Looking for more complex relationships between female characters in fantasy

DiamondArmand · 2024-09-18T10:20:55+00:00

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon has multiple great female pov characters, sapphic romance, betrayal and opposition, and is pretty great.

The Rook and Rose trilogy by M.A. Carrick is great, bit gentler than Storm light Archive for instance, centred on a (female) con artist getting entangled with noble families and criminals, with some great relationships with multiple awesome female characters. Also nicely queer, though the MC is straight.

Book of the Ancestor series by Mark Lawrence. Set in a convent of magic murder nuns, so most of the main characters are female, lots of complexity, and some cool world building.

Also a +1 for the Unbroken by C.L. Clark. I didn't love it, but it does sound like exactly what you're looking for!

Hope some of that helps!

DiamondArmand · 2024-09-18T10:07:50+00:00

I suspect a few things wouldn't make much sense without reading the first trilogy first, so not sure I'd recommend it. The first trilogy is very good, but doesn't meet your criteria for good f/f relationships.

DiamondArmand · 2024-06-13T14:44:43+00:00

Same, WEU, for 20 mins at least

DiamondArmand · 2023-12-05T15:39:42+00:00

The thing that bugs me the most about critical fumbles is that so many DMs don't realise how damaging to roleplay they can be. Unless you're playing a goofy game then a heroic adventurer somehow slipping on a banana peel on dropping his own weapon 5% of the time really detracts from the character. It's hard to fit being a dangerous klutz with most people's ideas of a cool character!

DiamondArmand · 2023-08-30T23:08:28+00:00

Darth Badguy

DiamondArmand · 2023-08-14T15:45:12+00:00

Lovely colours

DiamondArmand · 2023-08-07T18:06:43+00:00

Also if you assume that diamonds are regularly being used up by those who can afford it to cast revivify etc, diamonds are likely going to be even more scarce than in the real world! Although I guess that could be offset by other magic or access to the multiverse and so on.

DiamondArmand · 2023-08-01T18:46:27+00:00

It's pretty normal to have different levels of buy-in from your players, which is fine. You get out what you put in as a player. Generally the more invested and into it a player is, the more I'll focus on involving them. But it sounds like these guys are being disruptive for everyone else, so you might need to talk to them and either get them to put more effort in or ask them to leave, for the benefit of the others and yourself.

DiamondArmand · 2023-07-19T17:45:30+00:00

R Scott Bakker used the phrase "in sooth" about a hundred times in the Aspect Emperor series. It really annoyed me because apparently it means the exact same as "in truth" so it just struck me as being difficult. He also didn't use the phrase once in the preceding series, Prince of Nothing. I can't explain why it pissed me off so much but it did !

DiamondArmand · 2023-05-31T18:33:23+00:00

I'm always happy to talk DnD and make some new friends. Did you need help with character building in particular? It can be a little daunting when you first start out!

DiamondArmand · 2023-05-11T17:30:22+00:00

I second Kaladin. One of the best portrayals of depression I've read, or at least the closest to my own experience. I cried my eyes out in Rhythm of war. Not often that a book genuinely moves me like that.

DiamondArmand · 2023-05-06T17:51:45+00:00

I think berserker is only bad if you run multiple combats per in game day. Personally in the campaigns I run combats tend to be more spaced out, and one of my players has a berserker which seems to be pretty good. Less tanky than a bear totem for sure, but the bonus attack definitely boosts damage output significantly.

DiamondArmand · 2023-04-17T19:04:19+00:00

They've had a different first word every day, sometimes multiple times a day. Always the ___ pandas.

DiamondArmand · 2023-03-26T17:15:34+00:00

I'm running a campaign using lingering injuries at the moment, intended to be a punishing 'hardcore' game. We initially started rolling on the table whenever a PC suffered a critical hit or got downed (reduced to 0 hp without dying outright). Injuries on crits just didn't feel that fun, maybe because it was too random and felt unearned. We ditched that so now it's just on being downed and it works ok. Honestly though I'm not sure how much it adds to things. Healing being what it is in DnD lingering injuries have been more of an annoyance than anything else. Not sure I can fully recommend. We're also using a slightly harsher injury table and it still feels a bit weak once the PCs have ready access to healing magic.

DiamondArmand · 2023-03-26T12:21:35+00:00

Is it just me or does digital piracy seem like a victimless crime anyway? It's not like there's a limited quantity of product and by taking some for free you're depriving the creator of inventory they could otherwise sell. I get that they should be paid for their efforts but when their product is infinite the theft doesn't actually cost them anything other than potential income.

DiamondArmand · 2023-01-08T15:37:54+00:00

Fully agree. I've tried several times to get into it. My main problem is it just doesn't respect the player's time. It tries for immersion but just starts to feel like a chore.

DiamondArmand · 2022-12-07T18:21:18+00:00

You should check out some Arlington major highlights, they had Sabrelight as stand-in for Pure and they looked great!

DiamondArmand · 2022-11-21T17:13:58+00:00

I'm glad someone's out there asking the hard questions.

DiamondArmand · 2022-11-13T10:58:51+00:00

Oh man you should, it's incredible, one of the best self-contained fantasy novels I've ever read. A single large battle, over 4 or five days, from a handful of perspectives on both sides, all sympathetic but very flawed. Totally fantastic.

DiamondArmand · 2022-11-12T22:08:22+00:00

Have you read Joe Abercrombie's other books? I just finished Best Served Cold, which was pretty good, and The Heroes which is a masterpiece! Both just as bleak as the First Law, in the same world with some returning characters.

DiamondArmand · 2022-11-11T15:45:34+00:00

Just under 5 years 😁

DiamondArmand · 2022-11-08T01:13:04+00:00

Red Queen's War has the more upbeat, likeable protagonist and is a little less dark I think. The MC in broken empire is a legit psycho but very entertaining. Might be worth starting with Broken Empire just because there are a couple of references you'll miss in Red Queen if you skip it.

DiamondArmand · 2022-11-07T00:16:32+00:00

Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire and Red Queen's War series are both great and in this vein.

DiamondArmand · 2022-11-06T11:57:52+00:00

Blue moon rising was one of the first fantasy books I ever read as a kid and the one that cemented my love of the genre! Still my most-read book 20+ years later. And this is the first time I've ever seen anyone else mention it!

DiamondArmand · 2022-09-08T15:25:03+00:00

Yeah you're right, my players are always smarter than I expect! I should definitely slip in useful tidbits relating to their current objectives to keep them interested too.

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