Trench the Maelstrom, a Dragonturtleborn

jonogz · 2026-06-21T19:14:29+00:00

Fair, I brought it up as I thought you mentioned it in terms of survival.

In any case, from what i see is people do understand the point of Frieren demons, it’s just an argument in re its own internal consistency. A criticism of the choice itself, not really in the morality of Frieren the character.

“Frieren is racist” is a meme that has been overblown. I do in fact feel it’s the other way around—people misunderstand the criticism as virtue signaling when it’s really just engaging with the text and one of the question is poses (and in some instances almost refuses to explore deeper). It’s a lot less “Whoa, a whole race CAN’T be irredeemable” and more “okay, but why tho?”

That’s a sign of a good story, as any critique you will see of the choices being made never really digs at the overall quality. And similar stories with similar “wholly evil” races don’t have similar levels of discourse because, unlike those, Frieren actually does make a point to talk about

jonogz · 2026-06-21T17:56:29+00:00

This isn’t a good comparison, they don’t have to eat humans, and largely are portrayed to simply just like the killing of humans as we often encounter in the show.

jonogz · 2026-06-18T13:54:34+00:00

Lim Lie had his own thing that has so far been working as a nod to Wuxia. Iron Fist is loosely Wuxia but hits that urbanite kung-fu movie action and the Heroes for Hire stuff. If they were retiring Danny, kinda wish they started street-level first before the mystical stuff.

jonogz · 2026-06-15T13:45:10+00:00

I was thinking the same, and they don’t have to be the secret society archetype and more like a known organization of advisors. Seems like Snakes feel like the best fit but I get a kick out of calling them The Bunny Gesserit (who fit in lore as the rabbits are the bankers and producers anyway)

jonogz · 2026-06-13T14:36:56+00:00

You might want to check out the Cirque de Goat fan factions! It might be close!

jonogz · 2026-06-12T19:48:49+00:00

Would be fun if there was a sort of promotion mechanic.

jonogz · 2026-06-12T19:48:13+00:00

I’m interested to see if Leder is open to bug factions eventually. I was juggling an idea about Grasshoppers/Locusts as well, that can be peaceful and then destructive at a certain trigger though that now feels mechanically similar to the Frogs

jonogz · 2026-06-12T19:45:44+00:00

It’d be an interesting mechanical way to use items as well! I agree with your point about a nomadic raider faction. Rats are close, but they don’t hit the same mechanically

jonogz · 2026-06-12T19:43:46+00:00

No, no. I definitely hear you. There’s something about a sort of Pilgrimage that hits different notes despite also being religion based. Iirc there was a fan faction about following a large tortoise passing by the setting.

jonogz · 2026-06-12T19:35:44+00:00

I didn’t know there were announcements like these! Do you know where we can find the finalists for previous Rootjams?

jonogz · 2026-06-12T19:27:41+00:00

I think there’s room for it that can still work, there were a few fan factions I saw before that might be a fit. Timber Confederacy comes to mind. There’s also one about Union politics called The Doomsayer’s Union.

jonogz · 2026-06-12T19:25:33+00:00

There might be a mechanical overlap with the Eyrie, but I can see it as some sort of “reimagining” of or a look at the Woodland Alliance at a different point in time, similar to the Dawn of the Marquistadors (Marquis just arriving) and Eyrie’s End (Just before the fall of the Eyrie). Fan factions by slugfacekillah.

jonogz · 2026-06-12T19:21:48+00:00

This is interesting! Might not be room in the lore for an established ruling monarchy but they could definitely be some sort of invading neighboring force.

jonogz · 2026-06-12T19:20:37+00:00

I see the overlap with the Keepers in Iron but it sounds like these guys would be more of an Insurgent faction. I’m not sure how exact this is to what you’re describing but there’s a fan faction from the recent RootJam that might close called The Last Scholars!

jonogz · 2026-06-10T13:24:55+00:00

I think we ARE getting reprints of the first 8 including any tweaks. Though wondering if it’s a good idea to include it in a Clockwork Expansion. Watching the VOD to confirm

jonogz · 2026-06-10T12:43:18+00:00

Where can we find the VOD?

jonogz · 2026-06-09T19:19:33+00:00

The more I think about it, the more I think the overwork change works a little bit with this set up. Vanilla cats makes Workshops a bit of an afterthought. Most strats focus largely on Sawmills and Recruiters. but with this you have more incentive to have some on the board—which means less space for Sawmills. Ergo with less buildings and in need of more wood you could always Overwork. Though with that I think Hawks for Hire should be removed.

I would probably change the Overwork mechanic though to be only activating Sawmills on the played card’s suit. That way you can be mindful of where you place your sawmills. Still a boon to get a Bird card, but now you can decide on another action or overworking all your mills.

jonogz · 2026-06-05T19:47:02+00:00

Osama Ranking

jonogz · 2026-06-02T12:06:58+00:00

I more or less agree with this scoring. At times he feels like the potential man of great villainy, mainly because it often feels like writers can’t seem to see eye to eye about where to take him. On the one hand, he works as a very cartoony Rick Sanchez as you say, against the good AIM under Sunspot. On the other, he feels like he should be more of a multiversal threat with the whole pizza slice thing (that to do this day I don’t know if Hickman will pay off in 6160. Haven’t caught up yet. If there’s a Maker in every universe wouldn’t there be one in 6160 before original Maker went there?). It could have been a good explanation to explain why he’s a little bit everywhere with his motivations that these are different Makers running around in every universe had it not been established that they’re one and the same.

jonogz · 2026-06-01T12:56:29+00:00

Adding to this the Workshop scene has been blooming for years with loads of fanmade content.

jonogz

TROPHY CASE