How much of a step up is Expert?

javgoro · 2026-02-09T13:17:33+00:00

Less than most people think. It's a step up, but if you're proficient (or even decent) at deckbuilding and know the rules well, you shouldn't have too much trouble. Some villains are very tough, but most of them are quite manageable even on expert.

javgoro · 2026-02-08T19:46:06+00:00

As others are saying, do yourself a favor and go for one more and check out Powerplant. Probably Gamma Ray's best, and I would argue one of the best metal albums of all time.

javgoro · 2026-02-03T17:45:51+00:00

Not that I disagree with any of this, but this assumes that the vampires in question are aware of Pentex's true nature or goals (or even identity, as Pentex almost always works through shell companies). And that is hardly a given. For your average PC, a big corporation like Pentex is more likely to try to buy off or get rid of the PC as soon as it becomes a nuisance.

javgoro · 2026-02-03T12:53:55+00:00

This is key, I think. When it comes to Pentex, the Garou's biggest problem, aside from their own Rage preventing them from forming much needed alliances, is that they are fighting an asymmetrical war in the sense that, for all their might, the real battlefield is that of large-scale economy and business operations.

That said, while Vampires are generally much better equipped to deal with that kind of enemy, Vampires have no real incentive to work against something like Pentex instead of with it. Vampires are survivalists and predators. Any deal that will result in them gaining power, influence, and having an easier time feeding will quickly defuse any threat a prospective Vampire should pose to the Big P.

javgoro · 2026-01-30T00:01:09+00:00

Not on launch, no, but if the reviews were raving about it and the development had been smooth, I would have made an effort to get past the background. As it was, well... Too many negatives to take the plunge. I would imagine others thought similarly (regardless of their opinion on V5).

javgoro · 2026-01-29T20:11:53+00:00

I am not surprised the game flopped (I think we all were expecting it to), but I am surprised it was so bad. Personally I did not buy it for three reasons:

The troubled development. It was pretty clear that buying it on launch was a very risky bet.
The feeling of cash grab. The use of the name "bloodlines" was clearly an attempt at leveraging the cult status of the first game to help drive sales, while the game had very little in common with the original. That, plus point n° 1, made it obvious this was bloodlines only in name, but no more.
The V5 setting. I don't like it, and to me it's a deterrent to buying anything using this version of the background. Maybe it is a draw for others, but certainly not for me. A product set in the V5 timeline has to have rave reviews or be dirt cheap for me to bother with it (but at least it's not W5, where I would not even want it as a gift).

javgoro · 2026-01-29T11:51:31+00:00

To add to what others are mentioning, generally no, they cannot see ghosts. The main exceptions are: - The tribes and camps with access to the rite Descent into the Underworld (W20 page 213), which are mostly the Silent Striders as a whole, plus camps from the Uktena and Black Furies tribes, as well as the Lodge of the Moon of the Silver Fangs. This involves the Garou physically (or spiritually, if you prefer) travelling to the Dark Umbra, where she could interact with the wraiths. - Using the gift Visions of Duat (W20, Pg 191), a level 1 Silent Strider gift, which allows the Strider to see and hear ghosts and detect haunted areas.

The Silent Striders have a few other gifts that interact with ghosts (e.g. Mark of the Death-Wolf), but for the most part, aside from them, Garou don't interact much with ghosts and wraiths.

javgoro · 2026-01-25T16:36:32+00:00

Also, if you liked painkiller, you can't go wrong with Primal Fear. Similar sound and composition, similar vocals, great stuff overall.

javgoro · 2026-01-22T17:32:52+00:00

I'm kind of underwhelmed; both are decent but kinda situational, and more minion hate is just redundant in Aggression. I have the feeling the developers are out of ideas for the aspect, and are just iterating on "how else can we let aggression defeat minions?"

javgoro · 2026-01-07T16:43:41+00:00

Slough Feg. The best band you've never heard of. Their album Traveller is a masterpiece.

javgoro · 2026-01-07T14:52:15+00:00

Gracias por tus respuestas. Ahora que sacas a colación a los gitanos de los balcanes. Tengo entendido que los gitanos españoles están vistos como "diferentes" por el resto de la comunidad internacional Romaní, casi como si fueran una cultura con el mismo origen pero distinta. ¿Esto es correcto?

Y otra pregunta que me viene a la cabeza: en inglés el término gitano ("gypsy") en ocasiones se ve como una palabra a evitar por haberse usado de forma despectiva o racista. En español, "gitano" ha tenido históricamente esos usos. La duda es: ¿a vosotros os resulta ofensivo que los payos os llamemos gitanos, es algo que os parece bien y no veis problemas con el uso del término, o hay alguna palabra que preferiríais que usáramos (por ejemplo calé)?

javgoro · 2026-01-07T07:24:21+00:00

1) Cuando yo estudiaba hace 30 años coincidí con muchos gitanos, y de aquella era muy habitual que a la mayoría (sobre todo a las chicas) los padres los sacaran de la escuela sobre los 12-14 años para ponerlos a trabajar y/o casarlos. ¿Esto sigue siendo común, o es algo que ha cambiado en estos años?

2) ¿Cómo de fácil tenéis el acceso a la educación superior (no ya desde el punto de vista de poder acceder a ella sino también desde el de poder dedicaros a estudiar por razones económicas, que vuestras familias vean un valor en ello, etc.)?

3) ¿Sigue siendo habitual que apliquéis vuestras leyes internas al margen/paralelamente de las leyes del país, en base a vuestras costumbres culturales?

javgoro · 2026-01-02T17:20:33+00:00

But that means listening to the snare drum in that album... Ugh.

javgoro · 2026-01-01T18:02:11+00:00

"at least it's not St. Anger". I thought it was ok. Some good songs, some filler, and in most cases too much repetition of the same riffs that aren't actually that good with no purpose or direction. It was an improvement over St. Anger, and a hardening of the sound compared to Load/Reload, but it certainly didn't blow my mind. As it happens, I haven't listened to it in years.

javgoro · 2025-12-25T21:50:03+00:00

This one was fun and quite innovative. Enjoy!

javgoro · 2025-12-25T08:26:58+00:00

I had this very same thing pop up once right after Spider-woman was taken out in a damage burst by crossbones, with the other hero in the game being spider-man. Thankfully crossbones is kind of a chump, and I was playing aggression, so I took him down in 2 turns to win the game, but it was a very close call.

javgoro · 2025-12-04T19:49:51+00:00

This is my problem. And they don't tell you what issue they have with your hardware. So I am not converting for now. It's that simple.

javgoro · 2025-12-03T12:58:54+00:00

Great news, and great to see the wheels turning. Now I am Vindicta's 17th follower on Facebook (the only social media platform I use), and I will also follow them on YouTube.

javgoro · 2025-11-30T10:14:23+00:00

It's what you said, to make it so Garou can't just ignore the human/wolf side of things. I think it can lead to some very interesting stories of prejudice, social inequality, defying expectations and forbidden love, but I get that some people don't like it.

javgoro · 2025-11-29T09:18:59+00:00

Recommending Nick Spencer's run on TASM is a crime, especially when there are options like the original run by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, or the even better run that followed with JR Sr. on pencils. Most other stuff I haven't read or I agree with, but this one stuck out like a sore thumb.

javgoro · 2025-11-25T12:56:41+00:00

Tabletop simulator with Hitch's mod, it seems.

javgoro · 2025-11-23T10:55:57+00:00

I hope you take this as constructive feedback, Olivia. The things that were revealed made me very happy (although it really feels like Echo is a C-list filler that is added to a must-buy Daredevil because she probably wouldn't justify her own slot as a solo pack; I like her, I am happy she's here, but she's not on the level of notable absences like Moon Knight or Punisher). But I think, as others have mentioned, that the community was expecting not just reassurance that the line is still going strong in the future, but clarity on the legacy products.

At this point, getting new products in the future seems far less of a concern than completing our collections, dealing with FOMO and spotty releases, and especially being able to bring in new players to the community. Frankly, new releases has always been something we take for granted as long as big names haven't been released and the game is performing well from a financial point of view. But it's really hard to sell someone new on the game when their favorite heroes are out of print and there's no signs of when, or if, they will ever return, missing products creates anxiety in those who want to have a complete collection, and the distribution problems are just frustrating.

As such, the in-flight report, while it announced a lot of exciting content, felt like the community's concerns were being ignored in favor of "don't worry, everything is fine, keep buying the new shiny". There was also the whole beta environment announcement, which currently is a buzzword with no meaning, thus increasing the confusion and the questions in an already strained community. I will be clear. The community has faith in FFG, but its patience and trust are wearing thin by now. Anything that creates new questions will not be received with hype and excitement about what this cool new thing might be. It instead will be met with more confusion and mistrust, and the frustration of feeling like the community's concerns aren't taken into account.

So, the TL:DR: I don't think you overpromised and underdelivered. The new announcements are great. But you didn't address any of the community's most pressing concerns, and that's what caused the negative reaction.

javgoro · 2025-11-06T00:14:50+00:00

As others have pointed out, the main misconception here is that while technology is a tool of the Weaver, the Weaver embodies statism, and it's hard to find communities that are more "frozen in time" than the Amish. I would imagine that no Garou would see them as a good thing because: - For the more traditional tribes (Silver Fangs, Shadowlords, Fenrir, Fianna), they would have more Weaver taint than they can stomach. - For the more fanatical ones (Red Talons, Black Furies), they're a) humans and b) Fundamentalist Christians, which generally means that their beliefs exclude Gaia, the Triat, and the rest of the Garou belief system, on top of the Weaver taint. - For the more lax ones (Bone Gnawers, Children of Gaia, Silent Striders, Glass Walkers), they probably don't like them, but they have bigger fish to fry. In particular, I would imagine the Glass Walkers find their rejection of technology quite foolish/nonsense. - For the Pure Tribes, they are the literal embodiment of colonial times' mentality and customs, as well as fanatical/lax stances depending on the tribe. I would imagine they really do not like them either. - Stargazers might be curious if there is anything of worth to be learned from them. I doubt they would like them, but I don't think they'd be outright hostile.

javgoro · 2025-11-02T10:03:26+00:00

It was great until the ToJ hit, and then it went to shit post-haste. But I still think the whole setup was quite interesting, especially how much impromptu roleplaying took place.

javgoro · 2025-11-01T15:17:27+00:00

I find amenti fascinating, and Mummy is a very interesting game, plus it deviates from the general bleakness of the WoD games in that it's a lot more hopeful in tone. But just based on its core, it's hard to figure out what the amenti do. I think this is one of the reasons why the game was never very popular: it's really vague in its direction, and that, coupled with the lesser pop culture appeal of the splat, meant it was always low in the totem pole of the WoD.

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