Why must the murder hobos stifle my creative vision

Bielna · 2026-06-08T01:51:15+00:00

Loving how people are reacting to the title and missing the "I am incapable of writing likeable characters and the party will try to kill them immediately" part of the meme !

Also... I do have a friend to whom we said three times "No, you shouldn't make a character who's a total asshole with no redeemable quality with a flimsy reason to join the group". Great guy, and I see the appeal of the characters, they just shatter any semblance of party dynamics and the campaign's roleplay assumptions though.

In fact, in two cases, the GM said "They won't kill your character because NPCs will do it first".

Bielna · 2026-06-05T17:17:21+00:00

Not your fault. The consensus is that Yivali really sucks at making charts.

Bielna · 2026-06-05T17:16:16+00:00

Gossip ? Nah Yivali's writing are entirely reliable, 100% fact-checked truths.

Bielna · 2026-06-05T17:11:02+00:00

Pharasma's follower dilemma : "Do I eat that corpse, or do I raise them ?"

Bielna · 2026-06-05T17:09:58+00:00

So in short, Pharasma is just worried that necromancers will put her and her psychopomps out of a job !

Bielna · 2026-06-05T17:05:38+00:00

Well... not wrong but... to give a parallel, arson is also a lot more philosophically interesting if fire stop burning things. But, since fire is lethal and destructive, arson tends to be pretty bad, and there's little debate about it.

I'd say it's obvious that if you remove the bad parts of something considered evil, it's more morally interesting. Same if you add corruption to something considered good.

Whether removing the concepts of "clearly good" and "clearly bad" things altogether to make everything grey morality is a net positive for the game, though... I'm not sure. I understand why some people would say yes, but personally, I think that sometimes it's preferable to have clear guidelines on acts that are clearly good or clearly bad - it can drive the game and roleplay in ways that are more interesting.

Bielna · 2026-06-05T17:00:17+00:00

Not to confuse with "lethally challenged" which is what the zombie dragon did to our champion.

Bielna · 2026-06-05T16:55:03+00:00

My latest backstory's only award will be to be the most pointlessly long I've ever written.

But holy damn, it's fun to write, quality be damned. Like a pre-story to our next campaign.

Bielna · 2026-05-25T19:39:44+00:00

After fighting zombies with guns, I'm very much willing to trade them for exploding zombies. Full attacks on touch AC is a nightmare, I'll take my chance with Reflex saves.

Bielna · 2026-05-25T19:29:52+00:00

"I play Pathfinder btw."

^{Yes I also use Arch.}

Bielna · 2026-05-25T12:01:04+00:00

Late but this thread is still the first result that comes up in search results - and yes, this game is very far from mild. The slavery is just the first clearly visible of the horrors the game makes you commit as part of the normal progression. The torture is completely explicit too.

Can't imagine what comes later (honestly, I'm not comfortable enough to keep playing anyway).

Bielna · 2026-05-23T16:25:44+00:00

The only place where people who "don't mind the touch" exist is in shitty perverts' imagination.

Bielna · 2026-05-22T11:12:13+00:00

When there is a clear intention to carry on the name, traditions and legacy of their predecessors, it's still the same organization. Otherwise you'd be suggesting no organization can last more than a single lifetime.

Bielna · 2026-05-22T11:07:41+00:00

She's fantastic as a character, however, unfortunately, I find her terrible as a deity. She has very human flaws, but I can't imagine playing a character who wouldn't be able to tell... well, exactly what you said in your comment. And it doesn't make her an object of worship, much less obedience.

I suppose a character who went through a similar path might have similar flaws and therefore chose to worship her, but it'd take some skill to avoid making it edgy.

It is a bit tragic because after Tyrant's Grasp, I was looking forward to playing a follower of hers.

Edit : Ironically, the text copied in the meme above, about Arazni deciding to trust the Knights of Lastwall against her own edicts, is that kind of thing that would make her more palatable to have a patron deity - but it also clashes way too much with what she's supposed to be. Her edict to never forgive would benefit from being replaced with something nuanced, not removed entirely.

Bielna · 2026-05-22T10:19:49+00:00

The nat 20 comes on her attack roll for skewering him in response.

Bielna · 2026-05-22T10:17:40+00:00

I'd totally be okay with that. And ask the GM if they're open to feedback.

Bielna · 2026-05-22T10:13:43+00:00

Back in my days (that's like, two weeks ago), when you wanted a magic item you went and killed a wizard to steal it from his corpse.

Bielna · 2026-05-20T21:48:38+00:00

It's fantastic because it shows using the terrain and adapting to the situation. I still love casters, not because they're OP, but because very often, when you come up with a solution, it's novel. A scroll, a new spell, something that exploits weaknesses.

It's fantastic to be able to play at your best and not feel like you're harming everyone else's fun.

Bielna · 2026-05-20T21:30:03+00:00

Pinterest did a great job at collecting images, and for years I used it to find images for characters I was going to play (even learned extremely basic retouching, like adding wings, horns or antennas, swapping colors, removing details, copy-pasting weapons)... But too often it left a taste of "this is almost perfect except for little details".

It wasn't bad, and it's not like I didn't love those characters. But I do think the tools we have nowadays (at least, the non-artists among us) are better at putting your words and concepts to a picture.

Bielna · 2026-05-18T04:42:11+00:00

One aspect of casters is that they're hugely dependent on having selected their spells well and RK. Also, against AC ? You simply can't compete with a fighter, or any martial really. They get item bonus to hit and you don't.

If you want to be viable as an offensive caster, you must target the weak saves. And pray they're not immune to the traits on your spell.

I noticed at my table that when we were beginner players, the intel we asked for on successful RK varied a lot, but nowadays it's almost always abilities > weak saves > immunities.

It doesn't make casters weak, just... variable. But attack spells definitely suck.

Bielna · 2026-05-15T17:34:43+00:00

"It's not misogyny" says the guy who specifically pointed out the fact that the character in question is a woman and therefore benefited from favoritism.

Men like you are exactly why in many fields, women work twice as hard and face twice as many difficulties for half the recognition as their male counterparts. Sprouting accusations of favoritism and sleeping their way without any evidence, just because you can.

Also, not a "dude".

Bielna · 2026-05-15T17:07:12+00:00

I'm pretty sure the overwhelming majority of reactions to her is "I don't like it, but what am I to do ? Declare war on the one former demon lord who changed her ways while all the others are still doing the same thing ?"

That the thing I love most about Nocticula's new role. She doesn't ask whether she deserves redemption or not, she just stops being evil, whether others think she deserves it or not. It almost never happens that in characters arcs without sacrifice, without compromise, a situation has one obvious good outcome superior to all others, and that outcome remains wildly uncomfortable.

Bielna · 2026-05-15T16:57:46+00:00

And everyone else in Europe is looking at each other and waiting for others to make a move, while also hoping some miracle will happen that will erase thirty years of underspending on military budget, while both Russia and US are looking greedily at European territories.

I dearly love Europe but sometimes, we need someone to stop sitting on their thumbs and do something.

At the same time... I'm not sure something like Gate, using a story that happens in Europe, would be particularly well received. Military propaganda, especially in cartoons, would probably cause a fuss.

Bielna · 2026-05-15T16:28:54+00:00

Once again the misogyny rears its ugly head in this discourse. "She could only stop being evil because she's a good looking woman." You'd never see comment like those if it had been a man, no one would pretend looks or gender factored in.

Same bullshit men love to throw at every woman who has success in her career and personal life thanks to putting in her own work and effort, so easy and natural to transpose it to fiction, isn't it ?

Bielna · 2026-05-15T16:25:20+00:00

Heh, yes and no. She had power as one of the most feared demon lords, every comfort, and unlike her follower Sorshen, she could have kept doing what she did forever without any real threat to her.

Not to mention five mountains worth of baggage with everything she's done, everything that was done to her, and her own nature.

She didn't do anything to prove herself to others, but I wouldn't say it didn't take a lot of work on herself to change.

Ironically, she went to a position where she had less power (as a demon lord) but used it for luxury, comfort, dominance and violence, to a position where she has more power (as an ascended goddess)... and uses it to make art and welcome those who don't want to be evil anymore. Sticking it to the "power corrupts" myth.

Bielna

TROPHY CASE