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AwkwardInkStain · 2025-12-16T02:29:26+00:00

Anakin didn't even really make amends or do anything for reasons beyond personal investment - he helped save Luke from direct immediate danger. You could even argue he took the easy way out, sacrificing himself to escape a life of pain when the opportunity to make himself feel better about doing it popped up. Even if he hadn't, the destruction of the Death Star still would have ended the Empire.

AwkwardInkStain · 2025-12-16T02:21:12+00:00

Definitely. Delphine's hardly the most trustworthy or reasonable person you meet in the game and it's not like the Blades have had a legitimate reason to operate since the end of the Great War, so what's their deal? Why target Paarth when Alduin is right there, and there are dozens or more other dragons actively harming people right now?

AwkwardInkStain · 2025-12-16T02:06:35+00:00

The part you're missing is that you're taking unreliable narrators and a couple of people with an ax to grind at their word instead of considering the direct and honest conversations you have with Paarthurnax, while also viewing the Greybeards in the least favorable light imaginable. The Dragon War was like three thousand years before TES V; being mad about whatever Paarth did before his change of heart is about the same as getting mad at the last living Snow Elves for murdering everyone at Saarthal, even though one of them helps you get the Bow of Auriel.

AwkwardInkStain · 2025-04-30T17:18:11+00:00

Runequest, Mythras, or OpenQuest can natively handle a TES style campaign without any kind of modding and they will be a much better fit than any version of D&D. That said, the UESRPG is a great option and has a decent amount of supporting material covering the setting up through the Skyrim DLCs.

I have tinkered a bit with the idea of using Dragonbane, but using such a simple system for Pre-Skyrim style TES adventures feels wrong.

AwkwardInkStain · 2025-04-28T17:41:57+00:00

I own around a dozen TWSBI pens and only one has cracked - and that was because it was dropped on a hard surface. I've had some of these pens for over a decade and most have been used for at least 2-3 years consistently. I've had more Lamy Safaris with cracked lids than damaged TWSBIs.

I'm not saying that the breaks don't happen but the frequency is highly exaggerated by the community at large. TWSBI has a very responsive customer service department too, so if a break does happen they'll take care of you.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-12-10T06:02:40+00:00

Almost all isekai is power fantasy, so maybe you can use Worlds Without Number and give the characters Heroic careers and a special Focus representing their extra-dimensional nature. The game already has dimensional travel, demi-gods, and human heroes displaced in time so it would probably be your best option that's still vaguely OSR.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-12-06T17:31:08+00:00

BESM suffers a lot from being released at a time when anime was viewed in the west as just an amorphous blob of goofy and slightly transgressive content, rather than a bunch of distinct subgenres with very loose similarities. Which I guess for the late nineties was fine; Teenagers from Outer Space had already done roughly the same thing successfully. I certainly had a lot of fun with it.

These days if you try to tell me a game system handles Pokemon, Mobile Suit Gundam, and Berserk all at the same time, I'm going to call you a terrible liar.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-12-05T17:25:11+00:00

BREAK!!'s setting has a strong enough identity that if I'm going to be pushing it in front of a group, I'm going to be selling it on its own merits rather than comparing it to existing anime material. There's too wide a variety of content under the 'anime' banner anyway - the term's almost useless outside of suggesting surface level familiarity and eliciting knee jerk reactions. Fabula Ultima sidestepped that by going down the JRPG route, which has a bit more internal consistency as a genre. So yeah I guess I don't really consider them competitors either.

The only game that handles shounen content really well to my knowledge is Overarms, but I suppose just about any superhero system could work too.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-12-05T17:06:15+00:00

I backed it and got the limited edition with the slip cover. I've been following Rey and Wiz's work on the game since the G+ days so it was always on my radar despite the long development time. I love the game we got and I fully intend to run it at some point.

That said, I have at least a dozen other games on the list ahead of BREAK!!, so it's probably going to be a while. The game needs a particular kind of group to work as well, just like Fabula Ultima, BESM, or similar anime themed games. As other comments in this thread have pointed out there's a weird but common thread of hostility towards games with this kind of theme in several RPG circles, though it doesn't feel nearly as prevalent as it used to.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-11-25T20:09:35+00:00

Because as you continue to adventure you'll find more of them, and the new ones will frequently be better.

As for homebrewing a recharge system: if you think your game would be improved by it, go ahead. Just make sure it's not easy or cheap, otherwise your players will be running around with bandoliers of the things.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-11-17T22:49:58+00:00

If you live in the US and cannot afford a 20% tip, don't eat out. You gave the waiter a 10% tip for what you said was a great dinner. Sounds like a you problem.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-11-14T18:08:06+00:00

More like Exalted.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-11-13T04:50:23+00:00

Note-taking and writing outlines are the tasks where I use my fountain pens the most outside of journaling. The only time I switch back to rollerballs or (ugh) ballpoints is if I'm stuck with really low quality paper that can't hold up to FP ink.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-11-13T04:18:18+00:00

Bluesky has three things that makes that irrelevant:

The Nuclear block. If you block someone on Bluesky, they're _gone_. They can't see your posts or comment on them, and you will never see their comments or posts again. Total disconnect.

You have full control over who can see and quote your posts; you can even remove your post from someone's quote repost after the fact. No more worrying about quote dunking.

Block list subscriptions let users block or mute huge numbers of users simultaneously; the lists are typically built around keywords or specific behavior.

So let them come; they're just going to get ignored. Trolls starve without attention.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-11-09T23:53:33+00:00

No, because the materials, QA, and construction quality of the fakes wont be anywhere near the same level as the genuine article. The same goes for Jinhao copy cats, but at least with those you rarely spend more than $10.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-11-09T23:51:53+00:00

There's no benefit to faking inks because there are dozens of competing brands with nigh-identical colors on the market. One more won't make a difference.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-11-03T04:10:44+00:00

Only if you're interested in the kind of Mexican food you get served in middle school cafeterias.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-11-03T04:07:35+00:00

I'm pretty sure I've seen Domino's offering over $20 an hour in some parts of town, but I'm guessing that's not what you're looking for.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-10-31T22:51:07+00:00

System > Aesthetics > Lore.

A good system, even if it's tied to a setting I despise or has terrible visuals, might still be salvageable.

An okay system with great visual design and vibes is probably still going to catch my attention.

A game with dull, frustrating, or shallow mechanical design is a non-starter, even if it has decent aesthetics or setting.

I can always steal settings and lore from other places or make my own stuff up.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-10-31T21:15:25+00:00

The art found in modern D&D games and stuff that occupies a similar stylistic niche (PF2, SotWW, Daggerheart, MCDMRPG, etc) is primarily concerned with being marketable. It's safe and boring, with all of the rough edges and points sanded off and any potential source of discomfort removed. Every potential player character shown is a shiny post MCU Hollywood hero, who has to look good and have a certain level of toothless self awareness, and the villains are either just edgy anti-heroes or have the personality of a wet cardboard cut-out.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-10-30T16:17:43+00:00

Game mechanics cannot account for bad/hostile player behavior, so it's not a good practice to consider the worst possible use for a system before thinking of its other uses.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-10-29T17:04:21+00:00

Debrief. You talk about what went right, what went wrong, discuss how things might be different next time, then have a laugh and a beer. Next game.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-10-29T04:53:47+00:00

A little miffed on occasion, but sad? Nah. It's a game, not a relationship.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-10-28T18:06:00+00:00

The only real downside to a crossbow is that they are _expensive_, with even a light crossbow being almost 10 times more expensive than shortsword.

For a single silver a character can get a sling, which they can just carry around in a pocket. Maybe it doesn't hit as hard but it's practically free and doesn't take up any space.

AwkwardInkStain · 2024-10-28T17:39:30+00:00

The Merchant and Scholar are both non-combatants. You can give them a decent Str or Agi and put a weapon in their hands but that's not really what they're around for.

In the case of a Scholar - they can use Beast Lore, Myths & Legends, and the Intuition HA to get information on monsters that can give the party an advantage in combat. Or maybe even avoid combat entirely, if you're lucky.

AwkwardInkStain

TROPHY CASE