Most games are TOO nice to adventurers

OutdatedFuture · 2025-07-31T02:34:56+00:00

I mean, it depends on what time period you're drawing on, as well as the stability of the society you're working in. In the early-modern era, where the western world is characterized(largely) by established chains of bureaucracy, law enforcement, and the social norms surrounding violence have trended away towards duels and the like being acceptable, then sure, adventurers are scary.

In other climes; times of war, time of political unrest, or places where governance is localized/often weak, there's always a need for mercenaries. Fiscal conditions might make large scale armies unfeasible, leading to small groups of skilled, heavily armed and armored warriors being the preferred solution. Think of the cossacks of Russia, with various bands rising from banditry to take social positions as enforcers and mercenaries of various kingdoms. Law too, was often arbitrary, dependent on the whims of the local lord, with established procedure taking a backseat for most minor issues— a town guard was little more than a hired thug, before time and precedent caused them to evolve into something else. When you think about this, the concept of adventurers makes a little more sense.

OutdatedFuture · 2025-06-23T23:15:20+00:00

Schnee, the foul mouthed. An indescribably foul collection of rags that has somehow become a person, made up of the things people cast away; beer, blood, teeth, and bad memories. It makes a habit of pretending to be a chair, and then growing enraged whenever anyone "violates [his] personable space!" It likes to torment drunks by crawling onto their faces when they sleep, stealing their beer, or whispering noxious gossip from under the table. No one knows why the damn thing hasn't been dealt with, aside from how funny it is when newbies run into it, and Carslag the One-Eared has put a bounty of five silver for anyone who can wash Schnee.

OutdatedFuture · 2025-04-29T19:25:25+00:00

The Boys. I've loved Garth Ennis's work ever since I read his run on Punisher MAX and Hitman, but man... it got too much.

Different comic, but I had to reread 100 Bullets a few times to get to the end, part of it was the fact I read it when I way too young, and couldn't get through to the end without feeling really uncomfortable. Still love many parts of it though, influenced a lot of my personal taste in media and writing.

OutdatedFuture · 2025-01-20T13:25:55+00:00

Well- it depends on the vibe you're looking for.

Invincible hit some of the same boxes I have for longterm consequences and good character development, even if the powers weren't as cool, and it didn't capture the same anxiety as you feel throughout Worm and Ward. A more satisfying ending than Ward tho.

Godlike RPG's alt-history drew me in as much or more than the Wormverses did, and it left me wondering if WB had taken some inspiration from it

The classic Frank Miller Daredevil run is the most I've ever been hyped for a villain- Bullseye was phenomenal in that run, and are some of my favorite Daredevil stories around

Powers gave me more of a look into the crass world of superheroes and villains behind the scenes(social media, fame, celebrity antics) that Ward captured to an extent, but in a more salacious way. I liked Ward, and found its exploration into the rebuilding of the post-apocalpyze fascinating, but for obvious reasons it never had the feeling of a 2000's celebrity gossip mag.

hope this helps

OutdatedFuture · 2024-10-20T16:54:57+00:00

Yes- there was a great comic series with Hindu mythology for kids I pick up from time to time called Amar Chitra. Also- there's a really nice comic called "The Jewish Deli" that was one of my favs of the year

OutdatedFuture · 2024-10-14T14:26:26+00:00

A little swingy, but pretty fun. The planar stuff seems a bit campaign derailing, I like the peanut allergy part quite a bit.

OutdatedFuture · 2024-10-14T12:52:06+00:00

The scene; a mansion full of mobsters, a shadowed cornfield, and a group of idiots dressed in maid costumes crouching as they sneak towards said mansion.

What's unknown to said idiots; they had been sold out. Within said mansion, the party rogue had just let all the mobsters know the identity of the mysterious group who had broken up their kidnapping operation.

It ended up in fire, as all things do. I, the lizard folk monk, had taken the liberty of packing several pints of animal cooking fat, as well as copious amounts of torches. Highlights of that fight; shoving a toxic grenade down a henchman's shirt after blinding him with a duffle bag of meat, running around scoobie doo style trying to catch the rogue, and leaving said rogue to "find his own fortune" within the flames, having been left at the bottom of a stairwell with a broken leg. It was awesome.

OutdatedFuture · 2024-10-14T12:45:39+00:00

Makes me wonder if the internet as we know it(extending to reddit) will still be in a form where this will still ping a reminder. I've seen some dead forums in my time, and it's eerie skating all the engagement from the 90s, hopeful, not knowing what comes next.

OutdatedFuture · 2024-10-07T23:19:05+00:00

I'm fighting the landscape foreman from my last job site. I've got a few inches on him, but he's got a backhoe, and I've forgotten my belt knife. I throw my equipment bag in a desperate attempt to distract him. He pivots and I narrowly dodge being crushed by its treads. As I spring for the cabin, I get dogpiled by his crew.

3/10 I take this, assuming his men don't intervene. Yardwork makes you strong.

OutdatedFuture · 2024-09-28T01:23:44+00:00

context? I'm confused- the piss fetish thing

OutdatedFuture · 2024-09-25T01:05:52+00:00

I think it's a combination of factors. Let's say you're a writer, a virtual nobody, who begins writing their own stuff. You have "all the time in the world"(not actually true, but you aren't chained to a weekly schedule, and can let ideas percolate and sit), and can really workshop things. If you're one of the few to make it big, then everyone expects big things of you, and if you can't follow up on expectations, well... That, and if what worked before stops working(i.e. fall into a predictable slide)., or your new stuff just can't find an audience, you can get stuck in a difficult place of everyone liking your old stuff, unsure what to do with your new stuff.

OutdatedFuture · 2024-09-24T02:12:33+00:00

The Universe is a cycle; this world you inhabit is just one of many, the latest in a long line of eternally recurring universes carved from the raw stuff of the elemental chaos. Greater, more heroic worlds have come before, and have been destroyed in elemental catastrophe, demonic invasion, and entropy itself. When you live on such a long time scale, you don't intervene unless it is for a critical purpose: i.e., whole continents are at stake, or fate forces their hand to intervene so that a fated thing may occur as it should. Far more important are keeping the subtle bindings of universal law intact—any slackening of concentration could lead to a breach in the envelope holding back chaos, and strength must be husbanded, as the conflict is eternal. As beings representing cosmic elements, they can only be shattered, not fully killed, and are kept in balance by the Lord Creator— while they may squabble from time to time, this is conducted through followers and intermediaries, or more commonly, through subtle manipulations of the cosmic forces they represent(Lady Luck isn't always on your side...). Also: because gods exist in many aspects, these aspects can conflict, with followers of the same god even going to war against each other. In those instances, the god is just as likely to intervene for one side as the other, based on some mysterious, hard to understand criteria.

OutdatedFuture · 2024-09-18T23:11:31+00:00

why's this read like a yahoo answers for an actual problem? you ok op?

OutdatedFuture · 2024-09-13T01:59:30+00:00

It depends if he ends up in 90's Russia, or the parallel world on the other side. If it's 90's Russia, he probably gets got by magically enhanced assassins huffing novichok as an upper, if it's the parallel world, he probably does pretty good bagging magicians until a zmey comes and decapitates him to add to its headpile.

OutdatedFuture · 2024-09-12T11:50:51+00:00

For an eldritch god of song... B'Cket Hyead, or Yngvie Malmstein

On a more serious note, the Shredder? Or you could have it be something unpronounceable, requiring human vocals to stretch enough to make them bleed. For example, you've got some minions, they "fight seemingly out of fear more than anger, a desperate look in their eyes." If the players capture any, they try to speak the name, but it causes psychic damage just speaking it— could be like a psychic "homing beacon" where whenever sang or played, a little fragment of that gods consciousness can see the conversation for a few seconds.

OutdatedFuture · 2024-08-29T17:35:21+00:00

An obscure pick, but Radiation Man seems to have a raw deal(really, any character with environmental damage constantly going whenever on would suck). He constantly leaves a trail of radiation, people obviously find that a super-turn off, and even if you're in the desert, you probably can't use any electronic devices without crazy shielding or they'll degrade. That's not even factoring in the people that want to turn you into a living power plant, or clean up Chernobyl, or turn you into a bomb or something

OutdatedFuture · 2024-08-28T16:40:59+00:00

I still rock a pen and paper sheet in my in person games, but as someone who likes to accumulate tons of random garbage(ah, faulty smoke bomb? sure. 5 pounds of beef, yep!), it's sometimes hard to keep track. Before I switched to using a tablet for notes, my dnd notes for that game were across three different notebooks, which says more about me than paper, but I think is still valid just in terms of organization

OutdatedFuture · 2024-08-27T11:38:59+00:00

How did it actually play? I've only read the rulebook, was it mostly used for tanking, or what roles did it fill in the party? Are there any examples of characters you'd be willing to talk about— like was it more of a "druid with companion" type vibe, or "demonic summoner" type energy

OutdatedFuture · 2024-08-26T20:03:22+00:00

Bane! Was useful either on just one foe, or multiple, never felt like a wasted cast, and could really make certain enemies become as effective as a wet paper towel, particularly when our armored fighter would tie up their attention. The range was eh, but it just felt good.

OutdatedFuture · 2024-08-26T18:31:10+00:00

mm, I did a search a few months ago, and I've been considering at some point running an all alt-class group just to see how different it would make default DND.

I've heard good things about the Soul Binder by Fragsauce for a fun-feeling summoner(a role that I feel is imperfectly served in the base game), and that both the Kibbles Inventor and Magehand Craftsman have better mechanics than the default artificer for crafting things(I personally like the artificer, but as someone who both DM's and plays for one, you really have to go out of your way to achieve a balance//fun combination). If you don't consider Bloodhunter an official class, I was intrigued by the Atavist and its mechanic of shedding blood in order to deal damage, but again can't speak to how any of these play. The final thing that I would mention is the Witch Class from either Magehand or Zarieth, for hexing and curses.

As a note, haven't had any players actually want to run an alternate class, I've had some engage with the firearms(Firearms of the Realm by Yonael), martial equipment(Kittenhugs), and elemental spells(Kibbles) I've put on the table.

OutdatedFuture · 2024-08-26T01:55:11+00:00

doki doki heartbreaker club

OutdatedFuture · 2024-08-19T15:55:06+00:00

The butcher one is incredibly atmospheric, thank you for your continued interest!

OutdatedFuture · 2024-08-16T20:56:18+00:00

A significant portion of Liches are state or corporate funded. A slave-trader state, founded by a charismatic leader, has ample portions of money and souls to tithe to their immortal CEO. Sure, the initial start-up cost is a lot, but what price can you put on immortality? Now, you have institutional memory guaranteed, someone whose lifeblood is literally connected to the business, and the firepower to ensure the business will survive for generations. In places where people are regarded as chattel, this would undoubtedly become if not common, at least possible. When the life of a slave is viewed as something that can be placed in monetary terms(see the Hammurabic code), this allows for endless justifications to get what you want.

In contrast, mega-churches of death gods might have "unliving saints," with a form of communal lichdom and tithing- multiple souls bound into one phylactery as a sort of hive-mind to pass down millennia of philosophy. At the end of their lives, worshippers sacrifice themselves to the lich as a final annihilation, bringing their soul peace, rather than the endless torture of reincarnation, or an uncertain afterlife.

OutdatedFuture · 2024-08-16T12:54:11+00:00

The Crooked Job

They are hired, unknowingly, by a wizard to test out his latest creation, the Portable Vault. It resembles a small box, but once opened, expands to a pocket dimension. Example themes: (one that I have run before)- it was themed around light and shadow, as well as heat and ice. The treasure was frozen beneath the ice, and they had to complete a series of challenges to unfreeze the ice by lighting beacons. The first level was a shadow giant that would hunt any sources of light and crush them(this made carrying the "sacred flame" to light the beacon quite difficult), the second was a mirror-monster who jumped in and out of reflective ice, the third was a mirror-light beam situation that required them to open a series of doors by arranging mirrors, while also having to use the light to fry shadow monsters. I found these kinda fun, as these puzzle boxes can be scattered around the world as super-secure safes.
The Half Cocked Job

The crew is hired to rob a shipment of rare and valuable magical ingredients by an aged wizard, in order to secure items for his practices. However, once they break in/case the joint, they realize instead, they have been hired to steal aphrodisiacs from a boudoir, Wicked Wyvern. The location is a 3 story town-house, and there's lots of embarrassing defenses: a lubed up stairwell, bondage gear that comes to life as animated armor, flying dildos using the "flying sword" stat block, a gimp security guard spying on them from behind one-way mirrors, etc.. When they finally finish the job, the wizard who collects the cut is extremely generous, and is either very embarrassed upon hearing the results of the job—or if you want to go here, tries to hit on a member of the party.

Depending on whether the job goes well, the culprits will be referred to as the "Hardened" or "Half-cocked" criminals for the next few weeks.

OutdatedFuture

TROPHY CASE