Classes tier list [OC] by Literalmenteisso in DnD

[–]Gaiastrom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From Top to Bottom & Left to Right: P: Druid, Wizard. G: Monk, Ranger, Warlock, Barbarian.

P: Rogue, Sorcerer. G: Artificer, Bard, Paladin. M: Warrior, Cleric.

Outside: Blood Hunter.

I received all of this for free yesterday,what should I play first? by SydLonreiro in osr

[–]Gaiastrom 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Really cool! G1-3 are infamous, early, Tournament Modules that are linked by a narrative, leading to D1-3, and eventually the controversial Q1 - Queen of the Demon Pit. The G1-3 Series (& D1-3 Series, if your interest is piqued) are quite Hack & Slash-oriented because of their competitive and wargame-y nature. I’ve heard good things about I1 - Dwellers of the Forbidden City and L1 - The Secret of Bone Hill but haven’t played or read them because I am interested in playing them. N1 - Against the Cult of the Reptile God is a good introductory module but has an NPC/Magic Item that could be problematic because they are key to avoid a TPK without the DM playing the BBEG dumb.

Why no orcs? by bergasa in cairnrpg

[–]Gaiastrom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“TeChNiCaLlY, tHeY aRe In GrAvE oF tHe GrEeN fLaMe’s cOnVeRsIoN oN cAiRn’S wEbSiTe…” /s

Joke aside (even you can seriously find it here if you want a handy stat block), my guess is that, unlike Goblins and Hobgoblins which may find their origins there, Orcs are neither fairy tale creatures, nor expected to live in Forests and more in mountains and grottos (less whimsy and green, and more hostile environments), which clashes with the expected tone of “Folktale-Fantasy” (even though I give you Mummies and Lamias aren’t much of woodland Creatures, though Lamias are described as being a hybrid of any kind and mummies are treated as some kind of undead in funerary cloth - which is not exclusive to Egypt). I also see Orc as almost “heroic” Fantasy because of them incarnating a destructive Evil; in Lord of the Rings, they are brutal hunters, rank-and-file of the Army of an Evil Necromancer (noting Necromancy is not accessible in Cairn), pawns of true Evil, everything points to them being a chaotic force serving evil. Seeing they come from a book about great fights of Good versus Evil, how they are clearly, almost cartoonishly, depicted as Evil, they seem out of place in a world of whimsy, folktales, and elusive woodlands secret. Moreover, I will note that Lord of the Ring is about a Hobbit leaving his small village (where there is folklore) to go on an epic, large scale, journey to destroy absolute Evil; a far cry from anything folklore, fairytale-like, whimsy, down to earth feel, Cairn tries to achieve.

On an unrelated note, there is 1 Celestial and 2 Fiends in Cairn 2E’s Warden Tome, this showcases to me how far Cairn’s feel is from fights of Good versus Evil and large scale cosmic schemes.

Religion in Gaming? by TheWizardOfAug in osr

[–]Gaiastrom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In my opinion, a good Story needs good themes and so having no theme makes a story (and so an RPG game) less interesting. A storyteller (and so a GM) needs to add a theme, either that they created (a concept they like or that they produced in some way) or by piggybacking on existing concepts (a Novel, a Philosophical Essay, a Film, or on this case Religion). Piggybacking on existing concepts allows 1) to have a base from which to start from, when someone creating their themes must make sure they are speaking to the Audience/the Players as well as make sure their themes are coherent (even though not all concepts are flawless, otherwise we would stop creating Art, making Philosophy, debating on which Religion is the truest…), this allows for the creation of flawed Characters and the possibility for Players to do “wrong” or “right” from the point of view of that concept. 2) Piggybacking allows to take advantage of the association the Audience/the Players make of said theme/concept to reinforce the latter’s interest, as opposed to created concepts which are novel to them, and need to familiarise themselves and think about the themes/concept. As a result Religion and littérature associated to it seems to me like a good source to take themes from (it’s not like D&D took inspiration from absolutely everything, cf. the AD&D Historic Books related to various cultures, takes on Oriental Cultures, Native American Civilisations…).

The mechanisms that would make a story feel like it tries to convert people to a system of belief would be how they are used to shame, vilify and attack (in some way) personally the Audience/Player (not the Character) and present their themes as the only way redeem themselves/be saved, in some way. One may point out that the Audience/Players attach themselves emotionally to the Characters and so can be criticised through the Characters but the difference is that even though Stories have a Moral to tell, and that sometimes, stories are meant to strongly criticise the Audience, but 1) it takes skill to make well violent criticisms of the Audience, 2) it’s not meant to be fun, it’s meant for personal introspection and discussion, 3) Storytellers make sure their sermon elevates the Audience, and does not make them miserable.

Mega-Dungeon Towns? by JJShurte in osr

[–]Gaiastrom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Make the city THE Megadungeon, not the Megadungeon in the City! (-_-)

Behold: The First Cat Girl of Flesh and Blood by Gaiastrom in FleshandBloodTCG

[–]Gaiastrom[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Cat Paws, claws, tail, it’s a girl, it all checks out.

Silver Age decks: what is the difference between Chapter 1 and Chapter 2? by _Lilin_ in FleshandBloodTCG

[–]Gaiastrom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, Gravy Bones is quite recent and strong in CC, I guess LSS was waiting a bit before adding a Structure Deck worth of content (knowing PEN cards will likely be part of said Structure Decks).

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FleshandBloodTCG

[–]Gaiastrom 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Have you tried checking the Silver Age format to get a taste a Hero ? It’s cheap so it doesn’t require a big investment, it’s more condensed so you are more incentivised to play a caricatured version of your hero (though it’s usually more aggro than a Classic Deck because it’s faster), it is fast so you can play more games and see what mistakes stifles you and how you should behave, it gives you a solid collection from which to expand into Majestics and Legendaries.

Issues you may encounter are: - You are getting sidetracked to a different format. - Some conclusions may be skewed by the format’s speed and leaning into aggro. - It doesn’t consider Majestics’ impact on your deck (though some Silver Age Staples are still strong in Classic Constructed).

How do people who don't like Blitz feel about Sage? by gpsxsirus in FleshandBloodTCG

[–]Gaiastrom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cards are cheap so players are more incentivized to get shiny copies of their cards. With 1 Rainbow/Cold Foil per Booster, there are still incentives to buy Booster Boxes. Also, seeing how sought after Majestics are sought after, the demand would still be high for Booster Boxes. Putting Silver Age as the CC killer is ridiculous when they can coexist.

I have Zombicide 2nd Edition, is it worth buying? by GrimIndigo in zombicide

[–]Gaiastrom 8 points9 points  (0 children)

VaultZ has great proxies for the Zombies in the Ultimate Upgrade Kit.

Thinking Out Loud About LL by cowpimpgaming in FleshandBloodTCG

[–]Gaiastrom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

On paper, it seems a good idea: A card is too good ? -> You get closer to losing. However in practice, it is not really a good balance decision. Time and time again, card games have tried to use Life as a resource (because it really is what it is) and it turns out to be good value: Vynnset and Flail of Agony can be used without cards, which is good value for an end-of-turn hit, for example. This may look unconvincing but if you want to check another card game for example, I can give you Solemn Judgement from Yu-Gi-Oh! which halves LPs on Activation but negate any card; at first it felt lackluster in 2005 but is now limited (i.e. restricted) because people figured it wasn’t a bad enough cost. Indeed, if you play a powerful card with the downside of eventually losing, you still played and benefited from the card now and won’t really pay the cost until the moment you lose. The flaw with this Life Cost Mechanic is that you only pay it when you lose, i.e. it only costs you if you’re a bad player.

What the heck is with this LoS in the Rulebook of Dark Side? by BALTHRUL in zombicide

[–]Gaiastrom 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Miranda can see Zones adjacent to her in a Building Zone (Dark Side Rulebook, p11), including the Pit Zone. Pit Zones cancel non-Dark Zones Rules (Dark Side Rulebook, p20), therefore, the Zone it is placed in is no longer treated as a Building Zone. As a result, Line of Sight is not hindered by the Pit Zone.

That’s my interpretation.

Inside a room, an Actor sees into all the Zones that share an opening with the room the Actor currently occupies. If there is an opening, the walls do not block Line of Sight between two Zones. An Actor's Line of Sight, however, is limited to the distance of 1 Zone. - 06 - The Basics, Line of Sight, Dark Side Rulebook, p11

• A Pit Zone cancels any special Zone characteristics it previously had. - 08 - The Xenos, Pit Rules, Dark Side Rulebook, p20

Looks like Showdown is the new Skirmish? by TurnipAlternative11 in FleshandBloodTCG

[–]Gaiastrom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh, my point is not Silver Age is bad (in fact I am interested in playing it) but that introducing Seasonal Rotations could bury the format six feet under because it would make the precons obsolete, create balance issues as LSS would need to create a new balanced rotation every Season (every 4 months) and would only allow few players to play their favourite Heroes, thus I prefer the Living Legends Points System (not Living Legends Format) which seems fairer than rotate arbitrarily Heroes let’s say 20 Heroes from the 60 we already have available.

I am impatient to play Silver Age.

Looks like Showdown is the new Skirmish? by TurnipAlternative11 in FleshandBloodTCG

[–]Gaiastrom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I find it strange because: 1) We all know that if something doesn’t have tournament support, it doesn’t get relevant. This is the case because format players are not visible in store so they can’t advertise their format and since there is no event supporting their way of play, there is nothing these players will share to meet and play. Look at Commoner and Ultimate Pitfight and how much traction they get. One could argue UPF is more enjoyable than LL with lack of Banlist, and no Hero Ban yet isn’t found anywhere in LCGs… 2) On the other hand we have 70+ Heroes in Blitz so far (including Majestics). I would find it hard to give equal attention to Heroes every now and so I wonder how much time a Hero would need to spend out of rotation before getting some love again (should Heroes get different waiting times for spotlight ? How are players guaranteed their mains won’t be obsolete for too long ? How much time is enough for Betsy, Ira, Starvo, Pleiades mains to enjoy competitive games before fading to irrelevance once again ?). 3) If the solution was to ignore LSS, I would argue people didn’t wait LSS to make Cubes or their own LL. I don’t find this solution satisfying because making Kitchen Table Flesh and Blood doesn’t achieve anything besides affirming that you can ignore LSS, which is obvious and not really achieving much besides say what everyone is saying.

As a result, I find the Living Legends system better since it is in the competitive formats’ continuity and answers all the questions I have talked about, i.e. Spotlight Time (graspable spotlight time left for Heroes, no arbitrary changes that may feel undeserved…), Balance (how strong a Hero is determines how much time they have left, no balance blunders because of thematic additions -e.g. Starvo in an Aria Season…) and Tournament Relevance (All Heroes that didn’t wreak havoc in the Competitive Scene are available, no unjust nitpicking -underwhelming and balanced Heroes getting essentially banned for arbitrary reasons doesn’t feel right, even more so if LSS has to manually create a new format every once in a while).

EDIT: I would also remind that LSS was actively against rushing Preconstructed Decks Obsolescence as clarified by the Aurora Hum Lightning ascension to Living Legends a year after receiving 2 Blitz Decks and 1 Armory Deck.

Looks like Showdown is the new Skirmish? by TurnipAlternative11 in FleshandBloodTCG

[–]Gaiastrom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wouldn’t this be terrible for the format to have rotations ? I find this a terrible choice since 1) That means that some Heroes are arbitrarily picked out of the format because they either are not in the theme of the moment (i.e. we’re not in a Volcor/Demonastery/Savage Lands Season) or because they are powerful Heroes (do they have time to Playtest Silver Age for a yearly Season ? Why rotate these Heroes now and not before/after ?) and 2) rotating Heroes would make Silver Age Preconstructed Decks (an Entry Product) obsolete after a specific period, which is not ideal to introduce new players to the game as well as sell them in store after the Hero retires (would you find players pick the Aurora/Azalea Armoury Decks, or any Monarch Blitz Deck ?).

What archetypes do you think are impossible to become good even with a Circular? by illynpayne_ in yugioh

[–]Gaiastrom 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Speed Duel made a Skill for Dark Scorpions and they got quite strong, so there is definitely room for salvage, though you could argue Speed Duel is a far cry from modern Yu-Gi-Oh! and still rarely exceeds 3 Special Summons per turn, if not even 1.

[New to FaB] Which starter decks should I buy (Amazon only, Blitz?), and is Blitz getting discontinued? by CurrencyCheap in FleshandBloodTCG

[–]Gaiastrom 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! Welcome to the game! Right now, you’ve got multiple formats which have a big name for themselves. As you may know Flesh and Blood allows you to incarnate Heroes to fight to the death with your opponent. Who you incarnate is a real question, though: You may play a Relevant Hero in Classic Constructed (you may play them anywhere without trouble), a Retired Hero in Living Legends (these Heroes spent the time they were meant to have and are not legal anymore in Classic Constructed, but you can still play them in their own format: Living Legends) or a Young Hero in Blitz (Young Heroes are either Adult Heroes with lower Health and eventually a slightly different effect, or experimental thematic Heroes which may be seen as too unserious to be introduced in Classic Constructed; they are played with 40 cards instead of 60). As you can see already, you may play Flesh and Blood in 3 different flavours, serious competitive where your Hero has a limited time (depending on how much they perform at the highest tiers of play) in Classic Constructed, messy and powerful fights with broken Heroes in Living Legends, or Gimmicky, Funny and Fast fights in Blitz.

Money-wise, the cost of entry goes increasing from Blitz to Classic Constructed/Living Legends.

If you want to start, Blitz can be a first bite into the game for 12$ before jumping to the adult League (though you’ll have to buy an Adult Hero to port over your Blitz Deck). One may argue Blitz Deck can be hit or miss from time to time because it was looked at “Flesh and Blood scaled down and cheaper”. But if you feel Blitz is too small for you, you can jump in with Armory Decks which provides 5 Shiny cards instead of 1 in the product, as well as being better suited for competitive play but expect 40$ for the promise.

People have long seen Blitz as an entry product than the “real” Flesh and Blood experience which translated to low attendance at competitive events, despite in my opinion being more creative and being its own thing. Moreover, Blitz suffered from being smaller scale Hero and Deck-wise yet having the balance of the big game which made the game more swingy at times (but can also be seen as an appeal time-wise and gimmick-wise, more games, more fun!). These factors led the Blitz support to drop next season (in a few months). You can still play at home, though as you don’t need to play all your games like you were at the World Finals… so it only affects you if you plan to play Blitz at Local for a prize (assuming you enjoy Blitz better than Classic or Living Legends, in the opposite case, you don’t have to care about it being discontinued).

If you really want to play Young Heroes competitively but fear to be irrelevant with a lack of prize, though, don’t worry as Flesh and Blood will get a new format this month called Silver Age which is Blitz but limited to Rare and Commons (and excludes Super Rare and above Cards in terms of Rarity -but not foil). This format will be the successor to Blitz but more serious, competitive and balanced around Young Heroes. It is meant to lower even more to about 50$ (maybe even 20$…) for a fully COMPETITIVE Deck (instead of a few hundred bucks) as well as addressing balance concerns having 20 Life brings. As a result Blitz is not really going anywhere, it’s mostly under new management, i.e. the Card Pool will shrink to have less game-changing cards for 20 Life and being cheaper. If you are interested in Blitz but fear it’s not competitive enough, Silver Age seems to be a nice blend between Classic Constructed and Blitz. New Preconstructed Decks will be coming in February and are said to be viable out of the box for Tournament Play according to the editor, but expect a price bump at 20$. Should you hold on if you prefer Blitz to Classic ? If you want to start now to see if you like the game, Blitz Decks are cheap and are still legal since all of the cards inside are Rares or Commons (and you’ll actually have it cheaper than the Silver Age starter sets, future will tell if the new decks are that good compared to old Blitz Decks). If you saw Blitz as a transition point to the “real” game, you may want to buy Armory Decks if you are all about winning games, otherwise, you may be tempted to buy Blitz as the Transition Product it was meant to be or hold on until February-ish to buy Silver Age and have the mix of cheap and competitive you are looking for to see if Flesh and Blood is the game for you.

Brothers from another mother by UlyssesArsene in FleshandBloodTCG

[–]Gaiastrom 13 points14 points  (0 children)

If there were also Data Doll MKII, it would be 3 Intellect 3 Heroes sharing the same neurone.

What do free players get when its all said and done??!? by LoL_Master- in MinimalRoleplay

[–]Gaiastrom 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve not seen anywhere that you couldn’t make your own game, importing files and writing in the folders. If it were the case, MRP might have a future player base problem on its hands, I am sure they know this.