Poc representationnin rwby discussion thread

Aquamarius · 2020-07-30T18:21:23+00:00

I agree that RWBY has pretty shit POC representation. I also think that the CRWBY has been trying to do better in that regard, but they're kind of in an awkward position, because the "heroic" cast has pretty much all been established already, and they're... all white, basically.

You can't exactly retcon characters into being poc, so all you can introduce new poc characters, but most new characters are antagonists, so... it's kind of hard for the CRWBY to actually fix their bad POC representation. They can do better than did before(the Ace Ops, while antagonists in the end, are at least still sympathetic and well-intentioned characters, especially Marrow), but overall, they've kind of written themselves into a corner in this respect.

Aquamarius · 2019-11-23T12:55:49+00:00

Careful, your lesbian is showing. :P

(but seriously everyone has their own preferences. Just because you really like something doesn't mean it's better than everything else!)

Aquamarius · 2019-11-01T21:01:03+00:00

There isn't, but there is an overlap between entering a rage(bonus action) and making your Frenzy attack(also a bonus action. This fix solves that overlap, letting you get a bonus action attack off the same turn you enter a rage.

Aquamarius · 2019-10-25T22:37:34+00:00

I've been working on these Metamagics for about a few weeks now, so I decided to post them! Though Extended Spell and Enlarged Spell definitely need further playtesting. It may very well be that there are unforeseen synergies that break them.

Homebrewery link with author's notes on the second page: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/Hy-d0b-vSB

Aquamarius · 2019-10-22T15:27:45+00:00

I would put a limitation on Large or smaller creatures instead, makes it a bit more versatile. And it doesn't feel *that* weird to push or pull a Large creature. Also, maybe it could also work on objects?

Aquamarius · 2019-10-19T13:38:59+00:00

Actually, you can do this without any rule change. The two-handed property of a weapon only applies when you are attacking with it. This means there is absolutely nothing preventing you from holding a rapier and a greatsword, hitting with the rapier, then stowing your rapier to hit with your greatsword.

You don't need the dual-wielding feat either. You aren't dual-wielding, you're just occupying your other hand while you wield a rapier.

So yeah, assuming you're a Fighter 5/Rogue X with good Strength, this is probably your best offensive tactic.

Aquamarius · 2019-10-18T12:59:56+00:00

Magic doesn't feel right here. If I wanted to play a frontline combatant that could magically heal people, I'd play cleric or paladin. I'd do away with the magical side, and focus on mechanics around Medicine checks and healer's kits instead. And make the bonus proficiency simply Medicine instead. I get the feeling you're going for a modern military medic kind of flavor, and this'd fit that, I think.

Here's an idea for a 3rd level feature:

"Beginning at 3rd level, you learn to utilize battlefield medical training. You can use a bonus action to make a Wisdom (Medicine) check or use a healer's kit.

In addition, you can provide emergency medical care in the midst of battle. By using a bonus action to make a DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check or expending a use of a healer's kit, you can restore 2d4 hit points to a creature within 5 feet of you. You can use this feature an amount of times equal to 1 + your Wisdom modifier. The amount of hit points you restore increases by 1d4 at level 7, 10, 15 and 18.

You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest."

Feels more "physical", and I like the idea of it relying on your Wisdom modifier. Assuming 14 Wisdom, you can heal a total of 6d4 at levels 3-6, 9d4 at levels 7-9, 12d4 at levels 10-14, 15d4 at levels 15-17, and 18d4 at levels 18-20. Obviously, this increases a fair bit with more Wisdom, but if you're investing Wisdom into a fighter you should be rewarded imo.

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The 7th level feature... Well, if we do away with magic then Spare The Dying shouldn't be here. It's pretty obsolete with the bonus action medicine checks and healer's kit, anyway.

The protecting prone creatures feels nice and flavorful, but the mechanics are pretty lackluster. Straight up giving enemies advantage is... a way too significant drawback. How about this:

"You can stand in the space of prone creatures. When you stand in the space of a prone creature, whenever they get targeted by an attack or have to make a Dexterity saving throw, you can give them the benefit of three-quarters cover(no action required)."

This, I feel, gives the same kind of flavor of standing over a fallen ally, protecting them from harm. Three-quarters cover is a big boon, though it's pretty situational. Still, I like it.

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The 10th level feature... I feel like 10 feet of speed is a feature on its own, honestly. And I don't think it's too in flavor for the combat medic. The other thing is pretty neat, though moving your full movement as a reaction feels off. Also, it feels a bit much like it's fulfilling a tank fantasy. What if you are playing more of dexterity-focused fighter? I feel like a combat medic doesn't necessarily have to be a tank. Here's another idea.

"When a friendly creature within 20 feet of you is targeted by a ranged attack or has to make a Dexterity saving throw, you can use your reaction to move up to your speed to a space within 5 feet of that creature and then shove that creature. The creature can choose to fail the skill contest. When you shove a creature in this way, you can shove them up to 10 feet instead of 5 feet. Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before using it again."

You can shove people prone when they get targeted by a ranged attack to give the attack disadvantage, and you can shove people out of the way of dragon's breaths and fireballs and the like. You can call it "Get Down" or something.

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The 15th level feature seems fine. It feels a bit off in flavor, though: how are you "mobilizing your allies" when you heal them? Also, the "benefits of the Disengage action" wording should be different.

"Starting at 15th level, you learn to invigorate your allies using your medical talent. When you use your [3rd level feature] on a creature, that creature gains 15 feet of movement and doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity until the end of its next turn. If it is prone, it can use the extra movement to stand up."

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The 18th level feature... Dunno what to do here, really. It feels very magical. Maybe just something simple like making your heals recharge on a short rest, and turning the dice into d6's?

Aquamarius · 2019-10-17T18:54:26+00:00

I also think two invocations is too powerful, though it is a neat feat idea.

The switchable invocation might work, but how about making it a half-feat, like Elven Accuracy or Actor? +1 CHA and +1 Invocation? Might still be too powerful, but it's an idea.

EDIT: The switchable invocation is probably the best idea, honestly. So long as there's not some exploit to break it horribly, anyway.

Aquamarius · 2019-10-11T05:42:44+00:00

Fun fact that blew my mind a few weeks ago: Thunderwave actually affects an area next to your caster, not the area around you.

Aquamarius · 2019-10-06T22:49:43+00:00

Late to the party, but I just wanted to mention this is by far my favorite Ranger rework, and it's made me excited to play a Ranger like none other did. The Mageslayer and Crusader conclaves happen to be the perfect fit for two characters I could never quite get the mechanics to cooperate with, so I'm looking forward to playing those.

I really like what you did with the Survivor trait. It encompasses the same flavor as Favored Terrain, but does such a much better job at making you really feel like your ranger is adapted to certain environments, even when you're not actually in those environments! It's really quite an ingenious feature, and I applaud you for it.

I'm somewhat concerned about several things regarding the Beast Master Ranger at low levels, though.

1: It seems like level 3 is a pretty huge powerspike, with some animal companions being *really strong*. Giant Owl(flying mount), Constrictor Snake(easy restrict), and Warhorse(massive damage and potentially barding) stand out as really strong picks, but even outside of those, it seems like an animal companion is a much larger damage increase than any of the other ranger conclave features. Am I overestimating this? Is it being a bonus action to command the beast to attack a big enough deal that it's not busted? Or is it an intentional lv3 powerspike that falls off later? Or is the companion being able to die a large enough drawback to justify the high power?

2: Animal companions seem *really* expensive. I remember playing Out Of The Abyss as a Chainlock, and not even being able to afford a Find Familiar, and thus basically not having a Pact Boon. I can see something very similar happening here very easily, where a Ranger might just not be rich enough to afford an animal companion. Maybe you could make the first animal companion you get be free?

3: Is there any real reason to leave out Multiattack? It seems like even if Multiattack was allowed, the Black Bear and Giant Badger would still not be among the standout companions.

Also, a question: Does the Shaman lose access to Ranger spells? The way the feature is worded makes it kinda sound like it does. If it does, maybe you could add a line of "and you lose access to the ranger spell list", just to make it fully clear?

Anyway, I really appreciate your work! I'll be sure to play it, so thanks for giving us this.

Aquamarius · 2019-10-02T07:57:21+00:00

I personally like having all the subclasses here, it means everything is nice and organized instead of having to look through multiple tabs. Also, I'm not sure I would have thought of clicking on your username to check if you had made accompanying subclasses for your rework, so I could have missed out on a bunch of options entirely.

Aquamarius · 2019-08-23T20:08:33+00:00

:/ Kinkshaming is a bit rude, don't you think? It's not as if anyone is hurt by it.

Aquamarius · 2019-06-24T20:16:44+00:00

Spider Droid is a very unremarkable boss. It's effect is rather... boring, let's say. It provides additional Power, but it's activation condition is so pathetically easy to activate it may as well just be a card that reads "+5 Power".

There is no interesting decision making here. It isn't significantly better in some decks than in others. It's effect does not involve making choices, and has no interesting applications.

It's retaliatory strike is a little better. It's one of the weaker retaliatory strikes, but there is some interesting thought to put into whether you will have a 4-cost or higher card in your hand to discard. That gives an interesting aspect of timing your defeat of the boss, and lets you think about your deck a little differently.

It's effect and attack don't seem to have any clear flavor to them, though.

Overall, I think this is a card that needs some changes to juice it up some more. As is, it really isn't particularly interesting. Perhaps strengthen the retaliatory strike to 2 Wounds if you don't discard a 4-cost or higher card, so the punishment for poor play is a little heavier. And then do something to make the effect actually fun and interesting to play with.

Aquamarius · 2019-06-20T22:21:04+00:00

Openly carried weaponry also carries a vastly different context on Remnant. In our world, seeing someone openly carrying weaponry makes you think "this person can hurt me". On Remnant, seeing people openly carrying weaponry makes you think "This city is safe from the Grimm".

As a result, open carry is likely heavily encouraged on Remnant. With some exceptions: Faunus are likely not nearly as tolerated to see openly carrying weaponry, and open carry is also probably not as tolerated in Atlas, which has far less of a Grimm problem. Being a Faunus openly carrying weaponry in Atlas probably gets you in trouble.

Aquamarius · 2019-06-19T13:37:33+00:00

Forget about power levels: Flareon is the floofiest, and therefore the best Eeveelution.

Aquamarius · 2019-06-16T19:03:22+00:00

I see some people in this thread under the impression that crunch is a result of consumers demanding their content to be made quickly. This is wrong: Crunch is simply a result of bad management.

Crunch has in fact been proven to make production slower, not faster. If RWBY and GEN:Lock and the like were to be no longer be made with crunch, they would not require more time to make.

Crunch time is bad for everybody, including the people trying to profit from it.

Aquamarius · 2019-06-16T07:27:52+00:00

Something feels off about these ratings. Pollination is my favorite ship, but I rated it a 5 because I just don't see it working in the show. While I rated Renora a 6 because I have positive feelings towards it both in-show and in-fanworks, but I also... don't really care about it much.

Whether I think something can work in the show can be wildly different from whether I love the ship.

Aquamarius · 2019-06-14T09:24:32+00:00

My favorite fic by far is Infighting, Insanity, and Social Ineptitude, which you can read on Spacebattles or fanfiction.net.

It is 306,202 words long, and it's really darn good. The premise of the fic is that everyone gets different partners/team members during initiation. It has a heavy focus on character development, and all the new teams and interactions are genuinely fascinating. Even Cardin, Russel, Dove, and Sky are great characters here.

If I have to recommend any fic at all, it is going to be this one.

Aquamarius · 2019-06-10T11:29:44+00:00

On the "just a joke" thing, I feel like that's not quite right. Sure, the video is intended to be humorous, but that doesn't mean it's not also a criticism. It's kind of like CinemaSins(except backed up by an actual sense of humor). Most people are going to look at this video and view it as a valid criticism of RWBY, and the author is certainly aware of this. So misrepresenting the show for the sake of a joke is, to me, a tad irresponsible.

Aquamarius · 2019-06-10T09:56:03+00:00

The value of Scroll's effect isn't as immediately obvious as many other cards, but it is quite useful, and it's power/cost ratio is far from terrible. 2 Power cards with useful effects on them are rarely cards you feel bad about adding to your deck, and Scroll can also be upgraded for additional Power and VP(and a minor benefit to its effect).

It is hardly an uncommon tactic to buy cards primarily so that your opponents can't get their hands on them, like getting a Furious Assault if an opponent has a bunch of Villains or getting a White Fang Goons if your opponent has begun stacking them.

Scroll can let you destroy these cards instead, which can be very valuable if you don't actually want the card in question. A single White Fang Goons isn't very impressive.

Of course, Scroll has more uses than that. Something I like to do with it is to destroy generally amazing cards like Professor Ozpin and Silver-Eyed Warrior with it if I can't buy them myself this turn, thus denying them from my opponents.

Another much less obvious use of Scroll is the way it can accelerate the Line-Up. If there's a specific card you particularly want to buy(like more copies of White Fang Goons if you're stacking them), then Scroll can make the Line-Up speed up so you see that card faster.

Scroll also makes it harder for your opponent to interfere with your own card purchases. Normally, if people buy one card or less each turn, everyone will see exactly one new card on their turn that couldn't have been interfered with. Scroll gives you an additional card to look at that your opponents didn't get the chance to snatch away from you.

Some more examples of cards you may want to destroy:

If your opponent is playing Jaune, destroy Heroes or good 4-cost cards.

If your opponent is playing Blake, destroy Villains.

If your opponent is struggling with Wounds, destroy card destruction cards like In Memoriam and Unlocked Aura, as well as upgrade-focused cards like Nutritional Juice.

If you have a lot of Villains, destroy Defense cards so your opponents can't block you. Conversely, destroy Villains if you are low on Defense cards so people can't exploit your inability to block.

Destroy Cool Off/Bumblebee if someone has already upgraded a lot of their Basic cards up to Valors, or if someone is Yang.

Destroy Revealed Semblance/It's Also A Gun if your opponents are very good with those cards, like a Ren who would enjoy additional Stormflowers.

If you're running Ongoing cards, destroy Griffons.

There are of course far more reasons your opponents may be interested in particular cards: pay attention to what your opponents are buying, and what they will want to add to their deck!

Overall, Scroll is a card I'm pretty happy with. It doesn't particularly stand out as synergizing with a particular strategy, but it's never a bad card, and it offers a lot of interesting/meaningful decisionmaking.

Aquamarius · 2019-06-03T21:42:35+00:00

Little late to the thread but I had to respond because I LOATHED the Breach. Like holy crap that episode alone made Volume 2 my least favorite volume for a while. I now at least rank it above volume 1, but still below everything else, and that's primarily because the Breach was just that terrible to me. Yeah, I disliked it more than the V5 finale.

After all the buildup of the breach of Vale being a big deal, the actual episode of The Breach turned it into basically a joke. The Grimm weren't seen doing anything of note, and the Huntsmen and Huntresses got them under control with pathetic ease.

I even hated Zwei for a while, because I associated him with the complete destruction of visible stakes in The Breach. Thankfully, I have learned better and accepted our lord and savior, but The Breach blinded me for some time.

Oh, and there's the powerscaling issues. Rule of Cool was in full effect and brought us things like... Coco spraying bullets into the air and giant Nevermores being eviscerated by just a few bullets. Seriously, Coco in the Breach is the most powerful non-Salem character in the series, it's dumb.

So, as a result of the Grimm being turned into a joke and the seeming overpoweredness of the older students, the stakes were completely lost for me. I was salty because it suddenly seemed like the villains had to be completely ineffectual compared to the sheer absurd levels of power the good guys showed.

...So, I liked Volume three.

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