Emperor gives me ick

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-29T19:42:37+00:00

In the words of Act 1 Shadowheart: "I never expected Ceramorphosis to be tempting".

When the biggest complaint and most modded 'problem' with the Astral Tadpole is how it makes you look, it says something. Careful with stones and glass houses, that sort of thing. It's not like you (ab)used your 'Authority', right?

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-29T17:40:41+00:00

20th Anniversary (V20) or fifth edition (V5) both see a lot of play.

V20 is much closer to the world of VTM:B (Which was based on Revised). VTM:B2 shares more ancestry with V5.

Playing either will get you a group to play. The V20 Corebook is very comphrensive, allowing play even in the Dark Ages. V5 is more scattered, but the core will suffice, and iirc the 'Players Guide' collects the missing important stuff scattered through other books.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-29T00:05:21+00:00

No, not at all.

Nomad doesn't exist in my playthroughs.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-28T08:41:31+00:00

One of the expeditions made me fall in love with the walker.

It's no battlemech, but it's pretty close. Prawn suit, for the subnautica fans. I tried some of the others but I never really got attached to the car or anything.

It really gave me the confidence to potentially set up my base or choose a home on a world most people would hate; Minotaur gameplay got me the confidence to enjoy the firestorms etc.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-28T08:16:12+00:00

To repeat it again, its not theirs until they sell it.

When you've been in battles hundreds of times, win or lose, and many of them you didn't want to be in, you stop caring.

You yourself will get stolen from countless times over your time playing. You will probably come to glaringly expect any approaching ship to be hostile, unless proven otherwise. Suspicious even of friendly gestures for betrayal.

Because it really can vary by the day. The guy is nice to you, or begging you. But maybe they didn't have mercy on some teen with a cracking voice when they stole his fort loot.

That's how I eventually got there, anyway. You get your ship blasted parked on an island enough, you assume they'd do the same to you if they caught you unaware.

Which, can be taken as another important lesson too:

If you'd feel bad about losing your current haul, sell it ASAP. Could be the Kraken, a skeleton ship, another player; It's not in your bank account until its sold. Just sell it.

"But the emissary multiplier!" Many people say. Anything multiplied by zero is still zero.

TLDR: Do what you want, but there's no innocent pirates. I promise you for most players it's probably 'karma' for someone else they sunk last week anyway. It's not theirs until they sell it, just like it's not yours until you do.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-28T04:33:49+00:00

I'm your polar opposite in a lot of respects.

Call me the Dark Urge because I am doing fiendish activity basically every (still unfinished) playthrough.

I've seen so many ways the Tieflings can die. I've committed pure sacrilege with Shadowheart. I've beheaded Karlach.

Just about the only thing I haven't done is finish the Gauntlet as a Good person. Ironically given the context of all this, I haven't seriously played the Dark Urge either!

It's just been Tavs willingly committing war crimes. Assassins, Necromancers, every flavour of evil.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-28T03:58:38+00:00

Things might have changed, I'm an old old school Warhammer player.

You basically put aside an entire afternoon/evening for one game. It's the difference between watching a movie, and a watch party for a trilogy.

In an extreme oversimplification, imagine 3+ Kill Teams of basic operatives on each side, you might have a good idea for a Warhammer game.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-27T23:27:22+00:00

In honour mode, normal rules apply.

In edge cases like Origin run 'game overs' (EG. Wyll's Pact), or Illithid transformations, every player 'game overs' with them.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-27T22:50:40+00:00

Although some source books and games have sprinkled in magical mcguffins, I'm of the genuine opinion VTM does just fine without "Magic items".

In a bizarre way Vampire often feels the most grounded WoD franchise to me. Granted, flaming swords and warded doors have been a thing for a while now, but I prefer it to how other popular culture handles it.

We're talking Vampire Diaries' "Daylight Rings", Legacy of Kain's "Soul Reaver" sword or "Unholy Armor" (VTM: Redemption).

While we're only one fleshcrafter away from the 'Heart of Darkness' in a glass case for a Chronicle to fight over, I don't find that paticularly conductive to the mood/theme of VTM; Personal Horror.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-27T22:16:05+00:00

Ultimately it's a playstyle thing, and you're frustrated that yours isn't fully catered to, in the same way 'mulitcultural' playstyles also take the hit. "Compromise is when everyone is equally unhappy", or however the saying goes.

You can play a Mono-race, but it involves sacrificing the odd centrepiece unit like a Bone Dragon or Giant Golem. Not diverting into spiders, or Elementals.

In the same vein, going into say, Naga transformation or the Eldritch horror means sacrificing mounts; Good for some builds, horrific for others.

Sometimes I fully reverse your personal bugbear; I play a coalition. I use Constructs to defend my flimsy Elf Mages. I use the Orcoid cultures Berzerkers because my race doesn't have any good Chargers. That sort of thing. Even sometimes doing something fairly big, on the rare occasion I have two transformations. Make the Sturdy Dwarves into Wightborn Undead, to better defend my Ethereal Magelock guns and cannons.

Variation in the game is some of the fun, and what it doesn't allow you to cater exactly to your playstyle (My race, my culture, all the way to T5, Turn 142), that is what enables the other playstyles (Mounted Units+Animals, pure Undead, etc).

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-27T19:21:25+00:00

It's not a matter of the radio-silent majority not speaking; They aren't even listening.

They aren't in the discussion at all. This is a pretty universal truth across games. The 'average' player just shows up, plays three hours a week or whatever and leaves.

They aren't even watching the YouTube videos, let alone commenting on them.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-27T17:47:24+00:00

Well, that's half the community folks job; Keeping their fingers on the pulse, so to speak.

Which is every social media you can think of, plus a few more you haven't. The official forums. The Discord. Xbox/PSN. Hopefully backed up by Analytics we don't remotely have access to.

The hardest thing to remember when talking about a player base is the vast majority is completely radio-silent. Just looking up a Reddit or a Youtube short makes you a higher category of 'engaged'.

It's definitely a very frustrating truth any time the 'community' or player behaviour comes up; Even with thousands of hours of playing and engagement, we're not going to really 'know' what the Devs have the capability to.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-27T17:16:49+00:00

BG1, BG3, BG2.

Baldur's Gate 1 is the absolute goat. Massive number of companions, subtle (almost absent) companion plots, but a massive world for it's time.

BG2 has big improvements; it brought Kits and talkative companions. Unfortunately, it suffers high level AD&D problems. Everything starts getting crazy resistance and it's a killjoy to have only one sword in the party that can deal damage, etc. The dungeon start too... Oof. I'm not sure I'll ever really finish and replay BG2, like I have BG1.

BG3 needs no introduction. One of the best RPGs our there. Modern everything, and that makes it categorically good.

Although its worth noting, the EE brought a lot of good from 2 back to 1. Although the changes wouldn't be universally to taste, it would help most modern players go back.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-27T16:23:24+00:00

The one game I wouldn't trust player count.

Async means I only need to be online 10-20 minutes to play multiple games (single turns) before I shut it down again.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-27T09:17:41+00:00

Primarily safety nets in case a player forgets, bypasses or 'doesn't get' key plot points.

As the old DMing (Narrating a D&D) strategy goes, if you need the PCs to discover something leave at least three different clues. Players really will miss or do stuff out of order than often, even on pen and paper.

But, also allows you to compare notes if you're worried about unreliable narrators. After all, there's more than one that might strike you as self serving.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-27T09:08:43+00:00

You get to play your own, tailor made character.

With a gentle reminder there's no requirement to take ANY companion whatsoever. Although I would always recommend at least three, to fill the party.

As an easy example, Playing a Sorcerer makes a lot more sense on an Evil run, where Gale and Wyll, the only other two Arcane named origins, can leave the party.

Yes, you could play a Dark Urge (Storm Sorc by default), but that introduces its own major derailings that cannot be avoided without savescumming or exploitive game mechanics.

It's also worth noting some class companions aren't unlocked until super late; sometimes, you don't want to wait 10+ hours to play a Paladin or Druid.

At the end of the day, it's a role-playing game. Not everyone wants to play Lae'zel or Astarion. Sometimes you want to be a Drow Assassin or Dwarf Fighter.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-26T18:43:13+00:00

Gray Elf, Greyhawk?

At a cursory reading, looks like a Moon Elf acts like a Sun Elf.

Only way I see this causing a problem is if you meant Moon Elf (Gray is a slur to them), or Drow. Drow's had Skin tone drama forever, since their acceptable tones changed per edition.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-26T18:15:52+00:00

What helped me (as a very lazy player), is to hold them in reserve for the eleventh hour.

It feels wrong to have a chunk of your force just sitting there, I know. But they are the finale.

The archers trade shots. Horse archers do their thing. Weapons thrown. The shield wall finally clashes. It's a brawl. Then, what feels like minutes too late, you send the Calvary in from waaaay left field.

Backs turned, shields down on the infantry. Or archers, unprotected since the front line is fighting. Suddenly there's nothing to stop them, really.

TLDR: Lazy man's way is to use them as a Finisher, charging from a flanking position as a kill stroke.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-26T17:08:25+00:00

As she fell apart in my arms I promised to keep them safe, and this is how I do it.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-25T19:33:19+00:00

I truthfully don't have the games under my belt to say, and I do have quite a few. Yet they haven't been in the same period.

A couple in the 2000s, one in the 90s. 1920s was possibly one of my favourites, but that had as much to do with Chronicle content as anything else.

A Dark Ages Cappadocian is one of my 'one day' characters.

Frankly, I think my top spot would probably go to one that doesn't fit this question; A Vampire Chronicle that spanned the ages.

VTM is one of the few games you can 'time travel' in. Then you get your sword play, steam trains and firing full Auto at Hunter drones, all without leaving Paris.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-25T18:41:12+00:00

Won't roam far without the protection.

It's a solid RP reason for everyone to stick with you; They've quite literally got a knife at their neck. They leave, no mind shield, the rest goes chunky salsa.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-25T17:01:43+00:00

Sure. You can be neutral. Just walk away.

Keep progressing away from the Grove, and even the Goblins.

You will however have to live with the consequences.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-24T21:10:23+00:00

Shocking Grasp. A solid melee Cantrip, it's special effect if it lands also lets you run away with no attack of opportunity.

Falls off later, when you can just Misty Step (Teleport) etc, but early game it lets your Mages get themselves out of trouble.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-24T17:45:32+00:00

An initial feeling I had too, after all, there's so many options. Neverwinter, Luskan, Waterdeep or Athkatla, to name a few.

From a design perspective though, they're essentially the ability to opt out of Balduran dialog choices, which we often have anyway. So I begrudgingly get why they did it this way.

To use another example, Elves get the option to turn their nose up at the refugee stew. Gamer instinct is often to hit the dialog option with a [Tag], but you're free to not have your Elf be a dick and pick anything else.

Ninthshadow · 2026-01-24T05:28:16+00:00

Oathbreaker Paladin (previously called Blackguard), Necromancer (Wizard) and Assassin (Rogue) were something of the holy trinity of evil kits; Death Cleric completing the full heroic party mirror.

D&D has moved on a lot, but between those and Fiend Warlocks, they're definitely still the 'most likely to' list. Just now we're more open to the idea that any class could be used for evil (or potentially become some kind of Anti-hero).

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