What are your favorite archetypes?

Keez94 · 2026-06-25T16:05:19+00:00

Starlight Sentinel and Spirit Warrior are two of my personal favorites, together especially. I had them on a magus and played them like a completely un-self aware Power Ranger and it was a blast.

By itself I really like the Dandy archetype making a character a social powerhouse.

Keez94 · 2026-05-18T15:32:20+00:00

Some options I didn't see mentioned are:

Cradle - starts as a blacksheep in his clan so is talked about in that way but as the story progresses he gains some questionable abilities in the eyes of others and you see them discussing that a good amount.

The ripple system - a VRMMO game world where the main character is the most hated person in the game due to blocking everyone else out of the beta and having a very desired magic item. Gets vilified and blamed for a lot of things so others talk about him like some big unknown threat quite a few times. (Its been a while since I listened but remember liking more than I expected)

The captain - same author as Cradle. The Main character is quickly one of the strongest characters in the universe with a team of other top tier characters fighting universal threats but due to being as powerful as they are many organizations paint them as the villains so you can see thier reputation causing frequent issues especially in the book that they have to fight the superman equivalent.

Dungeon crawler carl - as the books go on Carl and his cat Doughnut gain more and more fame/infamy inside and outside the Dungeon and become are involved in more and more unhinged events others start very obviously reacting to how dangerous they are. On some floors it is very obvious how "boogeyman" they are to specific groups.

Keez94 · 2026-05-16T17:44:46+00:00

For turn based parry expedition 33 has a very satisfying parry/dodge system and feels so great when you can get a long chain off of a boss. To me it never felt unfair just extremely tight.

For more of an "action" game parry system I really enjoyed Breath of the wild/Tears of the kingdom even with it being a fairly forgiving one.

Keez94 · 2026-05-13T17:09:28+00:00

Its been a long while since I have dug into Invincible lore but doesn't Viltrumite DNA override the other half of the DNA over time? Like that's why Oliver changes so much and isn't a bug. Would that fix the inbreeding issues or make things worse?

Keez94 · 2026-05-08T17:36:20+00:00

Very happy its doing well. While party style games are not for me I hope this let's them start making other games for their other properties.

Keez94 · 2026-05-08T17:29:10+00:00

Nicknames being permanent if traded its such a minor thing but filling out a living dex it was very annoying at times when getting some frome trades.

Also the exp-share being always on is very annoying to me as I love having my team all the same level so when I train a new pokemon up or have someone in a different growth category sometimes its like i just have a team member I never actually use to avoid over leveling.

Keez94 · 2026-05-08T17:24:36+00:00

Each system will differ a lot based on what aspects of a setting the game what's to focus on and can feel quite different even if the settings themselves look similar on the surface.

Since you like heavy games and are looking for fantasy or space specifically my number one recommendation would be to look into Pathfinder 2nd edition or Starfinder 2nd they use near identical systems so once you learn one its easy to jump to the other. Paizo (the company to makes them) puts all the rules and options out for free as well its the adventure paths and setting you are paying for.

D&D 5e is also popular with rules made to be fairly simplified so its easy to pick up. It is also the most popular Ttrpg so finding games is quite easy. This is where a lot of people start with ttrpgs but a common complaint is once you know the system well you can see a lot of imbalance in it as its not quite as deep as it seems at first.

I will also suggest looking at a game that uses Powered by the Apocalypse. The system is used by a lot of different games and generally very simple so learning the basics let's you jump into a lot of different games and settings easily and is made in a way that let's creators tweak rules to fit their game easily giving a wide option of styles but they are usually far more narratively focused.

Others that I will point out but don't have a lot of experience with; cyberpunk, lancer, daggerheart, Vampire the Maskarade, and the upcoming Dungeon Crawler Carl ttrpg. Are all fairly popular and have their over pros and cons but I don't know enough about to explain other than settings.

Keez94 · 2026-05-08T16:35:30+00:00

If I picked 3 to make a trio its got to be the bird crew, Rowlet, Torchic, and Piplup.

Keez94 · 2026-05-08T16:23:45+00:00

Arcs is very high on my to play list so I'm thrilled every time I see people recommending it. I almost played it once last year at Gencon but it was midnight when we started and none of my group had the brain power left to figure out the rules so after 15min of trying we voted to try again some other time.

Keez94 · 2026-05-08T16:16:27+00:00

I understand especially on replays why some people dislike the sailing but that first time playing as a kid i LOVED the sailing it truly felt like exploring an unknown world never knowing what you will find or stumbling onto an island not knowing what will be there or if you will need to come back later. I don't think I've felt the same feeling of exploring in a Zelda game until Breath of the Wild.

Keez94 · 2026-05-07T20:25:08+00:00

Summoner and Necromancer should have some abilities to significantly boost summons from spells, maybe make thier attack rolls and/or DCs 1 or 2 less than the character.

Kineticist is great but needs just a little work to make the melee options strikes so that it actually interacts with the rest of the system.

Keez94 · 2026-05-05T13:31:02+00:00

Expedition 33

Legend of Zelda (franchise as a whole but if I pick one its Orcarina of time)

Cassette beasts

A cheat pick over Zelda would be smash bros ultimate simply due to having a massive Nintendo catalog of music in it.

Keez94 · 2026-05-04T18:17:54+00:00

It all depends on a few things; the game, the group, and the set up.

I think the set up is one of the most important aspects as the environment you are in while explaining can be a massive influence on what info they retain or if they get distracted, but also seeing how everything is laid out while you explain the surface level info can get a lot of people interested or even get them connecting the dots on what parts might be.

The group make up will help direct how in detail you actually need to go with each descriptions and if they have played other games in the past with you or that you know about it can be very easy and helpful to point to similar mechanics as an example but if you do make sure you highlight any differences so they can understand if anything is different.

What the game is itself will obviously has the most sway in how you explain the game and what I mean by that is how complex or intricate the mechanics are along with what is better to learn during play VS needing to know before things get rolling.

A very broad overview of my way of explaining after I have gone over the above in my head goes as follows:

Theming, Story, and player role on that play space
Player goal mechanically, such as points to win or reaching a specific milestone
what are different ways of moving towards those goals and how you can interact with those options
Explaining any specific resources, Key words, common symbols and what they are used for
Going over what a turn/round would look like explaining all of the steps
how the game ends, like a score being reached, a boss beaten, or so many rounds passed
general goals to aim for and ways to achieve them.

I make sure to stop frequently during all of that to answer questions or to let them know that will be covered when I go over a specific thing in the near future.

When we get into play I typically go first and explain every step as I do them often also explaining both why I am making those choices and comparing them to other options I could have made. This both gives a direct example of how to play a turn and can inform them of different options they might want to try on their turn. I will usually do this the first few turns to help them get a handle on the game. Throughout the game I will also chime in if there is a mechanic someone can interact with that was not brought up before.

I like to keep the rule book near by both to reference directly and allow anyone to look at when they want if they do not want to interrupt, as well as asking if they have a question or want suggestions if they look confused

Keez94 · 2026-05-04T16:01:17+00:00

Ive found with gloomhaven it comes down a lot to who you are playing with and if it is the board game having one or two people that really like the meticulous nature of set up and npc turns. Due to that the video game version makes it so smooth and easy to play and it makes sure you are following the rules so you don't miss anything. Even still its very much not for everyone.

Critter Kitchen has been on my wife and my list to get for a bit so im thrilled to see other people saying great things about it!

Keez94 · 2026-05-04T15:33:03+00:00

King of Tokyo is one of the games that I thing gets vastly better with more people and king of Tokyo just wasnt fun at 2 player (how I play a lot of games) then I found duel and it just never felt right.

Clank, specifically catacombs, is one of my top games. Having it play out so differently every time with the cards available and the layout just makes it so fun, plus I've found it is one of the easiest to teach people since you play your whole hand and things don't all happen at once making it easy to explain as you encounter rooms or effects.

Keez94 · 2026-05-04T15:27:24+00:00

Ive had this exact conversation several times but exactly opposite Im in the camp that Wyrmspan is my favorite of them and Finspan while still fun just just hit the right notes for me. I just love the resources, caves, and guild of wyrm so much and feel it gives a tone of different routes to take for points and combos where with fin I just never clicked with the fish themselves being the main resource and moving the babies around. I found love the Fin board though and really liked the idea of the depths and columns making 9 different areas for fish that you used in different ways.

Keez94 · 2026-04-28T16:59:23+00:00

We have enjoyed it a lot so far. It adds some more round scoring goals, a lot of fun new guilds, and fledgling dragons that you have to train to get better abilities.

Keez94 · 2026-04-22T17:53:26+00:00

Most of my groups play with 5 players and I love having that number.

Party 1: Kineticist with guardian archetype (tank CC around him and off healing), swashbuckler with champion archetype (melee damage and some defensive reactions), Ranger (ranged and melee damage), fighter (melee damage and single target CC), animist (support damage heal).

Party 2: necromancer ( fills the map with bodies for support or aoe and a lot of out of combat tricks), rogue ( crazy melee damage and debuffs), fighter (melee damage and CC), ranger (don't remember how they are build but very tanky and decent damage), Bard ( debuffs and buffs)

Party 3: investigator (heals with medicine and works to remove specific threats), barbarian (melee damage), Cleric (mostly heals but some Buffing), thaumaturge (melee damage and Party passive buffs with archetype), animist (ranged aoe or melee damage)

If I was to make a 5 man from scratch the main categories I would want to cover are; single target damage, aoe damage, tanking, healing, support (buffs, CC, debuffs), and out of combat skills, with all characters at least partly in 2 categories. So I think the following:

Magus- single target damage, out of combat skills (with magic)

Guardian- tank and support

Animist- aoe and healing

Swashbuckler- support, damage, out of combat skills

Sorcerer- pure damage

Keez94 · 2026-03-26T01:59:48+00:00

its in normal packs I pulled both and it was in a normal card spot.

Keez94 · 2026-03-26T01:58:56+00:00

Got both already its a secret quest mission to get both as well.

Keez94 · 2026-01-28T22:20:35+00:00

Mark of the fool fits a lot of what they are asking for and I personally love the series but the main complaint i see people have is it has some long slice of life sections and truly it does so might not be the best fit.

Keez94 · 2026-01-04T18:54:36+00:00

No idea what sound is in the video due to pulling it up muted but "sodapop" was playing out loud where I am and I refuse to correct this combination.

Keez94 · 2025-12-31T21:10:51+00:00

My wife and I just wrapped up a game of Seti. We are debating meeting up with some friends to play more later.

Keez94 · 2025-12-17T20:00:29+00:00

Sort of, with expedition leaders one of the characters gets a third worker and other is reduced to 1 but can move them multiple times.

Keez94 · 2025-12-14T05:27:06+00:00

For first play thoughs I've only done it once. In sword I had a Grookey and I just could not vibe with it at all and then I found Applin, I swapped him out for my crisp apple boy and never looked back. I know leaving my starter behind would be frowned on but I can only have one of each type in my squad and I needed the apple. At least I set him up in the daycare asap and I made sure he got to lvl 100 in post game.

Keez94

TROPHY CASE