#many guild folk!

[chyoatas]

i only really took one screenshot! i saw a few people i recognize from tumblr and i keep seeing screenshots of the group i was in xP but not seeing myself!!! i had to leave at the start of diessa unfortunately but ill be there tomorrow for the 2nd day of it!

i tagged up for my group, i switched between purple, green, and orange to keep the rainbow going!

[y-rhywbeth2]

Gods and Clergy: Bhaal

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest]

Religion | Gods | Shar | Selûne | Bhaal #1 | Bhaal #2 | Mystra | Jergal | Bane #1 | Bane #2 | Bane #3 | Myrkul | Lathander | Kelemvor | Tyr | Helm | Ilmater | Mielikki | Oghma | Gond | Tempus | Silvanus | Talos | Umberlee | Corellon | Moradin | Yondalla | Garl Glittergold | Eilistraee | Lolth | Laduguer | Gruumsh | Bahamut | Tiamat | Amodeus | The rest of the Faerûnian Pantheon --WIP

I'm in a Durge and Orin mood, so we're getting the full details on Bhaal and his priesthood now. Fun fact, did you know the Dark Urge couldn't even die without Daddy's permission?

Featuring:

Intro: Do you realise this cult is basically a crime syndicate supported by the rich and powerful?

Priests: Hierarchy. Responsibilities. Murder. I rather like the ceremonial regalia, personally.

Deathstalkers: Teleporting! Killing people with your mind! Unlimited ressurections courtesy of Bhaal!! And yet more crazy shit!

Bhaal: Kitten thinks of nothing but murder all day. Also mortal backstory and the Slayer is absolutely nothing like the games depict it

Right then, "Bhaal awaits thee," and blah.

"Make all folk fear Bhaal. Let your killings be especially elegant, or grisly, or seem easy so that those observing them are awed or terrified. Tell folk that gold proffered to the church can make the Lord of Murder overlook them for today." - Bhaal's Dogma

Unsurprisingly for an ex-assassin, Bhaal is the patron god of assassins. Assassins, mercenaries, bounty hunters who aren't bringing their quarry in alive and, presumably, executioners all tend to send a prayer to Bhaal for success. Faithful were called Bhaalyn in the East and Bhaalists in the West. As BG3 takes place in Western Faerûn we'll use the latter.

Amongst these assassin worshippers we find the oh-so healthy individuals for whom killing is more than a job. These killers who regard their murders as a "pastime and a duty" join the clergy.

That said, Bhaalists do not murder indiscriminately. The taking of another life is a holy act, a lot of thought and planning goes into both the kill itself as well as what impact the death may have upon the world. Once the target is slain, they are to smear the victim's blood over their hands and draw Bhaal's symbol by the body with it. If Bhaal is pleased then the blood will vanish.

Bhaal supports and encourages his followers attaining wealth and comfort (it's a good hook to draw them in, and it makes him look good if his followers are successful), and in exchange for their worship his priest-assassins receive the priest spells and administer to the lay worshippers, who benefit second-hand. The assassins have an easier time killing people and getting rich and Bhaal profits from more prayer and death. A win for everyone (who didn't die in the process).

Bhaalist temples historically have spent their time founding and sponsoring guilds of assassins and thieves, including infamous organisations such as the Shadow Thieves of Amn. These guilds survived their patron's death, and while they were mostly businesses throughout the years of Bhaal's death many still paid homage (although there was some confusion involving his replacement, Cyric) and have presumably resumed worship. There's a massive old temple still functioning over in Thay; the Tower of Swift Death, and the assassins work closely with the Red Wizards who rule the country.

Bhaalists have no tolerance for rival guilds and organisations not following Bhaal (which would make them independent of their control) and will eliminate them. They will also root out anybody in the area that will attempt to oppose or otherwise interfere in their business and ensure they have freedom to go about their jobs/worship.

Their other job is to ensure the church has a steady income. They terrorise the commoners into paying tithes in exchange for safety from being sacrificed this tenday (a protection racket, basically) while leaving "economically and socially important individuals live unharmed." I mean, the peasantry have far less enemies to assassinate and gold to spend, so. Plus the rich and powerful are brilliant at turning a blind eye to crime when it benefits them, as well as making sure the evidence never sees the light of day - know which side your bread is buttered on, and all. Baldur's Gate has no law against the worship of Bhaal. Why do you think the original temple exists, after all? Bhaalists actively seek out and sway such potential patrons who would be... amenable to sponsoring and protecting their technically-legal church and its not so-legal activities in exchange for their services.

Urban temples of Bhaal are usually dark, subterranean affairs built under the city streets, containing countless branching tombs that are home to the bodies of the clergy's victims - said victims are usually wandering around down there as restless undead.

-

Bhaal's clergy can be recognised as Bhaalists by their ceremonial robes - full body robes of black or deep purple with a deep cowl. The robes will be randomly and violently streaked with flashes of violet. Their entire face is fully obscured by a black veil, to both hide their identity and make it appear as though the hood is empty for the intimidation factor.

The leader of the church in an area is the High Primate/Primistress, who can be identified by a red belt/sash they wear over their robes and the fancy curved ceremonial dagger that marks them as a high ranking priest and a specialty priest known as a Deathstalker - more about them in a moment.

High Primates spent much of their time planning the proper strategies of manipulating nearby rulers, inhabitants, and organizations into the deeds and behaviour that the Bhaalyn desired.

The High Primate is directly served by the First Deaths, who in turn can call upon a council of the nine most senior clergy; the Cowled Deaths. Below them were the regular priests, who were known collectively as the Deathdealers and are referred to by the title Slaying Hand. A Bhaalist rises in the ranks by hunting and ritually killing a target with nothing but their bare hands, which they will then report to a higher ranking priest who will confirm that they are being truthful. If they are then there's a party, and a ritual sacrifice is held to celebrate.

When on a job they dress in black - in the form that suits whatever their preferred method of killing in. Leather armour, mage robes, whatever.

Bhaalists pray to their god before sleep. In the temple the entire congregation comes together to pray in a formal ceremony called "Day's Farewell"). Bhaalists are also to pray before setting out on a murder.

Bhaalists only observe one holy day. It's the Feast of the Moon, a continent-wide holiday for honouring the dead and honouring one's ancestors. Bhaalists have their own spin on it where they remember dead Bhaalists and celebrate with stories of murder to honour them.

All Bhaalists are to commit a murder every tenday at midnight, should they be unable to fulfil this duty then they are to kill two people in place of the one who should've died that day. Before the victim dies, the murderer is to ensure that they know their killer and that they died as a sacrifice to the God of Death; "Bhaal awaits thee, Bhaal embraces thee, none escape Bhaal."

-

The specialty priests of Bhaal, those who dedicate their devotion and worship no god other than him, are the Deathstalkers.

One does not have to be a cleric to join the ranks, though the majority are. Rogues, rangers, barbarians and fighters are the most common, but all classes make an appearance (and most are multiclassed clerics)

To become a Deathstalker one must have murdered sixteen sapient creatures in sixteen different methods with sixteen different weapons. This presumably is also the rite of passage to becoming a member of the Brethren of the Keen Strike - an order of Bhaalist assassins to which all Deathstalkers belong.

Distressingly for people who aren't Bhaalist, Bhaal's Deathstalkers regained their Bhaalist abilities around 1372 DR, following the end of the Bhaalspawn Crisis, and resumed their duties, spreading death and terror in his name as they worked to bring him back to full power. The most popular argument for how the priests of a dead deity were getting their spells is that another god - likely Cyric, was granting them spells disguised as Bhaal. However, in the wake of the Bhaalspawn Crisis and the wave of fear felt towards Bhaal that resulted (which counts as prayer), the rumour mill became very fond of the idea that, despite how the crisis ended, Bhaal had still managed to resurrect at least some scrap of himself through that fear and the God of Murder was haunting the Realms once more.

The various abilities Bhaal gifts to his Deathstalkers include the following:

[From 3.5e] The ability to identify key weaknesses in a target by studying them for only a few moments, killing them in a single strike. They are also supernaturally good at stabbing people with their ceremonial daggers.

[3.5e] The ability to tap into the hatred of a person, stoking it into homicidal rage and direct it at another person who they will kill in a mindless bloody rage (also called the Urge to Slay, an ability Bhaal himself has)

[3.5e] Bhaal's own inability to just fucking stay dead - a Deathstalker Bhaal doesn't want dead will come back to life an hour after it is killed, with a single hit point left. During the time prior to resurrection they are an actual corpse.

[2e] They can point at a person, sending necrotic energy coursing through them and causing them significant damage, agony and possibly death.

[2e] They can inflict severe wounds on a person just by thinking it.

[2e] They can teleport! A Deathstalker can teleport themselves (and other people, if they're powerful enough) to the Throne of Blood and from there they can teleport to anywhere on Toril that isn't protected by warding magic. Bhaal won't do anything to protect Deathstalkers while they're in the Lower Planes - if you're strong enough to get yourself here, you're strong enough to get yourself out.

[2e] They can affect the emotions of those around them, reversing whatever emotions an individual is feeling towards them into its polar opposite.

[2e] They can accelerate the entropic aging process of objects.

-

Bhaal himself is "violent, cruel and hateful at all times." Being in the presence of the living fills him with an overwhelming urge to kill and destroy. He presents himself as either on the verge of a violent rampage or cold and ruthlessly calculating depending on which suits the occasion best. A Lawful Evil deity, his domain is the Throne of Blood in the first layer of the Lower Plane of Gehenna (Khalas), part of Bane's domain (Banehold). Hilariously, not a single Baldurs Gate game has got this right. BG2:SoA claimed it was the Hells, BG2:ToB changed to the Abyss and, for some reason, BG3 has put it in the Grey Wastes.

Bhaal served Bane, and was in turn served by Loviatar (goddess of pain) and Talona (goddess of disease).

His holy symbol is the Circle of Tears; clue in the name, it's a skull surrounded by teardrops of blood forming a circle.

Bhaal rarely manifested in avatar form. When he did, his main avatar in urban areas was the Slayer, which was not a four armed scaly monster:

"The Slayer look[s] like a corpse with a feral face, [bloodless] skin, and deep lacerations that endlessly [weep] black ichor that vanish[es] before it strikes anything."

It makes no noise at all when it moves. it can talk (its softly spoken and sounds creepy). It can levitate at will and summon floating daggers made of bone, that appeared and disappeared at will. They would cause any living flesh they hit to wither and die. Creatures slain this way would rise again as zombies under its control - or have its skeleton shattered into more bone daggers. Enough of these daggers form an area-of-effect; a wall made of a flurry of sharp shards of bone that would trap the soul of anyone they killed. Oh, yeah, and the Slayer can also inflict the overwhelming urge to murder everyone around you on the people around it.

Bhaal's other avatar was the Ravager, which was mostly an angry 30-foot tall giant with horns.

While in either avatar form, Bhaal also had the ability to create any form of undead loyal to him by touching a corpse (greater undead like vampires would be free once they'd completed whatever task he'd assigned them). He could also immediately destroy any undead, turning them to dust at a touch. Bhaal cannot be harmed by the undead.

Rather than using his avatars, Bhaal usually just manifested as a pair of flying undead hands that can shoot bone daggers at people. Or a laughing human skull trailing teardrops. Both these manifestations are capable of speech, casting darkness and driving everybody into a mindless bloodthirsty rampage - you might have noticed he really loves this trick.

He also invented his own undead monsters, the Harrla of Hate. Harrla are invisible creatures, which if you use magic to see them appear like human shaped wavering impressions. Guess what they do?? If you guessed "fill people with a sense of overpowering hatred and drive people into committing homicide" get yourself a fucking cookie!! (This isn't said anywhere in canon, but Bhaal has less imagination than a chunk of rock, I swear to god...)

According to one version of the story; in life Bhaal was a Netherese mortal wizard named Tharlagaunt Bale. He was one of a few hand picked by Jergal to bear a fragment of the god's divinity and raised from a young age to serve him (a Chosen, basically). Hilariously, one of the others was Karsus. These Chosen were promised godhood for their service as they set about performing a ritual to increase Jergal's waning power and make him one of the most powerful deities. Karsus chose to try and make himself a god instead and blew up the Weave, destroying Netheril and the plan and killing all of his coworkers except Bale.

Bale got a job as an assassin, changed the spelling to Bhaal and dropped his first name, teamed up with a bitter ex-slave with no name except the title "Bane of the Ancients" and a necromancer prince called Myrkul Bey al-Kursi.

His other backstory features him as Arabhal; the spymaster and chief assassin of the Netherese City of Rdiuz, and an ally of Bane. The two became unwitting paws of Jergal, who directed them through nightmares to do his bidding and slay various primordial divinities who threatened his plans.

Regardless of backstory, they all grabbed more divinity by killing an ancient god (also Bane's ex-master) and then he went knocking on his old boss' door for that godhood he was promised (Jergal at this point had embraced depression and just went "yeah, whatever, have it. Idgaf, I'm retiring." Or was manipulating them into becoming his divine pawns. There's more than one take on this story.) and Bhaal walked off the god of murder.

He learned of a prophecy predicting he would die when his stupid ex-travelling companions would decide to piss of Ao who would then kick all the gods out and make them mortal, and Bhaal then decided to sleep with what seems to be at least 25% of Faerûn to produce kids who would hold fragments of himself so that they could all fight to the death and he could resurrect himself afterwards. He was killed by the soon-to-be-god Cyric not far from Baldur's Gate during the Time of Troubles. Cyric proceeded to take his job, and there was a huge fight between Bhaalists who converted and those who didn't and the converts killed all the holdouts.

The rest of the backstory is basically just the original Baldur's Gate games.

[cryptotheism]

Amber skies question: I'm very interested in the postal service mouse folk in your setting! What sort of initation/training would someone need to go through to join the postal service? Also, in the rig cartalk show, they talked about the rigs used by the postal service, so I'm curious if there's rig-smiths within the postal service, or if it's a situation of them just having long running trade agreements and favored models of rig when trading?

Hope you're having a good one, love your work!

It's actually a rabbinical system. Becoming a posthand is an arduous process that involves a lot of memorizing philosophy around the importance of proper archive management and information flow, library sciences, and the importance of the preservation of history. You have to have a current posthand who acts as a sort of sponsor/mentor through the process, and you are eventually evaluated by a panel of higher ranking posthands.

It takes roughly four years of training to join as an initiate posthand, and then another four of active route service under a mentor before you become a full member. It's a dangerous job that many small communities rely upon. The standards are taken quite seriously.

Rigsmiths are generally part of a guild. Recently, the postal service contracts with a rig shop out of the Teykile, where they produce the ALBATROSS, PELICAN, and KINGFISHER model rigs, which are themselves pattered after 2nd era reframes of an old-world military shipping surplus rig, the EXO U4. The postal service custom-orders these models in bulk, and they we're designed to postal service specifications.

Generally they contract for new models every four to five years depending on need and price point. However, postal outposts generally have an on-site pit crew. (Usually one guy, who charges reasonable prices for civilians if you need a tune up.)

[stardewremixed]

Stardew Valley Employment Headcanons

I've been thinking a lot about how many folks in the Valley don't work. In some ways, it feels realistic. A small town that is clearly dying until the Farmer comes along struggles with unemployment rates. It could be related to high taxes (*side-eyes* I'm looking at you, Lewis) and competitive megacorporations (like Joja) undermining the local economy. However, I'd like to do a little headcanon for the residents and their job situation.

Under spoilers, because TL;DR.

Abigail - after graduating with a degree in art history, Abigail starts working out in her mother's fitness group. She starts swimming at the spa. And she starts a workout regiment with Alex. Of course, this leads her to finally join the Adventure Guild full-time, protecting the Valley and exploring the depths of the mines. She still jams from time to time with Sam and Seb. I also like to think she leads a local Scouts troop.

Alex - this man deserves to have an amazing job as a pro gridball player. However, while he waits, he could coach a local kids team at the Community Center. I can also see him work part-time stocking shelves at Pierre's General Store. Maybe he lifeguards at the Ginger Island Beach during the busy season or drives deliveries out to Sandy in the desert for Pierre. Or he could work with Robin. Mmm... this man, chopping wood... fantasies. He still sells ice cream in the summertime maybe on the weekends or at festival days (because come on, Pierre needs a little competition and I love the idea of pineapple ice cream at the luau and stardrop sorbet at the moonlit jelly fest). I also see him doing odd jobs around the valley until he gets more stable work at Pierre's or Robin's. Need someone to fix your leaky roof? Alex is your man! (Because Evelyn mentions George can't do it anymore).

Elliott - I still like the idea of Elliott's secret wealth and he escaped his family to become a writer. However, maybe he regularly submits poems and sonnets via various contests online under a pseudonym, and does a few freelance articles (maybe on small towns, fishing, romance, etc.). This man deserves to publish a masterpiece and make it on a bestseller list, then gets an agent, and of course, publishes a series. He still does readings in the Valley at the library and the Saloon because he always wants to remember his humble roots and the people who cheered him on when he was a nobody in the business.

Emily - She absolutely needs to start a side-business as the town tailor. It's kind-of already in the lore, but I could see her starting up an online business (maybe with the help of Seb) on an Etsy-esque site. Also, I can see her helping out on the farm for a little something extra when she's not working at the Saloon. Maybe tending to the flowers, watering plants when the Farmer is in the Mines or off on the island or in the desert for the day. She mentions she would like to do this, but Gus apparently frowns on a side job. Hmm... well, I can see this girl eventually leaving her job at the Saloon to pursue her sewing passion full-time. She totally hosts a yoga class in the winter at the Community Center.

Harvey - He is already a well-respected town doctor, but the man is so stressed that he is hardly ever in the Clinic (at least not without mods). I propose Harvey hires some extra help, an associate, maybe another nurse, and a receptionist to assist, especially if patients from surrounding towns (like he mentions) start visiting (i.e. expansions). And he teaches first aid classes at the Community Center.

Haley - Like Leah, she needs an art exhibit to showcase her photography. Unlike the other villagers, I don't see her staying in the Valley, eventually pursuing the work of a freelance photographer and traveling the world (like her absentee parents). She does make an annual trip back for the Flower Dance, her favorite festival. I have pursued Haley the least in game so I'm struggling to come up with more ideas here.

Leah - Speaking of Leah, she transforms the Valley into a premier art destination. She can teach art classes at the renovated Community Center. She teams up with Seb and Sam (and drags Elliott along for the ride, and the writing) to produce an avant-garde film about the art all around us in small towns. I also think she grows her own herbs and sells them at Pierre's, festivals, and the Farmer's Markets (as she gives me green witch vibes). Maybe she partners with Caroline (or the Wizard) to create some herbal potions and creams. And of course, she's still at it with woodworking, though these days she works on commission for those types of projects.

Sam - This man deserves to be a rock star. And I think he'd make a great solo artist. However, if his guitarist dreams don't pan out, he has options. In the vanilla game, he starts working with Gunther at the museum after JojaMart closes. It's a strange choice, but... I figure, maybe he minored in anthropology in college. He would absolutely give amazing tours of the museum, full of exuberant commentary, perfect for kids field trip days too. And I think he plays gigs in Zuzu City and at the Saloon regularly, and maybe even out at Sophia's winery (Stardew Valley Expanded).

Maru - Nursing just doesn't really seem to fit this woman of multiple interests. She finally pursues her passion of robotics and goes to work in a proper lab in a nearby City (doesn't have to be Zuzu - my headcanon is Pine-Mesa City or Grampleton from Stardew Valley Expanded). I think she makes regular trips to the Planetarium too. I could see her visiting the Valley on long weekends, and maybe taking the local kids club on a night-time stargazing event in the summer.

Sebastian - Please give this man a proper window in his basement, Robin! Okay, if he doesn't marry the Farmer, Seb moves out anyway and goes to live in the City for a while, to find investors for his indie game studio. In the meantime, he continues to do freelance programming work. And then, one day, he makes a breakthrough game that revolutionizes the industry. After making A LOT of money, he invests in a SAVE-THE-FROGS campaign, hires multiple developers and other staff, and starts working on his next big game. But he still makes time to jam with Sam and Abi from time to time, and of course, take long rides on his motorcycle.

Penny - This poor woman needs some love. Penny pursues her higher education and officially receives her teaching license. She is hired by the local school district so she can do more than just tutor. She can finally afford her own little apartment. She starts a kids club in the Community Center, and creates a summer reading program at the Stardew Library. And I like to think she takes a monthly trip to Zuzu City to shop in a big bookstore for fresh reading material when she has some down time.

Shane - Oh this guy is definitely a mess. If you don't "romance" him in game, he doesn't really turn his life around, and even if he does, it doesn't really point to recovery as it should, imo (without the help of mods). This man hates his job, and yet he feels stuck. I propose the following. After he recovers in therapy, completes rehab, and genuinely quits drinking (forever), and of course, loses his job at Joja (suck it, Morris!), Shane starts working at Marnie's shop and contracts out as a farmhand all around the Valley. Then he can be a proper godfather to Jas, and provide some actual service at the Ranch (when Marnie's off doing who knows what with you know who...)

I have thoughts for the other Villagers in the Valley too, but I'll save those for a different post.

[exercise-of-trust]

seemingly cool fiber arts person i followed a little bit ago just put radfem shit on the dash, anyway the blanket statement that the only contributions of men to textile production are capitalist/exploitative and the only contributions of women are household-centric/victimized is patently untrue. while less of a documented presence, women in medieval europe [1] absolutely participated in weaver's guilds and commercial cloth production [2], and men have been participating in household knitting in all parts of europe for as long as knitting has been a thing there [3]. like i'm not trying to say women haven't been deeply excluded from economic opportunities in the textile trade for centuries but you cannot be making sweeping statements like that about everyone in every part of the world through all of history and expect them to be true. do, like, a basic level of research and have a basic understanding of nuance, i beg of you [4]

footnotes/sources/etc under the cut, sources are a bit basic because i just grabbed whatever was nearest to hand but they should suffice to prove my point:

[1] i'm only referring to western europe here because that's the only region i feel comfortable talking about in any detail without embarrassing myself. systems of medieval cloth production in european guilds are not gonna look anything like the systems of hundreds of servants employed to do textile production for a household in china. don't make categorical statements about everyone everywhere all at once, you will end up with egg on your face.

[2] quotes from "when did weaving become a male profession," ingvild øye, danish journal of archaeology, p.45 in particular.

england: "in norwich, a certain elizabeth baret was enrolled as freeman of the city in 1445/6 because she was a worsted weaver, and in 1511, a riot occurred when the weavers here complained that women were taking over their work" + "another ordinance from bristol [in 1461] forbade master weavers to engage wives, daughters, and maids who wove on their own looms as weavers but made an exception for wives already active before this act" germany: "in bremen, several professional male weavers are recorded in the early fourteenth century, but evidently alongside female weavers, who are documented even later, in 1440" -> the whole "even later" thing is because the original article is disputing the idea that men as weavers/clothiers in medieval europe entirely replaced women over time. also: "in 1432-36, a female weaver, mette weuersk, is referred to as a member of the gertrud's guild in flensburg, presently germany" scandanavia: "the guild of weavers that was established in copenhagen in 1500 also accepted female weavers as independent members and the rules were recorded in the guild's statutes"

[3] quotes from folk socks: the history and techniques of handknitted footwear by nancy bush, interweave press, 2011, don't roast me it was literally within arm's reach and i didn't feel like looking up more stuff

uk/yorkshire dales: "...handknitting had been a daily employment for three centuries [leading up to 1900]. practiced by women, children, and men, the craft added much to the economy of the dales people." (p.21) uk/wales: re the knitting night (noson weu/noswaith weu) as a social custom practiced in the 18th/19th c.: "all the ladies would work on their knitting; some of the men would knit garters" (p.22) uk/channel islands: "by the early seventeenth century, so many of the islands' men, women, and children had taken up the trade of knitting that laws were necessary to keep them from knitting during harvest" (p.24) -> this one is deeply funny to me, in addition to proving my point uk/aberdeen: "the knitters, known as shankers, were usually women, but sometimes included old men and boys" (p.26) denmark: "with iron and brass needles, they made stockings called stunthoser, stomper, or stockings without feet, as well as stockings with feet. the men knit the legs and the women and girls made the heels" (p.32) iceland & faroe islands: "people of all ages and both sexes knit at home not only for their own use but for exportation of their goods as well" (p.35)

[4] actually? no. i'm not begging for shit from radfems. fuck all'a'y'all.

[phoenixyfriend]

Ko-Fi prompt from Anonymous Supporter:

For the Econ Topic, an analysis on a society that has magic and fantasy races would be nice. Or maybe how a guild of Thieves or Assassins would work in either real life, fantasy or sci-fi setting.

The former is far too varied and complicated a topic to fit into 500 words, but I can definitely make the latter work... by explaining what the fuck a guild is.

These days, the words guild and union are used more or less interchangeably, and they do admittedly have some overlap in modern capitalist society. In the historic Europe that many of these settings are inspired by, the word guild had a more specific meaning.

Let's unpack some of what the economic structure is in these settings.

Large, overarching companies engaging in multinational work are rare in those historic settings. You have some trading/merchant organizations (e.g. the Dutch East India Company) that fit that bill, work that couldn't be performed without a large, existing structure to back it (e.g. mining), and domestic agricultural lordship (you know, feudalism).

For the rest of the economy, though, you have small businesses. Technology isn't at such a point that something bigger can be done. Factories aren't a thing until the industrial revolution, but we do have division of labor, so there are people who specialize in baking, or weaving, or shoemaking, or pottery.

Many of these professions require years of training, from apprenticeship to journeyperson to mastery. Trade secrets are a big deal, you marry off your daughter to your apprentice to secure the line and prevent competition, and you try not to give up those secrets because if you do, what's to keep your lord and other rich folk from taking advantage of you, and paying you less than your worth?

That's where the guild comes in.

No matter how good you are at keeping secrets, the competition does exist. You cannot be the only baker, dressmaker, shoemaker, bricklayer, carpenter in town, unless your town is very small indeed.

Price competition isn't a great idea when profit margins are already low, and you are a small business that doesn't have the diversification or coffers to take the hit for a few weeks. If your lord tries to force you to sell low, you can't just refuse him! He's the one that pays whoever uses the swords!

If only you and all the other trained professionals in your industry could hold together and tell him, "Yeah, that's as low as the price can go. You are paying for the bare minimum of materials and labor with that. So sorry, can't go lower without taking an actual loss, and everyone else will tell you the same thing."

Joining a guild was often the only way to perform that craft or service in a given city. This prevented untrained, untested individuals from trying to peddle something that wasn't up to standard, but also acted as a form of gatekeeping that could prevent the market from becoming oversaturated with competition. The formation of a guild was often related to, or even reliant on, approval from local government or a monarch.

Guilds did absolutely have negative impacts, by the way, often through market manipulation and rent-seeking behaviors. They stifled innovation, gatekept skills, and were capable of price-gouging and price-fixing beyond the basic "this is how we keep from getting screwed over by the rich guys." While the guilds themselves were arguably intended to ensure minimum standards and protect against wealthy clientele, they were just as prone to stagnation and greed as any organization.

The guild differs from the unions in that the guild is for trained professionals that, by and large, own their business to some degree. The unions, meanwhile, are for laborers who work for someone else, and formalized labor unions only began in the mid-18th century, while trade guilds, or something like them, date back over four thousand years.

Remember how I said that factories as we know them, and that whole Big International Company format, didn't really start being a thing until the Industrial Revolution? You know how the Industrial Revolution started in the mid-18th century?

We now see the connection.

So, what does a guild of thieves or assassins mean, at its core?

Well, they have to be doing this professionally. Someone who's just killing for the fun of it isn't a professional assassin, being paid by other people for it, just like how the baker's guild isn't going to care overly much for the farmer's wife making her own bread for dinner. Thievery is a bit less obvious in terms of 'what counts as professional.' Does the person who picks pockets to pay their rent qualify as professional? Or just the ones who steal on behalf of someone else? What about burglars?

So part of what you'd need to untangle is what qualifies as professional for the thieves themselves.

Then, given that these are generally illegal acts in the first place, what purpose does the guild serve? Is the guild supported by the crown as a form of control over theft and assassination in the first place, like privateering? Does the guild institute rules on who can be stolen from, whether or not it's within guild rules to kill individuals of certain ages or genders or classes? What punishments does the guild implement on those who violate those rules?

If the crown allows the assassin's guild so long as members of the royal family are not targeted, is there a rule that any client who requests the assassination of a monarch must be reported, or killed on the spot? What government fees does the guild have to pay in order to exist? If they exist as an underground, unofficial group that is not affiliated with the government, how do they deal with the government? How do they hide? Do they dictate pricing? Do they pay off cops to stay under the radar? How do they advertise their services without getting found out?

For the thieves guild, it's even more wiggly. Who qualifies as a professional? Is it the pickpockets, the cat burglars, the people who climb into dragon's caves to locate ancient treasure and get out unseen? Is there a minimum yearly income threshold? How is that calculated? What about membership fees? Is membership singular, or can it be done as a couple, a team, a family? Are there groups that are off limits? Maybe there are two thieves guilds, one for those who can be Hired By Adventurers, acknowledged by the crown, and a second for those who work in the seedy underground away from official oversight.

There really is no one way for this to play out, and will probably vary from town to town or planet to planet in-story, but hopefully I've given you the framework to build up the various guilds you need for your story!

(Prompt me on ko-fi!)

[multiplicity-positivity]

Here’s some positivity for schizospec systems with individualized headmates!

Not every system uses or benefits from parts language. Many systems, including many schizospec folks, view their members as distinct, individual people! Here’s to all the schizospec systems whose headmates are unique and separate beings!

🌈 Shoutout to systems whose headmates started out as hallucinations or who still are hallucinations, but function as people within their system!

☀️ Shoutout to schizospec systems whose headmates are trying to self-actualize or are making conscious choices to increase their individuality!

🌈 Shoutout to schizospec systems who work together with their headmates to function and take care of themselves!

☀️ Shoutout to headmates in schizospec systems who have embraced or are learning to live with their personhood!

🌈 Shoutout to questioning schizospec systems who wonder if their experiences make them plural!

☀️ Shoutout to schizospec systems whose headmates are delusions or whose delusions have impacted their system and individuality!

🌈 Shoutout to headmates in schizospec systems who prefer to be referred to as people!

☀️ Shoutout to schizospec systems who work together as a team and try to work through conflicts and differences together!

🌈 Shoutout to headmates in schizospec systems who have special jobs or roles that they fill for their system!

☀️ Shoutout to schizospec systems who refer to their headmates as friends, family, a guild, coalition, crew, or some other group of people!

There is no one right or wrong way to be a system, and this includes all systems of all sorts of origins and backgrounds. We’re wishing all schizospec systems the very best, and want you to know that it’s okay to view the members of your system as separate, distinct people! As long as you aren’t hurting yourself or others with your beliefs, it is perfectly fine to consider each headmate a unique, individual person.

We hope y’all can do your best to treat yourself and your system members with respect and kindness, today and every day! Know that your system will always be a beloved and integral part of the plural community just the way it is, and we are honored to be able to share this space with you all! Please don’t be afraid to be yourself and take up space in this community - we promise you belong here as long as you want to be here! Thanks so much for reading, and have a wonderful day!

[mariacallous]

One of the many knock-on effects of Marvel making post-credit scenes a feature of the studio’s cinematic universe is that fans get a glimpse of just how many “below-the-line” workers it takes to make all that superhero movie magic. Production designers, hair and makeup folks, camera operators, the lists run on and on. Amongst them, usually toward the end, as theatergoers are eagerly anticipating that tease for the next MCU movie, are lists of the visual effects studios—places with names like Framestore, The Third Floor, Cinesite—that created all of those space scenes and Wakanda visuals. But unlike most of the other names in those credits, the ones attached to VFX artists have never been in a professional union.

On Monday, some folks at Marvel made a move to change that, with a supermajority of Marvel Studios’ VFX crew signing cards saying they want to be represented by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).

To be clear, the Marvel team is a small faction of a huge industry and doesn’t represent all those outside VFX houses that also work on MCU films. But their move marks a huge shift in Hollywood at a time when people in other industry unions—the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild—American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)—are on strike to get better deals with the major studios. VFX workers have been talking about unionizing for more than a decade, says Bilali Mack, a VFX supervisor who has worked on everything from The Whale to The Flash. The fact that one group, albeit a small one, has taken steps to unionize is “huge,” he says.

This moment has roots in 2013, when Life of Pi won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects just as the company that worked on those effects, Rhythm & Hues, was facing bankruptcy. When the movie’s VFX supervisor, Bill Westenhofer, took the stage to accept his award he said the traditional thank yous and then added “Sadly, Rhythm & Hues is suffering severe financial difficulties right now. I urge you all to remember …”—at which point his mic was cut off and the theme from Jaws began to play.

Rhythm & Hues wasn’t the only VFX studio facing troubles. Some 21 similar companies shuttered between 2003 and 2013, due in part to production delays and the fact that many jobs were going to companies based outside the US, where tax subsidies and incentives give VFX houses a better shot at survival. Attempts to organize have been bubbling up ever since, and this week they bubbled over. “We are witnessing an unprecedented wave of solidarity that’s breaking down old barriers in the industry,” IATSE president Matthew Loeb said in a statement. “That doesn’t happen in a vacuum.”

Loeb was, of course, talking about the fact that the unionization effort at Marvel is happening amidst the SAG and WGA strikes, which may be emboldening folks in other Hollywood sectors. When the Marvel news came, I called Dave Rand. He’d worked on Life of Pi at Rhythm & Hues and had helped organize a protest outside the Oscars on the night the movie won. He agreed that the current strikes played a role but added that the VFX workers who are laid off or on hiatus amidst the strikes may be hesitant to organize because they’re worried about landing their next job. Still, he added, “it’s a step in the right direction, and it can set an example.”

Considering artificial intelligence has been a major point of contention in the Hollywood strikes so far, I asked Rand and Mack if it might be on VFX artists’ minds as well. Both agreed that it was, adding that AI can be a tool for VFX artists, but it will still always require a human to guide it. Is it possible, I asked Mack, that studios would try to create shots with AI and then have human VFX artists clean them up?

“A hundred percent,” Mack replied. “That’s a legitimate worry. Because there’s a saying in visual effects, and I think in a lot of other industries, which is that the first 90 percent takes 10 percent of your time, the last 10 percent takes 90 percent. They’re gonna spit it out, it’s gonna be a piece of crap. Then they’re just gonna be like, ‘We just want it to look perfect and feature film quality,’” and then a VFX company will get called in to spend 90 percent of their time to get paid for 10 percent of the work.

Whether that scenario plays out remains to be seen. The National Labor Relations Board still needs to do due diligence on the Marvel VFX team’s request. Only after that’s complete will all members of the eligible Marvel team be able to vote on whether they want to join the union. And only then, presumably, will it be known whether the other visual effects studios in the MCU credit sequences follow in their footsteps.

[indierpgnewsletter]

And Now For Some Data From DriveThru RPG

If you’re not aware, DriveThru allocates medals to products based on the number of sales. Their highest medal, Adamantine, is given to products that have sold more than 5000 copies. Only 180 products have crossed this threshold. Mithril is the second highest medal you can win. A product at the Mithril level has sold more than 2000 copies (but less than 5000 because otherwise it would be Adamantine). There are 451 products with Mithril status according to DTRPG. That is a shockingly small number in the grand scheme of things.

(I'm not sure how the charts look on Tumblr. If they're not clear, you can see them clearly on the original post at the Indie RPG Newsletter - Part One and Part Two)

I thought it might be cool to classify these products into categories and see what that tells us. Please note that sometimes I’ve put a product in two categories, like Against the Cult of the Reptile God is classified as both “D&D” and “Adventure”.

Here’s a chart showing which categories have the most products with Mithril and Adamantine status. The “D&D” category is first-party products like handbooks, older adventures and settings (Dark Sun) as well as third-party products. “Trad” is a fuzzy category (like all the categories) but it consists of all games that essentially keep the same player-GM relationship as D&D. It includes all the World of Darkness games, Shadowrun, Call of Cthulhu, and so on.

If you’re wondering why there are so many more Trad products than the others, I think the answer is basically Storyteller / Onyx Path Publishing. They are easily the biggest label in the Trad category with so many different games as well as a whole bunch of splatbooks. Also, a lot of D&D products aren’t on DTRPG and are on DM’s Guild so it makes the category seem smaller than it is.

The OSR and the storygame folks have similar numbers. The Misc category is very big because it includes products which are system-agnostic advice and products which are just random tables (d100 treasures, etc).

And since pricing is the only other hard data point I have, here are three charts on pricing. The first one is just the average price of every item in the category and the other two try to identify which are the most common price points for four different categories.

Seems like for most categories, the most common price point (for the PDF, I believe) is 20$. A lot of Trad games seem to be at 25$ and the OSR sells a lot at 10$. IP is the biggest just because it has very few products in it (around 5).

I have some experience with data journalism. I did all of this stuff in excel but if I had more time, I would’ve done it programmatically using R and made something shiny and interactive. Anyway, here’s the data if you want to do something with it.

If you like this kind of stuff, let me know.

[ericdeggans]

Why hoping Lily Gladstone won an Oscar does not equal valuing race over talent.

Social media is never a great place to have discussions about race and culture. The real issues at hand are way too nuanced and detailed for outrage factories like X/Twitter and Instagram to handle.

Still, I was disappointed to see so many people – perhaps willfully – missing the point online when discussion rose after the Oscars about Lily Gladstone failing to win best actress honors.

No doubt, a win for Gladstone – who would have been the first Native American woman to earn a major acting Oscar – also would have felt like a serious triumph for champions touting the power of diversity in film.

Feeling the love big time today, especially from Indian Country. Kittō”kuniikaakomimmō”po’waw - seriously, I love you all ❤️ (Better believe when I was leaving the Dolby Theater and walked passed the big Oscar statue I gave that golden booty a little Coup tap - Count: one 😉)

— Lily Gladstone (@lily_gladstone) March 12, 2024

Those of us who clock these things regularly knew that Emma Stone’s turn in Poor Things was most likely to spoil that scenario. Stone offered a showy-yet-accomplished performance as a singular character in an ambitious, creatively weird production. A much-loved past winner delivering a career-best effort, she was just the kind of nominee that Oscar loves to reward. And, as Vulture pointed out, modern Oscar voters seem to enjoy turning against expectations in big moments like this.

But when I expressed those feelings online – that Stone was marvelous and more than earned the award, but the Oscar academy really missed a chance to make history by overlooking Gladstone’s more subtle, quietly powerful turn in a better movie – the knives came out.

The gist of most negative reactions was the implication that I and others lamenting her loss were insisting that ethnicity should trump talent. As if the only or most important reason that an indigenous woman could be nominated for such a lofty award, is by people trying to bring social justice to the Oscars. (I guess Gladstone’s wins as best actress at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards, among others, were also nods to diversity?)

As if it couldn’t be possible that perhaps -- just perhaps -- some racial cultural preferences were mixed up in Oscar voters’ attraction to the story of a beautiful, young white woman who has loads of sex while learning to define herself in a male dominated world.

What really disappointed me, however, was reading an analysis which reached all the way back to the 2017 Oscars to imply that one reason Barry Jenkins’ masterpiece Moonlight won best picture honors over La La Land was the pressure to bring social justice to the Oscars.

Talk about missing the point by a mile. What I’m driving at, when I advocate for contenders like Gladstone, Barry Jenkins and Jeffrey Wright, isn’t a finger on the scale to make up for past exclusion.

It’s a plea for Oscar voters to see these performances the way I and so many other people actually see them.

I still remember watching last year’s version of The Color Purple in a screening alongside lots of folks from Black fraternity and sorority organizations. And when the moment arrived where Danielle Brooks’ character intoned about her husband, “I loves Harpo — God knows I do — but I’ll kill him dead before I let him or anybody beat me,” it felt like the whole theater said those words with her. That’s how iconic those lines -- first spoken on film by Oprah Winfrey in the 1985 production – have become for Black America.

That same feeling came after I first saw Cord Jefferson’s brilliant American Fiction, centered on a frustrated, floundering Black writer who creates a stereotypical parody of a Black novel as a dark joke, only to see it become a best seller. I felt as if Jefferson had pulled the same bait-and-switch with his movie that his lead character managed onscreen – using the outrageous premise to draw us all into a more subtle and deliberately powerful story of a Black man struggling to connect with his family after huge losses.

I needed three attempts to get through watching all of Gladstone’s work in Killers of the Flower Moon. Not because the movie was so long I had to “get my mail forwarded to the theater,” like Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel joked. But because it was so hard for me to watch a film centered on the historic exploitation and murder of Native American people by white men.

It sounds like a simple idea, but it’s worth repeating: evocative moments in films will speak differently to different people.

Sometimes, when I’m pushing for a win in an awards category, or championing a particular project, it’s not because I’m putting a finger on the scale for the sake of equality. It’s because I’m more invested in that story than some others because of who I am. And I’m challenging some people, who might not see their cultural preferences as preferences, to consider exactly why they love one thing over another.

In many ways, it is sad to see great artists pitted against each other in these contests. Comparing the delightful, dangerous absurdity of Poor Things to the gritty, punishing tone in Killers of the Flower Moon feels like a fool’s errand, anyway.

But with so much that comes from an Oscar win – including proof that inclusion brings success, accolades and a great argument for more equity – it is important to understand why some people value some performances.

And part of living in a diverse society means valuing the wide range of opinions and reactions, not shrugging off those that don’t fit your worldview.

[justpoliteconversations]

The Pinks [Linked Universe Hyrule]

There's a family in every era. Hyrule's about to learn about this one.

Masterlist

TW: None. Maybe.

Disclaimer: Don't own The Legend of Zelda franchise. Linked Universe is the fan creation of jojo56830.

---

Hyrule was nervous. No, that's not nearly a strong enough word for what he was feeling. He was downright terrified of what he was about to do (what the rest of his brothers had convinced him to do). What he was currently doing.

In his time, the land of Hyrule was an inhospitable place to all life not born of darkness. To plant, animal and other with equal viciousness, equal cruelty, with few exceptions. An unhabitable wasteland in some areas, so damaged and tainted by Ganon's many years of dominion the air itself had become poisonous to anything that entered it.

Except, of course, for the monsters that dominated such places even several years after the fall of Ganon. Kept strong by the residual malice that seeped through the land like groundwater, often unseen, but prevalent in its impact upon the land. Whole legions of dark creatures living, planning, breeding, growing in the dark places of the world, just waiting for Hyrule to stumble upon their decrepit nests.

Hyrule made it a point to stay far away from such places, entering only when absolutely necessary. Understanding that sometimes the most heroic thing one can do is to not get involved, to stand back and let the timer run out even as your heart twists and rebels at the very thought of doing nothing. Such was the nature of his blessing, his curse, his burden. The magic that runs deep within the thick of his lifeblood.

And, there was another reason he stayed away from such places.

This is the type of land the largest mercenary guild (militia, for there can be no other word for the size and scale of such an organization) in the entirety of his Hyrule had claimed as their own long before Hyrule even drew breath. Generations upon generations of warriors and hunters all clustered together in great legions of bloodthirsty unity. An extended family of killers, near 700 strong and counting in ever rapid growth. With a bloodline so extensive, so ancient, so persevering, the very beginning of their origin was shrouded in legend.

The Pinks. The Mercenary family of the wastelands.

Their name was known throughout the land, and yet rarely ever uttered from the lips of the common folk. Because while this family was known for their strength and power and the service they gave as the unofficial keepers of the deadly wastelands they stood guard over. They were also known to be unsociable and far removed from the people of Hyrule as a whole. Often displaying fits of temper unbecoming of anything resembling their near knightly standing amongst the public (sparse though that public may be).

Because they weren't knights (and never claimed to be). The weren't palace soldiers (whom they openly regarded with distrust). They weren't even bound by the niceties of social convention. They were a family of mercenaries and hunters, completely uninterested in the politics nor social governing of the land they shepherded (because that's what they did, whether they owned up to it or not). By their own admission, in one of the few addresses they'd ever made to the greater masses, they thought the idea of playing nice to save face was a joke.

They really were a strange bunch. Strange, but powerful nonetheless.

Still, despite their oddities, Hyrule had never had it easy with mercenaries. With such value put on his blood, and the lengths (and money) pro-Ganon factions were willing to go to obtain it, he had never met one that didn't know his face on sight.

He couldn't even imagine what would happen if he wandered into their territory and they got it into their heads that his head was worth whatever inflated price the latest dark affiliated cult had put on his bounty. He didn't want to think of how quickly he'd have fallen had these powerful individuals with their influential family and damn near limitless resources had ever sought to take his blood for their own.

He prayed to the Golden Three every time he heard even a whisper of their name on the wind, in the dark of a tavern rafter, in the shadow of an alleyway. Thanked them for the fact that he was not the kind of prey these people sought. That they were not known for hunting fellow hyrulians for profit or sport (Hyrule shivered at the memories, so many memories, of sadistic grins and leering eyes). That they had a strict code of ethics they were bound to.

But he would never tempt fate. He would never put himself in a position to see how deep that moral code ran through their blood (to see if the Blood Cursed Hero of Hyrule was exempt from their decree). He had never stepped foot into any of their dead-land border towns. Had never taken that risk. Not until now, that is.

It felt almost surreal, to gaze upon a village pushed right up against the suffocating dark of a tainted forest edge, separated by nothing but a flimsy wooden fence and a scant few meters. Truly, these people were as brazen as rumor tells.

"The Pinks? What a dumbass name for a merc guild." Legend huffed, taking in the small splattering of buildings clustered in half-hazard formation around one decently sized Mercenary Hall in the center of the makeshift village. His thin brows had quirked in judgement, clearly unimpressed by the (as one could guess) pink banners hung from nearly every building.

No one said anything directly to contradict him (because really, they were having the exact same thoughts), but one look from Time kept Hyrule's predecessor from further comment as they moved further into the village. Hyrule was grateful for it, because he really did not want to find out if these people were just as quick-tempered as rumor said.

He sent up another prayer. Begging for things to go smoothly just this once. For them all to leave fully intact and without the fabled legendary grudge of The Pinks following in their wakes.

He should have known it wouldn't be that easy. Or, more accurately, he should have realized the world had a sense of humor. And he was the subject of it.

'On second thought.' Hyrule's mind stuttered numbly with disbelief, stunned silent (as was the rest of the Chain, eyes wide and floundering in the face of this unexpected revelation). 'Perhaps it wasn't me who was the butt of it this time.'

"You deaf or stupid, Side Bangs? I asked what region you hail from?" A young woman with dull pink hair and a frightfully familiar face stared down their very own Legend, who was looking rather pale around the face.

"Back up, Rina. Yer ugly mug's throwin' him off." Came another pink haired (but only on one side, the other blonde as a wheat field) girl's cool quip.

Rina swirled around with a thunderous snarl, thin, expressive brows hiked into an ominously pink hairline. "Shut yo mouth, Halfie bitch! No one asked you!"

"Girls." Came the firm, even reprimand of a tall man with long pink-blonde braids cascading down his bow-laden back. "Yer gonna be late if you keep wastin' time runnin' yer mouths."

The full pink one looked about ready to snap something back, but the arrival of a dark-haired woman (with the same damned face. the same damned nose) stopped her cold.

"Move." The woman said, voice low and rasping with cold command. And the girls fled, but not before full pink cast a defiant glare over her shoulder at the woman.

No more words were exchanged after. The woman merely nodded to the group, cast a considering eye over Legend, and left. The braided man in toe, casting his own apologetic grin over his shoulder and a small wave of farewell.

As one, the chain all turned to Legend, waiting for him to explain.

"The fuck would I know!" Legend snarled defensively, not appreciating being the center of attention while he was still reeling from having met his (probable) descendents so unexpectedly.

"So it's real?" Wind asked, wide eyed, as he eyed Legend's single pink bang.

Instead of answering, Legend turned heel and stormed off towards the Mercenary Hall, determined now to get this over with and forget the whole experience had ever happened. And the chain scrambled to follow behind, wanting answers, but understanding Legend couldn't have known regardless of their curiosity.

Hyrule prayed once more to the Three. Prayed that no one thought to ask him if he knew anything about the whole spectacle. Because he most certainly didn't and was still reeling himself from such a chance encounter.

The Chain caught up to Legend just as he threw the doors open.

Only to be greeted by a sea of pink. And a sea of equally unimpressed glares staring them all down with varying levels of judgment. And Legend stood before it all, looking like the foot of Hylia itself had come to kick him between the legs.

"Who popped another kid without tellin' no one!? Amanda!?"

"Fuck you! That ain't my problem!"

And then. Chaos. Sheer, unbridled chaos.

And amidst that chaos.

"Oh! Look at the freckled one! Isn't that Link?"

"What a cutie! I call dibs on courting rights!"

"I outrank you!"

"And I'm better than you, Streaks-freak!"

"Fuck you!"

"No! You!"

"The tall one's pretty cute too, though. Wait a minute."

And the only thing to run through the Chain's collective heads in that single, unified moment of befuddlement as they stared at Legend's back was...

'A rabbit indeed.'

---

Back to the deepest of shadows for rest.

[sleeplesssmoll]

hiya, back with an arcanist query here.

the jessica trailer got me wondering, just how big is the suitcase crew so far? it seems by the time the green lake folks are recruited, we already have matilda, x, and eagle around. there are also voicelines from other characters implying theyre already in, like zima ("there are not many poems... like the orange one says") and mesmer jr ("...the girl with the potions..."), although they couldve been recruited at any point in time. it just gets me so curious who joined when! 😄 at least i want to know how much it's grown since green lake but we can only speculate. this also feeds into my desire to see the other arcanists get involved in the story, main or otherwise.

like you said with the jessica posts, vertin provides the arcanists with a new path, one outside MV or the Foundation. so another curiousity of mine is how she recruited the others i.e. their motivations for joining her!

My theory is bluepoch just gave us a lot of characters to play from the start with but there is probably a canonical meeting for them (at least I really hope so) that we'll get through events and main story. That being said, I wonder if the people we already know will have an official event where they move in. For example, Matilda storywise is still working at SPDM but maybe she'll get assigned to Vertin's department? Or perhaps she'll be someone who stays in the Suitcase for certain cooperative missions? Ngl I want french ducky to make official appearances in the Suitcase.

If I had to list people currently living in the Suitcase as of right now cannonically, I think it'd be:

Vertin, Sonetto, Regulus, Sotheby, Druvis, Jessica after her Discipline training, Apple, and Horrorpedia. Blonney might join after she graduates from college or when she misses her bambi lol

The list will grow as we see Vertin recruiting. This game is different from others I've played in that we see the start of the crew. Usually there is an established guild or something but we see in real time Vertin's army expanding from her very first member!

I love the way the crew interacts with each other too! An An Lee is trying to terrorize my ghostly babies! I need to see Vertin meeting Tennant and Eternity. And Rabies! VOYAGER! Ahh so many people!

[shamelessequilibria]

Doesn't seem like warcraft/WoW has much of a following here, and especially not my followers, so this'll probably end up as just... Shouting into the void, but I still think I want to write about it. It's been a hugely formative part of my queer experience.

I've played WoW for 15 years. Was excited for Classic and played since day one, only quitting just a few months ago after burnout (something I might elaborate on if there seems to be much interest). I played on Grobbulus. The most interesting thing, to me, was watching the Role Play community and it's subsets grow and change, particularly on the individual level.

A significant amount of people I've met through the game played it as adolescent boys. They returned to Classic, now, as adults. And so so many of them are coming to grips with their gender identity through it, particularly those who, like me, chose to play on a Role Play server.

I ran a guild during TBC Classic and up through my decision to stop playing. I made a conscious decision, after seeing the roots of queer community on the server, to advertise the guild as explicitly LGBTQ+. The server at large was full of Gamers, shitposting and offensive remarks and all. But we wanted to be a beacon in that darkness. The sheer number of trans or questioning folk we ended up with filled nearly the entire 25 man raid. Multiple times we had players, officers even, come out using different pronouns after seeing the space was welcoming and affirming to do so.

I can't stress enough how important it is to fight back against stereotypical Gamer Spaces. The Nerd Boy > RP Curious Adult > Transfemme Gamer pipeline is incredible.

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

The Old Witch Sleep and The Good Man Grace (The Amazing Devil)

'Cause I've been here so many times before/Don't you think I look pretty/Curled up on this bathroom floor/But where you see weakness I see wit/Sometimes I fall to pieces/Just to see what bits of me don't fit/'Cause when I stand, oh all those folks will run/And tell the tales of what I've become/They'll speak of me in whispered tones/And say my name like it shakes their bones

"GIRL (gender neutral). It’s so unbelievably Hannibal (NBC) coded. Even the bio on genius.com is Hannibal coded. I was making up a dance to this song inspired by Hannibal in my room not even five minutes ago and it’s 10 pm my time. I hope that answers the question I’m just very mentally ill."

"Becoming a demon against your demons ("Cos I’m not trapped / With you you see / You’re the one who’s / Trapped with me"), shaping yourself into something dangerous against what hurt you, grasping with claws and teeth to your freedom and truest self. The pain shaped us but we won't let that stop us."

Don't Ever Forget (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky)

"This is the song that plays after the big finale of the main game. Like, you have quite literally saved the world from the Big Bad after so many trials and tribulations, and then it happens. You start to disappear because you changed the future for better, because you yourself are from the future, and so despite being triumphant, it is bittersweet, because you leave your partner behind. They have to return to the guild by themselves and tell your story. Because you aren't there anymore. Your partner literally throws themselves down in sorrow as you are removed from existence. It is also the ONLY part of the game where your character does not have brackets around their text, implying this moment is the FIRST moment we actually get to see dialogue from you as the main character. The song is a plea to never forget. And if anyone has played the game, this is the moment where people would cry. I hear it and STILL get fucked up SEVERAL YEARS LATER, quite LITERALLY just thinking about that moment."

The Old Witch... submitted by @gay-breakdown-central + @saint-oleander + others

[stardewremixed]

What Each Townie Adds to the Community Center After Complete, Pt. 1

Farmer - a farm-to-table dinner once a month and everyone brings a side dish to share

Caroline - expands her fitness class and moves it to the Center (offers 3-4x's a week)

Evelyn - a baking class once a month (mostly cookies, some cakes too. Haley sometimes helps).

Gus - cooking class once a week (and he would be such a good teacher with a gentle, encouraging voice) AND a near daily breakfast for seniors and vets (because he's that kind of guy)

Sebastian - basic computer classes because these townsfolk need to get outta the dark ages. Jk... but seriously, he would open a computer lab. People could come work on resumes, kids could play games after school and on weekends (Sam included), and folks could pay bills online.

Penny would create a kids club for after school on Wednesdays. Vincent, Jas, and Leo all come for storytime, homework help, snacks, and playtime. Jas would donate some of her old dolls and toys. Vincent would create a bug display. Leo would fix up a treehouse out front with help from Robin.

Robin would offer woodworking classes, and she would co-lead an environmental science club with Demetrius (for the social and moral support).

Willy and Elliott would arrange beach clean-up days, and use the Center to create a place for recycling gathering. (And compost - Leah and the Farmer would add).

Gunther would partner with the Adventurer's Guild to host a series of guest lectures on the 2nd Saturday of the month. Archeologists, botanists, monster hunters, travelers, other experts.

Shane would open an AA chapter and suicide prevention support group (with some encouragement from Harvey). Bad coffee. Stale donuts. Everyone feels welcome though.

Band practice would move out of Sam's bedroom and into the Center. He would also organize an open mic night (Abigail would do most of the work, but his enthusiasm counts). He would support and cheer for everyone equally (no matter how off-key).

Elliott would do poetry readings. Once he was published, he would host his book reveal party at the Center. Over wine for the 21+.

Leah would host art classes - sculpting, painting, etc. She would also organize a tri-athlon with Alex.

Alex would fix up the backyard for a kids gridball team. He would have a sports mentorship program (and kids from surrounding towns would attend). Work hard. Play hard. And learn life skills. With a lot of help from other townies.

Haley would create a dark room for anyone wanting to develop their own photos. And she would gladly have many of her own photos on display.

I feel like George would host movie nights with help from Alex, Sebastian and Maru. Alex would hang the projector, Seb would set up the equipment, and Maru would decorate with lights in the yard for movies under the stars in summertime. And bring strawberries to share, of course. Old timey movies. Black and whites.

Harvey (and Maru) would host health clinics, offering free wellness checkups. Gus would provide healthy lunches. They would team up with Caroline for a fitness class. Emily would call her Swami friend for a yoga and meditation demonstration.

Emily would definitely start a sewing circle. Jodi would join. Maybe Marnie. And Caroline would enjoy cross-stitch.

Em would also do additional projects. The younger ladies like Abigail, Sophia, and Scarlett would definitely be into cosplay and costuming together. Abs would drag Sebastian in every once in awhile and Sam would tag along, just cuz. Seb would rock Puck from A Midsummer's Night Dream. And Elliott would make a fantastic Romeo. Haley would definitely be Juliet.

[theresattrpgforthat]

THEME: Revolution

This week’s games have to do with rising up against oppression and tyranny! A very important note: while the tone and tenor of the following games vary in severity, it is a good idea to use safety tools for your table when running these kinds of games, as it is easy to fall into territory that can be uncomfortable to your players. I recommend you check out tools such as the X Card, by John Stavropoulos, and Lines & Veils, by Ron Edwards.

When the Guilds Pay in Copper, Crime Pays In Gold, by Andrew J. Young.

Ostentia is a city of wealth, magic, and incredible disparity. The city's alchemy guilds hold all the power, with squads of street-level enforcers and an army of mercenaries playing the guilds off each other. The common folk are hired by the guilds to serve in alchemy rituals, draining life from their bodies, paying them their purse of coppers, and sending them home until the next day.

What the city needs is a revolution, but the best you can do is retribution. And distribution. Thwart the guilds' exploitative plots and steal as much gold as you can. And when the job is done, go back to your family, friends, and familiar haunts. Spend your gold to improve your character and use downtime to help your community.

When the Guilds Pay in Copper, Crime Pays in Gold is a two-page tabletop RPG designed to be played with 2 or more players, one of whom should take on the role of a Story Guide to facilitate scene setup and NPC actions and dialogue.When the Guilds Pay in Copper, Crime Pays in Gold's system uses dice pool mechanics with d6s.

If you’re interested in Blades in the Dark but want less pre-defined setting, less rules, and more magic, you might want to check this game out. The players of this game are fighting back against guilds using underhanded methods, but the gold they manage to steal goes into community help, rather than a retirement plan. If you want to hit the bourgeoisie where it hurts without having to read too many rules, and if you want a lighter feel to your game, you might want to check this game out.

And You Shall Shatter Temples, by Anna Landin.

They may be gods, but you are done being faithful.It's time to burn their kingdom down.

Sing songs with the words they could not take from you. Raise the banner woven from the flags you stole back from them. Arm yourself with the swords you forged from their discarded bones.

And You Shall Shatter Temples is a game about rising up against an overwhelming power that is trying to crush you. All you have is what you carry with you, and those who rise up by your side. Together, you can turn the tide. Together, you can dethrone a god.

This is a GM-less game that uses playing cards and d6s to help determine what you do and where the story goes. The main premise is that there are gods, but you get to decide what kind of world they have ruined, and how you bring them to their knees. The game brings you through three stages, with each stage bringing you closer and closer to dethroning a god. The creator offers the text-only version for free, and encourages that you support real-world causes that fight oppression instead!

Hunting Billionaires for Sport, by Vex Chat-Blanc.

It's exactly 1 year since people first started hunting billionaires for sport. In that time the sport has grown at an extraordinary rate, giving rise to both the Extrajudicial Means Distribution Union and Nero.tv. Nations around the world have enacted a total ban on firearms and ammunition sales, as well as dedicated buyback schemes for existing guns. Science and arts have seen a simultaneous market boon, and their advances have integrated seamlessly into daily life. Welcome to 2023.

A game for 1 session runner and 2-5 hunters. It's easy to pick up, simple to explain, provides a quick reference sheet for those new to the rules. It contains interesting and variable character advancement, and a progressive and gentle introduction to more advanced rules. World-building, character background, collaborative action, and character retirement are all tied together mechanically.

If you want to see a game where Billionaires’ greed is what allows for the revenge of the masses, this is the game for you. The setting is incredibly tongue-in-cheek, and the characters are both powerful and competent. Character skills are classified as either Limelight (flashy) or Lowlight (concealed), and can be Active, Passive, or Reactive. You’ll also have Beats that drive your character forward and tie you into the fiction, as celebrities on a high-profile streaming service. If you like the idea of turning modern capitalism back onto itself, this might be the game for you!

Compromise / / Empire, by Swamphen.

The forces of the Empire, the forces of totalitarianism and exploitation, are invading. They have secured a foothold, and want complete control. Their soldiers trample the land, their spies and diplomats are in your places of power, time is limited.

You represent a faction. One of the factions who are working to resist the Empire. As a representative you must extend a hand and form whatever alliances you can with the other factions at play. Resisting the Empire will cost you, and your faction. Compromises must be made.

Compromise//Empire is a GMless roleplaying game for 2-3 players about forming temporary alliances and resisting empire. Each player takes the role of a faction forced into an unlikely alliance. You must represent your agenda while making compromises to fight against the forces of empire.

This is another game that allows you to decide exactly what kind of world you’d like to play in. Crises will arise over the course of the game, and you will attempt to find a solution that makes you and your allies happy. Success is not guaranteed in this game - you may find a way to work together, but your plans may also fall apart. If there is a setting or game you’d like to set-up for, this is an excellent option! 

Voidheart Symphony, by UFO Press.

here’s a wound in the world, a rot eating at hope and community and empathy. You’ve seen it in dark alleyways and gleaming boardrooms, gifting terrible power to those who will use it to hurt others. You’ve had enough. You’re going to dive through that wound into the nightmare castle on the other side. You’re going to find the avatar of the one bringing you misery, and strike them down.

But what’s next, once you’ve stolen their power and ruined their ambitions? Will you return to your daily grind? Cherish those who are close to you? Or revel in the power you have taken from the void? Because within that wound, the castle waits, and it is hungry.

Voidheart Symphony is a tabletop roleplaying game about mundane people diving into a demon-filled labyrinth to save the ones they love. Based on Apocalypse Worldand Rhapsody of Blood, it’ll fill your story with dramatic choices and dynamic action. Your rebels each have a core strength – they may be an Authority, a Provider, a Watcher. But your enemy is far too great for you to face alone. 

If you’re interested in the Persona series, this game is probably up your alley. Shadowy powers lurk behind everyday folks, and your rebellion may not ever make it to the front page. You are heroes behind the scenes, fighting for the freedom of folks who may never know to thank you. If you like the idea of being unsung heroes in the modern day, you should check this game out!

Spire: The City Must Fall, by Rowan, Rook & Decard.

Spire is a mile-high impossible city, older than anyone can remember. Two hundred years ago, the high elves – or aelfir, strange and beautiful masked creatures from the far north – took it from the dark elves by force. Now, they graciously allow dark elves, or drow, to live in the city if they perform four years of service to an aelfir lord once they come of age. Spire is crumbling from within and without; it is ancient, and has been built and rebuilt countless times, and at the centre of the mass there is a jagged, weeping hole in reality called the Heart. It is a nightmarish, dizzying place of perverse luxury and widespread destitution, where drow labourers toil in vast gardens and sweltering factories to produce treasures for their masters.

Spire is a roleplaying game about desperate revolutionary dark elves caught up in a secret war against the high elves, or aelfir, who rule the towering city of Spire. The world of Spire is a brutal one, and players can expect to see their characters suffer at the hands of their oppressors, or their rivals; bodily harm, psychological scarring and reprisals against their allies are commonplace. But for those willing to do what it takes, Spire is on the brink of full-scale rebellion, and you are poised to push it over the edge.

This game uses a D10 system that uses dice pools to determine success -  the highest number indicates whether or not you are successful, and how successful you are. The rebellion in this game is dark and vicious; the characters are pushed to do terrifying things in the name of death, vindication, and revenge. This is a fantasy game through and through, but make sure to bring some safety tools to the table, as a game of Spire can easily turn bloody and grim.

If you are interested in this setting but want a game about dungeon-delving instead, you can try Heart: The City Beneath, by the same company.

Previously advertised games that fit this theme:

Balikbayan: Cyberpunk Elementals escaping enslavement. Brinkwood: Brigands fighting against Vampires. Rising Tide: Eco-Justice pirates hitting Corporations at sea.