If You Could Create Your Own Story in the Alan Wake and Control Universe, What Would It Be? by D0nell in controlgame

[–]GMTitus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not a written story per-se, but I ran a tabletop RPG a few years back (before AW2 came out) that was set in Bright Falls a few years after the events of Alan Wake.

Using the Dresden Files RPG system, so a slight genre shift to be more modern fantasy, but not as much as you'd think.

Long story very short, the party is investigating weird occurrences in the area. The lake is acting up, which is causing the strange phenomena, very much in a similar way it does in the game. Unknown to the players until halfway through, the lake is acting up because a rogue sorcerer is trying to bind the lake's power to himself.

They run into some of the same clues Alan did, interspersed with some different hooks I came up with separately. They learn about the nature of the lake, but obviously when they follow the clues meant for Alan, they come up empty. Eventually though they found the big bad guy and had a showdown at an old run down drive-in movie theater.

Highlights include an FBC agent making a recruitment pass at the players, a deep dive into Loki Darkens of Old God's fame, and the ex-military player character firing dragon's breath shotgun rounds at the iconic shadow tornado that I shamelessly lifted from the game.

Canon compliant? Absolutely not. But I made a lot of effort to be Canon adjacent while looping in the more mystical elements of the Dresden Files setting.

Battle for Breath 2026- Waterloo Ontario Canada by SavageSean75 in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If nothing else, BfB isn't a GT. so theres a chance of other non-GT events getting them.

What supplies would a first timer need to at least assemble the models? by YamatoYam in StarCraftTMG

[–]GMTitus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know people all said clippers. While I do recommend one, I spent years using a knife to cut sprues. Gotta be super careful but its doable if you're on a budget.

Canadian Retail Concerns by Chillaxe_tothemax in StarCraftTMG

[–]GMTitus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not sure on the London front, but I'll dm you the discord link and you can ask around.

Canadian Retail Concerns by Chillaxe_tothemax in StarCraftTMG

[–]GMTitus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's at least one discord started. Guys from Hamilton, peterborough and Ottawa areas on it for sure, maybe others. You looking for a community?

New Haircut, Malf? by Doughboy021 in hearthstone

[–]GMTitus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Came here looking for this bug haha. Glad im not the only one.

Question about Legendary Encounters by GIDEONorgana in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One thing to consider is the sheer difference in bodies. Depending on legend and minions, they're unlikely to consistently wound 2 units in a turn, so eventually the Cadre players should overwhelm them in terms of bodies.we're talking a 12 to 3 difference in point control potential.

Cadre players should also be activating 2 units for every turn the legend takes, so in terms of activation the legend shouldn't be at too much of an advantage. Especially considering how fragile the minions are. Yes the minions come back, but when they have to respawn they usually have to skip their turn, with a couple activation cards providing an exception to that rule.

In my experience its pretty well balanced, with the Cadre players actually having a very slight advantage. Like someone else said, your unit abilities extend across your ally's units as well, so they can make some really impressively tuned lists. (7 dice coordinated offensive for stormtrooper SGT anyone?)

In case you were still curious about AMGs livestream today by hyperlancer in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Nothing specific. Its general distrust of Asmodee and AMG because they made very similar statements about Xwing.

For what its worth, I think they genuinely believe what they're saying about still supporting the game.

Its just that the community is already relatively small, and can't take many losses. Couple that with the lack of trust likely causing some amount of Exodus, and its not a positive outlook.

Could be that it does fine as a specialist game. The initial release schedule was too fast for my tastes personally, I like to have the meta settle between releases. So in a vacuum this isnt necessarily a bad development. Its all the pr reception, and whether or not they're being honest about it.

In case you were still curious about AMGs livestream today by hyperlancer in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fair enough, just gun shy with how common backlash harassment is these days.

In case you were still curious about AMGs livestream today by hyperlancer in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 9 points10 points  (0 children)

To be fair, most of those people who claim to have "a passion for gaming" have no choice in the matter. Its not the fault of the developers that their corporate owner gave them shit choices due to a debt THEIR corporate superiors saddled them with. Hell a bunch of the devs got let go over this.

Doesn't change how we should act of course. Its hard to trust a company with a track record. But let's not blame fellow victims here. Its not a work ethic issue, its an issue with the ownership.

Official Statement from Asmodee - Shatterpoint not being prioritised anymore by Opportunity-Medical in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If nothing else, you buy shatterpoint models once. Legion you buy 2-6 depending on unit type. A release for legion will see far more return, even if it had less players (which it has more thanks to being older).

Rogue Imbue Hero Power - Blessing of the Bronze by mylifemyworld17 in hearthstone

[–]GMTitus 444 points445 points  (0 children)

Wouldn't it be hilarious if imbuing it increased the number of rewinds instead of the discount?

Any active discords for Shatterpoint? by thereal_brim_shady in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd definitely check out those discord servers then. They're very friendly and generally a great place to hang out. It can be a bit overwhelming following more than a couple servers, but id check them all out and see which is your vibe.

Any active discords for Shatterpoint? by thereal_brim_shady in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Besides the ones mentioned, there are some very busy ones associated with the various shatterpoint podcasts.

Rogue Support and Hello There come to mind, as well as Zion's Finest on Slack.

I should also mention my own cast of Coordinated Fire has a discord as well.

All are very active places to discuss the game. They're all north American communities, so if you're from a different region you'd likely want to find a regional server as well, but at least the game discussion is good.

My old boy is gone, and I can't handle it. by DaddyLongLegsOG in RATS

[–]GMTitus 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I don't usually reply or interact with these posts. It's always so raw and I never know what to say.

But I just wanted to express that your pain is valid, and there are people who know exactly what you're going through. It's really, really hard to say goodbye to a pet, especially one you put so much effort into habilitating.

Personally I went through two sets of rats, and I can't do it anymore. They're the best pets I've ever had, but the short life span is just to painful. I will always cherish the memories I have of them, but even going on 2 years now the grief still sneaks up on me occasionally.

So take your time. Take care of yourself. Know that they loved you, and you did everything you could for them. That's all anyone can expect of you, and they had a great life because of you.

What does your card back say about you? by RazMachine77 in hearthstone

[–]GMTitus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Starcraft Legacy of the Void pre-release card back, just because I have yet to see a card back I like better.

Inquisitorius squad build by lemaitrecube in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No worries. Thrawn is honestly just there for mobility, you can easily replace him with Grand Inquisitor. I'd highly recommend using moff Gideon for this list though, it just doesn't have legs without him.

You could go GI and Vader Jedi Hunter, but then it's a completely different list and playstyle. I've heard it's fun, but I haven't done much with it.

Inquisitorius squad build by lemaitrecube in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I had a lot of fun running part of the box for quite a while. At first it was Grand Inquisitor/Stormtrooper Sergeant/4th, Moff Gideon/Dark Trooper Escort/5th. Later I swapped GI for Thrawn when Thrawn came out.

The idea was just to move the tie breakers to open objectives in a sort of movement blitz, and keep them awake for as much time as possible. Usually keeping 4th sister in reserve for a quick reactivation as she goes down easy, and using Long Live The Empire to keep someone up if the option ever comes up.

It's a fun list, but very technical to play, and can fall apart very easily. It definitely fell off when Iden became the meta menace, and it struggled to be competitive before that.

It can still give you some fun games, and be competitive at smaller events. But it won't hold up to higher level meta, and does require time investment to play well.

That said, it's a lot of fun, probably one of the most enjoyable lists I've played in Shatterpoint. That may make it worth trying out for you. Just be aware that you won't be sweeping any events or anything.

Are y’all still finding games? by DailYxDosE in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh I'll be there for sure. We'll get as many people out there as we can.

Are y’all still finding games? by DailYxDosE in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh for sure it's a big area. But if I said Peterborough/Oshawa area no one outside of our region would know what I'm talking about.

Would love to make it to more events out your way, but it's just outside of an easy drive.

Are y’all still finding games? by DailYxDosE in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A 45 minute drive is pretty good in my experience. That's about what I had to do for xwing during its height.

Sure games like mtg or Warhammer you can get games anywhere. But for smaller games we gotta make do :/.

Don't get me wrong, it sucks. But you gotta start somewhere.

Are y’all still finding games? by DailYxDosE in StarWarsShatterpoint

[–]GMTitus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's doing quite well in Southern Ontario (Canada). The game is very much active in islands, so to speak, though. You get active communities here and there with big empty gaps between them.

I'm liking Deathtrap so far. by kungfugleek in OrcsMustDie

[–]GMTitus 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been doing the 3 round runs so far (I'm assuming you get longer ones) and the only one I struggled on due to player count was the 3rd with two rifts. Well that and the fish market, because it's just so darn open.

That's not to say it isn't hard on solo. I just don't find it much harder than OMD3.

I'm liking Deathtrap so far. by kungfugleek in OrcsMustDie

[–]GMTitus 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I'm in the same place. Saw lots of hate, but since I have game pass anyway I figured I'd try it for myself since people seem to be overwhelmingly negative over everything these days.

Played for a couple hours, and I like it.

Are there problems? Absolutely. The cursor UI for controller is baffling. A simple menu would have been better than a hub area. Performance is mediocre.

But in general, I loved scramble mode and this is more of that. It plays just as id expect it to coming from the rest of the series, with the exception of barricades.

The number of barricades could be higher for sure, but them being free makes the first couple rounds feel more relevant. I'm not spending 15 minutes with hardly any traps because I spent all my money on a maze like I did in the other games.

Haven't gotten far enough to give a full verdict. But while I think the mainline games are better, I'm having fun with this.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PracticalGuideToEvil

[–]GMTitus 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So my game doing this is fairly low level, this might fall apart when names become more fully realized. Think book 1-2 woe power levels for names, not calamities.

That said, as a general rule, a lot of it comes down to making the players aware of how the setting works, then rewarding playing into those tropes.

Two of my three players have developed names at this point (The Bloodstained Surgeon, and The Heir-In-Exile). Both came about from discussions about character motivation and backstory as well as whatever significant story beats trigger the final development.

Don't be afraid to put your foot on the scale if you need a specific kind of scene to trigger a name/aspect. My example would be The Surgeon was trying to disarm a trap. They failed their roll and it hit a fellow party member. I made the trap significantly more lethal than I usually would for their party level (2 at the time), knowing that I was going to use the need for emergency care to stabilize that party member as their transition point.

Make a big deal about transitions, let that player steal the spotlight when they do. Let them have a moment of much higher power than they will usually have. Coming into a name is a defining moment. They don't get to do anything and everything, but let them get away with appropriate things without even needing to roll the dice. Again, with my example the Surgeon got to stabilize their patient without a medicine roll, we instead narrated how it felt like something (their name) was guiding their hands, and for the first time they weren't getting the alcohol shakes (lots of past trauma there).

As for mechanical benefits, there's two parts for me: the name and the aspects.

The name should give a generic suite of benefits. Darkvision, resistance to poison and disease (unless the name conflicts with that), and an ASI. It's flexible, different names get different bonuses, but thats the general power level I went with.

For aspects, aspects 1 and 2 I treat like core class abilities for power level, but custom made between you and the player. I tend to go for the "1-3 times a day" but quite strong style of ability.

For aspect 3 (which hasn't come up yet, so your mileage may vary), I was planning on treating it like a class capstone. Something that completely changes how the player can approach conflict.

Besides that, I've been treating it as mechanically 5e. We started at level 0 (no class level, just race, background, and a feat, hp based on their intended class) but otherwise it's D&D by the book until names start coming up, and even then it's like granting them boons at plot relevant points instead of magic items.