#hours just to get my characters to level 50 and fight of one monster

[i-bring-crack]

Bitches be coming out unscathed of supposedly certain death scenarios simply because they were very very dumb.

I'm bitches.

#aniversary for that one time i tried to fight off an armed robber even though he was literally pointing at my face #but i caught him off guard by just. grabbing the gun. #sinply because the thought train was: ah shit if you take away my phone then the game ive spent #hours just to get my characters to level 50 and fight of one monster #will be all for nothing. #and its literally thr only thing that makes me happy! #so yeah fuck you #*grabs gun* #anyways i didnt shoor him or anything #he got the gun back and left me with a concussion that should have made me faint. #but i have a cintillo (hair guear? idk what they call it) that was made of THICK wool #so that saved me #and i got my things back the robber crashed into a car by sheer luck. he was too scared to pick them up because i was already running #towards him trying to get my things back #(no 13-14year old me you arent supposed to fight of an armed robber again or chase it down two blocks bc of Raid) #anyways #info dump here for your stupid things you did that like. somehow survived through

[susannaius]

On the new Netflix YYH live action series...

Okay, so cramming two seasons worth of anime (52 episodes) into just 5 hours of live action (5 x 60 minutes) is just WILD. It was obviously possible, but it was wild. They made some bold editing choices on the way to make it happen, but they made an overall good job of it (well, as good as anything can get when you cram 52 episodes into 5 hours...). Anyway. Spoilers ahead.

My overall impression is that I had fun. They made this series a lot more edgy and dark than the anime, but they kept a lot of its goofiness, and managed to find a good balance. The visuals were also fantastic. I honestly did not expect the drawings to translate well into film, but the animation / FX crew did a great job. I have some minor qualms against how everyone looks like (like Kurama's hair or Hiei's turtleneck, who came up with those???), but they did not matter to me that much overall.

What I really missed was something I'm not sure how they could have reproduced in just 5 hours, and this is the sense of accomplishment and stakes. How long does the first two seasons take in the anime? Half a year, maybe? (Yusuke spends the summer break training with Genkai, then there are another 2 months (?) before the Dark Tournament.) So there is a lot more time both for bonding and level-upping.

There are a lot more steps, and those are a lot smaller, progress is a lot more gradual, and each step leads to the next a lot more organically. Here, this is somewhat compensated by the editing choices, like Kuwabara following Yusuke around (I especially liked the "slice the boulder" trope), or by Hiei wanting the dagger in the first place so he can find Yukina. But this way we end up on our very first joint mission fighting Karasu and Bui as well as the Toguros, in Kurama's yokai form and with the Black Dragon. Which is again, WILD, if we consider that as far as we know Kurama has not really used his yokai powers over the last 17 years, and Hiei has just made the Jagan eye for himself (which he did not even end up using that much).

Which is all... not necessarily relevant if someone has not seen the anime and accepts that okay, these boys have a lot more in them than what we were shown at first glance. They are yokai, after all, and we are shown very little of their stories. But I still miss how in the anime we were able to follow how Kurama hones his plant magic to artistic levels and how he learns to combine the strengths of Shuchi and Kurama, or how Hiei very slowly becomes domesticated, or how Kuwabara chills down and becomes a reliable ally.

And then there is Yusuke. They really managed to capture the essence of the character, and I loved them for it. At the wake, his picture was a really nice touch, I loved that face saying "Why do I have to smile for the camera? Please leave me alone?" Or how gentle he can be when he is not ordered around. They got his priorities right, and the steps that make him who he is were all there.

But again, time was VERY short. I mean, he was training for about 3 weeks with Genkai, and for the first two weeks he was mostly slacking. How am I supposed to believe that this is enough to defeat fucking Toguro, who was one of the strongest men to start with, then sold his soul for power, and spent the last 50 years becoming stronger and stronger, to the point when not even the scariest monsters currently available in the human world could satisfy him? Yes, Yusuke got the "orb", but consider that in the anime at that point he had been fighting and training almost constantly for half a year, receiving the orb still almost killed him, and then he had to sleep it off for several days. I am just... not convinced, sorry.

If anything, I think the live action series is a good gateway to the anime. Like, if someone is new or even not yet into the "fight and level-up" anime genre, this can be a great motivation for them to check it out. YYH is almost 30 years old, after all, so there might (might!) be people who have not yet come across it, even though they would probably enjoy it.

TLDR: I think the Netflix YYH Live Action series is fun, it is gorgeous, it has some solid editing choices that help it cram fifty-fucking-two episodes of anime in just five hours of film, and if it helps some newcomers find and enjoy the anime (or even the manga, which I don't know), I'm only happier for it.

#yu yu hakusho #yyh #my five cents

[rmorde]

With talks about RCT output and worries about Shoko getting shafted regarding her powers... let's see the rough translations.

Warning: Spoilers

Sukuna: No, when you use RCT on another person, the efficiency is usually less than half compared to when you heal yourself.

Kinda make sense? It was already established long ago that RCT is incredibly difficult to pull off.

Shoko doesn't have any Innate Technique. Since her name implies that she is not part of a clan, she likely has no Inherited Technique either. So all she has is usage of Reversal (RCT). Considering how highly valued she is by the school, she must be incredibly good at it.

Now, her feats were said to be healing and re-growing limbs. However, we saw how Toge is still missing an arm and so does Hana. Maki is also heavily scarred.

But it's not all failures tho, Shoko is the one that healed Nanami after fighting Mahito the first time and he seemed perfectly fine the next day. Another example is Geto who was severely injured in the afternoon, but was back to normal within 24 hours.

And... that's about it. We do not have any further clue regarding her powers. This is both a boon and a bane.

Let's start with this lack of info as bane.

Sukuna: Her RCT isn't even as powerful as me or Gojo Satoru

This is what people are worried about. Frankly, so do I. This devalues Shoko's skill. It is not helped by the fact there are other characters introduced already that possesses RCT.

Sukuna's observation here could be taken as Shoko being not that special after all especially since we do not really have much information about what she can truly do so far. With her confirmed heals being 2 Perfectly Fine and 3 Not Exactly Fine, it may seem Sukuna is right.

HOWEVER!

#1 Sukuna has been wrong before. He has a habit of underestimating people right until he spent a lot of time knowing them through fights.

Case in point #1: Gojo. From fish to the guy he never shuts up about, Sukuna seem to like/respect (?) him in the end. I mean, just an observation here, Sukuna tends to name drop Gojo a lot actually like with Megumi.

Case in point #2: Yuji. Sukuna is practically annoyed with Yuji because he doesn't see any value in him. Yet, in this very recent chapter, he acknowledged Yuji at last! Sukuna hates it but he admits that Yuji isn't as bad as he initially thought.

#2 Sukuna is comparing Shoko to Gojo. GOJO who is The Strongest sorcerer?! IMO, Sukuna is being extremely biased here. Like really?! What did he expect? For every single sorcerer Gojo hanged out with to be on the same level as he is in terms of everything he does?! Then again, Sukuna fucking expected Hiromi to pull off the insane feats Gojo did during their showdown (and Hiromi delivered! My beloved! He was taken away so fast.)

Therefore, Sukuna saying Shoko isn't as great as him and Gojo is not really a downgrade exactly. They're two monsters on an entirely different scale. Shoko not being on their scale is just expected.

Seriously. Wtf is up with Sukuna? He's like a heavyweight champion whining why a featherweight champion (Shoko) couldn't compare to him and his rival (aka Gojo) in punching power right after beating the lights out of a promising rookie (aka Hiromi).

#3 We still lack information about Shoko's RCT to fully judge her. So far here are the solid facts:

She can heal people and help them regrow loss limbs which is legit since they are keeping her away from any fights.

There is probably a time factor for her abilities. -> Nanami & Geto probably got healed immediately by her so they recovered 100% -> Maki, Toge*, and Hana* probably missed the time window to become 100% healed -----> *Maybe Sukuna being the one to maim Toge & Hana is a factor too.

Her power level is not Sukuna/Gojo Grade.

The new info that RCT is only 50% effective when applied on others seems to be a general fact which may or may not apply to Shoko. Maybe she is greater than 50% effective at using RCT on others provided she heals a patient within a specific time window.

This could be copium but we actually haven't seen for ourselves Shoko healing someone. What we often see is the result/aftermath of her work.

I may misremember it (if I am please tell me) but I think this is the only image we have of her actually doing RCT... until she got distracted by Satoru and Suguru's shenanigans with Yaga that is.

I just don't want my baby girl be done dirty. Shoko is THE jujutsu doctor for fuck's sake.

GIVE HER RESPECT!!!

#jjk spoilers #jujutsu kaisen spoilers #ieri shoko #i do not accept shoko slander especially from sukuna! #gojo acknowledged her strength! #we haven't seen exactly how her powers work #i believe in shoko! shoko supremacy!!!

[mrmallard]

I'm an hour and a half into FF8, and I'm immediately hooked.

I've talked about this RPG dichotomy where some games are more "gamey" - focusing on gameplay systems and player freedom - and other games focus more on emphasising the setting and the writing, using the RPG mechanics to get you from point A to point B. Final Fantasy 5 is a gamey RPG, Final Fantasy 13 is a narrative RPG. Dark Cloud is more of a gamey RPG, Lunar: Silver Star Harmony - to my recollection - is more of a narrative RPG.

I could learn to phrase that all a bit more elegantly, but that's the framing that makes the most sense to me. Some RPGs are more gamey, other RPGs are more of an avenue to tell a story. Most RPGs are a solid mix of the two - as gamey as an RPG might be, it still has a beginning, a middle and an end - but they still tend to lean one way or the other.

I prefer gamey RPGs. I like RPG stories, and I have a soft spot for the Lunar series in particular, but give me a game that gives me the freedom to explore and play to my heart's content. Give me a game with lots of gameplay systems. That's what I want.

Final Fantasy 8, from the moment you boot it up, is a gamey RPG.

The junction system is immediately available to you, where you draw magic out of monsters and stockpile spells. You then take those spell stockpiles and bind them to your stats, i.e. binding a stack of 50 Fire spells to your magic stat to increase your magic damage. If you use those Fire spells in combat and diminish your stockpile of them, your magic damage gets less powerful - it's a tradeoff between strong base stats and access to magic. Furthermore, if you stockpile more Fire spells, your magic damage increases.

You start the game with summons. Summons are actually how you bind magic to your stats - if Shiva lets you increase your stamina, and Quetzalcoatl lets you increase your magic damage, you can either prioritise the stat you want to boost or you can equip both summons to your character at the same time. The tradeoff is that summons level up with the party member it's attached to, and it only gets a full yield of XP if it's the only summon equipped. You're effectively halving the XP yield for both summons if you equip them both to the same character, so you can either limit their growth to be able to bind magic to more of your stats at once, or you can pick a stat to prioritise and level your summons faster.

You immediately get access to Triple Triad, and every monster you face has a chance of dropping their own Triple Triad card.

You learn about all that in the first 15-30 minutes of the game.

Your first story-related task is to go to a cave and fight a summon, because otherwise you can't take a test that lets you become a soldier. Between Balamb Garden and the cave, you have a small slice of the overworld to explore with a town, some plains, a couple forests and a beach - the latter three options being home to unique monsters with their own Triple Triad cards, a variety of magic to stockpile and the obvious XP earned from defeating them.

You aren't rushed to go to the cave and advance the story - you can just dick around in the overworld fighting monsters for as long as you want, and you can play around with junctioning, summoning your summons and even doing Limit Breaks. You get some optional world-building through your class computer, and then you're immediately thrown into the game world to play the game and engage with the systems you've been given.

I'm in video game heaven right now. The game just throws you out into the world and lets you sink your teeth in, and I'm having an absolute blast. I should have started this before my paid vacation finished.

#final fantasy 8 #gunbladeposting #long post #calling the gunbladeposting tag now

[gunkreads]

Cairn session recap from Friday, which will also function as an advertisement to play Cairn with your friends. You should play Cairn with your friends.

My group of players have had very little contact with TTRPGs. Pretty much all they have is:

(friend 1) One completely horrid 1-hour D&D 4e session back in like 2011, plus about 50 hours of Baldur's Gate 3

(friend 2) Watching about half of said BG3 gameplay

(girlfriend) Two acceptably decent 4-hour D&D 5e sessions, plus hearing me talk about it endlessly.

So I have them going through a bog on a 3-day trip, escorting a merchant through it. Each day is supposed to have an encounter--day 1 was about 2 hours of Session 0/rules review/character creation, then about 2 hours of gameplay, about 20 minutes of which was combat; day 2 was about 4 hours, about 3 hours of which was combat (kinda overdid it on the difficulty ramp).

So, day 2 has my players with a reasonable grasp of the tenets of tabletop gaming and my personal philosophies on GMing. For some background, said philosophy basically starts and ends at the Rule of Cool. They wake up with their stinky sketchy merchant man, then proceed down the path before seeing a Rust Monster dash across the path, which the Merchant chases because he knows they tend to accidentally collect lots of non-rustable precious metals (my canon). They run into this small ruined outpost that happens to have a treant in it.

Now, something you should know about Cairn is that it has almost no progression system--no classes, no leveling, no stat increases, just "gear". It is designed to be deadly, so consequently there's very little you can do to invest into your character. This deadliness is something I heavily emphasized to my players, mainly focusing on the fact that I didn't know HOW deadly it'd be, since I hadn't GMed it before.

I ended up making the first session's combat VERY easy, forgot the rule about critical damage, and happened to see my players roll INCREDIBLY well, so that ended up giving them a false sense of confidence about their combat power.

They run into this treant in session 2. To say it "fucked them the hell up" would be a blinding understatement. It does a base of 1d10+1d8 damage, which I had already reduced to 1d10 before the session started (wanted to eliminate the chance of one-shotting my least tanky player). It downed two of the three players in one hit, and it basically got worse from there.

Because Cairn's rules are so loose, I was effectively able to build a ruleset on the fly to suit this particular combat scenario. I could roll with my players' ideas to do basic movement and inventory manipulation actions while downed (you're not unconscious, just unable to fight). I also loosened the restrictions around getting players back up--it just burned a turn for each player, which let me keep the combat going without completely sidelining a player for over an hour.

This led to one of my initially-incapacitated players killing the Rust Monster, which was hiding in the outhouse of this fort, by dropping a lit torch down into the pit and having the methane explode, then dropping a jar of tar on the still-burning enemy.

It also led to another player using a bottle of perfume as a Molotov cocktail against the Treant, and since they were doing such an incredible job at improvising their way out of this hopeless situation, I could narrate that Molotov knocking the armor off the Treant where it hit, letting them hit it a lot harder from there on. They were also specifically focusing on knocking off branches and roots, so I could reduce the Treant's damage die as they did that. It was IMMENSELY fun to whip up boons for the players based on their individual creativity, attention to their gear, and willingness to ask more about the scenario and setting.

The moral of the story for me in this was that when I, as a GM, don't have a massive ruleset looming behind me, I can actually do a lot better of a job making combat fun. When there's nothing to contradict, I can make rules as intuitive as I want.

So the two things I'd say in favor of following Bob World Builder's advice to start your D&D adventure by playing Cairn are these:

When there are almost no rules, you get to make all the rules. The GM gets to do quite literally whatever they want to help the players have a good time. If a player says "Hey, can I [action that has absolutely zero mention in the rule set], the GM can say "yes, make a [stat] save and fucking go for it" without ANY concern for gameplay balance. Shit, if you're concerned about your ability to be fair in metering their success, pick a die and a value and roll for it. In D&D, you can easily back yourself into corners by allowing something that eventually conflicts with an important balance rule later on. I know because I've done it. Cairn eliminates this stress and lets a GM learn how to PLAY the game, rather than just RUNNING it.

My players were more immersed in the narrative and roleplaying aspect of the game fully throughout the combat. Because they weren't limited to the 13(ish?) actions of D&D 5e, they were able to completely improvise their actions and run character interactions in a way that made them more satisfied with the cinematic-ness and narrative coherence of the fight.

Also, we had a fucking epic life-saving roll toward the end--one player had gone down twice, but still got back up and went back in to fight. She got hit again, which brought her down to 2 STR, and when you take a hit to STR in Cairn, you have to make a STR save to stay standing. Cairn is roll-under-for-success, so she needed to roll a 1 or 2 to stay up. And she rolled a fucking 2. We pretty much took an intermission for that one.

#ttrpg #cairn #PLAY CAIRN #YOU CAN SLAP IT OVER MANY HOMEBREW OR OTHER ESTABLISHED FANTASY SETTINGS #IT CAN BE LEARNED WITH LITTLE DIFFICULTY #THE RULEBOOK IS FREE

[kaishun]

Xenoblade 3 Questing

I'm around 130 hours, and I think I've finished just about every sidequest? Only thing still pending is Info gathering on Aionios's dangerous monsters or whatever, and I don't think that even has a quest marker on it.

Most* colonies are at 5 stars or 4.9 stars after doing the quests, so just need to slap some more collectopedias at them.

There could also be a few quests that are level-locked? As my experience lands me around LV94, which is not LV99.

I'm not much of a Unique Monster hunter and I've only gotten 3 of the "Treasures of the Seven" or whatever items (the Attack, Agility, and Aggro ones) not sure if there's more? But I'll probably grab some guide for the Unique Monsters so I can plan a path accordingly.

That said, Xenoblade 3's side quests have felt good. Very involved, interesting, and impactful. My girlfriend complained about them being sidequests, even, as there's so much lore and character developed, giving them the extra polish of being voiced would've really helped. When your main complaint is "so good it deserved to be better", you know it's great!

However, since I'm wrapping things up now, the hours I put in are ending with it being much shorter than other Xenoblade games as far as my speed of questing-- I have well over 200 hours clocked on Xenoblade 2, and I'm still not done with all the side quests nor at max level. (I can't remember how far I got in Xenoblade 1. Playing it both for the Wii and Switch has muddled a lot of the quests for me. Don't think I hit max level though.) But Xenoblade 2's combat is... pretty painfully slow at times, so I'm not sure if that time stamp is a reflection of the actual amount of content.

My only real beef with the XB3 side quests outside of that was picking them up in the first place. The Info Gathering things are good in theory, but in practice they can be a bit awkward. They don't show up on the overworld map, and the characters often don't even exist (as little green dots) on the minimap. Just giving them a quest indicator would've helped a lot. I've even seen it take 2 in-game hours for two people to spawn in and start talking, pending on how the Switch is feeling about loading-- so even if I check every inch of a Colony, sometimes what I need is where I started searching, just it hadn't loaded in, yet. (And no, not a "time of day" sort of issue-- time of day seems a lot less important in XB3.)

Other minor complaints, the levels are also REALLY fucked up, like, prerequisite quests will sometimes have higher levels than their indirect follow-up quests, and it bounces up down and all around. It feels like at some point, they went back and rebalanced the quests levels to spread things out better, but didn't quite catch them all. The number of LV30-50 quests that send me to LV75 areas was rough. As I was doing this post-game, it was fine, just every once in awhile I'd run into a LV70 when I'm scaled down to LV50, or a LV30 when I'm sitting at LV70.

As a potentially game-breaking issue, there was also one quest (Side Story: Lanz I believe) that I was underprepared for, so tried to leave; but literally couldn't. I couldn't teleport, couldn't take the boat out, nothing. My quick saves were both on this quest, and my last manual save was over 6 hours previous. No way to abandon the quest, deactivating didn't do anything. There weren't really any enemies to grind on. I'm not sure if that happens on any other quests-- being locked into them like that-- as I didn't run into stuff "too hard, I'll come back later" very often. So I just had to slam my face into Consul H until she died, mostly via boring turtle method (I think 3 healers, 3 tanks, 1 attacker; I can't remember if I was able to bring a Hero to that fight).

*Colony Mu is weirdly behind on reputation-- more like 4.7? Which makes me wonder if the dangerous monsters info thing is for Colony Mu, especially since the Armu quest originally stated it could attract Rare monsters-- though after getting my golden boy, there's no more feeding to be done, so that feels like its done? Regardless, I'll need to shove my lil nose everywhere to find the remaining Infos for the Dangerous Monsters thing.

#xenoblade 3 #xenoblade 3 spoilers #just me rambling about XB3 quests

[ferminthompson1]

3 Surprisingly Effective Ways To Water Gun

We may wait until after he's out of residency (he’d even be making too much more money then), but meaning ready five additional years to have a kid. Prior to this dialog, I assumed that youngster care duties can be shared as close to 50-50 as possible. That now seems unrealistic. I don’t think my boyfriend said this resulting from any internalized belief that it’s the woman’s job to take care of children. I have by no means had any points with him with regards to equally sharing housework like laundry and doing the dishes. What are the very best strategies to navigate parenting if one mum or dad works 80 hours every week? I nonetheless want him to take on a fair amount of little one care responsibility, but how will we decide a good amount? I will be working full time as effectively. He will attempt to apply for residency in a metropolis the place now we have members of the family who can help us out.

Are you aware of street development gear? Can you differentiate the sorts of massive-scale and small-scale forms of building gear you see on the roads? When you mentioned sure to these questions, then it is excessive time you tested your knowledge. Take this quiz and see for yourself as to where you may end up! You might think at first that this kind of quiz is strangely arduous. But actually, you simply have to recall the various instances that you may have passed some sort of road development happening. Whether they're fixing up a damaged street, cleansing up one, or maybe widening a very narrow one, chances are you might have seen the numerous kinds of road building equipment that is displayed on the market, in full view of the general public. And plenty of of those pieces of equipment have additionally been exposed or featured in varied sorts of pop tradition media, absolutely.

Toy Guns: Do They Result in Real-Life Violence? Surprisingly, studies show no link between playing with toy weapons in childhood and aggression in adulthood. Tammy Worth and her husband have been decided to not let their two boys, now 7 and 5 years old, play with toy guns or other pretend weapons. Worth, 36, a journalist in Blue Springs, Mo. Michael Thompson, PhD, child psychologist and writer of It's a Boy! Your Son's Development From Birth to Age 18. Yet, most adult men who did interact in gunplay as children don't commit violent crimes. By the age of two or 3, clear gender preferences emerge in the case of playtime. Normally, boys lean towards aggressive play, reminiscent of preventing monsters, while girls are more inclined to have interaction with dolls or games that involve household. The basis of those variations has been debated for ages. Thompson says. But the difference is strong: A recent survey discovered that about 60% to 80% of boys play with aggressive toys at residence, including guns.

How will we let him be a kid but also balance our need to avoid fighting and violence-oriented toys? I hate guns, and I believe it’s a symptom of a broken society that we've got turned them into toys. You don’t see candy cigarettes around anymore. I suppose we’re at peace with educating kids that violence is a part of our character. You’re right that toy water guns look fairly a bit like actual guns. Indeed, when the police kill brown youngsters holding such toys, they’re quick to level that out. That’s why I can't bear to buy a toy gun for my family. But each household is different. I don’t think taking part in with a water gun will warp your son or actually have any effect beyond helping him keep cool this summer. You would buy him a water Orbi Gun and inform him it’s the just one he’ll ever get, so take pleasure in it.

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Click here to view the unique article. While he doesn’t have the identical household recognition as Sam Colt or Smith & Wesson, Benjamin Tyler Henry is a towering determine in the world of ammunition and firearms - and people within the know, know. Henry invented the eponymous Henry rifle, which was the world’s first repeating rifle that really worked. Henry was born in Claremont, New Hampshire in 1821, to one of the crucial distinguished families in the area. His grandfather, Colonel Benjamin Tyler, had been the town’s first millwright, who based several profitable mills within the city and invented the wry-fly water wheel. One in every of his cousins, James Tyler, likewise continued in the modern spirit of their shared grandfather by perfecting this water-wheel design, creating much of the prosperity that visited the city throughout the early years of the Industrial Revolution but allowing paper and textile mills to spring up all through the city using the facility of this perfected design.

[emilsan]

Game List - Nintendo DS and 3DS

Below is the list and overview of Nintendo DS and 3DS games.

Completed – finished the story or played enough to consider the game completed. For example, if it’s an action-heavy and not a very story-oriented game, I may or may not play it to the end credits. If it's something without an explicit ending, I'll consider it beaten when I get tired playing it and if the game is very story-driven, I’d need to see the entire story.​

Mastered – achieved something that grants a “mastered” status. For example, spent more than 100 hours, played at numerous points of my life, collected all trophies or achievements, et cetera.​

Dropped – I tend to avoid dropping games but there might be some which I will want to keep for one reason or another despite having negative views or just not willing to complete them properly. They will have a “Dropped” status.​

No status – yet to play or haven’t finished yet but intend to.

Ratings

10 out of 10 - very important to me on a personal level.

9 out of 10 - this game excels at what it's trying to be, impressed me a lot.

8 out of 10 - just a very good game.

7 out of 10 - good, though could have been better.

6 out of 10 - decent experience but I expected a lot more.

Nintendo DS and 3DS. All titles on custom firmware.

Nintendo 3DS

The Alliance Alive

Animal Crossing: New Leaf Completed, 50+ hours, 2016. 10/10

I used to have a little tradition of playing this on Christmas holidays. It was sweet to spend the holidays with the animal villagers in this Animal Crossing world.

DRAGON QUEST Monsters: Joker 3 Professional Fan-translated, completed, 10+ hours, 2021, 7/10.

In terms of technology and overall experience, Joker 3 Professional is currently (2022) the best DQ Monsters game. I liked its visuals, variety of monsters and the addicting fights, music.

What brought it down a little for me was the combat and interface. Each monster levels up quickly, gets a lot of skills and eventually it just becomes a chore to manage. I wish the game had some limits on the amount of skills and better interface.

The story is fine, though it's not something I really want to see through the end, so I've decided to mark it as complete. Monsters Joker 3 is a joy for the fans of Dragon Quest. You can befriend and fight alongside your favorite monsters and that's what this game is all about.

DRAGON QUEST VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past Dropped, 40+ hours, 2021, 6/10

Dragon Quest VII is a remake of a PS1 game. It's hard to forget this, especially during the brilliant opening sequences of the game. I like the cast of characters, music but unfortunately the game ends up being too long and too poorly paced which made mark it as “Dropped”. I truly did give it a chance and wanted to finish it but I think I’ll need a severe drought of new games to go back to this one.

The story is essentially a collection of vignettes with this episodic format of storytelling. It works but at some point the story starts to feel repetitive and some vignettes are just not great at all. I stopped playing at the one with the robots and the scientists just because it got so tedious with no end in sight and that story being rather cliche. Was it cliche on PS1? Probably not, the amount of story-heavy games was minimal back then and I feel the expectations were much lower, other than games like Final Fantasy.. but looking at DQ VII as if it was a 3DS game truly brings it down.

Another issue is the graphics and overall technical quality. It looks noticeably good in many ways but the few where it doesn't (character models, dungeons, etc.) really bring down the entire experience. The battle system that takes 20-30 hours to introduce more depth and skill system is not fun, too. And my biggest issue is that the character models repeat a lot, with some side-characters that you see through the main story having those identical twins... Small details like that take away from it.

So what makes me give this game I don't really want to finish and have a lot of issues with a 6/10? The opening sequence, the atmosphere of adventure and the good moments of the game are truly memorable and unlike anything else even within the Dragon Quest franchise. Dragon Quest 7 deserves a remake with much more budget and technological resources because what's there is great, it's just the execution and pacing that bring it down, unfortunately.

DRAGON QUEST VIII: Journey of the Cursed King Completed, 45 hours, 2021, 8/10

Dragon Quest VIII was the first mainline DQ game that went for expensive 3D graphics and tried to modernise the game’s design and overall presentation.

The domain of King Trode is brought to ruin by an evil mage Dolmagus. The main character (Hero) decides to help his king to reclaim the kingdom and defeat the villain. The story of DQ VIII is quite simple, it takes an episodic approach of having small stories and moving from town to town to progress further. However, this format works quite well because the story isn’t too long and it generally feels a lot more impressive than DQ VII does as you progress. Even though I disliked or didn’t care for most of the characters (except King Trode and Red), I found myself constantly engaged, carefully reading the dialogue and anticipating the next event in the story. ​ ​ The gameplay is the classic turn-based combat but there are a few important changes which give it more depth compared to the SNES Dragon Quest games. The progression and balance are very good, I never felt like I’m losing battles because I haven’t grinded enough and the story (except the final hours and post-game) can be finished with good pacing if you’re not avoiding battles too much. The leveling is also balanced quite nicely, you earn levels slowly but every ability you get changes the flow of the combat and it’s worth waiting for. ​ ​ DQ VIII is a classic JRPG and one of the best experiences of the genre. It plays very well even in 2021. I am not giving it 9/10 because: a) I felt like the characters could have been more interesting; b) the final hours of the game are too cryptic. I’ve done everything I was supposed to, but the final event would not trigger, and I couldn’t progress to the final boss. I’ve looked at the walkthrough guide and I still don’t know what went wrong, so instead I watched the ending and post-game on YouTube.​

With all this said, DQ VIII is definitely a must to try if you liked XI.

Fire Emblem Awakening

Fire Emblem Fates: Special Edition Undub

The Legend of Legacy

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask​

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Luigi’s Mansion

Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon

Mario Kart 7 Completed, 5+ hours, 2019, 6/10.

I played Mario Kart 7 after the 8th game, so of course it wasn’t as impressive. Still I thought it was a lot of fun and the levels were all interesting. I’m wondering how was it to play MK7 online back when it came out.

Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team

Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions

Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate Completed, 28 hours, March 2021. 8/10

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to play Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate until I found out that this game has underwater combat. That is something no other modern Monster Hunter has, and I’ve heard that this mechanic is clunky… it didn’t feel that way to me and I enjoyed underwater combat a lot.​ This was actually the main reason I liked 3U that much. ​ The gameplay is near perfect and even though you’re mostly doing the same thing, it rarely feels like that. The only few reasons why I lowered the score to 8/10 are: a) I wish the game focused on underwater combat and only that, while I enjoyed fighting the classic MH monsters, I wanted something I haven’t seen in World or other newer entries of the franchise; b) I got stuck with one of the quests and for some reason the game wouldn’t let me progress unless I’d do a capture quest (which I enjoy to an extent but not when they are required). That was one of the final main story quests and I’ve decided to finish playing on that point. ​ ​ MH3 Ultimate is a great entry in MH franchise which has plenty of monsters and unique mechanics which make it worth playing even after World. And if you find the main story monsters simple, Arena has a lot of challenges.   ​

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate

Monster Hunter Stories

New Super Mario Bros. 2 Completed, 10 hours, 2017. 6/10

New Super Mario Bros. 2 subseries seems to have a negative reputation on the Internet. I can see why that’s the case. NSMB 1 on DS and Wii were… not bad, just not what you’d expect from a Mario game, especially on such successful consoles such as Wii and DS. And I think that was amplified by the bad mechanic of Mario being able to eat a certain mushroom and proceed to destroy the blocks and pipes... it’s just so insensitive and off-putting, especially when you’re making a game that supposedly appeals to those who like the older Mario. ​ Regardless, NSMB2 doesn’t let Mario’s mushroom feasting get too wild, and I found it to be very enjoyable. It doesn’t do some of the things it could have done (like take the ideas from Mario GBA games and expand on that), it’s just a very simple “soft remake” of the NES Mario, and sometimes (if done right), that is enough.

Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Spirit of Justice

Phoenix Wright: Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney

Pokemon Ultra Sun Completed, 9 hours, 2019. 8/10

One of my issues with older Pokemon games is their reliance on this somewhat outdated crude SNES level- and game-design. In Ultra Sun developers at GameFreak tried to move past that and I think they've done a great job.

Ultra Sun and Moon are set in a fictional place called Aloha (loosely based on Hawaii). The atmosphere of warmth can be felt all throughout the game. Starting Pokemon were very cute and the battles engaging.

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Moon is one of my favorite games on 3DS.

Poochy & Yoshi's Wooly World Completed, 5-10 hours, 2019. 9/10

It's a bit unfortunate that Yoshi games don't get the recognition they deserve. This particular entry is an incredibly creative and warm experience. My favorite part of the game is the collection of short animations that you unlock by playing the game.

Poochy & Yoshi's Wooly World has one of the best visuals on 3DS and its gameplay is quite fun.

Puyo Puyo Tetris Fan-translated

Shin Megami Tensei IV Undub

Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse / Final Undub, completed, sided with Merkabah, March 2021, 35 hours. 10/10

SMT IV: Apocalypse is considered an epilogue to SMT IV. It’s not entirely wrong to say that Apocalypse is a “sequel” or “epilogue” but one of the “notes” in the game says that Apocalypse is essentially another perspective on IV. I liked how the game explains its connection to IV in a way which doesn’t invalidate the choices the players could have made in IV and the story they personally see as “canon”. ​ ​ IV Apocalypse is essentially the “second disc” of IV with minor changes and improvements to the core gameplay and, of course, a new story and world. The stakes of the story are always high, and there’s a lot of unexpected plot twists. The game is also quite scandalous, and I often wondered how did Nintendo not object to some of the bits of the story.​

One thing I like the most about IV Apocalypse story is that it doesn’t necessarily force any narrative upon you. You are free to eventually choose who you support in the conflict and the game doesn’t mark your choices as “bad end”. In my case, I’ve chosen Law/Order ending and I was satisfied with it. It ended the game prematurely but that was my story, I liked not being forced to save the world like in any other JRPG.​​ What is the point of even having dialogue options if you always have to “save the princess”?

The gameplay has a strong learning curve, and I found the balancing to be a little messy due to the numerous difficulty options. I went with Skirmish (2nd difficulty out of 6) and felt like it’s too easy, then switched to War (3rd difficulty) and it felt too difficult. I would have preferred one or two options but have them be more balanced. That said, the fights are fun and rarely feel the same, recruiting and combining demons has a lot of depth.​ Even though IV Apocalypse is primarily targeted at young adults, the story explores a lot of mature topics in a way a lot of popular fiction doesn’t. It pushes a certain message which is very fresh and doesn’t favor one side over another. Overall, the narrative in SMT IV Apocalypse is fantastic.​ SMT IV Final / Apocalypse suffers a lot from the technical limitations, the game looks very rough when it’s using 3D and it often feels like movement and exploration could have been so much better, especially looking at the release date (2016). Regardless, the story, gameplay and the masterful craftmanship of Atlus is as good as ever. It may not be technologically as good as some other games I’ve given a 10 or even lower score to but SMT IV: A isn’t hindered by that because it knows how to make proper use of its limitations.

SMT IV Apocalypse is one of my favorite JRPG of all time.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked Undub

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2 Record Breaker Undub

Super Mario 3D Land​ Completed, 5-10 hours, 2018​. 8/10

Super Mario 3D Land continued Nintendo’s tradition of releasing Mario games on both handheld platforms and home consoles. 3D Land is not the same as 3D World (released on Wii U) and the levels are completely different, some mechanics are different…

Both 3D Land and 3D World are great 3D platformers with the mark of quality expected from Nintendo and Mario.

Tales of the Abyss​ Undub + original skits

Theatrhythm: DRAGON QUEST Not localized

Theatrhythm: FINAL FANTASY – Curtain Call

Yoshi's New Island

Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma​ Completed, 2018-2019, 5-10 hours. 6/10

I wasn’t too interested in the concept of this game until I learned more about the characters. The “Q” team consists of three personalities, all which I found to be very unique. I’m not too happy with the way the story treats them and the outcome, but it is a horror-thriller visual novel game, after all.

The puzzles felt a little off and too intrusive but overall, I like the game. mostly​ for its story.

Nintendo DS

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth 2 Fan-translated.

Avalon Code Undub

Blood of Bahamut Fan-translated.

Children of Mana

Chrono Trigger

DRAGON QUEST V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

DRAGON QUEST VI: Realms of Revelation

DRAGON QUEST IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

Dragon Quest Monsters Joker Dropped, 5+ hours, 2019. 6/10

It's unlikely I'll be finishing this because there isn't that much story. What I like about the first Monsters Joker is the atmosphere of an exciting tournament. I feel like no other modern DQ Monsters game has gotten as close to this. It almost feels like watching a tournament arc in Dragon Ball but with Dragon Quest aesthetics and Pokémon catching of monsters.

Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2

FINAL FANTASY 4 Heroes of Light

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales Dropped, 5+ hours, 2019. 6/10

This one is definitely a game aimed at children but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm keeping it because I like Final Fantasy lore and creatures a lot and especially the Chocobo subseries. It's very cute.

FINAL FANTASY Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates​ Undub, completed, under 10 hours, 2019. 7/10

Ring of Fates tells the story of siblings who were forced into the world of adults. The game is surprisingly sad and moving, though I’d avoid talking too much about the story to not spoil anything.

I liked the voice-acting (undubbed, can’t vouch for the English voices) and the gameplay. To me Ring of Fates is a statement that a good story doesn’t need expensive hardware or graphics, it’s more about execution, knowing how to handle and overcome the limitations of a system and providing engaging experience as a game rather than anything else.

FINAL FANTASY Tactics A2 – Grimoire of the Rift

FINAL FANTASY XII: Revenant Wings

Infinite Space

Heroes of Mana

KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days

KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Coded​ Completed, 15-20 hours, 2018-2019. 8/10

This was the game that had convinced me to look at Kingdom Hearts franchise with an open mind. I admit, prior to this I was really stuck up about KH and didn’t understand how can the anime aesthetics, JRPG and Square Enix themes blend in well with Disney but Re:Coded changed my mind.

The story in Re:Coded was surprisingly more engaging to me than Kingdom Hearts 1. Perhaps this is because there was less separation between the “two worlds” of KH-inspired Square Enix and Disney.

I liked the gameplay mechanics a lot, the upgrade system worked very well and 

Knights in the Nightmare ​

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass​

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks​ Finished, 10-20 hours, 2019-2020. 9/10

This is at the top of my list of favorite The Legend of Zelda games. Spirit Tracks has an unforgettable atmosphere of adventure, riding the train is fun and never gets old, the puzzles are clever and intuitive, visuals look impressive even in 2021. One of the things I like about Spirit Tracks a lot is that it had a feature which allows the player to write things down, take notes or make markings on the map with a stylus. It’s such a simple idea but it works flawlessly and I wish more Zelda and just all puzzle games had in-game notepads where you could take notes without moving away from the screen, it adds a lot to the atmosphere. ​

Zelda Spirit Tracks is my favorite DS game.​​

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

Okamiden

Radiant Historia

Solatorobo

Soma Bringer Fan-translated

Suikoden Tierkries Undub

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume​ Undub, to continue

Yoshi's Island DS​

#list #video games #nintendo #game library #nintendo ds #nintendo 3ds

[schoolmascotbyday]

BASIC QUESTIONS

First name? “Frederick.”

Surname? “Frederickson.”

Middle names? “Flamarion.”

Nicknames? “Fred, Freddie, Dumbass, Knuckle Head, Idiot, Mr. Fred, Lizard Guy, Fredzilla… Fredzilla totally counts.”

Date of birth? “I was born on August 15th of 1997.”

Age? “I am twenty three years young.”

PHYSICAL / APPEARANCE

Height? “Six foot even.”

Weight? “140 or something. Don’t body shame me.”

Build? “I guess I’d be a mesomorph.”

Hair color? “It’s blond-ish.”

Hair style? “Medium length. Sometimes it is straight, sometimes it has luscious waves.”

Eye color? “Grue. (That means green-blue.)”

Eye shape? “They’re kind of squinty, whatever you call that.”

Glasses or contact lenses? “No sir!”

Distinguishing facial features? “I have a big nose.”

Which facial feature is most prominent? “My nose.”

Which bodily feature is most prominent? “My chest.”

Other distinguishing features? “My hair. If you see my hair, you know it’s me.”

Skin? “White. Disturbingly white. I should get more sun…”

Hands? “Big.”

Make up? “I don’t understand how people wear makeup everyday. It’s hard. It would take me hours to not look like a clown. I wore eye shadow for the pride parade, and it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”

Scars? “Nothing too noticeable.”

Birthmarks? “Nada!”

Tattoos? “None, but I think one day I’ll get a big monster on my entire back .”

Physical handicaps? “I don’t have any.”

Type of clothes? “Worn out.”

How do you wear your clothes? “Too long.”

What are your feet like? “Also big. My socks are dirty. So are my shoes. There’s a hole in my favorite pair, and the bottom is coming off…”

Race / Ethnicity? “Caucasian.”

Mannerisms? “I am overexciteable and it shows.”

Are you in good health? “I keep forgetting to make a doctor’s appointment. Actually, I just don’t wanna do it by myself. But probably.”

Do you have any disabilities? “Fortunately no!”

PERSONALITY

What words or phrases do you overuse? “I think I just shout too often.”

Do they you a catchphrase? “I say whoa-ho-ho a lot. Is that a catchphrase? Or should I have said that for my overused word and/or phrase?”

Are you more optimistic or pessimistic? “Optimistic!”

Are you introverted or extroverted? “Extroverted.”

Do you ever put on airs? “I turn the AC on a lot.”

What bad habits do you have? “Sometimes I chew with my mouth open and I stay up too late and I ramble and I don’t eat healthy foods and get obsessed with entertainment and I don’t blink enough when I’m playing video games and I choose being lazy over being productive and, oh, yeah, run-on sentences.”

What makes you laugh out loud? “A lot of things. I laugh all the time.”

How do you display affection? “Bear hugs and hair ruffles.”

Mental handicaps? “I don’t give myself time to be sad.”

How do you want to be seen by others? “Helpful, loving, loyal, genuine, fun!”

How do you see yourself? “Helpful, loving, loyal, genuine, fun!”

How are you seen by others? “I don’t worry about it too much.”

Strongest character trait? “I care so much.”

Weakest character trait? “I care too much.”

How competitive are you? “I can be kind of competitive, but I don’t trash talk or anything.”

Do you make snap judgements or take time to consider? “It depends on the situation, but I usually make snap judgements.”

How do you react to praise? “A lot of thank you!s and beaming.”

How do you react to criticism? “I don’t usually let it get to me, I try to be better.”

What is your greatest fear? “Losing another person I love.”

What are your biggest secrets? “Sometimes I say I know what I’m doing when I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. Shh.”

What is your philosophy of life? “Life is short, have fun.”

When was the last time you cried? “I don’t remember. A long time ago.”

What haunts you? “Losing Tadashi. Not being able to save him.”

What are your political views? “I’m probably a liberal.”

What will you stand up for? “Anyone that needs me to stand up for them.”

Who do you quote? “My friends. They’re so smart.”

Are you indoorsy or outdoorsy? “Indoorsy.”

What is your sinful little habit? “Buying a lot of merch. A lot of merch.”

What sense do you most rely on? “Definitely not common. Hearing.”

How do you treat people better than you? “I try to learn from them!”

How do you treat people worse than you? “I try to teach them!”

What quality do you most value in a friend? “Genuineness.” 

What do you consider an overrated virtue? “Chastity.”

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? “I think I’d like to be smarter. Just a little bit, just enough to understand half of the things my friends talked about.”

What is your obsession? “Manga, comic books, video games.”

What are your pet peeves? “Being rushed, people being mean, being ignored.”

What are your idiosyncrasies? “I talk too fast.”

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Is your family big or small? Who does it consist of? “Small. It’s just me, my dad, my mom and Heathcliff — the butler.”

What is your perception of family? “They’re supposed to be loving and accepting.”

Do you have siblings? Older or younger? “No. I think that would’ve been nice, though.”

Describe your best friend. “I have five, and they’re the best friends in the whole world. Tadashi isn’t here anymore, but he’s still one of my best friends. They’re all smart and unique and I love being around them.”

Ideal best friend? “Anyone who can be themselves around me.”

Describe your other friends. “Most of them are online.”

Describe your acquaintances. “I don’t have acquaintances, just friends.”

Do you have any pets? “I have a bunch of fish in my saltwater aquarium!”

Who are your natural allies? “Hm, Haven.”

Who are your surprising allies? “The rest of our friends.”

PAST AND FUTURE

What were you like as a baby? As a child? “Loud, wild, energetic, friendly.”

Did you grow up rich or poor? “Rich.”

Did you grow up nurtured or neglected? “I don’t want to say my parents neglected me…”

What is the most offensive thing you ever said? “I don’t even know of anything I’ve thought that was offensive.”

What is your greatest achievement? “My current grades.”

What was your first kiss like? “Quick and nervous.”

What is the worst thing you did to someone you loved? “I didn’t save Tadashi.”

What are your ambitions? “I want to write comics that people want to read.”

What advice would you give your younger self? “Enjoy being a kid while you can!”

What smells remind you of your childhood? “Freshly cut grass, pancakes, steak.”

What was your childhood ambition? “To be a superhero.”

What is your best childhood memory?

What is your worst childhood memory? “The birthday my dad told me they’d be home in time for, but missed. They didn’t come home for another week, and I’m pretty sure he forgot about it completely, because the handwriting on the card that ‘came in the mail’ looked an awful lot like Heathcliff’s.”

Did you have an imaginary childhood friend? “A few.”

When was the last time you were crushed with disappointment? “Sometime last month.”

What past act are you most ashamed of? “Shame is not an emotion I know.”

What past act are you most proud of? “Beating Dark Souls (Demons Souls).”

Has anyone ever saved your life? “Probably.”

Strongest childhood memory? “The day I broke my arm falling out of a tree.”

LOVE

Do you believe in love at first sight? “Why not?”

Are you in a relationship? “Nope.”

How do you behave in a relationship? “Like myself. I’m an affectionate guy.”

When did you last have sex? “It’s been about five months, probably.”

What sort of sex do you have? “All sorts.”

Have you ever been in love? “I fall in love all the time.”

Have you ever had your heart broken? “My heart broke when Tadashi… when I lost my friend.”

CONFLICT

How do you respond to a threat? “Just shrug and say ‘bring it’.”

Are you most likely to fight with your fists or your tongue? “I don’t like fighting, but I’ll do what a situation calls for.”

What is your kryptonite? “Funko Pops.”

If you could only save one thing from your burning house, what would it be? “My fish.”

How do you perceive strangers? “50/50. Could be friends, could be villains.”

What do you love to hate? “Cliffhangers and hard to beat games.”

What are your phobias? “Death.”

What is your choice of weapon? “Depends on the game I’m playing.”

What living person do you most despise? “I don’t despise anyone.”

Have you ever been bullied or teased? “I’ve been teased, but it doesn’t bother me much.”

Where do you go when you’re angry? “The kitchen to get a snack. The only time I get angry is when a game is being really frustrating.”

Who are your enemies and why? “I don’t have any, but maybe one day I will be a true crime fighter and I will.”

WORK, EDUCATION AND HOBBIES

What is your current job? “Sign spinning.”

What do you think about your current job? “I love it. I don’t need the money, I just like bringing in more business to the local shops and showing off my skills!”

What are some of your past jobs? “I’ve never had to work.”

What are your hobbies? “Sign flipping, gaming, writing and drawing, reading comics, binging anime, practicing guitar, coming up with new costume ideas.”

Educational background? “I didn’t do so hot in high school, but I’m in college now.”

Intelligence level? “You could say I’m a selective learner.”

Do you have any specialist training? “I wish! That would be so cool!”

Do you have a natural talent for something? “I want to say my sign spinning is a natural talent — I kind of just picked it up one day and realized I was good at it. Also, super-hearing, headlights and flame throwing.”

Do you play a sport? Are you any good? “I’m not much of a sports guy.”

What is your socioeconomic status? “Ask someone who knows what that means.”

FAVORITES

What is your favorite animal? “Maybe lizards.”

Which animal do you dislike the most? “I don’t dislike any animals.”

What place would you most like to visit? “I’d like to go on a family vacation someday. I don’t really care where we go.”

What is the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen? “The ending of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.”

What is your favorite song? “You’d laugh.”

Music, art, reading preferred? “Reading mixed with art.”

What is your favorite color? “Blue. No, orange. No, green! Yellow! I don’t know! There’s too many colors!”

What is your password? “FredzillaRulesTheWorld.”

Favorite food: “Changes too often to really say.”

What is your favorite work of art? “Death Note.”

Who is your favorite artist? “My dad. He counts, right?”

What is your favorite day of the week? “Sunday.”

POSSESSIONS

What is in your fridge? “A whole lot of ingredients I’ll never use and probably some I can’t pronounce.”

What is on your bedside table? “A lot of junk. I should clean that off...”

What is in your car? “Phone charger, aux chord, a half eaten bag of barbecue chips, stick of deodorant, loose change, hair ties.”

What is in your bin? “It’s empty. I have a butler.”

What is in your purse or wallet? “A group picture with my friends, money, a few different bank cards, a condom, more loose change.”

What is in your pockets? “My keys and my cell phone.”

What is your most treasured possession? “All of my pictures with my friends. I wouldn’t trade them for the world. You never know when you won’t be able to take another one...”

SPIRITUALITY

Who or what is your character’s guardian angel? “I’m sure Tadashi is somewhere looking out for me right now.”

Do you believe in the afterlife? “Yes.”

What are your religious views? “Loosely Christian.”

What do you think heaven is? “A place where everyone is happy and free and there’s no pain. And you can play games all day.”

What do you think hell is? “Sad and lonely.”

Are you superstitious? “A little bit.”

What would you like to be reincarnated as? “A fire breathing dragon!”

How would you like to die? “In a way that matters. If I’m going to die, I’d like to save someone while I’m doing it.”

What is your spirit animal? “Probably iguanas or something.”

What is your zodiac sign? “Leo.”

VALUES

What do you think is the worst thing that can be done to a person? “Torture.”

What is your view of ‘freedom’? “Pretty much how my life is now. I can do what I want, when I want --- for the most part.”

When did you last lie? “It’s been a long time. I don’t lie unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

What’s your view of lying? “It can be easily avoided. Just be honest.”

When did you last make a promise? “I can’t remember.”

Did you keep or break your last promise? “I’m sure I kept it, I don’t make promises unless I plan to do something about it.”

DAILY LIFE

What are your eating habits? “Questionable.”

Do you have any allergies? “I’m allergic to assholes!”

Describe your home. “It’s big. Real big. The yard is big and freshly cut. There’s not a blimp of imperfection until you get to my room, then it becomes a randomized mess.”

Are your minimalist or a clutter hoarder? “Hoarder.”

What do you do first thing on a weekday morning? “Turn my alarm off.”

What do you do on a Sunday afternoon? “Relax. Wait for my dad to call.”

What do you do on a Friday night? “Stay up late gaming.”

What is your soft drink of choice? “Mountain Dew.”

What is your alcoholic drink of choice? “Just beer is fine.”

MISCELLANEOUS

What or who would you dress up as for Halloween? “Oh, I love Halloween! I go all out! I’ll dress as another superhero this year, or maybe a villain to spice it up!”

Are you comfortable with technology? “I love technology.”

If you could save one person, who would it be? “Tadashi. I wish I could’ve saved Tadashi.”

If you could call one person for help, who would it be? “Haven, she always knows what to do.”

What is your greatest extravagance? “All the merch in my room, or my tank.”

What is your greatest regret? “Not doing anything to help my friend.”

What is your perception of redemption? “Putting someone else before yourself. If you do that, if you selflessly risk your own life or needs or wants for another person, you’re obviously redeemed.”

What would you do if you won the lottery? “Donate it all to charity.”

What is your favorite fairytale? “Jack and the Beanstalk.”

What fairytale do you hate? “I don’t hate any fairytales. People put a lot of hard work into their stories and I respect that.”

Do you believe in happy endings? “I do.”

What is your idea of perfect happiness? “Living every day how you want to live it.”

What would you ask a fortune teller? “I’d give my opportunity to someone else. I don’t need anything answered.”

If you could travel through time, where would you go? “Back to save Tadashi or die trying.”

What sport do you excel at? “Is flame throwing a sport?”

What sport do you suck at? “Soccer. I get confused and score for the other team. Every. single. time.”

If you could have a superpower, what would you choose? “All of them! Fire breath, x-ray vision, flying, rocket fists, gravity manipulation, invisibility, walking through walls, the ability to teleport through people’s phones so if they needed me I’d be right there... yeah, all of them!”

#yes i gave him my birthday what of it #this one took me a hot minute whew #walttasks #tasks.

[rainofaugustsith]

Rain Plays SWTOR: Seeker Droid!

Canon Viri tackled the Dread Seeds/Seeker Droid quests. Macrobinoculars is still not doable solo, but after seeing some YouTube videos of the Seeker Droid quest endings online, I thought I’d go for it. It’s about the Dread Masters and I’m trying to do as much of their content alone as I can.  Seeker Droid story spoilers In terms of story, I thought it was a good one. At the end, of course Viri took the power for herself. She's the Wrath. Or she was, at this point in the game. And she sure as hell wasn't going to leave it for Acina to loot or take credit for - which is exactly what she would have done. 

I feel like the ending was totally in character for Viri. She was one step ahead of Acina, even though she didn't let on. In canon, once she became the Wrath she knew damned well that Vitiate was gone - it's canon because the Hands sent her an email about it after the class story. So she also knew that anyone telling her "the Emperor told me to do this" was full of shit. Acina wanted her to do all the gruntwork and then take all the credit for reclaiming the Dread Seeds. After seeing the Arcanum that Acina hadn't told her or anyone else about, that contained Patient Zero and all sorts of scary stuff - even more so. She would play along with Acina because the Dread Seeds were a Very Bad Thing, but she was certainly not going to fork over the Dread Masters' tech to her. 

Gameplay: It's bugged at the end. The final heroic on Ilum was decidedly miserable, which is a shame because the rest of the quest line was fun. 

Since the Dread Seeds happened during Viri's years as the Wrath, she brought along Jaesa to at least try to keep some continuity. Before KOTFE, Jaesa and Vette were her seconds all the time, and she would have chosen the former for anything Scary Force Related. Vette jumped in on the Ilum heroic because unfortunately Jaesa was useless there, despite being Level 50. Of course, she was standing there wearing Lana's belt with gold eyes, so she still didn't look 100% like she was from the correct part of her timeline, but I did what I could.  Overall, once I got the hang of it, using the seeker droid was pretty simple. When I was on Corellia I nearly got ninjaed - some asshole Jedi Knight was literally standing behind me and watching what I did with my seeker droid, then putting his down in the direction it was saying. As soon as I noticed it I just went over to Hoth to search for a different Seed. Sorry. Not helping you, Jedi.

On Alderaan and Balmorra Viri found the Seeds with only two or three tries with the seeker droid, which is...well, I'm not complaining. When I got to Voss, the last one Viri had to collect, I finally checked her mail and there was a buff from GSI in an email to make the search easier. Oops. Could have used that on Corellia. 

Somewhere along the way she somehow lost the seeker droid. I logged out and logged back in, and it was back in her mission tools. I also got an email with it. Okay. Glad to see everything's not bugged. 

Going through the Arcanum wasn't the easiest, but I'm really proud I was able to do it. I'm horrible at jumps. That's an understatement. Viri did die a few times as I figured out the first jump, and I got stuck behind some shelves once, but I'm really pleased with myself, and proud of Viri, that she was able to make it through. Rocket boost definitely helped.  The search took her to one of her favorite places, the ancient side of Belsavis. Better yet, she got to explore another Rakatan crypt. And there was a Rakatan transporter. Pure joy. The boss at the end was hilarious. You don't fight him; you just kill all his adds and he eventually gets zapped by his own artifacts and dies. Score. 

And then we went to Ilum.  I don't know if I even want to write a guide for this because the quest is bugged. Very, very bugged. Hellish. It makes me feel better that the difficulties did seem to come largely from the fact that it was bugged and not my own inability to make it through.  Once the bugs were sorted out, Viri didn't have much more difficulty with it than she'd had soloing, say, veteran Athiss or Red Reaper.  Viri spent three hours trying to get through a single room: a hallway where you need to place the power cells in the turret before the hordes of corrupted soldiers swarm in. The turrets refused to fuel past 87% over and over again. I called in different companions, all influence level 50. Vette, Jaesa, Lana and Shae all had turns. I tried them on tank; I tried them on heal. Worse: when Viri died I had the choice of a) reviving her in the room where ALL the cages were open so she was instantly mobbed; b) respawning her just outside the temple and resetting all the mobs in the entire mission. I was in tears of frustration.  After taking a shower, getting lunch and taking a break, I looked for more information online. Turns out it's a bug that can be alleviated by resetting the quest. I did that, and the next time I went in, I was able to solve the room in two or three tries. 

On to the Sithspawn, which was an entirely different level of hell. Viri didn't die here, but neither did the Sithspawn. Again, it was bugged. You're supposed to be able to lure the beast into standing on barrels that explode, but no matter what I did, it it didn't work. I looked online and sure enough, there were reports of this bug, too.  I put Vette on passive and went out into the hallway to take a break when the tentacles reappeared. I have no idea how or why, but after that the barrels worked, and Viri and Vette made short work of the monster. 

After that, the final boss was honestly a piece of cake. I had trouble finding the crystals to click for a moment, but once I did, easy peasy.  Acina was not happy was Viri. Eh. Don’t underestimate the Wrath. She still got some cute armor.  I don't think I'd be in a hurry to go back to this unless they fixed the bugs. But it's done, and I can say I did it. 

#swtor #rain plays swtor #swtor spoilers #seeker droid mission #swtor seeker droid mission #seeker droid spoilers #seeker droid mission spoilers #Viridana Dragoi #Sith Warrior #Viri and Vette

[bloodelves88]

Fundamental Game Design Problems with Genshin Impact

I’ve been playing Genshin Impact since its launch, and I’ve had some sort of a love-hate relationship with it. On one hand, I love the world, the characters, the story, and how it feels so carefree and beautiful. On the other hand, I really hate its leveling system, its gacha system, and the time-reward ratio of its activities.

I find that there are quite a few issues in Genshin Impact that just doesn’t make sense from a game design perspective. These issues make the player want to play less, or avoid features in the game that should not be avoided, and instead should be encouraged to explore. Coincidentally, the very same game design issues do encourage players to spend real money on the game, so I guess that’s the crux of the issue.

Issue 1: The Resin System

If you play Genshin Impact, we all saw this issue coming, didn’t we? 

Resin is basically the stamina/energy that you would know in other gacha games. The problem is that there’s just too little resin, which leads to almost every other problem that I’m going to talk about later.

In short, there’s just too little resin given to the player. The amount of time to recover resin is just too long for the amount of rewards given in exchange.

In Genshin Impact, you can spend resin on ley lines (random fights in the open world that give either character experience or money), domains (instanced fights that give you artifact equipment, or weapon ascension materials), and open world bosses (gives you character ascension materials). Nothing wrong with that, so far so good.

What if I told you that you need to spend approximately 5 hours worth of resin in order to get the rewards from a world boss, and that boss might not even drop the material? Just this past week alone, I spent about 5 days worth of resin on just one boss and nothing else, and I came out with no high tier materials at all. On the bright side, the game does allow you to combine lower tier materials into higher tier materials. This still doesn’t sound too bad... but read on to issue 2 and 3 to see why this becomes a problem that snowballs.

Another strange point is that the weekly quests require you to spend more resin than you can recover. This pretty much means that you must spend real money in order to complete the quest. Totally broken.

Issue 2: The World Level System

In Genshin Impact, there is something called a “World Level”. This determines the level of the monsters in the world, which in turn determines the quality of the loot that they drop.

The problem is, the world level increases as your adventure rank increases. Your adventure rank increases when you do pretty much anything in the game. Completing quests, opening chests, completing domains, defeating bosses, and completing ley lines all give you adventure rank experience. 

This means that you will be kept on your toes, and you cannot afford to spend your resin on things you do not need. God forbid that you end up with a high world level with weak characters. You’re pretty much dead if that happens. 

I’ve not found myself in such a situation yet, and I have no idea if it’s possible to break out of such an impasse. Too weak to farm materials, and no way to get around that. Big oof.  

It’s strange, because this is such a chill and calming game, but the system behind it is anything but. 

Ever since I hit adventure rank 30, I’ve avoided doing any random quests that I come across in the open world (game design problem: your players are avoiding quests). I simply do not want to level up! I’m scared of leveling up (game design problem: your players do not want to level up).

Now, why does this happen? The resin system! The player is just not able to farm enough to become strong enough to handle a higher world level.

There is a minor breather for this though. Every 10 adventure rank levels starting at level 25, there’s a trial that you have to pass before the world level will go up. This gives the you an infinite amount of time to catch up and farm whatever you want, and the world level will not go up. However, you will still earn adventure rank experience, which will all be added once you’ve passed the trial. I skipped level 26-30 this way and jumped two world levels because of this. Luckily, I was prepared enough to handle it.

You might think that this trial is there to counter this problem of being too weak in the world level you’re in. Nope. The boss (electro hypostasis) in the trial is one of the easiest bosses in the game due to a lack of an enrage timer (DPS check) and it has very obvious attacks that are easily dodged. So... it doesn’t gatekeep anything. 

Issue 3: The Leveling System

In Genshin Impact, your characters level up using character experience cards. These cards are dropped from chests, and are given as rewards from quests or ley lines.

In Genshin Impact, you also control a squad of four characters at a time, and elemental reactions and elemental advantages are a big part of the combat system. So, you aren’t just going to be able to get away with training one character, and I’d say that you would need about 6 characters to cover all your bases. 

I’ve personally leveled up two characters to 70, one to 60, two to 50, and one to 40. And I’m all out of character experience cards.

The problem? The resin system! Your main source of character experience cards in the late game would be from ley lines, and this requires resin if you want to gain rewards from it. But wait! I also need resin to farm weapon ascension materials and character ascension materials! Well, too bad. Welcome to Genshin Impact.

The fundamental game design issue from this is that it prevents the player from experimentation. You would think, “Hmm, what would character X be like if I used her in this squad? Oh wait, I don’t have the resources to level her up anyway”. You might think that’s fine, because you might think that you could just go farm some resources to level this character up and try her out. But remember issue 2? Your world level might go up while you’re doing this, which will make all content more difficult to clear. Is there really time for experimentation? What if the character doesn’t work out? Then your main squad hasn’t gained any strength while the world level went up. I guess you’re dead.

I’m not even excited about getting new characters anymore, because I know that all they’ll do is sit in my roster at level 1, and the only time they’ll ever get used is when I send them off to collect materials on expeditions. I have a Venti doing just that. Will I ever be able to train him? Ha! Who knows? Maybe when I’m stuck at adventure rank 45.

So from the start of the game, you have to pick your squad, maybe you’re allowed to deviate and level up two new characters on top of your main four, and that’s it. You got to lock that squad in and never use any other character ever again because you just can’t afford to.

Wut.

Issue 4: The Gacha Rates

In Genshin Impact, the highest rarity (5 star) comes at a 0.6% rate. Compared to other popular gacha games which come in at around 1-2%, the difference is huge.

To me, this alone is already an issue from a design perspective. When it’s too low, it can get people frustrated enough to quit the game (I was planning to, until the last roll I could afford gave me Klee). The amount of money the whales are spending just to get a single character or weapon can easily go into the hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Another problem that arises from the poor rates is you start to lack important archetypes in your squad. For a long time I lacked a heavy-hitting claymore user (this is important to break shields and rocks), and I also lacked someone good against frost enemies. So I spent all my free gems (six 10 rolls, worth US$180) and finally got Klee, a fire bomb user. The game does give a free claymore user, but I don’t have the resources to train another character (see, resin raises its ugly head again). The game also does give a good free fire character, but she isn’t fiery enough to fight a whole domain of frost enemies.

If Genshin Impact wants to keep its gacha rates low, fine by me. But the game needs to give all players a complete and well-rounded set of characters that can cover all bases. Every element needs to be countered, a healer is needed, and a shield-breaker is needed. And this set of characters need to do the job well. Having complete jokes of a character like Amber is not going to help. Having a difficult to understand/build character like Noelle is not going to help.

-----

I do like this game, and I do want to keep playing it. But sometimes I wonder if I should wait a little and let Mihoyo fix the game before I start playing again.

#genshin impact

[tigerkirby215]

5e Oleander, the Dark Unicorn build (Them’s Fightin’ Herds)

(Artwork by Mane 6)

My brain completely didn’t register that it was spooky month, even though ironically I made a build for literal Satan last week. Where do you go after making the pure embodiment of evil? …Unicorns are scary, right? I mean they’re certainly scarier than a scarecrow.

GOALS

My magic may be dark, but it will bring light to the world - It seems all you need to do to get phenomenal cosmic power is read a cursed book. We’ll need teleportation, chapter traps, and Eldritch Shadow Blasts.

Or dark; either one - Oli’s got friends on the other side... of the page. FHTNG, I summon thee!

I don't have the time or crayons to teach you how to fight! - You’re still a fighting game character so you’ve still got to be able to throw a punch. Or stab with a horn in your case.

RACE

If you want to be a unicorn the closest you’ll get is Centuar, but even if you ignore the stats Centaur isn’t that great for you. Almost all the abilities are based on keeping in melee range, and you’re mostly played as a zoner.

With that in mind you’re only half under the influence of darkness, so how about a Drow Half-Elf for all the fun of being a Drow without the penalties and lore connotations of being a female Drow? (Feel free to play a full Drow if you wish just realize that you’re getting Sunlight Sensitivity which is seriously obnoxious.) Your Charisma increases by 2 and you can increase another two abilities by 1: Dexterity and Constitution will let you dodge some hits and tank what few hits do connect. You have Darkvision up to 60 feet and your Fey Ancestry gives you advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

As a Drow Half-Elf you can pick up Drow Magic for a bit of extra spark in your shadow sparks which I’ll go over at the appropriate levels. And you get Common, Elvish, and one additional language of your choice so grab Deep Speech to talk with Fred. (Note: Depending on your DM Fred may not speak Deep Speech.)

ABILITY SCORES

15; DEXTERITY - You’re as nimble as a horse, because you are a horse. (That, and I want this ability score to be even.)

14; CHARISMA - You are the prettiest unicorn with a mane as white as... well it was white.

13; CONSTITUTION - When in the business of fighting cows, ice deer, and sheep with armies of puppies you’ve gotta be able to take a hit.

12; INTELLIGENCE - Read enough books and you’re bound to get some smarts, even if that book is alive and is teaching you how to manipulate darkness.

10; WISDOM - Oli is a smart cookie. Not smart enough to realize that reading the demon book would make your coat black, but still pretty smart.

8; STRENGTH - I’d argue that a head horn is a finesse weapon, and simply put we need everything else more.

BACKGROUND

To find a forbidden shadow book you’ve gotta know your way around a library, and as a Sage you know exactly that. You get proficiency in Arcana and History along with two languages of your choice (to maximize Demonology take Infernal and Abyssal, though you may want to talk to your extended family with Sylvan or Celestial.)

Your Researcher feature will always let you know where to find a book that you may need. It may not be easy to find (if it’s back home with your old friends they probably won’t welcome you in) but you’ll know where to go to grab it.

(Artwork by Linvidia on DeviantArt)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - WARLOCK 1

Hey it’s the funny class I use too much! Jokes aside you literally get your magic from an otherworldly being so what else would you be? Regardless Warlocks get proficiency in two skills from the Warlock list: Investigation will help you search for the key and Intimidation will let you scare away anyone who’ll try to stop you.

Unlike most classes Warlocks choose their subclass at level 1, and there’s certainly a lot to pick from. But without any Shadow patron who is there to choose? Well the Archfey patron can recreate a lot of Fred’s powers. Notably Fey Presence will let Fred give your foes a jump! As an action you can cause each creature near you to make a Wisdom saving throw against your Warlock save DC: the creatures that fail their saving throws are either charmed or frightened by you until the end of your next turn. Consider the charm being you and your natural unicorn beauty. Regardless you can use this action once per short or long rest.

And of course as a Warlock you get access to Pact Magic. You learn two cantrips from the Warlock list and hey look it’s Eldritch Blast: for the shadow spark in you. To rip out some pages take Create Bonfire to lay down some Chapter Traps. Now would also be a good time to mention that thanks to Drow Magic you also get access to the Dancing Lights cantrip, in case you’re in a dark cave and your Darkvision isn’t enough.

You can also learn two first level spells: Arms of Hadar will let you stick a tentacle out of your book to give yourself space to back away from your enemies. To make it easier to get past an opponent’s block Faerie Fire from the Archfey list will light up an opponent’s weak spot to give you and your allies advantage. It helps to know the hitboxes.

LEVEL 2 - WARLOCK 2

Second level Warlocks get access to Eldritch Invocations and oh hello there Agonizing Blast! How did you get here? Jokes aside for your other invocation grab Armor of Shadows to keep it light and still be up for a fight!

You can also learn another spell: Sleep is also from the Archfey list and as the name implies it’ll put your enemies to sleep! No one likes late night fights, especially with net lag.

LEVEL 3 - WARLOCK 3

Third level Warlocks can choose their Pact Boon and since your best friend lives in a book you’ve gotta take Pact of the Tome. As a Tome Warlock you get the Unicornomicon Book of Shadows, in which you can inscribe three cantrips from any class’ spell list. Guidance is never a bad thing to have so I’d start with that; get Fred to help you with your research, as he’s literally a living book! Thaumaturgy will let you channel some shadow magic to do spooky stuff like make candles flicker or create ominous whispers. And to channel some of your unicorn magic take Druidcraft to shape nature somewhat.

You can also now learn second level spells: for some short range teleportation take Misty Step to vanish in a puff of darkness. And remember that Faerie Fire spell? Thanks to Drow Magic you can cast it once per long rest without using a spell slot.

LEVEL 4 - WARLOCK 4

4th level Warlocks get an Ability Score Improvement: increase your Charisma to be the prettiest unicorn of darkness.

You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip! For your cantrip take Prestidigitation to complete the trifecta of minor magic mastery. As for leveled spells Mirror Image will let you up your dodging game, putting you in four places at once to make it much harder for your enemy to hit you!

(Artwork by Angelzillah on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 5

5th level Warlocks get another Eldritch Invocation and hopefully you didn’t expect Fred to do nothing but whisper sweet nothings to you, right? With Book of Ancient Secrets you can spend some time reading to cast a variety of spells! When you take this invocation you learn two 1st level spells with the Ritual tag like Detect Magic and Identify to help you find the key or anything else of importance. You can now cast those spells as Ritual spells, as well as any Warlock spells you may learn with the Ritual tag. You can also inscribe new Ritual spells into Fred your Book of Shadows at a cost of 50 gp and 2 hours per level of the spell.

And speaking of spells you can learn third level spells at this level such as Fear, which causes fear in your enemies. Funny how that works. Additionally thanks to Drow Magic you can cast the Darkness spell once per Long Rest, to turn off the lights and let Fred out to play. Sadly you don’t have Fred yet, and it should be mentioned that most people can’t see through the dark.

LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 6

6th level Archfey Warlocks get some more potent teleportation with Misty Escape. When you take damage you can use your reaction to turn invisible and teleport up to 60 feet. You remain invisible until the start of your next turn unless you attack or cast a spell. You can only use this super teleport once per short or long rest, but it should be enough for some mix-ups right?

Speaking of mix-ups you can put your opponents in a dizzy state with Hypnotic Pattern. Just remember that hitting them will break them out of it.

LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 7

7th level Warlocks can learn 4th level spells like Dimension Door for some cross-map teleports.

You can also grab another Eldritch Invocation! Trickster’s Escape will let you tech out of grabs. Is Freedom of Movement overly situational? Yes! Are there better invocations to choose? Yes! Are they in character? No! But anything can be in character if you want it to be!

LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 8

8th level Warlocks get an Ability Score Improvement so cap off your Charisma to be a master of shadows.

You can also learn another spell and I think it’s about time: Dark spirits, twist the trees, foul the lake, and curse this land! FHTNG I SUMMON THEE! Summon Aberrant Spirit is an Unearthed Arcana spell likely to be in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything that lets you summon a tentacle monster from beyond! Fred can take the form of a Beholderkin, Slaadi, or Star Spawn.

Star Spawn is probably the closest to Fred, attacking a creature’s mind with his attacks and also having an aura that drains at their sanity. The Slaadi is a good tank that can also counter cheese strats by denying healing. And the Beholderkin? Well it can fly and shoot at range. Fred’s a demon of many forms, and he’s also fun at parties!

(Artwork by probablyfakeblonde on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 9

Now that we’ve got our book smarts it’s time to improve our combat smarts. If you’re going to fight predators you need to have the best combat training possible, which is why we’ll be going into the class that is the most well-known for expertise in combat...

BARD 1

The Bard class, master of close-ranged combat with expertise in every skill required to keep you in a fight. Jokes aside first level Bards get proficiency with a skill of their choice (Perception would further help with spotting danger or potential keyholders) and a musical instrument. (Pan Flutes seem in character for a forest child.) Bards also get Bardic Inspiration at first level, letting you pull out an assist to give allies a d6 to attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws.

But most notably Bards get more Spellcasting! You get two cantrips from the Bard list: to weaponize salt take Vicious Mockery, for BM so bad your opponent messes up. Psychological warfare! And since you don’t have hands of your own as a unicorn (you do as a half-elf though) grab Mage Hand to use your magic to grab things with your horn.

You can also learn 4 spells from the Bard list: for some dark powers manipulating your foes take Dissonant Whispers. For some dark powers helping you take Unseen Servant. To recover more easily from air combos take Feather Fall. And for some push-blocking take Thunderwave for more push and less block.

LEVEL 10 - BARD 2

Second level Bards get Jack of All Trades, letting you add half your proficiency bonus to any skill you aren’t already proficient in. Dark magic works in strange and mysterious ways... and Fred’s a long book. You also get Song of Rest to let your allies heal an extra d6 during short rests, which is nice because you’re going to be short resting a lot as a Warlock. I mean, you’re level 10 so a d6 of healing probably isn’t going to help much but...

You can also learn another spell like Bane, giving your opponents some input lag to open them up for attacks.

LEVEL 11 - BARD 3

Third level Bards get Expertise in two skills of their choice: Arcana will make you the master of the arcane, and Intimidation... you have a literal demon as your best friend.

But more importantly you can choose your Bard college and to actually gain some combat proficiency go into the College of Valor. Along with proficiency in medium armor, martial weapons, and shields (Oli doesn’t wear armor but Medium Armor might be nice. The only weapon you’ll really be using is a rapier but if your DM allows it there’s no reason not to equip a shield?) you also further your assists with Combat Inspiration, allowing your inspiration die to be added to damage rolls and AC; basically the only two things you couldn’t add it to before.

And you can learn second level spells such as Locate Object, because these silly ungulates keep losing their keys!

LEVEL 12 - BARD 4

4th level Bards get an Ability Score Improvement and Dexterity will make you tougher to hit while also increasing the potency of your horn stabs.

You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip! A lot of people say Friends is a bad cantrip because it makes the person you’re talking to hate you after using it but here’s the thing: Friends works on Intimidation checks too. Who cares if they hate you when they fear you? But a spell that people don’t say is bad is Lesser Restoration, which will help you break out of stun lock.

LEVEL 13 - BARD 5

5th level Bards see their Bardic Inspiration increase to a d8 which is great because they also get Font of Inspiration, allowing their Bardic Inspiration to come back on a short rest. Told you you’d be doing a lot of short rests!

You can also learn third level spells like Sending to challenge your friends to a duel, as long as they’re on the same plane of existence. TFH isn’t on the Epic Games Store; thank god.

LEVEL 14 - BARD 6

6th level Valor Bards get an Extra Attack, letting them attack twice with the attack action; it’s really that simple. Well you do also get another spell, and I have no doubt that Oleander’s used to speaking in Tongues... Oh and you get Contercharm which is godawful poop-garbage, letting you spend your action to give your allies advantage against Charms and Fears. Maybe this is why TFH is a 1v1 game; no need to use Countercharm?

(Artwork by SinniePony on DeviantArt)

LEVEL 15 - WARLOCK 9

5th level spell time! For a massive single target Shadow Blast grab Negative Energy Flood! Look, just because we’ve never seen Oleander turn someone into a zombie...

You can also grab another invocation and while we’ve never seen Oleander fly Ascendant Step is an insane utility that I’m sure Oli would’ve learnt to reach the high book shelves.

LEVEL 16 - WARLOCK 10

10th level Fey Warlocks have Beguiling Defenses for immunity against charms, and if someone attempts you charm you you can spend your reaction to instead charm them! You can also learn another cantrip like Minor Illusion to manipulate the shadows around you. 

LEVEL 17 - WARLOCK 11

11th level Warlocks get a 6th level Mystic Arcanum, which is a 6th level spell that uses a 6th level slot that comes back after a long rest. There are a lot of nice options at 6th level but if Fred is getting grabby he might send them to a Mental Prison. If they succeed against the spell they take a bunch of psychic damage but if they fail they are surrounded by an illusion which only they can see which has “hideous maws filled with dripping teeth” as one of the available options. Basically Fred sends them to a hellscape and they can either sit there in horror or try to break out, taking 10d10 psychic damage in the process.

You can also learn another regular Warlock spell from the regular Warlock spell list: Dream will let you reach your foes even in their dreams (duh) and let Fred give them a spook to stop them from sleeping! Or you can use it for some otherworldly messaging. Maybe use it to call a smug reindeer a pompous princess?

LEVEL 18 - WARLOCK 12

12th level means an Ability Score Improvement: time to cap off that Dexterity modifier to be quick on your feet and sharp with your horn!

Additionally you get your last Eldritch Invocation at this level: there are a lot of options but none that really feel in-character, so pick whatever you want.

LEVEL 19 - WARLOCK 13

13th level Warlocks get their 7th level Mystic Arcanum: while there are a lot of good options Crown of Stars will let you charge up some powerful shadow blasts, creating 7 stars that float around you and shed light. You can shoot one out as a bonus action to do 4d12 Radiant damage. While you have a star floating above you it also creates light, which might be useful.

And you additionally get another regular Warlock spell: since it’s my build take Synaptic Static, because I like this spell. Have Fred assault your foes minds to make them easier to read!

LEVEL 20 - WARLOCK 14

As a 14th level Archfey you can finally pull your foes into Fred’s realm! Dark Delirium gives you a new not-quite-spell: Take an action to choose a creature that you can see within 60 feet of you. It must make a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. On a failed save, it is charmed or frightened by you for 1 minute or until your concentration is broken, though the effect ends early if the creature takes any damage.

Until this illusion ends, the creature thinks it is lost in a misty realm, the appearance of which you choose. The creature can see and hear only itself, you, and the illusion. You must finish a short or long rest before you can use this again, but your time in the pixel lobby to do as you please. Maybe just teabag to taunt them with a unicorn shuffle.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

So naïve trying to beat me - Maxed out Charisma means the best spells you can get. Maxed out Dexterity with Mage Armor means 18 AC (up to 20 if your DM lets you slap a shield on!) And a +2 CON mod means your health isn’t bad either!

Fine, but let's make it quick - A lot of your better features come back on short rests. Both Bardic Inspiration and your 5th level Pact slots are easily refreshable, allowing you to always be ready for a fight.

I have trained years for this; you will not dissuade me - Despite coming from a game without assists you are a master of helping your friends. Jack of All Trades in all skills, Bardic Inspiration for all rolls, plenty of utility spells (including an ungodly amount of cantrips and Book of Ancient Secrets to handle any ritual spells) and plenty of languages to top it off.

CONS

I am no weakling! - Big investment in AC... not so much in saving throws. Your Intelligence, Constitution, and notably Strength all have very low saving throws.

Itty-bitty living space - Low Constitution saves mean a frequent drop of concentration. And speaking of concentration you’ve got a lot of them but can only have one up at a time. Can’t have Fred around if you want to float too.

Need... more... power... - Truthfully there’s a lot I didn’t take from Warlock. I didn’t take any of the better spells from Archfey like Blink, Greater Invisibility, or Dominate Person. You could’ve gotten level 15 Eldritch Invocations like Witch Sight and Shroud of Shadows, but I wanted Extra Attack. Truthfully if you know your campaign will be going to level 20 then Warlock 15 / Bard 5 might be a better build, and nothing is forcing you to take the spell I did.

But you’re used to being underestimated. When it comes to matters of life-and-death any advantage is necessary. So go all out with your friend on the other side! Fight with spell and horn sword to prove that all magic can save the world. Well, perhaps not salt magic...

(Animation by Szafir87 on DeviantArt. Original artwork by OgaraOrCynder on DeviantArt.)

#dnd #dnd 5e #dnd build #dnd guide #dnd warlock #yup more warlocks xd #dnd bard #tfh #Them's Fightin' Herds #Them's Fightin' Herds Oleander #Oleander #unicorn #tfh unicorn #tfh Oleander #ungulate #demon

[dmsden]

Location, Location, Location - The Undertower of Bailin’s Point

Hullo, Gentle Reader, and welcome to another “Five-Room Dungeon” style adventure. This time, we’re going to set the fun for a group of 5 3rd level adventurers and tie it directly to our main campaign plot in the Angel of Chaos storyline.

The people of Bailin’s Point have a problem. There’s an old ruined watchtower that used to guard their river port, but it fell long ago during the fall of the Keeps, and now it’s reputed to be haunted. No one’s had an issue with it until recently, when eerie sounds and lights were seen coming from it at midnight. They are afraid some foul evil is afoot. They beg the PCs to look, and try to bribe them by telling them that no one’s set foot in the place except a few local youngsters who dare each other. One of them, however, came out with a golden armband set with rubies, so it’s likely there are other treasures.

The fact is, there is a treasure...quite a good one. Depending on your campaign, this could be a magic-item from table F or even G (rare, but not unheard of). You might make this a Sentinel Shield, Bracers of Archery, Gauntlets of Ogre Power, or even a +2 weapon (preferably one with a cool history attached to it). I recommend deciding on something that will be particularly awesome for one of the players who hasn’t gotten a decent magic item yet. If your party’s fighter is attached to fighting with an uncommon weapon like a trident or a flail, maybe make it that.

The point is, Adziel, our major villain, or one of their lieutenants, has gotten wind of it ans wants to claim it. To this end, they’ve dispatched several corrupted angelic agents to go and get it for their war effort. Such an item could be devastating in the hands of a powerful enemy.

“Room” 1: The Tower -  This is the central, ground floor of the ruined tower. Barakiel, a corrupted angel (use the stats of a bearded devil), and his loyal canine companion Niriven (use the stats of a Hell Hound, but change its immunity and bonus damage to Radiant rather than Fire), are investigating the way into the dungeon below the tower.  Niriven is laying down in the middle of the room but has a passive Perception of 15 and rolls Perception with Advantage. Barakiel has a parchment that says, in Celestial, “The storm will wither hope, but winter will bring joy. Shun corruption at all costs, but flame guides the way. Venom begets only venom, but force can sometimes open a barrier.”

Barakiel will first attempt to dissuade the characters from bothering him, but, if necessary, he will not hesitate to attack them with Niriven at his side. He is utterly convinced of the rightness of Adziel’s cause (although he will not mention Adziel or what he is doing here.) “I have my orders,” he will say sadly, as he attacks. As he dies, he says, “The Angel shall hear of this!”

“Room” 2: The Way Forward - Once they have defeated Barakiel and Niriven (both of whom will vanish in golden light when they are slain, as they return to their home plane), they can examine the room. There are six pillars that once held the roof up (although now they are exposed to the elements). Each one has a rune inscribed on it. An Arcana check (DC 10) will reveal that they are the runes for various elements. They are spaced evenly around the room, with each rune facing a different one. Starting at the north, they are Cold, Poison, Fire, Lightning, Force, and Acid. Each one is detailed below.

The Cold rune radiates Evocation magic. If anyone casts a spell at it that does cold damage or otherwise finds a clever way to bring cold energy to it, it will heal everyone within 30 feet for 2d8 hit points. This only works once per 24 hours.

The Poison rune radiates Conjuration magic. If anyone pours poison on it, casts a spell that does Poison damage on it, or otherwise introduces a poison element to it, it emits a 15′ cone of poison gas that does 2d12 damage (or half on a DC 12 Constitution save).

The Fire rune radiates Abjuration magic. If anyone touches a torch to it, casts a spell that does fire damage, or otherwise introduces fire to it, it will open the first lock to the undertower. The PCs hear a very audible click and can now see there is a round hatch set in the center of the tower floor. If the second lock is already open, then the hatch will unlock completely.

The Lightning rune radiates Necromantic magic. If someone somehow introduces lightning to the rune, or casts a spell that does Lightning damage on it, the Rune makes a +6 ranged attack on them. If it hits, this works identically to a Ray of Enfeeblement, but the effect will fade after 1 hour.

The Force rune radiates Abjuration magic. If anyone casts a spell that does Force damage or if anyone strikes the rune with a weapon for the equivalent of 10 or more damage, the second lock to the undertower is opened. The PCs hear a very audible click and can now see there is a round hatch set in the center of the tower floor. If the first lock is already open, then the hatch will unlock completely.

The Acid rune radiates no magic, and there is no effect for messing around with it. It is a total red herring.

The area immediately below the tower is actually empty. There’s evidence that it was a barracks of some kind. In one direction is the dungeon, and in the other is the vault.

“Room” 3: The Dungeon - The cells have long since rusted to ruin, but their inhabitants, who died starving after the tower fell, have an unlife, and they want to punish the living. Two zombies and an ogre zombie should give the players a decent but not difficult fight.

“Room” 4: The Vault - Here, there are five spirits - the sworn protectors of the treasure. They are bound by their oaths not to give up the treasure unless it is to those worthy of it. This is a skill challenge, where the PCs will need 8 successes before getting 3 failures. If they have a cleric or paladin of a good-aligned god, this counts as two automatic successes. If anyone is of the Noble background and speaks of their lineage or is of the Folk Hero or Soldier background and speaks of their heroic exploits, this counts as two automatic successes. Skills like Persuasion and Performance can be used well here (are are easy DCs of 12). Deception is an automatic failure, as the afterlife lets them see through such paltry tricks, and Intimidation is hard at best with a DC 20. Other skills could be used, depending on the DMs thoughts. If the challenge is failed, the spirits become angered. “You are unworthy, and you shall join us in death!” They attack, using the stats of specters. If the party retreats for more than one hour, any defeated specters return.

“Room” 5: The Treasure - The PCs find the reward, including the magic-item mentioned at the beginning. They also find the tower’s material wealth, including 2,200 cp, 1,300 sp, 100 gp, and 7 gems worth 50 gp each. Appropriate skills might tell them something about the magic-item they found, but common sense might tell them that taking it is going to make them a target for whoever this “Angel” is that was mentioned by their earlier foe. Perhaps this lead will bring them into the overall plot of the Angel of Chaos, at your discretion.

Note: It’s super easy to divorce this adventure from the Angel of Chaos plot. Just have the monsters in the first scene be a bearded devil and a hell hound, perhaps bound by the defenders of the fort. The devil will bargain to try and be freed (someone needs to wipe out the specters below), attacking savagely if the PCs refuse. The scrap of paper with the clue could then be something they find with Perception checks, or the devil might offer it to them if they agree to work with him.

[mrmallard]

I'm gonna preface this by saying that #lightningposting is the tag I use to talk about the FF13 games, so if these long-ass rants aren't your cup of tea, you can blacklist that tag so you don't have to see them. I try to pick and choose what I tag with main tags, but some long posts like this might occasionally make it into the main tag. #lightningposting is a surefire way to filter posts like this out of your Tumblr experience.

---

So I made a post earlier about how I had jumped the gun in how I had described Final Fantasy 13-2. I can't describe the impetus for that initial post without spoiling it, but I will say that it had the main villain being a massive hypocrite and it really got on my nerves.

Tonight, I hit a story beat that was not only awesome, but which explained why the main villain reacted the way they did in that instance. And it's not exactly Shakespeare, but it worked for that story arc and to further build an air of mystery that the game wants the main villain to have.

So I'm gonna say something a little less definitive, and just let this opinion ride until I have something else to say about the game.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is kind of like a shonen manga.

It's cheesy and hammy, the characterisation and storytelling is very on-the-nose and there's a lot of filler. But the filler is usually a pretty good distraction from the main story - like the flan subplot I posted about earlier, which was just a silly little diversion where you got to track down some ugly-cute flan monsters - the game is pouring a lot of time and effort into Serah and Noel's relationship and individual characterisation, which goes a long way, and the obligatory boss fights tend to feel creative, over the top and/or fun to varying degrees. Not every boss is created equal, but a lot of the main storyline ones are very good.

I've described the game as being like a TV show - there's even a recap montage that plays whenever you load up your save file to get you back up to speed, just like TV shows back in the day. Every new level (which is actually a new location with a series of different time periods for you to jump back and forth between) either serves the main arc of the game, occasionally spreading the same plotline across multiple locations/time periods; chain together into a loose subplot based on a similar puzzle or task spread throughout them; or function as a one-and-done standalone episode with some additional goodies for you to find in other levels. Every "episode" or "level", as it were, gives you something new.

You could read maybe a hundred chapters of InuYasha, understand the skeleton of the plot and the character motivations of all the major players and stuff, see InuYasha upgrade the Tetsusaiga/Tessaiga to make it stronger and then finally beat the bad guy or whatever - but that manga has hundreds of chapters, and as much of that story is out-and-out filler, there are funny chapters and really tense action-filled chapters and engaging sideplots and arcs and recurring characters etc. that are entertaining whether they advance the main plot or not.

FF13-2 is kind of like that - but with enough fat to add flavour, not so much that you're choking on it. You're not looking at a 600 chapter epic, you're looking at a 50+ hour game with a lot of gameplay freedom and variety - especially compared to the game that came before it.

You can ignore all the side content and do the bare minimum to slog through 13-2's main story - which IMO is a pretty interesting time travel story. It's rooted far more in fantasy, prophecies, mythology and magic than sci-fi. But whether you go for that main story or not, the appeal for me is in the lush selection of different time periods and locations for me to explore, and the stories told within each of them.

You're always doing something. You're always pushing a plot point forward, or uncovering a character moment, or goofing off in a blatant filler level. It's a rich tapestry of different experiences that paint a robust and enjoyable journey for Serah and Noel, like a time-travelling road trip. If you enjoy how the game plays and you're invested in the characters, it can be hard to put the game down.

It can get a little samey, and the dialogue can be a bit flat. But it's such a fun game.

#final fantasy xiii-2 #lightningposting #long post

[vespiiqueen]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the ask box of the last 10 people who reblogged something from you (if you want !! 💛💖)

Wow I rambled a lot with this but i can't add cuts bc I'm on mobile rn DHSISHSJ sorry :"))))

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1. Ik Ik "haha how cringe are you" of me to say, but honestly? Homestuck. Homestuck helped me in a time of need and when i so desperately wanted something to latch onto. Finally, I caved into my friends telling me to read it-- and it's been a blast!! The epilogues / hs^2 make me feel kinda sad though, because so much of what I loved about the original was yeeted through the nine circles of hell and into the trash. I love Y/ffany's (I call her Yippi tho) design, the art is really pretty at times, Harry is a major dork, I LIVE for seeing Vrissy bc honestly?? Her design is 10/10, very early 2000s emo style and I also live for that. Tavros is cute and a nerd and I think that's swell!

But in terms of story and how any of this happens, it makes me sad to see it happen. If Vriska could return as Vrissy, why not OTHER beta trolls? Where's my Eridan fish man, writers?? Give me the boy or perish by my fury.

2. Also super "haha how cringe are you" but,,, murder cats (Warriors), esp the early 2005-2015 amvs and stuff. I remember watching Flightfootwarrior's "I Will Not Bow" Scourge amv for HOurs and having no clue what was happening, but all these edgy kitties were KITTIES! It's introduced me to a lot of music I still listen to to this very day (Imagine Dragons, Young/the entirety of Hollywood Undead, Breaking Benjamin). And yknow what?? This new arc is absolute chaos, but in the good way.

I'm an "OG Fan". I prefer the first arc, The Prophecies Begin, to almost any of the other arcs. I just could never get into the other arcs-- not to say I haven't read them, I HAVE and the Fire Scene was probably one of my favorite moments beside grumpy Jaypaw, god complex Lionblaze, and fear the gods Hollypaw. I thought the build-up for it was SUPER satisfying. Gray Wing is my baby and I fully embellish in the Gray Wing is Silverpelt theory.

This new arc is definitely something new for the universe. While I didn't read aVoS (but I may do that if i can find the files for it), and so I don't know the major events of it other than what I've seen M.A.P.'s (Multi-Animator Projects, for clarification,,, bc unfortunately that term is also something disgusting). There's fucking cat possession and all the Clans questioning their belief system, yo. Shit be on fire.

Also the Imposter is 100% Ashfur, that's canon now, yeah??? Also im sorry but fuck Root x Bristle that's the dumbest shit I have ever seen. Give me Root x Shadow or face the wrath of my dragon plushies.

RiverClan is my Clan and my gov assigned warrior name is Fireshell 🌟🌟

3. As much as I hate the author,,,,, Harry Potter. It's been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember. I can never really remember why, but I've always just loved it- the movies, the books, the extra little merch that would pop up in my local Walmart. Of course my favorite character is Draco Malfoy. I could go on and on and ON about how I think his character arc was SHIT and JKR didn't have the balls to make him a confident gay man that was always implied through the text (at least, my lesbian ass thought it was implied but i may just be projecting, idk). I could ramble about Draco for HOURS and what I think his character SHOULD have been and how his parents are horrible (more specifically, Lucius bc Narcissa [?] Actually showed a few good moments), and a child should never have to pay for their parents sins.

Oh noo, Draco's a villain because he's a victim of major abuse and peer pressure? He's a villain because a literal child can be horrible and they'll always always always stay as a horrible little fiend?? Fuck that. He's a child.

Unlike manchild grease pan Snape, who was a racist piece of shit and shouldn't have became a fucking school teacher but it's okay because he was ~~~in love~~~. No, fuck you, he was a creep. James Potter n Co may have been a little posh bitch to you, Snape, but that's no fucking excuse to continue to bluntly be a little cunt all the way into adulthood. You're an adult who flatly changed your PATRONUS to imitate Lily's. You have no excuse. And Harry went and named his child after you LIKE JESUS CHRIST, DID RON'S SISTER NOT HAVE A SAY IN THE NAMES TOO?????

I also fully adore the idea that Muggles can run into Hogwarts and their patronus can 100% be a made up, fantasy creature. Imagine you learn the patronus spell and suddenly fucking ARCEUS comes from your wand. Imagine learning the spell and CHTULU (i did not spell that right but im so tired) comes from your wand-- an entire ass fucking Lovecraftian, Eldrith horror is just the embodiment of you. What if it was a fucking Homestuck character like Vriska? How fucking METAL would that be?? Hskajssowjjsjs get on it fandom.

4. Hee hee very evident by my url but Pokemon is another major thing of mine. While vespiquen isn't my favorite (that title goes to Hydreigon), it is definitely up there!

I've ALWAYS enjoyed the idea of Pokemon. You run around, training up these fight monsters and collecting them. I remember playing my sister's Ruby version on her flip-up Gameboy. I couldn't even read but I ran around catching god only knows how many of the same pokemon wherever she was. Apparently, I had fought for hours in the same area and leveled her Blaziken up to lvl 50 something and left her lvl 30s in the dust LMAO.

I got my first game when it was Pearl/Diamond. It was Pearl, and it still holds a very fond place in my heart. I could barely read, I could barely write-- I had named my Turtwig something along the lines of "MmorpHy" and my player boy "ZbsibJ". Yes I remember the names slightly. I really didn't get far-- I barely got to the first gym but I was just so happy to play it.

I eventually lost the game, as a 5 year old would do, but I can still vividly remember what was happening when the game arrived. I had just came back from the dentist and was quite tired from fighting the dentist bc I was super scared. Mom suddenly handed me a box and said it was mine-- my overseas (at that time) dad had bought me Pearl and my sister Diamond, because I lost my shit about it when he visited one time.

Well, tdlr, I played it for about five minutes while struggling to stay awake against the loopy gas they made me take. I fell asleep listening to Twinleaf Town's soundtrack. Every time I play a rom of Pearl and I get to where the player's house fades in and I hear that first tune of the song, I get a huge smile on my face and cry-- as.. Weird as it sounds.

A few years later, I had gotten Pokemon Black bc I liked Reshiram on the cover. Now, this one I could actually READ when playing, but I don't remember a lot of things about it. I probably lost this one too, as a 8/9 year old would do. I DO remember, I chose Snivy and my sister chose Tepig (hrmm there's a theme here of grass/fire goin on......) and vibing to the music. I was so amazed by the sprites moving, I just kept getting into encounters to see the sprites move (oh boy, no one tell younger 7-9 y/o me about Zelda......oh wait....)

Playing Pokemon NOW, as a 17 year old """gifted""" chick, I stil have very fond memories. I recently beat Pokemon Black again and GOD the OTS SLAPS. I fucking adore the soundtrack-- the track that plays when you battle a trainer, the low health dings being turned into a legit song that also slaps, the battle! gym leader themes-- and oh my gOd, the legendary theme is amazing? It really tells you just how glorious these pokemon are supposed to be. It's not intimidating like Groudon/Kyroge/Rayquaza's themes. It's not action packed like Palkia/Dialga's is, it's not filled with tension like Giratina/Arceus's is-- but it radiates the GLORY that the beasts portray. And I live for that. (Also, Kyurem's version is my favorite because it glitches in the beginning and that's rly cool)

P/D/P and BW/BW2's stories, imo, are some of the greatest ones. Yeahhh, US/USUM's is cool and I haven't played XY nor SwSh-- but the ones I can find memorable are PDP and BW/BW2. I love N. I love Barry. They're my sons. Ghetsis is fucking terrifying, Cyrus needs a hug. Giratina scared the piss out of me when I was younger, which was NOT helped by Giratina and The Sky Warrior.

I think my favorite movies are the gen 4 ones. The Rise of Darkrai having a tear-jerking theme for such a mysterious pokemon (i still tear up when i hear Ocarion), Giratina being spiteful is a mood and Shaymin was cute, Arceus being angry is also a mood. Yeah, Pokemon 4Ever made me cry my eyes out over Celebi, Mewtwo Returns made me again cry because Mewtwo accepting who he is, I remember how vastly different the BW movies are-

I just. I have a lot of memories with the series, even if Gamefreak and Nintendo kinda do the series dirty a lot (your top-grossing thing and you made That monstrosity for the Switch? How dare you.). It's comforting to be stressed and pull up my roms for the games and to play them. Mystery Dungeon is incredibly fun to play, Pokemon Ranger is really fun with the concept (Shadows of Almia continues to kick my ass to this very day and FUCK the Jungle Relic, I hate the Water Challenge fucking gyarados bullshit). I remember the pokemon I got for MD (I got Time, my sis got Darkness) was Mudkip, if that is any help.

I love my little fictional pixel monsters.

5. Yup, someone told tiny 7-9 y/o me about console games. The legend of Zelda. My first Zelda game was Twilight Princess on the Wii and BOY did I play the fucking SHIT out of that game.

Honestly, looking back and looking at playthroughs now-- I still love TP. Twilight Princess is still one of my top favorite Zelda games-- yes, even after playing OoT, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, Skyward Sword, the anniversary four swords edition for the DS where you could play by yourself (Nintendo pls bring that back, I don't have friends to play it with ;-;), Phantom Hourglass- ect.

Something about Twilight Princess grabbed me by the head and yeeted me into the world. I can remember playing it for hours with little to no breaks. I, a tiny 9 y/o, had gotten the hang of the controllers and managed to get past the tutorial quite easily. And then, I was launched into the game and I wasn't stopping for NOTHING. Mom and Dad would have to force me to save and get off to go and eat dinner. THAT sucked.

I had done everything on my own up until the first temple, the forest temple. Not where/when you saved the dumb kid, but when you were saving the spirit's light. Theeeeeeennn I got stuck on the fucking Forest Temple for deadass six months straight. I'd play for hours, running around in circles, unable to figure out where to go, and because I didn't grasp the temple's purpose of being that way- I'd get angry and get off. It wasn't until dad looked up a walkthrough and talked me through what I was supposed to do that I learned how to get through temples.

I had gotten to the last little fight with Ganondorf before the Wii broke and i could no longer play. Despite the Wii being broke and we got rid of it, I was ADAMANT on keeping the game, and I kept that game for YEARS. It was an original copy out of a sealed box, and I eventually lost it when I left it accidentally at my now ex-friend's house.

She had a Wii and I went "hey I have a Wii game!" And I brought my Zelda over. Worst fucking choice of my goddamn life. Mom called me to come home and said I couldn't sleep over like the original plan was, and that was it. My ex-friend stashed my Zelda and I never saw it again. And, even if I wanted to-- I couldn't get it back, which makes me upset. We had a BAD falling out. She likely doesn't even remember it's there, or sold it to the local game junkie kid who buys ALL games.

But I still love the game. Midna was amazing, and I loved how snarky she was and she has a very cute design! The game's OST is fucking phenomenal. Midna's Desperate Hour makes me cry bc goddamn it really sells how serious that situation is. I love Hyrule Field's theme in this game. I love the Twilight Realm's song. Zant was fucking hilariously scary. Ganondorf's design in this game scared the piss out of me when I was younger.

Midna and this game's Link and Zelda are def my favorites. Yeah yeah, Sheik is cool and all I Guess but dhsushwishs Midna holds the special place in my heart. She was totally my gay awakening BUT

For other game antagonists, I adore Ghirahim-- let's go you funky little queer-coded villain. Skull Kid was great, I love the entire dynamic of him. Prankster lost soul stumbles upon Majora's Mask and the mask makes him act out due to powers-- which, I actually took very heavy inspiration from for one of my OCs. The moon falling to Hyrule was a fucking terrifying looming threat.

But the game series holds a place, and I've yet to be able to play BoTW-- although, I'm fairly certain I'll like it. The playthroughs I've watched of it are all fairly decent! I just. Gotta save up enough money to buy it haha.

Dang guess I gotta go watch a Twilight Princess playthrough again.

Honorable Mentions:

Avatar: the Last Airbender, specifically Book 3

my OCs definitely make me happy, they're my children and I'd ramble A LOT longer if given the chance WHEEZE

My friends, but I didn't add them here bc it's more fictional stuff, I presume

Baking. I love to bake cupcakes.

Painting is fun. I'm an artist and goddammit im going to use painting as an excuse to make a mess.

Fire. I rly like fire, down to a pyromaniac level. However, i hate the fires that happened to my home town, the Great Smokey Fires of 2016-- THAT pissed me off. How dare you burn mountain landscapes to the ground. Perish.

History. I'm a history nerd.

I'm also a science nerd.

But fuck math, I cannot comprehend math to save my life.

For some reason, I rly like learning how the human body works??? like did you know, organs are actually sticky when touched by a bare hand?? Did you?? How fucking cool is that.

Bakugan. I love Bakugan, esp the DS game. I love my Darkus Leonidas. Give me back the online world, you peasants-- I want my Darkus Dragonoid. (Also fuck all my friends from when I was in kindergarten- my theory that Alice was Masquerade was somewhat correct.)

#admin ace #admin ace speaks #communistvriska #inbox tag #homestuck #warrior cats #harry potter #pokemon #legend of zelda

[samsbastardzone]

Hey, you know that 35 d&d questions ask meme? I answered all of them.

This is a long ass post. Be warned. It took up seven and a half pages in google docs. Original post here.

1. A favorite character you have played.

Would have to be Zize Fortier, dragonborn gunslinger. Their tag on this blog is #zize and you can find their bio and info on my character page. Love that bastard!! He’s sweet and bratty and a total delight to play (we are such an OP party, y’all).

2. Your favorite character that someone else has played.

UM UM gonna talk about a few here. To be fair to people I play a *lot* of games with, I’m only gonna  talk about one PC per person.

- The bastard trio in my Wildemount game– @toomanyorphans ’s Nakoria, @overplannedbutunnamednpc ‘s Zier (also an NPC in the campaign Zize is in), and @glasyasbutch ‘s Nissy. They all really suck so bad but in SUCH funny ways. They’re varying degrees of self centered and awful, but we trust each other in this campaign, and those 3 players are SO funny in their RP.

- (RIP) Avri in my Wildemount game. They and Bly named each other,,,,  they were parent and child…… VERY sweet. huge goliath with tiny bird in backpack.

- @bekahdoesnershit ‘s Raini. Zize’s BFF, and her tag on that blog is rich. She’s SUCH a bitch but we love her.

- @bhissar ‘s Saela. She is a dream character for me to DM for– very little fleshed out backstory with room to explore, with still-concrete events in it. Consistent character choices and personality, to the point I can sometimes predict what she’ll do. Very cool aesthetically. And overall? EXTREMELY sweet. Baby, baby bird.

3. Your favorite side quest.

Either the one going on right now in amnesia, where we have to collect brain matter from big powerful elementals, or the stop we made at a family of vampires in Acarnya (the one I played Osfyr in).

4. Your current campaign.

There are five of those, with two on hold. 

-Wildemount, aka the Frozen Sick module from Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount (we’re almost done with that, my PC is Bly). 

-Amnesia campaign aka high level campaign: we woke up in hell with no memories! PC is Zize. 

-Hoard of the Dragon Queen module, near the beginning of that, PC is Pointy. 

-Horror campaign, only two sessions so far, but we’re trapped in an alternate dimension carrying out tasks for a creepy dude. PC is Vinny. 

-Kithan, where we’re high level monster hunting guild members searching  out ancient artifacts of the gods (campaign based on the Monster Hunter games), PC is Topaz.

-Silas, party is currently trying to help dragons free themselves and stop a… dude? No spoilers! I DM. On hold because I had too many campaigns going at once.

-Silas v2: extremely vaguely based on the plot of season one of the web series Carmilla. A tweaked version of the first arc the Silas party went through. On hold because it was played in person at school.

5. Favorite NPC.

I don’t really have any NPCs in my campaigns that I’m super attached to, except– Nikeo, a goliath rogue PC in Silas 1, had many adopted children. Three of them– kobolds– sometimes stand on each others’ shoulders, put on a long coat, and help out around their parent’s store. They’ve named themselves Koby.

As for favorite NPCs in campaigns I’ve played, I can think of… a lot. The first is Laurel, a blue dragonborn loner type who followed Osfyr and friends in Acarnya. They were kind of broody and dark, but they really drew me in. They were the first NPC we really talked to– they were sitting on top of the post office laughing at the mob scene of people protesting not getting their mail delivered.

I’d also pick Osfyr’s partners in that campaign– Yelkian, a backstory love interest I came up with, a flamboyant soft sorcerer. Jupiter, politician’s niece, who took pity on Osfyr’s attempts to seduce information out of her and let them succeed on both counts (seduction and information). Xerxes, extra AF rogue with a big loving family, who swept in after a fight on the back of an eagle-wildshaped Brysth (npc druid). 

There’s a blue dragon in the HOTDQ campaign that we don’t know much about. I really enjoyed the way @dungeonsanddraconicqueer played him. He’s just a dude! Lex’s warlock made a Deal with him to leave the town alone. We still don’t know the implications of that. It’s fine, guys.

And then, there’s Stewart the Skin Steward, a servant of False Mystra. Fun dude.  Very cavalier– nigh, enthusiastic!– about the fact that his entire city was made of skin. Something of a skin connoisseur, in fact!

6. Favorite death (monster, player character, NPC, etc).

Saela, hands down. She got breathed on by a dragon, yo. We then had to stop playing for 4-5 months because a player lost access to the Internet. I wrote a vision/speech from her warlock patron, the Raven Queen, the night she died, and basically didn’t touch it until I read it out in game. It involved a confession that the Queen was  tired of being a god, and showing Saela all the lives she’d touched. Then we used Matt Mercer’s rez rules for her. She came back– but it was her choice.

7. Your favorite downtime activity.

Fucking tinkering dude!!! I don’t get to do it enough as Zize and that is entirely my fault. @ morgan, eyes emoji

8. Your favorite fight/encounter.

I LOVE creepy shit. There was a train car with people dancing in it, and party members got enchanted to dance along and eat the food,  and the revelers were clearly in pain, and snuffing out a candle caused a reveler to disappear. Creepy shit!

In Kithan, we had to climb a staircase, and we timed it with produce flame which is a 10 minute duration cantrip, and we were climbing for 50 minutes. We started to see things in the edges of our vision. Then someone realized it was an illusion, and it all vanished. It freaked me out so bad.

In amnesia campaign, at level 19, we were traversing a cave, and our shadows started dripping the same black goop we were there to investigate. We killed one and it took down the max hp of the person whose shadow it was, and then they straight up didn’t have a shadow until they long rested. It really freaked us out, realizing the shadows were actually creatures, but they were like CR 1. Really effective use of a low level monster.

9. Your favorite thing about D&D.

The way it has something for everyone… the way it’s brought me so many friends… the way it’s inspired my OC creation like nothing else.

10. Your favorite enemy and the enemy you hate the most.

I’m not sure if this is asking about NPCs I’ve had as enemies, or any monster in D&D canon? The longest campaign I played in didn’t have long term enemies  per se. I’d say I was frustrated with the cultists that ambushed us last session in HOTDQ,  but I didn’t hate them! I just couldn’t seem to hit or dodge them. As for a favorite… probably False Mystra: the demon lord Orcus who’d taken over  the position, and therefore the duties, of Mystra, the god of arcane magic.  We killed it,  but then whoopso!! Our wizard lost her powers.

11. How often do you play and how often would you ideally like to play?

I play an ideal amount, honestly: four times a week, for about 2.5-3 hours a session. HOTDQ Tuesdays, Kithan and horror campaign switching off Wednesdays, Wildemount Thursdays cause we miss CR, Amnesia Sundays.

12. Your in game inside jokes/memes/catchphrases and where they came from.

Amnesia: Yocheved, the party barbarian/full time fish, has a secret third arm and/or a prosthetic ass. Cylthia, the druid, does arson (but actually). Relentless is a Crown paladin, so she puts her fingers in her ears when we do crime/lie. She also has a rod of lordly might that, immediately post amnesia, she made into a 32 foot climbing pole. Yocheved eats pounds and pounds of raw fish for every meal.

Wildemount: just the shenanigans and sabotaging each other that the Bastard Trio get into. Example: Nissy was tasked with buying Zier a cloak for cold weather and purposely got him an  ugly one. Zier then prestidigitated it to be a nicer color.

13. Introduce your current party.

Oh boy, I have 6 of those. Here goes. Keep in mind many of these characters are played and games are DMed by my friends who have OC blogs of their own: Raini and Ayen are bekahdoesnerdshit, Ezra, Nissy, and Roona are glasyasbutch, Horror DM, Lent, Eve, and Nakoria are toomanyorphans, Wildemount DM, Saela, Daecyne, and Cylthia are bhissar, HOTDQ DM is dungeonsanddraconicqueer, and Amnesia DM, Zier, Nyxi, and Sarril are overplannedbutunnamednpc. Not an OC blog, but Yocheved, Avri, Arbor, Thraf, Nikeo, and Whisper are mickgoesabsolutelyhamforbarbie.

Amnesia (Zize): Lent, tiefling paladin, former crownsguard who “fell” (became an oathbreaker), then un-fell when we lost our memories. Cylthia, tiefling/elf druid who can shift between tiefling and elf forms and loves setting things on fire. Yocheved, 14 foot tall nereid (fishfolk) barbarian with a dry sense of humor, is the party parent. And Raini, aasimar wizard, sass machine and Zize’s bff.

HOTDQ. My PC is Pointy. Ezra, quiet human paladin. Theata, moon elf rogue. Freya, sweet (human?) light cleric who sometimes misreads situations. Eve, 13 year old (!!) human warlock who kinda sucks, but like, she’s 13. Nyxi, motherly gnome bard who Is going to adopt Pointy. 

Wildemount (Bly): Alene, human barbarian. Quiet and with somewhat of a parent instinct. Some sort of Mysterious Backstory. Delta, aasimar rogue, similarly shady backstory? Unclear. Sticks with Alene. Nissy, drow rune knight, sucks. Zier, drow sorcerer, also sucks. Nakoria, dragonborn warlock, ALSO sucks. (Those three make up the Bastard Trio.) Avri (F for them), goliath bard and Avri’s guardian, died last session by falling on a floor full of knives. 

Horror campaign (Vinny): Roona, halfling bard, very impulsive, eats exclusively with her spoon that says ASS, and chills in Vinny’s fanny pack. Ayen, elven teenage warlock with a dark backstory. Sarril, Ayen’s not-dad, half elf beast barbarian who got it from his wife. Arbor, dryad  monk, who wears an all white plague doctor outfit at all times.

Silas v1 (DM), Original party before 1 left and 1 died: Hacka (RIP), human luchador-styled drunken monk. Nikeo (left), goliath rogue with so many adopted children. Inferno, fire genasi paladin/phoenix sorcerer with anger and impulse control issues. Saela, babiest aarakocra warlock of the Raven Queen. Hacka’s player now plays Voda, a stoic water genasi tempest cleric who cast Raise Dead successfully on Saela. Nikeo’s player now plays Whisper, a tabaxi astral soul monk.

Kithan (Topaz): Thraf, monsterborn (universe-compliant dragonborn) barbarian. Very social, very outgoing, very stupid, and very traumatized. Fucks majorly. Daecyne, sweet tiefling druid and Topaz’s good friend. Viosa, aasimar homebrew class I forget the name of, uses her small stature and allure to her advantage. Damur, half-orc eldritch knight, the party’s only braincell.

14. Introduce any other parties you have played in or DM-ed.

Acarnya. My PC was Osfyr. Soraphine, traumatized halfling bard. Azalea, human fighter. Durzuell, haughty high elf sorcerer. James, nerdy half elf wizard. Drago, erratic Russian dragonborn monk. Kairon, slightly edgy ranger/paladin (but we love him). 

Nordenheim. My PC was Cap. I will admit: we only played 2 or 3 sessions, so I don’t really remember  most of the other party members except Rory, a fire genasi ranger who almost burned to death.

Silas v2 (hopefully will continue; I DMed): Kysseris IV. Half-elf paladin, uptight. Tower 1-6, warforged wizard who crawled out of the desert and is looking for info on how he was made. Mae “Pock”, gnome rogue, very small and  sweet. Josh, human trickery cleric, kind of an asshole, but in a way that’s funny and hasn’t bled over into IRL annoying.

[school] West Marches campaign (Ner): by the nature of West Marches, there was never a consistent party, but a few stood out to me. Red Foot, a hyperactive kobold sorcerer who’s level 8 against all West Marches odds. Lyra, Great Old One warlock of Tzee’Mhor, an abomination goat that a party I was in accidentally created. Fildo Baggins, divination wizard who can only affect allies whose toenail clippings he has in his vial.

15. Do you have snacks during game times?

Hell yeah babey!!! I mostly play digitally, especially during COVID, and I need something to munch after DMing for a while. Shit’s exhausting.

16. Do you play online or in person? Which do you prefer?

Welp! Online mostly, since everyone I want to play with has the audacity to live far away, and now exclusively online because of COVID.

17. What are some house rules that your group has?

Our Amnesia party is so rich that we just don’t keep track of money. In Kithan, a lot of rules that make characters less powerful are just… abolished (like the bonus action spell rule). (The DM likes super OP characters so she can throw SUPER OP monsters at us.  My character has a necklace that gives 5 additional uses of channel divinity.)

18. Does your party keep any pets?

Nope. No opportunities for them. Zize’s party has a little water snake on the druid’s arm but I doubt that will last very long.

19. Do you or your party have any dice superstitions?

Absolutely. Cursed dice get j a i l.

20. How did you get into D&D? How long have you been playing?

Acarnya got me into d&d, it was my first campaign, and it was happening at the place I lived. I’ve been playing almost 2 years. (Critical Role inspired me to DM)

21. Have you ever regretted something your character has done?

Not sent a fucking letter to say goodbye to their boyfriend before the world-fate-deciding bullshit that was gonna happen and possibly destroy shit. It was fine in the end though!

22. What color was your first dragon?

Red. Man, that guy sucked, he almost killed Osfyr. We were investigating a monastery secretly run by dragons disguised as humans.

23. Do you use premade modules or original campaigns?

Original campaigns. I’ve never run a module before! I’m not opposed, but most of my campaigns came from ideas  that I had. I’ve never been short on ideas for a game.

24. How much planning/preparation do you do for a game?

As a player, I just open my character sheet and get out dice. As a DM, I try and think about what material I want to get through this session, and write some narration and/or stat things out if I feel like it.

For DMs

25. What have your players done that you never could have planned for?

A lot of times, Inferno has rushed into battle from what I’d built as a stealth mission, and gotten her ass and sometimes the party’s asses kicked. I should really have learned by now.

26. What was your favorite scene to write and show your characters?

Definitely Saela’s resurrection ritual and vision.

27. Do you allow homebrew content?

Yes! I’ll check it first,  but I’m all for expanding the boundaries. I homebrew items and monsters all the time, why shouldn’t my payers get to homebrew their shit?

28. How often do you use NPCs in a party?

Too often in my first arc. I had like 7 NPCs running around at all times (they were Carmilla characters). Super not recommended. I have 0 right now.

29. Do you prefer RP heavy sessions or combat sessions?

I’m still finding my groove with RP as a DM. I like encouraging my players to RP amongst themselves. I consider myself fairly good at combat on both sides of the equation, DM and player, so that’s always fun to me, especially when my players enjoy it too.

30. Are your players diplomatic or murder hobos?

I have one actively reforming murder hobo player, the rest are diplomatic. (The character, Inferno, is having a great growth arc. I’m super proud.)

For Players

31. What is your favorite class? Favorite race?

I fucking love genasi as a concept. Favorite class would have to be rogue or cleric, but gunslinger’s up there too.

32. What role do you like to play the most? (Tank/healer/etc?)

I  honestly don't have the patience to not play DPS. I love doing lots of damage. Healing is satisfying, support is satisfying, but there’s a reason I picked rogue twice and tempest cleric over other domains.

33. How do you write your backstory, or do you even write a backstory?

Sometimes the backstory is part of the character concept– especially for Pointy, because I had the name first, then went hmm why would she have this name. Almost always, though, more backstory gets written during the campaign when I have an idea. Sometimes a character will act in a way I don’t expect, and it’s fun thinking of a justification to fill backstory gaps.

34. Do you tend to pick weapons/spells for being useful or for flavor?

Mostly  usefulness honestly. I’ll make choices among several for flavor, but I’m a big proponent of using mechanics to build character. What I mean is, think about Magnus in TAZ Balance– his protection fighting style contributed a lot to the way Travis played him as a protective person. I love that shit.

35. How much roleplay do you like to do?

I like to do a lot, but unfortunately my  energy is pretty down lately so I haven’t been doing as much.

#zize #pointy #cap #bly #osfyr #ner #vinny #topaz #dm thots #meta thots #asks #amnesia campaign #hotdq #horror campaign #wildemount campaign #silasverse #kithan