#isometric text

[laurasbailey]

i need another massive open world rpg to come out with a great story and big gay romances to get sucked into

[eddievillanueva]

“I just wanna make stuff” 2/10/23 - #ijustwannamakestuff #makestuff #iwanna #iwannamakestuff #imakestuff #text #font #isometric #isometricgrid #typography #make #maker #drawing #sketchbook #drawingoftheday #photooftheday #sketchoftheday #artistofinstagram #collage #coloredpencil #ink #inkdrawing #art #artwork #artistlife #journal #honesty #radicallyhonest #markers #alcoholmarkers https://www.instagram.com/p/Coe8Se4rkeu/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[pagesofkenna]

so what if i write a coffee pirates game

[mspaesthetic]

Any interesting facts you have from studying how the photocollage environments and objects were made?

I'm unsure if this one qualifies as interesting, but it's an amusing fact nonetheless. Hussie's flagrant disregard of stock image licenses and exploitation of transformative use really comes to light when you see how often the Dreamstime watermark crops up in panels.

They used to overlay their giant logo over all of their images to coerce you into paying for the originals, but let's be honest, that never stops the more strong-headed and miserly from using them as-is anyway or just editing it out. I guess at some point they realized it was marginally more effective to use diagonal text and lines all over as the watermark.

You can faintly make it out on the pattern used as the wallpaper in the dreamtowers, on one of the appearifier's monitors, and on one of John's birthday gifts.

I also managed to find the image used for the alchemized bottle of MAGNETIC WODKA on Dreamstime. It might just be my imagination, but it looks to me like he edited out something around the center there...

Here you can just barely make out part of the spiral since he cropped out the original clock hands along with it.

I just happened to come across this one when looking up references for isometric buildings.

It's possible that he specifically entered search queries on Dreamstime, but I think it's more likely Dreamstime was just the predominant stock image website in general image search results. Or at the very least the one that had the most palatable watermark to work with.

[nestedneons]

By Sandu

Prompt:

Futuristic human martian crab like rover transport space vehicled flying machine industrial sci - fi molular construction vehicle interior on display, utilitarian fluid color, white background, no text, no logo, isometric, photography award by sandu baciu, translucent plastic, close up 5 group steel blade, stripe of fluid form, in the style of blink - and - you - miss - it detail, ultra futuristic modern advanced realism, 2050s, oil portraitures, futuristic, uniformly staged images

[subspaceember]

[Image description] A poster featuring isometric buses drawn in the colors of the disability pride flag, they are staggered on a striped background which is the color gray from the disability pride flag. There is text reading Keep Transit Accessible and in smaller type, Public transportation is an asset to everyone! Seating and adequate cover must be available at every stop. Priority seating is for disabled individuals. Stop names should be announced and audible Ramps and kneeling mechanics must work reliably. Accessibility features help all!

[End description]

If you would like the file for this to customize it (or just want me to fill it in) for your transportation network just send me a dm

If you want, please help me out with a tip: https://ko-fi.com/subspaceember

[rpgchoices]

What rpgs do you recommend? This blog made me find out about a lot that ive never heard of and wanna play some day ^_^

Ohhh hello!! I think it depends on what you like in an rpg in general or what rpgs you played before and your priorities!

For me the main elements I want are characters and good story, but characters will always be first so I basically only play rpgs with companions. I also love romance but I tend to play only queer romances so I mainly play rpgs that allow me to play a wlw or mlm romance.

You can also check my series of useless recs and what to expect for different recs!

Let me know what kind of games you'd like to play and I can give some more personalized recs!

In general my absolute favorites are (divided in types)

ISOMETRIC (so a lot to read, and you look everything from above):

Pathfinder Kingmaker: amazing character, fav polyamorous romance with a lady elf and an orc guy, the story is okay and the mechanics are fine, but the characters really make it shine.

Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous: incredible customization of player character, great companions and romances, AMAZING story and villain. The mechanics and gameplay are like Kingmaker and not my favorite, but here they added turn based.

Pillars of Eternity (and sequel): amazing amazing story and very well created characters, the romances are not my favorite but I still love Tekehu!

Rogue Trader: this is set in a very bleak world where everyone is a villain so well, everyone is horrible. It is still quite a fun game if you do not mind the setting! And it has one of the most messed up romances ever (Marazhai)!

Shadowrun Hong Kong: I love the setting and the companion so much, but no romance.

Expediton Viking: Historical setting is not my favorite, but the game is still quite good and allows you do play as an usual companions rpg. It also has romanced!

DISCO ELYSIUM: I know I said I mainly play games with romances, and this has none, but everyone in the world should play Disco Elysium. One of the best isometric rpgs ever made.

Divinity Original Sin 2: If you liked BG3 maybe you will like this one too! The tone is much more humorous and absurdist, the story is quite good and the companions are amazing. The romances are also pretty good and as BG3 you can play as one of the companions.

ACTION RPG (is this even the name? Rpgs like Dragon Age and Baldur's Gate 3, so you can see the characters, and they speak)

Of course these need no introduction (but I put them in order of how much I love the companions and romances): Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Origins, Baldur's Gate 3, Dragon Age Inquisition, Mass Effect Andromeda, Mass Effect trilogy.

Enderal: If you have Skyrim you can easily install Enderal for free, it is a mod but it is an indipendent game with its lore and characters. The only game that destroyed me and makes me cry when I think about it, so... play at your own risk. Amazing romances, incredible story.

The Technomancer: While the gameplay is a bit repetitive, the game is still pretty good! The characters are all interesting and the romance is kind of cute even if short.

OTHERS:

Sorcery!: This is an rpg that is basically the adaptation of a text game. It is absolutely perfect, one of my favorite games ever. It also has one of my favorite romances (Flanker)

Not exactly classic rpgs but still amazing: (I just wanted to recommend two of my favorite games that have roleplay elements):

Heaven's Vault

Dreamfall chapters (and the series in general)

[unhinged-summer-fun]

common grounds (oshamir) - chapter 6

Pairing: Osha Aniseya x Qimir "The Stranger" Warnings lol: blood and violence <3

A/N: Dividers by @firefly-graphics

series masterlist

chapter 6: the masquerade

Was going through her sister’s phone unethical? Sure. Was this whole thing a huge fucking risk she shouldn’t be taking? Certainly. Was she doing it anyway?

Hell, yes, she was.

After going their separate ways, Osha turned over the half-promise she’d given the stranger two days ago. 

I’ll think about it.

It was a curse. Here, in the unforgiving clarity of Wednesday, she could think about nothing else. Training with someone who saw potential and value in her sounded better than heaven.

But he’d left her with no way to give him her answer. He told her he couldn’t risk stopping by the Temple as often as he had been. I am banned, you know.

That was how she justified this insanity. I have no way of getting through to him like normal, and Mae was the only person who regularly met with him. She’s the best bet for finding him. And besides, she’s been lying to me for two years; I deserve to be a little ethically questionable.

Even still, the air was thick with tension—but that could’ve just been steam from the shower.

None of the contacts she scrolled through looked like they fit the stranger. Would she even save his number in her phone? She checked the text threads next, her eyes entirely focused on the unsaved numbers. Perhaps resignation had her gliding past the threads with Sol, and the multiple group chats Mae was a part of—places where Osha didn’t belong.

She must have deleted his shit the second she cut ties with him.

Osha bit down hard on her lower lip to bury her frustration. Where else, where else…

NYAAAAA!

“Fucksake, Pip, don’t be a fucking narc,” she whispered, removing the kitten from the room and resuming her shady behavior.

Mae dropped a bottle in the shower, nearly sending Osha jumping out of the window in fright. It was a miracle she stayed quiet. She refocused, ignoring the slight tremble of her fingers. 

Oh shit, why didn’t she check there first?

She found the list of blocked numbers in Mae’s call records and, instead of screenshotting it and sending it to herself, took a picture of the screen with her phone. It was old school, but it left no trace.

One of these better be him.

Mae shut off the shower, and Osha quickly put her phone back where it had been and walked out of the room without looking back. She was jumpy through dinner, but since she and Mae still weren’t talking, she didn’t have to explain herself.

Afterward, she retreated to her room and performed a round of isometric poses to steady her nerves. It helped soothe the persistent ache in her leg immensely. The pleasant burn in her calf licked flames across where her ligaments usually felt brittle and iced over. Doing the exercises before bed was a double-edged sword: on one hand, she’d be warm and loose all night; on the other… it made her think of him.

The dreams left her feeling hotter than the exercises did.

What was it Mae said? You’re playing with fire? It certainly felt like it—but in this weather, she didn’t mind a bit of heat.

To temper her obsession a little, she gave herself only ten minutes to research each phone number from the photo. She quickly ruled out telemarketers, spam numbers, and various persons who wanted to contact Mae about her car’s extended warranty.

The last number on her list felt… different. It brought up zero results online, not even on a reverse number lookup. She’d been about to type it into her phone to send a probing text, but her ten minutes were up. She couldn’t get in over her head, lest the stranger consume too much of her life before she knew his name.

And what if this wasn’t even his number? She didn’t want to go to sleep disappointed if the gamble didn’t pan out. She saved the number in her phone as ? and tried not to think about it.

Everything seemed to have lost its shine on her next shift at the cafe. The coffee smelled stale, and she could not ignore her sticky hands like she used to. Every painful hour spent on her feet felt like an eternity. She needed something new.

She’d needed a lot of something new for a while now.

The silence between her and Mae continued at home. The next time family dinner rolled around, she excused herself. She only saw Sol and Mae at the Temple.

Even the classes Sol led felt off. Try as she might to put in maximum effort, she’d grown out of Sol’s tentative instruction. Her jabs landed harder on the heavy bags, some sounding like thunderclaps that split the empty air. Her legs itched to kick and thrash beneath her despite the backlash it would yield in the gym.

She even tried a few kicks on the bag in the apartment gym, which saw more of her the following week than in the last six months. What it didn’t see was the stranger.

The stranger had her fucked up. Big time.

She couldn’t rely on luck or coincidence when she wanted to see him anymore. Next time she got lucky, she promised herself, she would get his damn number at the very least.

“This is a shit idea,” Osha muttered to herself as she walked down the street. “You’re fucking nuts, Osha.”

She’d been so focused on watching out for black ice on the sidewalk that she didn’t see that the Unknown Planet neons were all off until she’d opened the front door halfway, finding nothing but pitch-black silence within.

Every light was off, save for one at the far wall from the door. Osha stepped back a little, letting the door fall shut. The operation hours stared back at her: moonrise to sunrise.

Under the perpetually overcast sky of winter, she couldn’t tell, but she was pretty sure it was a new moon. You can’t have a moonrise with no moon, she reasoned.

But then, why was the door still open?

Osha retrieved her can of bear spray from her backpack and flicked off the safety with her thumb. She entered the empty bar quietly, on cat-light feet. When the door closed behind her, the cacophony of the city changed to a stark, screeching silence. She didn’t dare move a muscle.

Her eyes acclimated to the darkness, her ears to the silence. Very faintly, she made out the sounds of raised voices, cheers, and jeers. She stayed alert as she crept around tables crowned with upturned chairs. She stopped to listen again when she reached the singular lit sconce at the end of the cavernous bar.

The noise had grown louder, but Osha could still hear the familiar ding-ding! of a match bell. Was there a boxing gym upstairs? Nobody at the Temple cheered that loud at the events hosted there.

A set of stairs she hadn’t seen a week ago led up to a steel door on a small landing. A tattooed and bored bouncer wasn’t looking down the staircase at her; instead, he was peering through the small window in the door, looking in on whatever was happening inside.

Osha pulled back into the darkness. What was she doing? She was in an unfamiliar area of the city, chasing down hope of seeing a guy whose name she didn’t know, and she had no way of knowing where her damned curiosity would take her. She thumbed off the safety on her bear spray but kept the tube tucked in her sleeve just in case.

The bouncer frowned as she walked up the stairs. Up close, she could see two matching cauliflower ears, a split lip, and neck tattoos—and explicit confirmation that he was built like a brick shithouse. Osha met his eyes anyway, saying nothing.

“You’re coming in pretty late, miss. Half the fights are already done.” His voice was as gravelly and deep as she imagined, but the politeness took her a little off guard.

She tried channeling Mae as she told a small lie. “I was told the wrong time.”

The bouncer looked her over with a more critical eye, grunting. “Well. Hope whoever told you gets their shit rocked tonight.”

He opened the door for her, and she was instantly hit with a wall of noise. Hot air, humid from effort and shouting, hit her next, followed by the scent of sweat—and a little bit of blood. She tugged her hood over her head as she walked in, embracing a bit of stifling heat in exchange for a concealed appearance. It was doubtful anybody here would recognize her, though.

Though the area was centrally lit to highlight the festivities, she could tell this wasn’t a boxing gym—a fighting gym, but not for any discipline she knew. What she thought were people standing on the wall turned out to be body-opponent bags lined up with military precision. All the equipment was set with evident respect and intentionality, not a thing out of place as far as she could tell.

And in the center of the room stood a cage.

She’d done some research into what he’d been talking about. She knew most MMA fights took place in a fenced-in open-air ring, but those rings never had a lid. The cage walls were pretty high, about twice the height of the average man. It seemed less like a fighting ring for humans and more like an inhumane, fucked-up snow globe full of violence.

Surrounding it was a crowd of around seventy-five people, bunched so close it almost seemed they were part of the platform. Three sets of bleachers held the rest of the observers, and a half-dozen more leaned on the rail of a balcony overlooking all at one end of the cavernous space.

Inside the cage, two men fought with wicked-looking spears—halberds, if she remembered correctly. The crack! of the shafts connecting jarred her from her drifting fugue, and Osha approached the crowd so she wouldn’t be seen as an outsider and garner unwanted attention.

Was this where the stranger trained and fought? It had to be—one of the fighters slashed the other across the chest in a small spray of blood. Instead of crying out or screaming, the injured competitor groaned in frustration over the sound of mixed cheering and grumbling. It was the single most confusing reaction to violence she’d ever seen.

She got closer despite her self-preservation screaming otherwise. The heady scent of spilled blood hung in the air like incense, and this brutal, lawless place suddenly felt more sacredly profane than anywhere else she’d ever been. This was no church or temple, but it was powerfully holy nonetheless. 

Osha found a place for herself in the stands.

As the previous fighters left the cage and melted away into the locker rooms, two more took their place. The announcer, a tall, pale man with spindly old-man arms, called their names like a pro wrestling emcee. Some matches had both fighters wielding weapons; others only had one weapon thrown in the middle to be fought over for advantage. Very few matches were unarmed, and when they were, it was indescribably brutal to see. The rules of engagement became clear in one of those bare-knuckle fights:

First blood wins the bout but doesn’t stop it—only the timer, submission, or unconsciousness did. Only one submission happened during the night, and when it had, the crowd was in an uproar, near-humiliating the poor soul who didn’t want his shoulder dislocated.

It seemed that for legal purposes, some holds were barred here.

She traded off between watching the fight and watching the audience, and she couldn’t tell who was more bloodthirsty.

After about an hour of fights, some unspoken signal rippled through the crowd. All at once, a hush fell over the entire space, reverent as a moment of benediction.

“For our final match,” the announcer called, “we have moved away from spears and swords to return to Pure! NHB! Fighting!” The crowd joined in his excitement, rattling the old aluminum seats beneath her. A quick glance at the balcony showed it empty. 

“—I’ve got eighty on White-Top tonight.”

“You’re a fucking idiot.”

“Smiley can’t win every time.”

Osha listened in on the conversation beside her, keeping her eyes on the announcer grandstanding at the center of the ring. He vamped while two expedient workers squeegeed off the blood from the floor mat.

“If you’re still betting on that, you’re welcome to lose your money. The thing place worth placing bets on is in the inner-ring particulars.”

“Like what?”

“—bring you eight of the finest fighters this gym has to offer! In one corner, the rookie in yellow—”

“—Who goes down first, who does Smiley take down first—”

“The Dizzykid!”

“—and how long it’ll take to put ‘em down.”

Mild applause started as a shirtless man bounced into the ring. He did a hopping lap before settling against one of the corners. Rookie confidence, Osha’s fighting mind said. The yellow balaclava he wore looked fucking nasty, half stained with old blood. The two gamblers beside her spoke in unison.

“He’s going down first.”

She probably shouldn’t have laughed. She’d done her best not to draw attention to herself for the last hour of fights, but at the unanimous and bored condemnation of the Dizzykid, she couldn’t help herself. Luckily, the gamblers didn’t seem to hear it; even if they did, they didn’t care.

The announcer spoke through the rest of the introductions, men and women fighting in one bout together. Most of the contenders were fresh to this competition, but many bore scars that must have come from previous fights like the ones she saw before.

They all had ridiculous names, too: Dizzykid, White-Top, and a handful of others she didn’t care remembering.

The final two were introduced as repeat champions from the month before. The penultimate fighter, who wore a purple hood, was called Daybreak. She looked well-sunken into her role in the ring, all quiet confidence and restrained power.

“Daybreak was one of our two-left-standing last month and will get to defend her name and title just like her final counterpart: your nine-month reigning champion here to make it ten, the undefeated, the terrifying, SMILEY!”

The eighth fighter walked into the cage, and it instantly felt like she’d gone into freefall. Distantly, as if underwater, she could hear the crowd going wild for him. The seven fighters in the ring were already honed to precision, each beautiful and strong, but this one was heart-stopping. She clung to one solid second of denial before accepting the truth of who those huge, beefy biceps belonged to—

That was her stranger in the mask.

He wore a black balaclava. Stitched in silver to make a horrifying toothy smile, Smiley’s moniker was straightforward.

God, she hoped Smiley wasn’t his real name.

“Welcome, gentlemen—welcome, ladies.” The announcer addressed them directly, shifting from entertainer to referee. Osha did not need to strain to hear him speak because the room had gone quiet as a crypt in respect and anticipation.

The rules were simple: 30 minutes on the clock, eliminations by knockout, submission, or heavy injury.

“When you hear this whistle—” he blew a whistle four times.  “You will grab the cage with both hands and stand still until we drag out the fallen. When you hear this bell—” Ding! “The fight resumes. If you make it to the final two, congrats. If you don’t, it’s not my problem. Now: Fighters!” He blew his whistle four times.

Sixteen hands found the fence.

The announcer left the ring.

The crowd’s excitement built.

And when the bell went off—

Chaos.

Four of the fresh fighters descended on the stranger, hunting the biggest game in the cage. Osha watched in awe as he leaped straight into the air and grabbed the top of the cage. Two of the fighters whiffed their punches beneath him, and he came down right on top of them.

There were probably other things happening in the cage, but she could only watch him.

Brash and eager, the Dizzykid went down first, knocked out by the kick to the face the stranger gave him. White-Top went down next. One of the gamblers beside her groaned. Osha grinned.

The stranger was a blur in the cage, all his punches and kicks coming too fast for her to track at times. When he paused, facing away from her, her breath stuck in her throat at the sight of the thick, purple-white scar tissue slicing across his back. It made more sense now: why he was so dedicated to injury recovery and proper form.

Wouldn’t you, if you had your back broken in four places?

Her chance at melancholic reverie passed as her stranger continued to put down his remaining opponents. The other two had gone after Daybreak—if she went down, they might make it to the cage next month.

The bubbling energy of the crowd was infectious, and Osha gave in to the temptation to get a little reckless, joining the cheers. “Let’s go, Smiley! Put ‘em the fuck down!”

The stranger froze mid-swing.

Fortunately for him, the ref blew his whistle four times right then, and the fight paused.

Unfortunately for her, the stranger stalked to the closest fence near Osha. He held onto it but pressed closer, forehead against the chain links. He’s looking for me. The other fighters faced inward, but not him, readying themselves for the fight ahead.

His eyes blazed with heat as he scanned the crowd. He was like a rabid animal, an overheated gun, a bloody, jagged edge digging deep wherever he wanted to cut. When he found her, she felt it in her bones. She raised a hand and gave a cheeky wave, smiling.

He tilted his head to the side before sticking his fingers through the fence, waving as much as possible.

The body haulers left the ring.

The cage door closed behind them.

The stranger was still not looking away—

Ding!

The stranger took less than fifteen seconds to put down the remaining rookies, leaving him and Daybreak standing. The crowd rippled with unease. Even Daybreak seemed baffled, staggering a few steps back from the sudden total violence.

The stranger returned to where he’d been standing fifteen seconds before, pressing his face fully against the fence like Osha was nothing but inches away from him.

The crowd around her was stunned. “How’d he do that so fast?”

“Smiley is just playing with his food whenever the fights go longer than five minutes, isn’t he?”

“I think his first fight lasted eight.”

“How long was this? I can’t see the—”

“Three minutes?! What the—”

“Five takedowns tonight? Daybreak looks like she just shit her trunks.”

“Nah, Smiley respects her too much to—”

“I don’t think Smiley even looked her way tonight.”

Osha could feel eyes on her, but she didn’t look at them. She was still staring at the stranger. As the last bodies were dragged out of the cage, he drifted backward to the center for the results. After they were announced, he said something to the emcee, who nodded but didn’t seem surprised.

Daybreak and Smiley disappeared when they left the cage, and the crowd dispersed to mingle or otherwise leave. To avoid the curious stares, Osha found a dark corner to stand in. She’d become damn near nose-blind to the scent of blood, but the sight of it being squeegeed off the mats was still slightly morbid.

Someone approached her hiding spot.

“Are you Osha?”

It was the announcer. This close, he loomed—even taller than the stranger. Only then did she remember the bear spray in her sleeve.

“Who’s asking?”

“You can call me Mr. Wise. Smiley asked for you.” She could see the glint in his eyes. He was dangerous but in a different way than her stranger. “Will you come with me?”

Alarm bells rang like hell in her head, but she chose to dance along to the tune. “Lead the way.”

Mr. Wise led her to a small door near where she’d come in; stairs led to the level above and the bar below. It smelled more like cigarettes than blood in here. “Just up there. The black door at the end.” Then he left her alone.

At the end of the long, twisting flight of stairs, Osha found... dressing rooms? The landing she stood on was connected to a hall of doors, as well as an open archway to access the balcony from before. The doors she passed matched the balaclavas of the cage fighters: yellow, white, blue… and black at the end of the hall.

The first six doors were open and empty, but the black and purple doors for Smiley and Daybreak were closed. The second she stood before the black door, it swung inward, and there he was.

He’d taken off the mask. His hair was damp from the shower he must have taken, and some of it was twisted back out of his face with little fasteners, just like the night she met him. The body heat radiating off of him was felt even standing out there in the hall. It’d been six days since she last saw him, and the bright smile he gave her had her insides scrambling around like a game of musical chairs. Six days, and he still looked just as good as he did in her memory.

“Osha.”

His eyes burned with a fire she knew well—the last time she felt it, she’d been given a great shiny trophy and belt. Her stranger’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, and she spotted the darkening bruise forming on his jaw. The cut on his cheek from several days ago had healed, and the bruise around it had faded from a red-purple to a pale yellow-green. One bruise out, one bruise in. That was the price of fighting.

“Tell me your name isn’t really Smiley,” Osha blurted out.

His smile widened. “I’m only Smiley sometimes. Come in; I was doing cooldown.”

He opened the door wider for her to come in. His dressing room was sparse but not gross like the others she’d seen in the hall. After all, this room had been solely his for the last ten months. She spotted a few things she recognized on the small table: the black hoodie, backpack, and glasses. Hanging off two small clips was the mask he’d worn to fight, dripping wet.

She approached it curiously. “It’s a little freaky, isn’t it?” she said over her shoulder.

“I didn’t choose it.”

She turned to look at him. He was in a pair of low-hanging sweatpants, barefoot. Red blotches bloomed across his body, lucky shots while he made felling blows. He was holding his hands over his head, stretching his biceps, triceps, and other muscle groups that looked too good for her to think straight. He stood very still for her while she looked at him, and a little zing of pride and power zipped down her spine.

“But… I have to win it again every time I wear it.”

She didn’t know what to say when she met his eyes again, her gaze snapping up from where it had drifted to the waistband of his sweats. He was smirking a little. Caught.

He moved them away from the potentially awkward silence by sitting on a yoga mat and resuming his cool-down stretches. She took a seat on the only chair in the room.

“How’d you hear about the fights?” he asked, falling into a deep stretch. His flexibility shouldn’t have set her heart to stutter, but she’d never seen a man go so deep in her life. The scars on his back stood out in sharp relief from this angle, and this close, she could see that they were a mix of traumas: surgery and injury twisted over themselves in a snarling knot with no end.

It’s what her ankle looked like.

“I, uh, didn’t,” she said after a few seconds of silence. He turned his head to peek an eye at her. Go on. “I didn’t even know there was a gym. I just wanted to go to the bar, but the lights were off.”

“And you just went in?”

“The door was open. And…” She pulled the bear spray out of her sleeve and showed it to him before putting it in her bag. “I wasn’t without protection.”

“Smart girl.”

She nearly choked on air but quickly recovered. When her bag was zipped, she crossed her legs and cleared her throat. “You don’t live in the city this long and feel safe without a can of bear spray,” she said.

“You could carry an actual weapon.”

“I’d prefer not to.”

“Why?”

“I’d probably hurt myself before I hurt anybody else.”

He released the pose and adjusted his grip to stretch his feet and ankles. She recognized the different stretch combinations he was doing—she did them every night before bed. Her mind threatened to teeter into that can of worms, but he pulled her out of it.

“Don’t count yourself out, Osha. What’d I tell you? You’re a lion.” When he gave a breathy laugh and showed her his languid smile, she recognized more than the exercises—she saw more of herself in him than anticipated. His goofy grin wasn’t just part of a conjured persona. This was how he truly smiled when he hit that fighter’s high. It was how she smiled.

“I didn’t mean to distract you earlier.”

He laughed at the half-apology, pulling his feet in for a groin stretch. He tugged his shorts up his thighs for better flexibility, and he watched her reaction from the corner of his eye. His expression said, now, who’s distracted?

“You didn’t distract me,” he said, giving her a break and looking down. You surprised me, sure. I thought I got my bell rung and was hearing what I wanted.” He leaned into the stretch, groaning softly at the deeper burn. “I was glad to see you,” he said tightly. She wondered how much of it was from muscle strain and how much was from emotion.

Her heart galloped behind her ribs. Hearing him speak like that, make sounds like that—god, she was in trouble. She took a shuddering breath and held it to try and get her shit together, but it only half-worked.

“I was glad to see you, too.” She could only see a sliver of his face, but she saw him smile. “I liked, uh, seeing you fight. I’d been wondering about it for a while.”

“Oh, I’ve been on your mind?” he smirked at her, but his expression wasn’t remotely malicious.

“Can you blame me?”

The stranger seemed pleased with her answer, a shared refrain from several conversations together. He released the stretch and rolled seamlessly onto his back, holding one knee to his chest. He lolled his head to the side to look at her, self-satisfied. “Why did you come to the bar tonight, Osha?”

He was going to make her say it. Bastard.

“Well, Yord hasn’t broken the espresso machine, and you said you weren’t coming around anyway. You haven’t been at the apartment gym, and I couldn’t find anything about you on the internet to track you down. You’re very hard to get ahold of, you know.”

“I know.”

“So the last place I knew you might be… was here. Well, downstairs.”

He nodded, idly tracing his thumb over his kneecap. It was distracting. “You’ve been looking for me, then?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Damnit, hadn’t she said enough for him? He blinked at her, lazy as a cat but twice as sharp.

Fuck it.

“I wanted to see you.”

He made a pleased noise, switching to hold his other leg. He settled into the stretch, breathing slowly like he was savoring those five words he’d dragged past her lips. “Have you thought about my offer?”

She supposed she’d gotten what she wanted. If she was pursuing him this hard, she had her answer. Why did she go looking for him? She wanted to see him. Why did she want to see him? Because she wanted to train—or perhaps another reason she wasn’t being honest with herself about.

He released his leg and sat up fluidly, kneeling before her. He rested both hands on his thighs and tilted his head to the side, considering her openly. Messy-haired, skin still bright and flushed from the fight, kneeling on the floor, he looked penitent, beseeching.

“What do you want, Osha?”

“In order?”

“If you wish.” His lips twitched, suppressing a smile.

She held up three fingers, ticking them off one by one. “In order: I want your number, I want a drink, and I want you to train me.”

CHAPTER 7

[goblincow]

401% FUNDED | ONLY 5 DAYS TO GO!!

Field Agent Handbooks: Observancy Dept. 1924–28

Sharpen your ESP skills and seek out suspicious activity as a pendulum-dowsing Field Agent

This set of four Field Agent Handbooks are an always-on solo RPG/LARP to play with when out and about. They’re created as in-world artefacts from the 1920s, made for you to note your observations about the world around you through a lens of suspicion. 

1924 – Revolution

We suspect the animal kingdom of plotting a revolution and you are here to help us understand their devices.

Our mission in the Observancy Department is to spot any such behaviour or signs of suspicious activity, note them down, and draw our conclusions.

Additional pages include:

Blank map with grid references

Table of potential signs of revolutionary activity

List of weather types and symbols for notation

1925 – Leviathan

The age of flight may still be in its infancy but we have heard worrying reports from our aeroplane and dirigible pilots of glimpses of giant beasts roaming the aether, just out of sight.

Our fresh mission is to observe the clouds, look for unusual shadows & formations, and attempt to discern the activity and anatomy of these sky-bound leviathan.

Additional pages include:

Common anatomy of leviathan (hypothesised)

Illustrated chart with types of clouds and symbols for notation

Illustrated chart for estimating distance to horizon

Table to identify the Beaufort Number for the wind

List of weather types and symbols for notation

1926 – Communication

While we looked upward, we didn't think to concern ourselves with the growing cacophony in our very own gardens, forests, and fields.

Our mission turns to our leafy neighbours to see if we can understand their speech and intuit their meaning throughout each season.

Additional pages include: 

Signs and shapes to look out for

Size estimation chart

List of weather types and symbols for notation

1928 – Giants

From the landscape sprung the flowers, but who formed the landscape? Newly uncovered texts indicate the folklore might be true and giants may have indeed roamed and shaped the earth.

Our mission is to lower our gaze to the ground to identify oddly shaped mounds, mimetoliths (rocks resembling faces), gouged earth, and suspicious urban planning decisions. Under the hills there may be sleeping colossus.

Additional pages include:

Signs to look out for

Common rock types

How to draw landforms & rocks in an isometric fashion

I wanted to shine a light on this project because I met Luke at Dragonmeet in December '23 and fell in love with the way he thinks about RPGs, graphic design and play/ritual/thinking-the-world in his games!

I can't recommend this project enough and I've been waiting excitedly to support it and see it succeed! It really represents everything I think is special about RPGs and the things I also want to explore in this design space *and art movement* and if you have any interest in TTRPGs beyond the scope of dungeon games, Luke is making some of the freshest and most evocative design you can find in the entire medium.

Everything you see here is directly from the kickstarter. Go back it! I promise you'll be glad you did, there are few more unique and inspiring things you could spend your money on in TTRPGs right now!

[ceboplacebo]

[image description: a digital poster in a minimalistic art style. four square isometric rooms with a red and a yellow wall and a white floor are arranged across the white canvas. parts of the rooms are cut out in a way that together they result in the silhouette of a man. cut out from old photographs, each of the rooms contains one object: an old blues guitar, a ceiling light, a ring of keys and an old flute. red text that is arranged in line with the isometric perspective if the rooms reads "the man with a voice like honey & chocolate & coffee all at once." at the bottom left is the logo of the mistholme museum with the colours changed to match the red and yellow of the illustration.

we had to make posters in 1930s style in class so i made one for the man with the voice :) exhibits are s1/2 centric but it works timelessly i think

[existslikepristin]

Unexpectedly busy week, that was. Except today. Today I got home and ate ice cream

Only two options in the poll this time! Is there a secret reason?! Yes, it's because I didn't have any more ideas The poll is only going to be available for 24 hours, because I should be able to get the next part up tomorrow!

Tags: NSFW, S.M.U.T., genie, microtransactions???

(Story Index)

Anime Girls

"I wish for a harem of anime girls!" you blurt out before you can think.

Joy appears mildly shocked for a moment, but then she gives you a wry smirk. "Look at you, making a wish like that. You perverted weeb."

You frown and put up a finger of protest, but Joy quickly continues, "I know. I know. You're not the first of your kind I've come across, master. Being a weeb is an honored profession nowadays, and you're all special because of your unique waifu and/or husbando selection(s). I know the drill."

The air around you seems to contract and expand simultaneously, and everything in your line of sight briefly tints green. Except, that is, for Joy herself. Even as space bends in front of your very eyes, causing no small amount of queasiness to knot about in the pit of your stomach, Joy remains on the table, sitting up with the same smooth grace she has continuously displayed up to this point and only looking as green as usual, which isn’t all that green, really.

And then it's over. The air feels normal again, and your standard color vision has returned.

"Was that the wish?" you ask.

"Sure was!"

You look around. Nothing has changed. You see no anime girls. Not even your waifu (though, considering Joy told you she can't read your mind, you're not sure how she would have known to pick her). "So, where's the harem?"

"I figured you wouldn't be able to list each and every anime girl you've ever wanted to fuck."

Joy pauses. After a few seconds you say, "That's not a useful explanation."

"Oh. Right. Check your phone."

"My phone?" you inquire, as you reach down to take your phone from the pocket of your discarded shorts.

"Yup! I've noticed that most weebs are very heavily invested in their own tropes, which I appreciate, as you can imagine. And one of the more common tropes in harem anime I've seen is that the protagonist controls some aspect of the world around them with a supernaturally-powered smartphone."

You tap your phone out of sleep mode. "So, I have a phone… harem?"

"No, master. You have a magic app that summons anime girls into your presence, all of which are suspiciously and sexually attracted and devoted to you, of course. This will make your harem as weebly wobbly as you can possibly get!"

You exit your phone's internet browser, where, obviously, you had been reading existslikePristin fanfics, and go to your home screen. A new app does a little inflation animation to let you know of its location. The icon is a silhouette of a lithe woman on a green, circular background, and is not labeled. You tap to open it. There is no waiting on load time. You're immediately taken to a very cluttered generic fantasy town isometric view, with bubbles of text all over the place. You think the text might be Sumerian.

"It's a mobile gacha game!" Joy looks and sounds far too proud of herself. "And with my special djinnfluencer promo code, you get one thousand free shards! And that's not all! You get ten free spins, five billion gold coins, and double daily rewards for the first week!”

Options:

Okay, that was exceptionally dumb. Ask if there’s a way to undo a wish.

Whatever. A harem’s a harem. Figure out this app and summon an anime girl.

[indigo-scribbles]

AMA with Owlcat's devs

Some time ago Owlcat had small AMA event ont their discord server. Here are some anwsers that I think you guys may like to read.

How many games are you currently working on?

We have several new games in development. We will announce them when we are ready - stay tuned! Meanwhile, we continue the support of existing two projects - Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader

How much voice acting are you looking at for future projects?

We believe that full VO has become a must-have feature (even if it takes a significant budget to implement) and are currently working to make full VO applicable to all future titles.

Can we expect to see more Pathfinder stuff soon? Or ever? Or Starfinder?

We don't exclude such possibility in future, but there's no Pathfinder or Starfinder game in development right now.

I believe it was mentioned at some point in the past that you'd like to (theoretically, of course) make a WoD game. If that's still true - which of WoD many lines would be most interesting to you in that regard? (and edition too) Still purely theoretical, just as a matter of personal interest, with no consideration of real-world complication, licenses and all that

We really love this IP (as we love many others), but we aren't working on such a game right now, so we haven't really discussed it.

How was working with GW and the Warhammer IP? Are there any plans for future titles, like we've seen with Pathfinder?

It was a quite fruitful cooperation. A lot of important feedback that helped made the game as 40k as it can be. Both sides are happy with how RT turned out! We plan to continue further improving the game through QoL updates and new content. For now we already have two DLCs planned, and we'll see what comes next!

Recent article/interview hinted the studio is working on 4 different games - when would we find more about these unrevealed titles?

We can't wait for the moment in future when we can finally tell you about each of the new projects in development! But we need to be ready first, and it still may take some time. We'll reveal each of the projects in its due time. Stay tuned, we're certain you will be as excited as we are when you finally get to see them!

I was wondering if you will step away from your known tech/engine and dare to move towards something new like Unreal Engine 5 ?

At least one of the new projects is done with Unreal Engine 5. We're pretty excited for the new possibilities it gives us. But at the same time, we have a lot of expertise with Unity, and would prefer not to waste that potential. It means that you'll definitely see more traditional isometric games from us based on a familiar approach seen in Pathfinder and Rogue Trader!

Will the UE5 game (the one hinted at by that recruitment post a year ago or so) still be party-based or is it closer to something like the Witcher? If the former (which I dearly hope for) then should we expect about the same number of companions, both in general and in the active party or will it be reduced?

In all our games, the story always involves many different characters, some of which may choose to join the protagonist as companions. This game is not an exception. ☺ That is all we can share at the moment.

Does that UE5 project (with mocap cutscenes and all) represent your plans going forward or is it on a parallel track and you still plan to continue making those old-school isometric games with classic long text dialogues too? Is the team’s opinion on the topic unanimous or are there different “factions” now? xD

This is a new direction we're exploring, but we're working on more traditional old school isometric RPGs simultaneously as well, as you may have guessed by previous answers. We're not moving away from that. ☺

On that topic - can you share something from your personal experience/feelings about working with a new engine and consequently a different style of game? Which parts of “exciting” and “dauinting” was it?

We will be able to properly answer this once we're done developing the game. ☺ Of course, the new engine requires people with new expertise and various changes to the development pipeline. But it also allows us to explore new opportunities and possibilities, which is great.

Do you want to/plan to return to the Pathfinder/Warhammer worlds or are you more interested in exploring new settings?

Diving into new settings is exciting, but there are certainly parts of the team who would love to explore the Pathfinder and Warhammer 40,000 worlds further. Where this will end up, remains to be seen.

Is there any specific setting that you’d love to make a game within if you didn’t have to deal with these pesky real-world issues of IP licenses, marketability and such?

We're pretty open-minded about this. Many major universes were proposed on internal meetings at some point (literally most you can think of!). It all comes down to the mix of team's excitement about a specific setting and the terms that we are offered.

Was there something that you really wanted to do in one of your already-released games but had to drop the idea, due to either artistic vision or time/resources/technical constraints?

Many times. This happens in game development all the time, when time and budget constraints come into play. Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous could have more content for some of the existing Mythic Paths or a deeper Crusade system. Rogue Trader could have the option to get new, bigger ships, more psychic disciplines and more unique character abilities. A big chunk of a planned content for Santiel's Pride was cut, as well. Sometimes these chunks return in later DLCs or free updates (like it happened with the Devil in Wrath), hopefully that'll be the case with Rogue Trader as well!

How was the response to the Dance of Masks DLC?

Overwhelmingly positive. Despite being released almost a year later, it is close in popularity to DLC4 - The Last Sarkorians, which is a very big sign of success. We're very excited to see how well it was received. And we owe this to the community itself - the concept of the DLC was based on the results of a large community survey where we asked what the people wanted.

Is it looking hopeful for a possibility of more DLCs like that in your games?

Absolutely. You may see by the Season Pass 2 DLCs that we're learning from our mistakes and are willing to listen to the community. And this type of DLCs seems to be what our players enjoy a lot.

With how huge the changes in the patches for RT is - do you still plan to do an EE eventually, like with the Pathfinder games, or did you decide to change the approach and we can expect more big patches instead of a new edition?

In Rogue Trader, so far we're leaning towards multiple big updates over the lifetime of the game, rather than an Enhanced Edition. Two of them have already went live, each with massive updates and improvements.

Would you consider doing a World of Darkness, Star Wars, Rifts (Kevin Siembeida) or DnD game? Would you be willing to do a Warhammer Fantasy cRPG?

These all sound interesting and have their dedicated fanbase among the team. Choosing one would be hard though!

Would you consider making Icewind Dale 3?

We love this franchise, but don't see such opportunities for us, at least in foreseeable future.

Would you consider creating your own IP for a game?

Absolutely. Every game developer eventually wants to create something of their own. We already have multiple ideas inside the studio and while we haven't established any specific plans yet, we will certainly move forward with this sooner or later.

What is your next project?

There are multiple projects in development right now. All we can share now is that one of them is based on Unreal Engine 5, has a way bigger production scale than our previous games, and is a way more cinematic experience than our previous games.

Can we have a DLC connecting Kingmaker and WotR?

It was one of the proposed options in the big survey (30 000 people) back in 2022, where we asked the community about their preferences regarding DLCs. This option ended up slightly above the middle of the list, so we went with a more promising variant which you now know as a Dance of Masks. As of now, while the concept definitely sounds fun, it is rather unlikely we will be doing any more paid DLCs for Wrath of the Righteous. The team is slowly moving on to the next project.

Are there any plans to translate WotR to Portuguese-BR?

We don't plan on adding more officially supported languages to Wrath of the Righteous at the moment, but things can always change if we find a good opportunity. Meanwhile, there are multiple existing fan translations, PT-BR among them, that can be installed as mods.

Do you plan to add the Telekinesis discipline for Psykers in Rogue Trader at some point?

It is a good potential DLC material, but there have been no decisions about this yet.

Would you be willing to add a full respec option in Rogue Trader?

Unlikely, as this is a deliberate design decision. We do have plans for major improvements for the levelling UI and experience as a whole though, process is already underway.

Would you be willing to add Real Time w/ Pause to Rogue Trader?

No. The game is not built with RtwP in mind and it would require a complete overhaul of the game to make that happen.

Will there be an offline physical copy for Rogue Trader on PS5?

No plans at the moment. If anything changes, we will certainly let everyone know.

Why are Rogue Trader companions so much different from what we received in WotR?

Well, it's a different universe and a different game, why would they be the same?

If you do another Pathfinder game would you be willing to add the gunslinger class? Will you ever do a PF2E game or remaster Kingmaker/Wotr into that rule set?

Gunslinger mismatched a bit with the themes of the first two games, and it also would require a major mechanical rework and a whole new type of weapons only useable by that class, which was a bit too much work for a single class. If we are ever to do a new Pathfinder game, we'd probably have a long debate which edition to base it on, leaning towards PF2E because it's more up-to-date. As for the Gunslinger class, could happen if it fits thematically. The idea of remastering the older games at some point in distant future has certainly visited us, but it's too early and currently we are too focused on new projects to even consider that.

Would having fully voiced games hinder your ability to write sprawling and reactive dialogues?

It certainly adds to the budget and complexity of development, but solutions for these issues exist and we believe it will not affect the quality of our writing or limit our ideas.

Have you thought about how to automate buffing in your games?

It's a complicated question. It's important to not automate things too much, as it may hinder some of the 'old school' magic of the game. But we know it may get tedious on higher difficulties, especially for console users. We've considered implementing an analogue of buffing mod into the main UI during the Enhanced Edition, but other features took precedence back then, and we never had a chance to revisit it. Unfortunately, at this point it's unlikely something this big will be added. In Rogue Trader, we've significantly changed our approach to buffs, and it should be way less of an issue.

What is your process for expanding and changing npc’s in adventure paths?

Comes naturally during the videogame adaptation. To improve the player experience, you often have to change or alter something from the original adventure path, as a videogame functions a bit differently from a tabletop RPG.

Are there any plans to collaborate with Chris Avellone again in the future?

It was a tremendous pleasure to work with Chris. He is an amazing narrative designer, and we love the stories he tells. Still, we also have a lot of our own narrative ideas we'd like to explore, so there are no existing plans to collaborate on that matter. At least, for now.

Is it likely your games will come to Gamepass?

We certainly recognize the popularity of Gamepass, and would be interested for that to happen. However, currently we don't have any such agreements, so we can't give any promises.

[manyblinkinglights]

anytaur quarstion

Sorry im doing this thru a submission instead of an ask bc i want bigger text limit and also to insert images... clarity and allat. i hope thats ok...

Recently i got an actuual headset for vrc so that i could Physically Become the Beast of my Dreams. your rig is everything to me and makes me so so happy. ive wanted this forever. i cant thank you enough for this. main thing im having to fiddle with now in specific is forefoot pickup! didn't make much sense to bother with it back when i was desktop only but having tried it now with actual real hands, the whimsy is impeccable. hands still feel a bit weird though, and im almost certain i messed with something i shouldnt have in trying to set it up, so I thought it might make sense to ask you abt it considering you designed the system and probably have more insight! I'd try for figuring it out myself thru trial and error, but i am very new to vr and having to go in and out to tweak and rebuild avatar versions seems disastrously tiring. and i dont think i'd have much luck trying to fiddle with unity through a vr virtual desktop @~@ time is money....i miss unemployment...so I hoped this could expedite some of that trial+error+rebuilding time. maybe. god. longass preamble over.

point being: in the recent (~6mo ago...) setup videos you did, i feel like the "A" pose you got for your sample models is generally more "A" shaped than what my beast has procured. This may be on account of my beast being quite lanky and having long as hell forearms and quite short shoulders and upper arms. in addition, by default, just moving them down on the global y axis like on the script instructions, the SenseHand receivers end up in a weird position compared to the paws, atleast based on what i think i am picking up from the script instructions. image below.

please ignore the shit ass weight painting/distortion for the paw im new to doing 3d models, im honestly just impressed this thing exists at all.

anyways in the image (front isometric) the right paw (viewer's right not model's right) is set to the values you recommend in your setup video, and the other one is unchanged from default rotation just as a baseline i guess.

Anyways my real question boils down to: what might you recommend to focus on in tweaking forefoot pickup? would rotating thigh and/or shin pickups to better match an "A" pose make sense? Should I move the SenseHands on X axis to be more better "Held" like it says in the instructions? is it ok if the sensehands fall into the floor from "A" pose?

regardless, thank you for your time, dedication, and willingness to share both. this project has been living rent free in my brain ever since i first saw the vrc horse speedrun on youtube (exactly what i had been looking for after god knows how long looking around) and desperately checked your youtube page to see what else you'd been up to. i think that was around or just before when the LittleKitty port video was recent or new, so it's stuck with me for atleast 2 years and i hope to still interface with this rig for many more years to come! please dont feel pressured to a response either lol, i understand if you dont really have a good suggestion or answer. im sorry if i overwhelm you with wall of text. here is an image of the beast in action to hopefully warm the spirits MUCH LOVE!

[txttletale]

oh now that you finished tyranny how do u feel abt the conquest thing (the choose your own adventure text at the beginning) i remember just skipping over it bc i wanted to get to the game and made some decisions that i kind of regretted😭 but i always thought it would be better to have that sort of thing in the middle when the player was overall more familiar w the world and not just confronted w constant info dumps.. but maybe that’s just the style of isometric rpgs idk

i have an abnormally high tolerance for being pummeled with Proper Nouns to learn in fantasy settings if the Vibe is unique enough and tyranny's iron-age setting really really worked to its advantage in getting me invested enough off the hook. honestly i agree that the way it's presented isn't the best but i do really love the conquest because of how fucking much it seems to come back. like the reactivity of it -- i don't know if this is true for other choices, maybe i just played the most fleshed-out ones through sheer luck -- but having combat encounters because i kicked the mercenaries out of lethian's crossing, or being able to recruit sages to my spires and get them to attack the chorus because i warned them before the edict -- that shit fucking ruled. it made me feel like my character's actions had the weight they should be expected to.

even a ton of small things, like incidental dialogue from lantry, or lethian's crossing npcs calling my fatebinder 'governor', or sages being clearly mad that i ordered them muzzled but reluctant to express it too much because they were grateful for the warning. so much cool shit! & also i am aware that all the edicts you don't pick get cast by another fatebinder but it fucking ruled to go to the burning library and have characters acknowledge 'yo you did that? sick.' so yeah in general the conquest and the level of depth to which your conquest choices get integrated into the game's story (i love that they come up during the trial of the archons, for instance!) was one of the absolute highlights of the game for me and i honestly wish more games had something like it