#gb's writing

[martyrbat]

[ID: Bruce Wayne and Minhkhoa Khan fighting in the snow. Minhkhoa kicks Bruce in the chest as his dialogue has been edited to be a post by @/electrificata. The post reads: “i am NOT gaslighting you. i am lying to you. gaslighting implies a level of effort that i am simply not putting in. deceiving you does not require much”. END ID]

[makapatag]

Tactical Combat, Violence Dice and Missing Your Attacks in Gubat Banwa

In this post I talk about game feel and decision points when it comes to the "To-Hit Roll" and the "Damage Roll" in relation to Gubat Banwa's design, the Violence Die.

Let's lay down some groundwork: this post assumes that the reader is familiar and has played with the D&D style of wargame combat common nowadays in TTRPGs, brought about no doubt by the market dominance of a game like D&D. It situates its arguments within that context, because much of new-school design makes these things mostly non-problems. (See: the paradigmatic shift required to play a Powered by the Apocalypse game, that completely changes how combat mechanics are interpreted).

With that done, let's specify even more: D&D 5e and 4e are the forerunners of this kind of game--the tactical grid game that prefers a battlemat. 5e's absolute dominance means that there's a 90% chance that you have played the kind of combat I'll be referring to in this post. The one where you roll a d20, add the relevant modifiers, and try to roll equal to or higher than a Target Number to actually hit. Then when you do hit, you roll dice to deal damage. This has been the way of things since OD&D, and has been a staple of many TTRPG combat systems. It's easy to grasp, and has behemoth cultural momentum. Each 1 on a d20 is a 5% chance, so you can essentially do a d100 with smaller increments and thus easier math (smaller numbers are easier to math than larger numbers, generally).

This is how LANCER works, this is how ICON works, this is how SHADOW OF THE DEMON LORD works, this is how TRESPASSER works, this is how WYRDWOOD WAND works, this is how VALIANT QUEST works, etc. etc. It's a tried and true formula, every D&D player has a d20, it's emblematic of the hobby.

There's been a lot more critical discussion lately on D&D's conventions, especially due to the OGL. Many past D&D only people are branching out of the bubble and into the rest of the TTRPG hobby. It's not a new phenomenon--it's happened before. Back in the 2010s, when Apocalypse World came out while D&D was in its 4th Edition, grappling with Pathfinder. Grappling with its stringent GSL License (funny how circular this all is).

Anyway, all of that is just to put in the groundwork. My problem with D&D Violence (particularly, of the 3e, 4e, and 5e version) is that it's a violence that arises from "default fantasy". Default Fantasy is what comes to mind when you say fantasy: dragons, kings, medieval castles, knights, goblins, trolls. It's that fantasy cultivated by people who's played D&D and thus informs D&D. There is much to be said about the majority of this being an American Samsaric Cycle, and it being tied to the greater commodification agenda of Capitalism, but we won't go into that right now. Anyway, D&D Violence is boring. It thinks of fights in HITS and MISSES and DAMAGE PER SECOND.

A Difference Of Paradigm and Philosophies

I believe this is because it stems from D&D still having one foot in the "grungy dungeon crawler" genre it wants to be and the "combat encounter balance MMO" it also wants to be. What ends up happening is that players play it like an immersive sim, finding ways to "cheese" encounters with spells, instead of interacting with the game as the fiction intended. This is exemplified in something like Baldur's Gate 3 for example: a lot of the strats that people love about it includes cheesing, shooting things before they have the chance to react, instead of doing an in-fiction brawl or fight to the death. It's a pragmatist way of approaching the game, and the mechanics of the game kind of reinforce it. People enjoy that approach, so that's good. I don't. Wuxia and Asian Martial Dramas aren't like that, for the most part.

It must be said that this is my paradigm: that the rules and mechanics of the game is what makes the fiction (that shared collective imagination that binds us, penetrates us) arise. A fiction that arises from a set of mechanics is dependent on those mechanics. There is no fiction that arises independently. This is why I commonly say that the mechanics are the narrative. Even if you try to play a game that completely ignores the rules--as is the case in many OSR games where rules elide--your fiction is still arising from shared cultural tropes, shared ideas, shared interests and consumed media.

So for Gubat Banwa, the philosophy was this: when you spend a resource, something happens. This changes the entire battle state--thus changing the mechanics, thus changing the fiction. In a tactical game, very often, the mechanics are the fiction, barring the moments that you or your Umalagad (or both of you!) have honed creativity enough to take advantage of the fiction without mechanical crutches (ie., trying to justify that cold soup on the table can douse the flames on your Kadungganan if he runs across the table).

The other philosophy was this: we're designing fights that feel like kinetic high flying exchanges between fabled heroes and dirty fighters. In these genres, in these fictions, there was no "he attacked thrice, and one of these attacks missed". Every attack was a move forward.

So Gubat Banwa removed itself from the To-Hit/Damage roll dichotomy. It sought to put itself outside of that paradigm, use game conventions and cultural rituals that exist outside of the current West-dominated space. For combat, I looked to Japanese RPGs for mechanical inspiration: in FINAL FANTASY TACTICS and TACTICS OGRE, missing was rare, and when you did miss it was because you didn't take advantage of your battlefield positioning or was using a kind of weapon that didn't work well against the target's armor. It existed as a fail state to encourage positioning and movement. In wuxia and silat films, fighters are constantly running across the environment and battlefield, trying to find good positioning so that they're not overwhelmed or so that they could have a hand up against the target.

The Violence Die: the Visceral Attacking Roll

Gubat Banwa has THE VIOLENCE DIE: this is the initial die or dice that you roll as part of a specific offensive technique.

In the above example, the Inflict Violence that belongs to the HEAVENSPEAR Discipline, the d8 is the Violence Die. When you roll this die, it can be modified by effects that affect the Violence Die specifically. This becomes an accuracy effect: the more accurate your attack, the more damage you deal against your target's Posture. Mas asintado, mas mapinsala.

You compare your Violence Die roll to your target's EVADE [EVD]. If you rolled equal to or lower than the target's EVD, they avoid that attack completely. There: we keep the tacticality of having to make sure your attack doesn't miss, but also EVD values are very low: often they're just 1, or 2. 4 is very often the highest it can go, and that's with significant investment.

If you rolled higher than that? Then you ignore EVD completely. If you rolled a 3 and the target's EVD was 2, then you deal 3 DMG + relevant modifiers to the DMG. When I wrote this, I had no conception of "removing the To-Hit Roll" or "Just rolling Damage Dice". To me this was the ATTACK, and all attacks wore down your target's capacity to defend themselves until they're completely open to a significant wound. In most fights, a single wound is more than enough to spell certain doom and put you out of the fight, which is the most important distinction here.

In the Thundering Spear example, that targets PARRY [PAR], representing it being blocked by physical means of acuity and quickness. Any damage brought about by the attack is directly reduced by the target's PAR. A means for the target to stay in the fight, actively defending.

But if the attack isn't outright EVADED, then they still suffer its effects. So the target of a Thundering Spear might have reduced the damage of an attack to just 1 (1 is minimum damage), they would still be thrown up to 3 tiles away. It matches that sort of, anime combat thing: they strike Goku, but Goku is still flung back. The game keeps going, the fight keeps going.

On Mechanical Weight

When you miss, the mechanical complexity immediately stops--if you miss, you don't do anything else. Move on. To the next Beat, the next Riff, the next Resound, think about where you could go to better your chances next time.

Otherwise, the attack's other parts are a lot more mechanically involved. If you don't miss: roll add your Attacking Prowess, add extra dice from buffs, roll an extra amount of dice representing battlefield positioning or perhaps other attacks you make, apply the effects of your attack, the statuses connected to your attack. It keeps going, and missing is rare, especially once you've learned the systematic intricacies of Gubat Banwa's THUNDERING TACTICS BATTLE SYSTEM.

So there was a lot of setup in the beginning of this post just to sort of contextualize what I was trying to say here. Gubat Banwa inherently arises from those traditions--as a 4e fan, I would be remiss to ignore that. However, the conclusion I wanted to come up to here is the fact that Gubat Banwa tries to step outside of the many conventions of that design due to that design inherently servicing the deliverance of a specific kind of combat fiction, one that isn't 100% conducive to the constantly exchanging attacks that Gubat Banwa tries to make arise in the imagination.

[luvmomoiz]

>self indulgent qiu lin stimboard!! probably gonna make more our life and xod boards cause these games are huge spinterests of mine

🖊️ 🍂 🖊️ / 🍂 🍂 / 🖊️ 🍂 🖊️

[aweslasharc]

first trigun fanart lets go

[bearofohu]

crushing on clifford holden is the most fatherless thing the MC can do in this game. like no king you dont want a dilf what you want is a father figure. jfc

[bakubunny]

a mini kirishima hc. it’s nasty, this is ur warning. thx @dcsiremc for contributing to my everlasting brain rot for this precious man. ❤️

cw: rimming, facial, cum wearing, dilf!kiri, daddy dom!kiri, degradation, praise, aged up characters, f!reader

daddy/dilf!kirishima makes you rim his ass because he knows you love it just as much as he does. he will deadass sit his sweaty asscheeks on your face after a workout, pull your head into him if he’s laying down, and spew the filthiest degrading talk you can imagine. his voice is low and rough as he grips your hair hard. he’s jacking off and groaning as you do, growling about how he’s gonna blow his load all over your fucking face. by the time he’s done grinding his ass into you, you’re so wet and pathetic and that he takes mercy on his pretty girl. he makes you cum so hard with his hands and mouth that you see stars while he stares at your fucked out, cum covered face.

tag list: @callm3senpaii @arlerts-angel @dcsiremc

let me know if you’d like to be added. <3

[transparentgameboy]

Being sent to check something in the hot, cramped server closet that’s gone unchecked for like 8+ years and feeling a rack of devices breathing their hot air on me while I just stared at yards and yards of cabling, some just sliced through and hanging like some sort of arterial severance. Nearly every port is occupied in every switch and server and patch panel it’s a fucked up virtual overstimulation like a data bukake. I got so hard typing that I went cross eyed sorry

[cove-simp]

Spicy Baxter Headcanons

Y’all knew it was coming lmao

18 + !!! All the stuff mentioned below is when Baxter and player are in Step 3/4 

So let me start off by saying two things:

I don’t believe Baxter is super kinky 

I don’t think he’s firmly in the dom/top category either 

I DO think he is highly experimental tho

I’ll try anything once” kinda guy

And boy has he tried a lot

He is probably more experienced than you (unless you headcanon your MC super freaky lol)

in other words, he has perfected his bedside etiquette

Probably the most open to a threesome

The aftercare?

homie has is down to a T, perfectly tailored to suit your needs after your first time

as part of his own aftercare, he really likes when you sidle up to him, brush his bangs back and kiss him on the forehead

He’s so detail oriented, that after the first few experimental times he knows just how to unravel you

Focuses on your pleasure quite a lot, especially if he is topping

he screams vers/switch to me

(he’s flexible, remember?)

And his flexibility is literal too

while he doesn’t dance professionally anymore as he ages, he definitely keeps up with the stretches to stay limber

which comes especially in handy when you wanna just bend him over

Has definitely tried pole dancing as a form of exercise

isn’t opposed to giving you a demonstration or taking classes with you

Big on communication

before, during and after- he wants to know all about your likes and boundaries beforehand

Vocal as hell during the act

isn’t afraid to moan right in your ear

more praising and flowery language- it’s his default

you can request dirty talk, but he’ll probably draw the line at hard degradation

encourages you to be as vocal as you want too

CALLS YOU DARLING DURING THE DEED

One thing Baxter does enjoy is you calling him “Sir”

works whether you’re submitting to him, or say it playfully while teasing him

Another is Butt stuff

he is canonically an ass man, after all 

both on you and him, he’s not picky

(when he’s topping, slip a finger in and watch him explode)

Doggy is one of his favorite positions

it might be yours too, after fucking/ pegging him from the back

Can be pretty teasing, but more likely to overstimulate you than withhold orgasms

Erogenous zones include his neck, ears, and thighs 

you thought his reaction was good kissing the mole on his neck? Try kissing the one on the back of his upper thigh (preferably while doing butt stuff)

Hand 👏 holding 👏 during 👏 sex 👏

Some turn-ons include:

you bending over for mundane tasks

he will stare at your ass shamelessly, head tilted and all

smacking his ass

showing some skin

seeing you be hit on

probably the most prone to jealousy tbh- his self esteem is still kinda blah

on the other hand, seeing others lust after you only fuels his ego in a way that makes him wanna worship you to show his appreciation

spending $$$ on you

on a nice dinner, some new lingerie, a spa day, etc

he may not be rich rich anymore, but he still loves to spoil you

when you worship/ praise him

especially if it’s not even in a sexual context

a perilous situation

(think like almost falling off the log together in the woods, not anything actually life threatening)

Speaking of the woods, probably wants to go camping/ hiking in a secluded area, have a picnic and then make love

Call him “lover boy” and watch him melt

[teecupangel]

Uuuhhh... no answers or reblogs today because I think my highschool friend just made me realize I'm a digital hoarder and I'm still trying to process that.

How it started...

How it's going

I'm fine. Absolutely fine.

[desceros]

now i can finally leave surprises in your inbox HEHEHEHE

[tavydin42721]

mirage doodl

[jo-the-bass-stealer]

kinda anti-irish of my spellcheck to put squiggly red lines under "ye," "yiz," "yous," "jayzus," "anyways," "eejit," "amn't," "craic," "mam," "c'mon," "g'wan," "creathur," "wha," "d'you," every single irish name and word I've ever typed and just about every ing word that does not in fact end in a 'g' when any of my characters say it

[otomes-and-tears]

thoughts on shiloh and jb,,,, theyre so fun to think abt as a dynamic no matter how u choose to slice it

THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT THIS, ANON!! I want to smooch your forehead. I'm so happy rn.

Okay so-- I like to think that Shiloh initially only agreed to date JB out of self-interest, but eventually developed genuine feelings for her that he's in denial about.

We all know that he chooses to closely associate with people who will offer him something in return, and being with JB is DEFINITELY beneficial for him in the beginning:

First, by going out with her he's setting himself apart from the other jerks. He already acts differently from them, being nice, cheerful and helpful, and dating someone who others would consider desirable would do good for his social standing (and we know that shiloh has a bit of a reputation for being a manwhore, so actually settling down with someone for once would make him appear better) and it would solidify the idea that he's in the jerksquad by mistake and that he's "totally normal you guys" for people who still didn't catch on to him being a snake.

We also know that part of the reason is literally just that JB is the one thing that all the jerks have in common. They're all attracted to her in some capacity, and Shiloh can rub it in their faces in his own way that he "won" by being with her.

I think that JB being physically attractive and fitting his type are just minor points for him. If it was down to just physical attraction he wouldn't have bothered with a romantic relationship. He did, canonically, have a bunch of flings, so we know that for him accept a serious, exclusive relationship meant that there was a lot of incentive for him to do so.

So by all accounts, this is literally the perfect scenario for him: He's with someone attractive and fun, he pisses Pran off, people will see him in a better light and, the best part of all, JB is aware that he has ulterior motives and doesn't care about what they are, just as long he's praising her and being amusing.

There doesn't need to be any actual feelings involved. It's a mutually beneficial relationship that hinges on both parts fulfilling their pre-assigned roles. It's straightforward and uncomplicated, even if their dynamic is kind of fucked up if you think too hard about it.

But... And maybe this is just the hopeless romantic in me, but I do think that Shiloh eventually starts developing actual feelings for JB, and it would be fucking terrible for him.

There's this one post where GB lady talks about Shiloh's loneliness, and I think about it way too much. Even if you choose to see him as someone who just discards and replaces people in his life as soon as they're not of use anymore, he still feels isolated and lonely, because of course he does! Shiloh spent his entire life not letting people in and just following whoever established themselves as a leader, he even admits to it himself in Our life.

Shiloh doesn't have any actual, meaningful relationships because he can't have them and still maintain that same pattern of behaviour that he's used to, and letting go of these old habits would be incredibly difficult for someone whose entire childhood socialization was built onto this foundation.

Like-- I know that is a clichê for people to trace back everything to someone's childhood, but I cannot stress enough how CRUCIAL childhood socialization is for human development. Of course, people can grow and change even if they had difficult childhoods, but you need a good foundation in order to build healthy habits, and while Shiloh did have loving parents who wanted to do good by him, the behaviours and thought patterns he picked up during his childhood are still things we can see he struggles with throughout his life.

Building long-lasting connections with people means that he needs to allow himself to be vulnerable and genuine, It means that Shiloh needs to let go of the safety of the "boss and sidekick" dynamic that he's used to, and that especially, he would need to let go of his habit of entering relationships with the expectation of leaving them eventually.

I don't think these are things he's incapable of doing, if you choose to believe that he was being genuine with Liz during their conversation in OLBA, but these are things that he has resistance to trying because they have outcomes that are difficult to predict, and Shiloh is as his most comfortable when he's able to read someone and be what they need him to be or manipulate them into giving to him what he wants. He thrives on predictability and control.

I believe that actually falling in love with JB would be something he'd be in denial about for a long time. I think it would be hard for him to rationalise having actual, genuine feelings for someone after he spent an entire life avoiding them, and it would be even harder for him to deal with the very real possibility of this relationship having an expiration date, or, even worse, him wanting to be with her past her usefulness.

And it's not like he has anyone to talk to about these things, or that JB would even believe him if he admitted to actually liking her. I do think that Shiloh is the kind of person who would try to bury these feelings inside as much as possible to try and regain some sense of normalcy and you'd never be able to tell, bc he's just acting like normal.

By the prom scene, I think he actually likes her. I think he purposefully takes advantage of the fact that she doesn't take anything he says seriously to say things he actually means. I think him opening up about his manipulation tactics goes beyond him just wanting to manipulate her further (though I do think that keeping her interested enough she doesn't want to break up is a good motivator for him to keep on manipulating her too) and is also Shiloh's way of testing her boundaries and just how much she's willing to put up with if he starts being honest with her.

I don't think he knows whether or not to break up with her by graduation. She's asking him, but he doesn't know what to answer. Being with her beyond high school and putting effort into staying with JB long-distance doesn't really benefit Shiloh like it did when they were both in high school, and staying with JB long-term would mean that at some point he'd have to look deep inside and ask himself if he's willing to change.

And yeah, he's lonely, and he loves JB, but is that worth giving up everything you know?

Buuut if you want my honest opinion, which I'm guessing you do because you read through this mountain of text, I like to think that him allowing Liz back into his life is a good sign. It, at the very least, means that he is willing to maintain one relationship and that he's willing to be at least somewhat honest with someone. That's already miles better from where he was when Xoxo Droplets started.

By the way-- if you agree or disagree with anything I said here I'd LOVE to hear people's takes on this topic! I love talking about them!

[orion4ever]

ORION’S MASTERLIST

🌊COVE HOLDEN🐠

Cove Holden vents to a fish.

Cove Holden with a MC who is passionate about a special interest and info dumps + Derek and Baxter

Cove Holden with a MC who gets into fights + Qiu and Tamarack

Cove Holden with a MC who starts referring to him as their brother.

Cove Holden with a MC who’s mean and rebellious regularly but softer to them + Qiu and Tamarack

Cove Holden helps you when you get heatstroke ( and Cliff)

Cove Holden(Step 2) with partially blind MC

⚽️DEREK SUÁREZ🏈

Derek Suárez with a MC who is passionate about a special interest and info dumps + Cove and Baxter

🖤BAXTER WARD🤍

Baxter Ward wakes up early on your birthday.

Baxter Ward with a MC who is passionate about a special interest and info dumps + Cove and Derek

Cliff Holden threatens Baxter Ward with a harpoon

Baxter Ward with a MC who competed in competitions with him but one day stopped, then reunited years later in Sunset Bird.

REBOUND SERIES: Prologue/Sneak Peak

Baxter with a divorce attorney MC

🗒️QIU ‘AUTUMN’ LIN🚲

Qiu Lin and an MC who is mature, and polite but also gets feral + Tamarack

Qiu Lin and an MC who is a fan of all things creepy and paranormal!

Qiu Lin and a MC who gets into fights + Tamarack and Cove

Qiu Lin and a Smitten MC + Tamarack

Qiu Lin and a MC who’s mean and rebellious regularly but softer to them + Cove and Tamarack

Qiu Lin and a MC who likes/is good at singing + Tamarack

Qiu Lin and a MC who almost never gets sick , gets sick. + Tamarack

Qiu Lin and a Flirty MC who can’t handle what they dish + Tamarack

Qiu Lin and a MC who uses mobility aids(Wheelchair & Forearm Crutches) + Tamarack

Qiu Lin and a MC who bakes them treats + Tamarack

🍂TAMARACK BAUMAN🍁

Tamarack Bauman and an MC who is mature, and polite but also gets feral + Qiu

Tamarack Bauman and a MC who gets into fights + Qiu and Cove

Tamarack Bauman and a Smitten MC + Qiu

Tamarack Baumann and a MC who’s mean and rebellious regularly but softer to them + Qiu and Cove

Tamarack Baumann and a MC who likes/is good at singing + Qiu

Tamarack Baumann and a MC who almost never gets sick , gets sick. + Qiu

Tamarack Baumann and a Flirty MC who can’t handle what they dish + Qiu

Tamarack Baumann and a MC who uses mobility aids(Wheelchair & Forearm crutches) + Qiu

Tamarack Baumann and a MC who bakes them treats + Qiu

🥾Darren/Renee Murray🏕️

Darren Murray with socially outcasted and clingy MC

Renee Murray coming out to MC, then finds out MC is trans too. (TransMasc MC)

Platonic Darren Murray with Nonverbal Reader

[gb-patch]

Hiring Writers!

Writer positions are now open at GB Patch Games for Our Life Beginnings & Always.

Pay Rate: 15 cents USD per word

Word Estimate: 40k-50k words (potentially more depending on how development goes and if the writer agrees)

Work load: 10k words minimum per month, can be more

Time range: Four to five months. Should be finished around late February or in March, 2023

Full details and contact email are HERE!

[jacksdinonuggets]

Smol Genderbent AU

I have this AU where only Charlie and Vaggie are genderbent. Lucifer is still Charlie's dad, and Angel is still...Angel. anyways, I just wanted to share a few headcanons i have for them.

~Charlie~

Charlie is one of those dino boys. He loves them and has at least 3 dinosaur plushies. He also really loves the primary color palette. All of his little outfits consist of red, yellow, and blue. no exceptions! He doesn't need diaps, but when he's feeling under 3, he wears them. only the dino print ones! he won't wear any others. if he could have dino print pull-ups, he absolutely would have them, but unfortunately, they only have diaps. Getting him to eat vegetables are really hard. like normal Charlie, Boy Charlie HATES veggies. Lucifer or Vags have to do a lot of convincing to make him eat. Speaking of Lucifer, Lucifer loves caring for his little boy. He and him bond over duckies and dinos. Lucifer tried playing catch with him one day but the boy wasn't feeling big enough to have good reaction times... he had a giant bruise on his forehead for a week. Though, he does love to play outside, unlike normal Charlie. normal Charlie would rather play inside and sometimes outside, Boy Charlie needs to go outside at least once during his regression time. he's also very comfortable with regressing in public and will even be in his little gear! but only if Lucifer or Alastor is with him. they protec. they attac. but most importantly, they make sure he eats snac. Charlie also loves to wear footy pajamas or Overalls. he does get fussy sometimes when he doesn't get his way but will feel bad for being fussy later.

~Vags/Vaggie~

Vags goes by vaggie or Vee, when smol. He's more of an astro boy and loves purple. although, his special interests do switch up from time to time. sometimes its space, sometimes he's neutral, and sometimes he loves sharks. he regresses pretty small but is super embarrassed of accidents. Luckily, Charlie is supportive and they go to pick out diapers together. He has to have his comfort stuffy with him at all times. He also acts like his stuffy is his friend, so whoever is taking care of him, also has to take care of his stuffy. He has a hard time walking so outside is a no-go. Unless you can carry him. but Charlie can't go more than 2 minutes with him in his arms. Vaggie is pretty quite, even when it comes to crying. Normal Vaggie is pretty loud but Boy Vags is quiet. Heaven was full of people who thought that boys shouldn't cry and had a lot of toxic masculinity. So its still hard for him to realize that he can be emotional. He often apologizes for regressing, especially if it was involuntary. Charlie tries to assure him that its okay but he still feels bad. He has chronic back pain from getting his wings ripped out so sometimes when he has bad pain days, he slips. He does a lot of whimpering and curling up in a ball when his pain is bad. Charlie gets ice packs, heating pads, pain meds, and lots of cuddles on these days.