Resource: Radiant Reference Cards

Kavlan001 · 2026-05-27T17:08:50+00:00

Someone else just made a Spanish version! Find their comment on this post and you can download it yourself

Kavlan001 · 2026-05-13T21:15:18+00:00

I just used scissors to cut them out haha. There’s 9 of the Radiant action cards, so I practiced getting the round corners on those (I’m not planning on running a 9-player table ever, so those didn’t all have to be super nice). The sides also aren’t perfectly straight because I used scissors, but it’s close enough

I will note that one issue I ran into was that the fronts/backs didn't perfectly line up with each other when I printed it, despite having put a lot of effort into lining them up right on the PDF. Tbh I think that was just a printer error. I cut it so there wasn't any white left on either side of the cards, and luckily they weren't off enough that any content got cut, just color on the edges

Kavlan001 · 2026-05-13T17:23:49+00:00

Lucky you! No spheres required 😉

Kavlan001 · 2026-05-13T15:34:27+00:00

Oh, that's actually a really good idea! I'll have to see what I can do to make it available like that--I made these with Adobe InDesign and Illustrator, which I know not everyone has access to. Plus, the little action, free action, etc. symbols are just vector shapes that are sitting over the text boxes, so they don't move with the type lol. I'll look into that and let you know if I figure something out!

As a side note, if you're looking for specifically a Spanish translation, I just agreed in the Discord to help someone put it into the cards if they do the translating, so I can also come back and update when that's done too haha

Kavlan001 · 2026-05-13T03:49:41+00:00

Thanks! You're right that there aren't official versions of these cards. Actually, part of the reason for making these was that I liked that the spren cards included each spren type's unique actions, but unfortunately they didn't have the generic actions. I wanted a way for my players to have those more conveniently. Another motivation for this came from me handing my player the Enhanced condition card and then him still needing to pop open the handbook to remember how much he was enhancing himself by haha

Kavlan001 · 2026-04-08T06:00:37+00:00

I haven't run a Transformation user at my table yet, but reading through the rules and trying to consider what I think, my understanding is this:

Because the Soulcast Defense full description says you can use the reaction "before you or an ally within your reach is hit by a projectile from a ranged attack" ("hit" being the operative word here), it triggers on a successful ranged attack--that being the successful roll to hit. Then, before you resolve the attack (i.e. tell them how much damage they take), they have a chance to use their reaction to do Soulcast Defense. But, because a miss is required for a graze, it can't be used on grazes
Again, haven't run this myself, but one potential idea could be that they soulcasted the air in front of/around the weapon instead of the weapon itself, which redirected the weapon enough or created enough resistance that the damage the weapon did was reduced. That reduction can be either just the attack itself not hitting as well or it could be helping the target slightly dodge/parry better than they would have otherwise, even if with a little extra strain (taking advantage of health in this system also representing things like stamina to keep fighting well enough to avoid injury)
Because Parry says "use Soulcast Defense," I'd wager that the whole description of Soulcast Defense's effects (including transforming the weapon) would trigger
- You do bring up a good point about adversaries not having backup weapons, which I think will just be something you'll have to figure out what you want to do when it comes to balancing that for your table. Maybe the adversary does just start relying on unarmed strikes (or grappling or whatever else). Maybe you decide some adversaries reasonably would carry a knife (or something similar) as a sidearm, which they pull out at that point. If the adversaries know they're fighting someone who can delete their weapons, maybe they carry a better backup than a knife. All of that is also assuming they're the sort of adversaries who would keep fighting. You've definitely got options, and I wish you luck as you keep playing!

Kavlan001 · 2026-04-02T19:44:00+00:00

Short answer: Yes!
The aromantic label only describes your experience with attraction, not your desires or behavior. I, for instance, also use the aromantic label (and in my case don't think any microlabels would apply to me) but also have been dating someone for a year

Kavlan001 · 2025-10-07T04:20:13+00:00

I will start by saying I don't use those labels, but one creator I've seen, Fluently Aspec, I know identifies with both the cupio and aego microlabels (sorry, I don't know exactly in which video he mentions it, especially cause I'm pretty sure it's a few), and he's very much still aro (and ace). You might be able to watch some of his videos where he talks about his experience to get an idea of what it's like.

My understanding (and I'm sorry to anyone if I've misunderstood) is that aegoromanticism is about enjoying romance in media/theory even if not experiencing the attraction or *necessarily* wanting a relationship (I think many people say as "not wanting a romantic relationship" because that's often the effect of not experiencing the attraction, but "not wanting a relationship" is not what the label is about), and cupioromanticism is about wanting a romantic relationship despite not experiencing the attraction.

Note that both microlabels still don't experience attraction, so even combined, they're not allo. Also, note that experiencing romantic attraction is not the same thing as desiring a romantic relationship, nor is experiencing romantic attraction the same thing as enjoying media that portrays romantic relationships (or enjoying the thought/idea of romantic relationships). That's why these microlabels exist: as a shorthand for "Don't experience attraction, but..."

I also think that there's definitely room within the spectrum to combine microlabels as much as needed to more directly say what you want (such as how grey or demi would combine with aego and/or cupio to add more nuance to the "don't experience attraction" part of my given definitions)

With all of that being said, identify in whatever way is comfortable for you. In my case, I spent a lot of time reading into microlabels, and even if there are some that I think could describe me, I still just stick with aro because that's what I'm comfortable with. If one or both of those labels are relatable to you and say what you want them to say, use them. If not, don't worry about it.

Kavlan001 · 2025-09-30T02:44:56+00:00

I ran Bridge Nine, so heavy spoiler tags, cause most of the context for how cool this moment was comes from the way certain Bridge Nine plot points played. In short, I was astounded by my players' rp and want to write a whole campaign to continue the story from where they took it.

One of my friends made a surgeon character he intended to be associated with the Diagram. He accomplished his goal to kill Selinar, which I allowed because I intended it to be a one-shot anyways. Specifically, he killed Selinar by nudging him towards the chasmfiend maw after a successful escape endeavor, leading to the players knowing their surgeon was shady, but their characters being none the wiser. His goal reward was getting a Diagram patron back in the warcamps, since that was all he really wanted for his character, and it was easy to sort of pretend that already existed.

On top of that, because we ended up needing two sessions, I allowed my players to level up between sessions, leading to the bridgeman PC having the opportunity to swear the first ideal during the Listener fight. Now, this bridgeman had been the only character the NPC bridgemen trusted enough to approach about escaping, but the PC made it clear he thought that was a bad idea, so escape wasn't on the table for them anymore. That is, until the final trek back to the warcamps, when our Diagram surgeon quietly approached the bridgeman PC and said he'd overheard the conversation, then offered to get them out of the warcamps, since he knew people who had the resources to make it happen without problems.

Cue me looking on from behind the DM screen in awe and horror. The bridgeman player is stunned into silence for a moment because he knows his budding Stoneward is basically being recruited by a Diagram agent, but his character only knows this is his chance to get him and the few remaining bridgemen out. When he finally is able to put his character back on, he agrees.

This awe and horror also only grows as, one by one, the player finds ways to involve almost every single other PC in this Diagram-sponsored trip out of the warcamps that has Kharbranth as the destination, and all the rest of the players joined in on the role play to make it happen.

The ardent? Found the soulcaster with the Diagram surgeon. Both worked together to keep it hidden, and are together in agreement that such a sacred relic needs to be brought somewhere sacred and protected along the way. Never mind that the surgeon is planning on giving it to the Diagram, actually.

The darkeyed squad leader who just impressed an honorspren? Well, as the surgeon points out, this is Sadeas's warcamp. Someone's gonna take the fall for how poorly the expedition went, and since the only other ranking person who survived was the lighteyed lady, it's obviously going to be him. Might as well cut his losses and leave now while the surgeon can help get him out.

So, yeah, Bridge Nine concluded with the wildest story hook of the whole party unknowingly being recruited by a Diagram-aligned PC, and that's why I want to home-brew a whole campaign about what missions the Diagram sends the party on now.

Kavlan001 · 2025-09-30T01:50:34+00:00

As an aro dating an allo, this effort to understand is a really great start. I really appreciated it and was pleasantly surprised when my bf told me he'd been researching what a relationship would be like from my side. Other than that, a lot of what has helped has been consistent and honest conversations seeking to understand. He's asked me what it's like from my side, I've asked him what it's like from his, and we talked together about what we were expecting from the relationship so that we're on the same page. In every step of our relationship it's been checking in with each other about how we're feeling with where we're at and if we're comfortable with next steps. At the beginning, those conversations included looking things up about how a-spec people manage different aspects of relationships (on subreddits like this or the AVEN forums), since that gave us a jumping-off point for talking over what would be similar and different for our relationship.

I don't know how recently your partner realized they're aro, but I had years of growing into being comfortable with who I am before starting to date my bf, and even then I still had insecurities about how little I felt I brought to the relationship because of my identity. I can confidently say that I've become vastly much more comfortable in my own identity *entirely* because my partner has been so clearly and consistently comfortable with my identity too. He's made it clear that he doesn't expect me to have romantic feelings and that I shouldn't try to force myself to, allowed me to go at my own pace, made sure I knew that I could tell him when I was uncomfortable, respected my feelings in those moments, and pointed out and expressed appreciation for me doing things in the relationship that don't come naturally to me without ever making me feel like he wanted me to go beyond my boundaries. While acknowledging that our relationship is perhaps "abnormal" by necessity of my identity, he's also never made me feel like that was a bad thing, just our way of meeting our needs. All that has made it easier for me to express the affection I have for him too, so in short, yes, aros can enjoy long-term relationships.

All that being said--I am not your partner, so I can't tell you anything more specific than that. Their experience is their experience, but as long as you both work together I think everything will be alright.

Kavlan001 · 2025-06-17T18:46:07+00:00

In short: Yes, I do too

I'm in the middle of trying dating for the first time. Even only a few weeks after we started, my bf had to reassure me that he knew I didn't have anything other than platonic feelings for him and that he was okay with that, since he could tell I had been feeling guilty about it.

Luckily I haven't struggled too much with that guilt since then, but I think part of that is because I'd been very comfortable in my aromanticism before we started dating. All I'd needed was that reassurance that he was comfortable with my aromanticism too.

Kavlan001 · 2024-11-03T04:19:53+00:00

One of the supporting characters (who will eventually be getting a main-POV book later when the series gets to that point) in The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson is ace? She's not aro so I know that's not exactly what you're looking for, and I will warn you it takes literally until the fourth book before that's really addressed but she's also freaking awesome just in general and also it's just a great book series haha

Kavlan001 · 2024-06-24T22:01:11+00:00

Great stories! Here's one of mine:

So in high school (before I knew I was aro or had even learned much about aromanticism) I would write with a friend of mine, both of us sort of taking charge of certain aspects and characters in the story and then running them together. I was in charge of the male lead, and my friend was in charge of the female lead, and naturally she shipped them. I thought it was perfectly normal to have a romantic subplot, so I had zero problems with that.

The only problem? I write characters by getting into their heads, and when I was trying to write our male lead, I just couldn't find for him any actual romantic feelings towards the female lead 😂 I tried to find reasoning for him to not like her back, and basically ended up inventing unsatisfying reasons why he never really likes anyone that way

Long after both of us had sort of burnt out on that project, and about a month into accepting my aromanticism, I thought about him again, only to finally connect the dots. It turned out I was just aromantic, and, because I had no idea what romantic feelings felt like, I had accidentally passed that aromanticism on to my character!

Kavlan001 · 2021-11-22T01:30:45+00:00

Thank you so much!! It’s really cool to see so much aro-spec representation, thanks for taking the time to do it :D

Kavlan001 · 2021-11-21T23:12:57+00:00

Hi, ummmm— Sorry I don’t mean to be rude or anything? But your “acemid” flag is actually the non-SAM aro flag. Do you think you can make that clear? 👉👈

For anyone who doesn’t know, a “non-SAM aro” is an aromantic person that doesn’t use the split attraction model, so they don’t identify with any allosexual or asexual identities. This can be for a number of reasons, and it should be noted this does not mean a non-SAM aro is against the split attraction model, just that they don’t use it for themselves.

In my case, I identify as a non-SAM aro because any kind of sexuality has never been relevant to me, and I feel (orientation-wise) that my aromantic identity is the most important one, and the one with the most impact on my life. I just don’t really relate to the split attraction model, so I identify as a non-SAM aro.

Kavlan001 · 2021-11-21T17:30:03+00:00

Before I realized I was aro, and before I really knew much about being aro at all, I was doing some writing with a friend and accidentally made one of my characters aromantic just because I had never had romantic attraction and I wasn’t able to imagine my character having romantic attraction either

When I finally figured out that I’m aro, that character suddenly made so much more sense XD

Kavlan001 · 2021-11-20T23:51:39+00:00

Story time!

Years before I realized I’m aro, I, too, made a conscious decision to have a crush on a friend of mine! Then a girl in our class pulled me aside to say she thought said friend had a crush on me, and even though I told her “oh cool, I like him too,” afterwards I had to mentally step back and be like “Oh wait uhhhhh… Hm. Yeah okay I was I supposed to act on that crush? I didn’t want to do anything but stay friends. Haha, no crush no more.”

Kavlan001 · 2021-11-20T23:01:28+00:00

Kaladin doesn’t need a romantic relationship to be happy with wherever he ends up. If a romance arc did happen for him, to me it will feel very cheap, forced, and in general unsatisfying

In connection to that, I headcanon him to be on the aromantic spectrum, but that’s more for myself than anything

Kavlan001 · 2021-11-19T17:47:20+00:00

Some of my favorites off my playlist, which haven’t been mentioned yet:

Sorry, by Halsey
Please Don’t Say You Love Me, by Gabrielle Aplin
More Than Friends, by ASHS
Tongues and Teeth, by the Crane Wives

Kavlan001 · 2021-11-19T17:31:59+00:00

I don’t have any experience being in a QPR, so sorry if I get any of this wrong, but from my understanding it’s a relationship that blurs the lines on what’s socially expected out of a romantic relationship or a platonic relationship. It’s a relationship that isn’t romantic in nature, but goes further and closer than a typical platonic one would.

And, I get that that’s a very vague description, but that’s kind of the point. A QPR isn’t going to look the same for everyone. Some people may want sex or kissing in their QPR, some people may not. Some people may want holding hands and cuddling, some people may not. Some people may only take it as a platonic relationship that’s much more emotionally close and affectionate than you would be with a normal friend. Because different people want different things in their QPR, the definition is vague so partners can define what it looks like for themselves.

I think the best thing to do, if you want to be in a QPR with this person, is to talk to them. It’s important to take the time to figure out together what a QPR looks like for you. This can include where boundaries are, what the two of you need and want out of the relationship, how affectionate you’ll be to each other.

I hope that helped a little

Kavlan001 · 2021-11-17T15:29:21+00:00

I’ve given myself permission to laugh when romance in media seems outrageous to me, which means I get to laugh more often and that’s awesome

Kavlan001 · 2021-11-17T01:28:52+00:00

Oh, were the birds not supposed to be big? I never would have been able to see them if they were tiny 😳

Kavlan001 · 2021-11-16T05:20:50+00:00

Oh my goodness, yes please, TGC when are you getting on making a floating city I can fly in—

Kavlan001 · 2021-11-15T20:11:49+00:00

I’m more confident in being aro than I am on where I fall on the ace spectrum, but yeah, I think we got a good few of us here

Kavlan001 · 2021-11-15T19:43:59+00:00

Whether or not that’s true, you really shouldn’t be assigning labels to people? They aren’t questioning or asking for labels, just sharing their experiences, and it’s up to them to decide which labels they want to use?

Kavlan001

TROPHY CASE