#which is a core part of the mystery and while there are ways the rule becomes broken like… that’s part of the mystery

[seeminglyseph]

“But I mean all stories have proven that robots will inevitably become evil and destroy humanity”

Incorrect! Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics! Fuck you!

[thydungeongal]

Fantasy Adventure Games part 2

You know what, there's still a lot of trad stuff that I haven't even touched out there, and I would be remiss if I didn't feature some of the other, newer entries into the field. This is a continuation of this post.

So, once again, staying with very trad fantasy games:

Dragonbane by the Free League. An English translation of the latest edition of the classic Swedish fantasy RPG Drakar och Demoner, Dragonbane is a very traditional fantasy roleplaying game whose design is clearly heavily informed by RuneQuest but in its latest incarnation also owes a lot to the game structure popularized by D&D 3e (a game that still informs a lot of game design to this day). Dragonbane is, at its core, a skill-based, no-levels fantasy game, but that still has classes of a sort to grant structure to character creation and advancement. Its playstyle has been dubbed "mirth and mayhem" by its creators, and it emphasizes quick resolution and a sense of randomness. The presentation is also top notch, with art by Swedish fantasy artist Johan Egerkrans.

Forbidden Lands by the Free League. Another game published by the Free League, Forbidden Lands is a classic fantasy RPG with a focus on sandbox play and exploration in a strange, scary world. Forbidden Lands uses a variant of the Year Zero engine from Free League's Mutant: Year Zero games, a type of d6 dice pool system. With out-of-the-box mechanics for exploration, foraging, negotiations, and hunting, as well as running one's own stronghold, the real star of the show is the ready-made sandbox setting that comes with the game, begging to be explored.

Against the Darkmaster by Open Ended Games. The creators of Rolemaster, mentioned in the previous post, for a brief moment held the license to the Middle-earth setting of J.R.R. Tolkien's legendarium and produced a slightly lighter version of Rolemaster to support playing in that setting, titled Middle-earth Roleplaying, or MERP for short. While the game is now long gone, it is still fondly remembered, and in 2019 Against the Darkmaster, a game that is essentially a tribute to MERP made by long-time fans of the game, was Kickstarted. Against the Darkmaster, or VsD for short, is a game in the heritage of Rolemaster, but with inspirations taken from modern RPGs, including the officially licensed modern LotR RPG The One Ring (which is another soft recommend from yours truly). VsD is a gritty and dark traditional RPG that seeks to empower its players to play out stories of a fellowship of heroes struggling against the forces of darkness, very much in the genre of Lord of the Rings, Dragonlance, and the Chronicles of Prydain. If you want crunchy, epic fantasy with a hint of darkness, this one's for you.

Fantasy Hero by Hero Games. A fantasy adaptation of the HERO System, the system that powers the classic superhero RPG Champions, Fantasy Hero is the closest thing I have found to an engine for running a fantasy immersive sim. The core philosophy of the HERO System is that its open-ended power creation system can be used to build anything, and Fantasy Hero directs that energy towards empowering fantasy adventures. The HERO System is very crunchy, almost like a TTRPG physics engine, and it's a dream come true for a certain type of gamer. Heck, I've personally considered using it to run a fantasy sim campaign where spell research is conducted through the power creation system. It's so cool. There is a one-book version of Fantasy Hero out there, called Fantasy Hero Complete, but word on the street is that the better way to run it is using the Hero System 6th Edition rules with the Fantasy Hero 6th Edition genre supplement on top.

Earthdawn by FASA. Once officially tied to the fantasy cyberpunk RPG Shadowrun as its mythic past, due to ownership issues Earthdawn is better understood as its own, standalone game without any ties to Shadowrun these days (and even in the past the actual ties were minimal). Earthdawn casts the player characters as magically empowered individuals who direct their magic into various disciplines, so that a Warrior in Earthdawn isn't simply someone who fights: they are someone who utilizes magic to subtly empower their fighting ability. Earthdawn is very much kin to RuneQuest in how it ties its game system to its world's underlying metaphysics, while being more in line with your traditional dwarves and elves and wizards fantasy. The setting of the game is post-apocalyptic fantasy, with a demonic scourge having recently ravaged the land and people for the first time stepping out of their magically sealed vaults to explore the world. In addition to Earthdawn fourth edition, there is an alternate, simpler version of Earthdawn titled "Age of Legend," which uses an extremely simplified system based on dice results of "Yes, and..." and "No, but..." style prompts. The fourth edition released by FASA is a very traditional, crunchy RPG.

Talislanta by various. Talislanta is a classic fantasy RPG set in an extremely unique fantasy setting that promises ABSOLUTELY NO ELVES. Talislanta is a very unique vision of a fantasy RPG with a very idiosyncratic setting, unique metaphysics, weird sights, and extremely easy to learn yet deep system. The system is very simple, with a basic d20+modifiers resolution mechanic, with varying degrees of success built in, and this system is used for absolutely everything, including combat, skill resolution, and magic. Speaking of magic, Talislanta's magic system is based heavily on keywords and schools, with magic-users being potentially able to produce almost any kind of magical effect the player can imagine under the keyword system, but with certain types of magic simply being more fit to certain purposes and some types of magic not being able to produce certain specific magical effects. What's more, legacy editions of the game are available online for free.

Anyway, that's enough for now.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Writing Mysteries for tabletop games

It’s no wonder I’ve had a lot of requests for how to write mysteries, compelling adventures that account for the party’s choices are hard enough to write on their own, to say nothing of what happens when the challenge you’re having them face off against is meant to be a brain teaser.  Mysteries are difficult to get right, too obvious and it’s not a mystery at all, too difficult and your session will run up against a brick wall. Finding that middle point isn’t just a matter of gearing the numbers a certain way or preparing the right number of clues, it requires doing a certain amount of work to understand the story of the mystery as a mechanism both in its initial construction and in how it’s presented to the party.

Characters: At it’s core, solving a mystery is a character study, how the life of a perpetrator led them to have a particular set of drives and restraints, and how a very particular set of circumstances led to those drives running wild and destroying other people’s lives in the process.

The cast: notice how the previous entry referred to characterS? A mystery is an ensemble piece and since a person can generally remember up to seven things at once, it means you get to include up to seven detailed or semi-detailed characters to play with in your drama (including victims). That isn’t to say that there can’t be bit players in your story, but its a good idea to associate them strongly with one your main cast. For each major character you either have to give them a reason why they’d want to commit the crime, or a piece of evidence that ties them directly to it. Likewise, they all need to have a secret/hidden motivation, which will guide how they act as the mystery proceeds.

Placing clues: mysteries leave clues like a bomb leaves shrapnel, with the tricky business being that a good portion of it ends up buried in the wall and it’s hard to tell which bits are the bomb and what parts are just the mundane objects that got caught up in its explosion. Again, following our rule of 7, we can further set out that about half of the clues at each stage of the investigation will be hidden, while another will be obvious, while separately 2/3rds of the clues are going to be either red herrings ( complete dead ends) or only be helpful in fully discounting one of the suspects.

On the Clock: Taking a page out of my own advice when it comes to running a fancy ball, you’re going to want to have your mystery plot occur over a strict timeline, which will change who’s available to talk to and what clues are revealed over the course of the investigation. Generally time sensitive evidence will be worth more, while evergreen evidence will exist to provide context to other clues, or need to be paired together to make real progress. Shifting the timeline along also means that NPCs can enact their own plans, whether it means pursuing their own investigation, altering, uncovering, or destroying evidence, or attempting to escape.

Wheels within Wheels: Often mysteries are nested together, as the fallout of one wrongdoing goes on to provide the motivation for another. A party who’re investigating will likely receive evidence that’s a jumble of their main mystery and its nested mysteries, and by solving these lesser steps the party can either shed a light on motives or help discount other avenues of search.

Consequences: Just like every other d&d adventure, one of the most important steps is making the party care about the adventure and its outcome. They have to be at risk of losing something they care about, or have already lost it and are looking for revenge. This can be anything from a promising job opportunity, their reputation, an npc they enjoy the company of, or their own freedom. Likewise, you need to have an idea what happens if the party fails to solve the mystery. How does it affect the heroes, or the characters that are part of the mystery, or the world at large?

Feel free to check my mystery tag for more inspiration for your own games, or my dm advice tag for more of my highly specific ramblings on how you can become a better dungeon master

[theresattrpgforthat]

Ooh right — what would you recommend for roleplaying life in the Silo, from the Silo Saga by Hugh Howey?

Theme: Silo Saga

Hello friend! So I looked up Silo Saga thanks to your request, and I appreciate the further details that you provided me. I started looking for games with underground themes, and then went back and broadened my search for games in cramped spaces.

So with that premise, let's see what we have that hits the mark, or gets close to it at least.

Worlds of Legacy: Generation Ship, by UFO Press.

You’re trapped inside the heart of a decaying generation ship drifting between the stars. How will you survive and find a new home?

Your families woke up from cryostasis halfway through a thousand year journey. Now you must find a way to live on a ship that wasn’t intended to support long-term habitation, keep it running, and try to make sure future generations reach the promised land at the end of your journey.

You’ll need the core rulebook of Legacy: Life Among the Ruins in order to play this game, but it definitely fits the bill. Each player controls a Family with a specific role on the ship, as well as a character who has a unique narrative role within that family. Legacy games like to zoom out and look at long-term changes, so you are likely going to watch your families change according to the needs of the ship as time passes - and who knows, you might even get to your final destination as part of your end-game.

Depths Below, by Josh Domanski.

The surface of the Earth is barren. Left uninhabitable by countless environmental disasters. What remains of humanity has moved into underwater cities, the last of which is known as Terminus. 

Take the role of humanity's last hope, doing what's necessary to survive while the elite cower in wait for the inevitable end.  Depths Below is a complete RPG by Josh Domanski. It uses and expands upon the rules and systems developed for 24XX by Jason Tocci.

I think there are some ties to Silo that you might be able to see in Depths Below, even if the setting is a little bit different. The underwater city of Terminus is just as fraught and dystopian as the underground Silo, with political factions and plenty of hierarchies. The world above the waves is much more a mystery than it is in Silo, and there’s not much in the game that encourages you to seek out the surface - which means you are well and truly trapped.

When it comes to how to play the game, you’ll want a number of different polyhedral dice, as the size of the dice rolled depends on your skill level. Rolling a 5 or higher is a success, and you can use your gear to mitigate harm or give you the ability to do something. The actual rules of play only fill about one page of this game, but there’s an extra 12 pages of lore, character options, beasts to fight, and roll tables for the GM!

Underground, by emmy.

UNDERGROUND is an 8 page gm-less tabletop roleplaying game, where you take on the roles of post-apocalyptic factions living within the remnants of a metro system.

The details of the Cataclysm that brought you down here are long forgotten. You now have the chance to forge your own world.

Underground has a similar premise to the Silo saga in that you are groups of people living underground, in a post-apocalypse. However, the apocalypse looks much more recent, and as the players are all representing different factions, I’m not sure if there’s the same sort of hierarchical structure as seen with the different factions of the Silo - it might be if everyone agrees to represent it that way!

The biggest difference is the structure of these underground settlements - they’re not purposefully built to house people, they’re the old metro system that just happened to be there. You use d6’s to help construct the metro map, including spaces that may have not been fully explored yet. The biggest draw of this game is the exploration, so if you want to spend some time just building your own (altered) version of an underground dystopia, this might be the game for you.

Apocalypse World, by Meguey & Vincent Baker.

Something's wrong with the world and I don't know what it is. It used to be better, of course it did. In the golden age of legend, when there was enough to eat and enough hope, when there was one nation under god and people could lift their eyes and see beyond the horizon, beyond the day. Children were born happy and grew up rich.

Now that's not what we've got. Now we've got this. One of the classic post-apocalyptic games in the scene, Apocalypse World might be able to give you what you’re looking for, if you’re willing to establish some serious world-building. This game has been played in all sorts of apocalypses, and the truths of each one is dependant on what the game group is looking for, as well as which playbooks you choose to use.

Pick up a Hardholder or Brainer if you want someone who knows all too much and is trying to hide that information or control it. Play an Angel if you want to be needed. Play a savvyhead if you want to know how things work, and pick up a Hocus if you want to lead a faction of this settlement to a rebellion. You might want to cut out Choppers and Drivers though - underground, there’s not as much room for engines or gangs of roving bikers.

Neon Black, by NotWriting.

Neon Black is a role-playing game about a community of poor people fighting back against tyrannical corporations and the indifference of the rich, as well as surviving in a dystopian city state. It’s like real life, but in this world you can kill the CEO’s, rob banks to pay rent, and help your friends do the same. You'll help your community, go on dangerous heists, explore artificial realities, and encounter friendly and nefarious machines. We play to find out if the community can survive amidst warring corporations, an unforgiving climate, and the negligence of the extravagantly wealthy.

When putting together your crew in Neon Black, you need to decide which community you live in, and both the 55 (an apartment complex) and the Chariot (an abandoned space station) are possible candidates for communities with no other place to go. The biggest theme that resonates is the mega-corporations that have put you there in the first place.

Neon Black is a Forged in the Dark game, and it’s exceptionally good for playing a long-term faction game. There will be plenty of groups with interests that align or oppose yours, and you’ll be doing missions to help the people you care about while trying to take down those who don’t care about you. The biggest difference between this game and the Silo setting is the introduction of cyberware. Setting up the game is a bit of work, but I think it has legs!

For Similar Vibes…

White Sands, by Critical kit, has a dystopian feeling and the desire for rebellion, but on an Earth where clean air now has a price tag.

Lost Eons, by David Blandy, is for folks who want to explore the world after they breach their underground Havens, a world completely mutated and changed into a solar punk, sci-fantasy future.

2XXX: Promised Land, by Quasinfinity Games, looks like it starts on a spaceship, and with the horror undertones it presents, I'm skeptical about your cultists ever reaching the planet they're headed for.

My Post-Apocalyptic Community Rec List (has some overlap).

[dailycharacteroption]

Races Among the Stars 8: Kobolds

And we end off this week’s special with your, mine, and the internet’s favorite: Kobolds. Those delightful little draconic scamps that have wormed their way into our hearts (and other bodily organs) over the years.

Kobolds weren’t initially in Starfinder officially, partially because when the system first launched, the writers had trouble finding a niche for them in the setting that already had so many small-sized lovable scamp species in it, ranging from old classics like gnomes and halflings, to the recently promoted core option of the ysoki, and of course the Pathfinder staple of goblins, it’s hard to justify yet another such species, or so goes the claim. Personally the fact that there’s literally a planet in the Pact Worlds with an entire continent of dragon-ruled nation-states seemed like the perfect basis for me, but that is just my two cents.

In any case, kobolds are back, first appearing in the Alien Character Deck along with other Golarion staples, and later being expanded upon in Interstellar Species!

But kobolds have changed a bit in the millennia since the days of Pathfinder, so let’s go over that real quick-like!

When the Gap ended, kobolds were… conspicuously absent from the multiverse, and many assumed that they shared the same fate as the missing world of Golarion.

However, a century later (which is still several centuries before the current point in the timeline), the first experiments with witchwarping magic began, and while those first forays mostly brought into existence strange machines that seemed to be non-functional within the constraints of local physics and reality, with them came reptilian humanoids which were apparently, by all analysis and their own admission, the missing kobolds, leading to an entire population of them inhabiting Absalom Station and beyond.

Where things get especially strange, however, is the effect these first-generation kobolds had on reality. They had in their possession keys to empty apartments that somehow nobody had noticed before, credentials for jobs that seemed not to exist before. It was as if reality was bending to give the kobolds a place in the world. Whether this place was folded into the main reality when they arrived or existed before and was obscured is another mystery.

It seems apparent that during the Gap, kobold-kind, or at least some of it, saw whatever even the Gap obscures coming and use advanced reality warping technology and magic to shunt themselves off into a pocket reality somewhere between another universe and a demiplane, perhaps the border of the main one, until the event had past and further witchwarping events and experiments called them back. Of course, wherever they were, they did not escape the effects of the Gap itself, and have no memory of that time.

The result is an origin that is one part an excellent way to give kobolds a new refreshing backstory in this far-future age, as well as a funny meta-joke about literally injecting kobolds back into the setting.

However, it should be noted that while that first generation warped reality around themselves, kobolds born into the setting’s universe properly have not manifested nearly as many strange, reality warping events, though the secrets of witchwarping are now heavily associated with kobolds in the same way that draconic power and magic is.

Starfinder-era kobolds were introduced after Pathfinder Second Edition came out, meaning that they have the distinctive appearance from that edition, which I was not a fan of, but the design has grown on me over time.

Kobold are small reptiles with somewhat oversized craniums covered in scales that come in a variety of colors ranging across the rainbow and even rare metallic shades, reflecting the traditional colors of chromatic and metallic dragons and plenty in-between. Additionally, they also possess horns, most commonly two oversized backwards-sweeping ones, though some sport up to 8 smaller horns. They also possess sharp teeth and a long tail for counterbalancing their craniums, though their small size and unimpressive physiques usually make these unappealing options for self-defense.

It is also notable that most kobolds also go through rare periods of flux, their bodies changing as the witchwarping magic that infuses them makes changes. Usually these are benign, things like bouts of nausea, developing a new allergy or repelling pathogens, but others are more extreme, manifesting dramatic spell effects. The most disruptive are thankfully rare, but aspiring witchwarpers use them as the basis for their magic, developing and controlling these warps.

Kobolds are a communal species, and so they often seek to aid their communities whenever possible, and a kobold child can be expected to be raised not just by their parents but by the whole community. However, kobolds also have a deep pride as a people, stemming from the truth that they know in their heart of hearts: kobolds are dragons, and the fact that their forms a diminutive and weak is one of the universe’s great injustices. Plenty believe that in whatever reality they were in before returning, they wore the mighty shape of true dragons, while others believe that this is a convenient folktale. Either way, this has birthed several philosophies, including those that seek to unlock their draconic heritage, those that seek to reclaim the power and wealth they believe they deserve, and of course those that seek to ignore all that and just live their lives in the reality they find themselves in.

Kobolds are agile and passionate, but frail.

That being said, their scales provide some decent protection in a pinch.

With their keen minds, these tiny reptiles have a special knack for engineering and physics, true to their long history of trap and weapon building.

The colors of a kobold’s scales are not just for show. Indeed, that coloration indicates some genetic similarities with various forms of dragon, granting them resistance to acid, cold, electricity, of flame to match.

Kobolds have a lot of fun options as characters. Their charisma and association with the art makes them excellent witchwarpers, not to mention other charisma classes like solarian, envoy, and the like. Their agility also makes them good picks for operatives as well as most any ranged combat build, including ranged soldiers, evolutionists (particularly those seeking a draconic form), and so on. Their love of building and intricate devices also makes mechanic and technomancer thematic choices as well, and biohackers might seek to unlock the secrets of dragonhood in their genetics. They also have a history of magic, making mystic and especially precog good choices as well. Their only real weakness seems to be their con, making nanocyte, vanguard, and any especially tanky builds somewhat difficult, but not impossible. Additionally, beyond classes, the Interstellar Species book has lots of feats meant to represent kobolds unlocking their draconic potential, ranging from wings, a breath weapon, and outright gaining a draconic alternate form!

And that’s it for this week! Through a curious accident of how I’ve been picking which species to cover, this week has been mostly species that are relics of the fantasy origins of the setting, which is neat to point out. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed it, and look forward to more options next week!

[inbarfink]

Alright, so the way I see it right now the Dark Worlds run on “Neverending Story Logic”, they’re created when Dark Fountains are opened, but they are created already with full history and memories for everyone inside them as if they alwas existed. But here’s another important element I want to touch on...

How does this work with the mysterious entity that keeps driving people mad and creating Secret Bosses?

Like, this feels a bit too Ominous to just be a retroactively-existing backstory element, right?

And, I think... I think one of the reasons why this is so Ominous is because this is kinda goes against the rules of how Dark Worlds are supposed to work?? Like, whoever or whatever this ‘someone’ is, they are something very Not Normal and this is partially demonstrated by the screwy way they interact with the Dark Worlds. 

(Also for the sake of clarity, I will be referring to this unknown entity as Someone with a capital ‘S’ for the reminder of this post. I would also be making some references to the very popular theory that Someone is actually Dr. W. D. Gaster, but I will only be using his name when directly talking about aspects of my theory/interpetations that factor in the idea that Someone is Gaster)

I think that Someone might be able to, like, ‘infect’ newly-created Dark Fountains with their own presence. Like, to retcon themself into the history of the Dark World once it’s created? Maybe they can travel to the ‘past-that-has-always-been-there’ of a Dark World even though it’s not supposed to ‘actually exist’? Or maybe they truly only exist as a Backstory Element in various Dark Worlds but are somehow also aware of the fact that they do not truly exist save for in the past and the third-person, and are working with that knowledge? A villain you could never confront under normal circumstances because they never ‘is’ and always ‘were’? 

I think all of these options kinda make sense within the Neverending Story Logic while also being kinda brain-breaking in the way that they directly interact with the paradox in the center of it all, which is The Point.

And I think it all work pretty well with the idea that Someone is Gaster. Cause, like, Gaster in Undertale was stuck in a weird state of nonexistence and  existence where he DID exist in the past (since his creations, most notably the CORE were still around) but somehow it’s like he never existed in the present. So him (or even just some sort of being related to him) being able to interact with the Deltarune universe only through the Past Tense and\or through Worlds that technically do not exist kinda makes sense to me???

And it also factors into one thing I’ve noticed about our Secret Bosses which is.... there are all potrayed as having been somewhat ‘corrupted’ by Someone but it’s... never really in a way that corrupts their nature as Darkners representing spesific objects?

You know, it’s not really “this Darkner is a representation of Object and therefore they are X, but then Someone came along and through their influence the Darkner became Y” as much as it is “this Darkner is a representation of Object and therefore they are X but they actually used to be Y before Someone came along and made them X”. 

Like, Jevil is locked up because he has been driven mad by Someone, but also because the Jocker Card is often ‘locked out’ from many Card Games. The greater understanding of the world given to him by Someone seems to have made him more powerful and unpredictable... but powerful and unpredictable  is also just what a Joker card is. 

Spamton is a barely-coherent madman living in a [[GODDAM GARBAGE CAN]] because of Someone’s influence, but also because Spam Mail is often barely-coherent and usually gets thrown in the garbage (and Spamton spesifically seems to have been created by a pile of spam-emails in the recycling bin).

When Someone abandoned Spamton and left him to crash and burn, can we call that an intentional act of maliciousness on their part? Or was that simply an inevitability that not even they could stop, because Spamton is fated to end up in the garbage when he reaches his actual present-day ‘creation’?

Like, just as I can say “from a Darkner’s perspective they and their world always existed but really they are created by the Dark Fountains” I can also say “from a Darkner’s perspective, if Someone hadn’t come along, Jevil would still just be the Court Jester and Spamton would still be a somewhat incompetent Addison. But from really, without Someone’s influance, Jevil would still be a Very Strong Clown in Jail and Spamton would still be a rambling garbage-dwelling conman, it’s just that the reason to their situation wouldn’t be Someone-related. 

Cause you have like the Dark Fountain kinda forming the Joker Card into a Powerful Clown that is Locked Away, and then Somone butts in like “and the REASON for why he’s locked away is MEEE”. An the other Dark Fountain is like ‘Spam Mail in a Bin’ = ‘A weird conman who lives in the trash and is both very driven but incredibly incompetent and kinda off-putting’ and then Someone makes it so They Did This to Him. But by doing that they did corrupt Jevil and Spamton further due to their otherworldly and paradoxical nature, and the knowledge they seem to hold. If Someone hadn’t interfered, Jevil might not be quite as powerful and Spamton might not be quite as miserable, but there’s still isn’t truly an option for Jevil and Spamton to remain the people they and other Darkners remember them once being.

And linking this back to Gaster... in the Undertale’s universe his situation was very much that he was... a Cause removed, while his Effects still remained. Again, even though he seemed to have been somewhat ‘erased’, the CORE he designed still remains standing and active. 

And meanwhile here we have Someone as, like the way I think they operate, they’re like a rogue Cause attaching itself to Effects. Which is possible because they truly are reversed when it comes to the Darkner’s pasts. And I think that if Gaster’s goal is just, basically, to Exist within the Deltarune Universe  - there’s a certain logic in the idea that he’s trying to Make Himself Exist by inserting himself into Darkner’s backstories, no matter if it keeps driving them crazy(er).

This also raises the question of like... did Someone have any agency in picking their ‘Effects’? Like, is the reason why Someone’s has influanced Darkners that ‘make sense’ for them to influance like Jevil and Spamton and not like... Jigsaw Joe and Tasque Manager is because Someone is deliberatly trying to minimize their corrupting influance by targeting Darkners would be kinda Fucked Up regardless? Or is it something that they can’t even control and it’s more that the powers of Inevitability of the Dark Worlds make it so they can’t change what the Darkners are too much?  

Man I hope any of this makes sense it’s like 4AM lol.

[torchship-rpg]

Dev Diary 1 - What is Torchship?

Hello everyone! I’m Erika Chappell, @open-sketchbook​ on tumblr, and I’m the game designer for Torchship, the space exploration tabletop roleplaying game. I’ve been working on this game, in some form or another, since 2016, and it’s incredibly exciting to be approaching a form with it that we can show off to other people.

Showing off is the point of these dev diaries; we’ve done an enormous amount of work behind the scenes over the past year, and while not all of it is ready for primetime and not everything fits together properly yet, there’s a huge amount of game and world and I’m tired of waiting to show it off. These dev diaries will be a way of showing off what we’ve done, share what we’re working on, and get excited about what’s to come.

What is Torchship? 

As this is the first diary, I should probably talk about what the game actually is, right?

Torchship is a tabletop roleplaying game about exploring a vast and complex future galaxy of mysteries and danger. It is a traditional structured game with a GM and multiple players, who take the role of the foremost crew members of a rocket ship in uncharted space. It runs on a custom d6 system, designed around a set of solid core mechanics which expand into in-depth subsystems for whatever part of the game interests you.

It is, in many ways, a very retro sort of RPG. It’s deliberately aiming to be maximalist, not minimalist, with extensive and interlinking systems available for whatever possibilities your stories run into and mechanics everywhere you look to sink your teeth into. Each individual mechanic is simple and the game is designed so that you only deal with small subsets at a time in places where it’s appropriate, metering out the complexity similar to how the Routine in Flying Circus cut down on the number of moves in play at any one time.

You play as members of Star Patrol, a multifaceted agency of the Interstellar Union of Republics, or Star Union for short. The IUR is a very new and relatively small alliance thrust to the status of a superpower by the collapse of the local empire. It is ringed on all sides by potentially or actively hostile states, not to mention the looming threat of godlike powers and ancient civilizations that truly rule local space. 

Star Patrol are equal parts explorers, diplomats, prospectors, spies, and watchmen, tasked with the impossible task of charting millions of unexplored or long-lost stars for resources, allies, and advantages as the borders close in and the power vacuum closes. Funding is tight and resources scarce; you’ll be the only ship for dozens of light years, but if you’re successful, if you can light the way, the future might be bright after all.

FTL Drives & Radiators

While Torchship’s inspiration is obvious, it might be more accurate to say that it is informed by Star Trek. It is not an attempt to make A Trek Game that directly emulates the feel of an episode; it instead aims to explore, reimagine, critique, and deconstruct its inspiration while injecting new ideas from outside. 

One of the main ways it differs is by lingering on logistical concerns which are usually handwaved away and emphasising that you are space explorers, people out in the vast expanse, clinging to fragile bubbles of oxygen and water. Our mission statement for tone is Star Trek with Radiators; shiny space ships with all the retro trappings combined with the enormous glowing heat management systems.

This is deeper than just an aesthetic. Torchship is not hard science fiction, but there is nothing stopping you from putting realistic reaction engines and impossible teleporters side by side, nor from treating that teleporter as a complex machine that still obeys some kind of laws.

Or, in other words, the ship can go faster than the speed of light, but it still needs to do something with the waste heat it generates.

This principle manifests in dangers: Decompression, high-g forces, and radiation are huge threats, heat builds up, vacuum sucks. Instead of the consoles exploding, projectiles zip through the hull and lasers chew through vital parts. But… it’s going to be okay, because you still have impossible energy shields and amazing medicine and tools to repair any damage.

It is also present in the politics and logistics focus of the game. Torchship is a game about scarcity; you have to carry all the resources you need with you, and there are no magic replicators. Somebody, somewhere, labours for everything you use. This system connects to the political aspect; all your choices will be reflected onto the Star Union as a whole, and will shape who they become over time.

Development

Right now, Torchship is in an alpha state. It is still actively being written and rewritten with an eye toward playtesting and public betas. We are filling out the website (which will act as a big setting encyclopedia) and assembling 3d assets for creating artwork.

Torchship is an independent production and it’s being developed by a very small team. Despite that, we’re going to make the best damn space game there ever was.

[sunnyrosewritesstuff]

Poll 3- Past Teases

This poll is for which fic you want to see updated on July 15th as part of my 7 day birthday gifts to the fans! If you are unfamiliar with my works or need a reminder, check out the links and summaries below the “read more” before you vote. Other poll information for this week can be found here.

And any fics that don’t win but still collect a substantial amount of votes are eligible for a Redemption Vote on June 6th! Otherwise, thank you for your participation! 😍😁

For the Love of My Husband- Conman Bilbo; Bilbo is a thief and a conman who has tricked Thorin, Crown Prince of Erebor, to marry him as an escape from a tight spot. He thought their marriage was happily enough, but Thorin feels a disconnect from the hobbit he’s married. To appease his family and strengthen their bond, Thorin asks Bilbo to take the Trial of Souls with him. Problem is, Bilbo doesn’t want Thorin to know anything about him because they are most assuredly not Ones. And if Thorin learns the truth, Bilbo will find himself back in the streets or worse…

I Married an Assassin- True Lies AU; Twelve years ago, Bilbo fell for a charming man who saved his life in his university library. While he loves his husband and their son, he finds his life to be a bit…dull. So when he comes across the adventure of a lifetime, he has to take it! Only this particular adventure has the potential to crash his life around him considering his boring accountant husband might actually be an assassin who’s been doing his best to keep him out of the eyes of a terrorist organization due to a clue left behind by his mother.

Outdated Version

Erebor’s Monster- Merman AU; Bilbo is investigating ‘Erebor’s Monster’ in secret trying to discovery the nature of all the mysterious disappearances the town has suffered. However, Bilbo soon finds himself on a discovery that will shake his core belief system completely if he is to help Mayor Thorin Oakenshield recover that which was lost and defeat an ancient evil for good.

Heart of the Mountain- Evil Arkenstone AU; What if Thror wasn’t mad like everyone thought? What if the Arkenstone was truly at fault? Questions Bilbo and Thorin will have to answer together after Bilbo is swallowed by the gem. Bilbo and Thorin must work together to conquer the magic of the Arkenstone while Bilbo is invisible and forgotten by the others without making Thorin look as insane as his grandfather. Also, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to maybe work out why exactly the Arkenstone considered Bilbo, Thorin’s heart as well.

Bedding Burglars and Chasing Dragons- Mafia/Detective AU; When Thorin Oakenshield transferred to Ered Luin PD, there was really only one thing on his mind: finally catch the monster that destroyed his family. However, he quickly learns Ered Luin lives under the rule of the local mafia and figures the only way to catch Smaug is to pretend to be a dirty cop and make nice with the supposed crime boss known only as “The Burglar”.

Outdated Version 1 | Outdated Version 2 (chances are I’ll still use the scenes but role reverse between Bilbo and Thorin)

Bonded- Hobbits are Dragon Herders AU; The Naming Ceremony where a hobbit bonds with his dragon for the first time is supposed to be a blessing, Bilbo’s came as more of a curse when he was chosen as the Alpha-Bond. Bilbo and Smaug have never gotten along, but after a Naming Ceremony goes wrong and Smaug is fleeing the Shire, Bilbo knows he will stop at nothing until he sees their Alpha safely home.

From the Seed of a Sunflower- Thumbelina AU; Thorin assures Bilbo he will be fine on his mission to return the Arkenstone to the heart of the mountain, but Bilbo still worries for his Raven Rider. When Frerin is attacked before Bilbo's very eyes, Bilbo takes up the stone and joins the others on a journey where he will discover he is more than just a boy born from a sunflower seed.

A Storm is Coming- Time Travel AU; Bilbo made a wish on the Arkenstone to spare Thorin's life. Later Thorin makes a careless wish in return, and Bilbo ends up in a different time with the memories of before.

Oakenshield's Fourteen- Heist AU; After being framed and imprisoned for embezzlement, Thorin is out for revenge. He's going to need a crew if he's going to pull off this heist though, and he's not so sure about Gandalf's fourteenth man.

Other- Is there another fic I’ve teased that you are nuts about? Choose other and put it in the tags or in a comment!

[rebeccalouisaferguson]

SILO Review Round Up 

“By far the highlight is the ensemble playing the Silo populous, including Shane McRae, Iain Glen, and Harriet Walter, with Rebecca Ferguson helming the show with the determination of Lady Jessica but the gaslighting skills of Bennett Marco in The Manchurian Candidate.” x

“ ...the heart of the story lies with Rebecca Ferguson's Juliette on her quest for truth...Ferguson, who also served as executive producer, is pitch-perfect as Juliette.” x

“...none of this would be anywhere near as impactful without Ferguson leading the way. There are a whole host of other power players we come to know, but it is her performance that provides the emotional core...

"Ferguson proves that she is always more than up to the task. The performance is not one that is flashy, but that actually makes it all the more memorable. While there are villainous characters we come to know that can end up a bit cartoonish, she brings an understated gravitas which serves as the grounding force the show needs. With all the rituals and rules that Silo can get caught up in, it is she who gives it a greater humanity. Even just a calm yet defiant stare she gives in one of the most striking scenes cuts deep when it counts.” x

“Rebecca Ferguson, whose performance is one of brittle strength that masks quiet hopelessness, is at her best when engaging with talented, committed scene partners like Harriet Walter (who plays her agoraphobic mentor), Tim Robbins (an eccentric intellectual), and Sophie Thompson (an enigmatic fertility specialist)”  x

“Ferguson brings just the right level of sharp-eyed intensity required — as if parachuted in from a Scandi noir, sans knitwear.” x

“Ferguson was smart to get attached to “Silo” because she’s incredible in this role. That might not be surprising to fans of her work as she’s put together quite the portfolio with her work in “Mission: Impossible,” “Doctor Sleep,” and “Dune.” But as Juliette, she gets to play a woman who has the physical strength to face the steep challenges in front of her, as well as the willpower to see her convictions to the finish. There’s a lot asked of her regarding the physicality of the role as she battles her way up the many floors of the silo. There’s also her emotional side as her relationship with her estranged father” x

“Rebecca Ferguson's performance in Silo is sure to have her phone ringing off the hook in the coming months.” x

“It obviously helps having someone like Rebecca Ferguson as your main character, but she’s also given a lot to work with. Juliette’s introduction tells you everything you need to know about her right away to get you invested in her story, but the script still makes her a complex character as we learn more about her...” x

“The rest does one Rebecca Ferguson absolutely in part, capable of endowing Juliette’s character with an almost repelling emotional ferocity. The Scandinavian-born actress works beautifully in developing a body language and a type of acting capable of explaining the inner life of the character, a female figure that is anything but obvious. The inner wounds of the woman are represented by the abrupt shots, by the angry, from words let out even just by gnashing your teeth. We are light years away from the elegant and charismatic performances through which we have come to appreciate Ferguson: in Silo she offers us a new range of her possibilities as an interpreter, confirming an admirable versatility.”x

“Ferguson is brilliant in her role...x

“Led by a gutsy, complex performance from Rebecca Ferguson (Dune), this mystery unfolds at a steady pace, with some shocking revelations teased along the way.” x

“I loved Rebecca Ferguson in this show. And you can feel the passion she has for this project, as star and executive producer…” x

“Ferguson puts on a brilliant performance...”x

[itspdameronthings]

Benny The Rookie Cop Ch4

Summary: Has been awhile since my last post. Had soo many ideas for this one! At long last its done! This chapter has some drama, Benny being a big baby. Finally ! the mystery women in Sant's room!

Santi's POV: 

That voice. Sounded familiar to me,but for the life of me I couldn't place it! Turned around to see her! Can't it be?! Thought.. oh fuck! Am I dreaming? Lilly? After all of these years? Here!? Taking a step forward,” Sure you can. What are you doing here?” Sat down to tell me why she is in rehab. Same reason why I'm here. Not saying too much about it. Heard my voice earlier this evening when she first arrived. Seeing her reminds me of our childhood. Going off on our own,and looking after Gracie while ma was working. After highschool we lost touch. Till we met up again at basic training. Then we parted again. She went to the med core. Then things went to shit after endless relationships ended badly. Okay, we have something to share in that department. Took her hand,” We will lick this together. Hopefully this time we can overcome this addiction. Gracie would love to see you when I tell her “ When she heard me mention Gracie made her tear up. Always wondered what happened to her. Told her about being married to Benny. Also her being a nurse. Hearing that made her tear up again. We chatted till both of us fell asleep. Forgot about the rule about no patients in the room after a certain hour. Helped her to her room. Till I heard her whispering,” Just like old times Tang.” 

Yeah like old times. Times when we walked home from a party because my truck ran out of gas. Oh those highschool days. Followed by that time during basic when we got kp duty because of a prank gone wrong. Sorry Redfly! Took her hand,” Get some rest now lily pills. Another day in rehab land. Especially with Dr. Relationship wrecker.” Lilly looked at me all confused,” Why is that who’s” Whispers the answer in her ear as I walked towards my room. Not till I see another familiar face . Fish’s wife, Redfly 's ex,” What are you doing on this floor? Thought you were in labor and delivery?” Molly practically slugs me on the shoulder. While rolling her eyes,” I'm on my rehab rotation you jackass! Did your sister tell you anything? Oh right her mind is on her husband right now. Poor guy being shot in the ass.” Rubbing my shoulder as I opened my room door,” Yeah , that smarts . Wanna say congrats to your marriage. Glad you are happy. I mean it. Both of you need some happiness. Also wanna ..” Molly knew what I was gonna say. Took her a while to process the information about Tom. Glad the trust fund has helped to continue with her nursing school. Want to work not to live off the trust all that much. Saved portion of it for the girls’ education. Frankie finally got his pilot license,and now flies for the fire department. Proud of you man. Molly leans against the doorframe telling me that she has faith in me. Also she has my back on the doctor issue. Since she is gonna be helping her. More importantly to give her two cents. Love her spunk! 

Gracie’s POV: 

Forgot how much sleep one loses in the hospital Nurses come in to check on his vitals and such. Now they know about his lower back tattoo! Beautiful rose bud. His way to have me near him. So sweet! Have one same location, boxing glove. Which he loves so much. My thoughts were dashed when Benny moaned for me. Poor baby boy having a bad dream. Calmed him down by touching him ever so gently and slowly. Followed by me singing softly to him. He opened his eyes ever so slowly,” Hmm … such a sweet little voice ya have. Perfect thang to hear right now. Wished …” Kisses him slowly,” I know baby. Wished we were in our bed. Hopefully that will happen. Hope I can convince the docs for me to tend to you rather than someone else. Can't have that.” 

No he doesn't want that. Have another nurse to take care of him. Lay next to him facing him while touching his face ever so gently till a nurse from the ER comes in to tell me that I'm needed! Hello! My shift is over! 

Benny's POV:

Nurse’s work is never done! Poor rose bud. Tired rose bud. Heard her out in the hallway,but quietly telling a nurse that she needs to be with me! In her tired state won't be a good idea! Darn tooting it isn't! You tell her darlin. Hate the fact I can't  lay on my ass. Not complainin . Okay! I am! Ass fucking hurts. Need more meds! See, my iv bag looks like a prune! Heard Gracie mumbling as she pressed the call button. Good girl! Give me more of that stuff. Sound of the same nurse comes in with an IV bag. Closed my eyes since the light was bright as fuck! Hurry the fuck up! Turn that light off! Moments later the room is dark again. Moonlight shines through the window. God she looks beautiful. Kiss her soft lips,” Rest my wife. Gonna need some strength to give the ER a what for,and see if I'll be sprung out of this joint. “ 

Morning finally comes. Oh fucking great! 7am my doc ,and a few med students are at attention as he checks my ass wound. Sayin it has healed up pretty good. Yeah yeah! Get to the part when I can get out of here already sheech! Heard him sayin that I'll be gettin out of here sometime this morning! Finally! Seeing my wife smile. Till two familiar voices fills the room! Frankie and Will! Gracie closes the door as she and the doctor,and students chit chat out in the hall. 

Both of them try not to tease me all too much about my wound. That's fine! I'm a big boy! Can take it! Will begins to ease my pain by tellin funny, childhood stories till Gracie comes in,” Looks like I'm gonna be someone's private nurse, handsome husband of mine.” Hell fucking yeah baby! 

Note: I'll be doing a mini chapter. I know y'all wanna know what happens when Benny gets home. As for the next chapter? Flashforward few weeks when Benny picks Santi up from rehab. Spend time together. Meanwhile Gracie is in danger all because of Lucy's stupidity.

@dameronscopilot @rhoorl @romanarose @musings-of-a-rose @crookedbreadtimemachine

[adamwatchesmovies]

Scream VI (2023)

If there’s a horror franchise no one should’ve expected to continue for over 20 years, it's Scream. Every entry has found something new to say about the horror films it both pays tribute to and makes fun of while delivering visceral thrills and compelling mysteries. Scream VI, starts promisingly but winds up delivering mostly more of what we’ve seen before rather than innovating, which is a disappointment. It’s still worth seeing but isn’t essential, and when you’re this deep into a franchise, you need to be.

It’s been one year since the events of Scream V. In New York City, Sam and Tara Carpenter (Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega), along with Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown) are brought in for interrogation after a string of murders committed by someone dressed in a Ghostface costume. In no time, Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) is there reporting and everyone receives threatening phone calls from someone who wants to continue the “movie” Richie Kirsch and Amber Freeman started. With everyone and their roommates (which include Tara’s roommate, played by Liana Liberato, Chad’s roommate, played by Jack Champion and Mindy’s girlfriend, played by Devyn Nekoda) threatened, are they supposed to stay close together and keep an eye on each other, or stay apart and risk being alone when the killer shows up?

The meta angle of this film is that it is not really a continuation of the Scream franchise; it’s a sequel to 2022’s Scream a.k.a. Scream 5 and a post-revival, post requel sequel. This means - in theory - that Ghostface is “the main character” in the same way Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger were in the later chapters of their series. Ghostface is now the face of the franchise. Everyone else is expendable, to be replaced with new victims in the future so we can have a steady flow of blood and gore. It also means that we’re now following Tara, Sam, Chad and Mindy - rather than legacy characters like Sidney (Neve Campbell doesn’t appear in the film) - but we still have a link to the past for old fans thanks to Gale. That’s neat, but the downside is that ultimately, it’s doing a lot of what Scream 2 was doing, because Scream 5 was “a do-over” of Scream. Aside from a scene that breaks down the rules of this movie (and one after the credits that's pretty rad), there isn’t much here that feels novel. Aside from a few scenes where characters start becoming slightly indestructible, however, it’s still a well-made whodunnit that will keep you guessing.

Once more, the film’s success comes from the characters. We’ve only met the “core four” one movie ago but already, the thought of them getting killed or grievously injured fills you with anxiety. There’s something about these young performers, their camaraderie and the way they fit in the film that makes you want to see them live. A part of us also wants to see people die, however, so we get plenty of carnage. The killings are particularly brutal and there are a good amount of laughs thrown in too. Basically, everything you want to see in a Scream movie is present. This chapter brings a couple of novel elements to the killing floor, with one attack in a grocery store being particularly effective. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a slasher movie do that trick. Then, there’s the mystery aspect, which is also satisfying. The script by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick keeps you wondering. As you think you're ready to reveal your prediction, someone bites the dust, or narrowly survives an attack (to be fair the latter doesn’t even necessarily clear them, since several of the films have featured multiple killers). The conclusion is particularly well done, even as it sometimes approaches the realm of "preposterous" because it elegantly wipes the slate clean should we get more of these.

What sort of place Scream VI has in the series will be determined by what follows. If we get a weak Scream VII, or nothing at all, the best this film can hope for is to be watched as part of a Scream marathon that's determined to go on to the end. I have some reservations about Scream VI but can already feel this story growing on me, mostly for some clever meta aspects, the core characters, for Gale, and for Roger L. Jackson as the voice of Ghostface. (June 29, 2023)

[yolowritter]

Miraculous Adventurer Au 3: Time to spill the tea!

So...anyone remember back here when I said "this AU is still alive and kicking"? Yeah it's kicking alright. Kicking and screaming as I drag it out of my WIP pile! Welcome back to the show everyone, it's been a while! If you guys want a recap of what this Au is about (+ the Origins episode) I highly encourage you to go read part 2 of this Au here. Yes, I did just link it twice. No, I don't care. Anyway, this is just an info/idea dump for this AU, because it was in my head yesterday and refuses to let me write anything until I rant about it!

First off, I wanna explain the magic system a little better. People don't have actual "classes" like DnD, they just happen to be good at certain things and not great at others, just like real-life proficiencies! There's plenty of types of elemental magic like Water, Fire, Wind, Earth, Thunder, Light, Dark, etc. but not all of them can be casted by humans. Some magic subtypes are excusive to certain races (for example plant-related Earth magic is a druid-only thing), and others are very very rare, to the point where only a few people in the whole world can use a certain type of spells. It doesn't really need to go beyond "medieval fantasy magic", so I'm trying not to overcomplicate it. You're here for the characters and the lore, anyway.

Secondly, let's talk characters! I have almost everyone from the Miraculous Cast making an appearance in this AU, some as adventurers who encounter the Core 4 party (Ladybug, Chat Noir, Carapace and Rena Rouge), some as other roles! Here's a short list to give you an idea of what everyone does! Oh, and I should mention that everyone is in their early to mid twenties here, concerning taverns and the like. The legal drinking age in Medieval Fantasy Land is 18, so we're all good.

Marinette: Adventurer and aspiring fashion designer, travels with "Team Miraculous", including Chat Noir, Nino and Alya. Her adventurer name is Ladybug, and she really didn't mean to get wrapped up in all this hero business. Turns out wanting some extra cash can really go arwy if you tango with the local cat enthusiast. Marinette is the daughter of two bakers from a backwater village, and has always dreamed of being a famous seamstress in the Capital. Now an adult and having saved up for the trip, she ends up in a small town not far from her own home. Wanting additional funds for when she eventually arrives at the city of her dreams, Marinette decides to offer her services to any adventurer whose clothing might need adjustment or repair. Surely this won't lead to her signing up with the Guild, right? Cue the Origins episode from part 2.

Adrien: Son to Gabriel and Emilie Agreste, Prince of the Kingdom. Isolated in his childhood to be protected from political scheming, Adrien has only a few friends that he can rely on. His cousin Felix, and a rich noble girl named Chloe Bourgeois who took an interest in him when they were children. A few months ago, he recieved a marriage proposal from an eastern kingdom, and his parents introduced him to Princess Kagami, a stoic but passionate girl who he becomes fast friends with. But one day, tired and suffocated by his palace life, Adrien seeks to live out his own life away from rules and regulations. With the help of his betrothed and cousin, he and Felix switch places, allowing Adrien to don the mask of Chat Noir and freely travel as an adventurer.

Alya: A girl from a small village in the outskirts of the Kingdom, Alya has a high potential for magic powers. Unfortunately, no matter what type she tries to cast, she has great difficulty with even the simplest of spells, leading her to develop a desire to discover mysteries and the arcane as a way to try out new methods of manifesting this supposed potential. During an encounter with Ladybug and Chat Noir, Alya finds out she's proficient in Illusion Magic, for which a caster hasn't been seen in at least a century.

Nino: Childhood friend and later boyfriend to Alya, who happily supports her mystery solving and looks after his fiery and lovable girlfriend. Has a talent for music and defensive magic, and is a local bard. He knows their small village won't keep Alya occupied forever, and once she manifests her illusion magic, decides to follow in the footsteps of the adventurers who saved her and travel the land at Alya's side.

Chloe: Daughter to a backwater Baron, she's been spoiled her whole life in lieu of any parental attention. Her mother is famous in the world of high society, and so Chloe often gets invited to balls and functions where she presents herself as cold and untouchable despite her techincally low station. Once meeting the young prince Adrien, Chloe felt he was unprepared to deal with the "snakes" of the royal court, and took to being an overprotective friend through their childhoods. She still has unresolved anger issues regarding parental figues, and is extremely jealous of a village girl named Marinette, whose town her father's manor happens to be near, for having the loving parents she's always wanted.

Felix: Cousin to Prince Adrien and son of the late Duke Fathom of Lunden. Coming from a prestigious family and looking almost identical to his cousin due to the Graham De Vanily family having historically superior genetics, Felix is not much different than other nobles in terms of attitude. Cold, calculative and extremely cunning, he thrives in situations where backhanded compliments and polite threats are the norm. Having been isolated from the world by his father to be moulded into the "perfect heir", Felix lacks proper social skills, making up for this fault with sarcasm and quick wit.

Kagami: Princess to one of the Eastern Kingdoms, Kagami Tsurugi is the daughter of a queen despised by her people. Perhaps using her last bit of sense, Tomoe Tsurugi has sent her away to be married off to a western prince, who surprisingly turns out to be quite sweet and kind-hearted. However, while she could see herself and Prince Adrien becoming great friends, there exists no true spark of love between them despite his parents' enthusiastic support of their engagement. Kagami is stoic and prefers those who refuse to hesitate or mince their words...and happens to fall in love with exactly such a man. Adrien's cousin Felix, who quickly falls for her in turns during the few short weeks of wedding preparations. Explanaing the situation to Felix's mother and Kagami's fiance, the four devise a plan to ensure everyone gets their happy ending. With Adrien hurrying away to a life of adventure, Kagami is left to adjust to court life with Felix at her side, needing only to ensure Gabriel and Emilie don't realize their son is not who he seems...

Luka: Travelling bard and former boyfriend to one Marinette Dupain Cheng, what Luka lacks in magical profiency is made up for with great empathy and a golden heart. Coming from the family of a famous pirate, Luka sought to venture the world by land, and make a legitimate living unlike his mother, Anarka. Trusting the retired pirate queen with the safety of his younger sister Juleka, Luka left home to travel, and happened upon a village girl he quickly fell in love with. Despite their mutual feelings for one another, Luka still had big dreams of performing in the royal capital someday, and asked Marinette to come with him so they could be together. Unwilling to abandon all she's ever known, she refused his offer, leading to a mutual breakup. Two years later, Luka happens to visit Marinette's home town again, only to realize she's left it behind. Determined to find his one true love, Luka sets out to find out where she's gone, making new friends along the way.

Okay, that's it for the main cast! I have some details about the secondary characters such as Alix, Kim, Mylene, Ivan, miss Bustier, etc. but I'll add them at a later post. If you're interested in someone specific, feel free to shoot me an ask!

Thirdly and lastly, the storyline! I'll be honest, it doesn't necessarily have to be concrete! Since Gabriel is a standup guy and his wife is very much alive, there is no Hawkmoth! I won't spoil if Lila is or isn't here, that's for a later post, but aside from her...there isn't really a villain here. The Adventurer Au is only meant to be a light-hearted slice-of-life type of story, with the occasional beats thrown in regarding the Lore. For example, Alya and Nino becoming adventurers and quickly joining up with Ladynoir to form Team Miraculous. Chloe calling them back to her manor for a job, and joining up with the gang as Queen Bee for a short time. Ladybug bumping into Luka at some point. The Team finally arriving at the Capital, where Marinette has to wrestle between staying with her friends or going after her dreams. Obviously much more, and I do have an entire plotline about what happens when they finally arrive at the Capital regarding Adrien/Chat Noir, Felix and Kagami! That's actually going to be the subject matter next time, since I really want to share it with everyone! Until then, Stay Miraculous!

[theresattrpgforthat]

THEME: Anime

This week’s recommendations are all anime-inspired games! From Parasite to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, to Mew Mew Power, these games give you awesome powers, emotional turmoil, and the bonds of friendship!

Over Arms, by Rookie Jet Studio.

Over Arms is a rules-light tabletop pen-and-paper role-playing game designed to replicate media like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Persona, FATE, Shaman King and more. Over Arms is set in a world where select people are able to develop an "Anima", a powerful psychic manifestation of their own psyche and will. These "Anima" are able to  assist their "User" in a myriad of ways in and out of combat based on the strengths of their individually unique abilities. In Over Arms players can expect to weave stories of mystery and intrigue as they discover this new world around them and within.  

Over Arms provides players with loosely structured play in order to help the table navigate different parts of the narrative, including investigation, combat and a Conclusion phase. Players will also control their Anima alongside their player character, with separate abilities and actions only available for the Anima. Character creation includes dice allocation to stats and character classes called Anima Type. An additional piece that you can include is called “The Mirage”, designed for a dungeon-crawling style of game, where you can fight strange and powerful foes. The fact that the Mirage is optional means that this ttrpg has a modular feel that allows you to determine exactly how you want to play.

If you want to check out this game before putting your money down, you can take a look at the Quickstart rules!

My Friends Are My Strength, by Peizur.

My Friends Are My Strength is a PbtA RPG where players use powers to overcome threats thrown at them, form meaningful bonds that serve as the foundation of their strength, and try to achieve a goal that means more to them than life itself.

If you like the idea of solving your problem with the power of friendship, this is the game for you. Rather than giving you pre-arranged playbooks, My Friends Are My Strength gives you the pieces and asks you to create a custom playbook for the character that you want to play. One of my favourite elements is a character element called Plot Armour. Your Protagonist gets 3 uses of Plot Armour, which allows you to turn any roll into a 12+ after the fact. Use up all of your Plot Armour? The Director is now able to end your storyline. It’s a powerful ability, so use it wisely!

There looks to be a Kickstarter in the works for this game, but for now, the Itch.io page for this game is Pay-What-You-Want.

Never Knows Best, by Fraser Simons (Samjoko Publishing).

Never Knows Best is inspired by an anime called FLCL (Fooly Cooly) and wears this influence on its sleeve. This game and its rules focus on my own interpretation of the source material, rather than attempting to emulate the anime as closely as possible.

Never Knows Best (NKB) is a roleplaying game about middle school kids facing impending adulthood, growing up, and society’s­—sometimes nonsensical—expectations and obligations. It’s designed for three-five players plus a game master (GM) who facilitates the game.

While this game is still technically in ashcan edition, it certainly doesn’t look like it. The playbooks immediately communicate the emotions sitting inside each archetype, and the rulebook is just over 50 pages long. The core concept of this game is that your children have the ability to transform into robots that reflect their unique personalities and skills, which enable them in fighting monsters that represent society’s obligations. There is also still room for the table to define exactly what they’re fighting against, and how their counter-culture manifests. The rules are Powered by the Apocalypse, which I think makes so much sense considering the heavily emotional themes of this book. If you’re interested in stories about pre-teens grappling with an adult world that expects them to simply fit in, paired with giant metaphorical action scenes, this game is definitely worth checking out.

This World Summons Too Many Heroes!, by Nick Duff.

This World Summons Too Many Heroes!! is a tabletop rpg about regular people being pulled into a fantasy world to become heroes, demon lords, goblins, talking swords, or any kind of adventurer you could think of! Go on an isekai adventure in the Kingdoms of Ceria, where summoning scrolls have been scattered across the countryside and people are recklessly using them to steal people from other worlds and bring them into this one with new powers gifted to them by a goddess of reincarnation.

Built on LUMEN, this game’s main focus in power-fantasy combat, with unique abilities for each class and a modular weapon-building system that allows you to create the anime protagonist of your dreams. Your party also has a clearly defined quest - collecting summoning scrolls - that fills in the awkward part of trying to sort out what it is you actually want to do in this game, while also giving you the ability to play each session like the episode of an anime, with each summoning scroll potentially being related to a unique villain or NPC. If you love fantastical anime, you should take a look at this game.

Empty Cycle, by Rookie Jet Studio.

EMPTY CYCLE focuses on the mental and existential issues of being a teenager and growing to maturity in a boring town where there is nothing to do. EMPTY CYCLE draws heavily upon the melancholy and existential crises we face as teenagers in such a place and uses these focal points of loneliness, uncertainty, and sadness in order to craft a meaningful and action-packed journey.

Suddenly, everything changes when otherworldly beings known as "Parasites" arrive on earth and begin to affix themselves to our protagonists in order to survive. Parasites are humanoid, planet-hopping alien beings that are able to take on a new human form based on their hosts Complex, Emotions and Desires, often using an attractive appearance to persuade and influence their hosts for a mutual gain between the two life forms.

Another game by Rookie Jet Studio, Empty Cycle also gives your characters unique and fantastic powers, but places the game in a much more terrifying setting. The stakes are big, and the monsters bigger. I can see a character being forced to grapple with changes in their bodies that they might appreciate and despise at the same time.

Mew Mew Magic, by Alice V.

Mew Mew Magic is a collaborative storytelling game for 2-6 people using the No Dice, No Masters system. It is a game about young magical heroes who have to worry about school, saving the day, and their magical destinies. Inspired by shows like Sailor Moon, Tokyo Mew Mew, Winx, and Pretty Cure.

Speak directly to the young child watching Saturday morning cartoons with this game. If I remember correctly, No Dice No Masters is another term for the Belonging Outside Belonging system, by Avery Alder. This means that this game is designed to be played without dice, but also as the option to play without a GM. This means that the setting elements of the world are co-designed and co-directed by the group, rather than sitting solely on the shoulders of one person. I love the colour-themed playbooks in this game, it vividly reminds me of Tokyo Mew Mew and other similar Magical-girl themed shows I watched in my youth.

If you're interested in more Magical Girl-themed games, you can also take a look at my Magical Girl ttrpg recommendation post!

[dailycharacteroption]

Hybrid Class Review: Shaman part 4

(art by sarahfinnigan on DeviantArt)

Spirits

Now that we’ve touched on the basics and the archetypes, it’s time to take a deeper look at the spirits themselves. Now, obviously I’m not going to go over every spirit in it’s totality, that’s what the entries about spirits throughout the rest of the blog are for, but I’ll go over them in broad strokes.

Such spirits originally shared names with the core set of mysteries available to oracles, but they have since branched out in their own ways, revealing spirits with no equivalent in the oracle class.

Several spirits are elemental in nature, ruling over one of the elements or an offshoot of them, such as Flame, Frost, Stone, Waves, Wind, and Wood. (no metal though. Might be good for a homebrew for the patreon, hmmm..)

Others deal with similar natural things, but not directly elements, such as Heavens, Life, Mammoth, and Nature, reflecting the cosmos, life itself, and of course, specific beast types like megafauna.

A few others deal with things that are a greater part of the cosmos, but perhaps seem unnatural or otherworldly to most mortals, such as the deathly spirits of Bones, or the completely otherworldly Dark Tapestry spirits.

Still more are different in that they are the spirits of things associated with mortal civilization. Guardians spirits of Ancestors or Tribe, furiously wild spirits of Battle, scholarly spirits of Lore, and even spirits of community identity like those of the Slums.

But what exactly are spirits in this context? The vibe of the shaman class seems to be that the spirits they call upon are the invisible sentiences of every object and concept in the universe. Everything from nature to death to instances of specific elements to even things like social constructs like ancestral legacies and the act of learning and storing information. These are the entities that you contact when you commune with nature or speak with stones using the appropriate spells and so on.

As such, some spirits may be incredibly old, ranging from a spirit of a specific tree that has existed for decades to the spirit of the forest itself which has persisted for millenia. Meanwhile, some spirits may be fairly young, such as the spirit of a newly constructed building.

Of course, not every spirit exists within their element all the time. Fire spirits may only constantly persist in areas of volcanic activity, but may exist in a dormant form within every flammable substance and life form, or perhaps wander bodiless in search of something about to burn. Meanwhile, Bone spirits linger everywhere, waiting to quietly observe death and the process of decay, but also of rememberance.

On that note, we have to consider that the behavior of spirits is likely also influenced by the collective unconscious. Consider that bone and ancestor spirits likely did not exist until mortals began to mourn the dead and honor their ancestors, and lore spirits likely only existed in the realms of the gods before mortals began accumulating knowledge. Such things might also explain quirks of personality found in specific spirits as well. A spirit of waves associated with violent storms may be very different than one representing the relatively calm waters around a coral reef, for example.

There’s also the chance that such spirits might be connected to more powerful beings in the great beyond as well. Consider the elemental spirits and how they may be connected to actual elementals and the like, for example, while dark tapestry spirits may be linked to malign intelligences from between the stars. How exactly these spirits relate to such entities may vary, with some being one in the same with outsiders or entities, while others may merely be aspects, and others still may be completely unrelated but exist in the same parts of both the material plane and greater cosmos.

From a roleplay perspective, also consider how a spirit bonded to the shaman will act compared to those they merely contact temporarily as they wander. A primary spirit may have a more personal relationship with their shaman and learn from them of mortal ways, while a wandering one may struggle to understand things outside of their narrow focus, for example.

All said, I hope that was an enlightening look at spirits. Tomorrow, we’ll see about wrapping things up with the final thoughts on the class!

[happyinjection]

Episode 11 is as though Chris decides to salvage his safe box of suppressed trauma from the depths of the ocean to show us what’s inside before he proceeds to dump it again, but this time dragging all of us along with it. Enough said.

Spoilers under the cut...

Chris’ past and motivation reveal is bittersweet, and endearing (bratty baby Chris!), but nothing too unexpected. It’s more interesting to note that Chris never said that he’s planning to X-hand with 4-of-a-kind like Tyler did, but is aiming for an “X-blind” instead. Which, coincidentally is also something Ban wants, hence probably why the Klondikes are siding with him for now. What is it, really, and what’s its consequence? The question remains.

And while we’re at that, what the hell is that explosion that Chris got caught up in? Are explosions just common occurrence in Fourland? Lol

Yay me, I was right in guessing that the package was sent to Chelsea! He deserves the slap big time though lmao.

I didn’t see Lindsey of all people coming, but it’s a nice surprise! Is there a significance in the number 200,000 that Chris gave? Was it mentioned anywhere earlier? I feel like it was.

Unexpectedly the scene that wrecked me is Finn’s slight pause after saying “Chris is my...” followed by “he has Michelle as his family, though”. What’s wrong with the two of you...? Finn and Chris cares deeply about each other yet their relationship is something deliciously complicated... these two can make me laugh as well as cry the most...

Leo biting his nail and getting teased by both Vijay and Wendy owns my heart.

The part where Chris says “You too... wants to be back together?” but in the end hardens his resolve is so stupidly dramatic in a good kind of way. (Yes, together! I yelled from the other side of the screen, Finn is such a mood these days).

So... at its core, High Card is about family? Found family? Or how you define family? Totally my jam.

Owen finally does show up at last minute only to headshot Chris is hilarious. The entire sequence was so cool not gonna lie. At least we get to hear Chris’ iconic line again and now I’m sure that Owen owns a Diamond card.

What to look forward for next week: A second season lmao. 

At this point I’m not sure where this is going. At first I thought for sure that Chris is going to side with the Klondikes, but... he isn’t? He’s more of a wild card? Jokes aside, I guess we’re going to find out what X-blind is soon. And wtf do you mean next ep is legit titled “FINN”? Lmao staff really said do not separate these two.

But if I had to make a wild guess. Considering how stubborn the entire High Card members are, and assuming that Finn is sitting in passenger’s seat in the PV, what about all of them defecting from Pinochle and becoming nationwide group of fugitives, Bonnie and Clyde style? And also Finn’s big bro reveal at some point, because, come on. Chris needs a contender!

Speaking of Chris, if you pay close attention, I think this episode is the first time ever we see something narrated from his perspective. Manga is Percy-centric, novel is Leo-centric, most of the short stories are Finn-centric but none is narrated by Chris even if he appeared in most of them! We even had one from Vijay’s, the canon token mysterious dude, but not a single one from Chris. Sure, he talks a lot in this ep and it goes against the “show not tell” rule, but it’s somewhat special if you put that fact into consideration.

[laxmiree]

[CN] Season 2 Summary (Volume 11: Ch 38 - 40)

⚠️  SPOILER ALERT  ⚠️

This post contains a VERY HEAVY SPOILER for the S2 chapters that has not been released in EN yet! Feel free to notify me if  there are any mistakes in the translation~

[CHAPTER 38]

The mystery man asks if you want to move on, and you express your firm determination to protect the world. At that moment, a door opens in front of you.

On the skywalk six days ago. Victor shot at your ear, but the bullet did not hit you. When you are confused, the gunshot sounds again, accompanied by a slight stabbing pain, and you lose consciousness.

The atmosphere on the skywalk became tense when you suddenly disappeared. At that moment, Lucien showed up at the scene with a gun and accused Victor of being responsible for your disappearance, but Victor was able to shrug off the suspicion with a few words. He ordered the people at the scene to hand over the CORE carrier and claimed that he had the latest clues about BS's illicit contraband. Amid the chaos, Helios' voice is heard as he sits on top of the bridge pillar and sneers at everyone. Within the chaos of the situation, Victor turned the tables on Poseidon.

You wake up in the BS hall, and Zehn tells you that Victor planned all this, allowing him to move you safely here and give you the black box that symbolizes the Black Cabin key.

You use the Black Box and your power to enter the Black Cabin without any problems, the mysterious man does not appear, so you try to use the power of CORE. Many black vortexes with different pictures appear around you, one of which has a massive iron door with the "infinity" symbol engraved on it. You are suddenly sucked into this vortex in a pure white room. You meet Gavin here, and Gavin's analysis of the place reminds you of the past. You decide to go to the iron door to find out.

You use the power of CORE repeatedly, but you cannot reach the space where the door is located. You see a huge white building standing in the center of the city. Gavin persuaded you to go back to the city to confirm the situation. While he needs to go to the door to do some research. Cheering each other on, the two of you part. You return to the rooftop of a high building in Loveland City and are shocked to find a comet hanging in the sky and a countdown timer. At that moment, several strangers suddenly appear on the rooftop and seem to be trying to influence the overlapping area.

Under their influence, the two "Loveland City" alternately flicker in and out of existence, and eventually, the overlap zone takes over. During the conversation between him and those people, you realize that they are from the Time Administration Bureau, and they can always fix the timeline. Still, they can do nothing about the overlapping zone, saying that this is the rule of the world. Victor said he would find a way to change the situation.

After the Time Administration people left, Victor looked at you from the corner and asked what you thought about it. You expressed your concern for Victor, but he reassured you with a sure attitude. You then firmly expressed your determination to change the world's rules, and he told you he would be by your side. And then, from his manner, you learned that only could see that dreadful countdown. Victor says he will clear some obstacles for you and meet you at the finish line. You were filled with courage in his watchful gaze and ran forward again.

Through analysis, you believe that the abrupt white building is likely to be a lighthouse. So you run home and take out the glowing white piece of paper that 502 gave you. Helios tells you to jump out of the window, which you do after confirming his identity. In mid-air, you are rescued by Helios, who tells you that the person who knocked on the door is from NW, that the blood disease vaccine has been developed, and that the chip signal in your body has been blocked for you. After synchronizing the information, you decide to find the slab together and use it to enter the white building.

Helios hacked the Lighthouse and helped you avoid the NW guard near the white building, but you couldn't find the slab. Helios investigated the Hunter game data and found that lighthouses come in different sizes, and the distance of the slab is affected by this. You have determined that there is only one Lighthouse left in Loveland, which was not opened in the last Hunter game, and its slab is on the small reef.

Helios figured out how to get you to the small reef, quickly found the slab, and made it to the Lighthouse. But the structure is very different from the previous one, and the residual intelligence is not present. At this point, you hear the voices of Joker and the teenager coming down the switchback, and Helios decides to stall them to give you enough time to explore. With his encouragement and reassurance, you turn around and head deeper into the Lighthouse.

You walked for a long time but found nothing. So you took out the white paper to activate the power of CORE, and the next second, the surroundings lit up, and you froze in place. At that moment, a man came out from the shadows, and it was Lucien. He told you that he had entered the place through the space-folding Evol. Through Lucien's instructions, you call on the residual intelligence again, and this time it succeeds, but he is not a lighthouse residual intelligence. Instead, he is a "wandering lighthouse " – called 'π' drifting in the universe.

π calls himself a lighthouse keeper and has connected all the lighthouses. You are saddened to see how many lighthouses have "gone out." The countdown in the sky is indeed a reminder from the Lighthouse. Next, π gets straight to the point and tells you that they speculate that the model of the world is very much like a cone and that the world is progressing from its beginning to its destruction. Lucien guesses that the Lighthouse may have figured out a way to solve this problem, and as he says, it is possible to break the world's rules through the power of QUEEN, Evol energy, and the dark matter of the universe. But it's just a guess. After receiving this information, you think that the time left is insufficient to figure this out, so you request Lucien, whose idea also coincides with yours.

You plan to use the Evolver that previously trapped you in a time loop to help you extend your current time and, in that time, continue learning about how to break the rules of the world, as π said. You asked Lucien to help you find the Evolver, but you didn't expect it to be a little girl. After understanding the rules of the time loop, you took a deep breath and started your time loop.

[CHAPTER 39]

You're in a 48-hour loop. The countdown is on, time is running out, and based on the provided information, it's clear that you have a lot of things to confirm-

[Split route-Point of Time]

The time of the "destruction" as π said, is crucial. To seek Victor's help, you took the Black Box back to the hall of BLACK SWAN and saw that Victor and BS God were here, and the Black Cabin gate appeared under the dome.

You proposed to make a deal with BS, provided BS with information about the countdown and doomsday, and opened the door of Black Cabin for BS, and BS seems to be planning something under the leadership of Victor. Victor promised to lend you the power of BS. You asked him what he thought of the information you brought. He seemed to want to communicate with you alone, so he took you away from BS. Some familiar scenes happened on the street, and when you sighed, you found that Victor also felt it. You walk into a church along the road, and he said that the moment the countdown ends could be lengthened, allowing you to look for greater possibilities. A long time ago, Victor noticed some memories he didn't have in his mind and a slight discrepancy with the world. He gently rubbed your hair.

"Everything that worries you now, I'll let it all end with that finish line."

You tell Victor about the time loop and that he will not have the memories of the next loop. You ask him if the present promise will still be valid when you meet again.

"If you find me before that moment comes, I will keep my promise."

You promised that you would always work hard for the answer he wanted to know. Then you let go of his coat.

See you later, Victor.

[Split route-Power of CORE]

In order to maximize the power of CORE, you come to NW to make a deal with Xiao Yue, who brings you to the lab area, where you see Gavin, who has escaped from the other dimension and is in the middle of some experiment, entangled in a hurricane. You asked to communicate with Gavin before the experiment, but Gavin seems to have known your determination and told you how he feels.

"But I've been secretly thinking about you, so it doesn't feel too painful."

The rest of the CORE test is incredibly painful. During the break, Gavin took you out of the medical bay and told you that NW had been looking for the mysterious "door," Now they were trying to bring the door from another dimension into Loveland City. Xiao Yue has already figured out that you are in the loop and wants you to finish the CORE experiment but is stopped by Gavin.

But you still managed to convince Gavin. The experiment continues through an unknown number of loops, one after another, to get many conclusions about the CORE. And the door was dragged out by Gavin's efforts. NW was one step faster to get you away from the scene, but a hurricane hit the vehicle that took you away, and Gavin stepped on it to stop NW's trickery.

"I never just do what I want to do."

Gavin rescues you to safety and tells you a vague instinct haunts him in his mind. You say that he will not remember these things when you enter the loop again. Finally, you make a promise to him that you will meet him in the future when you have the truth.

See you later, Gavin.

[Split route-Evol Energy]

According to π’s description, you need to find a considerable amount of Evol energy. You recalled that the hunter game also collected Evol energy, so you returned to the Lighthouse and found Joker. Unexpectedly, Helios is also here. They seem to have reached some kind of temporary agreement. Helios tells you that he received a signal from the previous generation of KEY in the Lighthouse and found the centralized network of the Lighthouse.

You call π out, acknowledging that the Evol energy that turns on the lighthouses is part of their plan to break the trajectory of the retrograde model and that the hunter game has indeed accomplished part of that plan. These enormous amounts of energy are stored in each Lighthouse. To use these energies, you need a lighthouse as a "guide" to integrate them.

Helios says that he can use the network of lighthouses to channel the energy and become the guide. As the program progresses, he offers to talk to you, and you return to the city of Loveland, walk through the streets at the doomsday, and see the commercial he shot before the last doomsday. He tells you that he has already sensed some vague truth in his mind.

"I feel that when this is over, I will have the answer that you couldn't say.”

The loop ends this time, and you tell him that he will not remember any of this after the loop is over. He says he will always be your accomplice, no matter how many times he starts over.

"I was already another part of your strength."

And you promise that you will tell him all those words you once could not say in the future.

[Split route-Dark Matter]

You are unsure of the information on "dark matter," so you find Lucien and ask him about it. He takes you to a laboratory 2,000 meters underground and gives you a detailed description of dark matter. Lucien provides the researchers with a model of the world to test their conjectures and look for possibilities. He also needs more data from you to speed up the experiment and eliminate wrong answers.

In each loop, you tell him the answer from the previous loop. The result is getting closer and closer to the final solution. Finally, in the 80th loop, everyone cheered for the experiment's success and found the answer near the hole in Boötes.

With a few hours left, Lucien invites you to a villa to meet. When you arrive, you find Lucien holding a sniper rifle. A gunshot broke the calm, and you saw many high-ranking cadres of GR and Leto. It turned out that they had long been secretly colluding. Glass shards and bullets are suspended in mid-air by Lucien's Evol, who reminds you that danger is everywhere.

"If you want to win, you must take all the initiative into your own hands."

Before the end of this loop, he tells you that he has many unanswered questions and déjà vu memories, which he tries to uncover.

"You are my answer to all these mysteries."

The truth is delivered to him, which is what you want to do. In the warmth of the interlocking hands, you smile at him.

See you later, Lucien.

[Split route-Clues in space-time overlap area]

The Loveland City has not been entirely covered by black space and is full of many possibilities. You recall the glowing intersection line that you and Shaw stepped on together, so you finally try to find it and enter the other dimension.

You met Shaw here, relayed the situation of Loveland City and the overlap area, and you found out that the time flow here is different from reality. He takes out the Dragonfly Eye, and you see many images in its records. Shaw says he has no recollection of these things and finds that the world line has been wound up into one.

Shaw takes you back to Loveland City, where you are approaching the end of the loop. You tell him that you are in a loop and that he will not remember what is happening in the next loop. He doesn't care, telling you that the possibility of your success in saving the world is unquestionable.

"The possibility of this world, I will reserve it for you."

You are encouraged by him and decide to move on.

See you later, Shaw.

[Chapter 40]

After going through the loop several times and having information on every aspect, you return to the park and let the little girl end the loop. You tell everyone separately about the data from the loop. At the end of the countdown, you stood on the throne and welcomed the end.

The countdown goes to zero, and all the power is gathered inside you. This time you finally hear the mysterious voice again, and you show him your determination. The door finally opens slowly.

The mysterious little boy who has appeared from time to time for 17 years has appeared in front of you and welcomes you.

There is a [Huge Cog Wheel] in the center of ethereal space. The mysterious little boy tells you this is the [Heart of the World], where all the rules are born. And every trajectory of the world will eventually come to an end. Although you are aware of such rules, you insist on forcing everyone to live at a normal pace. So you decided to break the rules and stab the heart of the world with [Golden Dagger], and the cogwheel stopped working.

The boy lamented that you would return and see changes in the world, such as the [Strange phenomenon], before it ended, which was a time to catch your breath. Your consciousness drifts up, and you wake up to find yourself on a bus.

You find in a trance that the people in this bus are shadows, and the world outside the window is unreal. At that moment, there is a soft laugh behind you, and you turn around to find that it is Shaw. You pinched his cheek to make sure it was him. You asked a series of questions, and his answers were vague. You then synchronized the [Time loop] to Shaw, but his response was flat, even a little complicated and strange, and when you saw the peculiar colored light outside the window, you asked whether the [Comet] had been stopped.

He told you not to be anxious and grabbed your hand for a high five, a gesture that reminded you of the goodbye you said to him on the rooftop 17 years ago. When your heart was touched, Shaw said he had to figure out some things and got up to leave.

"Hey, I'm going to be late this time."

Not waiting for your reaction, he stepped off the bus, a bright light came, and when it faded, you found that you were the only person left on the bus, and a different phenomenon appeared in the sky than just now.

[Split route-Meteor Shower]

The sky is full of [meteor shower], and the bus stops.

As if by some guidance, you step off the bus, and the intense light flashes once. You find yourself standing on a rooftop. The time on the distant clock tower makes you realize that you are finally in the future after [19:17]. You know that you have succeeded and immediately run towards [BS's headquarters] because you only want to see Victor. On the way, you hear a sharp brake behind you. Victor gets out of the car and runs towards you, holding you tightly in his arms.

"Where's the curry you promised you'd bring for me?"

You froze, realizing that he had remembered everything and the promise he had made to him 17 years ago on a fateful day. With tears in your eyes, you tell Victor to wait where he is, and you will get him some coffee. But you didn't get it in the end, and Victor said he didn't need coffee. It was enough to bring back the old him.

When you got home, he sat on the couch with a tear-stained you in his arms, you talked a lot, and you had a lot of questions.

He said that what is happening now is probably another part of [World Overlap] and that what belongs to the past will eventually return.

At this point, you find the time quietly stopped at 20:21. Victor pauses the time to drop a deep kiss on your fingertips.

"Would you think that I am selfish if I paused time forever at this moment?"

Victor gently kissed you and whispered to you that he was back.

[Split route-Aurora Borealis]

You notice the bright [Aurora Borealis] outside the bus window, and the bus stops.

As if by some guidance, you stepped off the bus, and the bright light flashed once. You found yourself standing under a camphor tree. In a trance, you pull out your phone, see the time, and realize that you are finally in the future after [19:17]. You know that you have succeeded, so you run towards the laboratory in the mine because you want to see Lucien right now. In a frenzied run, you see Lucien at the end of the crowd. He was sweating and seemed to have run a very long way through the crowd before crossing the sea of people and hugging you tightly into his arms. After holding each other for a long time, he took you to a plain clearing and said he had to retrieve something. Then he dug with his bare hands until he pulled out a light green gem called "hope."

"My special assistant, would you like to accept this belated gift?"

You froze, realizing that he remembered everything, remembering the doomsday 17 years ago, and tears welled up in your eyes.

You kept confirming to him it wasn't a hallucination. He said he wouldn't let it be a hallucination, so now it was time to take him home.

After returning home, Lucien said the reason he remembered the past is probably another meaning of [World Overlap]. Something that belongs to the past will also eventually return. You look at the gem and ask, does that include it?

Lucien gently answered, picking up the gem and placing it between your eyes.

"It is you who made our story usher in tomorrow."

As your hearts fluttered, you agreed to revisit the wheat fields to see the spring. Amidst the soft kiss and embrace, he whispers that he is back.

[Split route-Polar Day]

You notice that outside the bus window is no longer a perpetual night, a vast amount of [daylight] pouring into the sky, and the bus stops.

As if by some guidance, you stepped off the bus and the bright light flashed again. You find yourself on the roof of Loveland High School, and the time on the clock in the center of the main building makes you realize that you are finally in the future after [19:17].

Now, you know you've succeeded and run in the direction of the [NW Experimental Facility]. Because right now, you just want to see Gavin.

At that moment, there is a gust of wind. Gavin just appeared in the window and watching you. His body is a bit wretched. You did not hesitate to jump into the wind's embrace.

During the hug, he said a lot of puzzling words, such as he is Gavin, or he was following the wind to find you, but when he said the words, you froze.

"Because this is where I send you away."

You realize that he has remembered everything, followed by a flood of tears, remembering the words spoken 17 years ago on the doomsday. After repeatedly confirming to him that it was not a dream, he stepped back a dozen meters and opened his arms to you, indicating that he had come to guide you. And so, step by step, you fall into his arms.

He carried you to a lake, and you curiously asked him why the memory would come back, and he said that perhaps it was another meaning of [world overlap] that things belonging to the past would eventually return.

He said the scenery in front of him now is more beautiful than he imagined because the imaginary you is ultimately only an imagination.

"The reality you can hold in your hands is always better than what I can imagine."

In his eyes, you are amazing, but you know it's because he is always there for you. He closed his eyes and kissed you, whispering that he was back.

[Split route-The Tyndall Effect]

You notice a glorious light in the sky, and the bus comes to a stop.

As if by some kind of guidance, you stepped off the bus and the bright light flashed again. You find that you seem to have come to a backstage, and the time on the wall clock also makes you realize that you have finally arrived at the time after [19:17] in the future.

You know that you have succeeded at this moment, so you run towards the [Lighthouse] because you only want to see Kiro. At this time, Kiro's anxious voice came from the speaker above, and he asked you to stand where you are.

The sound of running comes from backstage, and in the next moment, Kiro holds you tightly in his arms.

"Since a long, long time ago, I can always hear a spell."

You listened to his words until he said, 'Now does it count that he came back to you before the countdown ended?'

You froze, realizing that he had remembered everything, remembering the promise and goodbye on the doomsday 17 years ago, and tears welled up in your eyes.

And so, he sat on the edge of the stage with you in his arms. His song spanned across time and he gave you the most precious reunion in the world.

When you get home, you still can't believe all this, he said this might be another meaning of [World Overlap], and the past will come back eventually.

So amidst the glow of the sky, he gently kissed you. You say every little bit of the words you want to say to him, one sentence at a time.

"Because without your insistence, I'd probably still be lost."

So you made a pact, and he said he would never leave you again. With a soft kiss, he says to you that he's back.

The frozen cog wheel seems to crumble in the darkness, and the cracks begin to spread a little.