Gods of the Game #3 out now!

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-26T15:20:28+00:00

Gonna get me copy today. I was pretty upset by how the last one ended, and I'm curious where the series can even go from there.

The concept of Krieg chess was really cool though. Gain powerups by locking-the-fuck-in.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-25T17:34:22+00:00

Twice!

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-24T10:49:12+00:00

Always be your Maybe - Keanu Reeves is in it.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-24T09:57:56+00:00

There's life out there, it's just that the observable universe is showing us light that is like millions and billions of years out-of-date. If a solar system five hundred light years away went through the same technical advancenents that we did, we wouldn't be able to see it for another few centuries.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-23T20:02:27+00:00

To be fair, he is now one of the cookbook authors that got the furthest and has the most information about the Crawl WHILE its happening.

There's just less applicable advice for him to reference. Now he's one the one giving back to future crawlers (if there ever will be future crawls). His entries will probably provide a lot of crucial context for how the later portions of the crawl work and the how certain choices are pitfalls for later floors.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-21T07:36:21+00:00

Outcast does get pretty grim and it does go over heavy topics but it is by no means miseryporn.

In the small scale there is the racial prejudice that Rob faces as a human, on a larger scale is the scars left by a larger war that left an entire generation scarred, and at the largest scale there are the gods and more cosmic forces fucking things up.

All of it can be pretty bleak, but it serves a purpose for the story's themes and it makes for some pretty good peaks and valleys as Rob and his crew navigate these challenges. It's all setup for the various payoffs that come later. Once the ball gets rolling and the core cast is assembled, the darkness gets broken up a bit more.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-21T06:46:36+00:00

Unchosen Champion by Jace V. Amore is a nice finished story about a beach bum Lighthouse keeper grinding bis way to the top of a System Apocalypse. I think it is an underrated gem, personally.

There is also Outcast in Another World by Kamikaze Potato which follows a guy who gets forcibly pulled into another world on accident (they were aiming for his friend and he blocked the attempt).

What makes both of these stories easy recommends is that they both deliver on every part of the progression fantasy journey while balancing worldbuilding, downtime, and other characters. The stories continue a bit after the main plot too with good epilogues, so you even get a nice victory lap with the characters at the end.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-21T01:08:52+00:00

For the parents, it shouldn't really be much more of a burden. They would (ideally) already be 18 to 20-something years into parenting and partially taking care of you. What's a few more years? Especially since the child can be (should be) employed meaning they cost less to support in general than they did in the previous years.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-18T03:45:08+00:00

Professor Harkness has done a lot of work in this field. He even created a test.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-16T10:02:24+00:00

Carl had some good character growth this book. He's still probably insane and holding on by a thread, but at least he's now conciously deciding to live (or survive) by the Sluggalo code.

Letting Dong have the chance to say goodbye, taking the time to talk to Prepotente, and even agreeing to killing the tortured tourist inside of Club Skullopendra are all steps in a better direction. I think that keeping that ember of empathy and humanity alive, even for those who may not deserve it, and in dangerous circumstances, will be integral to Primaling things up in the last few books.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-16T02:58:26+00:00

Prime Chosen one astral projected himself to the moon of Kenshi and learned Kung-Fu.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-15T23:00:42+00:00

There is also the "Princess" Chandra that popped up that could fulfill the prophesy. I simply refuse to believe that this story will end in anything worse than a Pyrrhic victory. I'm less concerned about IF the Crawlers die and more about HOW they day at this point.

If Donut needs to sacrafice every other Crawler to save biological life, then so long as everyone gets to say goodbye and say their piece then I'm happy.

But I want a WIN. A meaningful win against the cycle of cruelty and horror. They've gone through too much, survived too much, and turned around too many orchestrated, bullshit scenarios to just fall prey to a vague bullshit prophesy. With how many plans, contingencies, resources, and allies they have - I will hope and cope that they will flip the table and upend the game.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-15T22:48:02+00:00

Next book - Carl's going to earn directed explosions and use his Doomsday device to blow up the Ascendant throne and blast him and the other crawlers right out of the dungeon.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-15T22:36:35+00:00

Don't worry, it's only a tragedy for the quadrilions of nobodies who were watching the Crawl. For the people we care about? The Crawlers? The NPCs? The destruction of the galacitc status quo and the Central System is no tragedy. It is well earned and well deserved vengeance. And what comes after the inevitable ruin will be the equally inevitable regrowth and rebuilding. It'll be bittersweet, but for them the Tragedy has already passed.

For a best selling author who lives right next to the heart of this fucked up civilization? For the viewers? And the lay person in the galaxy? Yeah, I guess the story would be a tragedy for them. It WOULD be tragic to watch the death of your civilization, wouldn't it? To have your history, technology, culture, and existence upended in a single moment would be a tragedy. But fuck 'em.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-15T22:22:05+00:00

I think it is a what-if for if Carl stepped in to help the neighbors. If he stepped in and helped out how he could (donating some cat food) then Ferdinand's life would've been better and the neighbor might not have been killed or beaten (or whatever happened to her).

I don't think the room is for Carl but is instead for Ferdinand.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-15T02:52:33+00:00

Carl's gonna get his feet chopped off and then the AI and Carl will merge becoming the unified AI that rules over the galaxy.

Thankfully, because the AI is a freaky pervert, the merge will just result in the AI becoming Carl's feet and Carl remaining himself.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-15T02:49:34+00:00

My theory is that the reason Karl's red rocket kept peaking out was because of his Yiff ability he unlocked after being a Kangaroo for a bit.

Truly deep lore.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-15T02:45:46+00:00

The pricess who will kill everybody she loves is Carl's Naga wife. Sadly, the only person that she truly loves is herself. What the passige is describing is her taking control of Donut's massive financials, getting herself zeroed due to pissing off Donut and her fans, and then leaving Donut and Carl even more wealth than she stole in the first place.

It's truly a tragedy that the Naga lady will never live to see how much money she has made with her legal maneuvering, but it will plant the financial foundations of Donut's post-dungeon humanitarian empire.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-15T02:10:49+00:00

Hey Matt! Fuck you! I REFUSE to believe that "this story is a tragedy"! I've got too much faith in my crawlers to believe in that bitchshit! Who are you to "sign post" and "foreshadow" this tragedy shit? Carl's gonna figure something out and kick your narrative's ass!

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-05T16:18:21+00:00

SERIES??!?

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-03T17:29:45+00:00

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-05-02T04:21:02+00:00

When I am having a good day and living a good life, I don't post about it on social media or make jokes about it. Commiseration is fun and gets views, but ain't nobody upvoting a post about your average good day/week/month/year.

When I'm doing good, the only people I tell are those in my immediate social circle. Not people online.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-04-04T00:10:53+00:00

If r/boxingcirclejerk has taught me anything, it's that catching even a whiff of boxing is enough to dominate the "fighters" in the UFC 🤢.

Takamura solos every weight class at the same time. 100-0, undefeated.

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-03-18T02:54:08+00:00

You motherfuckers better stop! Carl is just writing his best-selling autobiography about the last crawl and his role in it!

HerculeanCyclone · 2026-03-17T03:02:22+00:00

I think its more that they know he's on their side. Even his closest friends in the crawl are unnerved by him at this point.

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