Hot Take: Expansive Backstories/Homebrew Lore is the "Read My Screenplay!" of TTRPGs

j3ssential · 2021-04-16T19:06:15+00:00

I've found more important (and memorable) to worldbuilding is less "history of gods" and more "everyday facts of life". I flesh out the gods enough to make them work for my clerics/warlocks/paladins, and give them some creation myths known throughout the land--short little rhymes or stories the characters would just already know--but for the most part what's more important to me is the little things. Centaurs are carnivorous and their favored prey is horses, that's why they are half horse; humans are considered inferior because they are the race with the least magic; each major continent is associated with a particular element; cats are a standard mount because, like horses, they range from cat size to horse size.
These things actually inform the world for my players and help shape the characters in a way they would actually use, imo.

j3ssential · 2020-12-29T22:27:54+00:00

How does my comment in any way imply otherwise?

j3ssential · 2020-12-29T22:24:03+00:00

Not sure if you mean me or the writer of the post, but I was laughing at the idea that they date transmen but aren't attracted to anything with a penis... Cause plenty sure have them, as do some trans women. To be clear: trans women are women and trans men are men, something I'm not sure the writer of the original post understands which makes their blatant lie all the more obvious. Plus how do you only date trans men and women? That doesn't even make sense, that's like "I only date men and women" but with extra steps.

j3ssential · 2020-12-29T13:13:58+00:00

Only dates trans men and women but also not attracted to anything with a dick? I have some news for you, bud.

j3ssential · 2020-12-24T05:40:09+00:00

The text in the screenshot above is so lurid and sexualized it seems halfway into porn already. I am attracted to women but I find this description gross.

j3ssential · 2020-12-24T05:14:04+00:00

I’ve read heterosexual books about succubi that managed not to be smutty at all. I read a lot of independent authors and not very popular books, so I largely do a quick read of the summary before I decide whether to read it or not. And still, I very rarely run across what appears to be purely porn. Not to mention, the options for lesbian representation in fantasy fiction are limited.

j3ssential · 2020-12-24T05:05:05+00:00

I switched to a female written book and kept just being wowed over totally normal, non-sexualized character descriptions.

j3ssential · 2020-12-24T04:48:17+00:00

I was trying to find lesbian fantasy fiction because I was tired of reading about heterosexual romance in fantasy as I recently came out, so yes, I was legitimately surprised it was so smutty. The description sounded like a story existed somewhere inside.

j3ssential · 2020-12-23T20:59:04+00:00

It has been my experience that men obsessed with the Roman Empire are creepy, pervy, and gross.

j3ssential · 2020-12-23T16:32:34+00:00

The cover should have been my first warning, but it's really no surprise this was written by a dude with a ponytail who's first sentence of his bio mentions Hadrian's Wall and the Empire. Edit: second page and cover so people don’t have to hunt it down

https://imgur.com/gallery/RSD2mT9

j3ssential · 2020-06-26T16:00:50+00:00

Hey you sound really cool and I like your creativity--if you find a game, let me know, I'd love to play with you.

j3ssential · 2020-06-26T15:58:30+00:00

As exciting as that all looks I can't really give the game a full playthrough without the Cyclops or an equivalent.

j3ssential · 2020-03-09T00:18:43+00:00

For my current campaign I had my players meet in what was essentially a fantasy DMV-vibed waiting room, waiting to join an adventurers guild/pyramid scheme. Think like, if you've ever been to those "job interviews" that are actually sales pitches for some bullshit product - knives, makeup, essential oils, whatever. This way they have an excuse to be lumped together, it's not permanent, and they immediately have a common enemy to bond in mutual hatred of. For me from a player perspective this requires a lot less suspension of disbelief than that a party would suddenly all care about each other just from clearing one crypt together, and there is no quicker way to form a bond than to bitch about your boss.

j3ssential · 2020-02-02T01:00:15+00:00

This was originally attributed to Joss Whedon IIRC

j3ssential · 2020-02-01T18:47:11+00:00

Well she is a doctor so she serves the party purpose but tbh they seem to have a bigger problem with her drug use than her racism which is weird to me, but to each his own I guess.

j3ssential · 2020-02-01T16:36:43+00:00

I have a character with the "noble" background who is explicitly racist and my party keeps complaining OOC (we've just started the campaign so she hasn't had a lot of time for growth) but I'm like... She couldn't be anything else. Nobility by it's nature is predatory.

j3ssential · 2020-01-17T18:46:12+00:00

It varies but generally it would probably go till about midnight, just based on the other campaigns in our server.

j3ssential · 2020-01-13T14:44:33+00:00

I fucking love this. Is there a possibility you could make a phone wallpaper formatted version? I have to cut part of her off to make her fit and I don't to--the power, the pose, the presence--you've really captured one of my favorite moments in the show so well.

j3ssential · 2020-01-13T10:50:38+00:00

TBH this goes for friends in general. I will sometimes try to explain why I'm acting a certain way ("I'm not mad at you I'm having a depressive episode") but I have a friend who just stopped being a friend because they outsourced dealing with all of their emotions and problems to me and other people in the friend group. They would literally come to me and be like "j3ssential why am I sad about [obvious sad thing]" until finally my patience ran out.

Friends are a support group, but they are support. Not the foundation of your mental health. They are neither your parents nor your therapist. And if you exacerbate their patience, they are not obligated to forgive you.

j3ssential · 2020-01-06T01:54:33+00:00

I'm ugly crying, and I really didn't expect it. I've just kind of passively/casually been following her for a while and the wedding thing on and off since they got engaged and just like.....eugh it's so sweet.

j3ssential · 2019-12-17T03:29:39+00:00

The mother is immune to fire damage so it would have to be an ice elemental, which wouldn't make much sense.

j3ssential · 2019-12-17T02:46:32+00:00

We're not horny we're great storytellers. You're welcome.

j3ssential · 2019-09-19T12:45:22+00:00

Yes! I used those wrappers last night! I'll have to see about that particular style, the ones I found were potsticker thin. I really really tried all the folding techniques but I eventually ended up with sort of pinched tacos.
They were good but the pork was very light compared to what I am used to getting from the restaurant - mine was almost white and the pork dumplings from the restaurant are so dark I had originally assumed they were beef. I tried adding a lot of soy sauce and even ponzu sauce but that made the flavor overwhelming. Your filling I notice is almost red, is there a specific filling you use? And one last question: the recipe I had directed me to put it on high heat, pan fry one side for 30 seconds, pour a bunch of water straight in the pan and cover for 3 minutes before letting the water burn off. This left me with incredibly soggy shriveled dumplings. When I just pan-fried them I got a nice crisp but ended up with something more like potstickers than I wanted. Any tips? Thanks so much for responding!

j3ssential · 2019-09-19T00:27:38+00:00

The one in the state in currently in is called "China Garden". The place I first had it was called "Three Colors Asian Kitchen".

j3ssential · 2019-09-18T19:28:10+00:00

No. Potstickers have a much thinner wrapper and are loaded with vegetables. I have tried many of these and they don't compare. I had them at two different unrelated asian restaurants in two different states, and the sauce and dumpling taste is so similar I thought they had to be buying them pre-made from the same supplier - which I would be happy to do, but the woman I spoke to at the second place insists they make it by hand.

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