#hacking essential rules

[marketing-decode]

Understanding Cybersecurity Laws: A Simple Guide

In today’s digital world, cybersecurity has become one of the most critical areas of concern for individuals, businesses, and governments. With the increasing number of cyberattacks, it’s vital to understand the laws that govern cybersecurity and how they help protect sensitive data, online activities, and systems. This blog post will take you through the basics of cybersecurity laws, why they…

[cups-official]

my biggest problem is that all the projects that I'm the proudest of are things that I probably cant put on a resume

[on-leatheredwings]

Sleepover

Yandere! Damian Wayne x (Fem!) Reader

romantic > summary: During a sleepover, Damian makes his first foray into infatuation. > word count: 1605 > [ a/n: i just love writing from the yandere’s point of view! Damian is 19 or college-age here. honestly not much plot, just musings~ i will try to write from the Darling’s POV next time hehe.]

This must be love.

“Wow, Damian… I’ve never noticed but your nails are so pretty,” you compliment, satisfied with the boy’s upkeep. Damian feels his heart thrumming against his ribcage. You are holding his hand. 

Not for the first time either, but the thrill never fades. 

If this had occurred a year ago, before Damian learned of how casual (generous, even!) you were physical affection, he might have dumbly stated, “You’re holding my hand.” Instead, he simply thinks it, on loop, in one long string. 

You’re holding my hand. You’re holding my hand. You’re holding my hand.

Unbeknownst to all this, you simply paint his forefinger with a stripe of green so dark it looks black. 

“If we’re going to do this, it’ll be by my rules,” he had said. 

In reality, if you needled him any harder, he would’ve accepted pink nails with glitter on them. Who cares? There wasn’t anyone who dared to make fun of him at school. Not to mention, it’d be obvious to everyone that you painted them. You'd be marking him as yours, essentially. And at night… well, Robin wears gloves.

“Hn. How so?” Damian asks with feigned coolness. Mainly because he wants to hear you praise him. In your hushed, awed voice. When he dreams, you often sound like that. (And he quickly pushes that thought away.)

You look at him pointedly, grinning. Oh, he’s not so slick. You acquiesce to his whims anyway.

“Your cuticles are impeccable and your nails are finely trimmed… I’m impressed. Don’t you do martial arts, too? Crazy they aren’t more dinged up.”

Martial arts. That was supposed to explain his abnormal strength and fighting capability, the one time you saw him nearly break a man’s wrist for trying to pickpocket you. 

You accepted the excuse with only a little suspicion.

“It’s simple grooming.”

A catlike grin forms on your face. “Hm~ I don’t knowwww… Seems like you may be trying to catch the eye of a girl – you know, girls look at stuff like that.”

Damian frowns. 

He’s infatuated but not delusional. He’s aware this ‘sleepover’ is pretty platonic on your end. After nails, it’ll be skin care. Maybe you’ll even do your makeup and take goofy pictures with him. You’ll laugh and platonically huddle against him during a movie. You may doze off on his shoulder while he’ll be committing your every dewy, moisturized pore to memory. 

Because of Damian’s (self-admitted) social awkwardness with your peers, you think that gives you some sort of elder sibling-esque edge on him. You are the social butterfly, leading a naive, but well-meaning social pariah through the perils of young adult life. You don’t know you are so much more naive than he is, and he adores that.

Rather than addressing the question, he snorts. “When are you going to turn on the movie?”

You hum, completing his nail’s first coat. “Oh yeah, that’s right!” You grab the remote and press play. You continue painting, gingerly admiring his long, golden brown digits. Damian preens at the attention. 

As the movie plays, you pause often to look up and gape at the screen. It’s a horror flick, and boasts an abundance of cartoonish gore. While a bit more sensational than something he’d put on, he likes your dark taste. An annoying teenager gets their head hacked off with a chainsaw. You laugh and Damian feels his heart sing. 

There’s a chime that rings through Wayne Manor, and he has to bite back a groan.

“Pizza’s here!” you cheer. You begin to get up when Damian whips out his card in an instant. 

“I’ll pay.” To his delight, you gape in surprise, cheeks warming. 

“Oh… Thanks, Damian!” You never quite get used to him paying for things, but you at least know by now not to argue. You grab his credit card and – thank God – your fingers brush against each other. It sends the most pleasant trill down his spine. “Since you’re paying, I’ll go bring it! I won’t be long.”

A corner of his lips quirk. “I’ll be pleasantly surprised if it gets back to this room at all.” You stick out your tongue on the way out.

As soon as he hears your footsteps disappear down the hall – such clumsy, loud steps – Damian’s attention falls to the messenger bag you threw to the ground of his bedroom. He knows your diary is in there. (In his mind, he can hear you protest, It’s a journal!)

He’ll be quick. He flips open to a random page, and he already is laughing at your writing style. There’s little care for capitalizing letters and full of what you explained are “emoticons”, despite being handwritten. He flips to today’s entry, half-finished.

February 01. 

there’s a guy in class who’s pretty cute… one may even say HOT xP

Damian’s jaw tightens. He knows exactly who you’re talking about, and he won’t allow that neanderthal anywhere near you. At least, not again. Yesterday, you told him that your crush had smiled at you. Brushed fingers with you when passing papers. In the only class you have without Damian.

(Also, “your crush,” he scoffs. What a juvenile concept. You and Damian share something much deeper. His feelings for you are not so trivial.)

The semester is still young. Damian can pull any string to land himself in your anthropology class.

The rest of your entry for today (and the past days prior) isn’t anything notable except for when he’s mentioned. 

stressful day, but at least i have tonight with damian to cheer me up. he’s seriously the best …. i should tell him more often !!! (but it’d give him an even bigger head)

He doesn’t even attempt to stop the smile splitting his face. 

Damian’s keen hearing catches you striking up a conversation with Alfred in the kitchen. Despite your promise, he knows you will, indeed, take long. You love talking to everyone, even in passing. It’s an admirable quality, and one he envies.

He unlocks your phone and rifles through some messages of yours. He uses his own phone for documentation purposes. What else is there to do… He spies your jacket on his bed.

There is a shameful thought and Damian’s heart skips a beat. It is… frankly, it’s humiliating as a concept. Yet he’s enticed. It’s your jacket, after all. He brings it to his face delicately and inhales, almost shyly. Once he catches the familiar scent of your body wash, however, he allows himself to breathe it in. After being lost in it for a few seconds, he rips it away. 

Only to see his father standing in his doorframe. 

He knows what this looks like. Damian knows what this looks like. After years of working with the man, Damian can hear his thoughts as if they were his own, as they happen. 

Damian just smelled your clothes. Even if it was investigative in nature, he could’ve retrieved a sample some other way. Someone’s personal journal is open on the floor. A phone that he knows is not Damian’s is unlocked and displaying text messages. All these things are splayed out in a circle around him. It’s uncharacteristically messy of him, as well. Damian’s own phone is actively on his camera. Was he taking pictures? And most notable is the absence of you.

In summary? Damian must have some interest in you. And by this sloppy job, it’s quite emotionally charged. And at his age, it’s likely romantic.

Damian’s skin rises to what feels like a boiling heat. What is Father going to say? He can’t stop him – he can’t. Damian doesn’t even want to talk about it, let alone be reprimanded. A feral need to escape bubbles underneath his skin. Despite the panic, he channels years of League training and hardens himself. 

Bruce watches his son’s expression morph from dazed, to fearful, to steel, in real time. From Damian’s seat on the floor he offers his father only silent defiance. Bruce knows his son, his darker needs that stem from his cruel childhood. And perhaps he should’ve expected this to happen someday. Bruce exhales, eyes closing. When they reopen, his slate-grey eyes are firm and hard. 

“No one gets hurt.”

And by that, Bruce means no one dies. Because Bruce and Damian are Batman and Robin – they’re all in the business of hurting people. People who deserve it, yes, but it’s still hurt. Pain.

Damian feels immense relief. He wouldn’t have killed his father – he’s not that boy anymore. But a life without you seems similarly unbearable. Damian feels… shaken. He doesn’t know what he would’ve done. He also feels grateful, that it didn’t turn out any other way. 

His eyes drop to the jacket he holds in a fist.

“... Yes. Thank you, Father.” Bruce’s gaze lingers, but he leaves wordlessly.

This encounter reminds Damian of who he is. He is a detective, vigilante, assassin, and creature of stealth. He can’t be this careless, even if he knows you won’t notice. 

Damian returns your belongings to their place, exactly how you left it. Diary back in your bag, jacket to where you were lounging, your phone underneath a pillow, because you carelessly tossed it aside. You’ll inevitably begin to look for it and he’ll grin once he places it in your hand.

You finally return to his room, two pizza boxes of deluxe cheese (for him) and pepperoni (for you) in your arms. You laugh sheepishly. 

“Sorry for the wait, Dami.” His heart skitters at the nickname.

“It’s fine.” Your eyes glitter with excitement and optimism and purity. He finds it hard to look away, you raining down a gaze like that upon him.

“I was waiting for you.”

[vintagerpg]

This is Shadowdark (2023), one of the most talked about RPGs in recent memory, certainly in the OSR neighborhood. It’s essentially the product of one person’s relentless labor — Kelsey Dionne, AKA Arcane Library — and a small pool of black ink swirlin’ artists — Lukas Korte, Brandish Gilhlm, Jesse Egan, Yuri Perkowski Domingos, Matt Morrow, Matt Ray, Mark Lyons and Abdul Latif.

But what is it? Boiled down to its essence, Shadowdark is a stripped-down version of 5E D&D, modified to provide something of the so-called Old-School experience. So, there are just four classes, combat is deadlier, exploration is limited by the necessity of torches (which introduces a lot of by-product problems for players to manage) and so on. In fact, exploration (and the finding of treasure) is really the core gameplay. In essence, Shadowdark does for 5E what Castles & Crusades did for 3E, though the end result here is more similar to something like Black Hack. There are modern comforts, like advantage and a luck mechanic. There’s new stuff, too. I have seen a lot of folks discussing the pros and cons of Shadowdark’s always-on initiative.

I don’t usually worry about time tracking or torches in my game, but Dionne makes a good case for doing so (in Shadowdark, torches last one hour of real time). It gives players something to always worry about and is more narratively interesting than encumbrance rules which I think have long been the other main way of messing with party traversal in a dungeon. I especially enjoy the GM section that encourages targeting the light and/or the holder of the torch.

It’s quite an accomplishment to deliver a system that plays well for both camps. Whether OSR or 5E player, the majority of the rules are recognizable, while the ones that aren’t should provide players pleasant surprises. That’s a rare thing!

[black-water-simping-ships]

anyway. even if we don't see it as much in murderbot's inner life (valid: i too absolutely refuse to think about certain things), there is a clear progression from self-loathing to self-acceptance evident in its treatment of other constructs, particularly other SecUnits. it has always been kind to bots and humans (and augmented humans ;) ) but comparatively "brutal" towards SecUnits - hostile humans it often merely disables rather than kills outright. in all systems red, it still talks of all [other] rogue SecUnits as merciless killer machines, despite literally being a rogue SecUnit for 4 earth years; it seems inconceivable to mbot that other SecUnits would share its benign attitude to humans (& augmented etc); furthermore, staying in the influence sphere of the corp rim and The Company is quite risky since should its hacked gov module be discovered, it would be disassembled - why hasn't it hit the bricks at the first opportunity?: i'd argue that it is scared that without the rigorous rules, it would become that merciless killer machine if left to its own devices.

and then it is discovered to be rogue. and it learns how to exist in human society without killing anyone. and it learns that the time it did kill quite a lot of people was the fault of humans, not its own, was a system malfunction, an introduced virus! and it sees that the ComfortUnits voluntarily sacrificed their lives for the sake of humans. in exit strategy, during the fight in the docks, it doesn't take a kill shot at one of the hostile SecUnits ("i know i didn't shoot it in the head. i don't know why."). in network effect, 2.0 (arguably somewhat of an outside observer, much like we the readers) chooses to free Three, and once mbot sees that Three is just like itself - fiercely protective of its clients, awkward, loves media, it...well. it starts the revolution, essentially. passes on the code package 2.0 used to free Three to still contracted SecUnits, at least one of which we see using it, which may choose to act as mbot itself once did - stay undercover, stay contracted...but maybe those too will pass on the code when they encouter other SecUnits. and pass it on. and pass it on. :)

[level2janitor]

Introduction to the OSR

what's an OSR? it's a game that's kinda like old-school D&D. or is old-school D&D. or is compatible with old-school D&D. an OSR game generally has some or all of the following principles:

low character power with highly lethal combat. in old-school D&D a 1st-level fighter has d8 hit points and a longsword does d8 damage, and you die at 0HP. this is not to ensure characters die all the time but to emphasize the next bullet point:

emphasis on creative problem solving. most situations cannot be solved by straightforward use of your abilities (such as charging into every situation with swords drawn, if a fighter), so the game tests lateral, outside-the-box thinking.

emphasis on diegetic progression. spells are found, not obtained automatically on level-up. you get XP by finding gold more than killing monsters. most of your cool abilities come from magic items. making alliances & hiring followers is encouraged.

focus on managing inventory, resources, risk, and time. the players are constantly faced with meaningful decisions; this is the heart of the game.

very sandbox-oriented. the focus on creative problem solving means the game must be accommodating to players taking a course of action the GM didn't plan for. use lots of random tables to generate emergent story. some elements of new simulationism.

high tactical transparency, i.e., the optimal course of action is rarely system-specific, and ideally very possible for a new player to intuit.

usually semi-compatible with old D&D, but not always. usually rules-lite, but not always.

what does the OSR mostly NOT do?

focus on character builds. these change the focus too much to be on the rules than the fiction, can create situations where stuff everyone should be able to do is an ability locked to one class, and impede tactical transparency.

resolve everything with a die roll. combat uses dice to be scary, unpredictable and most importantly not your default course of action. everything else should bring up dice rarely - dice are your plan B when your plan A fails. the best plans need no dice.

use linear storytelling or put players into a writer/GM role. linear storytelling gets in the way of the decision-making so core to the playstyle; letting players write details into the setting is mutually exclusive with them discovering it.

rules for everything. 400 pages of crunch is worse at simulating a believable world than the GM and players' shared understanding. OSR games rely constantly on GM ruling.

mostly still applies to all the above. making your system a "pure" OSR game comes second to doing what's best for your game.

System recommendations

old D&D or a retroclone

old-school D&D - or old school essentials or basic fantasy or swords & wizardry, which are old D&D's mechanics repackaged with quality-of-life tweaks (and the upside of not giving WOTC your money) - are usually the go-to when recommending someone's first OSR game. they're actually not my first pick, though!

PROS:

very complete, with more robust rules than a lot of the lighter games on this list.

100% compatibility: most OSR adventures are statted for old school essentials. converting them to other OSR systems is usually simple, but not 1-for-1.

easier to find games for. anyone interested in the OSR space knows what old school essentials is.

CONS:

jank. these games largely still have weird saves, level limits for non-humans, some still have descending AC, etc etc. it's not that bad but it is there

i hate thief skills. lots of essential dungeoneering actions are locked to the thief class as abilities, with abysmally low success chances. this is stuff i prefer being handled without a roll. thieves in this system suck and make everyone else worse at dungeon crawling by existing.

there's just lots of really cool shit in other systems i'm about to go into that you just don't get here

Knave 1e and its various hacks

this is a 7-page super-lightweight system that boils everything down to just the essentials.

rolling a character takes like 5 minutes. roll stats, roll gear, roll traits, go. done. it's great.

characters are defined entirely by stats and gear, no classes. wanna be a fighter, have high strength and carry a big sword and armor. wanna be a wizard, have high intelligence and fill your inventory with spells. item slots are elegant and pretty limited.

initiative is instant: roll d6. 1-3, monsters go first. 4-6, PCs go first. swingy, but god it is so smooth and shaves like the most boring 5 minutes off of every combat

monsters are so very elegant. old D&D gives monsters a "hit dice" rating to determine their HP, e.g. a 3HD monster rolls 3d8 for hit points. knave takes this number (HD) and uses it for attack rolls and saves (aside from exceptionally bad/good saves), so a knave statblock looks something like this.

spells are all one or two sentences long & extremely easy to remember.

7 pages is so light. i have the system basically memorized.

DOWNSIDES: there's no dungeon crawling rules (standard for meatier OSR games & something i consider essential) and no real bestiary, though the second point isn't a huge deal cause they're so easy to make. it also kinda assumes you already know how to run OSR games, so there's very little real advice or guidance.

KNAVE HACKS

knave 1e is in creative commons & comes with an editable word doc for you to publish with modifications, so there's a ton of variants (there was a spreadsheet of them somewhere, but i can't find it).

Grave is a favorite - i'm two years into a grave campaign and it's fantastic. it's a dark-souls-y version of knave with some really elegant innovations.

you have a set number of deaths before you for-reals die, as every character plays an undead as is dark souls tradition. makes it good for OSR beginners! being able to tell when you're close to your final death is really good - it lets you emotionally prepare for losing your character & raises the stakes more the more you die. (though honestly you should probably cut the number of extra deaths in half, it's super generous)

XP and gold are combined into one resource, souls. legendary creatures drop big souls you can make into magic items. this has ended up being the coolest thing in my current campaign. my players love finding powerful souls to make into magic items it's so fun

uses preset packages of stats/gear instead of knave's rolled ones, filling the role of more traditional character classes. has the wonderful side effect of not making you get stuck with low stats cause you rolled bad one time.

you have stamina equal to your empty item slots. you spend stamina on spells if you're a caster, or free maneuvers (on top of your attack at no action cost) if you're not. it's super elegant.

there's 3 classes of spells: wizardry for intelligence, holy magic for wisdom, and witch stuff for charisma. nice and intuitive.

there's a page of 50 magic items each a couple sentences long. this PDF is worth it just for the magic items.

DOWNSIDE: see the downsides for knave 1e. all still apply.

i enjoyed grave so much i made a variant of it with the dark souls bits removed (and some dungeon crawl rules added!) to use for my standard fantasy campaigns.

Knave 2e

sadly knave 2e is not purchasable yet (i backed it on kickstarter so i have access, though). but when it comes out i highly recommend it.

much larger and denser than knave 1e. it finally has dungeon crawling rules, it has GM and player guidance, everything is refined and the layout is so so nice and readable.

combat is a bit more interesting than 1e. you can break your weapon against an enemy to deal max damage. you get a free maneuver on high attack rolls.

there's rules for stuff like alchemy, warfare, building a base. it all kicks ass.

there are so many goddamn tables. i rifle through it anytime i need inspiration.

DOWNSIDES: some of the new rules are a little untested & wonky. introducing randomness into how often your rations spoil or your lights go out can cause issues.

Mausritter

you play tiny little mice! in a world full of big dangerous things that want to eat mice. cat = dragon. you get it. what more could you want

the mouse thing is just super intuitive. you get the dynamic between you and the big scary lethal world. fantastic OSR game to introduce kids

nice and robust ruleset; nothing feels missing

tons of super nice GM stuff! faction rules, tools for rolling up hexcrawls and dungeons, plenty of tables

super clean readable layout. font isn't too small to avoid being intimidating. guidance is really nice and clear.

combat is autohit. super fast & lethal.

100% free

look mausritter is just. good. i wanna run it so bad someday

Worlds Without Number

sort of a middle ground between OSR stuff and 5e. paid version here free version here

lots of classes, at least in the paid version. the free version comes with just the warrior, expert and mage. there's feats and more of a focus on builds than most OSR games. if you like more mechanical build variety than a typical OSR game, this is a great game for you!

extremely good multiclassing. y'know how in most games if you just mash together two classes you think are cool you'll end up with a total mess? not here! every combo is viable and works fine! easily the best multiclassing of any game i've touched

an absurd amount of GM stuff and tables. easily more than any of the other stuff i've praised for also having them. but personally i haven't dug into them as much, so i can't really comment on them

skills the way modern D&D has them. you roll dice and try to beat a target number. i don't tend to like rolled skills, but most people do, so if that's your thing WWN has them

DOWNSIDES

the layout is terrible. everything is a huge wall of text with very little use of bold text or bullet points to draw attention to the important bits. the table of contents has like 15 things in it for a 400-page book! i couldn't find any of the paid-version-exclusive classes for like a month after i bought it! looking up rules is a nightmare.

the way the default setting handles "evil races" is like an exaggerated parody of all the problematic aspects of how D&D handles it. like, it wants so bad for you to have an excuse to genocide sentient free-willed people. but at least the default setting is easy to chuck in the trash

Dungeon Crawl Classics

the goal of this system is to take all of the crazy gonzo moments people remember playing old-school D&D in their childhood and turn all of that up to 11 while cutting the stuff that doesn't add to that. i think a lot of its innovations have ended up kind of standard in newer OSR stuff (like fighters getting maneuvers with their attacks), but it still has more to offer.

the funnel: you start the game with four randomly rolled dipshit peasants that you then throw into a meatgrinder to get horribly killed. you pick one of the survivors to be your 1st-level character.

maneuvers: fighters roll an extra die with each attack that gets bigger as you level. if it's a 3 or higher, you get to do a cool thing on top of your attack. pretty standard for OSR games, but this game popularized it!

crit tables: fighters also get more crits and nastier crits as they level. every crit, you roll on the crit table. maybe you chop off a dude's arm. maybe you just knock them over. maybe you shatter their shield. it's very cool

spell tables: i don't really like roll-to-cast mechanics, generally. but DCC goes so all-in on roll-to-cast that it still looks fun as hell to watch. you cast a fireball and maybe it goes how you want. or maybe you explode, or you nuke everything in a half-mile radius, or from now on you permanently ignite flammable materials you touch, or whatever. casters just have to put up with turning into a weird mutated mess across a campaign

there's no dungeon crawl rules, no encumbrance - this game is all about the big over-the-top wacky shit, and is not really interested in the more down-to-earth number crunching. it's more in the you-die-hilariously-all-the-time area of OSR than the you-avoid-death-through-clever-play area. not really my thing but the system knows exactly what it wants to be and i respect it

iron halberd

this one is mine! as the author i'm not qualified to tell you what isn't good about my system, so just assume it's worse than i make it sound, but here's a bunch of the selling points

semi-random character creation where you flip back and forth between rolling dice and getting your own input. roll stats, pick ancestry. pick starting gear kit, roll different dice based on which kit you picked. etc etc. stats are random but all equally viable (no rolling incredibly low or high stats). every time i run this game the character creation is a hit. seriously go roll up a character it'll sell you on the whole thing

you start out a lot stronger than a standard OSR character but grow way more slowly. i don't like 4th-level characters being 4 times as strong as 1st-level ones; HP never gets that high. emphasis is more on diegetic progression instead.

way too many subsystems for alchemy, crafting, strongholds, warfare, renown, rituals, likes 9 pages of magic items, a whole subsystem for becoming a cleric mid-campaign. i couldn't help myself i love this shit

in my current campaign we had a player permanently sacrifice some max HP to become a necromancer after deliberating on whether that's a good idea for like thirty seconds, which instantly made me think my necromancy system is a success

also free

Adventure recommendations

(in rough order of size)

Moonhill Garden (by Emiel Boven): look at this. look at it! this is like the best template for a little dungeon in an OSR game. all of the little factions are tied together. this would be a great oneshot to introduce people to an OSR system with.

A gathering of blades (by Ben Milton): a system-neutral, one-page sandbox. i ran this for an iron halberd game and it went super well. lasted like 7 sessions. highly recommend.

The Waking of Willowby Hall (by Ben Milton): a single dungeon with a million things going on. it's super chaotic with half a dozen different factions crashing into each other and a big angry goose. highly recommend, especially for kids

The Black Wyrm of Brandonsford (by Chance Dudinack): small sandbox with a fun fairytale vibe and a very fleshed-out little town. and a big nasty dragon.

Evils of Illmire (by Zack Wolf): this is a very dense, entire campaign's worth of hexcrawl in a very compact package for like $5. it doesn't do anything particularly new, but the value-for-money is absurd and it's a really good template for how to do a sandbox if you're used to 5e adventures

Ask me anything!

if anything here is unclear or intrigues you, send me asks! i love helping people get into OSR games. i'll link frequently asked questions here if i get any.

[bibookdemon]

The System is always watching.

It was on signs everywhere, just plain black text underlined against a white background. The lack of anything else always did the trick - so blunt that it chilled you to the bone.

Shen Yuan was hurrying along an empty street somewhere in the slums, hood pulled up with one hand and groceries tucked under his arm with the other. Rain was pouring down, but he didn't have an umbrella. Too conspicuous in the slums - it could attract unwanted attention.

After getting soaked through to the bone - who was he kidding, the sweater never fucking helped - he made it to his little house. It was an old flower shop that had been converted to living quarters. He'd bought it because it was the only place being sold for cash and with very little ties to the System. It had seen no modern technology in its life, so the System had no connections that way, though it was registered, so Shen Yuan had to be careful about keeping his paperwork up to date.

He placed the key in the lock, jiggled it a bit, and pushed his way inside, flipping the lights on. It was a relief to step into a dry area and peel away his shoes and outer layers. He looked forward to a long, warm shower after he got his groceries put away.

Shen Yuan dumped the bags of food and other essentials onto his island bar - originally the counter at which customers would pay - with a grunt, sighing when the weight was out of his arms. He had things going on with his body, but he couldn't risk a trip to any doctor. None remained untouched by the System. He couldn't risk it.

He stretched his back with a pop and resolved to use some of his nicer bathing salts because he deserved it after a long shop. He turned back toward the door to collect his wet socks and sweater to dump them in a laundry basket on his way to the bathroom, then stopped. A familiar figure stood there, eerily still, eyes glowing blue.

Hello, Shen Yuan. We meet again.

The System had found him.

◇

Futuristic world where society is ruled over by the System

SY is on the run from the System after hacking into it in an attempt to shut it down (it is destroying free will but no one will acknowledge the truth)

SY is about to be penalized by the System (killed, uploaded, brain used to test security)

SQH arrives and saves him! Turns out he's been leading a rebel group (turns out the group is just. SQH - but he had to convince SY to join forces with him somehow!!!) for many years to get rid of the System

They develop a friendship

The System manages to reveal to SY that SQH is its creator. SY is, of course, pissed the hell off

SY storms off in a fit of rage, which reveals their location.

SQH gets captured and nearly killed

SY has to save him

During the process of saving him he figures out how to end the System (with SQH's help)

And so society regains their free will and has to figure their shit out.

SQH and SY meanwhile lay low and have intense hate makeout sessions that they deem 'blowing off steam' (they're gays in denial your honor)

Yes I love Cumplane FIGHT ME

[theresattrpgforthat]

So, I went to a game store, and I asked if there were any good beginner games for someone who tried the DnD Essentials Kit and found it too complicated, and you'll never guess what one singular game they suggested!

THEME: Simpler Games than DND.

My friend, I’m not a very good guesser, but I hope that I am able to present you with some games that will give you what you’re looking for.

24XX: Chaos Unit, by polyhedralmice

Deep under the busy streets of Sapien City is the headquarters of the Vermin Squad, the espionage wing of a secret organization of urban animals known as the CHAOS Unit. They capitalize on the fact that vermin are virtually invisible human inhabitants of the city and use they use their street smarts to run vital missions for the unit. Raccoons, opossums, pigeons and squirrels each play specific roles and together form teams that take on the most vital of missions. From intercepting life-saving pizza orders to rescuing their colleagues from the dastardly Animal Control, there is no task too daunting for the brave animals of the Vermin Squad. Every night teams are sent out on their missions, and this is the story of one of those teams. Nothing will stop these brave agents from successfully completing their tasks (except maybe a humane trap baited with peanut butter). 

CHAOS Unit is a spy themed hack based on Jason Tocci’s 24XX.

24XX games are great for groups that love different-sided dice. In general, you only have a few skills for your character that are outside the normal parameters (upgraded to d8 - d12), and the success threshold is the same for pretty much every roll. The challenges and situations of any given scenario are typically presented as roll tables, allowing the GM to come up with an adventure just by rolling a few dice.

CHAOS Unit has just a few character options, some simple gear options, and a comparatively light-hearted premise. It’s a great introduction to the system, and learning how to play one 24XX game makes every other 24XX game a piece of cake to learn, even if they include new rules.

Loot, by Gila RPGs.

LOOT is a fantasy TTRPG by Gila RPGs that combines looter shooter mechanics with west marches vibes. When a rebellion toppled a lich overlord and torn down his city, the people were left with a lot of loot, and a lot of problems. That's where you come in.

Get some friends together, fight some monsters, deck your characters out in cool loot. Do it all over again.

Even though LUMEN uses grid-based combat, your character’s stats are simplified, reduced to a few things: health, armour, and three action types: force, flow & focus. Your stats themselves come from the items that your carry - your loot.

Your loot is organized through slots on your character sheet: you can only carry so much, so you’ll have to think carefully about what kind of stat bonuses and abilities you want. I find that a visual inventory can make it easier to keep track of everything you have, and can help some players learn how to think strategically. If you like the fantasy and strategy that exists in D&D but don’t want to do nearly as much math, you might be interested in LOOT - although the lack of dice is certainly a big change.

Slugblaster, by Wilkie’s Candy Lab.

In the small town of Hillview, teenage hoverboarders sneak into other dimensions to explore, film tricks, go viral, and get away from the problems at home. It’s dangerous. It’s stupid. It’s got parent groups in a panic. And it’s the coolest thing ever.

This is Slugblaster. A table-top rpg about teenagehood, giant bugs, circuit-bent rayguns, and trying to be cool.

Forged in the Dark games can be tricky to introduce to a new table, but Slugblaster is one of a few that I think can do the job. It’s a streamlined version of the system, that takes away a lot of the crunch that comes from Stats, Position, and Effect, and boils it all down to Kick and Boost. It also streamlines harm into 2 levels of slams, and keeps stress and downtime to a procedure that you can follow step-by-step when you finish a run. Finally character creation is very easy: you only make few choices in terms of abilities, and many of these choices are descriptive, rather than mechanical.

One thing I’ve noticed about games with “simpler” rules systems is that they typically do require a bunch of improv, which can be scary for new GMs. Slugblaster isn’t that different in this regard, but it does have a few things you as a GM can prepare beforehand if you want to make things easier for yourself. For example, you can set up your map of the different dimensions beforehand, including the doorways that the teens can get through. If you know that the teens get back to your home dimension without going through Operablum, then you can prepare a few location - specific threats to confound the teens as they try to get back in time for dinner.

Another strength of these games is that typically, if a player wants to do something, they just have to be able to describe how they’d do it - you can then work backwards using the gear & resources on your sheet to give you some dice to roll, as well as the logic of the game world, to figure out what happens next.

Lady Blackbird, by John Harper

Lady Blackbird is on the run from an arranged marriage to Count Carlowe. She hired a smuggler skyship, The Owl, to take her from her palace on the Imperial world of Ilysium to the far reaches of the Remnants, so she could be with her once secret lover: the pirate king Uriah Flint.

Lady Blackbird is the first game I ever played, and it’s a game I fell for - hard. It involves rolling pools of dice that you pull from descriptive collections of tags assigned to pre-generated characters. It simplifies game-play by taking away the step of character creation, and gives the group a pretty solid story to pick up and follow wherever your heart may lead.

While the rules of the game are fairly simple, I think that as a GM, you’re going to need to be comfortable with a fair bit of improv to make this work. The game has some excellent pieces of advice on how to come up with scenes for the characters, and even includes some example complications to throw at the party. I’m really glad this was my first game because from the beginning, it affirmed that roleplaying games are a communal experience, and even if the characters and the starting scenario are already written for the group, the players have a lot of freedom to decide who their characters are, and what they’re going to value.

Liminal Horror, by Goblin Archives.

There’s a strange comfort to ambiguity. To stand at the threshold between states of what was and what’s next, to inhabit the places of transition. But you’re never truly alone here. There are things that hunger within the dark places. Strange creatures and mysteries lie in wait and tumbling into the wrong place at the wrong time may put you on the path towards doom.

Grab your flashlights and blood splattered jackets as you try to make it through the night. Beware, snapping bone and rending flesh are often the simplest outcome. While there may be great power within these places… not all mysteries can be solved and not everyone can be saved. Above all, there are fates far worse than death.

LIMINAL HORROR is a rules-lite, adaptable Survival-Horror roleplaying game about normal characters and their struggles against the things that go bump in the night. The game focuses on surviving the weird and Investigating horrors while blending simple, old-school inspired rules with modern, narrative first principles. Survival is not guaranteed and those that do make it through the night are often forever changed.

In Liminal Horror, character creation is rather quick, often easily generated using a few dice rolls. For most tasks, your characters will roll a d20 and try to get a number lower than one of their three stats, so when you get started, teaching the game should be pretty simple. Of course, since it’s a horror game, there’s more than just trying to roll under a stat: characters will find themselves subject to the consequences of being exposed to horrors that are far beyond the limits of human experience. As a result, characters will find themselves dealing with two different kinds of harm: stress & fallout. These two harm systems will make the stakes feel real, and they’ll also inflict changes on your characters as you play.

Liminal Horror has a few things going for it. The basic rules are fairly straightforward, but they’re also free. The game is meant to be paired with pre-written adventures, which often include place descriptions, NPCs, and adventure-specific consequences to torture the characters with. A lot of the adventures available come with a price tag, but if you want to try out the system, there’s a couple of free ones out there - I recommend Messenger National Park, by capacityforwonder.

For the Ship And Its Crew, by Adeline Fowl Games.

We've crewed this Ship for years together. We've seen wondrous sights, gotten ourselves into seemingly insurmountable trouble, and have owed our fair share of creds to the wrong people. And yet, still, we fly. But after all these years, our past may be catching up with us. As the missiles tear across starlit space, we'll be forced to ask ourselves: What will we do, for the Ship and its Crew?

This is a hack of For the Queen, which mostly involves answering prompts, using something like a card deck, or in this case, a digital hosting service. Your group is telling a story by taking turns answering questions, which makes the game fairly easy to teach, even to people who don’t have a lot of roleplaying experience.

These kinds of games can also be played very quickly, which might also make it easier to introduce to folks who aren’t used to sitting around a grid and calculating resources for 2+ hours.

Other Recommendation Posts To Check Out…

Easy To Teach Recommendation Post

First Time GMs Recommendation Post

Little Reading or Writing Required Recommendation Post

[eugenedebs1920]

Trump is the most dishonest, corrupt, self serving, manipulative president of all time. He is high in the ranking worldwide. What has he done since he got into office? He fired almost 20 inspectors general. He gutted the aviation security agency, TSA, and FAA. He pardoned his shadow white supremest militia. He fired dozens of FBI employees. He’s purged DOJ. He’s allowed a foreign billionaire to hack the Treasury Department, giving access to every Americans personal information and access to the $6 trillion dollars of U.S. taxpayer dollars. He nominated and the Republican senate confirmed, known authoritarian murdereous dictator sympathizer, Tusi Gabbard, a woman who was on a flight watchlist regarding associations with American adversaries, to lead our intelligence agencies.

He’s asking for the resignation of 3,000 CIA agents now, demanding documents from the FBI, on behalf of his involvement in the January 6th 2021, election interference and seditious conspiracy, riot case, that he promoted, organized and led, be turned over, and requesting any agent that worked on the case be fired, mind you this was the largest criminal investigation ever undertaken due to its sheer scale and size, and threat that its impact would have to our representative democratic constitutional republic, that this was the first attempted seizure of the capital since the early 1800’s, who’s primary legal obligation was to make an example for the consequences that occur when one assaults an officer of the law, when one desecrates a federal building, particularly the capital, and when one tries to stop a constitutionally mandated congressional procedure, in an attempt to overturn the election, a case that in one way or another involved hundreds of agents on over a 1,000 separate cases, which accounts for almost 75% of the workforce would have had contact with it. (Wew! That was quite a sentence! 😅)

Less than a month ago if id told you this story it would have been interpreted as the ramblings of a crazed liberal, brainwashed by the vast and all powerful left wing media apparatus that had warped my mind into some Marxist sphere of delusion.

Yet here we are…

You don’t need to be a top notched intelligence expert to see what’s going on. This lunge towards coverup and away from accountability is clearly visible. Why would someone oppose fact checking? Because they want to lie. Why does someone remove individuals tasked with investigating fraud and corruption? Because you wouldn’t want to get caught committing fraud and corruption. Why does someone want to eliminate those tasked with asserting whether you committed crimes or not? If you were innocent wouldn’t you await the day you could clear your name? You do that when you want to hide what your involvement was.

Why would someone violate the Constitution, dissolve essential agencies and fill them with loyalists, take over independent law enforcement agencies with loyalists, and release a shadow military force through pardons? Because they intend to overthrow and usurp an entire country’s constitutional government and claim rule of it as an emperor.

This is a coup.

He’s not a king, he just plays one in TV. Just because he’s a criminal doesn’t mean he can break the law. He’s not a dictator but a clown in a circus of his own making. The executive branch is but one part of a multilayered system. Remember when Biden declared that the equal rights act was “officially the law of the land.”? That was an executive order also and everyone just blew it off as non binding and ceremonial. His EO’s are the exact same thing.

Just a criminal trying to get away with crimes. Just a conman working his con. Just a clown in the circus.

[glowettee]

✧・゜ how to radiate confidence in social situations (even when you're screaming inside) ゜✧:・゜✧

hey lovelies! ✧

let's be honest - we've all been there. standing in a room full of people, smile plastered on, while our internal monologue is having a complete meltdown. that was literally me last weekend at this networking event where i knew absolutely no one and spent the first 15 minutes hiding in the bathroom (classic me behavior).

but over time i've collected some little tricks that help me appear confident even when my insides are doing gymnastics. thought i'd share in case any of you are fellow social anxiety girlies too!

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ the body language hack ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

our bodies can actually trick our minds into feeling confident. before entering any intimidating social situation, i find a private spot (usually the bathroom, let's be real) and stand in a "power pose" for two minutes. arms on hips, shoulders back, chin up. it feels silly but it genuinely changes my nervous system.

another tiny thing: keep your hands visible, not crossed or hidden in pockets. something about this signals confidence to others and eventually to yourself.

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ prepare your conversation toolkit ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

nothing makes me panic more than awkward silence, so i always have a mental list of conversation starters ready. not just "what do you do?" but questions that actually lead somewhere interesting:

"what's been keeping you busy outside of work lately?"

"have you read/watched anything good recently?"

"what's something you're looking forward to this year?"

the secret is asking questions that you genuinely want to hear answers to. people can sense authentic curiosity, and it takes pressure off you to be "interesting" when you're focused on being interested.

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ the "i belong here" mindset shift ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

this one changed everything for me. i used to walk into rooms thinking "i hope they like me" which immediately put me in a position of seeking approval. now i try to shift to "i wonder if i'll like them."

it's such a subtle change but it puts you in the position of the observer rather than the observed. suddenly you're not auditioning for acceptance - you're just seeing if this person/group is your vibe.

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ embrace the awkward ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

the biggest confidence killer is trying to be perfect. there's actually something magnetic about someone who can laugh at themselves when they trip over a word or spill their drink.

i've started just naming the awkwardness when it happens: "well that came out completely wrong, let me try again!" people actually connect more with your humanity than your perfection.

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ the 5-second reset ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

when i feel myself spiraling into overthinking, i use this tiny reset: i take a deep breath, count to 5, and remind myself that most people are too worried about themselves to be analyzing me.

seriously, the same insecurity that makes you worry about what others think is the exact thing that prevents others from thinking about you as much as you fear!

⋆.ೃ࿔:･ aftercare is essential ･:࿔ೃ.⋆

confidence isn't just about how you act in the moment - it's also about how you treat yourself after. i used to dissect every interaction, cringing at everything i said.

now i have a rule: no social autopsies. instead, i celebrate that i showed up at all. sometimes i'll even buy myself a little treat on the way home as a "well done for being brave" gift.

remember, true confidence isn't the absence of fear - it's just the decision that something else is more important than that fear. and with practice, those screaming-inside moments get quieter and less frequent.

what about you? any confidence hacks that help you in social situations?

xoxo, mindy ��

[mama-qwerty]

Would it be accurate to say Knuckles is Lawful Good, Tails is Neutral Good, and Sonic is Chaotic Good?

While I would agree that Knux is Lawful Good, I think Tails and Sonic would be flipped.

Neutral Good defines someone who is only interested in helping others. They are led by their morals, and would help both good and bad guys alike, such as offering healing and a helping hand.

Sonic is Neutral Good because of his tendency to reach out to those who would otherwise try to hurt him. Knuckles and Shadow, for example. (Robotnik doesn't count, as he'd made himself Sonic's enemy right off the bat.)

Chaotic Good characters essentially believe in doing good by their own standards. They'll break rules if it means achieving a positive goal.

Tails is Chaotic Good because he would hack into government systems, access classified satellites and files, and otherwise sneak around and do morally gray things to achieve the ultimate goal. If he's not on the government watch list, he will be. (Until he finds it and deletes it, of course.)

I hope we see more of this chaotic good Tails in future scu things.

[midnight1nk]

jumping in here to say how grateful I am of yall. y'know me, theories and ramblings are always welcomed and encouraged in my askbox!! It's always been an honor to showcase them but what's truly moving is that yall want to hear my personal thoughts on it. I'm merely just a guy essentially haha. Admittedly, I sometimes worry whether my answer is satisfying enough for the asker or if it held any value. It's a small thought, but hell is it gonna stop me from being me. Yall stuck around, whatever the case may be.

Not only that but some of you have given me like actual art. Even if you don't think that it's good, that's not what matters. The point being that you gave it your all and were brave enough to share it with me, it means a lot. And ofc y'know I'm gonna aggressively love it regardless, that's why I got the #ink fridge jpg in my intro post

Now, I'm probably gonna make a post about it but recently, I've been thinking over and over about my role as a reporter (technically unofficially) for the fandom. Ofc it's my responsibility and I think I'm pretty strong-willed to handle the job. Not only that but people gave me their trust, informed me of updates and news I might've missed. But there was a specific reblog that got me thinking, they asked if it would be better to spread the serious news on other platforms, to get the word out there. It's understandable, the thing was that tumblr is the only social I have under "midnight1nk", everything else is with another username and it allowed me to do my work. The first thought I had was to make a website, an easy solution, but considering how the hacks were going on, yeah I'm not risking myself for it. I'll be sticking with being here with tumblr.

The other issue I thought of was that my reports may be too much somehow. Considering how things are in the world, I do want to try to bring some positivity with what I know how. But I also value honesty and justice, and at times, it may be some serious news. Ofc highly important to be informed, I stand by it above all, but I also don't want to sway that positivity when the time isn't right or when I'm unable to. For those who have been around long enough, y'know how I'm like. Anyway, it definitely needs a balance and I do have a few ideas on how to solve this. Simply, these were thoughts I've been going over in my mind.

also shout-out to the people who have been putting the star emoji ⭐ in their ask. It was just a quicker way for me to know that an anon wasn't sending me spam. Otherwise, it's pretty easy to know most of the time that it is show related, but thanks to the people for checking the rules beforehand.

Really tho, thank yall in general. It is unfortunate that a tumblr glitch got me stuck here in the void for a few days. Golly, being here tho, it really makes you think.

[forlorn-plushie]

Games that only work here? Games that only work there!

I'm thinking about games that only work in certain mediums, specifically in the context of tabletop. So, I just learned about The Houses of the Sun by Night. One of the minigames within involves stacking dice.

I play almost wholly online. I don't think half of the people I play with have their own dice. Certainly not enough to build stacks with an equal versatility. We can't play the Damnation minigame!

I think, perhaps, games can (and should) be made with the opposite 'problem'. A game which in some essential way is still a TTRPG - being largely manual and, I think most importantly, run by people (this definition is off the top of my head - litigating it would be its own post) but which cannot be effectively played in person, or which can only be played on a computer. Video 'TT'RPGs.

Large tables and even more advanced generation which couldn't be done at a table.

Minigames which actually have the netrunner play a minigame, like a Bethesda lockpicking or hacking mingame.

Precise timers.

Hidden but definite enemy placement (a pain at the table, especially with more than one of them).

Exact calculations like true radii, height adjusted ranges, and even arc calculations that, while possible at a table, would be a huge pain - but in a virtual tabletop, they're easy!

Hidden information, shared without having to go outside or send someone to the next room

Inventory grids are cool in theory but kinda painful in paper. On a computer? far easier

Calculations that are easy enough to think about, but just plain slow/annoying to do repeatedly. I'm thinking of the Orbment system from the early Trails/Kiseki games (I have a physical setup that works, but it imposes a monotonicity requirement that can be a problem)

You can get away with a lot more math in general when it's automated, really. Frees up a lot of mental space, eases access for players who suck at math and rules memorizing, and even for those who are good it's still nice.

I think I'll mostly design my games to be played either online or at a table - but the idea of a minigame that is requisitely digital intrigues me. I have a website - I could host it. Your DM gives you an link with the difficulty ciphered into a parameter, you input your skill level or what have you, and you play it. If it's digital, you can stream it - if it's at a table, they're all gonna be staring at your phone over your neck (if there's not something else happening - they can keep playing while you work, of course).

[rat-king-writes]

Genji x male reader who is also an cyborg ninja like Raiden Metal Gear Rising Revengeance

( Thank you for the ask . )

Synopsis ; You are a half cyborg ninja , the other cyborg ninja ( Genji ) takes interest in you because of this .

Cw ; Minor violence ( I am so sorry I keep including some violence . )

-Being half human half cyborg was a tough way to live. You were constantly being eyeballed by both human and omnics alike, and people would avoid you on the streets like a plague. Your life has changed ever since the incident, and you often found yourself hopping from hotel to hotel, or even on the streets. Though this lifestyle seemed dangerous to outsiders, you weren't in any sort of trouble usually. You had grown up learning how to wield blades and other weapons, so you were safe from attackers who thought they could take advantage of you.

-Eventually your skills caught the eye of none other than Talon, a primarily morally bad organization that wants your talent for their own gain. And being that you are alone, broke, and essentially homeless; you take the offer to join them. Your first few days were rough. Being flung into a new environment full of people who didn’t care for rules or anything was a less than ideal situation. But what else could you do? You weren’t about to go back to hotel hopping. So you just steered clear of everyone outside of missions where you were forced to interact, but it was usually just yelled orders in your direction.

-On one terrible morning in Talon, you were called down for a debrief for a mission against Overwatch. A name you heard many times, but never really encountered on the field yet. Everytime Doomfist would mention the organization, he would do it in a way that taught you to despise them, so you knew they had to be absolute assholes, right? But you were also an asshole working with Talon, and your own research on overwatch concluded they wanted to save the world, but according to Doom they weren’t doing it right. This job was incredibly confusing. The mission was simple: infiltrate an Overwatch weapons facility and steal weaponry and maybe any intel Sombra - another Talon agent - could find. Simple, right?

-Wrong. Not simple, because when you arrived on scene, there were already guards there. No biggie, you could climb the wall and get in yourself while Sombra does her hack things. So you do; scaling the wall with ease and slipping into an open window. You landed on a grated platform, above all the weapons and equipment. Some guards were gathered there, so you carefully crouched down, readying your blade and swiftly taking each guard out before they could raise a gun to you. You pull back and place your sword in the holster, taking out your radio to tell your teammates the room is clear for extraction.

-When the other Talon agents arrive and start looting, you're instructed to keep watch, perching yourself back onto the grated high ground you had once been on. Everything was going well. Until there was a slice in the air and someone was lunging towards you. The speed caught you off guard, but you were able to quickly dodge before whoever was attacking you grabbed you. You lunged back, unsheathing your sword and looking at the assailant.

-You were shocked to see a man clad in a robotic like suit, similar to yours. You weren’t the only shocked one, as the attacker also seemed to be in the same position of confusion. You both stare at each other for a solid minute before you both, at the same time lunge forward; you both promptly stop in shock once more, a bit in awe at the similarity. It’s the presumed Overwatch agent that strikes first, throwing three shuriken at you. You lunged out of the way, but one managed to slice its way into the metal of your upper arm. Quickly regaining your senses, you run at him with a sword and, of course, he also has a sword.

-After a bit of back and forth a shout came from one of your team members signifying that it was time to go. You dash off of the grated platform and onto a vehicle containing the stolen goods and your team members. All the while you keep your eyes glued onto the green and grey robot man, he doesn’t do anything, he lets you go. The ride back to base was filled with laughter and pride. But you stayed quiet, something about the man you encountered left you stunned, and oddly, you wanted to see him again. You chalked these intruding thoughts up to years of loneliness and mistreatment clouding your judgment. Yet you still sit in your seat, hand delicately tracing the shuriken he had lodged in your arm, pondering what would have happened if you and that man met under different circumstances.

-Later that night you left the house in search of. Well, peace. The base had gotten louder because of the successful heist, and you just needed to get away for a bit. You head to your usual spot, a cliff-like area where you could sit down and relax. You were there for about 30 minutes before you were suddenly disrupted by someone walking up behind you, their footsteps were oddly quiet so you were sure it was someone trying to mug you or something. It was a shock when the person didn’t rob you, but instead sat down next to you. It was the robot man from earlier. You were very confused but he didn’t seem violent and you two just sat there for a bit. You kept your guard up, but you found yourself enjoying the company. No one talked, and it would stay like that until the man left. You also left after a bit, in a much better mood than before.

-The next following months each and every night you would sit at that spot and the man would join you. The first few weeks you two didn’t speak, but eventually you both introduced yourselves. You had learned through one of your many conversations the reason why Genji was the way he is, and you had also confided in him of your own story. In many of your conversations Genji would ask you to quit Talon and transfer to Overwatch, or just leave Talon and disappear somewhere ( Of course he told you to keep contact with him ). However each time you would shut it down, you had heard way too many speeches about the repercussions of splitting off, and you didn't think anyone in Overwatch would be fond of you joining.

-That is until a few weeks later Genji had told you of an ex Talon member who was welcomed easily into the Overwatch agency ( Not without some backlash from Talon itself ). So after careful consideration, and Genji's persistence, you two devised a plan. Firstly, Genji would tell Overwatch about your situation, and then you would pack; later that night you would sneak away and never return. Genji, the absolute sweetheart, was even able to stick you in a base that was farther away as it would help you steer clear of any Talon agents while your disappearance is processed.

-There were a few Overwatch agents there already, as well as Genji who also stayed with you. so you were well protected if anything were to happen. Thankfully it didn't. The base was nice, quiet, and the people there were much friendlier but a bit overwhelming so you usually hung out with Genji in your room. During that time you two just kept getting closer and closer, and eventually Genji showed you his face. That moment your heart was pounding, he was unbelievably gorgeous, and though he hated his scars you absolutely adored them. You worried him though, your long seconds of silence made you believe that you were uncomfortable, but you assured him you were just in so much shock someone could be that handsome.

-From that day on there was a new bloom to your relationship, you two sat closer, Genji would take off his mask, and you would take off your own prosthetics. It was something new, but something you realized you needed, and looked forward to. When you were finally cleared for safety, you and Genji went back to the main base and your feelings only grew from there. Missions with him felt more meaningful, watching him save people or show off was a thrill you never knew you could enjoy. And everytime you did something good, he would praise you after making your heart beat in your chest loudly.

-Of course your feelings got too unbearable to ignore, and one humid night you asked him out. Out to the same cliff he had joined you in originally. You both sat in silence until you mustered enough courage to spill your heart to him. It was fast, clumsy, and probably confusing. But in the end Genji takes off his face plate and smiles at you, telling you he feels the same. Time seems to stop for a minute, but you smile back and grab his hand, dragging him back to base. You would only really be affectionate in private, the quiet 'I love you's' hidden behind closed doors. However sometimes during battle Genji will bump his faceplate into your cheek until you give it a kiss.

[tumblingxelian]

Underrated Writing: .Hack's Morganna Mode Gone

There's a villain I don't think gets enough credit, Morgana Mode Gone from .Hack//Sign, Liminality and the four part game series, plus the AI Buster novels.

Brief summary:

Hack is set on a slightly altered history Earth, where in part due to plot & also the era it was conceived it blends the Sci-Fu futurism and "The internet is magic" together with the "Isekai" and "Trapped in a game" story concepts. Different eras of the series have different tones & structures, but this is covering the early eras overarching Villain.

Morganna Mode Gone is the "God" of a game simply called "The World", which was based on the writings of the epic poem Epitaph of Twilight.

But in truth she is more akin to a Gnostic deity, false or proto god. Because her primary purpose is actually to tend to and facilitate the birth of the worlds Ultimate AI, Aura.

I mean actual AI, as in, artificial intelligence, not some shitty algorithm tech bro idiots slapped a trench coat on.

Morganna Mode Gone is herself an artificial intelligence, one capable of contradicting herself, ah sapience, but is still bound by the rules of her programming.

This is a problem for her because once Aura is born/awake, Morganna Mode Gone won't have a purpose and she can't really conceive of what happens then.

As a result, before the series even began she essentially fragmented off a portion of her own identity, forming the Vagrant AI Macha, but she couldn't solve the problem.

Because if Aura dies, then Morganna Mode Gone also has no purpose. She needs a way to Ouroboros this situation, leaving Aura always growing but never developing, never waking.

She also trapped her and Aura's creator in The World when he realized what was happening. He survives the series but never escapes, and eventually devolves/evolves into a sort of living relic.

It was around this period that she began breaking & twisting things to try & escape the paradox she was trapped in. Re-styling herself from Harold's idea of a mother into the Cursed Wave.

This included orchestrating the hunting down and deletion, IE murder of other Vagrant AI's that were forming as a result of the Black Box meant to birth Aura, IE, proto Aura's, like Lycoris.

"I am an unwanted child. Even God doesn't want me." — Lycoris —

As well as using Macha or Guardians to 'Data Drain' any humans who get to close, which at its lightest, leaves them temporarily comatose, destroys their characters and has a negative impact on their mind.

You might notice Moraganna Mode Gone has not yet been established as making an appearance, good eye.

See, one of the things that makes her so interesting to me is that Moraganna Mode Gone is nominally omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent figure.

She is the underlying system of The World itself and for all intents and purposes a force of nature. As a result she primarily acts through intermediaries, or by guiding others to act for purposes.

Managing to make a villain like this work, and work so effectively is one of the biggest strengths. As it is, we pure Moraganna Mode Gone as a disembodies voice that influences the world & creatures.

She also has some fantastic lines, though not quite as effective without the atmosphere and delivery, I still love them, such as:

"The higher up it is dropped, the worse the crash will be. Hope is the best spice to bring out despair." — Morganna Mode Gone —

In order to accomplish her goal, Moraganna Mode Gone has Macha manipulate and Data Drain Tsukasa. A human who she had been watching and trying to replicate for some time, but without getting what she needed for her goal.

This also involved warping Tsukasa's memories, leaving only those of her abusive father, and creating a divide between her real world identity of Shoji and online identity Tsukasa, to further weaken his ties to the real world. Tsukasa's gender is rather liquid, as far as I can tell and either way, also a lesbian.

"The World and all of its wonders; this is my world, you see."— Tsukasa —

The reason for this was to essentially tie Tsukasa's desire to stay within The World to Aura's development. So long as Tsukasa never wanted to leave, Aura would never want to wake up.

However, other determined players, isolation, and a disconnect from physical sensation leading to alienation led to Tsukasa gaining connections and desires outside of simply staying in The World.

This, Morganna Mode Gone began... Moving chess pieces so to speak. Orchestrating traumatic incidents. Giving Tsukasa a pet monsters for protection but that would also attack those she wanted gone. As Tsukasa continues to develop independence Aura's health improves, VS her sickened, pallid state when Tsukasa is locked in survival mode.

Things eventually come to ahead and well,

Morgnanna Mode Gone basically destroys Tsukasa's mind to ensure a perpetual state of despair and catatonia. Permanently stunting Aura's development.

Much of the rest of the series, is centered on the rest of the characters gaining the necessary knowledge to finally understand the situation.

As well as the Macha fragment of Morganna Mode Gone's ties to Tsukasa creating doubt and Subaru and Tsukasa's bond managing to slowly begin waking Tsukasa up.

Which naturally leads to Morganna Mode Gone needing to orchestrate more despair, but circumstances such as the bastion of Net Slum & her programming keep her from auto winning.

A great deal happens, including some mind fuckery and illussion conversations. Along with more classive abuser tactices like holding the threat of what awaits Tsukasa in theoutside over head.

But eventually Aura is awakened by Tsukasa's desire to return to the real world regardless of the hurled and the characters escape with Aura, thanks to the turncoat Sora.

Suffice to say this doesn't pan out well for him.

Morganna fragments more of herself and uses him as a sort of beacon & vessel to craft the first Phase of the Cursed Wave:

"Riding the Wave is Skeith, the Shadow of Death, to drown all that stands." — Epitaph of Twilight —

This is such an imposing threat that Helba, thematically the same Helba, Queen of the Dark from the Epitaph of Twilight, has to erase the entire world segment they are in just to keep Skeith away from them and put Aura beyond its reach for a time.

Skeith continues to be hosted inside Sora in an ensuing novel, with Sora flittering between amnesiac, malevolent brat and an utterly inhuman monster which violates the basic principles of the game.

But is eventually devoured by Skeith and continued hunting down Aura until the Phase is defeated in .Hack Infection. A memory of Sora leaves behind a reward for the one who did the deed.

Moraganna Mode Gone wasn't done however.

As all this was happening, she basically began fragmenting off parts of herself into other portions of the Cursed Wave:

Skeith:"The Terror of Death"

Innis:"The Mirage of Deceit"

Magus:"The Propagation"

Fidchell:"The Prophet"

Gorre: "The Machinator"

Macha:"The Temptress"

Tarvos:"The Avenger"

Corbenik:"The Rebirth"

Relying on the logic that Aura wasn't yet 'finished' or otherwise not not correct 7 so needed to be destroyed like any other Vagrant AI, so Morganna could start the process over again.

These phased also sent anyone they encountered into comas and even altered electrical installation and internet usage with their presence, while generally corrupting The World.

Fun fact, they all have the symbol of an eye on them representing Morganna Mode Gone's presence in them and her observing the world through them.

Skeith actually did manage to capture and fragment Aura, but not before she created the Bracelet of Twilight, and with it the Eldrich horror Cubia to combat the Cursed Wave.

Morganna Mode Gone would eventually fuse with the last of her Phases in a bid to directly end her foe that had slowly, over the course of four games, destroyed the other seven phases and Cubia.

Ultimately, Aura had to sacrifice herself to ensure Morganna Mode Gone would be destroyed, but in doing so, also allowed herself to be reborn .

Remnants of her continue to haunt and corrupt the world in the form of Data Bugs and an effort by the parent company to recreate her through the lingering fragments of the Eight Phases doesn't go quite to plan, let's say.

Conclusion:

But yeah, Morganna Mode Gone, No one is doing it like her, she has everything:

She is a force of nature and omnipresent goddess, to a Gnostic false god & a program breaking itself & everything around it in the quest for agency inside its own mind that struck down her creator.

She's a woman bound to and violently rejecting the sacrificial role of mother & seeking to destroy that which will supersede her & a manipulator and abuser, as well as philosopher and prisoner.

She is a corruptive influence on the world as well as the very foundation upon which the world world itself is built & she is the Cursed Wave, part of a story, a myth, a poem that is woven into The World itself.

What's more,

Her fragments in the Cursed Wave Phases are all a wonderful blend of eldrich, Biblical & elemental. Something only enhanced by the games Graphics of the time:

[imsobadatnicknames2]

top 5 ttrpgs for beginners

Sorry that this one took me a bit longer to answer than all the other Top 5 asks :p i wanted to explain a bit of my reasoning behind it and this gave me q chance to ramble a bit about something that bothers me lol

So, first of all I want to talk about what TO ME makes something a good beginner RPG.

Ramble:

I've talked a bit in the past about how I have sort of a bone to pick with the way so many people, when asked for recs for beginner TTRPGs, immediately decide to recommend extremely rules-light/minimalist/one-page RPGs (Hacks of Lasers&Feelings in particular seem to be somewhat popular on this front), when IMO these types of RPGs are at their best when played by an experienced group (or at the very least with least one very experienced player/GM who can provide some guidance to the others). I think a lot of ppl seem to have the impression that simpler mechanics inherently make a game more beginner-friendly, and that thus the most beginner-friendly games are inherently gonna be the ones with the simplest mechanics. And while this is true to an extent (a 700-page RPG with tons of complicated mechanics to remember is obviously gonna be inaccessible to beginners), when you consider that mechanics exist to DELEGATE decisions about the fiction away from the players and the GM so that they don't have to manually arbitrate them every time, there is point where less mechanics are gonna make harder for new players because it means there's more thing they're gonna have to find a way to arbitrate on and decide by themselves, and that's a skill that takes time to develop. An experienced group can probably get a ton of mileage out of a system that essentially ammounts to "the GM describes the world. The players describe what their characters do, and the GM describes how the world reacrs. When the outcome of a player action is uncertain, then [simple resolution mechanic]" but a beginner group is gonna be a little lost. Especially if the game, like many of these types of games, includes practically nothing in terms of GM tools. So I think recommending beginner RPGs solely on the base of how simple they are is well-intentioned but misguided.

(Ramble over)

So, some of what, to me, makes something a good beginner RPG is

Rules provide enough support that the group won't have to constantly be figuring out how to adjudicate stuff on the fly, but they're simple and flexible enough that they're easy to remember and learning them doesn't feel like a daunting task like it does with a certain game (*cough cough* D&D)

Relatively short and uni timidating. Maybe between like 20 and 100 pages. Players should be able to read through the rules and mechanics in one sitting.

Plenty of examples of play, often a good example of play is what makes a game's rules really *click* for a new player.

Relatively quick and painless to start running for the first time. Character creation should be quick and snappy, and if possible a short pre-written adventure (hopefully with some room to be expanded into something larger) should be included within the same book and ready to run out of the box. Even if your group doesn't like using prewritten adventures, having a *good* prewritten adventure can be a huge help in understanding how to write/design them.

Solid set of GM tools and resources (if it's a game with a GM, of course)

Optionally, plenty of compatible material to either use or take inspo from.

So, I think my recs would for beginner games would be...

Mausritter

If any of you have EVER heard me talk about RPGs you knew Mausritter was gonna be here TBH. I've repeatedly talked about it being one of my favorite RPGs and also that I consider it pretty much an ideal introduction to the hobby. I think the woodland critter theme is extremely charming and attractive for people of any age, while the slightly darker elements that rear their head from time to time keep it from feeling too childish.

The mechanics are simple and flexible but still provide enough structure that even a new GM will rarely if ever be at a loss about how to resolve a particular action. They're familiar to anyone who's played a dungeon game while still being extremely streamlined. 3 stats with the main action resolution being roll-under tests, no classes, characters are defined mostly by their inventory, all attacks auto hit and initiative is extremely streamlined, which keeps combat quick and dynamic, etc. And the mechanics are pretty short and esy to digest too, the players' section of the rulebook only takes 18 pages, including stuff like inventory tables and examples of play, and the website features a handy one.page rules summary (which also comes with the box set)

It's super easy to get running: character creation takes a couple minutes at most, and it features both a simple adventure and hexcrawl that can be used right out of the box with plenty of interesting directions to expand for further adventures.

Now, Mausritter takes most of its mechanics from Into The Odd, so a lot of its virtues come to it, but I think the few changes it made DO make mausritter most beginner-friendly, such as its inventory system which makes inventory management into a genuine challenge without having it devolve into a slog of tedious book-keeping, and the incorporation of a streamlined version of GloG's magic system, which manages to still be simple and easy without being as loose and freeform as the magic system from a lot of OSR games of similar complexity (which can be initially daunting to new players)

But what REALLY makes mausritter shine IMO is the extremely solid set of GM tools. In just a few pages mausritter manages to provide simple rules, procedures, generators and advice for running faction play, making an engaging hexcrawl, making adventure sites, and generating stuff like treasure hoards, NPCs, an adventure seeds and overal just a ton of useful stuff that takes a huge load off of the shoulders of any beginner GM.

Cairn

Lets say you're into Mausritter mechanically but your players aren't into the whole woodland creature theme and want to play something more traditional. Cairn is also built on Into The Odd's system, and takes inspiration from some of the same sources, so it's very similar mechanically. It does feature some significant differences regarding magic, character advancement, and how injury and healing work, but overall it's still mostly the same system under the hood, so a lot of what I said makes Mausritter a great introduction to the hobby mechanically still applies here (quick and flavorful character creation, dynamic and streamlined but dangerous combat, etc). It's also a classless system that features msotly inventory-defined characters, but aside from the option to randomly roll your gear, the game also offers the option of picking a gear package in case you wanna emulate a particular fantasy archetype.

Now, Cairn is a much more barebones document, and doesn't even feature examples of play or an explicit GM section with resources for running the game, which breaks with the things I said I look for in a beginner RPG. However, in this case I'm willing to forgive this because, first, Cairn's website features a plethora of first party and third party stuff that isn't featured in the book itself, including examples of play, GM procedures and tools, modular rules, and a wealh of conversions of creature stat blocks and adventures from D&D and other fantasy adventure ttrpgs.

And Second, something different that specifically distinguishes Cairn as a good example of a beginner RPG is how it explicitly outlines its philosophical and design principles, and the principles of play for both the GM and the players before it even shows you any rules, which is something that I think more games and ESPECIALLY begginer games should do. IMO the whole book is worth it just for that little section.

Troika!

Troika is a game built on the Fighting Fantasy system (which originally was less of a TTRPG system and more of an engine for a series of choose-your-own-adventure books) with a really interesting pseudo-victorian space opera weird gonzo setting which is a load of fun. It has very simple 2d6 mechanics, with characters having three stats (Stamina, Skill, and Luck), and being mostly defined by their inventory and the special skills from their background. Character creation is quick and snappy. The game gives you 36 weird and extremely creative character backgrounds, but creating a custom background is as easy as coming up with a concept and the names of a couple special skills that support that concept. It also has a very unique initiative system which might be a little divisive but which I DO find fun an interesting.

While it lacks many of the GM tools I praised Mausritter for, it makes up a little bit for it with an initial adventure that does a wonderful job at naturally introducing the weirdness of the setting, and which at the end presents a ton of opportunities to segway into a variety of urban adventures.

Now, a lot of beginners come into RPGs specifically looking for a D&D-type fantasy game (which is a problem because D&D is a pretty bad option for a beginner RPG) so for those types of players I would recommend

The Black Hack

The Black Hack is probably my favorite game for doing D&D-style fantasy roleplaying. It's a game that at its core uses the original 1974 white box edition of D&D for inspiration, but modernizes, reimagines, and streamlines every aspect of it to be one of the most simple yet elegant D&D-like experiences out there. For example, TBH uses the six stat array that all D&D players know and love, and with the same 3-18 point range, but does away with the attribute score / attribute modifier dichotomy, instead building its entire system around the attribute scores, with all rolls in the game being roll-under tests for a relevant attribute (including initiative, attack/defense rolls, and saving throws). It also innovated some extremely elegant mechanics that went on to be very influential for other games, such as its Usage Die mechanic as a way to streamline keeping track of consumable resources. Basically, it's like if D&D actually played the way it looks in cartoons and stuff: character creation doesn't take 3 hours, every combat encounter doesn't take five hours, and you can place some emphasis on resource management without the game making you want to tear your hair out with boring bookkeeping.

And one of the coolest things about it is the way it handles compatibility. Despite taking loose at best mechanical inspiration from D&D and playing very differently from it, TBH is intentionally designed to be compatible with a wealth of old-school D&D material. While it very clearly stands as its own distinct game, it's designed in such a way that you can prety much grab any creature stat block or adventure module written for any pre-3e version of D&D and use it in The Black Hack with little to no effort in conversion required.

The first edition of the game is a pretty barebones 20-page booklet that just describes the basic game mechanics, since it was assumed you'd probably be using D&D creature stat blocks and adventures with it anyway, but the second edition was significantly expanded with a bestiary, expanded GM procedures and advice, and tool for creating anything you could want: Hexcrawls, towns, dungeons, quests, treasure hoards, NPCs, dungeon rooms, traps, secrets doors, etc. plus a short premade adventure and even a few premade unkeyed dungeon maps that you can take and key yourself if you're in a pinch for a map, which as you all know, I think GM tools are an important part of a beginner game.

The game only includes the 4 basic classes from old-school D&D (fighter, thief, cleric, magic user) but the community has made several supplements adding back more modern classes.

Now, if you're that type of player that wants a D&D-like experience and you want an alternative that's still beginner-friendly but doesn't deviate as much from D&D's design, I would suggest:

either Basic Fantasy, or Old-School Essentials (or any good retroclone of Basic D&D tbh)

BF and OSE differ a bit from each other but at their core they're both attempts to repackage a relatively faithful but slightly modernized version of the 1981 Basic/Expert D&D set, retaining mostly the same mechanics while ditching a few of the aspects that might seem counterintuitive to a modern audience (such as descending AC, which I personally don't mind but I udnerstand why a lot of people find it confusing). I'm recommending these bc I think if you're gonna play any actual D&D product, the B/X set represents D&D at its most beginner-friendly (character creation is at its quickest and simplest, combat flows faster and remain itneresting due to doing side initiative rather than individual initative, the mechanics forsurprise, stealth, and dungeon exploration actions such as looking for traps are streamlined to simple D6 rolls) while still being recognizably D&D and these retroclones put in a bit of an extra effort to make them even more accessible to modern audiences.

Now, just like The Black Hack, these retroclones are limited in their race/class choice to the classic old-school D&D human/halfling/elf/dwarf and fighter/cleric/thief/magic user, but in the case of Basic Fantasy, the community has made several race and class supplements, some of which are showcased on the official website, and in the case of OSE, the OSE: Advanced addon reintroduces many of the modern classes and races that were originally introduced in the Advanced D&D line.

Have in mind that this list is pretty limited by my own tastes and experiences. I'm very aware that the very specific type of game I tend to play and like and experiences inroducing some of my friends to the hobby completely color the scope of what I can recommend as a good beginner RPG, and that that scope is significantly limited. I also like more narrative storygame type stuff, and I don't doubt that some of them would also make a fantastic introduction to the hobby (some PbTA stuff like Ironsworn, Dungeon World and Monster of the Week comes to mind) but my experience with them is not significant enough for me to feel confident in telling which of them are good beginner RPGs.

Also note that there are several games that I consider to be more MECHANICALLY beginner-friendly than the ones I listed here, but that I avoided mentioning specifically because they offer extremely little to no support in terms of GM tools, which I think is an important and often overlooked aspect of beginner-friendliness for any game that includes a GM! But they still might be worth checking out. These include games like DURF, FLEE, OZR, A Dungeon Game, Bastards, Dungeon Reavers, Knave 1e, and Tunnel Goons.