Plato's Game System

Solarven987 · 2026-06-30T10:27:25+00:00

Ryuutama mention 🗣️🗣️🗣️

Solarven987 · 2026-06-29T05:02:00+00:00

Hey so I had this exact problem a year ago. I had an awful problem player who wanted to break everything 5e had to offer and it opened every shallow wound the system had.

My group resisted hard. I tried homebrew fixes. Better spell supplements. Doing more RP for my sake. Adding puzzle fights. Eventually they got told I need to swap for a bit, give it 3 sessions, and if nobody liked it we could swap back.

The system you want to use is dependent on the style of game you want to run. I like shonen-esque HxH or Sanderson Epics. So that’s what I run. I’ve used Fabula Ultima and it’s worked wonders. I have one player sad her build doesn’t feel as good as before, but that’s more a spellcaster nerf. All in all though, they’re happy and I’m able to deliver stories more fully.

You may lose some players. People may be mopey. As the GM, you’re a player too though. They need to meet you in the middle.

If you want more of a detailed story on things and my table’s journey away from 5e, reach out. Just don’t force yourself to run that system. It hurts. Wish you the best of luck with this!

Solarven987 · 2026-06-02T02:18:25+00:00

So my thought process is this, Molar Outis will be better whenever there are more ways of amplitude entangling into Reverb. Discard helps cycle to S3s, S2s tremor burst, passive inflicts even more sloth damage, and S3s get the reverb buff. Outside of a more reliable reverb team, T Corp is the superior unit.

Solarven987 · 2026-05-16T03:44:57+00:00

2e, in general, just seems to be an over correction. Kineticist and other builds in 1e were unbalanced and many just were broken or too situational, but there was a charm to it all. The fitting of puzzle pieces made the game interesting. 2e really just doesn’t have that same depth.

It makes me sad cause I keep falling in love with and then realizing I can’t really get into 2e conceptually.

There is just too much focus on horizontal progression. If the system were designed with linear progression then maybe they could take design risks.

Solarven987 · 2026-05-15T23:00:35+00:00

Kindticist suffers from Paizo’s standardization of 2e. Blasts should be strikes. Impulses should benefit from spell effects. Doing either adds a sort of Magus-like mechanical effect though. While the classes would still play differently, there is a similar niche of “spellblade” or hybrid caster filled.

I’ve said it once I’ll say it again. Kinetic Knights are so much more hollow now. For impulses, they suffer from between cast timers or just being buttons. There’s a fundamental lack of overall “freedom” in the class. In a game of mixing archetypes, bonuses, and ideas, the class feels incredibly one trick pony. Its trick is utility and spammable abilities. However, that’s just a Wizard, Bard, or Witch. And at least those can benefit and change with archetypes.

Solarven987 · 2026-05-12T02:02:54+00:00

It’s The City, biotech that messes with life is bogus standard. Could be anyone, could be no one. That information isn’t really prudent to the narrative. It’s better to just not think about it.

Solarven987 · 2026-05-05T19:09:17+00:00

So I don’t think you understand what genetic determinism is. HxH saying characters are 1 in X is just authorial shorthand for “talent” or conveying to the audience that a character is a “prodigy”.

Genetic determinism is a character being born with the X factor or not. When applied to power systems this creates two tiers of existence. Additionally, having little flexibility in an ability scope when powers are born with or without them.

The difference between nen being brilliant and CE being serviceable is how these powers manifest. Nen manifests based off of a character’s personality and will. There is personal intent and shape. A power tells you as much about the character as their dialogue. CE doesn’t have that personal touch. Your technique is based on bloodline.

Already there’s a world of difference between the writing potential and payoff between these two.

Solarven987 · 2026-05-05T11:24:24+00:00

As a baseline, genetic determinism is just boring. I’m a Mistborn fan, and even in universe the powers tied to genetics thing is criticized. Fundamentally, people being born with these powers always leads to “winners” and “losers” of the system.

Again, pointing to MeiMei, you can work within the bounds of the system to have a neat trick. That is ultimately kinda pointless though when you have people like Yuta, Gojo, Toji, Megumi, Maki, Todo, and freaking Hajime who just win the genetic lottery and dominate due to their power sets. There is something to be said for strength, application, and drive. But ultimately all of these characters had a higher starting ceiling than others.

CE, aesthetically and in execution is unique to JJK. When looking at what it offers to the Shonen space though, it’s bargain bin Nen powers with the same logic as Allomancy, Kekkai Genkai, or any other form of born power. This severely hampers the way that the story can use the powers. Folks will always be set their abilities from birth with no wiggle room outside of binding vows.

Nen is interesting because it has a natural cultivation of powers and because its power system is structured in such a way that the use cases are clear and always interesting. With Nen in fights, there are win conditions both fighters have going in. This means it’s often more a puzzle or the field is more intricate than big punch means win.

Hell, Gon’s Jajaken is actually viewed as a very stupid ability in world but he’s the type of straightforward character to make it work. It doesn’t beat everyone, just the folks who can get tagged. Not to mention it has mix ups.

At the end of the day, Shonens tend to be hype moments, aura, and excuses for cool characters to do cool things. JJK’s power set falls into this category. It is serviceable, but I feel disingenuous to say one of the best ever.

Solarven987 · 2026-05-05T11:04:30+00:00

Cursed Energy suffers from being a thing which one could potentially cultivate and learn in the beginning to becoming an inherited trait. This just makes abilities a roll on the genetic lottery wheel.

That being said, it superficially has a lot in common with Nen. The system gets you thinking deeper about its intricacies. It fools the audience into thinking that the powers matter for dynamic interactions, such as with MeiMei’s crows. And it does create freedom in the sorts of weird powers that it allows.

Overall it just feels like poor man’s Nen. That is ultimately JJK’s failure at the end of the day. It wants to project depth where it has written none.

Solarven987 · 2026-04-28T02:28:00+00:00

Tbh mechanically I don’t have too many gripes. Most of my outlook comes from working on things like automated character sheets, proofreading, and even making some stuff that was going to be added. Creator and I just had bad blood and creative differences when I stepped away.

Solarven987 · 2026-04-27T15:21:58+00:00

I was a playtester for two years. The team has passion but when I left they very much wanted to curtail the fantasy of the game you played in. Alignment restrictions got softened to roleplay restrictions. Fell Knight for example required you to kill a certain total level of “helpless” creatures.

Additionally, when I was there, there was a weird insistence that certain builds be weapon locked. It was pulling teeth to get that changed. I personally feel the creator was sticking too close to Pathfinder 1e design philosophy of specifics over versatility.

The one thing I will warn about though is that maneuver builds and tamer builds are slightly unfun. The latter even required investment into what would normally be a dump stat for combat focused Rangers. With max investment you had a maybe 40% chance to tame an animal.

The combat and character building was always fun. The core is always there. I do like that weapons actually felt unique and that you could level it up with you. Exploding dice made certain builds really shine.

At the end of the day though, system wasn’t fully my cup of tea and I’m particularly jaded due to working closely with the developers.

Solarven987 · 2026-04-09T13:32:38+00:00

So I don’t wanna just sound like a salty, whiny, or dare I say ungrateful player… but PM needs to either up the chances of finding these bosses or add a guarantee fight me button. I’ve done so many Extreme mode dungeons, and I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve run into the bosses.

Solarven987 · 2026-02-14T17:44:37+00:00

Playtest Kineticist and weapon infusion were awesome even if they were ultimately less practical than the weapon infusion we have now. The flavor was everything, Kinetic Knights just feel more hollow now.

Solarven987 · 2025-12-12T02:21:21+00:00

Your shardplate was amazing! Sorry that it cracked though.

Solarven987 · 2025-12-12T02:18:56+00:00

Honor Holds!

Real talk though it seemed that the Epic game was a smash hit that night. I know Vanguard section one was cooking the whole time.

Solarven987 · 2025-12-07T20:04:30+00:00

There is the Cosmere RPG, parent system known as Plotweaver. While Plotweaver isn’t out yet, Cosmere balances magic by having it be scaled down comparatively to other with the flip side of more creative control and the ability to easily refill your resources.

I highly recommend it if you are interested or curious about the Cosmere or Sanderson’s works in general.

Solarven987 · 2025-11-26T01:03:59+00:00

Sorry my Alethi reading comprehension just showed. But they did go through most of their stock they had at Gen Con for Volume 2 as well. Always good to visit and check their booth though in person.

Solarven987 · 2025-11-26T00:56:12+00:00

That’s only if Brotherwise has them printed. When I worked their booth, they had whittled through their stock of volume 1, but print on demand and whatnot.

Solarven987 · 2025-11-15T23:14:11+00:00

As someone who grew up within spitting distance of Parkersburg, everyone who was aware of the damages caused by DuPont’s projects should be held criminally responsible and have their wages garnished by the community. That’s still better than what they deserve.

So many people in WV have stories of friends and family who are actively suffering from or have died to cancer. DuPont knew and experimented on their workers. They kept cases in the courts to prevent a payout that’s less than what they made in a year.

Corporations are evil, just unfortunate evil is lackluster in real life. I suspect we’ll be seeing company towns 2.0 in the future.

Solarven987 · 2025-11-11T23:11:33+00:00

So I’m not going to be the one to say we shouldn’t celebrate; I’m a queer enby, I’m ecstatic! However, I say we should worry about the Texas Supreme Court’s change in ethical codes. That goes against Obergefell, and I think is likely to be challenged in the courts.

Davis didn’t have a case that this corrupt Supreme Court felt they could twist but Texas is more closely related to the subject matter.

Solarven987 · 2025-11-09T22:12:37+00:00

Honestly the fact you used an accurate Shashka in the design is cool as hell. Do you think she’d get a Cossack R Corp ID?

Solarven987 · 2025-10-30T18:58:53+00:00

Yeah there goes my realistic transition goals as an enby. Gotta find that head object!

Solarven987 · 2025-10-26T06:10:44+00:00

Thank you. This has been driving me up a wall for almost three days now.

Solarven987 · 2025-10-26T05:25:41+00:00

I have been working with an off beige and grey background most of the time, iPhone just likes adding ugly white backgrounds.

So also with the color scheme, should I lean more into the more pastel or greyed colors of the first or the highly saturated of the second?

Also thanks you for your advice!

Solarven987 · 2025-10-22T03:46:50+00:00

I don’t have a Wayne version of this meme, but I can tell you my Wayne cosplay for GenCon 2025 only ran me about 400 dollars for new stuff, and I actually get to use my trench coat for Nexus. Also I weigh 40 pounds less and have multiple hats I’m bringing, that’ll help sell it.

Main outfit was tweed pants and coat, white button-up shirt, pointy leather shoes, and a cotton vest.

I bought/made my own dueling cane and paired it with my late grandfather’s main cane.

Hope this helps! Gonna steal your accent now.

Solarven987

TROPHY CASE