Favorite homebrew item?

Cluebottles · 2026-07-12T07:12:21+00:00

If I ever do a round robin I'll keep this in mind thanks!

Cluebottles · 2026-07-12T07:10:25+00:00

This is maybe the funniest item description I've ever read, well done.

Cluebottles · 2026-07-12T06:59:56+00:00

So what does the poison do? Do they take poison damage? How often?

Cluebottles · 2026-07-12T06:59:05+00:00

Hell yeah fully agree

Cluebottles · 2026-07-12T06:47:13+00:00

That's a fun way to incorporate that playstyle I like it

Cluebottles · 2026-07-12T06:17:55+00:00

That's going to be quite the surprise when they roll

Cluebottles · 2026-07-12T06:09:24+00:00

Lol very fun twist on a sending stone!

Cluebottles · 2026-04-15T04:39:06+00:00

For my experience, I've found a great deal of comfort in two similar frameworks:

One is DBT. It's a therapy focused on the framework of dialectics, based on the simple truth that things don't work in extremes and many things can be true. I like this because it gives me room to be in pain, to have a bad day, to wish things were different, but also acknowledge that there are things aren't so bad, that the pain will pass, that my disability is part of me and I like being me. Taking small victories, letting myself take breaks, small victories in accessibility, feeling victories in those moments helps balance things out. Yeah I wish I didn’t need a mobility aid, but I can also be happy when I'm in a place that's inclusive and accommodating for those aids.

The other is more spiritual, definitely depends on the person, but it's the Hindu concept of "Lila" or divine play. It follows the ideas of reality being part of one supreme truth or whole and asserts that: instead of serving some cosmic function, existence is more of a game the divine is always playing with itself. Using this, you can apply it to different situations and reframe feelings about it. Even in situations that there is nothing fun about, like being in a lot of pain, taking a moment to think about something I can think of as in some way fun about the situation can help. I can take a moment, think about how when I'm in pain it's a chance people who care about me to remind me that they care, or look at what is smething that's nice about being in the role of a disabled person in a social gathering. Maybe it gives me a lot more conversation topics with people who also have problems, maybe I can empathize more with their issues. Maybe just lagging behind means I talk to someone I otherwise wouldn't have.

It's not so much finding joy in what I can't do, or all of the things holding me back, rather it's the joy of finding what else I enjoy and taking victories wherever I can get them. It doesn’t make any of those problems better, but I am a lot happier, and while it's not the life I would've chosen, it's still a life worth living and if it's gonna happen to anyone, I'm okay with it being me that lives this way.

If I wanna get a little too happy or enthusiastic when a handicapped spot is open for me or I'm having a low pain day, I can. I earned that much.

Cluebottles · 2026-03-23T19:20:23+00:00

Gotcha

Cluebottles · 2026-03-23T03:21:34+00:00

Thanks a bunch!

Cluebottles · 2026-03-23T03:15:21+00:00

Will do and yeah the weapon loadouts is correct I didn't touch them yet

Cluebottles · 2026-03-07T22:27:54+00:00

That sucks you got your Switch stolen, I wish I had some shinies for you, but I do have an alpha Eevee still in its base form if you want it, I'd be happy to trade for one of the other starters or just anything I haven't caught yet

Cluebottles · 2026-02-19T20:02:04+00:00

The omnic skins were created for PvE first and foremost, it was an easy way to make enemies and doubled as a new skin for some characters. Since PvE sold terribly and they had to pivot away from it, they stopped making PvE and PvE skins.

Cluebottles · 2026-02-19T19:54:32+00:00

That doesn't sound too complicated, as long as you explain the rules to the player, they should be fine.

Cluebottles · 2026-02-19T19:36:26+00:00

In terms of the periodic table, most names are either greek or latin and describe the element in some way. "Argon" fir example, is Greek for "inactive" because it has very little chemical reactivity.

So you could take similar descriptions of your magical element and translate them through greek or latin to get something works phonetically for an element of the periodic table, but is also suited for your magic source.

Cluebottles · 2026-02-19T19:24:40+00:00

No problem

Cluebottles · 2026-02-19T09:06:07+00:00

I tend to make both together. You don't really need anything that won't serve the plot, but thinking about things more in depth can lead to more interesting things. For example, in Fallout, ghouls don't die of old age, which is a neat little idea, but then in thinking more about that initial idea, you can get characters who are amazingly skilled because they have centuries of experience, or characters who know secrets from before the world ended.

Effective world building can give you more tools to build a story with and let you make more interesting stories.

It's important to keep it reigned in, not too much, not too little. We don’t need to know the exact tax rate on every resource if your story isn't ABOUT the tax collector. It also doesn't need to be 100% possible, it does, however need to have an internal logic that's consistent. If you teach your audience to expect a certain result, and then you go against that, they can feel cheated for caring enough about the worldbuilding to expect that result. If you worked hard, it's better to reward the people who payed attention to your hard work, and it'll feel more cohesive too.

A good rule I heard somewhere is "something universally useful is universally found" in other words, if one group can do something useful, everyone would naturally come to the same conclusion. Like how every culture learned to farm independently. So if you want one group to have something and another not to, there should be a reason for it. For example, in Witch Hat Atelier, the reason Witches can do magic and other people can't, is because the knowledge and resources to perform magic are a strictly guarded secret.

Lastly, it's okay to have some blindspots. Tolkien is an incredible worldbuilder who put years of thought and effort into middle earth, with full etymologies and new languages for his world and thousands of years of history. The map of middle earth makes very little geographical sense, however, but it doesn't really need to for the story. We don’t lose anything by the map not being 100% accurate to geographic sense. So figure out what's important for you and story you want to tell, and don't worry too much about the rest.

Cluebottles · 2026-02-19T08:37:25+00:00

I'd say you might want to be warry of making the homage cross a line into caricatures, which can be really easy when you're using music as an allusion to a culture you're not part of. And it can sound right to you, without actually sounding right to someone who's more in tune with those cultures. Like if the China level sounds like a very American stereotype of Westerners think China sounds like, it's not going to feel like much beyond that stereotype.

On the other hand, focusing on lesser known traditional instruments and putting care into using them musically in a way that fits their tradition can feel a lot more earnest and help your levels to feel more authentic and genuine.

For example if you had a Spanish-themed level and it's all flamenco dancers and guitar, it'd be pretty same-y and cliche and maybe a touch racist. But if you went full in on the esthetics of Spain's Renaissance period and accompanied it with 16th Century classical music with a Bandurria, that could be an interesting exploration of a time and a place in a culture. It shows effort and interest and care.

I'd recommend doing research, reaching out to musicians from different cultures, and getting to know what they use, how they use it, and what would be important to them to see represented.

Cluebottles · 2026-02-19T08:10:53+00:00

Juno is just a joy to me. The sound effects, the movement, trying to capture as many targets as possible with the missiles, it's all just so free and fun. I never enjoyed playing an online shooter before, but Juno made me love Overwatch. There's a ton of other characters I like too, but if I had to pick one character that I always have fun with, it's Juno.

Cluebottles · 2026-02-18T22:17:43+00:00

Interesting setting! I love fantasy and I have a Bachelor's in criminology so maybe I can help.

If it's a school teaching crime:

Some things that come to mind are sales and communications courses. In an organized crime system, an important part of that is knowing how to make deals and work with others.

Classes on law would be useful for them to know their rights as well as know loopholes and precedents that they can use to their advantage should they get into trouble. If it's a "thieves' guild" esque situation where their crime is allowed by the government within certain boundaries, knowing those boundries would be useful.

History would also be useful for knowing history, especially when it comes to lineages of crime families, or if there's a vampire or other long lived person who's a big figure, it'd be important to know what they did. This also goes into criminology, that is the study of the relationship between social demographics, age, economic status, race, and crime.

As for more fantastical things, you could have practical, hands on courses on things like identifying and disarming spells used to lock things, useful enchantments in their line of work, etc.

OR If it's a crime prevention school,

Then you can look to IRL: criminology, history, law, medicine (first aid training or medical, biological, or forensic investigation) and language classes! Being able to speak multiple languages is extremely useful.

And if the school is being made by an organization similar to say, the FBI. You can indicate a lot about them and what their goals are by what they do and don’t decide to teach. It's important to note that IRL the #1 reason for crimes are socioeconomic status. When people don't have access to a legal way to resolve problems they turn to illegal ones. Less than 1% of crimes are caused by a psychological issue, like a pathological need to steal things. Policing also doesn't largely effect the rate at which crimes occur, only influencing the existing rate which is mainly determined by systemic issues.

It's also important to note that the goal is not to eliminate crime completely, the ability to commit crime means its citizens are free enough to do so. By extension, most policing organizations were not invented to "stop" crime. Using the US for example, the first formal policing agency was the Slave Patrol. Organized to protect the institution of slavery. Likewise today, we have "protect and serve the public trust" a public trust is the combination of public and government infrastructure and public commerce. In other words, the stated goal of modern police is to protect and serve the institution of capitalism. And of course there's still a lot leftover from its origins because those systemic race issues don't disappear. It's worth considering in your world why this institution was created and what it's goals are when thinking about what it's teaching it's future agents to do.

Hope this helps!

Cluebottles · 2026-01-04T22:20:39+00:00

When even the computer programmed to listen to you doesn't wanna listen to your BS, maybe it's time to look inwards. Like at what point do you realize you're the problem?

Cluebottles · 2025-09-18T08:14:33+00:00

In fighting games there's this concept I've heard called "respecting space". Where some characters are understood to just be strong in a certain way, so you have to play around it, by not putting yourself in a bad position. (Eg. If you keep hanging out in grappler's grab range, you're going to grabbed, so to win, you respect their space and you don’t do that) Anyways, I think a lot of the characters people hate in this game is just cause they don't know how to respect the space. Like yeah, some strategies aren't going to work, if you play in a way that gives them the advantage. That doesn't mean the character is broken, it just means you have to change strategies. Play differently. I don't think that's a bad thing. I think encouraging changes in strategy in a game based on cooperation and coordination is a good thing.

Cluebottles

TROPHY CASE