Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 3d

My favourite naval rules and procedures, right there. They're meant for Cairn and BDP, but I've had a lot of success adapting bits and pieces of them to Knave, Mörk Borg and even Dungeon Crawl Classics *on the fly*.

Dice Goblin Games @dicegoblin.blog · 3d

And... done! A big update on Sail, Swab, Scurvy, my naval supplement for Cairn and Block, Dodge, Parry - which now includes a full, proper PDF with illustrations and everything, AND a number of fixes and tweaks. Available now!
dicegoblingames.itch.io/sail-swab-sc...

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 5d

People underestimate the importance of being able to relate to your character. The fantasy of being something unique is cool, but some of us find it easier and more immersive to play what we know. For some, that's a human fighter. It's not always about escapism.

A tweet by Chris Kaine that reads: "They make fun of us because we like playing human fighters. "Boring" they say. It's okay. I respect your desire to be someone or something different, like a dragonborn. I want to *go* somewhere different, and it's easier for me to identify with the human Everyman. Big love to all"

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 7d

So, in case no one's told you this before: it's okay to prefer one over the other. You don't have to force yourself into liking or "getting" a game that favours a playstyle you're uncomfortable with. Getting out of your comfort zone is good, but only if you genuinely want to. 2/2

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 7d

TTRPG shower thoughts: some players love adding to the story by assuming an author's stance, while others just want to embody their character (landing somewhere between an actor and a reader/viewer).
I find games that make you jump back and forth between those playstyles exhausting. 1/2

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 20d

Testing, testing. Is TTRPG Bsky still alive and thriving?

I've been away from the app for a while now, but TTRPG activity is steadily declining on Twitter, so I'm hoping things are better over here.

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 25

After spending a little over ten hours with Nublivion, I noticed the weirdest thing: it made me want to start a new Morrowind playthrough.

Chat, I think all roads truly do lead to Morrowind.

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Reposted by V.V. 🏳️‍🌈

Diogo Nogueira - Old Skull Publishing @diogooldskull.bsky.social · Apr 23

@chrisair.itch.io is a game writer in France who publishes modules for Mothership RPG, The Lost Bay, and Cloud Empress as 5 Million Worlds Press, and soon their transhuman space RPG, 5 Million Worlds RPG: An Avatar’s Primer.

Get weird with us! we talk #TTRPG, #Art, #Inspirations, and more!

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 24

So, about those "what is an RPG" sections: yea or nay? Personally, I lean towards nay, at least when it comes to my own games. I'm not under the illusion that they're ever gonna reach people who are wholly unfamiliar with the hobby, so player and GM agendas are much more useful.

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 22

That's phenomenal! It instantly sets the tone and communicates something about the setting. Love it.

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Reposted by V.V. 🏳️‍🌈

Prismatic Wasteland @prismaticwasteland.com · Apr 22

Okay, hear me out: making your player-characters take care of a fussy infant heightens the risk involved in dungeon crawling adventures. If this niche scenario applies in your game, here are some rules for dealing with it #osr #ttrpg

Babies in Dungeons — Prismatic Wasteland

Why the hell would you bring a baby into the dungeon? Here are some rules to adjudicate your foolhardy endeavor if your character is saddled with a bundle of joy and can’t afford a babysitter.

www.prismaticwasteland.com

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 22

This blog post brought to you by Lone Wolf & Cub, Inc.

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Reposted by V.V. 🏳️‍🌈

SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · Apr 22

It's available!

187 pages of weird supernatural battles in a cyberpunk city.

This horrible project that crawled out of my brain months ago and then refused to not be made.

Mork Borg kinda. Extremely JoJos TTRPG actual play inspired.

Grab a free copy here.

kumada1.itch.io/morbos-catas...

Morbo's Catastrophic Sanctuary by kumada1

Amazing battles between weird people. TTRPG.

kumada1.itch.io

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 22

I like Common as a language, but only if there's a weird explanation for it in the setting, such as:

- Worshippers of the same pantheon can naturally understand one another, but ONLY one another
- Eldritch rituals are performed yearly to bless the land with Common
- Parasites.

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 21

Feels like 2020 all over again, what with all the Abby hate, lmao. I'm still #TeamAbby, though!

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 18

Better accessibility and payment methods for LATAM users and creators. Itch is subpar at best in that respect, at least in my experience.

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 18

No spoilers, but Sinners had one of the best scenes I've ever watched in a movie theater, period. I'm still in awe of what Coogler and Ludwig pulled off.

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 17

Blood, the titular scarlet thirst, is the vice they must indulge in to keep their darkest desires at bay. A starving vampire will do anything to achieve their goals, no matter how brutal or deranged.

And that's it for now! I might get into specific rules later, though. 10/10

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 17

Since TST isn't about humanity, we're more interested in how corrupted they'll be by their desires, which would be entirely up to the players — money, power, sex, loyalty and respect are all valid picks. Hunger, then, measures how rational they can be in pursuit of those. 9/10

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 17

By using this structure, GMs can actually control how lengthy a campaign will be: once every rival family is defeated, the PCs have achieved their goal of taking over the City.

But at what cost?

That's where temptation comes in. Ideally, this would be a modular affair. 8/10

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 17

There would be different stratagems they can pursue in order to either take control of the target's territory or area of influence, or to directly defeat them, if they've been sufficiently worn down by previous stratagems. Again, BitD is a big influence here. 7/10

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 17

The GM would then assign different areas of control (such as law enforcement, academia and high society) and territories of the City to NPCs from every faction.

Now, here's TST's structure of play: at the start of a session, the PCs would set their sights on a target. 6/10

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 17

All factions would have at least four important NPCs, represented by cards: the King, the Queen, the Jack and the Ace, each with a set of archetypes to pick from. This, of course, includes the PCs' family, though they can eventually usurp those NPCs through in-game actions. 5/10

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 17

That's partly where the BitD influence comes from, mind. The campaign structure I've envisioned so far involves the players creating members of a vampire family, vying for control of the City (more on that later), while the GM is in charge of creating their rival families. 4/10

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · Apr 17

I'd like to expand a bit on what I meant by intrigue and temptation. It's easy to throw cool words around and harder to support them, so let's talk about how TST would facilitate intrigue.

First of all, the game would have a more rigid structure than something like VtM. 3/10

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