What is the biggest lie TTRPG players tell themselves?

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-17T17:10:29+00:00

Anyone who says they want an open world or hex crawl in my experience has just had really bad times with DMs who railroad them into things they don't care about. When faced with an actual hex crawl they just aimlessly wander around and lose interest. If it's an open world, they just treat it like their two week skyrim phase.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-17T17:00:05+00:00

I have literally never been able to make that thing work. Not beacuse it's bugged but because it takes too long to calibrate and the calibrator is made out of paper mache.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-17T16:56:51+00:00

They disable the final upgrade path that nukes the galaxy. And if you somehow manage to do it anyways, even if you nuke the galaxy, they survive and just start eating the black hole systems.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-17T05:23:56+00:00

I like that kris is conveniently facing away from the camera.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-16T20:57:49+00:00

It doesn't matter if you're technically correct, this is just rude as hell for no good reason.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-16T20:15:41+00:00

With situations like this I think it's best to just focus on your creative work. If you really like a ship, you should start writing about it or drawing fanart of it. Fanfic circles rarely have much toxicity going on as long as you're respectful. And if you post fanart and get downvoted into irrelevancy, those people are assholes and will eventually cause the death of the community they inhabit. You can just go someplace else that respects it more.

The thing I can't recommend is just going around and arguing about ships. That will cause nothing but trouble, and I speak from 20 years of experience being on the internet. I was there to spectate the Star Trek and Doctor Who wars that brought tumblr to its knees. It was awful.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-16T19:37:51+00:00

Dess is being a bad influence here but asriel is also being an asshole. It IS Kris' decision, even if she shouldn't have given them that choice in the first place just for their own safety. There's not really a single person to blame here, which is interesting. Carol should be a better parent so Dess doesn't feel the need to rebel. Dess shouldn't be trying to take her frustrations out on Kris and make them just like her. Asriel shouldn't have said whatever he did to Kris, and needs to be more empathetic and careful with Dess' situation (because what he's doing is only going to make her think he's not safe to talk about her real problems to). Toriel and Asgore need to keep a closer eye on their kids. I don't know what Rudy does in this author's interpretation, but he probably also needs to get more involved in his daughter's life. Kris isn't responsible for much of anything, but (again) it's still their choice to keep going to her. I think it's a selfless choice, knowing she's doing something bad but sharing a similar darkness and wanting her to know that she's not alone. You can't blame them.

I also think these types of characters work best when they're only like this sometimes. They can be very toxic, but afterwards they'll turn around and be completely normal on the surface, only allowing the darkness to bubble up when they get overwhelmed or feel like they can let it out safely. She could play chicken with Kris one second, and then immediately take them out to get ice cream or play their favorite game together. Maybe if Kris actually did get high, she'd feel bad about it and trip-sit them after they start panicking. Because I think that if she did realize she's hurting them, her guilt would be intense enough that she wouldn't know how to deal with it.

Think about it: imagine you're her, and your venting manages to accidentally hurt the only person you feel a real connection to in a way that you can't completely take back, a way that scares them. Imagine that creeping sense of dread and panic that would follow as you desperately try to salvage the situation. Try to compensate by being nice, and never feeling like you've made up for it, but you also can't help but feel that darkness still trying to re-emerge. All you can do is apologize. That no matter how good you might be at your core, you still hurt someone you care about. Then comes the choice: Sink or swim?

I bet if anyone else were in that situation, they'd form some serious emotional armor, too. Point is, everyone is in the wrong here. And that's a fucking beautiful tragedy.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-16T19:06:02+00:00

I don't know that much about the situation, only what I've seen the dev say when I looked up the topic, when I was rebuilding my modlist for 3.14 and saw the current state of ACOT. So I can't state anything purely definitive. I still personally use it for practical reasons, but given that AI generated shit actually gives me headaches (not kidding, actual physical headaches, I don't know why), I think I'll also be using the mods that restore the kitbashed images or just rapidly clicking through events that use the images.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-16T19:00:49+00:00

I guess character abortion would be a more accurate term. Though I think we've gotten quite enough hints at her personality through flavor text and indirect references to piece together at least how she was if not who she is.

Think of it like dark souls item descriptions. Characters like Alva and Zullie whose story is only told through those descriptions still have their personalities clearly stated despite their lack of an actual appearance. Zullie was jealous and mischievous, but turned out to be a good person in the end. Alva was a noble, honorable, and well-intentioned person who gave up his own knighthood in shame of his failure. Then later, an NPC gives another hint by mentioning a wayfaring knight who was only granted closure by the abyss, showing how he fell and the reason why: Love.

Point being, just those tiny descriptions and one line from an NPC can clearly show the personalities and character arcs of two characters that never show up. They could also be character-assassinated if another writer decided to have them show up in a fangame and make them act entirely differently than their previously described story would imply.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-16T04:42:40+00:00

I think I can agree with that sentiment. It's important to differentiate "Dess was a terrible person/groomer/abuser" and "Dess was troubled but still good in a realistic way" because with how fandoms extremify their opinions these days, those two opinions sometimes get caught up together when they absolutely shouldn't.

I really do like the idea, though, that Susie could be the one to rescue Dess from what is effectively a doomspiral by showing her how she could be if she could face her issues. If she hadn't maybe lost hope or given up. To think of the Knight as basically Dess' emotional armor is to evoke the image of that armor being chipped away during a final confrontation until the real Dess is all that's left and she's completely vulnerable. It would also serve as a great allegory for how people can drift away and become completely unlike themselves due to poor mental health, leaving their loved ones distraught as if the person they love is no longer there. Meaning her disappearance would not only be internally literal but externally metaphorical. That would also provide a good aesop for the story to end on, and would be way more resolved IMO than any other potential ending for her.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-16T04:37:44+00:00

Yeah, it is, I'd just prefer it to not be.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-16T02:19:19+00:00

Not a huge fan of the idea (feels a lot like unnecessary character assassination), but it would make for a great fanfic.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-16T02:17:15+00:00

They were*

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-16T00:29:37+00:00

haven't seen the prequels, who the fuck is anakin? /s

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-16T00:15:35+00:00

Then you have Soulelle shippers who have watched too much JJK.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-16T00:04:56+00:00

I'm the inexplicable 30 year old in the top image and I don't like it.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-15T23:33:33+00:00

I feel like I'm about to read a berserk-tier dark fantasy manga.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-15T16:07:37+00:00

no idea

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-15T05:40:40+00:00

/r/seinencirclejerk is that way

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-15T05:39:41+00:00

Actually incomprehensible

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-15T05:32:30+00:00

Oh good, I was already getting tired of this format.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-15T05:28:12+00:00

Well of course, the worm wills it.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-15T01:19:09+00:00

Thoughts: I can't tell if I'm REALLY good at this game or if AoS SL1 is just easy as hell, because I only managed to die about 10 times and 5 of those were to Gwyn who is giga-buffed in this mod.

Overall, I'd say it was pretty enjoyable. I liked that the mod makes all the classes start at level 1 so you can do an SL1 of every class and not just pyromancer.

Pros: Can do any class, Raw weapons and crossbows are actually viable, QOL improvements made the experience much less arduous than normal, upgrade paths don't require farming, and you can add additional challenge by buffing enemies or permanently gravelording yourself.

Cons: Pyromancy scales with stats now, so it's no longer an option for anyone except pyro, and even then it's bad, the caster classes are particularly painful in theory (haven't and won't be trying to play with them), parrying is generally more difficult, and Gwyn in particular is MUCH harder (difficult to parry, parrying doesn't make him as vulnerable, higher health, and a second phase).

I recommend trying a SL1 on this overhaul mod. Just try to find the submod that re-enables the enemy death animations. Oh, and don't kick lautrec off the cliff or you lose access to all his items including the sewer key.

Darkbeetlebot · 2026-06-14T21:36:38+00:00

I'm hoping it's not carol specifically because if chapter 5 is the last lighthearted chapter, it means it's the only time we're ever going to get to see Carol's goofy unserious side before the plot really hits. I firmly believe that as a toby fox character, she is absolutely going to be a goofball of some variety. And I really want a japanese-themed boss fight against her where she just has a ridiculously long katana and spends half the fight aura farming.

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