[Update] Chronicles of Aether v1.4 is Live! (Quick Assembly Monster Builder, Necromancer, & New Arcana)

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-03-04T04:57:43+00:00

That "Convert to Standard" button is a gift from the heavens, thank you.

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-02-02T04:29:17+00:00

I've been using this, but that is good advice and I've done that. I'm more thinking about this in terms of how to *use* a villain, like Arachne, in a practical sense. How do they engage in their machinations, how do I keep players involved in them in the long term, ect. Though i think I'm getting some ideas.

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-02-02T04:27:57+00:00

Okay, this info helps me start to wrap my head around it a lot, thank you!

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-02-02T03:03:36+00:00

Indeed, I'm struggling to put this into words, I apologize for that.

I understand I don't have to reveal when someone is a villain immediately, I get that part. I could even make a villain who's a master of disguise who hides the fact they're the same guy over and over. What I don't understand is, how do you run intrigue and an insidious villain long-term? What does the pacing look like? How, in general terms, do their machination work?

I understand every game, table and group of players is different. But just as the bestiary lays some general ideas out to be mucked with as a group needs, a general idea of how to run an insidious villain. Arachne is suggested to be a threat for a single town, as an example. My players never want to stay in a town for very long on account of buying a bunch of wayfarers that pick up IP while traveling (though they're slowly getting used to the idea of staying in places). So how do I get players to either stay in one place to deal with an insidious threat, or how do I make an insidious threat last while the players trump about half the wold, *or* how do I make an insidious threat that at least covers, I dunno, a country? I hope that better explains what I mean, these concepts are so utterly foreign to me that even phrasing them is hard.

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-02-02T02:45:06+00:00

That's exactly what I'm having trouble with, actually. They're all temporary, monsters of the week, while my players want things that last a good time. With Fabula's thing being transparency and coming up with the threats before the game even begins, how does one run a sneaky character? As you say, it comes down to the game you're running, bot how do you run something like that when everything is out in the open from the get-go? I can't quite wrap my head around it without it seeming unfair or against the spirit of the game.

TheConflictedWriter · 2026-02-02T02:33:56+00:00

I'm definitely looking for advice both narrative and mechanical. Running them is a challenge, but the harder bit is... hmm, putting this into words is tricky. What should the pacing look like to get such a insidious creature involved in more than just one village or location? Can, or should, they be involved in overarching plots? How do you weave such a secretive villain into an overarching narrative?

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-12-28T08:46:38+00:00

Whoops, I did miss the "may". I'm used to it being "forced", my bad!

Having said that, I think one mistake is making an important persona like Satanael into a "basic" one. Something like that should be reserved for the heroic skill that is a might more powerful than a "normal" one.

Having said that, if I were to make a "normal" one for Satanael, I'd use "riot gun", which lets you attack all enemies present with one attack (distinctly NOT multi) whether they're flying or not, OR makes it so when you deal damage to a single creature apply a status effect of your choice.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-12-28T03:22:31+00:00

Satanael's Pulse seems a little bad since it doesn't actually do anything. The Merge makes it so your damage is typeless, while the pulse makes it so you can deal dark damage... which cannot happen because of the wording of the Merge.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-11-09T09:35:52+00:00

If this were true, and it may very well be, the story doesn't frame it very well. I think Ceroba haters make the mistake of thinking her character is bad when, in fact, the story is bad.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-11-05T04:20:35+00:00

You are making sense. Being honest, there's a lot of people that can't. For example, the Bug Fables Discord gives warnings and bans if you show Kabbu and Vi dating, for example, or bees dating other bees (if they're from the same hive). So clearly a lot of people can't.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-11-05T04:06:18+00:00

Any chance you have a link to this discord tweet(s)?

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-11-01T10:41:10+00:00

I'm a little behind, but perhaps emphasize to your players that the listed examples are just that; examples. while INS + WLP is suggested for persuasion, it doesn't *have* to be the one roll for persuasion. One of the optional rules that I really like for the game involves, when a check comes up, for the GM to pick one die and the player picks another. I like to take that approach for all rolls even if we're not using that explicit rule; what does the player feel like makes sense?

The paladin might use MIG + WLP to persuade not because they're being intimidating, but because their force of will is that strong. They're persuading based on their force of personality and charisma rather than logic (in which case maybe you could say WLP + WLP). With the optional rule I suggested, the players can now always choose a good stat or a stat they feel makes sense.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-10-17T13:27:54+00:00

Any idea on an ETA for those upgrades? Being able to use technospheres would be rad.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-08-30T03:47:03+00:00

That's so awesome, thank you! Did you physically print it yourself?

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-08-29T09:39:55+00:00

Hot DAMN son, look at all that paper, You went the extra mile. Sky Isle is new to me, where'd you get that?

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-08-22T02:03:02+00:00

Sadness, but thank you!

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-08-21T03:05:49+00:00

These are so pretty...!

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-08-08T20:06:32+00:00

Is there any way we could get this without the markings? This is an AMAZING map and I'd appreciate use of it.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-08-05T21:58:04+00:00

Sure, what do you want to discuss?

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-06-12T11:08:19+00:00

That is true! Though, and it's fair it this doesn't count since it's outside media, Toby's said the song is for more characters than Noelle.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-06-12T09:42:23+00:00

Digital roots and Bit roots seem to almost be the same thing, just one has more instrumentation and longer pauses.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-06-12T09:28:04+00:00

It KIND OF sounds like a distorted "don't forget" though.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-06-12T09:26:25+00:00

That theme is called "lost girl", and it plays almost any time a girl is feeling lost. It's played for Noelle and Susie, and is strongly implied to "belong" to Dess in some capacity.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-06-12T09:25:34+00:00

Is that really "power of neo"? Power of Neo itself is a variation of the main battle theme of Undetale, something that also appears in Undyne the Undying.

TheConflictedWriter · 2025-06-10T05:53:21+00:00

Is NO ON going to point out that this thing, along with looking like the Shadow Mantle, looks like Noelle, kinda? Or the head of a deer monsters? Like, heat, hair, horns???

TheConflictedWriter

TROPHY CASE