#[combat tools]

[a2zillustration]

I'm stupid.

I'm stupid and it made all these cutscenes awkward I'm so sorry Wyll.

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[[ All Croissant Adventures (chronological, desktop) ]]

[[ All Croissant Adventures (app) ]]

#in my haste to strip him down in combat I forgot I could toggle camp clothes don't @ me #the iron throne was so fun and so STRESSFUL #I did have to save scum bc I couldn't find Omeluum at first (he was lying in the water instead of on the chair lmao) #so Gale went that way #and Gale did not have knock. Or any sleight of hand experience. #7 rolls with tools and inspo and 0 nat 20s so we reloaded and did a new plan #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 spoilers #act III spoilers #iron throne #croissant adventures #tav #wyll #lae'zel #gale #duke ravengard #breadweave #comics

[aho-dapa]

Side note, because I'm watching a video essay that's pretty much saying everything I've been thinking about about,

With sjm's writing, what separates it from a typical romantasy not to take seriously is that post ACOTAR, the author suddenly says to take it seriously.

Feyre's Calanmai Hall scene isn't about Feyre not wanting Tamlin's advances, but that she does, she's just doing the typical romantasy protag thing of rejecting what you really desire. Think about how this contrasts with Rhysand's scenes utm, she doesn't want them and its not given enough detail, but this changes after Feyre and Rhysand get together. For example, the CoN scene. The fucking mid air thing. The telepathy sexting that can happen at anytime without true consequence. Very exhibition. Much voyeur.

This is literally sjm's fantasies played out through Feyre and Rhysand, and even through Feyre and Tamlin.

Despite how much I like Tamlin, he only really became a truly nuanced character in hindsight for me because of sjm's unintentional manipulations of her own narrative. In ACOTAR, he's also built around Feyre the same way most characters are in the first book.

He is built to fit into Feyre, he's meant to parallel her acceptance of her own desires, her own beast through him, because submitting to him is submitting to herself. That's why Feyre's themes get mixed up post ACOTAR, she loses that beast like quality to become a star to suit Rhysand. And sjm brings that back in ACOWAR with the Mirror (although it doesn't hit like it once would have because instead to fitting Rhysand to Feyre, sjm wrote Feyre to fit Rhysand).

The thing that's frustrating is that sjm is the one that is saying these are just not her fantasies on page, she's the one that brought mental health into it, brought up abuse and neglect, and handled it all so poorly.

It's this thing where sjm still wants to have the upturned-nose high ground in her books, she wants to be right, she doesn't want Feyre to be questioned or truly be in the wrong because Feyre is her fantasy. sjm likely writes Tamlin to not like human slavery, not want to be like his father, and with a self sacrificing personality while keeping his beast like qualities for the steamy parts. Because he's written to have that middle ground most people looking for that fantasy can still enjoy while not being too disturbing for our modern sensibilities.

That's why some people not looking for this find Tamlin and Rhysand's actions strange and gross, but people who already indulge in those fantasies were okay with it. And there's even people who think that ACOTAR is too vanilla (me). Anyway.

Basically, ACOTAR is not meant to be taken seriously, its literally another romance book with a fancy (?) cover. Post ACOTAR is not tho, so sjm makes a big deal about taking it seriously because she wants that middle ground with Rhysand when honestly, Rhysand could have been a dark romance ML and no one would have batted an eye. But that wouldn't work for the precedent sjm established with the middle ground, she needs that 'he's feral and sexy and toes the consent line but it's fine because xyz' in her books, and that's why the fandom is so divided. We can't decide whether or not to take it seriously or not because sjm switched up.

Her fault as a writer is that she didn't do this well at all.

I mean, this is also coming from the same woman that briefly had another one of her characters entertain their sovereign right to colonization in goodwill, so. This woman should never have been taken seriously. Unfortunately, she insists upon herself. So in order to actually discuss these books, we have to take her silliness seriously.

(Which is why I stopped because it's an endless cycle of saying sjm wrote something silly and because she's saying it's serious, now we gotta be serious about bat birthing or whatever)

Never forget how I saw a bat get birthed just to actualize how stupid the *gets shot*

#sorry but like #i don't like sjm at all so #anti sjm #feyre archeron #tamlin #rhysand #acotar #feylin #feysand #oh #pro tamlin #i guess #i will never let go of aelin colonizer when sjm used nehemia as a tool to combat that exact same narrative #its fucked and thats how you know nehemia was just a narrative tool to sjm and aelin to some degree

[anna-scribbles]

guess who stayed up all night binging one does not love breathing by @wackus-bonkus-maximus​

#this dynamic made me laugh out loud several times #the whole. adrien constantly wallowing in self despair is a minor disturbance to felix #and the only tool adrien has to combat The Worst Situation On Earth is to make fun of felix for having feelings as often as he can #I feel satisfied now that i've completed the current fandom trifecta of Ladynoir Lost Contact And Everyone Is Doing Terrible stories #ml #ml fic rec #my art #adrien agreste #felix graham de vanily #wackus if ur reading this. that part when adrien asked if everyone was gonna be okay during the power outage while he went to go #check the generator #and felix was like 'no we're just gonna sit here fumbling in the dark until you come back and save us' #made me LAUGH #I love them theyre so ridiculous

[akimojo]

i just saw someone call ffxiii overrated like? what?? it's literally one of the most hated games in the franchise wym "overrated" 😭

#they've gotta be butthurt it got 3 games #also saw someone whine about how it shouldn't get a remaster bc ''other ff games deserve a chance'' and i was baffled #xiii and xi are the only mainline ff games that aren't on modern consoles what are you talking about!!!!!!! #i shouldn't be reading random men's comments on ffxiii omg it just makes me peeved lmao #final fantasy xiii #i gotta ramble real quick abt how we don't have a remaster yet actually #it bugs me when people act as if it's because ffxiii was some huge embarrassment for square and that they want to bury it #when it actually sold super well #and lightning became one of the most iconic protags in the whole franchise #not to mention that xiii got TWO SEQUELS that ALSO sold well #AND the combat system has influenced modern ff titles #square doesn't hate xiii omfg get real #but that does make it even more absurd that it doesn't have a remaster yet #some people think it doesn't need one since it still looks so damn good #but it's not really about that lol it's about accessibility and letting it reach a new audience (the pc port is too broken seriously) #something tells me it's because the crystal tools engine was so much of a pain to work with but idk they haven't really explained anything #either way it just annoys me when people claim xiii doesn't deserve a remaster bc ''no one likes it'' when that really isn't true #and calling it overrated is beyond insane

[dailyadventureprompts]

what do you think of a campaign in the style of games like Left 4 Dead and Vermintide(fighting through hordes of enemies while completing a series of objectives)?

DM Tip: Against the Horde

Friend, let me tell you the tale of the time I was playing in a game where the DM decided it would be a great idea for us to fight 200 zombies. This wasn't because we were the appropriate level, that many zombies amounted to a challenging encounter for a party twice our strength, 200 just felt like a nice round number that would appropriately communicate the idea of a horde.

That fight (and the five hours it took) was one of the most valuable lessons in dungeonmastering I ever received, because it showed me nearly every problem that emerges from d&d's combat system when you put it under stress.

To set up the stakes, it saddens me to say that there were none: the zombies emerged in a village we had never heard of and would never go to again for no reason what so ever. This was in no way part of or relevant to any plots, before or after. It was purely an excuse for the dm to have us fight 200 zombies and that fight had no bearing on anything. We didn't even get XP for it.

Now let me share what I've learned:

Like all of its other systems, D&D combat is not fundamentally fun or meaningful, it becomes fun and meaningful when the combat is used to tell stories the party already has stakes in. Sure, it's enjoyable to throw some dice around and roll big numbers but if you're going to do that without a story attached you might as well be playing a boardgame with more refined mechanics like Heroquest or Gloomhaven

The base combat system of d&d is fundamentally clumsy, which makes sense given that it's a bastardization of wargame rules from before they invented fun. "roll to hit vs ac, roll damage vs hp" might've been snappy back when creatures and characters tracked hp and damage in 1s and 2s, but as the numbers bloated combat slowed to a crawl. Not only does a player now need to wait 10-40 minutes between their chances to do anything, that chance can be entirely wasted by a bad to-hit or damage roll, especially when you don’t have an ability to buff your damage.   Because d&d operates on the concept of attrition and we were forced to fight so many zombies, our entire party was down to making basic attacks after the first few rounds. Our turns became almost meaningless by the end: whether or not we hit, it generally took 2-4 swings to down a single zombie, and then another shambling corpse would take its place. This is to say nothing of the damage they were doing on us, or the healers desperately trying to keep everyone up when it became inevitable that they’d be downed again before their turn came around.

People who complain about players steamrolling encounters or that modern classes feel like “superheroes” have failed to recognize that cool and borderline overpowered abilities are what save the game from being a slog. Combat lasts about three rounds because that’s about how long it takes for the players to burn through their reserves of cool shit and start having to throw rocks at their opponents. Fighting on an empty tank can be poignant once or twice a campaign, but if it happens every time you roll initiative people are going to start tuning out. This is why the professional games have big fights sparingly and generally reserve entire episodes for them.

It is likewise the DM’s job to set up cool and borderline overpowered opportunities within the combat space to supplement the party’s own, just like it’s their job to come up with interesting challenges for the party to overcome. That’s just a standard of good combat design, and while smaller fights can be simpler, it should be equally mandatory for big fights to have just as much thought put into the party’s options as the enemy team’s composition.  

My most important lesson that campaign taught me is this: No d&d is better than bad d&d. I could have skipped that session and spent five hours doing anything else and i’d have been better off... I likewise could have skipped that campaign and have been spared the grand finale where the DM pulled that sort of shit again, running an “epic” multi-unit fantasy LOTR style battle where we got to watch as they spent 95% of the time smashing different armies together like single player warhammer.

I want to say sorry to the Asker for stumbling into one of my old war stories. Figured it’d be a good baseline to have while I circle back to the more specific advice: It’s fine to have a setting where enemies are everywhere, but prolonged combat vs overwhelming numbers of foes simply breaks the game. L4D and Vermintide are game systems that are mechanically built to feel good engaging with that many foes (and have the benefit of computer processing powers) where as D&D works best on small scale skirmishes.

Art

#dnd #dungeons and dragons #d&d #5e #pathfinder #ttprg #dm advice #dm tip #dm tips #dm tools #writing advice #combat

[ilovebeingaturtle]

Does anyone else remember the episode of 87 called “The fifth turtle” where Venus de Milo was introduced for the very first time? And how she went on to permanently join the main cast after that? Gotta be one of my favourite parts of the original cartoon for sure!

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 1987 #tmnt 87 #tmnt venus #tmnt venus de milo #raphael tmnt #tmnt raph #tmnt fanart #weapon wise I know it’s cliche but I’d probably give her a tessen AHA #it’d be easy to animate clearly distinct from the others and most importantly would lend itself to a variety of funny visual gags or puns #which is the most important thing to consider when it comes to 87 #in this show weapons are less tools intended primarily for combat and instead tools for the turtles to creatively solve problems #I’m rambling I’ll stop just trust me it would worK #87!Venus AU #87 to the max

[jinxxedcorvid]

wanted to try whatever the fuck this shit is again

#idk #anyways i think he listens to tool #parabol/parabola is such a himcore song #theres also abt 9 other songs by them that i associate with him #(<- normal) #jebediah christoff #madness combat #medibang paint #crows art

[prototypelq]

Wonder if Larian's games could have been better if like, at least 20% of content from them had been cut.

Listen, listen, before you say anything - I love Larian and their mentality. This team is making incredible games, and the amount of creative energy that is poured into each of their releases is incredible. Playing their games is a joy, and hilarious and amazing.

But, but.

There can be too much of a good thing. And I don't think Larian's ever learned that...

Do you know the average percentage of players that actually finish the main story in games? 30-40% if we look at achievements across different platforms. That is 60-70% of players who never saw the end of the main story.

I've been replaying DOS2, and it's a Joy to play through, however the 'joke' that tutorial level takes about 10-15, maybe even 20 hours to complete is...not a joke. There is beauty in hiding some content, so that only the dedicated players find it, but this doesn't exactly work for RPG systems that heavily depend on level&equipment of your player characters, now does it. This basically forces players to clear out the entire map to be able to progress the story further, and while the tactical aspect of this game is big, I doubt your average player can use it to beat difficulty&enemy level curve.

I had a big DOS2 phase before, my last memories of the game are Beast's quest (BEST COMPANION WHY IS NOONE TALKING ABOUT HIM) in Arx, soo I've been somewhere very near the end of the game. I never finished it because I was frustrated with a lack of direction for the main story for a long time, and Arx was the point where I jumped games.

So yeah, I believe cutting at least 20% of content from each of the acts of that game would have helped keep the main story in focus, plus the time to complete the game might have been more affordable.

Another thing is, from the documentaries on DOS2 development, and with the Larian saying that BG3 production took the studio much closer to the edge of closing, Larian seem to have a systematic problem of forever chasing their ambitions without really caring about their costs. DOS2 development was described as 'trying to build a plane as it is taking off', a lot of features for the game have been added last minute, and BG3 release players are sort of in the same boat. So yeah, some content cutting would have helped out the studio themselves quite a lot, or let them have more time for quality testing and polish.

tldr: I believe Larians are amazing but also head over heels in their production, their games are huge and the nature of their rpg mechanics forces player to play through everything,or never finish the main story, plus the studio have a history of releasing arguably unfinished games*, so I believe they should consider cutting content for future releases both for the studio's sake and to improve the player experience

*don't @ me, DOS2 and BG3 were arguably unfinished on release. That said, Larian's 'unfinished' and Average Game Industry 'Unfinished' are very different instances, I meant that Larian clearly would have benefitted for some polish time before release

btw why the Hell are there built-in Larian-approved player modifications for the games, however Turning Them On is a crime that disables achievements??? Larian, my guys, why.

#i am not a 100000% achievemnt hunter but i do like having them it's like a cool sticker about your experience in each game #and i want my cool stickers #not a issue currently as modding community my beloved have given me the tools to make the game even more enjoyable for me #but i miss my cool stickers on console where i first played the game #also help i lose dos2 combat so much i feel like it ruined other rpgs for me? how could i ever go to limiting classs systems after this #i love class systems and speicif playstyles but dos2 is honestly god-tier good #larian studios #thank you larian for your service #polymorph necromancy summoning aerotheurge geomancer my beloved #i installed so many mods i love them all never playing base game without them again #bg3 #dos2 #divinity original sin 2 #baldur's gate 3

[adahlenan]

I'm gonna be evergreen.

#teehee hiiii #FFXIV Asa Vonn #FFXIV #Gposes #my characters #anyways he is my brainrot blorbo lately im not sorry #i ported him over from SWTOR but his XIV story has become an interesting different aspect to him!! #tl;dr of his XIV story is #he's a combat prodigy who had his life path set out for him bcs of it from a young age and he has a lot of resentment about that. #plus being used as a weapon and a tool by his country and those he loves #he didn't want this at all and went along to not rock the boat #which caused a lot of strife in his personal life + marriage and led to his 'perfect' life crumbling apart + divorce #so he was assigned to hunt the WoL which he saw as his last chance for the glory he was promised and to get his life back together #and NOT be a “washed-up 45 y/o divorcee”. But. Yknow. That didn't go to plan either #long story but now he's working alongside the Scions but his loyalties lie with the WoL alone as he came to respect him and his vision #my baby boy........

[mollypaup]

the struggle of wanting to play more horror games but hating survival horror

#*most annoying '''horror''' fan on earth voice* yeah i like horror games but i don't think there should be violence and killing in them #this is a joke #i just hate combat focused horror because it's largely extremely boring and tedious #violence is an extremely effective horror tool if implemented correctly #but in most survival horror games it is just Something To Do I Guess #violence in horror should be conflicting and upsetting!! not just kill the creature or monster!!! #you should be upset about it!!! #either in the sense that the violence that you are committing is horrible and repulsive #or the violence that the antagonistic force is committing is uniquely or keenly cruel and unusal and repulsive #doing violence to someone you really do not want to #doing violence in a manner that you feel you could never justify #seeing or being on the end of violence that makes you sick to the stomach #churning through masses of nameless and faceless zombies to get to a boss that is nothing more #than mildly visually grotesque with no real established sympathy or disdain for them #sucks!!! it's bad horror!!!!

[knightlysnowy]

Whassup Doc?

#2bdamned #madness combat #madcom #madness combat 2bdamned #doc madness combat #snowy doodles art #I drew this for my partner the other day :) #it was also a slight excuse to play with a new pen tool i got on csp

[ikemenomegas]

Ideas for the megumi's alpha

They're from the Kyoto school

Either in the same year as him or a year higher/lower but no more than an 8 month age difference

Was supposed to become an assistant manager

Has decent combat skills, but doesn't really want to become a full sorcerer

As mentioned in this post, is kind of a crybaby, like will cry while doing something, but will also do it anyways. Megumi hates that he finds this both endearing and somehow a good character trait (the determination. they way their tears just stop once everything is fine/they're done freaking out is both relieving and disturbing)

Hates bugs, will cry if one is seen, will also squash them with a straight face. Megumi also hates bugs, so Alpha the one dealing with it rip. Asks Megumi to make the dogs eat them.

Eventually admitted they don't want to deal with jujutsushi and really wanted to go to college instead, but aren't sure if they're able.

Megumi finds out about this and forces them to study for the entrance exams. (Megumi is familiar with this story from bits and pieces he's found out about Gojo's alpha over the years, who also considered ditching jujutsu after Nanami left, but never was able to try and get out to do normal people things.) They take an extra year to study, but do end up going to university.

Where they get make themselves very tired studying environmental sciences, going on to get an advanced degree, occasionally moonlight as one of the "window" teachers at Jujutsu high

Not a dog person, but loves and adores Megumi's animals because they're not messy (they're curses so mess disappears lol)

Might train a dog-shaped curse as a pet shikigami for Megumi at some point. Since he lost White Jade. It's not the same but it is actually like a pet. It's their dog, they're the "we have a dog" couple

#jjk #omegaverse #fushiguro megumi x reader #from the notebook #I have no idea for their powers #i was thinking something with seeing? like through walls or smth #mostly useless for combat but would be a good tool if they were a good fighter #as it is they're mostly for reconnaissance

[mav-the-artist]

I thought this one part in a Doom comic from 1996 felt extremely fitting for Hank, so here :)

Original below cut:

I also based Torture's design from how Krinkels drew him here!! :D

#My art #Madness Combat #MadCom #Mag Agent Torture #Mag Agent #Hank J Wimbleton #Hank #DOOM #FIRST TIME DRAWING MAG AGENT WOOOO #I can't draw blood to save my fuckin life lmao #Blood cw #Comic #Really loving Clip Studio Paint like it has preset action lines #so you don't have to draw them by hand :D #and the line tool which is great for speech bubbles n stuff #If it isn't obvious already I'm exclusively using this program for making art from now on

[l1mit-breaker]

GOD FINALLY HES DONE OH MY G O

i present to you my favoritest time travel boi

extra dumb rants from me utc .

chris ( me ) after watching horror videssays while drawing at midnight

they are so lovely but i do not need to be jumpscared by WHEELS and DOORS AAAA ( kane pixels “the rolling giant” for context ) shakes fists ………

i wouldve got this post out sooner if the art arted better but well . SIGH . i also realized i accidentally kind of made him colored like fucking steve from minecraft and now im . i make bad decisions .

anyways ! heres a thing for whoevers still reading; design choices ! because i actually think sometimes ! woo !

i have all the uh , color pallet stuff (???) of the characters saved and i try to use as much as the colors on those as possible because (1. its a pretty cool challenge , and (2. iiii am horrendous with coming up with my own pallets !! ahaha ! for roman i had it in my heart and in my soul ( for some reason ) that he has wavy/fluffy brown hair . i added the highlight things because . uh . colors . and it looks cool . AND WHY NOT :D i put him in a very simple outfit because he is a prisoner ( /j ) and the gloves are for coolness points and because of ✨THE LAB✨ . safety and all that jazz wAIT I SHOULDVE GIVEN HIM GOGGLES GODAMMIT- ahem , anyways the side doodle is just yknow regular evil time travel bull . i think thats it . i probably wouldve done more if not for my brain being half turned off and the fact ive been procrastinating on this ever since i finished cyril .

i also want to mention how badly i want to make an animatic of the time travel experiment log video . but hell knows id never be able to finish that if i tried .

anyways thanks for reading have a great time !

#reverie audios #you wouldnt believe how long it took for me to get the mesh tool to work with me #i was literally going to take it to the dennys parking lot to beat it in hand to hand combat #but i got it eventually #yay me . #sir reverie audios why do you make your bgs so very difficult to replicate

[thewebcomicsreview]

There's a Genshin Impact character I dislike

#My Art #This might be the first time I've drawn something because I just wanted it to exist #Instead of being motivated by wanting to learn to draw #Genshin Impact #Xingqui #He's a great combat unit he's just a massive tool

[shyflameweasel]

Roommate grunts but grunts are small compared to humans, like only barely coming up to knee height. Picture this;

an ever feral gremlin that can get into impossible places in the house(including vents) or knocking shit down just for the hell of it(kinda like a sentient feral cat)

peepaw still somehow managing to be the superior of the house despite the size difference and would scold the others for doing something stupid or reckless and getting hurt (that also includes the reader)

deimos and Sanford working as a team to get to places in the house they cannot reach easily now, 9 times outa 10 it’s just to steal snacks or for Deimos to say “who’s the big man now!?” To the reader from up top the fridge.(it’s usually Deimos who bothers Sanford to help him do this)

bonus brainrot here is me imagining Sanford still trying to help the reader with chores or cooking when he can despite being small

Deimos most likely asking to ride around on the reader’s shoulders and would just keep annoying them until they let him(hank on the other hand would just pounce on them from where he is when he wants a free ride)

Doc still insisting to do checkups on the reader despite only being a forth of their size

This got a chuckle out of me so thanks for that.

Honestly it's up to interpretation on the guys height, since I always leave it pretty open ended on if grunts are shorter or taller than humans.

Hey at least Reader doesn't have to worry about how to house these guys anymore since they're so small. Well except 2B because that is 2B, he get's his own room solely to make sure he doesn't murder the others in their sleep.

A normal sized Hank would do all of that. A knee sized Hank is crawling through Reader's walls and eating all of the drywall. Reader can try to use a broom to stop his reign of terror but there's a very good chance he'll break off the broom head all while staring dead at Reader's face. Hank clings onto Reader 's shoulder, metal jaw resting on flesh covered bone, staring at everything. Very likely to bite Reader's hands if they try to move him up or take him off their shoulder.

2B can be the size of a Reader's hand and he'll still be in charge. You do not disrespect the Peepaw. Never pick him up or there is a very good chance that there is going to be a lecture that lasts hours with a small possibility of loosing a non essential organ or two. He may be tiny but hey, free healthcare so who really cares if you can pick the man up like a football.

You cannot tell me for a second that the duo don't try doing the 'two kids in a trench coat' gag for shits and giggles.

Jokes on Deimos, lil shit is gonna stay up there. Got himself into that mess he can get himself back down. Unless its serious Reader is not going to lift a finger, watching as the fire starter debates if he can jump to one of the cabinets or aim for the fridge handle. If he is ever on Reader's shoulders they better hope he doesn't get bored because its Ratatouille time. Gonna try tugging Reader's hair in a attempt to 'pilot' them. It doesn't work and he's laughing his ass off at the sorry state of Readers hair. Up until Reader puts his cigarettes where he can't reach them. Revenge ya troll.

Sanford however can get from place to place a hell of a lot easier since its a matter of throwing his hook and climbing upwards or using it to lower himself down to ground floor. Second to Hank in how well he can traverse this giant world. Cooking is a bit annoying but as long as he has those small utensils he's good. Gonna order Reader around how to cook what.

#roommate grunts #madness combat #you know the old saying: the shorter you are the closer to hell you become and you've given Hank more tools for mayhem and chaos #gonna launch himself through someone and come out their chest like a xenomorph #just normal Hank Business TM #2b still ended up as head of the underground organ black market despite being puntable