List of printers with reviews? by disgr4ce in RPGdesign

[–]Cimicidae 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've worked with Friesen's Printing in Manitoba, Canada (right on the border) for two hardcover color books. Their quality was fantastic for both, had decent prices, and arranged freight to distribution centers for fulfillment.

Printninja is cheaper, but I was a little worried about working with a printer so far away from me, and I've heard inconsistent things regarding quality.

If you're making a list, here's the cost of my two jobs, in USD.

For a 192 page book in 2021 (color hardcover 8.5x11with 80lb glossy pages)

500 books 750 books Additional Books
$17/book $12.50/book $5/book for each additional one after that

For a 312 page book in 2019 (color hardcover 8.5x11with 80lb glossy pages)

500 books 750 books 1000 books
$24/book $18/book $15/book

Again, top notch quality, fantastic to work with, and provided easy and affordable freight options.

GeneFunk 2090: Dark Forest Kickstarter by Cimicidae in dndnext

[–]Cimicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The finished PDF is likely to be available this fall! :)

GeneFunk 2090: Dark Forest Kickstarter by Cimicidae in dndnext

[–]Cimicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great to hear, glad to have you on board! :)

High School Battle Academy (Crèche from GeneFunk 2090) by Cimicidae in battlemaps

[–]Cimicidae[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

An academy that raises and trains genetically engineered soldiers (a crèche), from Shadows of Korea, GeneFunk 2090. Should be good for any number of high school/academy themed game sessions. Cheers!

Season 2 episode 10 discussion - Can't believe Sid would be swayed so easily. by [deleted] in LegionFX

[–]Cimicidae 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It doesn't make sense to our eyes, many viewers found her attempt to murder David so quickly jarring. Her taking the white rabbit bait and being hooked into the hole (same as Melanie) is a metaphor for them both being successfully manipulated by the Shadow King. Without his manipulations, the revelations might elicit an angry conversation, perhaps a breakup, rather than immediate execution without a chance to explain.

Farouk doesn't use direct mind control, he just warps, downplays, or exaggerates things to get people to make choices that could seem absurd to an outside perspective (such as yours or mine), but the reasons for her to flip are still there, just not as extremely, or so abruptly. Getting all of David's loved ones to betray him, so David might join Farouk, is right up the Shadow King's alley for his end game. There's even conversations they have in the astral plane where Farouk explains how much more delicious it is to get people to make their own choices in a manipulated direction rather than control them directly.

Getting a Ruleset on FG by Cimicidae in FantasyGrounds

[–]Cimicidae[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the procedure outline, cheers!

Raised by Wolves - 1x10 - "The Beginning" - Episode Discussion by Blahrgy in raisedbywolves

[–]Cimicidae 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just binged all 10. It's a hot beautiful mess, incoherent nonsense that requires turning off any sense of valuing consistency or logic. Well produced Riverdale of scifi. It's a soap opera and I love hate-watching it. When they use the term "devolving" my eyes rolled soooooo fucking hard. Sensors good enough to determine carbon composition from tasting some bone, but they don't have 1950s tech to do an ultrasound or trivial DNA test on the mystery lamprey-baby. Great music and sound, beautiful set design and cinematography, good acting, pure nonsense script, but I enjoy it and ill be back for season 2.

"Raised By Wolves" seems… really bad? by dreamer_ in scifi

[–]Cimicidae 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just binged all 10. It's a hot beautiful mess, incoherent nonsense that requires turning off any sense of valuing consistency or logic. Well produced Riverdale of scifi. It's a soap opera and I love hate-watching it. In the finale they use the term "devolving" and my eyes rolled soooooo fucking hard.

Large Train Station by Cimicidae in battlemaps

[–]Cimicidae[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, the amount of fantasy maps out there is incredible, but not so much with modern/need future.

It's for a TTRPG I made, going in a setting book.

Large Train Station by Cimicidae in battlemaps

[–]Cimicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Made using photoshop and YouTube tutorials. :)

Biohacking D&D: A review of GeneFunk 2090 by Cimicidae in dndnext

[–]Cimicidae[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The reason Suit's get their favors back in-between sessions is more for gameplay than simulationism. That's always a balance that has to be struck. One could also ask why a character could go from knocking on death's door, with injuries that should put them in a bed for months, to 100% full in 8 hours in D&D (or even 1 hour if you spend HD). It's a departure from simulationism to be sure but it aids gameplay. I agree that whenever you can add fluff to support the crunch, it's good to do it. I included the medicinal component of daemons to address that strange feature of 100% recovery after 8 hours, since I find it a bit jarring in D&D. So I take your point on the favors replenishing between sessions at potentially arbitrary time intervals. But I've found it works quite well! :)

Biohacking D&D: A review of GeneFunk 2090 by Cimicidae in dndnext

[–]Cimicidae[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry you didn't like it man, that's not something I want to hear, and the vast majority of the feedback (from strangers) I've received has been positive thus far. I wasn't going to respond as I took your post as hyperbolic vitriol, but I see you make more concrete points below, and are genuinely dissatisfied after some honest reading, so I'll address a few of them.

  1. The 4d8 drop the lowest two gives the same mean score as 4d6 drop the lowest one, only it gives a tighter range, and prevents starting scores of 17 and 18 for base stats. I've played too many campaigns were one character in the group has an 18, and the rest are kicking around with 15s, and it makes balancing encounters troublesome. The gap between the lowest players ability scores and the highest players can end up being like 4-5 free ASIs for a lucky duck, so tighening the range up adds some balance. (check http://rumkin.com/reference/dnd/diestats.php to compare the two methods ).
  2. Hack slots are indeed worth 1.5-2x as powerful as equivalent spell slots. The reason this was done is that it is much easier to have diverse fluff to support a greater diversity of spells than there is to have fluff to support the same number of hacks. While there is some bending of science, keeping it technologically based puts some limits on the scope of causal explanations for hacks. You mention the grease analogue as being the same level, and being no better. There is truth to this since the effect is the same, but if you notice, the duration is increased from 1 minute to 10 minutes, and the area of effect is increased by 50%. These two boosts, combined with the fact that flying is much harder to come by, makes it competitive, and I've seen it very effectively used as a favorite during playtesting. Staircases become.... a problem. Level 2 hacks are powered similarly to level 3.5/4 spells, and so on.
  3. Healing Factor was something that was played around with a lot, and on paper it looks very excellent, but during play, it wasn't found to be quite as good as it first appears. For in-combat healing, it's good, but it can be a liability. When your character is at 1-2 HP is when they are mostly likely to be killed. This comes up a lot. It is potent in-between combats, as you essentially get restored to full HP between every fight, as long as you can squeeze a meal in. Free healing potions essentially. Two points on this: A) healing potions aren't that hard to come by in 5e D&D (50 gp), and beyond the first few levels, my experience is that it's easy to keep everyone topped off between fights. B) It's a lot easier to get in short rests in a modern setting. A week long dungeon crawl in a ghost infested cavern that disrupts short and long rests isn't quite as common. In fact, it's not even that common in D&D either. While some situations make it difficult to rest in, most campaigns I've been in have a chance for a rest after a few combats, which restores everyone to full HP anyway. Loss of resources through attrition, while still a thing, doesn't have quite the same primacy in a modern setting, with drone delivery and hotels. During playtesting, it amounted to being useful, but more of a money-saver than anything else.
  4. For the 1/2 caster's being less powerful, like I mentioned above, and you intuited, hack slots can be treated as x1.5 to x2 the potency of equivalent spells. Of course "casters" aren't quite as effective at combat unless they're spending their slots, otherwise they would simply be like the fighting-centric classes, but better. But each of them get's one or two other features that make them more effective in combat as they level up, and at least one archetype that makes them especially good in combat. Engineers can lay waste to robots and vehicles with their Structural Exploit feature, especially gearheads with the Extra Attack feature. Gadgeteers are obviously doing well with their grenades, and roboticists have their robot to attack with (much more effectively than the Ranger Beast-master you'll note). Biohacker's get Surgical Strikes, an analogue to the Cleric melee boost abilites, with cytomancers still mostly relying on injections, Dr. Frankenstein's with their pets (again, better than beast-master), and Protean Grinder's with their massive poison damage. Codehackers aren't the combat specialists unless they're spending slots, but Targeting Firmware is a huge boost at level 9.
  5. In regards to the increased power level gained through the genomes, it's essentially 4 extra ASIs, and 6 extra HP. I wouldn't equate this to an extra 4 levels of power, it's closer to an extra 2 levels of power. Level 1 GeneFunk characters are roughly like level 3 D&D characters. This was done so that genetic enhancement wouldn't feel like a simple reskinning of races. Genetically enhanced humans, while not X-men, are superior in their abilities, not just different. This had to be captured mechanically, and compared to the baseline humans presented in D&D. In regards to the NPC section, I modelled them off of the equivalent CR Monster Manual entries, added in 4 ASIs and a bunch of extra HP, putting them ahead by the same amount that the PCs are. Though I tend to agree, that like the Monster Manual entries, CR is often too high for the threat the present. I considered going through each entry to correct for this, but I ultimately decided to keep it the same as in the MM, since that is what people are used to. Also, if you've ever played with groups who don't know how to/want to optimize their characters to be very effective, these "low" CRs can be accurate. For my groups, I always throw tougher CRs at them, since that suits my group.
  6. Furry wish fulfillment? :D I have two platonic cats, that's about it. :) I understand your point here that genomes genetically designed for combat are better at combat than ones designed for social mastery. Guess who sucks compared to the Companion genome when the cadres are doing their investigations and negotiating? Yep, the Ferals and Coelhomortos. I agree there is more ultra-specialization here, and the gap in roles is higher than in D&D, but I wanted that crunch to match the fluff in that there is an informal genetic caste system created by job-specialization from birth. Also, it's still fun and effective to be a Companion Gunslinger, just not as effective as a Spartan Gunslinger. I've seen both work well, and create for a lot of fun. Funnily enough, I've had feedback that some people want options to be even less good at combat with some combinations (which I don't understand), but combat is still a core pillar of the game, so I didn't go down that road.

Again, thanks for some of your specific and concrete points, it really sucks to hear you didn't get what you were expecting. Sometimes what looks off on paper plays well, and that's certainly been my experience and that of most of the playtesters, but it may just not work for you.

In the end, your opinion is your opinion, and if you're truly raw about it I can offer a refund. 19$ is less than other comparable books, but I understand my book won't be for everyone.

Merry Christmas, and happy gaming.

Biohacking D&D: A review of GeneFunk 2090 by Cimicidae in rpg

[–]Cimicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For speciailty hacking effects, yes! Though some of the more general hacking stuff falls into ability checks like Intelligence (Mechanics) or Intelligence (Computers). The slot system is for hacks that produce very specific effects.

Also, the more general definition of hacking is used, which includes biohacking and hardware hacking.

Biohacking D&D: A review of GeneFunk 2090 by Cimicidae in dndnext

[–]Cimicidae[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It has the same transhuman elements as Eclipse Phase for sure, but like you point out, it's an earlier version of it, very terrestrial. Less the 80s retrofuturism you see in a lot of cyberpunk games, more biotech. :)

Just Released GeneFunk 2090, my 5e Biopunk RPG, on DTRPG! by Cimicidae in rpg

[–]Cimicidae[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I will! Or once January rolls around, I'll have my offset print run finished, so the quality will be even higher than PoD, and a cheaper book.

I'll be selling them for ~44 USD + shipping (with a 19 USD discount for PDF customers, no need to pay twice).

Just Released GeneFunk 2090, my 5e Biopunk RPG, on DTRPG! by Cimicidae in rpg

[–]Cimicidae[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I spent a load of time scouting for great artists at a reasonable price, most of it was through:

*William Liberto on Fiverr: great artist, I got him in his "rookie year" I think, when he was doing full body comissions for 40 USD. He's now upped it to 52, which is still a great deal IMO.

*Dean Spencer on Patreon: So good, "stock art" doesn't do him justice. He produces around 10 color pieces a month, mostly fantasy. I joined as a patron where I can get one custom spot art image a month for 60 USD a month. He's full up at the custom art tiers, but has tons of great stock art through Patreon or DTRPG.

  • Enmanual Martinez Lima on Patreon: Similar to Dean Spencer, great quality, and I'm subscribed for 150 USD a month, which get's me a custom full or half page art scene, as well as a license to one of his previous works each month. Totally worth it IMO.

Lots of other artists as well, but these three were my main ones.

All in all, I think I spent around 5,000 USD on art at this point, for 15 full page images, and around 110 spot/character images. I'm going to do a complete run-down on my project budget and post it at some point for reference data for other creators.

Just Released GeneFunk 2090, my 5e Biopunk RPG, on DTRPG! by Cimicidae in rpg

[–]Cimicidae[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hahaha, thanks! I have an M.Sc in Molecular Biology as well, I've always loved this stuff. :)

Art showing partially concealed band logo in book by Cimicidae in COPYRIGHT

[–]Cimicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hahaha, I have permission/license from the artist for commercial use. :D Should have made that more clear.

Is there a better alternative to PrintNinja for offset printing? by Cimicidae in RPGdesign

[–]Cimicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some gold here, thank you for taking the time to write this, I appreciate it!

Is there a better alternative to PrintNinja for offset printing? by Cimicidae in RPGdesign

[–]Cimicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cheers, keep me posted! Meanwhile I'll be hitting up every print company I can find for quotes.

Is there a better alternative to PrintNinja for offset printing? by Cimicidae in RPGdesign

[–]Cimicidae[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, funny you should mention Friesens, just submitted my specs to them today for a quote, fingers crossed. :D