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prototypelq · 6 months

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Divinity Original Sin 2 has spoiled me

I’ve played my fair share of this wonderful game before, but this year’s BG3 hype had my interest pique again, so I’ve given it another go (this time with mods, which I’ve definitely spent too much time learning how to install and make work together). And boy, oh boy, this game might just have spoiled the RPG’s for me forever.

First of all, this game has no class system. While the character creator offers you some options to choose from, those are just pretty suggestions for the beginning of the game, and even those beginner’s setups are very creative. For example, the Inquisitor preset offers you options from the Necromancy and Warfrare skilltrees (Warfare is focused on dealing physical damage, and the Necromancer has an array of ranged magic and skills to stay alive in battle longer), or a Shadowblade preset, which offers you skills from Scoundrel and Polymorph trees (Scoundrel is your rogue build skills focused on backstabbing, and Polymorph offers you abilities to morph your body into different animal-themed parts, like Chamelon Skin spell which will, predictably, make you invisible). You also, obviously, have more typical options like Enchanter (lightning abilities from Aerotheurge tree and water spells from Hydrosophist) or a Fighter (Warfrare plus armour buffs from Geomancer tree), and they are no less effective than the previously mentioned more exotic combinations.

The character-building, combined with clever enemy AI in this game makes the build-creation process extremely robust. For example, the standard Tank-Healer-DamageDealer holy triad is completely useless in this game, as the AI is clever enough to ignore the characters with the most HP and go for the low-health targets first. This simple change completely breaks the standard mould, and now the best strategy you can have is either outdamage your enemies, or dictate your own rules over the battlefield to control them.

The diversity in building is only intensified by the skills inside different trees, because almost every skilltree in this game will have its own abilities for healing, crowd control and movement. Huntsman (the ranged bow skilltree) tree has Tactical Retreat, Warfrare has Phoenix Dive, Aerotheurge has Teleport, Polymorph has Wings – all of these abilities serve the same function of assuming a better position for your character on the battlefield (which is critical in this game). This means that specializing into any skilltree will also grant you access to a lot of self-sustaining abilities and options. Plus, levelling up any skilltree will grant you additional perks, like levelling up Necromancer will give you bonus % of healing from all the damage you deal (which is an awesome trait for ANY character build really), levelling Hydrosophist will give you a bonus to all the healing and magic armour restoration you receive, or the Huntsman levels give you a damage bonus if you're on the high ground, which is great for ranged units of any kind, so there is incentive to spend some levels on those skilltrees even if you aren’t really using any skills from them. Which destroyes the rpg-triad even further.

(my mage gets shamed by the party, because she is the only one without points in Polymorph for the Wings ability, she makes do with the Huntsman's Tactical Retreat instead, because she needs the high ground damage boost)

For example, the Warfrare tree, which is crucial for any close-range build, has a lot of abilities to control your enemies, because they can Knock Down enemies with their first-level skills from the get-go, and this means the enemy loses their turn on that round of combat. Now your typical damage-warrior is actually your second-best source of crowd control abilities, and not just a monkey with a club. While your ranged-mage builds will be controlling one, two at best character from their range, your properly positioned melee fighter can make an entire crowd of enemies lose their turn. And getting your enemies to lose a turn is the only thing better than doing massive damage to them, in time you will learn how to do both and it’s great fun.

Speaking of what works wonderfully in this game, it’s time to mention the elemental system! I don’t think I’ve played Big RPG Game with an elemental system as robust as the one DOS2 has. I believe someone on the Noclip Podcast mentioned how, each battle in this game feels like it’s not just a battle against different enemies and their damage numbers, but it is also a battle for the terrain that you control. So I guess, this makes DOS2 a Splatoon predecessor?...Moving on.

For example, in the first act of the game you will stumble upon an ambush from a bunch of skeletons, problem is – there are Poison puddles all over the place. And DOS2 skeletons have ‘reverse’ healing mechanic, which means they will get damaged by normal healing spells, but they do receive healing from poison. It means that fighting skeletons with a party of not-undead/living characters can be much fun, as you can constantly cast chain healing, or Bless a big water surface to heal your party, and if the spell jumps to the undead they will be damaged constantly. The Rain spell is, arguably, the most important spell in the entire game, and it is crucial to keeping control of the elemental battlefield.

Rain will create a big water surface, and which you can use to your advantage – freeze it with Global Cooling and isolate your enemies, because walking on Icy surface can and will make them (and you) slip and fall if they try to move, and they will lose their turn.

You’re playing Lone Wolf (=solo buffed character, without companions) and YOU’RE the undead? Cast Rain and Contamination and convert the entire battlefield into a poisonous swamp that will heal you.

You’re not undead? Well, blow that poison basin with any Pyrokinetic skill and watch everything standing in it get converted into ash by the resulting explosion! The battlefield is already on fire? Add some more by creating an Oily surface with Geomancer skills to have it instantly blow up in your enemy’s face. Having trouble with your battlefield Constantly Being On Fire and losing heath fast? Reset the battlefield with Rain and create a cover for everyone, as the resulting Smoke will make it impossible to target anything farther than touch-range skills.

Blood is also a surface in this game, and extremely powerful at that. Every attack that damages the character’s health directly (meaning it bypasses their physical and/or magic armor or they have none left) creates a blood puddle under them, which you can also use.

This surface-elemental madness can also be improved upon with mods made by the community, the most noticeable example here would be Odinblade’s skilltree reworks, which rebalance the original skills a lot and add a lot of very fun additional ones. For example, the Aerotheurge tree gets an additional Conductive debuff to place on your enemies, which will increase all the lightning damage they get and will spread any electric damage to enemies around them, or the Necromancy tree gets a Hex bonus damage dealt to any enemy if their magic armour is gone. Etc, etc, please install Odinblade’s mods they level up the gameplay to new hights.

I’ll also admit here that, while I’ve spent a lot of hours in this game, and was quite invested in the story of my companions and the main quest, it’s…not the best way to play the game. Don’t play this game for story. The story is very good when it gets going, but it will be spread like extremely uneven butter of maybe 2-3 final hours over a 20+ hours of each Act as your bread. Play this game for the extremely versatile gameplay and the amazing systemic nature of it, then exploit the game to hell and back.

Sneak into an arena of magic golems and pickpocket their energy cores, so they die immediately. Use Surface transmutation to move a bunch of lava to a boss arena and place it under his feet to kill it instantly. Talk to a turtle in a dungeon, to learn that she is in love with her neighbor – a rat, and find a way to bring them together. Equip a new ring, only to find out it’s cursed, it sets debuffs on you, you cannot unequip it as it became smaller around the finger and search for a solution.

This game is about finding clever and funny ways to solve problems/quests, and that is super fun to do in DOS2. Also, really, the elemental and class-less rpg system of this game spoiled me so hard, I think I might have some trouble in the future adapting to another class-based rpg game after this xD. Anyway, talk to animals, upgrade your persuasion and take Beast into your party, he is hilarious.

#wheeeeee finally done this post #like I have games i want to play but instead i suddenly spent what around 70 hours into dos2???#no regrets #guys i love the magic system of dos2 so much #seriously dos2 is great check it out if rpgs interest you in any way shape or form #(gently holds your hand) isometric view is not that bad I will guide you through to acclimate to it easier let's go #im super glad i revisited it with mods too! modding my beloved I will shape the game to highlight my favourite parts in it #this is not my code but the game is my copy and my playground xD #dos2 #divinity original sin 2 #beast is the best companion i take no criticism #sebille is second best she's a great murder elf bff #lohse is the top player character pick her lines Rule #larian studios

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haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted · 1 month

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Advanced Players Guide Cover Art by Wayne Reynolds

#Pathfinder #Paizo #RPG #Advanced Players Guide #Covers #Cover Art #Fantasy #Art #Wayne Reynolds

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game-boy-pocket · 6 months

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I only have two more Star Pieces to get in SMRPG remake, I knew the game would be short since it's still a remake of a SNES game at the end of the day just like Link's Awakening was still a Gameboy Game. But man i'm not ready for it to end.

I'm trying to milk as much enjoyment out of it as I can, so i'm doing things I haven't done since I was just a kid in the 90's stuck living at my grandparents isolated country home for a year, and I only had Super Mario World, and Super Mario RPG to play, and like, a small handful of other games that were either too hard or too crappy to play for very long. I was also armed with a Player's guide, so I learned all the secrets of the game, and I know it like the back of my hand.

Or so I thought. There's so many obscure secrets and mysterious items with effects they don't tell you about. Convoluted treading sequences, a few shops with special rules, multiple outcomes for certain events. I kinda forgot how to get through some of them or what purpose some of these items serve.

At the rate i'm going though, i'll probably finish the game tomorrow, even with my stretching out the play time.

I'll be fair though. I've been playing with almost every ounce of free time I have. It might last busy people a bit longer.

#pocket plays #super mario rpg #i wish i still had that player's guide

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varjopeura · 7 months

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#is it even possible to end a dnd campaign without crying???#like yes the story is coming to an end and i've known that for a long time. even informed my players about it in the summer #but now that the final boss territory is very close at hand i only have two modes:#a) crying about how happy i am to have had these wonderful players at the table. how lucky we've all been to experience this thing together #and b) crying about how terrifying moving on will be. will there be a new campaign after this? is anyone willing to continue #with me as their dm?#(one of the players is Very likely to drop off once the campaign ends. she moved to a different city during these years and #playing remotely has been really tough for all of us. having even one of the players Not There just makes things very hard)#(and because of that i'm worried about the other ones too. if the group is already losing an entire person who knows who'll stay after it)#i'm afraid to talk about The Future with them before the game actually ends #cause y'know. what if it turns out they'd rather not do this thing anymore after this one ends? would it make things weird until the end?#would *I* make things weird??#idk i'm just. tangled in my head. happy about this wonderful game and terrified of the social aspects of doing it with other people #is there like. a good guide book or something about gracefully ending a very long rpg campaign?#sussitalk

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kawaii-shoujo-anime-palace · 2 years

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Genshin Impact | Beginner's Guide & How To Play - GameWith

This is very detailed & in-depth but simple guide for New & returning players who might need some help and tips & tricks for leveling, ascension, game progression, resin, gacha system, story quests, team & character building etc. for those new to genshin.

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whimseysthrone · 7 days

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D&D 5e's alignment trap

The 5e alignment system is a useful shorthand and a misleading trap. The Outer Planes as presented in the 2014 Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide only make the alignment system’s problems worse. The perfect overlap between alignments and planes—and the total lack of alternative Outer Planes—reinforces the alignment system’s worst inclinations: easy stereotyping, reductionist thinking,…

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#5e #afterlife #alignment #D&D #DnD #Dungeon Master&039;s Guide #Dungeons & Dragons #dungeons and dragons #fantasy #morality #Outer Planes #planes #Player&039;s Handbook #reductionist #roleplaying games #RPGs #stereotyping #Worldbuilding

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imsobadatnicknames2 · 7 months

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This isn't related to anything recent it's just a thought about a couple things that happened earlier this year that I didn't manage to put into words back when it was relevant.

While I sympathize with the way D&D bloggers start posting stuff like "teehee don't click this link, it will take you to a PDF of the Player's Handbook, DMG, Monster Manual and Scrimblo Brimblo's Guide To Scrunkly, remember not to click this link because it's illegal!!!" every time WotC does something naughty, because there will never be a circumstance under which I don't consider piracy to be based as fuck, I also think pirating D&D material doesn't really do much to really challenge WotC.

The reason WotC feels like it can get away with so many shitty practices is not only because they make a shitload of money selling D&D products, but also because D&D's monolithic brand recognition has engulfed public perception of the entire hobby and as long as they can keep it that way they know D&D is gonna keep being the product most newcomers to the hobby are gonna initially flock to and very rarely branch out from, and that's not gonna change as long as so many people keep playing exclusively D&D stuff even if it's pirated.

So like... Yeah, it's great to get your friends to pirate every D&D material and not give WotC any money, but it'd be even better to use WotC doing something shitty as an opportunity to branch out and maybe consider giving a chance to that one weirdo in the group who keeps offering to run a campaign in a different RPG that everyone keeps saying no to because y'all already learned D&D and it looks like too much work to learn a different system.

#ttrpg

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jonnywaistcoat · 9 months

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Hi Jonny, if you don't mind I have a question about the TMA TTRPG! So I noticed that on the player's guide there's this guy, who my friends and I assumed is probably Jon. If it is him, is this a canon design, or more like some of the non-canon stuff that's in the merch?

So, I hope you don't mind if i use this ask to go a bit off on one. I'm not specifically dragging you (I'm actualy glad you asked, as I've thinking about posting on the topic), but all the discussion around the RPG art and how "official" or "canon" it might be is, to my mind, slightly silly.

First up, is it "official" art? I mean, yeah, its art for the officially licenced Magnus Archives RPG. This means Monte Cook Games have commissioned someone to do a beatiful illustration broadly based on some aspect, episode or character from the podcast and it goes in the book. But that's kinda all it means. "Official" is a legal distinction, not an artistic one. The fact that it's in an official product doesn't make it any less one artist's cool interpretation of a character that has only been vaguely described in audio.

Second, is it Jonathan Sims the Archivist? I mean, it's probably based on the idea of him, but it's certainly not set in stone. When we were first discussing art with MCG, we advised that character pictures be more vibes-based and not explicitly tied to specific people (ie. a portrait inspired by Tim wouldn't be captioned "This is Tim" and wouldn't be placed opposite a profile for Tim Stoker, archival assistant.) This was mainly because we wanted the artists to have plenty of freedom to interpret and not feel too tied down by the need to know everything about the podcast. But, to be frank, it was also because we know that there are a few fans out there that are kinda Not Chill about what they've personally decided these characters look like and can get a bit defensive over depictions that differ.

It strikes me as particularly strange to be having this discussion about art that's for a roleplying game book. Something that's explicitly and solely designed to give you the ability to play in your version of the Magnus universe. The idea that this is the thing where we'd for some reason try to immutably establish unchangable appearances for these characters would be pretty funny if some folks weren't taking it so seriously. Similarly ridiculous is the idea we could reasonably have said to MCG "We'd love for you to make a huge beautiful RPG book of our setting... Just make sure you don't depict any of the iconic characters or events from it!"

But... is it "canon"? Now, to my mind, this highlights a real weakness in a lot of fandom thinking around "canon", which is that it generally has no idea what to do with adaptations. All adaptation is interpretation, and relies on taking a work and letting new creatives (and sometimes the same ones) have a different take on it. Are the appearances of the Fellowship of the Ring in the LOTR movies "canon"? How much, if at all, does that matter? Neil Gaiman's book Neverwhere was originaly a 90s BBC series made with a budget of 50 pence; is anyone who makes fanart of Mr Croup that doesn't look like the actor Hywel Bennet breaking canon? What about the novel that describes the character differently? Or the officially licenced Neverwhere comic where he looks like neither of them? Which is his "canon appearance"?

Canon is an inherently messy concept, and while it is useful for a creative team trying to keep continuity and consistency within a creative work, for thinking about anything beyond that it tends to be more hinderance than help.

Anyway, all this is to say that the above picture and all the others in the RPG are exactly as canon as every other picture you've ever seen of the Archivist.

#sorry for the huge answer #been thinking about it a lot recently #and wanted to get my thoughts down

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legionofmyth · 21 days

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Palladium Books Presents: The Rifter #1 - Nightbane: New Morphus Tables

Transform your Nightbane character with the new morphus tables in "The Rifter #1" by Palladium Books. 🌑 Explore how these changes can revolutionize your gameplay in our latest video. Watch here! #NightbaneRPG #TheRifter #RPGGaming

The Rifter #1 Like an ancient scroll revealing transformative powers, our video unveils the new morphus tables for Nightbane in “The Rifter #1.” This arcane knowledge grants you the ability to reshape your Nightbane character’s destiny with unprecedented depth. Let not this wisdom pass you by, for those who wield it will command the shadows and light. Click the image to claim your guide to the…

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zuntoshere · 4 months

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List off all funny player books from the library ( stream from the 3rd / third of February 2024, QSMP 2024 return ) .

English-speakers :

BadBoyHalo — 100 Recipes Sweeter than Candy FitMC — Getting a Brazilian Boyfriend for Dummies Foolish — 101 Facts about Sharks Jaiden — Animation Techniques Philza — He & She: An Archaeology Marvel Slimecicle — Correct Usage of Mouse Buttons Wilbur Soot — From a Fallen Country to a World Tour Ironmouse — A complete guide to Cinnamonroll Nihachu — Ghost Hunting: A Guide Teana* — Dating as a Demon Tubbo — 101 Ways to crash a server

Spanish-speakers:

Quackity — Cómo no morir a las moscas Luzu – Binario: para tontos ElMariana — Cómo ser un buen papá Missa — Cómo detectar nubes de lluvia Roier — Como casarte con un brasilieño Vegetta777 — El arte de la simetria en minecraft WillyRex — Como poner 100 minas en un dia Carre — TÁCTICAS PUNKY

Portuguese-speakers:

Cellbit — Como traumatizar seus jogadores de RPG ** — Dirigindo Grandes Navios Mike — Ter uma Deusa como Esposa Pac — Ser um bom Padrasto Bagi — Encontrado seu gêmeo perdido

French-speakers:

Antoine — Techniques de méditation Aypierre — Grands Vins Français Baghera — Manuel d’utilisation de la tronçonneuse Etoiles — Être le meilleur * Not a mistake, just Tina's pseudonym. ** The plate had no name, but we all know it was Felps.

#qsmp #so many qbitos #i will not list them all #qsmp archivists #i guess this one is pretty on point #ty Cellbit for reading them all it was a nightmare trying to find it all from other pov's

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haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted · 1 year

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Pathfinder 2nd Edition - Advanced Player's Guide - Rusting Grasp by Jen Santos (Gunship Revolution)

#Pathfinder #Pathfinder 2nd Edition #Advanced Player's Guide #Paizo #RPG #Rusting Grasp #Fantasy #Art #Jen Santos #Gunship Revolution

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prokopetz · 4 months

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Code Green

A game for 3–7 players, about being where you're not supposed to be.

Last night, you were suspended in a tube of brightly coloured goo in an underground research facility, operated by an organisation whose three-letter initialism's meaning is strictly need-to-know. This morning, someone noticed your tube was empty. Nobody has determined how that happened yet, and you're not inclined to stick around until they figure it out!

Or, in other words, it's been nearly a whole week since I got that massive revision to Space Gerbils out the door, and apparently my brain has decided that's enough of a break. This thing was written start to finish in under 12 hours, so let the circumstances of its authorship guide your expectations. Special thanks go once again to Caro Asercion, whose micro-RPG Dwindle introduced me to the design space I'm fucking around with here. Go buy their stuff.

Anyway:

What You'll Need

Code Green is a tabletop RPG for one game moderator (GM) and up to six players. Each player will need a copy of the Profile Grid, below, as well as three tokens of some sort: dice, coins, beads, etc. You'll also need at least five six-sided dice (for the whole group, not per player, though it's fine if each player has their own set). If you're using dice for tokens, it's recommended that the dice you plan to roll be visually distinguishable in case they land on someone's Profile Grid.

Rolling Dice

There are two ways you'll be asked to roll dice in this game: rolling d66, and rolling a dice pool.

To roll d66, roll a six-side die twice, reading the first roll as the "tens" place and the second roll as the "ones" place, yielding a number in the range from 11 to 66. For example, if you rolled a 3 and then a 5, your result is 35. You may also be asked to flip a d66 roll; to do this, take your result and swap the digits without re-rolling. In the preceding example, if you flipped your roll of 35, your new result would be 53.

To roll a dice pool, pick up the indicated number of six-side dice, roll them, and take the highest individual result. Duplicates have no special significance. For example, if you rolled a pool of three dice and got a 2, a 4, and a 4, your result would be 4. If you would ever roll a pool of zero or fewer dice, roll two dice and take the lowest instead.

Character Creation

Each player should create their own character. There are three things about your character which are always true:

You are newly born into the world. You may know things about the world (e.g., from your programming, having read them on a computer terminal, etc.), but you haven't experienced them.

You are implausibly good at remaining inconspicuous; unless you're deliberately drawing attention or doing something which requires a dice roll, humans will almost always fail to spot you.

You are not human. You can decide what that means.

To find out what else is true about your character, roll or choose three times from the Form table, and three times from the Function table, placing your results into the correspondingly labelled slots on the Profile Grid, below, in any order you please. Your three results from each table should be different; if you elected to roll and get the same entry multiple times, flip your result, and re-roll if it's still a duplicate.

Think about what your three Form traits and three Function traits imply about your character's physical makeup, but don't set anything in stone just yet – you'll see why not in a moment.

Finally, roll a six-sided die five times, and record the results in the order in which they're received. The resulting five-digit number is the only name your character has when play begins.

Table 1: Form (d66)

11–12. Blood 13–14. Bones 15–16. Brain 21–22. Claws 23–24. Ears 25–26. Eyes 31–32. Guts 33–34. Hands 35–36. Heart 41–42. Hair 43–44. Legs 45–46. Lungs 51–52. Nose 53–54. Skin 55–56. Tail 61–62. Teeth 63–64. Tongue 65–66. Wings

Table 2: Function (d66)

11–12. Accelerated 13–14. Autonomous 15–16. Auxiliary 21–22. Cryogenic 23–24. Cryptic 25–26. Elastic 31–32. Electric 33–34. Entropic 35–36. Invasive 41–42. Invulnerable 43–44. Kinetic 45–46. Magnetic 51–52. Phasing 53–54. Polymorphic 55–56. Projectile 61–62. Pyrogenic 63–64. Telescopic 65–66. Toxic

Playing the Game

Play proceeds in a series of scenes. In each scene, the GM will set the stage: a challenge to overcome, a peril to escape, a mystery to investigate, etc. Given the nature of your characters, most things will be mysteries to you!

Initial Token Placement

Once the stage has been set, place each of your three tokens on a different square on your Profile Grid. If you have no preference, you can roll d66 for each token and place it in the square whose marked numeric range contains the number you rolled, flipping or re-rolling your result if you get a square which already contains a token. The placement of these tokens represents your initial state when the scene opens. Depending on the nature of your character, this may be reflected by a shifting of internal focus, or by a physical transformation.

Participation

To participate in the scene, simply tell the GM what your character does; the GM will describe how the world responds, and ask what you do next. Whenever you wish – or are forced – to do something more than lurk and observe, you are obliged to make a test.

Making Tests

To make a test, first choose a pair of traits – one Form trait, and one Function trait – with which to face the challenge. For example, if your Form traits are Legs, Tail and Teeth, and your Function traits are Cryptic, Invulnerable and Phasing, you might test your Invulnerable Legs against the trouble at hand.

Next, count the number of tokens present in the rows extending from each of the chosen traits. The illustration below shows which squares would be consulted in the preceding example:

Next, roll a dice pool containing a number of dice equal to the number of tokens present on squares extending from the chosen traits. Do not count a token twice if it's on the square where the two traits intersect (e.g., the green square in the illustration above). In the event that no tokens fall on squares extending from appropriate traits, remember that you are allowed to roll a pool of zero dice by rolling two dice and taking the lowest rather than the highest.

Finally, compare your result to the following table:

1–3. Less than human. Whatever you'd intended to try still happens, but it cannot overcome human opposition (or adversity which would challenge a typical human), and any lasting effects are transitory and easily explained away. 4–5. Mostly human. Your effort can contend with human opposition (or circumstances which would challenge a competent human), and its lasting effects make it obvious that someone (or something) has been interfering with matters. 6. More than human. Your effort easily brushes aside any human opposition, and its lasting effects are impossible to rationalise as anything other than the intervention of inhuman forces.

Without Applicable Traits

In the event that you're forced to make a test and no possible pairing of your traits is applicable, you don't get to roll anything, not even with a pool of zero dice; simply resolve the outcome as though you'd rolled a result of 1–3. Other characters may attempt to preserve you from this fate by assisting you, in which case you roll one die per assisting friend; see below for more details.

Assistance

If you wish to assist another character in making a test, consult your own Profile Grid, considering only those squares which contain tokens. Only the specific pairs of traits represented by the squares on which your tokens fall are eligible for assistance; for example, if one of your tokens falls on the intersection of Cryptic and Teeth, you may assist with Cryptic Teeth, but not any other pair of traits involving Cryptic or Teeth unless those squares also have tokens on them.

If you're able to identify an eligible pair of traits that seems applicable to the test at hand, explain how you're using it to help, and hand the player making the test one extra die. Any number of characters may assist on a given test.

Providing assistance neither requires nor permits your character to adapt (see below) – it needs to be your own test for that!

Adapting

After resolving a test, your character adapts, shifting focus or form to reflect what they've learned. Take one token of your choice from your character sheet, and move it to a different square which doesn't already contain one. You can move any token you wish, but it must end up on a different square than the one it started on unless no valid destinations are available. Adapting is not optional, and must be carried out after every test.

Suffering Strain

If whatever you're making a test against is particularly strenuous or dangerous, you might suffer strain as a consequence. Strain will often be incurred on a result of 1–3, and rarely on a result of 4–5; only the most foolhardy efforts will incur strain even on a result of 6!

To incur strain, roll d66, and place a small X on the square on your Profile Grid whose indicated numeric range contains the number you rolled. If there's a token on that square, immediately move it to an empty square of your choice, unless fewer than three unmarked squares now remain; in that case, simply remove the token entirely.

For the remainder of the scene, tokens may not be moved to any marked square. In addition, if you suffer further strain, and the square indicated by your d66 roll is already marked, your character is incapacitated, and may not participate in tests at all until they recover.

All strain is cleared – and any discarded tokens restored – at the end of each scene. Incapacitated characters also recover at this time.

#gaming #tabletop roleplaying #tabletop rpgs #code green #game design #violence mention #swearing

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dalishious · 6 months

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A BioWare Guide on How to Murder a Fanbase

I have been a Dragon Age super-fan for almost fourteen years, now. I have played every game, with every DLC. I have read every novel, lore book, and every comic — yes, even the terrible ones that are better off forgotten. I have seen the anime film, the animated series, and the web mini-series. I have enjoyed all of these pieces of the franchise over and over, more times than I can count. So, make no mistake: the negativity you’re about to hear comes from a place of love for this fantasy world, developed by many creative people over the years. I would love nothing more than to see the resurrection of passion in the Dragon Age fandom again. But the unfortunate truth is, that resurrection is only needed because BioWare took the fandom out back and shot it in the first place.

In December 2018, three years after the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser epilogue DLC, BioWare first announced the then-untitled next Dragon Age game with a teaser trailer. At this point, most fans were anticipating this would mean within the next couple years, we would see the game. This assumption was based on the fact that Dragon Age: Inquisition was first announced in 2012, and released in 2014, with an extra year of development added last minute.

There have been dribbles of extra content since then, adding to the franchise. This was enough to keep some fans still breathing and interested. 2020’s Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights was a lovely anthology. 2020’s Dragon Age: Blue Wraith and 2021’s Dark Fortress were wonderful comics tying up the story started in Knight Errant. And 2022’s Dragon Age: Absolution was a well-animated series with an interesting cast of characters and story. But all these still left the fandom with a major question: What was going on with the next game? It was untypical of BioWare to be so secretive, in comparison to how they handled sharing information of the past games in the franchise. The only form of updates fans still have to go on is mostly just concept art and short stories, hinting that something must be in production. But why was the wait so long?

In 2015, the first version of the next Dragon Age began with a clear vision, clear scope of practice, and a reportedly happy developer team. Most gloriously in my book, there was no multi-player… but this did not align with the Electronic Arts typical money-mad schemes. EA’s push for “games as a service” meant they wanted to monetize all their games as much as possible, and therefore, they wanted them to be a live service — as Anthem demonstrated, that meant sacrificing things that are staples of good RPGs, like narrative and character choice. So in 2017, version one of the next Dragon Age was scrapped and replaced. This new version would have, in total or to at least some degree, an online portion of play.

There is one part of Schreier’s article, “The Past and Present of Dragon Age 4,” that really sticks out to me, regarding this:

“One person close to the game told me this week that Morrison’s critical path, or main story, would be designed for single-player and that goal of the multiplayer elements would be to keep people engaged so that they would actually stick with post-launch content.”

The idea of splitting up components of a game into single-player and multi-player is a terrible idea, because it means that there would be a large bulk of content only accessible through online gaming; something many fans, like myself, are repulsed by. Even if I did enjoy it, I spent most of my life growing up with either no internet or shoddy internet incapable of playing online games. I know many rural people who are still in that position, losing more and more of their favourite gaming pastimes because they are locked out of the ability to play them. It is a disservice to hide content behind a wall like this, especially in a world that is so lore-heavy like Dragon Age. The news of multi-player in Dragon Age understandably upset many, and this is when I first noticed a large drop off in excitement over the next game.

However, in 2021, the failure of Anthem (multi-player) and success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (single-player) led the executives at EA to bend to the wishes of BioWare leadership and allow them to go back to the drawing board yet again on the next Dragon Age. This meant removing all multi-player content!

While I am very happy that there will reportedly be no multi-player in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, I can’t help but feel bitter and a little disgusted over the ridiculous development time spent on something no one but EA wanted in the first place. If it weren’t for this foolishness, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf would be in our hands right now. Instead, it’s been in development hell for nearly nine years and counting. Nine years is a long time to expect fans to carry a torch for you through radio silence, but it’s no wonder BioWare has shared barely anything about the next game; it’s been in flux for so long, they likely haven’t had anything concrete to show.

BioWare hurt its reputation even more when the news broke that the studio very suddenly laid off 50 people who were working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. This is pretty damning on its own, but BioWare took it a step further. Former developer Jon Renish shared a statement revealing that the studio was only willing to offer laid-off employees two weeks of severance per year of service, and denied health benefits. The denial of health benefits in particular is a pretty wild move for a studio with a reputation for “stress casualties”. The latest news on this is that BioWare has still so far refused to negotiate better severance packages, leading to a lawsuit. The lawsuit originally had 15 former employees, but this dropped due to the fear of not being able to afford to pay their bills. So now, while EA sits on $400 million net income, the laid-off employees are struggling to buy holiday presents for their children. These horrid business practices are not to be ignored when accounting for a lack of faith in a studio. What kind of monsters reward workers who make your games special with vaguely reasoned lay-offs?

The latest news on the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf front from BioWare came early this month, December 2023, with a trailer… announcing a trailer that will come next summer… that will announce the release of the game. Supposedly. Maybe. We’ll see. But by this time, BioWare is something of a laughing stock of their own fandom. Reactions to the video released with a pretty map graphic and a few rendered locations were, from what I personally observed, mostly sardonic in nature. People have commented on the vapourware nature of the game, and like all vapourware, that leads to disintegrating trust.

Despite all this, people like Mary Kirby, (one of the veteran Dragon Age writers who was a victim of the layoffs,) said, “it’s bittersweet that Dreadwolf is my last DA game, but I still hope you all love it as much as I do,” encouraging fans to still support the game when it eventually is released. But after every misstep BioWare has taken, that’s a tough sell now. Fans are finicky, RPG fans more so than others, one could argue. We have our favourites, and many of us stick to those favourites for life over our appreciation for the artistry — but that relationship between studio and fan should go both ways. EA and BioWare has betrayed that relationship, and it will take a hell of a lot to build it back up again, now.

[This piece is also available on Medium!]

#dragon age #dadw #dragon age dreadwolf #bioware #game development #meta #releasing this into the wild and running away

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catskets · 4 months

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A more in-depth guide for creating visual novels, especially in the horror, horror-romance, etc circles

Some of you have seen my previous, smaller post on crafting visual novels, especially in this little space of Tumblr that a lot of us have found themselves in. Since that post took off, I've wanted to create a longer guide to help touch on some points I've thought about for the past few months.

In case you've never heard of me, I'm Kat, also known as catsket. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Game Design. I've been making games for nearly 5 years, and I've been doing visual novels more "professionally" for 2. You may know me for Art Without Blood, 10:16, God is in the Radio, or Fatal Focus. I'm here to help you make your first visual novel.

Please note that my advice does not fit everyone, and you may disagree with what I say. That's okay! It doesn't work for all. That's why there's thousands of resources out there.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER MADE A GAME

So, you have an idea for a huge visual novel. Horror, a shady and obsessive love interest, a little bit of woo-hooing. 100k words. Maybe a million. What is this, the 07th Expansion?

I notice a lot of people getting into visual novels are artists first. That's okay! I wanted to do art for games before I realized how much I enjoyed writing. And even less of you have probably touched Visual Studio. Again, perfectly okay. We all start somewhere.

My number one piece of advice? Make shitty games.

What does that mean?! My recommendation to those who have never done games is to make a bunch of shitty ones. Think of a theme, or hell, even join a game jam, where you make a game that fits a theme in a short amount of time. Spend about a week on your game. Focus on making something polished. Polish your mechanics. Polish your output.

I recommend, if you can, to make at least 4-6, if not more, kind of shitty games before hopping into longer projects. Making a game is a skill, just like art, just like writing. And game development is combining ALL of these together into one big soup being stirred by a skeleton hand puppet. You'll get into the rhythm and see what works for you.

It also helps you learn, perhaps, the second most important thing here: do you even like making games? There are cases out there where people have created video games (not saying visual novels) just for clout. That's no fun for you, that's no fun for your players. And you might go through this process and find that you don't like making games. That's completely okay! It's not for everyone.

Also, you can use these shittier games to gather an audience. I've built my audience because, for the past few years, I've been releasing games that slowly give me growing fields of eyes every day. A success story overnight is a rare one. It takes time. It's like building a brand, but you aren't a brand, you're an artist.

REV UP YOUR ENGINES!

Ren'py is the number one engine you will be recommended. It is very beginner-friendly, with lots of tutorials, assets on itch.io to use and download, and support. The engine comes with a few tutorials in the form of games, whose code you can freely browse. This is the engine I use most often. Most visual novels you see are made in this engine.

Twine is a text-based engine that most people use for interactive fiction. You can add images and audio, though, if you don't mind messing with HTML. I use Twine for text games and for outlining for my larger games. Ever played Degrees of Lewdity? Yeah, I know you have. Don't ask why. That game was made in Twine.

RPG Maker has multiple versions and has been used for exclusively VNs if you don't mind fucking around with plugins. It can definitely give your game a super unique feel. I recommend RPG Maker MV, since it has the most resources. This line of engines usually costs money, but it often goes on sale for under $5-$15.

People will recommend TyranoBuilder, but as a user and player, the lack of options and the format the games often come in is just...not fun to navigate. It advertises itself as little to no code, but it's often evident in the final results. Some good games have been made in it, though, so if you want to use it for prototyping/practice, you can. I'm not a fan, but that doesn't mean that fans don't exist! This engine costs money.

Not an engine, but check out Ink! Super useful scripting language that's used for more professional projects.

DEMOS, DEMOS, DEMOS

You've got an idea for a long-term project, and now you want to show it to the world! But wait, wait, don't do that yet!

When should I start advertising my game? This is a personal opinion, but I say that you should not start advertising your game until 50-60% of your demo is complete. Why? As I've discussed with some fans of indie VNs, they can name quite a few projects that have been in the "working on the demo" age for 1-2+ years. I've been in the Kickstarter MMO circles. If you, making a single-player experience with little mechanics to balance and polish (aka a visual novel), are taking that long on a demo, I am going to assume the game is not coming out. There are some games I have seen out here that have been in "working on the demo" phase where I haven't seen a single ounce of what the project will look like.

What should I put in my demo? The purpose of a demo is to showcase the mechanics and the vibes and the mechanics of your game. It's a demonstration. In my last post, I pointed to the Dead Space 2 demo that was showcased at E3 (RIP), that takes place about 2 hours into the story and shows how enemies are defeated, some animations, bits of the story, etc. Usually, because it's less about mechanics and more about vibes, visual novel demos showcase a certain percentage of the full thing (5-10%.) Can you showcase the vibe of the game here and what players should expect? If not, show off another portion.

How long should I work on my demo? Before, I said 3-4 months. That can be true, that can also not be true. Think about how long the demo takes you in proportion to how long the actual game should take you. Don't put too much effort. The demo is to showcase the vibe. It's to see how much the public and fans may enjoy the game.

My game is 18+, what should I do? Make a splash screen when the game is downloaded to let players know your game is 18+. If it's going to contain sexual content, you can hide it with itch.io's adult content filter. Write it on the page itself that your game is for adults only. Don't put your demo behind a paywall. This is genuinely ridiculous. The purpose of a demo is to showcase what a game is like before a player purchases it. That defeats the point of a demo. I've seen this happen, and it discourages players from approaching, especially because most demos never make it past the demo phase. So...I'm paying you $10 for 2-3k words of a game that may never come out?

Should I make a social media for my game? YES! Go for it. These anchors are how people will find your game. Make a Tumblr and open that ask box. Make a Twitter. Go to BluSky. Advertising is not bad. Some YouTubers even take e-mail suggestions from developers. Feel free to shoot your shot. The worst they can do is not respond.

HOW TO SET UP YOUR ITCH.IO PAGE:

Getting your itch.io to a presentable state can be very challenging! There's many ways to do it. I highly recommend using this page image guide for learning how to size your images to make your page pop!

Itch.io themselves has suggested to not publish a page until the game or demo is released. You can make the page and keep it as a draft, but do not publish it until you're ready!

Your cover image is the image that will appear in the search of the website, on any front pages, in collections, and on your profile. What have I seen that works? Key art of one of the characters up close and the title of the game! If you can make it a .GIF, do it! Bitches love .GIFs!

Itch.io recommends 3-5 screenshots on your page. I recommend 1 of these 5 be a .GIF that shows how gameplay feels. This is effective, even for visual novels!

Write a 3-5 sentence summary about your game for the description. What is your story about? What is the draw?

DO NOT BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO IS GOING TO SAY "This is not like other visual novels. It doesn't have that cheesy this or that or-" No one cares. Genuinely. You're putting down other games in your genre and elevating yourself to the pompous level.

TAG YOUR GAME! itch.io gives you a list of tags to choose from when you go to tag. DON'T USE THIS! Try to go for more specific tags. Arimia has a very good guide on how to use itch.io's tagging system to your advantage.

GENERAL GAME MAKING ADVICE

SCOPE KNIFE IS SUPER USEFUL! Everyone makes games that are way over their workload. It's okay to cut out features and add them later. Prioritize making a finished game before hitting those stretch goals.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! Writing outlines is super helpful. I use Twine for my outlines, because you can connect your passages together and make really well-thought webs.

IT'S OKAY TO ASK FOR HELP! Whether it's from friends, professionals, or anything in-between. They can help with assets, editing, etc.

HONE YOUR SKILLS OUTSIDE OF GAMES! Write some poetry. Do some sketches everyday. Improve on your craft to improve your games

MUSIC IS HARD. THERE ARE RESOURCES. Most of us aren't musicians. That's okay. Make sure the music you get for your game is allowed to be used. You can use anything non-commercial if your game will not cost money or donations. I try to do songs in the public domain or free to use overall with credit if I don't have a musician. Consult the Creative Commons website if you're unsure how you're supposed to use a certain piece of music. If you don't use the right stuff, not only can it put you in legal trouble, but it can put streamers in hot water if they play your game and they can't upload the video because music is copyrighted.

PLEASE, DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR UI. Wanna know an easy way to get your game to look more professional? Edit the damn UI for your game. Make a new textbox, even if it's just a black box. Change the font. Eventually, players recognize the defaults and patterns of games made in certain engines and may attribute a lack of UI changes to a developer being lazy. It doesn't take very long to change the colors around and move text! Please do it to add a little pop to your game.

DEADLINES ARE AWESOME. Not everyone works well under pressure, but if you give yourself an infinite amount of time to make something, it'll never get done. Set goals for yourself for how much you can work on something.

IF YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP, GIVE UP. Making things is hard, especially long-term. Emergencies happen, jobs happen, life happens. Let your fans know that a project isn't happening anymore. Don't leave them in the dark. You don't need to tell strangers your medical history or anything, but transparency + honesty are really hot traits. You should use those in your creative work. This is one reason why I advocate for not publishing or advertising things until you know it's stable.

SHOWCASING YOUR CONTENT

People love to see WIPs for games! This is what the devlog is good for! A devlog is a post where a developer talks about and showcases some things happening in the game? What can you add to your dev log?

PERCENTAGES! How much of the artwork is done? How much of this character's route is done?

SNEAK PEEKS AT ARTWORK AND SPRITES!

GIFS! GIRLS LOVE GIFS!

Anything else to showcase your game's content! Posting consistent updates retains and even gains a fan's attention for your work.

RUNNING YOUR TUMBLR

You've joined us, and you've made a Tumblr for your blog! Link it on the itch.io page, so people can come find you after playing your awesome demo!

Do I have to respond to every ask? No. It's your blog. Delete whatever asks you want.

I got a hate comment! What do I do? Delete it and move on. I have a more detailed section on hate below.

I want to interact with [blog]! How do I do that? Reach out to the devs for silly little collabs. If you come onto a developer slightly headstrong, they might feel you are being abrasive or using them for content.

If people make fan content, interact with it! Encourage it! Reblog it. Show your love.

OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS

PROFESSIONALISM IS KEY. These may be pet projects, but you want to appear some level of professional on your actual itch.io page.

Being dismissive of player and fan complaints or criticisms will make you appear childish.

If your game is broken, fix it. I have been told by some amateur developers to ignore game-breaking bugs. It does not make me, a player, want to engage with your content. It seems messy and unfinished.

With the above point, it's 100% okay to have bugs and errors upon release. Every developer and their brood mother has. To decrease these issues, get playtesters. Friends can play your games, spot any errors, and help you point out things that can be improved upon. I recommend having playtesters at every stage of development.

Make sure your game runs before you publish it. Please.

You can still be silly and giddy! There's no reason to not be, especially when you get positive comments! The point of this is to not be outright rude to potential players and fans.

IGNORE HATE COMMENTS. In this case, a hate comment is a statement that contains no constructive criticism and are only here to be insulting or malicious. People are going to leave you with actual piles of dog shit in your ask box. They are trying to provoke you. Giving hate comments any attention, even if you're there to "clap back" proves that they got to you, even if you don't take the hate to heart. They will continue to pester you. Delete any hate comments and ignore them completely. Laugh about them with friends in a private setting, sure.

THINK BEFORE YOU REFERENCE! I know one big thing in this community is adding references to other games in yours, such as plushies of other characters or putting them on posters. The best thing you can do it ask the developer before adding this. How would you feel if some random person you've never met put your character in a video game? Most of us would feel weird and potentially violated. Open communication with devs is awesome. I am usually okay with it as long as someone asks for permission.

As a complete aside, I prefer more tasteful references to other games as opposed to 523482346 plushies and posters. These have been slightly overdone. Why not theme a candy after another game's character? Maybe your characters know each other.

OTHER RESOURCES I RECOMMEND

Devtalk is a server dedicated to independent visual novel creators. You can find jobs, resources, advice, talks, and, like, everything there! Devtalk is super useful. Everyone in there is so cool. They have a really great and comprehensive list of resources that I could not even begin to cover.

Visual Novel Design is a great YouTuber. No other words, check the guy out!

Ren'py and whatever other engine you're using has documentation that's super useful to follow.

Arimia not only has amazing VN resources, especially for marketing, but she also just has? Amazing games that you should check out?

And for a shameless self plug, I'm the lead of Sacred Veins, a collective of devs creating narrative games, whether it be horror, humor, romance, or everything in-between. Come hang out with us!

#visual novels #game development

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