawl, Concealed, Ranged

Starting Armor: Light

Role Suggested: Support, Utilitarian

Job Introduced: The entertainer is a sort of mish-mash of the Bard, Dancer, and Mime Jobs, Bards first appearing in FF III, and Dancers and Mimes as a Job option in FF V.

Gambler: If games of chance are your Forte, forget going to Vegas; take on the Gambler Job and wow your friends with your incredible luck! As a Job that relies on the roll of the dice for many of their abilities, shenanigans are most likely to ensue if you have a Gambler in your party (especially if they tend to roll poorly). But even in moments of loss, a Gambler knows there will be at least twice as many victories in store if they just keep their chin up!

Innate Ability: Slots - It’s pay to play Baby! By activating this instant action, Gamblers can choose from a list of magical slots to play on; success will mean great boons for the party to enjoy. But if you bust...But who cares if you bust?! ROLL THOSE DICE!

Starting Weapons: Blade, Concealed, Ranged

Starting Armor: Light

Role Suggested: Utilitarian, Support

Job Introduced: In FF VI with the party character Setzer Gabbiani.

Geomancer: Water. Earth. Fire. Air... Thunder, Ice, Holy and Shadow! Practitioners of Geomancy are at one with the natural world. Geomancers come from all walks as life, and are as unique as the many biomes of the multiverse are. Able to coincide and harmonize with nature to keep balance in the world, the incredible powers of Geomancers are as terrifying as the power of nature itself!

Innate Ability: Geotrance - Embrace Nature! By channeling the environment around you, unleash a myriad effects! Whether it’s meant to heal the party, scorch your foes, or bring forth a natural disaster, Geotrance is a fun option if you want to shake things up!

Starting Weapons: Arcane, Brawl, Reach

Starting Armor: Light, Medium

Role Suggested: DPS, Support, Utilitiarian

Job Introduced: FF III

Monk: Swift as coursing rivers, as strong as typhoons, and all the rest; the discipline and form of Monk’s in combat is breath-taking. By choosing to forgo armor Monks are but a blur to their Foes as they dish out powerful, rapid blows . And with years of training in a specific martial art under their belt, the most powerful weapon a Monk wields is his own body.

Innate Ability: Martial Arts - No matter your style of choice is, this ability grants Monks the ability to power up their unarmed attacks, and grants them counter attacks! Furthermore, they also are able to unleash ultimate combos through Chain Points by focusing on a single target! Finish them!

Starting Weapons: Brawl, Reach

Starting Armor: None

Role Suggested: DPS, Tank

Job Introduced: FF I

Ninja: Elusive, accurate, deadly, relentless; these are but a few words to describe the Ninja Job! Masters of stealth, deception, and assassination, a Ninja’s overwhelming arsenal of deadly techniques makes the Job a good choice for those who love to quickly dispatch monsters. And if that’s not your style either, stealth attacks and poisons are always a good option.

Innate Ability: Throw - At the cost of destroying the item being thrown Throw calculates damage based off of the tier of the item being thrown! And take a +4 bonus to ACC when you use abililty too!

Starting Weapons: Blade, Concealed

Special: Capable of Dual Wielding! See Pg. 123 for details

Starting Armor: Light, Medium

Role Suggested: DPS, Utilitarian

Job Introduced: FF I

Paladin: Altruistic and the first to rush at danger headfirst, Paladins are champions of protection. Holy in nature and by fate, these chosen warriors are known to lay down their lives to shield those they care about. Outfitted with incredible defenses and gifted with White Magic, Paladins are the embodiment of the Holy element.

Innate Ability: Cover - Allow no harm to come to your party! By selecting a single target, the Paladin may throw themselves in front of their chosen target to take whatever damage the target would have!

Starting Weapons: Arcane, Blade, Reach

I would personally allow Paladins to use Huge weapons too

Starting Armor: Light, Medium, Heavy

Role Suggested: Tank, Support

Job Introduced: With Cecil Harvey in FF IV

Ranger: Having also received the names Hunter or Sniper through the years, Rangers are your go to job if you like things that go “pew”. In particular, Rangers are mobile fighters that can unleash volleys of deadly projectiles to slay the unsuspecting enemy. Often armed to the teeth with abilities to debilitate targets and helpful survival skills, you’re in good hands with a Ranger at your side.

Innate Ability: Reversal - With incredible reflexes and redirection, whenever a Ranger dodges an unfriendly attack due to their AVD stat, they may instead target a different enemy within short range to receive the blow instead, no roll required!

Starting Weapons: Concealed, Ranged

Starting Armor: Light, Medium

Role Suggested: DPS, Utilitarian

Job Introduced: FF III

Red Mage: Jacks-of-all-Trades, masters of none, Red Mages are the definition of dilettantes! Clad in scarlet fashion, Red Mages not only are capable fighters, but are also able to learn Black and White magic! If you’re not sure what role you want to play, but want to leave a lasting impression on a party, becoming a Red Mage is a good choice!

Innate Ability: Encyclopedic - Knowing a little bit of everything can go a long way! This ability grants Red Mages the skill, Lore (Everything), which may be improved with skill points (SP) like any other skill, except that it may be used in any situation where the GM may ask for a Lore skill check.

Starting Weapons: Arcane, Blade, Reach

Starting Armor: Light, Medium, Shields

Role Suggested: DPS, Support, Utilitarian, Tank (Primarily from magic damage)

Job Introduced: FF I

Samurai: Honorable warriors to the last (or at the very least very skilled with a sword), Samurai have turned warfare into an art of expression. At their strongest when armed with a Blade or Reach weapon, these fighters can perform mystical techniques, either attributed to their dedication of practice, or through the Kami spirit tied to their weapon. Behold the expertise and precision of the Samurai!

Innate Ability: Draw Out - While armed with a Reach or Blade weapon, a Samurai can call out the Kami from their weapon to deal massive damage, and cause wondrous effects in a showy display! With so much raw power, though, this often leaves the weapon broken in the Kami’s wrath...

Starting Weapons: Blade, Ranged, Reach

Starting Armor: Light, Medium, Heavy

Role Suggested: DPS, Tank

Job Introduced: FF V

Thief: Even though the name Thief typically has negative connotations, that should never discourage a hero from becoming one of these desperadoes! Fleet of foot and usually a little mischievous, Thieves are known to expertly beguile baddies, locate loot, and of course, steal stealthily as masters! Playing as Thief can only mean the party is in a wild ride!

Innate Ability: Steal - From the crown on a head to the soles of shoes, anything is fair game for a Thief to nab! With a successful Thievery skill check, these dashing characters can snatch anything from enemies gil, weapons, armor, or pretty much anything they can get their pick pocketing fingers on! This is also an excellent way to obtain and distribute Component Items as well!

Starting Weapons: Brawl, Concealed, Ranged

Starting Armor: Light, Medium

Role Suggested: Utilitarian, DPS

Job Introduced: FF I

Time Mage: Time roulette go! Actually, no parlor tricks here! Time Mages are the real deal; harnessing if not even synthesizing the powers of magic and science, Time and Space, even Physical Mass bends to the whim of Meme Time Mages. Coming from all corners of the universe (if not multiverse) and wielding such awesome powers, Time Mages are often reclusive wanderers through the cosmos.

Innate Ability: Chrono Pocket - If it belongs to you, it takes only a thought to summon that which you desire. In the state of which they are not in use, these items are safely tucked away in an alternate pocket dimension, frozen in time and at your beckoning call. Great for those who consider themselves item hoarders!

Starting Weapons: Arcane

Starting Armor: Light

Role Suggested: Utilitarian, Support, DPS

Job Introduced: FF V

Warrior: With courage in their hearts and incredible versatility in the way of battle, Warriors are no simpletons. Drawing only upon their own discipline, Warriors can turn the tide of battle with precise blows, shots, or whatever weapon suits their fancy. Onward to victory!

Innate Ability: Victory Pose - Dah-dah-dah, daaah-daaah-dot, duh-dahhh! As the enormous monster or foe is felled, Warriors brandish their weapon, both looking cool, and receiving an additional point of Destiny for defeating Bosses or another major enemy.

Starting Weapons: Blade, Brawl, Concealed, Huge, Ranged, Reach.

Starting Armor: Light, Medium, Heavy, Shields

Role Suggested: DPS, Tank

Job Introduced: FF I

White Mage: Renowned for dazzling displays of White Magic, these spell casters are the ultimate support class. Though capable of serving as accomplished offensive party members with Holy and Wind Magics, White Mage’s true strengths come from their healing and protective spells. In robes as pure as new-fallen snow, White Mages are the saviors of the fallen and weary on the battlefield.

Innate Ability: Body and Soul - When the dust has settled and the coast is clear, White Mages quickly see to the wounded. A White Mage conscious at the end of battle may restore all party members, including themselves, to 100% of their Max HP at the end of a battle.

Starting Weapons: Arcane, Huge

Armor: Light

Role Suggested: Support, DPS

Job Introduced: FF I

~ ~ ~

And there you have it folks! The 18 core Jobs of FFD6! Finally finished it! Thank you all for your patience!

Hopefully this list, in tandem with the PDF can reveal a better picture of the capabilities of the multitude of Jobs available to characters in the FFD6 system!

Alrighty: Time for me to go study.. All the best for those of you traveling right now, for those of you tackling finals, and to those of you already on Summer Break, I hope you’re having a blast! Later! ~ Ryan

~ ~ ~

Credit to Pete Davidson at US gamer where I found the image above!

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niennavalier · 3 years

Text

OC Ramble Time Pt 2!

Okay, so I'm gonna try to keep these a bit shorter (because the other post took way too long), since I'm gonna do a bit of talking about some of the other characters who are attached to the Disaster Boys (Anders and Alex) story and all that good stuff. So... just jump right in I guess?

Elias Elsker: So pretty much, if you read my whole thing about Anders, Elias is the kid that he takes in. He's real energetic and fun, very open while simultaneously being really awkward (not that it really bothers him). Honestly, he's just really friendly and loves people - animals, too (he's learned a bit of magic and usually has his snake familiar, Xanathar, somewhere nearby). (If you know D&D lore, yes, that's a reference, because Elias also started as a character for me to play. Arcane Tricksters, y'know?). Also impulsive, albeit not in a super self-destructive way. More like his cost-benefit analysis is just bad and sometimes he just does something kinda dumb. He's also pretty jumpy and very prone to running into furniture when his brain goes into panic mode.

Overall, he's just well-adjusted. Yes, he lost his parents young, but he had a good relationship with them, and then also grows really close with Anders. Just wanted a character who didn't have a bunch of issues for once, yknow?

For some other random facts: I tend to write him at either 16 or 21ish, depending - sometimes I wanna write him still learning from Anders, sometimes while he's more out on his own. Also, he's ace and some sort of romantic (AKA, he doesn't fully know and hasn't put a label on it, but if I were to say as the author, he's probably panromantic) and really fun to write/play for those relatable ace moments.

Aishah Rayyan: Alex's twin sister, so I won't go into her backstory in depth, except to say that she came out of their tragic past really differently. She got pretty much adopted into her best friend's family, so while Alex was having a rough time, she ended up having a relatively normal life - albeit with some guilt over losing contact with her brother, and, well, the effects of childhood trauma and the like. She and Alex reconnect over the course of whatever plot I actually write for them, and after all of whatever that is, they and all their other friends (talked about down below) end up all living together. And in that dynamic, she's 100% the mom friend. But less doting and more Tired. She's generally pretty laid-back, practical, and would love a quiet night in with loved ones, but ends up in this constant state of "please stop blowing up [insert kitchen appliance here], I haven't even kind of had enough coffee for this." At least before probably trying to fix the problem, until her girlfriend shepherds her to bed. (And that's assuming she's not hyperfocused in on something, because sometimes that's just what happens. Given a problem, she's gonna solve it).

(Oh, and quick note, she's the other old character who's since gotten reworked. Old tag was for "Taylor Fairfax" but then, unlike with Alex, she went through a pretty massive edit.)

Celine: Nope, no last name yet because names are hard, but she's Aishah's girlfriend. She's about the same age, just a little younger, and an aspiring theatre actress. She's really outgoing and warm, charismatic and super easy to get along with. More than a touch dramatic. Also a lot more traditionally feminine than most of the other female characters I write, and sort of the other resident mom friend, but...I guess in the more stereotypical way? (And she's really vocal about her support for Anders and Alex in particular - she finds them adorable and is one of few people who's never been intimidated by Anders. She just sees how he melts in front of people he cares about).

Oh, also, she and Aishah met at some sort of community theatre performance. The story that their friends tell is basically that in the middle of a scene, as she was on stage and Aishah was in the audience, their eyes just met, and that was it. Obviously, in reality, it wasn't that simple, but there are a lot of meet-cute vibes there.

Valon: Okay, now we get into the territory of my lovable idiot children (which, kudos to whoever knows where I'm stealing this particular name from. If you do, uh, you'll definitely know why this character is the way he is). Aishah's childhood best friend, and the one whose family adopted her. Also the one who's largely responsible for pulling her a bit more out of her shell. He's... just a big dumb idiot? Real big personality, constantly ribbing all of the people he's around and cracking jokes, just likes the energy of being around people in general. Always down to try something new and ridiculous, no matter what it is, even if that means destroying electronics (or the oven). And bluntly honest, but not in a mean way?

Also, he's bi and is pretty often just going out on casual dates for fun. Just sorta waiting to see what happens. But really, he's much more proud of Aishah's love life, though, and gladly takes credit for being the one to get her to ask Celine out.

(Oh, also, cause it was vaguely referenced above: he's the one who was - and is - intimidated by Anders.)

Arina "Ari" Varellian: My other idiot child, but also the character that I probably relate to the most? She grew up around a lot of technology as a kid and developed a good amount of skill with it (coding and stuff - I know nothing about it but she can, it's fine). But what it ultimately did was introduce her to a lot of other pieces of media - video games especially (but also TV and movies are a big part of her life, too). Basically, she's just a glutton for entertainment and fiction and keeps up with all the nerd content.

But she doesn't fall into that "introverted, awkward nerd" type. She gets along really well with Valon, actually - very similar type of big, open personality and always ready with a hearty laugh. She's just here to have a good time, and to try new things (and to force her friends to try new things with her). Basically, she's the person who would go looking for a way to learn parkour after playing something like Assassin's Creed (because it looks cool) or would - and did - plan an entire camping trip after playing Red Dead 2 (because the outside is pretty, guys). Plus, also dragging them into things like escape rooms and D&D games, because these things looked fun.

And, because this is important to me, she's aro ace and very much a way for me to write my perspective? All the "what's up with sex when you could have cake? Or dragons?" and "look, these characters are pretty but why would I sleep with/romance them?" While simultaneously making sex jokes at her friends' expense and shipping fictional characters like there's no tomorrow.

And that's all for today!

The main other characters attached to my Disaster Boys. Tried to keep it short because I'm sleepy, but, as per usual, I could and would gladly talk more about them later (even though some of them do sorta vary in terms of how much I've written and developed them).

Although, a couple last things: I've technically also been sitting on one more character to add into this crew - specifically another friend of Ari's. But I've done markedly less development there, so I'll come back to that some other day. And there are other characters attached to Anders aside from just Elias, I promise. He does have his mentor (whom I mentioned but didn't go into, since I tend to write her more into backstory) and his own found family, but some of those characters belong to a friend, cause that all developed via some D&D sessions. Didn't seem right to add that here.

#from the mind of niennavalier #oc: elias elsker #oc: aishah rayyan #oc: celine #oc: valon #oc: ari varellian #100daysofwriting #and if anyone has some interesting last names hmu i need help #also fun fact i havent played read dead but ive seen pictures so thats what im going off of

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theonyxpath · 4 years

Link

Because, honestly, after this last week, diving into a world where problems can be solved with magic sounds pretty damn sweet!

So, I’m not going to have much mind-space to write my usual faux-Stan Lee kind of editorializing and rah-rah this week. In fact, I’m pretty much going to skip all that and just post the topics our Monday Meeting crew discussed today:

Black Lives Matter

As much as it shouldn’t need to be said, it does.

The Legendlore Kickstarter starts tomorrow, and we talked a lot about the various Actual Plays that will be showing up on Twitter, including two that are detailed below in the Onyx Path Media section. We’re hoping that folks give them a watch so they can see how the characters and setting interact.

TC: Aberrant art of Bene “Bounty” Manata by GONG Studios

We reviewed the M20 Technocracy Reloaded Kickstarter that ended last Thursday and were really thrilled by pretty much the whole thing, although it ended oddly with a reoccurring glitch on the KS side. Really not much we can do there with the whole “technical difficulties” thing outside our control, as it may well have been out of KSs.

Scion Companion art by Chris Bivins

We reviewed the plans for the Onyx Path Virtual Gaming Convention, which is ready to start on June 12th -14th to “provide fans and players of tabletop roleplaying games with a uniquely online convention experience. Onyx Path Gaming Con will be completely digital and accessible to anyone with a laptop, computer, or cellphone, allowing fans and players of Onyx Path games to connect with one another over their favorite game”. Check out more details below in the Conventions section of the Blurbs.

TC: Aberrant art of Pratima Splash Basham by GONG Studios

We decided to investigate further as to whether there are accessibility issues with some projects.

Aaron Voss continues to get up to speed with our project scheduling set-up, and with getting books to press and out to KS backers and distribution, so there were questions and answers reviewing each of the projects headed to press right now. Since we have added Studio2 as a sales link to distribution and thus into stores, we also now need to be sure that they have the info they need to solicit distributors once books are ready to go on sale.

Titanomachy art by Shen Fei

Tomorrow we have two more Developer Town Hall gatherings, and we reviewed who has indicated they are coming and when. Reminder- it’s your last chance to send me any questions in the Comments that I can ask the attending devs.

TC: Aberrant art of Ricardo Carambola Montoya Bernal by GONG Studios

OK, folks. Please stay safe, and we sincerely hope that this thing we do can provide you a break during these times.

Many Worlds, One Path!

Blurbs!

Kickstarter!

This Tuesday, June 2nd at 2pm Eastern US time, return with us to The Realm of Legendlore!

Grab your friends and escape to another world!

You’ve found an enchanted portal — a transition point — between worlds. The portal, called a Crossing, takes you to a world you thought only existed in novels and films: a magical land where dragons roam the skies, orcs and hobgoblins terrorize weary travelers, and unicorns prance through the forest. It is a world where humans join other peoples such as elves, trolls, dwarves, changelings, and the dreaded creatures who steal the night. It is a world of fantasy — of imagination.

It is the Realm.

It is Legendlore.

Onyx Path Media!

Our crew sit down with all the Exalted creators they can for a no-holds barred Exalted Roundtable! What’s coming for 3rd Edition and Exalted Essence? How soon will Exigents be ready to Kickstart? Answers to these and many, many, other questions to be revealed next Friday!

As always, this Friday’s Onyx Pathcast will be on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue! https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

This week is all about Legendlore, which is why we’re excited to announce not one, but two Legendlore actual plays commencing this week, with a third starting the week after! You’ll really want to follow us on twitch.tv/theonyxpath and tune in to Friday’s first session run by the game’s developer, Steffie de Vaan, and stick around for the evening slot where Legendlore: Lost in the Crossing commences with character creation.

We’re very excited about all of these actual plays, but let’s highlight Lost in the Crossing for a moment. We’re pleased to announce that Jen Vaughn of Haunted Vault Studios is running this four-part campaign for us, that it’ll take you into some of the real meat of the Legendlore setting, demonstrate a lot of the fun system and world elements of the game, and introduce you to a wonderful assembly of players.

Here’s the crew behind Lost in the Crossing:

Kikka Delarose Pronouns: She/Her Bio: Kikka Delarose is a tabletop player, representation panel coordinator, and creator of A Lonely Haunt RPG ( https://kikka.itch.io/a-lonely-haunt )Twitter handle: @KikkaVO

Teo Acosta Pronouns: He/Him Bio: Teo Acosta is an award winning Cinematographer, Storyboard Artist, and Sequential Artist. He is the co-founder of Haunted Soup Pictures and avid Tabletop Enthusiast! Check out Teo’s comics at http://www.wizardsandcuteshit.com and his other work at http://hauntedsoup.com IG/Twitter: @teo_acosta @HauntedSoupPictures

Logan Timmins Pronouns: He/him Bio: Logan is a queer, Aussie, forest-loving, tattooed, trans NERD. He is passionate about tabletop roleplaying games and the improvised storytelling that they create which is nothing short of magic. Find Logan at: https://breathingstories.itch.io/ & @Ink_And_Stories & @StrikeOut_TTRPG Twitter: @Ink_And_Stories

Bones K. Leopard Pronouns: They/Them Bio: Bones Leopard is a twin and nonbinary writer and artist who currently resides in Los Angeles. Their projects include the twice successful Kickstarter project [SUPER]NATURAL ATTRACTION, and their webcomic MR. HARE & MR.BEAR. In 2018 they successfully funded the kickstarter PANDORA’S BOOK OF MONSTERS which led to writing PANDORA’S LEGACY for BOOM! Studios. Bones is currently working on launching their next webcomic, a D&D based fantasy comic: ReDux this year! Check out their comics work here: https://www.bonesleopard.com/ Twitter: @BonesKLeopard IG: @BonesLeopard

Jen Vaughn Pronouns: She/they Bio: Jen Vaughn is cartoonist and narrative designer for video game company/space cult Very Very Spaceship. She runs a weekly Twitch show on Tuesday nights featuring a new RPG every month on the Big Dun-Jen Show (@bigdunjenshow) and plays D&D with the all-women fam-friendly podcast, d20 Dames (d20dames.com). Find more of her RPG adventures and comics at www.hauntedvaultstudios.com Twitter/IG: @thejenya

On Lost in the Crossing, the intrepid players cross over into East Azoth to discover that fantasy is not all unicorns and sweet mead. They’ll encounter the Garbage Pit of the Children of the Highlands; Earthly relics – that some might called trash – left from previous waves of visitors; help return lost relics to their homes; and learn about the dangerous beauty of the Nightlands lunar cycle all while making friends with the Realmborn people. Will the players be able to make it back to Earth and do they even want to return? Find the answers to all these questions and more on Fridays in June, 7-9pm PT on twitch.tv/theonyxpath

It’s an excellent crew and we’re looking forward to seeing what they have planned!

We shouldn’t depart from our Twitch coverage without highlighting that this week also sees the finale of Changeling: The Lost- Littlebrook Reunion, which Chris (the Primogen) has diligently and excellently ran for us since near enough when we started our Twitch streams in earnest.

Thank you so much, Chris, and see you down the road!

We’ll be back with our YouTube (www.youtube.com/user/theonyxpath) coverage and profiles of other actual plays, reviews, and interviews next week, but before we go, here’s the always amazing Occultists Anonymous with more Mage: The Awakening:

Episode 102: Witching Hour The cabal takes a late night trip to the now-empty cemeteries to investigate who might be behind this and why, then prepare an old-fashioned stakeout… with some magical assistance. https://youtu.be/qJmFpBvGQa8

Episode 103: Lives On The Line Facing off against antagonist Mages, the cabal try to talk with them first, but are quickly drawn into a Duel Arcane with their lives at stake. Red Dread is called in to officiate outside of the bounds of the New York Consilium. https://youtu.be/vcO_wtfh5co

Please check these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games! We’d love to feature you!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these latest fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost Second Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And now Scion Origin and Scion Hero and Trinity Continuum Core and Trinity Continuum: Aeon are available to order!

As always, you can find Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This week we dig up the Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire advance PDF! On sale on DriveThruRPG on Wednesday!

Buried Bones is the ultimate guide to creating in the Realms of Pugmire. Whether you’re making your own products for the Canis Minor community content program, want to make your personal Pugmire chronicle as accurate as possible, or are just interested in some of the behind-the-scenes details of the world, Buried Bones is the book to read! It includes:

The writer’s guide shared with all Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau creators

A number of blogs related to the Realms of Pugmire, rewritten for this edition

A handy guide to help people convert material from the 5e OGL to Pugmire or Monarchies of Mau

Answers to frequently asked questions about the lore of the world and the mechanics of the RPGs

Also this Wednesday we will be adding a fantastic new Art Pack for Scion: Hero to the Storypath Nexus Community Content site to add even more amazing and evocative art for your community content projects!

Conventions!

As I mentioned above, we are holding the first-ever Onyx Path Virtual Gaming Convention on June 12th – June 14th!

Onyx Path Virtual Gaming Convention focuses on all our sci-fi, fantasy, and horror tabletop RPG settings and systems. This three-day event will consist of virtual organized game sessions, actual plays of your favorite game lines, and TTRPG industry professional workshops, along with panels featuring audience favorite content creators and game developers. Onyx Path Publishing is partnering with Gehenna Gaming for tabletop RPG fans to connect with each other and industry professionals to explore old favorites or discover new games. Some charity proceeds will go to The Bodhana Group.

Though dates for physical conventions are subject to change due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, here’s what’s left of our current list of upcoming conventions (and really, we’re just waiting for this last one to be cancelled even though it’s Nov/Dec). Instead, keep an eye out here for more virtual conventions we’re going to be involved with:

PAX Unplugged: https://unplugged.paxsite.com/

And now, the new project status updates!

Development Status from Eddy Webb! (Projects in bold have changed status since last week.):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep.)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Adversaries of the Righteous (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Clades Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

The Devoted Companion (Deviant: The Renegades)

Saints and Monsters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Dead Man’s Rust (Scarred Lands)

Trinity Continuum: Anima

Redlines

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hundred Devil’s Night Parade (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Adventure! core (Trinity Continuum: Adventure!)

Novas Worldwide (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Exalted Essence Edition (Exalted 3rd Edition)

M20 Rich Bastard’s Guide To Magick (Mage: The Ascension 20th Anniversary)

V5 Children of the Blood (was The Faithful Undead) (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

V5 Forbidden Religions (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Wild Hunt (Scion 2nd Edition)

Second Draft

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Dearly Bleak – Novella (Deviant: The Renegades)

Mission Statements (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Contagion Chronicle Ready-Made Characters (Chronicles of Darkness)

Under Alien Suns (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

V5 Trails of Ash and Bone (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Development

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Assassins (Trinity Continuum Core)

Manuscript Approval

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Post-Approval Development

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Editing

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

TC: Aberrant Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

LARP Rules (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

The Book of Lasting Death (Mummy: The Curse 2e)

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (They Came From!)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Indexing

Art Direction from Mike Chaney!

In Art Direction

Scion Titanomachy

Tales of Aquatic Terror

WoD Ghost Hunters – KS final art: One more piece coming in still.

Aberrant – AD’d.

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Mummy 2

Deviant – Dividing up among current artists.

Legendlore – Ready for the KS.

Technocracy Reloaded (KS)

Cults of the Blood God – Rolling along.

Scion: Dragon – Waiting on art notes.

Masks of the Mythos – Reviewing art notes and considering artists.

Scion: Demigod – Reviewing art notes.

They Came From Beyond the Grave! (KS) – Art is arting.

TC: Adventure! (KS) – Cover art finishing.

In Layout

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad

Vigil Watch

TC Aeon Terra Firma

V5 Let the Streets Run Red

Pugmire Adventure

Proofing

Trinity Aeon Jumpstart – New artist taking care of finishing missing art.

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate – Finishing Backer PDF errata.

Contagion Chronicle – Corrections are being input.

Cavaliers of Mars: City of the Towered Tombs

Magic Item Decks (Scarred Lands)

Yugman’s Guide Support Decks (Scarred Lands)

Dark Eras 2 Screen and booklet at Paradox/WW for approval.

At Press

Night Horrors : Nameless and Accursed – PoD proof books were sent to me by the person who received them through a shipping mishap.

Scion Companion – Backer PDF out to backers for errata.

TCFBTS Heroic Land Dwellers – Prepping PoD files.

TCFBTS Screen and Booklet

They Came from Beneath the Sea! – Files at press.

Creature Collection 5e – PoD files uploaded. Tradional files sent to printer.

Pirates of Pugmire – Prepping files for press and PoD.

Pirates of Pugmire Screen – Prepping files for press.

Duke Rollo Book – PoD ordered.

Buried Bones: Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire) – Advance PDF on sale this Wednesday on DTRPG.

Scion: Hero Art Pack for the Storypath Nexus Community Content site released on Weds.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

Today in the birthday of our very own Ian A. A. Watson! Ian is, of course, the person who created both the extremely useful unofficial White Wolf Wiki, and who continued the online dialogue about the Trinity Continuum through the dark years until I was able to bring the setting to Onyx Path. He has also been the unsleeping helmsman keeping us on course on our social media sites. Ian also emphatically agreed to sharing this space with another Reason to Celebrate, which is that today marks the beginning of Pride Month, when the world’s LGBTQ communities come together and celebrate the freedom to be themselves.

#Onyx Path Publishing

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obspogon · 7 years

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Tldr; I listen to way too many podcasts. Skip to the very bottom of this long-ass post to see my top recommendations. Titles are links (this subreddit's css, doesn't make that obvious)I have loved podcasts for about 10 years, but for the last 3, due to my job, I have become a 40+ hour a week, power-listener. In that time my lists and recommendations have been very well-received on this sub, and since I'm leaving that job next month, I decided it was time to come up with a master list of my top recommendations across all categories.First of all: These are just my opinions. If your favorite show didn't make this list, don't get mad at me, just go ahead and shout it out in the comments. I put a lot of thought into the ranking, but if you ask me next week I'll probably have changed my mind on a lot of it.I have no qualifications to review podcasts except for the fact that I listen to way too many of them. Actually, the real reason I wanted to make this list was because I think the lists I've seen written by qualified reviewers are usually really bad, imo. I always feel like the reviewer has listened to like 60 podcasts, and is listing their top 50. I have no idea how many podcasts I've listened to but it's got to be in the thousands, and there are soooo many great shows out there, so I thought it's my duty to share.100 shows is actually only a subset of the shows I like. At first this list grew to over 200 and I was still thinking of more. So I decided to cut it at my favorite 100 and I added three criteria to help cull it down:It must be active: Some day I'll make a list of my favorite dead podcasts, but none are on this list.It must have at least 10 episodes: I think 10 episodes in is a decent trial period. If I've listened to less than that I don't feel comfortable recommending it. Also there's a trend right now of shows putting out one 8-10 episode season, and then just never renewing to a second season. So, if it has more than 10 episodes, I feel like it has staying power.It must be interesting for general audiences: Podcasts tend to be topical. That makes it a little tough to recommend them if I don't know you, because you might not be into the topic of the show. So I have only included shows that I think you don't need too much specific knowledge to enjoy (either because the topic is general, or because it's fun even for the non-initiated.)I'm sure at some point I screwed up on those rules, but they were the guidelines I was working from.Honorable Mentions: First here are some smaller podcasts that didn't quite make it into my top 100 but I still think you should check out:This is why you're single, Doughboys, Do By Friday, Hopefully We Don't Break-Up, Roundtable of Gentlemen, Mental Illness Happy Hour, Sleepycast, James O'Brien's Mystery Hour, Nocturne Podcast, Quirks and Quarks, Put Your Hands Together, Book Shambles, Sex & Other Human Activities, Singing Bones, A Taste of the Past, We Fact Up, The Bridge, Step By Stapp, Return Home, Movie Sign with the Mads, Save it for the Show, The F Plus, Next Picture Show, Be Here For a While, Code Breaker, GoosebudsOk, with no further ado . . .The List: In reverse order100. I Tell My Husband the News, A news-reporter reads current headlines to her husband, who is a comedian. Not exactly cutting edge satire, but I love this show for the hosts' chemistry. They are super in love and incredibly cute together. They just make me happy. And their banter is usually legitimately funny.99. You Must Remember This, True stories from old hollywood narrated over lush, old-fashioned movie music. The stories are great and give you a window into the crazy world of movies in the black and white era.98. 8-Bit Book Club, Three funny nerds read through old novelizations of video games. The books are ridiculous and the hosts make fun of them mercilessly. Great host chemistry. Tons of fun.97. Lore, Solo podcast exploring the stories and legends all around us. A tightly written and moodily produced show focused on the tall tales woven into our history.96. Longform, Long conversations with writers of non-fiction. Good host and really interesting conversations. A bit slow compared to most of my other podcasts, but satisfying.95. Superego, Very strange, slightly off-putting, free-association improv comedy. When it's bad it's just weird, when it's good it's magical.94. Our Fake History, Single host show exploring misconceptions and pseudo-history. Like a Hardcore History for things that didn't actually happen. Host is great and topics are usually very interesting.93. I Was There Too, Interviews with non-famous people who in some way worked on iconic scenes in famous movies. Fascinating if, like me, you have a love for pop-culture arcana.92. Shut Up and Sit Down, Four British comedians talk about and occasionally play board games. Lot of fun, and a lot of goofballery. I don't play a lot of boardgames, but I've bought several because these guys made them sound fun.91. I Saw That Years Ago, Two witty guys talk about movies they don't quite remember. The concept doesn't actually do much, this show is all about the chemistry between the hosts which is fantastic.90. Duncan Trussel Family Hour, Comedian Duncan Trussel invites guests on for long rambling conversations. Stands out for Duncan's odd choice of guests and the unique, weird nature of the conversations he engages them in.89. The Adventure Zone, Goofy brothers play Dungeons & Dragons. Took me several tries to get into this show (beginning's a little rough and I don't play D&D.) But I kept giving it chances because of some strong recommendations, and it does blossom into some really unique storytelling.88. Planet Money, Very NPR show about money and our world and the interplay between economics and our daily life. Fun and listenable in spite of the dreary subject matter. Has some really great education about dollars and cents that we really should all be listening to.87. Giant Bombcast, The crew of a gaming magazine get together and shoot the shit about games, life and everything in a long and rambling discussion.86. Burnt Toast, Conversations and researched features on food, food culture, and it's relationship to daily life. Lovingly produced and charmingly performed. An absoulte delight.85. Fireside Mystery Theatre, Storytelling and variety show done in front of a live audience. The stories are usually a lot of fun, and the theatre atmosphere adds a fun unique quality to it.84. Opening Arguments, A lawyer and a comedian chat about the law. Sort of like Star Talk, but for legal questions. The hosts perfectly hit the balance of informative and engaging. Law affects all our daily lives and it's something that most people know bupkis about, and I love that this show does a great job of making it accessible.83. Comedy Bang! Bang!, One of the old staples of podcasting. Loose format comedy show usually involving interviews followed by some light improv. Still a great show after all these years.82. The Black Tapes, Ghost stories, but in the form of a "non-fiction" journalistic podcast. Really well-told with a dark and brooding tone. A weaker second season has dropped it in my esteem but still great.81. Never Not Funny, Comedian plus celbrity guest ramble on about nothing in particular. Jimmy Pardo is a great host and has a wonderfully cutting sense of humor. One of the longest running big podcasts. Very rarely not funny.80. Leicester Square Theatre Podcast, Comedian Richard Herring does one-on-one interviews with comedians in which he asks them stupid and ridiculous questions. Throws out the formal interview format and just has fun. Having a big live audience elevates it.79. Rocket, A few tech journalists run a show about general geek topics, with an emphasis on tech. Perfect balance of smart informational chat and good host chemistry.78. We're Alive, Audiodrama about a Zombie infestation. Very good writing and acting and probably the best-produced serial scripted story podcast. Great use of tension throughout.77. Greg Proops Film Club, I've always loved Greg Proops' wacky smart-guy comedy, but his main podcast doesn't work for me as well as this one, where the theme of chatting about movies and geekery keeps him more on task. And through all the joking, he has a lot more interesting stuff to say than most of the serious movie podcasts.76. Harmontown, Comedy writer Dan Harmon plus friends talk nonsense and generally have fun. Mostly funny with occasional seriousness. Harmon is a great lovable asshole and the podcast format is perfect for him. Does fun and interesting things with the basic talk-show format.75. Smash Cut, Storytelling via dialogue collage. Wonderfully unique show that ranges from gripping to tragic to avant-guard. May be too weird for some, but hits a sweetspot for me.74. Desert Island Discs, Celebrities are interviewed with the same question: If you were stuck on a desert island, what five albums would you want to have with you. Mostly a conversation about music, but it expands into a bigger conversation about the guest's life and influences.73. No Such Thing As a Fish, The writers of a British trivia show go into depth on the obscure knowledge they've been researching and ramble on about arcane knowledge. Smart people chatting casually about smart things. Usually very interesting to listen to.72. Blank Check, Movie discussion pod that perfectly hits the balance between smart discussion and levity. The premise is talking about director's who get license to do whatever they want (the titular blank check), but it's really a pretty freewheeling conversation. Phenomenal chemistry between the hosts.71. The Future of Everything, Wall Street Journal's interesting impecabbly researched radio-style features on technologies and ideas that are pushing our world into an uncertain future.70. The Memory Palace, Bite sized stories from 18th - 20th century history, told with interest and pathos. Focusing on the human story behind the story of our recent past.69. The Orbiting Human Circus of the Air, Silly absurdist storytelling about a radio show that records in the Eiffel Tower. This show is not for everyone, but if it hooks you it is delightful and charming and always a joy to listen to.68. Imaginary Worlds, Serious discussions exploring the quirky little details of the worlds of popular fantasy and sci-fi franchises. Done as a host monologue, interspersed with interviews of experts and fans. I love the way he parses out interesting aspects of those worlds and tries to envision how they would really work.67. Hello From the Magic Tavern, Improv comedy set in a fantasy world with a diverse cast of funny improvisers playing far-out fantastical characters. Solidly funny and always fun to disappear into their goofy mythical world.66. The Joe Rogan Experience, Interview show with all types of guests. One of the most succesful podcasts in the world. It's a bit love-it-or-hate-it, and while I mostly love it, it can get on my nerves at times. Very hard for me to rank this one for that reason. But I must say Joe Rogan is a great interviewer and everyone should give it a try for themselves and find out which side they fall on.65. In Our Time, Big, heavy intellectual discussions of very serious topics in history, art and culture. This one might be a bit too smart for me, tbh, but I try and when I can hook into a topic it's immensely satisfying.64. Hello Internet, Two internet smart guys chat casually about smart and obscure subjects. There's actually not that much to this show, but the hosts are great and they have a very unique chemistry.63. The Infinite Monkey Cage, British-style panel show where a couple comedians and a couple scientists get together an tackle a difficult science topic and try to find answer. Unlike a lot of science shows, they don't shy away from talking actual science, but the chemistry of the hosts keeps the show always entertaining.62. Wolf 359, Narrative sci-fi podcast. Intriguing space travel story with a quirky sense of humor and good sound design to create a solid sense of atmosphere. Starts simple and blossoms into an awesome story.61. The Thrilling Adventure Hour, Comedians do a parody of an old-fashioned radio play in front of a live audience. So much fun. Best moments are when it breaks down. Was dead for a long time but there have been recent occasional releases so I'm considering it alive and putting it on this list.60. Doug Loves Movies, Comedian Doug Benson has several celebrity guests on each episode to talk movies and play games. The quintessential podcast for me. Slightly too lose and quirky to ever have worked as a radio show. Usually funny and always fun.59. a16z, Science and Tech podcast with interviews of actual scientists doing cutting edge work. Can be a bit dry, but I love how in depth it is, and that it doesn't dumb it down to a grade school level like a lot of similar shows.58. The Football Ramble, Four dudes with amazing chemistry talking bullshit and football (soccer) and just generally mocking each other and having a blast while doing it. I listen to a lot of sports podcasts but few are so good (and general-audience friendly enough) that I would recommend them to all podcast listeners. But this one is just tons of fun.57. Theory of Everything, Loose think-pieceish conversations about life and technology and the connections between things. Really interesting and well thought-out.56. The Truth, Short non-serial audio dramas. Stories range from serious to silly, often strange and off-kilter. Very well produced and performed, but the best part is the writing, which is awesomely creative and interesting.55. Reply All, One of many thinkpiece shows on this list. This one sets itself apart by focusing on internet-related stories. There's a whimsical nature to the hosts which gives the show a unique sort of charm.54. Spontaneanation, Paul F Tompkins has an interview with a famous person and then leads a long-form improv scene. Usually very funny simply because Tompkins is so funny.53. Candidate Confessionals, Interviews with losing candidates (or people who worked on losing campaigns) done as sort-of autobiographies telling the story of how a campaign fails. Fascinating deconstruction of politics from a new angle. Refreshingly honest at times.52. Mouth Time!, Absurdist show that parodies the vapid beauty mag culture but taken to the extreme. Part way between absurdism, improv comedy, and an actual pop cultuer podcast.51. The Black List Table Read, Audio performances of industry movie scripts that haven't gotten made. The concept is fabulous and the actors do a great job. Unique storytelling podcast with wonderful production. Some of the scripts are really great. Held back a bit by the fact that movie scripts aren't always written to be read out loud.50. 2 Dope Queens, Two sassy ladies host a comedy podcast with guests that chat with them or do their stand-up acts. Love the energy of the hosts. Generally great when the guests are good.49. Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, Two divinity professors use their techniques of scholarly bibilcal analysis on the Harry Potter books. Silly concept but they take it completely seriously. The result is part deep textual dive into the Potter-verse, and part reflection/conversation on life in general. Wonderfully introspective. Somehow both heavy and light at the same time.48. Monday Morning Podcast, Weekly show of the ramblings of comedian Bill Burr. Zero production or planning, just unfiltered Bill, who delivers the entire show in his trademark angry monologue. Usually funny, but that's not the reason it made this list: What makes this show stand out for me is its personal and honest nature. If you can get past Burr's abrassiveness, definitely worth a listen.47. The Adam Buxton Podcast, Comedian interviews celebrities. It's hard to stand out in this crowded genre, but this show does due to the host's magnetism and energy, and the quirkiness of the show's production, with little songs throughout (including the ads), and lots of silly digressions. And at it's heart, Adam is an excelent interviewer who gets a lot out of his guest.46. Anxious Machine, Introspective think-pieces about the human mind and how it works in human society. Usually done through interview intersperced with host commentary. The stories sit in a sweetspot between the personal and the general in a unique way.45. The Flop House, Three guys watch a bad movie and talk about it. The real joy, though, is in the constant flights of fancy when they say something dumb or misspeak that cascade into jokes that they follow to their logical conclusion. At its best it’s a top 10 podcast, but I feel like its lost some of its fastball lately, so its fallen on my list.44. Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast, I think Gottfried is one of the funniest guys in show business. This is his interview show, where he talks mostly to comedians, mostly about comedy. If you can handle his voice, it's a really wonderful show.43. Laser Time, Friends shooting the shit is probably the most common podcast genre, and one that I listen to a lot of, but not a lot of those made this list because while they may be listenable, they are rarely notable. Laser Time is a major exception in that the chemisty of the hosts and the odd specificity of the pop culture arcana they talk about makes the show consistently fun and fascinating.42. How did this get Made?, Three comedians and a guest review bad films. This show might be lost among the sea of decent/good comedy podcasts if not for the work of Jason Mantzoukas, who is imo the funniest man in podcasting.41. This Feels Terrible, Comedienne interviews other comedians about dating and love and relationships. Host has a lovely easy style that is good for getting people talking about really personal stuff. Has great chemistry with most guests.40. Beef and Dairy Network Podcast, Comedy podcast pretending (with a completely straight face) to be an actual beef and dairy specialty pod. The result is very high-quality absurdist comedy.39. Here's The Thing, Alec Baldwin interviews celebrities. The tone is very NPR but Baldwin keeps it a bit tighter than your average radio show. TBH, most of the time when a famous person decides they want a podcast the show ends up sucking hard, but Baldwin is a charming and natural host and consitently gets great guests. I know some people hate this show but I find it consistently great.38. My Favorite Murder, Two entertaining women talk through and dissect the details of a real-life grisly murder and generally try and figure out whodunit. Keep it pretty light considering how serious the subject matter is but it works because of how fun and interesting the hosts are. (Though it is guilty of my biggest podcast pet-peeve: Taking forever to start the show.)37. The Bugle, News and Politics satire with an absurdist twist. Three years ago this was a top-5 podcast for me and then they went on a long hiatus and lost John Oliver. Still great and slowly working its way back up the ranks.36. Guys We Fucked, Filthy comedy show that's secretly a positive look at serious issues relating to sexuality. The hosts have a good time and keep it light. Their chemistry makes the show great.35. Common Sense, Very heady current events discussion from an outside-the-box perspective. The host is a provocateur who tries to challenge your preconceptions about government and society. I don't always agree with him but he always opens my eyes at the gaps in my own thinking.34. Revisionist History, Malcolm Gladwell's odd little examinations of historical events from a new perspective are fantastic. The first season was very well-thought out, although still finding it's voice. I was very glad that it returned in time to have enough episodes to make itself elligible for this list.33. Love + Radio, Interesting people tell their stories in extended, tightly edited interviews. The people are usually non-famous people who have done remarkable things in their lives. Good production and good stories.32. 99% Invisible, Little think pieces about design and it's role in our everyday life. Impecably researched and always interesting, with a wonderfully charming delivery from its host.31. The Hilarious World of Depression, Comedian interviews comedians about depression and how it shapes their lives. Genius concept that perfectly hits the sweetspot of using humor to enlighten dark subjects. Fairly new and still finding its feet, but already one of my favorite shows.30. Radiolab, Reporters explore fascinating and mysterious stories usually in the realm of science and nature and wind their way to answers in a series of tightly cut together interviews. Really tightly produced (sometimes too much so) and very well researched, this show is one of the most iconic podcasts in the medium.29. Death, Sex & Money, Very personal stories about the big decisions in everyday people's lives, done in interviews in a journalistic style. Very heavy sometimes, but really great. Really digs into the real stuff in people's lives.28. You Made it Weird, Very long in-depth celebrity interviews with comedian Pete Holmes as host. A mirror-universe version of WTF, with a young-happy host rather than an angry older one. This doesn't have the same bite as WTF, but it replaces it with a wonderful sense of joy. Both hosts have mastered the art of the long interview.27. Reveal, Serious journalism, but with a slightly more of a conversational tone and more production to make it a more entertaining version of a news show. Nevertheless, the subject matter is heavy, and often deadly serious.26. Overdue, A couple funny dudes talk through great classic novels while riffing and making jokes. Spot-on chemistry and a perfect combination of high-brow art and low-brow comedy.25. Relic Radio, I love that podcasts are bringing back the audiodrama, an artform basically dead for forty years. But few of the new ones can match the originals, back when there was a big industry of daily and weekly shows and hundreds of professional actors and writers churning them out. Relic Radio lovingly curates from over 30 years of successful but forgotten shows to present them to a modern audience. The stories, while old-fashioned, are amazing, well-performed and fully produced with original music.24. Savage Lovecast, Call-in advice show about love, sex and life. Whet sets it apart is the kind and charismatic host, who has a gift for cutting to the heart of complex questions. Advice shows are a bit overdone, but he manages to elevate the format with his frankness and his ability to connect the problems we have in our loves, to larger questions we have about our selves.23. Crimetown, In depth audio documentary on organized crime in a big city (season 1 was on Providence.) Really well told story that feels tight and informative, while staying entertaining, mostly because the stories themselves are so engaging.22. Modern Love, Essays and stories about love in the modern world, read by famous actors. The pieces themselves are incredible, both joyful and heart-wrending. They often interview the author after, which sometimes makes me wish they would just have the author read it (due to the personal nature of the stories.)21. Wooden Overcoats, Scripted comedic audiodrama about competing funeral homes on a small British island. Very witty. Wonderfully funny and charming. Has probably the best character voice acting in scripted podcasts.20. Invisibilia, This podcast describes itself somewhat grandly as exploring the invisible things that shape everyday life. What it is, is a damn good radio-style interview think-piece show, with an emphasis on the patterns of human behavior. I love the light touch that the hosts give to the show. With a penchant for giving more questions than answers (in a good way).19. The Best Show with Tom Scharpling, Cult show that started in radio over a decade ago and slowly got weirder as it went. It's an ironic impersonation of a radio call-in show. This is definitely not for everyone; many of you will hate this show. But if you like it you will likely end up loving it. The host is a mad genius of twisting the radio format without ever totally breaking it. Best known for insulting and abusing his call-in listeners.18. WTF, An angry old comedian interviews famous people in great depth. Marc Maron's gift is in getting people speaking from the heart, and in breaching personal subjects that don't usually get talked about in interviews. WTF is often funny, usually fascinating and occasionally heartbreaking.17. Alice Isn't Dead, Weird, creepy, wonderfully produced and performed fictional story about a woman on a journey to find someone she lost. Uniquely moody and moving. Poetic to the point that it might be considered self-indulgent, so it might not be for everyone. But if you dive in, it's an incredible journey.16. The Moth, Personal stories told by a wide set of writers in front of a live audience. Usually funny and often touching in a smart-NewYorker-piece sort of way. Curated from a larger set of stories, and it shows: The stories are more consistently good than most of these types of shows.15. The Church of What's Happening Now, Comedian Joey Coco Diaz plus guest (usually comedians) trade life-stories. Diaz is really funny, as are most of his guests, but what stands out is Diaz's unique comedic voice and how he can talk about the really heavy stuff in his life in a funny way. And he is just overflowing with stories. He has had a crazy life.14. Strangers, Tough, beautiful personal stories examined in interviews with leather-voiced Lea Thau (I mean that in a good way: love her voice, it's like a smoked Nina Simone). It's like little audio documentaries about everyday people who have been through extraordinary personal turmoil. Beautiful stories, beautifully told.13. The Mortified Podcast, Grown-ups read their childhood journals to a live audience along with embarassing stories and memories about being kids. On one level it's really funny to hear their skewed childhood perceptions but also there's something amazingly cathartic about sharing in the embarassment. At least for me, being able to laugh at it makes me feel better about my own messed up childhood, and realize that all the stuff I was trying to hide, is the exact same stuff that everyone else was feeling as well.12. Snap Judgment, Great true-stories told by the people who lived through them, over some sick beats and tight riffs, all pulled together by my favorite host in podcasting.11. Here Be Monsters, Wonderful stories about suffering and hate and love and all the crazy things that are going on in the human soul. Told mostly through solo interviews with lightly intersperced music and production. The show is very heavy, but very listenable and very real.10. The Film Reroll, Rotating crew of actors and comedians pick a famous movie and improvise a new version of it with license that anything can happen. Hilarity ensues. The new movies are sublime and ridiculous and often better than the original. They use a dice system to run their stories like a game so they can't decide in advance what will happen. Brilliant concept, perfectly executed. Probably the most pure fun in podcasting.9. This American Life, Pastiche of stories about the American experience, told in a jounalistic style through interviews. Sometimes sad, sometimes joyful, always interesting. Many smarter things have been said about this show than I can say. Many of the podcasts on this list are in response to or immitation of This American Life, but the original continues to be one of the best examples of the format.8. Risk!, Similar to the Moth, people come on to tell their personal stories. I go back and forth between the two of them as to which I like more. Where the Moth has stories that are more cleverly written, this show feels more real and visceral. The storytellers are less likely to be writers, so we get less polished stories. But this show ultimately gets the nod for me with going to dark places of profound personal drama. Varies greatly in tone from episode to episode, but has been consistently great for a long time now.7. My Dad Wrote a Porno, A host and his two friends go chapter-by-chapter through his dad's erotic novel, constantly disecting and laughing about the bizarre and terrible writing. This might honestly be the funniest show in podcasting right now. And while it's mostly light-hearted humor, there's something very compelling about the bizarre view into a man's relationship with his father that comes out from the show's premise.6. Beautiful/Anonymous, Long phone conversations with anonymous callers who tell personal stories about their lives. The host is a comedian, but he doesn't try to be funny most of the time, keeping a balance between respecting the story and injecting levity when needed. Brilliantly simple yet unique concept and executed perfectly.5. Welcome to Nightvale, Bizarre, absurdist poeetry, delivered hypnotically in the form of a local radio bulletin, mixed with wonderful music for ambience and as breaks in the main show. Welcome to Nightvale is honestly pretty hard to describe. It's funny and dark and compelling and weird all at once. It's completely unique, and it's definitely not for everyone, but if it's for you, it's can be transformative.4. Song Exploder, Musicians break down the making of their songs, pulling out and explaining individual tracks and showing you how the song works piece by piece and ultimately how they work. Lovely and unique podcast for music lovers and noobies alike.3. PRI's the World, You could argue this is the best show in podcasting and it's basically a news show, but not your typical cable news fare. Reporters go around the globe and go in depth with local topics and how they affect the world and what they mean to all of us. These are all human stories, with all the pathos and weight of great fiction, but done in interview with real people. Heavy show but very listenable in spite of the seriousness.2. Criminal, Stories at the extremes of the human experience, told through interviews in a semi-journalistic style. Perfect blend of story-telling and introspection. Captures these wonderfully twisted stories with a matter-of-fact style that succeeds in putting you in the shoes of the people in the stories, and make you reconsider your preconceptions about the topic. Love the pacing and music on this show as well. Perfectly produced.1. Hardcore History, Powerful stories from the past, told passionately and intelligently. Dan Carlin has a gift for the dramatic, keeping the narrative human and personal while still showing you the great sweep of history. At its heart it's just great epic storytelling, you could easily forget that it's technically learning. But then he'll make some point that makes you realize these were real people with real feelings, and these stories created the world as we live in it. This show awakened in me a totally new understanding of our world. In spite of how many podcasts I listen to, it was pretty easy to choose which one I feel is the best. Warning: very long episodes.EDIT: Formatting via /r/podcasts

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