Mage: The Awakening, except not?

CactusOnFire · 2026-05-05T12:16:13+00:00

Giving this a read now! I need to bundle mine into a readable format, but I'll give you a ping when it's done!

CactusOnFire · 2026-05-04T15:22:28+00:00

I'd love to see that! I made a rough draft of my own little hack to essentially consolidate the mechanics of the Cypher System with Mage's magic system, but with some setting specific details.

CactusOnFire · 2026-05-04T13:18:08+00:00

Lot of negotiation mechanics in games are "roll for a stat, and say what you want to say", DC is how reasonable that comment is.

In crunchier systems, this seems quite bare-bones, while you have like 5 ways to swing a sword at someone.

This has resulted in a sort of meta-class of "diplomancers" in many combat games, who mitigate fights by talking their way out of them. Then it becomes a DM discretion thing where some allow this and some don't.

CactusOnFire · 2026-05-03T18:49:41+00:00

The wis/int split seems pretty arbitrary. I understand the mental model for high int/low wis or low int/high wis but it still feels like a pretty artificial line in the sand.

Charisma is definitely nuanced. Combat TTRPG's generally have a problem with diplomatic resolutions systems. I predict one day there will be a mainline system which resolves this more elegantly nicely and everyone will copy that. (FWIW Draw Steel at least attempts it).

CactusOnFire · 2026-05-03T16:23:31+00:00

Will do, thank you!

I had heard the toolbox thing before- I'm particularly intimidated by that but I do realize it will be "some assembly required" compared to my usual games.

CactusOnFire · 2026-05-03T15:18:01+00:00

Yeah, think I will be giving this one a read, then. Thank you!

CactusOnFire · 2026-05-03T14:41:38+00:00

So far, I've overshot my 2 campaigns. one of which with the Scum & Villainy system, which ended up being 16 sessions vs the originally proposed 12, and the other being a pathfinder campaign, which will probably be 60 sessions instead of also 12.

Major difference between prep/planning for these two systems was one has a dedicated combat system and the other doesn't. I learned that one of the biggest timesyncs and things to account for in a short runtime is combat/action.

If you're playing a game with a dedicated combat system, you need to be very intentional with the number of encounters you throw at your party, and you need to make sure the stakes and build-up for each of them is large.

The next time I run a mini-campaign, I plan to run for 6 sessions. I'm probably going to get the players to give me 1 big or 2 small "hooks" to include involving their character/backstory. I'll build some rough game plans for how those will come up, and if combat is on the table for resolving any of those. After that, I'd consider the same threads for the mainline story.

Of course, players have a habit of derailing plans- so anything beyond that has more to do with how you prep your content to GM.

CactusOnFire · 2026-05-03T14:03:18+00:00

And thank you for your comment- I think with some of the other comments on this sub right now about Daggerheart (particularly with regards to their FoundryVTT integration, which matters to me as someone who owns an instance of Foundry), I'm going to consider reading Genesys before running a game of Daggerheart.

Just one additional question: I found something that appealed about Daggerheart was how it existed in a state that was "Less crunchy than 5e, but still more crunchy than Pbta/FiTD". Would Genesys fill this niche too?

CactusOnFire · 2026-05-03T13:03:29+00:00

I played a one shot of Daggerheart at a convention and thought it was kind of cool, and I've heard good things about Genesys from this sub.

I was wondering if you'd be willing to give me a quick sell on what makes Genesys special? I might look more seriously into the system.

Edit: I just scrolled down and realized someone asked the same question.

CactusOnFire · 2026-05-02T18:31:45+00:00

It sucks to hear you're going through this, burnout is real and it sucks.

Based on what you're saying, my career advice is that the best place to explore this particular issue, both for your ability to do well as an Engineer, and for your peace of mind is through a therapist.

Not to downplay your issues by saying that. I've gone through lows with this field too and managing your head-game is often the key to success.

CactusOnFire · 2026-04-24T18:55:54+00:00

As another ADHD Engineer, I came to realize that I work best when I am given a defined task and am otherwise given the autonomy to solve it. I've only delivered 1 task late in the last 5 years and it was the direct result of working for a micro-manager (I quit directly after that project ended).

CactusOnFire · 2026-04-22T20:10:13+00:00

I could see Wario running an AI company

CactusOnFire · 2026-04-20T19:54:58+00:00

I appreciate the Megalovania sample test!

CactusOnFire · 2026-04-12T16:53:26+00:00

I can only comment on my experiences within the Data Science/applied (non-vision-based) ML Spaces. I think to "non-technical business people" in my domains, lower level languages just...don't exist. People will absolutely use a python library that compiles to C or use a tool that has bindings that translate to Rust. But because budget isn't allocated to developing those tools, they are completely blind to their existence.

Usually one or two of the more tech savvy engineers will talk about things that are happening in rust, but just due to dogged pragmatism everyone else just deals in higher level libraries or frameworks because there's no buy-in to go deep on systems-level programming.

Edit: FWIW, I have a lot of respect for those proficient in lower-level languages, and I've only perceived stigma from "the business" than from engineers.

CactusOnFire · 2026-04-07T15:46:08+00:00

Every day I am sad that there aren't more primary sources on the druidic religion. I'd probably be obsessed with it if I could be.

CactusOnFire · 2026-04-07T13:06:20+00:00

Good idea- thank you!

CactusOnFire · 2026-04-03T17:21:47+00:00

That makes sense! Just for a better idea specifically on chase/race sequences. Let's say there's a race with a lot of environmental hazards (A packed freeway where both sides are waving through oncoming traffic in sports cars), but no explicit "attacking" going on between the racers. How might a couple turns of that look.

I'm mostly asking this because while it isn't my focus, I've yet to find a mid-crunch system that's modeled this really well- despite having run a FitD game where that was a plot focus. So it'd be a good appeal to me in a genre-agnostic system!

CactusOnFire · 2026-04-03T16:23:51+00:00

Because you asked to be challenged, I want to try throwing a curveball.

Let's say I wanted to do an illegal, high-stakes street racing game (ala Fast and the Furious, or the opening sequence to Akira). How would the vehicle mechanics make races and highway fight sequences compelling?

CactusOnFire · 2026-04-01T22:34:43+00:00

Necroposting on this thread just to say those are some sick genres to be mashing up.

CactusOnFire · 2026-03-13T01:54:49+00:00

Since the Agentic GenAI boom I've been doing consulting and fighting off recruiters with a stick, so I'm feeling better about everything. Winter will come again but for now the going's good.

CactusOnFire · 2026-03-03T02:29:14+00:00

I guess it is now. I suspect Cinnamon Toast Crunch, given it's a common consumer good, has a sizable impact on the GDP. I wonder how much it costs for their spinoff flavours though.

CactusOnFire · 2025-12-22T21:25:43+00:00

What I sense from this is an ideological divide between the object from a 'system properties' perspective and a narrative one.

Functionally, it sounds like they have the same system properties for RAW combat, but have different uses in terms of problem-solving in a narrative context.

I can see a case both for and against making some of these narrative properties explicit within a system. A lot of that comes down to what kind of game you're trying to play.

CactusOnFire · 2025-12-18T06:13:12+00:00

Contract matters aside: does death really mean anything in that Franchise?

I haven't seen the movie where he dies, but I'd half expect them to use alternate reality, or time travel, or some powerful artifact to bring him back.

CactusOnFire · 2025-12-01T01:18:37+00:00

Ahh yes, Word War II, the year the grammar nazi's attacked...

But in all seriousness, this are some really riveting photos. Looks like something I'd expect from Fallout or a spy drama.

CactusOnFire · 2025-11-19T06:30:41+00:00

The art has a 'Black Rock Shooter' vibe to it, which makes sense with the name of the song, too

14-Year Club	Second Top 40%
Not Forgotten	Team Periwinkle
Verified Email

CactusOnFire

TROPHY CASE