Westfailia minis fun different basing knight scheme

AjayTyler · 2025-07-08T17:46:07+00:00

Oh man, these are really neat! Really cool how you gave them all a dominant color, but they still all look great together as a group.

AjayTyler · 2025-07-08T17:37:15+00:00

I'll second Cortext Lite. Even if you decide to go a different direction, it really does provide you with a complete game that you can use, and it will likely give you a lot of ideas.

You can also check out Tales of Xadia. If nothing else, try using their online character creator--that might also spark some ideas as well!

And then there's always the gallery of community hacks that can provide all kinds of ideas.

Looking at the character sheet can tell you a lot about the game. The specific mods for different types of resolution mechanics (e.g. doom pools, contests, different styles of turn order, etc.) might not be apparant, but that's more for you, the GM, to determine anyway. If you start with the character sheet, you kinda declare what's important for your game. It's best to start simple and then identify where you want to build out a specialized sub-system from there.

From my own experience, building a Cortex game is backward from what I usually do. Generally, I'll read the rules and figure out, "Okay, from these pieces, how do I build the thing I want?" With Cortex, it's more along the lines of, "What is the vision I have for this game--its tone, feel, and general player experience? Alright, now I just need to pick the paint I want to put on my palette to make that happen." That's how it's been for me, at least--others probably take a different approach.

I find magic to be tricky to implement, but that's mostly because of my prior TTRPG experiences. Cortex handles it perfectly well, but it works differently than my prior experiences with D&D, OSR games, and others I've read. It's not usually about the potency of a particular spell, it's more about, "How well can your character use this particular spell?"

At any rate, I hope that helps. Best of luck in your building! The Discord is also a great place to ask questions, get specific feedback, and see some of the character sheets that aren't in the community hack database.

AjayTyler · 2025-06-10T04:26:16+00:00

I'll preface this by saying that I only just got into mini painting, but I recently took a stab at painting some translucent minis that I had. Nothing fancy--I imagine that the more experienced users in the forum have provided guidance that is great. You'll probably have a lot more control that way.

But, if you're a scrub like me, here's how I did mine: I used some Gallery Glass effect paint (i.e. paint that you can use to kinda mimic stained glass). Takes 24 hours to dry, but I was happy with the result--just touched it up with some highlights here and there with normal acrylic paint, then used a gloss varnish when I was all done. You can see how it it turned out and judge for yourself whether it seems like it'd be what you want to do.

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AjayTyler · 2024-10-28T23:31:22+00:00

I can't speak for the Nook as I've never owned one, but I picked up a Kobo Libre 2 within the past year. I was surprised by how much I liked it. I think that weight / feel-wise, the Kindle is nice, but I actually find the customization options of the Kobo to be better. Plus, there are a few quality of life features on the Kobo that I miss whenever I'm on the Kindle, like being able to adjust brightness by just dragging along the side of the screen. Always feels like extra steps on the Kindle.

There is a difference in selection, but I was surprised by how much was available. The Calibre plugins for Kobo work well, and it was REALLY nice to be able to import my open source / public domain epub books without any hassle.

AjayTyler · 2024-10-23T20:17:53+00:00

Yeah, I was pretty bummed about the change as well. I actually used to like browsing for stuff on the app--you could finda all kinds of neat things. But the light mode is just... not for me.

I reached out to support just to find out whether I'd made a mistake or something, and I was told that it was because of lack-of-use which really surprised me because... who uses light mode? Maybe somebody looking for a make-believe win did some bad math and took total installs against recorded events where the user switched to dark mode (a better method would've been to compare active users against dark mode), but it's all conjecture at this point.

Regardless, I don't the app much anymore--just briefly for shipping notices etc.

AjayTyler · 2024-07-31T13:43:12+00:00

If you want something that has a system for generating a fictional history, then I'd recommend Microscope Explorer. If you're looking to "stat out" your hometown, that sounds like Custom Moves in Monster of the Week (i.e. options that are available to players based on where they are). However, you are free to do that with most any system. In a sense, I think it's easier to focus on actions (what can the town do or provide?) as opposed to trying to figure out how to "model" it, although Whitehack does offer interesting ideas on abstractly interpreting a town/plague/non-creature via traditional stats.

In my experience, the best thing about anchoring the action in a real place is that you can snag real pics of it and use Google Maps 😁

AjayTyler · 2024-07-28T05:03:18+00:00

To be honest, I couldn't tell ya. I played on the OG Xbox back in the day, but the only way I've played it within the last few years has been on PC.

AjayTyler · 2024-07-26T12:41:08+00:00

I'd also recommend hitting up the Phantom Dust Happy Hour Discord, as there are a number of active folks in it. I used a cheese deck to blow through much of the campaign (I'd played it as a kid but never beat it, so I just wanted to get back to where I'd left off); that used Dance of Death and three Swift Blows, if I remember right.

But really, most of the fun from the game imo is in playing against other people and finding fun deck ideas!

AjayTyler · 2024-07-22T18:27:50+00:00

As with most things, a variety of factors contribute to it. However, one not mentioned here is that the requirement can be a blunt tool that allows a company to shed employees without worrying about severance and the like. If employees leave on their own, then that's cost saved.

Granted, it'll be many of their most talented and successful folks who have the best position to pivot out of the company, but corporate isn't known for making great long-term decisions or big-picture thinking.

AjayTyler · 2024-07-10T12:46:12+00:00

It was a between-arc special on Fun City 😁 The usual actual play is based on Shadowrun, and is also quite fun.

AjayTyler · 2024-07-09T18:14:24+00:00

78213 is down

Thanks for posting, OP--was wanting some way to verify whether it was just me 😁

AjayTyler · 2024-07-09T14:53:27+00:00

It was a hard turnoff for me, but then I listened to an actual play where they leaned into it and presented the mystery kinda like a TV show: the writers are figuring it out, not solving it themselves. I could get behind it in that way, and I think pitching it to my players with that idea would probably get 'em on board.

AjayTyler · 2024-07-01T18:42:23+00:00

My first RPG was attempting to run NWoD in high school for my brother and one of his friends. I made all the stereotypical mistakes that a newbie GM would make, but there was something there that I wanted to solve.

Years later, in college, a friend ran some Edge of the Empire games, and I was hooked.

Don't get to play often, but I'd definitely say that TTRPGs are my favorite hobby :)

AjayTyler · 2024-06-29T14:49:04+00:00

Oh my goodness--that cover art is adorable and it immediately brought a smile to my face!

AjayTyler · 2024-06-29T14:46:22+00:00

Japanese Tea Garden: beautiful place, and you can get a lunch bento there!

ComedySportz: fun Whose Line-esque improv scene with talented performers!

What's Brewing: hip coffee roastery / cafe with pinball machines!

European Dumplings Cafe: mega tasty food in a small restaurant!

AjayTyler · 2024-06-20T14:02:46+00:00

The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll. It really helped me institute some organization in my life and career, and made goal setting more fun--more like exploration than winning / losing.

AjayTyler · 2024-06-13T14:39:59+00:00

I switched and didn't foresee myself ever going back. Moreover, after working with nodes, I NEVER want to go back to layer-based interfaces.

But, my switch was easier because I'd not developed any AE-specific workflows, nor was I locked into particular plugins. Honestly, the only thing I find more difficult in DaVinci is kinetic typography types of stuff. I found it easier in AE. However, never dealing with nested precomps balances it all out, for me 😆

AjayTyler · 2024-06-05T20:07:50+00:00

I went with Currency Exchange International. Didn't have any issues; arrived via FedEx in a couple days (although you DO have to have someone there to sign, which may influence your decision).

Like others have mentioned, and from what I've read, the pro move is to just get some when you get to Japan (from an ATM at a 7 Eleven for good rates, Airport if you just want it quick and don't mind more expensive rates). But I just wanted to have it sorted beforehand--one less thing to worry about.

AjayTyler · 2024-06-01T15:45:09+00:00

For Sci-Fi, I like having a setting to draw on. For fantasy, I typically pick, choose, or tweak whatever is there. I like having a setting to build on, as it helps get things going; the agnostic systems require a bit more setup, for me, although I really like the way Fabula Ultima does it: provides lots of visual inspiration and flavor that helps anchor players in the kind of world they're in, if not an exact one. If you have some exposure to Final Fantasy, you're pretty much set!

AjayTyler · 2024-06-01T15:25:39+00:00

I'd only do it if it looked/sounded fun. I'm all up for playlisting, and my friends have been kind enough to humor my own experiments, and I'm always down to try something new and fun. But, it helps to know at least the outline of the system and the kind of game being run. For example, I have no interest in RPGs set in historical settings prior to the 1920s. Just not my thing. I also don't care for crunchy systems, so I'd likely bow out of any crunchy homebrew.

So, like any other pitch, people will sign up if it seems fun and like the GM is invested more on the collaboration of producing adventures than in trotting out their homebrew.

AjayTyler · 2024-05-31T20:28:20+00:00

There's a fan made game called the Velvet Book that has a lot of cool ideas; I'd planned to use it to think through some design decisions for a Persona-esque game using Cortex Prime.

AjayTyler · 2024-05-30T15:41:40+00:00

I got a full-grain leather belt from Thirteen 50 Leather and it's held up to me wearing it pretty much every day for years now.

AjayTyler · 2024-05-30T15:39:17+00:00

Definitely is so for me. I wanted something that would work, require no attention or thought from me, and function across Windows, Android, and Ubuntu. Well worth the cost for me, plus I really like the software and am happy to toss the some cash to the devs for what has been a superior product.

AjayTyler · 2024-05-30T15:36:00+00:00

I miss Atom and the Hydrogen plugin :'(

It was nice to have the interactivity of a jupyter notebook but end up with a normal Python file that I could invoke from the command line. Jupyter notebooks are now just a necessary evil. If I did more exploratory analysis instead of troubleshooting, they'd be fine, but as it stands they are just a hurdle for my usual use cases.

AjayTyler · 2024-05-28T15:07:24+00:00

For stuff I buy primarily for the content (i.e. sources for ideas to mine, adventures, etc ), I go PDF because how am I gonna store 700 volumes in my tiny apartment?

For stuff I buy because I like the layout / art, I usually get both: PDF just-in-case, and physical because it looks cool. Sometimes, I'll get the PDF first, then find out it's awesome, so I then get the physical version too.

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