#do u like character based rpg games

[matchamabs]

i’ve sorta lost my best pieces for oddie through my blog somewhere but bc i’m gonna be scrapping the ENTIRE game that took me four years to make, and remaking it from the ground up starting in the new year, i thought now was good to repost some old bits from the original game plus the new poster

#ill b honest i rlly wanna keep all the pixel assets i made but #im actually considering hand drawing everything now #which sucks bc i REALLY like the face sprits #idk what to do #rpgmaker #horror #oddie's oddyssey #finally i remember what tag this was #i rlly miss my babies not gonna lie #i miss drawing them im still trying to rewrite some of the #bigger plot points #do u like character based rpg games #do u like trauma #do u like horror games that actually aren't that scary #bc i too am an enormous wimp (paranoid) #im forcing myself to having a proper work schedule next year so i can start working on this #and another extra game hehe #i might actually start planning this out more when im home for christmas #i started this in like 2017 #the entire game is like 5 hours playtime lmao #i should dust off the old server for it actually

[bpdanakins]

the way some people take decisions made in rpgs too seriously... as if a decision made, in a roleplaying game, is indicative of who you are as a player, and not the character you are roleplaying, is just silly. and it's weird that only "bad" decisions are allowed if you're playing a dramatically evil character, otherwise you, yourself, are bad... it's just. it's silly!! it's a video game!! where u make characters with interesting stories and make decisions based on what they would do (aka... roleplaying) and not based on what you, the player, would choose.

your ocs don't have to be some sort of avatar of you if don't want them to be, so why are we attacking people for choices made in a video game?? and why are we attacking devs' writing as not being morally black and white when the point is to create complex stories and characters and have fun. it's fiction. you are not doing this irl. your characters can be a little whack and not be cartoonishly evil. your characters can be a little whack and still be morally good. your characters can be whatever and it doesn't make you the same as them because they're fictional characters.

#besides it's pretty fun to see what would happen if u would make choices differently depending on how you're playing #and devs aren't bad people for providing that opportunity bc 1. that's what an rpg is and 2. that's way more interesting & fun #idk like i joke all the time about how ''if u could choose this [x] thing u are just evil'' about some random stuff but ultimately no. #it's a game. it's an rpg where you can play characters who could make a bunch of decisions based on what makes sense to them #and morally grey characters are fun. and a player is just playing a game. wild i know. like obvs u can choose to play characters #that are like you or even an avatar of yourself (i do at times too) and that's fun but if someone wants to make a character that's not #either perfectly good or perfectly evil (and stated to be evil by the player bc otherwise the player agrees) that's. fine. it's fine. #liz's gamer problems #video game discourse can be real silly at times idk man

[8um8le]

Holla Holla! So I might have missed this (or other people may have already asked these 2 lil Q's), but:

1) Do the robots consume foods and liquids just for the fun of it? This question popped into my brain after watching Moon consume that pizza with the shell on. Also Koi gave them some lovely green tea -u-.

& 2) What is your opinion on people making like fun little drabbles or drawings based in the same AU, like perhaps their version of Y/N or OC interacting with the gang? Cause o' boy have I latched onto this AU like a leach and I am desperate to draw one of my characters in this world.

1) Aside from actual fuel like gasoline, oil, cooling liquid, etc (robo food), they sometimes indulge in human food even though it has no benefit to them. Sun doesn’t do it often since he thinks it waste food, but moon likes to put everything in his mouth. They incinerate the food and it comes out the same hole it went in as small little chunks of coal :ppp, like a robot version of a hairball

2)yesss I love that <33 thats the whole reason I didn’t make a specific Y/N / self insert in the story, since the whole little thing is inspired by rpgs! Kinda like making your own character before starting a game, but more customizable than just appearance :pp!! Others can do the work of how they would (or their ocs) actually live in this world. So I love seeing people’s ocs/ y/ns interacting with the characters!!

#cyberpunk au

[thydungeongal]

Hey random question (cuz I see u talk a lot about ttrpg mechanics): One mechanic I once saw that I really loved was in the Firefly roleplaying game (based on that Joss Whedon show that FOX canceled after 1 season), I think they called it the Cortex System. Instead of Ability Scores with modifiers, Abilities and skills instead had die types, with d4 on the low end up to like d12, and most actions in the game boil down to (Ability Die) + (Skill Die) + modifiers vs. an opposed skill check. The thing I really liked about it is that skills weren't necessarily tied to a specific attribute. An example the book gives (based on a scene from the show) is when Simon, the ship's doctor, is fighting an Alliance soldier, who is prone. Simon's hands are bound by handcuffs and he's definitely not a strong fighter. However due to his background as a doctor he was able to use his INT die + (whatever the unarmed combat skill was called, I forget) instead of his much lower STR die. Thanks to his knowledge of human anatomy he was able to use a knee to apply pressure to an artery, rendering the soldier unconscious. If you can convince the DM/GM that an attribute/skill combination makes sense, anything goes. I wonder if you know of any other ttrpg with a similar mechanic that you'd recommend.

Oh, I'm also a fan of systems that allow you to combine different pairs of Ability/Attribute and Skill/Talent/whatever! Here's just a few that I think are interesting:

The World of Darkness/Chronicles of Darkness systems (formerly old World of Darkness and new World of Darkness): Both of these systems have your characters' Attributes and Abilities/Skills measured with their own dot values and the basic resolution mechanic is always dots from Attribute+dots from Ability/Skill (WoD calls its "skill-equivalents" Abilities confusingly, while CoD calls them Skills) to form a dice pool. WoD is more open to the idea of combining any Attribute with any Ability, while CoD has a bit more of a formalized system of Skills being Physical/Mental/Social, but theoretically both systems do allow for combining any Attribute with any Ability/Skill (although it's important to note that for certain subsystems certain pairs of stats are set in stone: firing a gun is always Firearms+Dexterity, but knowing about guns might allow for a Firearms+Intelligence check).

Space Kings: Space Kings is a playing-card based role-playing game where the number of flips you get to make for a check is equal to an Attribute+Skill. Now, I have neither read nor played Space Kings yet, but based on one of my favorite actual play podcasts (Three of Hearts, @threeheartscast) who use Space Kings in a custom setting, the system definitely allows for unorthodox combinations of Attribute+Skill.

Mothership: Mothership is an absolutely fantastic retro sci-fi horror RPG that not only has one of the best visual designs and layouts I've ever seen and a character sheet that actually acts as a flowchart for character creation!!! But anyway, Mothership has skills that are at three different levels of specialization, granting a +10 to +20% bonus on relevant ability checks. But none of the skills are explicitly tied to specific ability scores! You may be able to convince your GM that your Mechanical Repair skill could apply while using a hand welder or laser cutter as a weapon!

If anyone knows of any other systems like this, chime in in the notes. I know for sure there are plenty of these systems out there, but I simply can't remember all of them.

#thydungeongal answers

[bluest-planet]

Reminder that the hd remaster(?) Rerelease of both Baten Kaitos games is coming out on the Switch in like, 4 days.

Listen, the advertising wasn't that great, and even if the original voice acting of the first game was awful (but so funny and charming imo, the 'so bad it's good'), the second game honestly has some of THE best voice acting in any game I've played. Such as the main character being voiced by Crawford Wilson (guy who voiced Jet in ATLA,) or another important character being voiced by Shanelle Workman Grey (voiced Larxenne in KH.) And so much more.

The gameplay itself is a card based rpg that's very fun and fast paced! It's easy to get a hold of and influences the story itself and the world, and I've never seen anything else come remotely close to it (which is honestly why chain of memories disappointed me so much lol, like, Baten Kaitos is such a gold standard for card games.) The first game is a bit slower, while the 2nd game (the prequel) is a lot faster and has some small differences but overall it's the same principles. Combos, downward or upward counting, paring the right elements, multiples and so on. Also deck organization! As well as maintaining stuff in the real world/real time since things can spoil or change over time.

The ART direction is absolutely gorgeous, using 2d backgrounds with moving 3d models, think chrono trigger. With I believe are Arabic and Mediterranean (?) Influences, and cartography. As well as a buncha weird mixed media stuff! Honestly you can find a lot to gnaw on art wise since Baten Kaitos isn't afraid to get weird and funky! With some places looking like standard fantasy land, gorgeous cloudscape, playdough world, multiple mirror worlds, a land made of sweets and the list just keeps going. One of the most beautiful games ever, really. It's up their with TWEWY, KH, Ni No Kuni, Skyward Sword, Wind Waker, BioShock, just a whole lotta games known for their aesthetic choices.

The characters are also super solid! Solid jrpg ragtag band/trio! I love them all so much, they're all so weird and vary from age and backgrounds so again if you're into any final fantasy game or other jrpgs you'll be right at home. The story in the first game, Wings is very solid with a neat twist, and then it's made richer after when you play the 2nd game, Origins (the prequel) which gives more insight and a crazier twist... Kinda gives u a bittersweetness at the end too. Please play Eternal Wings before Origins.

And lastly; The MUSIC. My god.

It's just... Chef's kiss. Honestly one of my favourite soundtracks of ALL DAMN TIME I think I'd die happy listening to Castle in the Sand before I go. Again, like the art direction, it's a grab bag of different genres, with it mostly being rock/speedrock, orchestral-esk grand pieces with organs and harpsichord, the occasional weird synths and keyboards, to funkier grooves. Evidential Material, Chaotic Dance, both of the battle themes for each game, Castle in the Sand, Valley of the Wind- literally has no skips!! It's all honestly imo, the best of Motoi Sakuraba's work, so if your into any of his, be it the Tales games or Dark Souls you'll get it all.

Unfortunately, the game doesn't seem to be getting a physical release in the US, potential a limited run in Europe, and mostly in Asia is getting copies which is a damn shame since they already took out the voice acting, and probably didn't even do much to really remaster it. I believe it'll mostly be a basic, if a little lacking, port, but even then! I encourage people to get it! Developed by the same people who worked on the xenosaga, then onto botw in some ways and more. It's like, an origin point so so many iconic creators and developers in jrpgs as a whole. I'm honestly just happy enough to see it survive past the GameCube. Which, while STILL the best way to enjoy and experience it, isn't as viable for it to survive. So yes, I'm glad it's being preserved and hope to see many new fans prop up!! Please come join in the like, 5 people still here lol. We're few but passionate! It's like, a cornerstone of my entire life unironically. Kinda like how KH or Zelda is for anyone else.

So... Please give the Baten Kaitos 1&2 HD remasters a shot! Or at least just listen to the music damn.

#baten kaitos #baten kaitos origins #blue speaks #listen now that i have more people following me im trying to spread this hidden gem!! #honestly wanted to do a cross over w this someday... but yeah please try it out! honestly if u liked the vibe of ps2 era jrps just get it #you'll thank me i promise #me not so sublty trying to get more people into bk so i can made cute bk and kh crossover art im sorry for being cringe #if my sibling seese this post (bc its the only tag they check and its so so and small i will be found) no u didn't #stop looking at my posts brother this is fer yer damn cause!

[jell-o101]

Well, you've certainly played more Mario games than I have, that's for sure! I didn't really take a huge interest in SMB until this year and yet I still feel like somewhat of an outsider in the fandom because most of my knowledge comes from watching cutscenes and reading wiki articles rather than gameplay... And while I know it's primarily a video game series, I can't help myself for wishing that Nintendo produced more story based Mario media, because the movie was just THAT good and the world is so rich that these characters need their stories told.

But even if there's no sequel for the foreseeable future, there are definitely intriguing game titles on the horizon! Which upcoming games do you see yourself most likely to play?

I.

Have.

A.

Nasty habit of wanting to play the original games before the remakes/remasters because I want the experience of playing the OGs first and then comparing the others. Its why i got TTYD for my Wii (I have a gamecube, but alas, she has water damage and I'm saving to fix her). I also have a hacked Wii U and got Mario RPG and yet, due to the move, i havent started it yet because the Wii U is packed away 😅.

I'M TOTALLY GETTING WONDER THO. EVERYTHING LOOKS SO CRISP AND NEW AND tbh, all of the previous "New" Mario Games looking the same after its DS predecessor is what kinda got me a little disinterested in Mario side scrollers over the years until recently lol.

[rinayeas]

Played the ib remake heres some food 4 thot

Garry has transmasc swag. But i am open to other interpretations

I almost felt sorry for Mary but on my 2nd run i did all the endings and the together forever ending still makes me feel all the rage and discontempt as it made me feel 10 yrs ago

THE FACT THAT WHEN YOU FIRST MEET HER SHE SAYS THAT RED IS HER FAVORITE AND BLUE IS OKAY AND THEN SHE SUDDENLY HAS BLUE AS HER FAVORITE JUST TO GET GARRY'S ROSE GRRRRR

When i got to the true gallery it clicked that Garry vs Mary was supposed to be a difficult choice for the player so now im a bit dissappointed abt the fact that Mary is such a cunt in her ending and that garry is 100x more favoured by the narrative and i wish it could have gone further w the concept

In the 2012 game when something important happened or there was a cutscene the caracter party would separate to show their individual sprites and the remake doesnt do that??? Which is very weird honestly why wouldnt they do that

I still love u garry. My first anime crush....

Ib's dad is not hot anymore 💔

Honestly?? Beyond the direct support for the team + graphics overhaul, you're good playing the 2012 version honestly. If you want a diff experience with the puzzles and the chance for a whole lot more garry dialogue then play this one. But i have to say im a bit dissappointed

Not a lot bc the base game is still awesome and i love it but with the other remakes it felt very different??? Like witchs house is fun and i always love to replay it and adds a bit more lore from the ellen novels and the Sen games are the best remakes so far with better graphics, fun gameplay and completely new puzzles + the death counter for Misao so this one left me a bit empty

I hope more rpg maker remakes come soon!! I love replaying these and the more the merrier

Side note bc im never touching the topic again: the mermaid swamp remake is cool bc ooo shiny new graphics but im not a fan of the characters not having portraits (i feel like thats intentional for the atmosphere but i also really wanted some new art for rin and seitaro) and also??? The ending Cg???? Theyre better but they lack the grainyness of the og, except for the rin crying one that one was such a downgrade

ALSO URI WHY WOULD YOU POST THE SEITARO DEATH CG AND SAY YOU REGRET NOT PUTTING IT IN THE GAME BC YOU FORGOT AND THEN NOT PUT IT IN THE REMAKE AAAAA

#ib #mermaid swamp #brooo why did i not post this i played the remake like 5 months ago

[prettyboykatsuki]

fang can u explain bg3 to me bc i want to know more abt the gameplay.. also when you talk abt the sex scenes is there like.. an actually scene? :o 🙊

bg3 is a DND based turned based rpg!!!

the general gist is that you get kidnapped and someone puts a lil worm into your brain. a mindflayer parasite, which if not removed fast enough, will turn u into a mindflayer (evil squid creature)

u wake up on the ship basically have to go on a quest to find a way to get rid of ur brain parasite but it's weird bc the parasite isn't doing what it normally does.

the game itself is techincally turned based but in a way that it is a little different to other turn based games. it mostly adapts stuff from DND 5e with a few things ommitted or shifted for smoother play.

you get to choose a class and race, and each class and race have unique qualities. the actual gameplay has your character roll an automatic initiative and that determines the order you get to make moves in.

when its your turn, you have an action and a bonus action. what actions and bonus actions are available to u will change based on your class!! depending on your race and class also will be your weapon proficiency, how much movement you can make, and some other more minor things!!

it is sorted mostly as a spectrum from full magic to full meleee. spell casters have a limited amount of slots they can use to cast them but infinite uses on something called cantrips. full spellcasting classes can use melee weapons but typically lack proficiency in them lol

melee classes are straight forward!! they are attack classes. they normally have more skill with weapons of all kinds and do a lot of head on attacking

many classes are also a mix of these two and have subclasses that alter or change the of from being pure melee or pure magic. subclasses can get really technical so i wouldn't worry about them until you've played through the game once

the game allows you to respec or change these classes with a little in game coin - so if you find yourself not liking something, you are always welcome to go up to withers (an npc in game who stays at ur camp) and change as many times as you like

if you'd like some more in depth information about the gameplay specifics please let me know but this is the gist!! hope this helps you

EDIT: I REAIZE MY DWEEBING OUT MISSED UR QUESTION

yes there is sex scenes but theyre not SUPER explicit at least not all of them!! it depends on the character but tbh!! some of them are just alluding to sex where as some are very Horny. but like…it’s enough to make a whore like me blush so

#return to sender

[equalseleventhirds]

Hey, do you have any recs for long form, more serious ttrpg systems for fantasy settings? I feel like I hear a lot about short/definitively-lengthed systems, but I've been yearning for a DnD-esque system without all the baggage of equip loads and complicated Challenge Ratings and other rules-y baggage I don't super care about.

do i! do i ever!

serious & long-form systems do on the whole tend to be crunchier than shorter systems (not always, but generally); nevertheless, i've picked out a........ handful......... ok there's Several, i did try to control and limit myself but u kno.......... games......... anyway, here are some that are considerably less crunchy than d&d but still lend themselves to long fantasy campaigns.

uh. under the cut for. oh god it's so long. it's so long. tried my best to explain them, u see. (which is also why it took me so long to reply lol, sry abt that)

godeater (& godeater 2.0): play in a broken, post-apocalyptic fantasy world, where dead and dying gods warp the land, and you raid their bodies for divine magic to help support humanity. 2d10-based, get weird & funky with it! i admit a small preference for version 1.0, which gave u some loose examples but left much of the worldbuilding and even character building up to u to create; 2.0 has some extra books that go with it that i haven't much looked into yet, but seem to give more solid lore to work with, if u would like that.

when the guilds pay in copper, crime pays in gold: alchemical guilds pay shit wages to use people for magical experiments. go do crimes on 'em with your own magic. d6 base, assign dice to stats to make ur own dice pool; fairly light rules and in fact very little in the way of instruction or hard lore on the gm's side, so better played with an experienced gm who's good at making their own stuff, but certainly campaign material for the right gm!

third empire - violence + beauty: the world sucks, and has sucked for a while, through two oppressive empires and into a third one. you play adventurers who are trying to carve out a little goodness, a little justice, a little vengeance, in the world. y'know. lasers & feelings based, but expanded beyond the original (which also comes with it if u get it!) into more lore, more character choices, very collaborative worldbuilding, downtime mechanics, etc etc.

ruby radiance 6e: streamlined dungeoneering built to let ppl play the way actual play podcasts sound, essentially. d20 pool system, based on trophy mechanics but v much adjusted. lots of choices to make during character creation & leveling, but much much less to keep track of during the playing part. u get it.

wizard pals: all of you are wizards, going on adventures and trying to accomplish your goals in a fantasy world. d12-based, fairly lighthearted (can lean silly but u could use it for more serious if not super grimdark adventures), much worldbuilding left up to the gm, but very simple rules, so.

grimblade rpg: (speaking of grim lol,) action & adventure in a grim fantasy world; things like character creation and rewards (and magic) fully imply a fantasy world, but worldbuilding is left up to the gm, altho there are many tables to roll on to give some help. uses d4, 6, 8, and 10; all rolls are contested rolls, with dice picked based on how serious the gm feels this roll is.

shattered aether: post-apocalyptic science fantasy, you roam around a fucked up magic world and protect ppl from various dangers. 2d6 based, based on the lumen system so fairly combat-forward in a very high-action very cool asskicking way. for some reason the font chosen for this book is murder on my eyes, but if u can get past that (or just zoom in lots and read a bit at a time) it's straightforward, simple, and fun!

familiars of terra: this one may be a little too crunchy, but i love it a lot and rly the most crunch is in character creation and tracking experience, actual gameplay is (imo) pretty easy. post-post-apocalyptic fantasy world, some science fantasy elements depending on where you choose to focus, bcos there are absolute PAGES of lore on this extremely cool and enormous world; you and your party go around with your soul-bonded animal friends to spread hope and healing and also do cool shit. y'know. card-based, again it is probably more crunchy than ur looking for but less abt tracking what you can do during things and more abt tracking experience in order to level up stats, so.

1400 quest: ok that last one was crunchy, this one's very uncrunchy. pick a handful of things and get going! clearly inspired by d&d, but very very streamlined, so things that were pages of mechanics are like, one or two sentences. gm's side of it is like, a handful of rollable tables and then do whatever, so prolly for the more experienced gm. d6 based, but you may have occasion to use other dice. also if you like this one there's others by the same author focusing on other things (1400 mage, sneak, etc), or you can check out others in the 24XX type of games, which started out sci fi but has since been expanded to a bunch of other stuff. u kno.

beast dream: pokemon-inspired game where you make friends with magical beasts and go on magical adventures! d6-based, forged in the dark, so there is a little crunch wrt deciding on position etc and stuff like stress, but the author rly wanted to focus in on letting u adventure and have fun without getting bogged down in numbers and i think that shows, stuff like load and reputation aren't so much a thing.

cognatons: play as sentient, magic-filled automatons doing whatever fantasy adventures your robot heart desires. d4-based, caltrop core, so you get a fairly simple & defined set of actions; less to keep track of, easy to follow.

dethrone the divine: you're gonna overthrow the gods, and also take their places. you're already either divine, semi-divine, or magically powerful in other ways, and you adventure with the goal of gathering power and followers so you can take the place of the shitty gods in power. d6-based, pretty straightforward system, makes characters v cool and powerful, which is always fun.

perilous: do you love dungeon crawls bcos i love dungeon crawls... streamlined and easy to understand fantasy dungeoneer adventures in this one! d20-based, leans towards tags instead of complicated numerical skill stuff to keep track of. go to dungeons, fight monsters, get treasure. simple n good. (adds in some metaplot, like who sent you, how will this affect the people living here, whatever, but rly strong with the very old core of d&d-style 'go do a dungeon' kinda thing, if that's what u like.)

high magic lowlives: ok my latest obsession bcos i'm currently planning a big ol campaign for friends in this one. there are classic adventurers in this world, out there cleaning out monster nests or whatever, but they're usually in the employ of the immortal aristocracy. you? you make your money by stealing from and humiliating the immortal aristocracy, because you're a lowlife. it's a dangerous gig, but isn't it better than going into student debt at wizard school? melds high fantasy aesthetics with like, magical twitch streaming aesthetics. fun as hell. uses all the dice and also sometimes tarot cards (mostly just for character creation, u kno). easy to understand rules, i'm having a great time.

ellipses rpg: setting-agnostic system (make ur own setting!) with simple, streamlined rules and an emphasis on improvisation. d20 based, rly just some very basic foundation and then a lot of encouragement to make things up and do what's fun. so like, loosey goosey & not super structured if you want structure, but could be fun!

unbound: setting-agnostic system but with much more formal structure, got structure around how to collaboratively worldbuild your setting and everything. obvs this means some crunch, but it's still not super crunchy, nice and straightforward rly. lotta character options but not so complex and math-heavy, u kno. card-based system. designed actually for a series of short campaigns in a linked world, tho, so if ur not up for exploring new characters a lot, may not be for you.

#algie talks ttrpgs #i have HUNDREDS of games u don't UNDERSTAND #tried to limit myself. took off some rly more urban fantasy or cyberpunk fantasy or noir fantasy or horror-focused. #took off some more crunchy ones tried to stay with the less crunchy............. #even the ones i took off are STILL not as full of useless-ass rules than d&d but i tried to go for ones with much less to keep track of #took off some ones that are perhaps not as easy for someone moving from d&d eg. gmless ones non-combat ones rly meta ones etc #and still it's like. sixteen here??? which obvs u cannot play all of them lmao #but anyway here u go i hope this helps!! i lov games #long post #just in case the readmore fucks up bcos it's moved itself like three times since i started drafting this

[pinkprettycure]

@fairladybellaphram replied to your post “when u play mwdh val isn't you, it's the other way...”:

I know this is a joke post but I genuinely prefer this I would rather play a character that has their own personality and interests than a bland faceless protag you’re supposed to insert yourself on.

​i feel blank slate characters really work best on RPGs or stat based games where you can customize and control a wide variety of traits in the character. Like its so easy to just put yourself into a harvest moon protag or a pokemon or animal crossing protagonist

but like a blank faceless vn protag feels weird bc they're too narrative heavy so there still will be something resembling a personality, just enough to make the narrative functional, but not too much so that you can reasonably stand in. and it ends up leading to the character feeling flat and generic and unrelatable. like why am I thinking and saying these things, i wouldn't do that lol! this isn't me, but who are they supposed to be?

#Are you telling me Char broiled this burger? #fairladybellaphram

[aurheatum]

toa anniversary mun day

under cut

Name: 

Nel, i mean it’s Sarah technically, but once you start getting multiple notes in the mail with Nel on them I think it counts. Nelfes works too. I respond to most anything tbh

Pronouns:

she/her or they/them

Birthday (no year):

Dec 6th Saint Nicholas Day : )

Where are you from? What is your time zone?

Chicago. CST [GMT-5].

Roleplay experience:

Over ten years, started on Neopets and other forums. Moved to Gaia Online and then Tumblr indie space some time in 2011.

Got any pets?

Baby boy

Favorite time of year:

Springtime or Autumn

Some interests and things you like:

I’ve always been super into mythology, all of them. I used to think that Carl Jung was onto something with the collective unconscious but then Anthropology and the reality of multilineal evolution ruined that for me (college will teach you things); but that’s alright because humans their ability to create and interpret their surroundings with equal parts love and fear is still pretty cool.

Some funfacts & trivia about you:

-Agnostic but i work in an occult library (it’s pretty quiet; the new age bookshop across the street has all the events)

-One time on Gaia Online I was kicked out of an Okami RP bc I didn’t make my posts aesthetic enough, and I thought it was just the most heart wrenching thing -I’m not sure what people stand to gain back in Ye Old Runescape luring new players out into the wild and PKing them but I was gullible enough to follow some other players at like 7 yrs old and this would have happened to me if i wasnt SUPER good at clicking my mouse and running out of there. Surviving such a harrowing experience made me think i was truly invincible.

-I was supposed to write my final paper for my Japanese Buddhism class on… surprise, Japanese Buddhism but I really wanted to talk about Kenji Miyazawa’s writings instead so I spun it through a lens of his Nichiren conversion and its impact on his poetry. My prof saw right through me but I still got an A.

What non-Fire Emblem games do you play?

Tales of RPG series raised me as a person so u know. I like Persona 1-2 era SMT though I’ve played Nocturne and IV as well. What else? Okami, LOZ: Twilight Princess, farm sims and visual novels. Genshin, on and off.

Favorite Pokemon type & Pokemon:

Psychic; wooper family (clogsire im so glad u joined us)

How did you get into Fire Emblem?

My neighbor would bring over Path of Radiance so I could play it on my gamecube with my own save back in the day

What Fire Emblem games have you played?

Tellius duology. Sacred Stones, FE 13-16; currently doing Blazing Blade. Archanea one day.

First Fire Emblem game:

POR

Favorite Fire Emblem game:

Tie between 3 Houses and Radiant Dawn

Any Fire Emblem crushes? 😳 

It’s rhea okay. I wont lie and i wont pretend it isnt evidence of my spectacular taste either

If you’ve played the following games, who was your first S support? Who would you S support nowadays? - Awakening: Tiki (first S support was olivia bc i wanted a pink haired kid)  - Fates: honestly i’d have to revisit, i know i first married niles as m!corrin - Three Houses: I married each lord on their route tho it’s much funnier if you dont i think (First route was Crimson Flower but I saved at the split so I could marry Rhea first lmao) - Engage: Saphir 🥰

Favorite Fire Emblem class:

War Cleric or Qi Adept

If you were a Fire Emblem character, what would be your class?

I’d be the mage you have to drag around and treat with baby gloves only to learn like a single good spell I think

If you were a Three Houses character, what would be your affiliation?

Leicester Alliance tbh

If you were an Engage character, which Emblem would you Engage with?

Based purely on mechanics bc i love them all prob Soren dlc, Sigurd, Celica, and Lyn.

How did you find TOA?

End of 2020/beginning of 2021 I was really trying to get back into rp but couldn’t get into the various systems on discord. One community that I was trying was affiliates with The Officer’s Academy and an active tumblr community rly caught my interest. The rest is history!

Current TOA muses:

Rhea 3H, Micaiah Radiant Dawn, and miss Hortensia engage

Who was your first TOA muse? If you don’t have them anymore, could you see yourself picking them up again?

This blog right here! I put her down for a bit and probably will again but. It’s not like she ever leaves, instead of brain there is Rhea u see (i bear this burden so u do not have to)

Have you had any other TOA muses?

I played Sephiran for a hot sec and Ingrid for around a yearish iirc. Both very fun

Do you think you have a type of character you gravitate towards?

Not really? I need to be able to connect with them on some level obviously, and I tend to prefer characters who have like a clear childhood or background for why they are That Way. Micaiah was actually p difficult for this reason but being able to really shape her based on what little we know also made me ever more fond. ♥️ I love to stare at pegasusknight and serenesforest supports pages late at night tehe

What do you believe you enjoy writing the most?

I don’t particularly plan ahead but I really love when threads reflect past character development whether in a thread with the same muse or different. TOA extended universe… I’d like to do that more I think but first I have to actually make a support page huh? Since Rhea’s back she’s made more bonds though and that makes me happy.

Favorite TOA-related memory: Definitely Unlocked 2021! It was my first event after really starting to warm to the TOA community and i was an awe of the scope of the events. The mods thought this far ahead?! We can do this?! Every event since has just been even more fun but the surprise and intrigue i felt then really stayed with him

*How do you pronounce TOA?

Toe-uh. Like Dee-En-Dee. you know.

Got any delusions that didn’t see the light of day that you’d like to share? 😉 

I think I mentioned I muse Hubert before, and also that I can't really seeing myself maintaining a blog for him? So other than that, no. I do think Nimh could be quite a bit of fun though *laughs*

#ooc #|meme response

[pochapal]

1. Congrats on the kinda blown up post!

2. This is a really weird, kinda stupid ask, but out of the Umineko characters u know, who seems like they’d be the most fun to play in a ttrpg? I ask because I know multiple people have done this one character and, for spoilery reasons, I have no clue how.

1: thank you i guess! feels weird to have a post gain traction among people beyond my usual follower circle lmao

2: now the first thing you need to know is that i don't do ttrpgs or understand anything about them in any meaningful way so this is very hard to consider. i do think the dice rolling factor of certain tabletops plays nicely with the whole "demon's roulette" angle of umineko except for the part where umineko only pretends like it's a series of random chance events and not a thoroughly premeditated script but maybe chance vs control could thematically translate into a good ttrpg character basis maybe? i guess the hard thing with umineko is that everything including its characters was not designed for a rng roll one outcome of millions scenario but instead deliberate consideration and understanding - idk much about ttrpgs but i feel like needing to take a 3000 word break to painstakingly sketch out a deeply biased account of a character's tragic backstory in order to explain the relevance of the morally questionable action they have just taken (the explaining of which being as plot-critical as the actions themselves) isn't the most friendly thing you could mix in with a ttrpg formula.

as character archetypes i think a great deal of umineko characters ire fun and engaging to explore on their own terms, but ttrpgs often have a growth/power fantasy element baked into them that isn't entirely congruent with the grounding theses of most of the cast. natsuhi is deeply fascinating as an individual but "powerless woman who is snared in the twin nets of pride and desperation and whose only agency is whether or not she can uphold a conspiracy to people who can leverage all kinds of abuse towards her" doesn't really work in any kind of rpg sense. if natsuhi were to get "stronger" and "advance" this would lay ruin to the underpinning tragic essence of what makes natsuhi *natsuhi*. same goes even for characters like battler who you'd think would click more with this formula - even a hypothetical mystery-solving based ttrpg could not accommodate battler as the inherent gamification of the narrative necessitates truths and evidence being revealed on a diegetic level in such a way that battler could actually figure out, and at that point what we're talking about is basically danganronpa instead of umineko.

i think in this way despite being a vn and thus a form of video game so much of umineko is heavily resistant to being "played" in the traditional game sense. there is a game going on in umineko between writer and reader, but this is a game of thinking and interpretation and understanding and not something that can be broken down into quantifiable Progression Units. the only "final boss" of umineko is your own lack of understanding and this fight is waged in your own head and not within the fabric of the story - even if in umineko proper battler "figures out" the mystery, it won't end up in a climactic final fantasy-esque showdown with beatrice on rokkenjima. gamification is kind of like "fantasy" within a narrative context (this is something i have/will talk about more in the writeup so forgive me if this isn't clearly defined yet) in that it's an embellished obfuscation of truth in the Romantic sense where you get lost in the process rather than the results - in theory, battler cornering beatrice during the denouement and saying definitively "this is the truth behind everything" is as a decisive an action as battler using the power of anime and friendship to energy blast beatrice into ash. the difference is the former keeps the mystery and tragedy front and center, while the latter out of necessity makes it specifically about battler as the center of the narrative universe.

this goes into the territory of mystery fiction and whether or not the designated Detective (capitalized in the stock archetype way and not the literary analysis dichotomy way) character must also occupy the traditional role of protagonist in the Hero sense. battler is the central character in umineko and the most crucial information is filtered through his lens, but battler is not the Hero of umineko - he is a passive witness to the tragedy who can only grow more desperate and powerless as the atrocities continue to pile up. the troubling thing about a lot of mystery is how you make a Detective that isn't basically just a cop - there is a certain power tension in mystery where through uncovering the truth the Detective takes the obfuscating "power" held by the Culprit and redirects into a clarifying force of their own. a denouement is when the Detective has, after a sort of hero's journey, acquired enough truth/power to unmask/dominate the Culprit, and as a "reward" is able to use the power structures of society (police, carceral punishment, "Just" murder) to get their way (return to a status quo) where the Culprit was previously able to use the power structures of mystery narratives (tricks, unreliable perspective, misdirection, "Unjust" murder) in order to get theirs (subversion of the status quo in accordance with their motive). all of this very easily feeds into copaganda-esque regurgitations of power dynamics and grows more prominent the more physical agency a Detective-Hero has in their given narrative situation.

bring those elements to a gamified stage and what you're left with is more a simulation of dominion through your character's power biases than a nuanced understanding of the social conditions that led to the formation of these events in the first place. you could of course perform a complete dissection of the Events and Circumstances of a ttrpg's setting, but is producing a diatribe on social structures and reinforcement of power akin to "playing"? i think maybe an umineko character might work in an undertale/deltarune-esque manner where there is an explicit conflict and tension inherent to the non-neutral action of "controlling" a character, but i don't see how that easily fits into the dna specifically of ttrpgs. there is an element of roleplay in ttrpgs where there is a meeting of the player's self and the character's self in order to produce the performance of the game-narrative in accordance with the structural rules. laying out like that i guess there's overlap between the premise of a roleplay-focused ttrpgs and the Witch Narrative, but both have different causes and different end goals. in a ttrpg no matter what in some form your goal is to "win", to attain something and move on to the next thing - everything in a ttrpg/game serves more as a vessel to enable the player to both achieve and experience a victory-state. there are ttrpg types that could interrogate these elements in a satisfying way, but nothing in umineko is directly about these things and thus a translation in this form would be to lose something in the process.

you don't come to umineko to "win" umineko. or if you do you'll quickly figure out that that is something not possible within the story's verbage. mystery and horror and tragedy do not produce victory in the conventional sense and any story in those genres that uncritically ends on a "victory" is dubious at best and incompetent at worst. in these worlds and fictions, how is it that something you could call victory can be attained? what sort of person would you need to be in order to strive for this victory? if any of the umineko characters were capable of this trajectory then they would never have ended up in the situation that they are in. to not only be concerned with powergaming but also to have the ability to do so fundamentally changes an individual's position within a narrative - for the premise to exist it implies a way out of any potential hardship, that if you're good enough at [power verb] then you can attain autonomy/power/dominion. nobody on rokkenjima ever had any of these things, which is why this is all happening in the first place. i don't think you can ever satisfactorily separate umineko characters from their disempowering material conditions like that.

the silly answer to this question, of course, has to be beatrice who has already been roleplayed by half of the cast of umineko at this point anyway. beatrice "exists" and beatrice is a vessel for power so in this way beatrice is already kind of a ttrpg character in that sense if the ttrpg's goal is desperate slaughter through at least two layers of metaphor and obfuscation. the important thing to take into account is that a playable ttrpg character "exists" and so maybe if more people on rokkenjima were into roleplaying none of these horrors would be happening lol.

#coolstuffiseverywhere #can you have a satisfying ttrpg character who is truly and inescapably doomed by the narrative? that's the real question here #anyway this deranged tangent was not what you asked for and doesn't address your question in any way but here we are lol

[jingsyuans]

this isnt a req for a fic or anything, but theres this game i rlly like that i think u might enjoy the characters 🫶 its called punishing: gray raven and id say its pretty similar to hi3 combat style. but the characters are SOO COOL!!1! some of them have unhuman characteristics, like mechanical limbs and stuff. one of them is like a mermaid too?!? but i just really like unhuman characters.. i think there is a lot of potential with them esp since they don't necessarily have the "morality" that we do. also they grow up in a world where humanity is scare and theres like a large virus spreading. so id imagine some might be willing to do anything to get a partner. i just think stuff like that has a lot of possibilities

BTW IM NOT LIKE trying to get you to write smth about it or anything, im just recommending for your own enjoyment bc i think you might like it and i love your works ❤️❤️

Ur cute for sharing with me!! Ty!! It’s sweet u thought of me y_y 🩷

I looked up the game! It definitely looks like a really fun RPG, and I looked up a list of some of the characters (though I’m not sure how accurate it was, I think it was right. Apparently there’s NIER cameos? Haha!)

I’ll be honest that I’m not sure I’ll play it— app games are flimsy for my attention. Genshin was a revolutionary rock in the boat, and honkai caught me because of the fact it’s the same company and I love turn based stuff. But, ah, gacha……… I really can’t get into another gacha game. I cannot be trusted 😔 but thank you for the rec!! It was nice to think someone was thinking of me. Maybe I’ll watch someone’s playthru instead of playing it myself! I always forget that’s an option

#rambles

[thydungeongal]

hiiii what are ur thots on the megaversal system? i’m currently in the midst of hyperfixation revival for TMNT, and i found there’s a TMNT rpg from ‘85 that uses that system, as well as one called ‘after the bomb’ that i think is a more open-ended version? (like not limited to just post-nuclear NYC jsgskdh)

the lifelong, childhood fan in me is like MUST HAVE ALL TMNT CONTENT while the Grown Adult is like. homie the chances of this rpg book from the 80’s being something you’ll actually enjoy reading/making a character for are Very Low

also there is not a lot out there abt this game jsgskdh like there was a pretty popular kickstarter last year, but the funding period ended so no luck there rly, and from one of the reviews i saw, they liked the world building/story side of things, but would’ve preferred the gurps system… which i am also unfamiliar with 🫣 oh and the game is called ‘teenage mutant ninja turtles & other strangeness’ if ur interested at all jsgskdh

but yeah do u think the megaversal system is like. approachable for newcomers to rpgs in general? i’m familiar w 5e, blades in the dark, and kids on brooms, but looking at all the unfamiliar terminology for megaversal is. intimidating 🤧

(also totally feel free to ignore this if it’s like way too much info to look into jsgskdh i do not want to take up your time 🫡)

okay, so I haven't actually played any Megaversal System games, but I am familiar with their reputation. Based on what I've heard the games that utilize it (RIFTS, Palladium Fantasy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness, Heroes Unlimited, and After the Bomb [which is basically the TMNT RPG but with the licensing removed once they lost the license]) are barely functional but have a strange charm to them! One of my favorite podcasts, System Mastery, are intimately familiar with the system and hearing them describe it is always a blast. If you want to learn about the games from two really funny guys for whom those games were a formative experience, I recommend checking them out!

So anyway those games are apparently pretty wild. I think they're decipherable by relative newcomers if you're willing to accept a bit of extremely eighties design. I don't know how much of that will be rectified in the upcoming rerelease. But don't take my word for it, because the internet is a beautiful place and with a little bit of digging on your local free-rpg-pdfs-legally-i-swear dot gov slash co dot uk you should be able to find PDFs of the original game

But now is when I yap about a completely different but related game, because as it happens game designer Julian Kay's first RPG as a child was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness, and as an adult Julian decided to make an homage to that game called Mutants in the Now. Now, unlike Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness I have actually read Mutants in the Now, and what I can say based on simply reading it is that it is a fantastically written RPG with a lot of love for its subject matter and the game system actually seems functional! The character creation system is wild, consisting mostly of rolling on random tables to discover who your character is, and the actual game system owes a lot to 13th Age (a modern D&D clone that Julian has written for and that is actually pretty dang good!) in addition to the Megaversal System. There's a few quirks that are mostly there out of homage to the Megaversal System to my knowledge (skills are d100 roll under, while combat pretty much works like any ol' D&D with d20 rolls to hit and various types of dice for damage) but ultimately it is a very coherent system.

Anyway the presentation in Mutants in the Now was so strong I immediately ordered it and its supplement Mutants in the Next, and I don't have a single regret about my purchase. I actually liveblogged the (admittedly intensive) character creation process. You can find them if you look under the tag #mutants in the making. Now Mutants in the Now is slightly more complex than 5e, but most of the complexity is front-loaded into character creation. The gameplay is about on par with 5e in terms of complexity.

Anyway I'm not sure how helpful that is but it at least gave me a chance to gush about one of the coolest games I've discovered during the last year. If you're interested in a game with actual TMNT branding I recommend looking into the original game if you can find it before you make any decisions or wait for word from Kickstarter backers about the revised edition whether it's good or bad. But, like, Mutants in the Now is also there if you're not too particular about the branding and just want to play cool mutant animals and enjoy random character creation where you get to really experience finding out who your character is during the process of creation.

#thydungeongal answers #long post #mutants in the now #Mutants in the making

[cetra]

Friend!!! I’d love to hear about your Tav and who your main companions are/who you romanced! 🩶🩶🩶

OUGHGH thank u very much for the ask...... I'm still kinda embarrassed to talk about him but here he is. His name is Malachy, Mal for short. he's a half-elf Rogue (Arcane Trickster). I went with Dark Urge as his origin, so his story is still shrouded in mystery at this point in the game but he's quite submissive to the Urge.

I would classify him as MAYBE Neutral Evil based on his non-Urge actions in the game so far but this is subject to change, and the needle has moved closer to Lawful at a few points in the game, depending on the person involved and the stakes at hand.

honestly.... he's a pretty terrible person with a disgusting attitude and I would probably hate him if he were real. He will kill without hesitation anyone who wrongs him and anyone he thinks as deserving. if he spares someone or rescues a soul, it's usually because he thinks it will benefit him later

I can't say much else on him bc i've just barely started Act 2, but he's been one of the most enjoyable characters i've played as in my time of RPGs. i really love roleplaying characters who are terrible people and Mal has been one of nastiest yet. he's so awful and he honestly scares me sometimes! I also kinda think he should die but at the same time i care about him..... DELICIOUS THANK YOU!!!! 🧡

I'm gonna put everything else under a cut..... 😭😭 i'm so sorry......

The main companions atm are Gale, Lae'zel and Astarion. Lae'zel admires him and has almost max approval with him (I just finished Act 1). Gale likes him but they've argued a few times already in the game, yet he still maintains good approval with him somehow. better approval than Astarion actually, who approves of nearly all of Mal's heinous deeds in-game but gives a lot of disapproval when Mal is mean to him, which is almost always! So despite sharing a hankering for violence and a lust for blood i don't think Astarion likes him much, which makes him the smartest person in this party

romance is kinda weird. He hooked up with Minthara after the raid, but Minthara's romance in this game is notoriously broken and i think it's going to stay broken on this save file since the "fixes" have been inconsistent for most players. So i sadly decided that would be a one-time thing for him 😭 but towards the end of Act 1 after some story developments featuring Lae'zel i realized that those two were unimaginably compatible together and so I think they're endgame. The gratitude she shows towards him, how much she respects him, how similar they are in a lot of capacities..... just really touches my soul and it feels like love to me, or at least the closest thing to love I can imagine these two characters feeling. So they slept together, at the VERY end of Act 1, and i'm waiting to see what direction that goes in. But i have a really good feeling about it honesty.....

there's also the question of Gale. Gale clashes with Mal a LOT in the game and there was even a scene between them where he quite literally damned him? but then later on after that we got a scene where Gale was clearly interested in him so it turns out Gale also has a crush on him i guess?? Don't really know if it's a bug but i'm kinda happy it developed that way bc honestly it's such a juicy concept HJDFBHKJBGK 😭😭 Mal's a Heterosexual Man though so he doesnt return the feelings and now Gale is stuck with a big fat unrequited crush on Mal that i never anticipated or intended to happen. Gale is my absolute favorite character in the game though so I've never wanted an OC to kill themselves so bad until i had Mal cut off that insanely really romantic moment with Gale DFJHBDKHJG I HATE HIM SO MUCH MAN........ MOST EVIL THING HE'S DONE IN THE GAME SO FAR!! GALE SHOULD KILL HIM.

Admittedly i do really like the idea of Mal, Lae'zel and Gale being in a really weird and twisted situationship where they often can't stand being around one another as a result of their strong personalities and insane moral compasses but are also kinda obsessed with each other and have a lot of unsaid feelings between the three of them. AND MAYBE THEY ALL KISS OR SOMETHING this is all totally in my head and relies exclusively on just. My imagination going wild as i perceive them in the game. they're the worsties ever and uhhh I hate them?/ I actually love them that just seemed like a funny thing to say.......

I uh didn't mean for this to go on so long especially since i mentioned being kinda embarrassed about it but I guess i didn't realize how much I had been keeping this in..... i hadn't really shared anything about him yet before on here, so THANK U FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY!!!! now I'm gonna go hide in shame bc of how much i said okay BYEEEEE 🧡

#BG3 spoilers #Thank you so much........ for the interest...

[viktormaru]

Please explain your Borderlands opinions, but to someone who doesn't know much about Borderlands at all. I do want to hear!

there are so many about so many specific things so I'll just rate the base games for you after a brief explanation of why you should give it a try

its a run and gun game with no fall damage

ok with that out of the way- just kidding. Borderlands is a coop (or solo) shooter RPG in this post apocalyptic-ish scenario that has the Random Ass humor that is kinda great actually, so you can usually burn hours in it with tons of fun. It has this "randomizer" weapon system with different stats and stuff and differect characters with different skills and skill trees so its pretty fun all around.

With that being said here's my rating and why

Borderlands 2 > Tales from the Borderlands > Borderlands 3 > Borderlands the Prequel > Borderlands 1

I know, controversial, let me explain

BORDERLANDS 2: Please play it, its such a good game and has one of the best video games villains ever, Handsome Jack, who says very iconic lines such as "I will pay you to kill yourself". The story is fun, the characters are fun, the gameplay is fun, Borderlands 2 is the peak of the series.

TALES FROM THE BORDERLANDS: this is kinda cheating bcs Tales was made by telltale games and its a choice based game and not a shooter, but the characters are so entertaining and the story so good I rate it super high anyway. Heres the one to play if you dont like shooters, though this one is set after BL2 so it might get a bit confusing without context.

BORDERLANDS 3: I know I shouldnt rank it this high because my god the story SUCKS and the character assassination happening here is brutal, but the gameplay really has reached peak with the movement and the gunplay and stuff. I only played with FL4K though so IDK how fun the other characters are to play but hey, the DLCs are pretty good so that also raises the game in my tierlist

BORDERLANDS THE PREQUEL: It didnt do anything criminal tbh, I jsut didnt like the Oxygen mechanics they added, it kinda pisses me off a little bit. Fun characters though!! Like very much so! The story is alright, its about how Handsome Jack became who he is but... well... they dont introduce anything new really so it sits in the alright spot

BORDERLANDS: i misspelled is as boredlands while typing and had a laugh. Look, I still havent maanged to beat the game bcs its so old and clunky it was making me have a Gamer Rage moment. I shall review this tierlist once I finish it.

But seriously, borderlands its weird and quirky and edgy and fun and U should def give it a try... or at least watch a compilation of characters saying dumb shit