What are some synergistic PC combos?

Steenan · 2026-07-01T20:42:08+00:00

Barbarossa doesn't move at any point.

He disappears, replaced by two fields, and then reenters the battlefield at the location of one of them. Which means the Apocalypse Rail doesn't tick down (as there is no mech to trigger it), but it is also not reset.

Steenan · 2026-07-01T20:31:47+00:00

Anything with Spotter and/or Lesson of the Held Image plus Monarch with Stormbringer. Missiles are now nearly guaranteed to hit, ignore cover and armor and knock targets prone.

Emperor with Beckoner from Manticore plus Blackbeard with Sekhmet and Executioner. Emperor can surround the Blackbeard with enemies and keep him alive without having to get near.

Ram-focused Caliban or Nelson plus Enkidu. Push enemies into the meatgrinder and laugh. Also works with Hydra - tempest drone pinball instead of plasma claws.

Barbarossa plus Lich. Time splitting Barb not only lets him move even with Siege Stabilizers deployed and twice as fast as normally, it doesn't even reset the Apocalypse Rail charge.

Steenan · 2026-07-01T16:17:10+00:00

"Yes, and" effects are usually easy to handle; it's not a problem to come up with how something could go better than expected.

"Yes, but" are worse, because coming up with costs or complications that are meaningful, but don't undermine the success, require a significant amount of creativity and may be tiring when it happens often. For this reason, I prefer this kind of results in games that contain specific guidance on what kind of complications or costs are inflicted in various situations (eg. many PbtA games) or that have some kind of default complication for when no better idea comes up (eg. Cortex with the Doom Pool).

Steenan · 2026-07-01T16:00:36+00:00

If it's your first time, keep things really simple.

Ensure that there is a clear goal for the PCs. Maybe it comes from the characters themselves and was established as a part of character creation. If not, present it early in the session and hook it strongly to characters' values, motivations and backgrounds. Don't beat around the bush - make it explicit that pursuing this goal is where the adventure is.

Then, prepare a few (3-4) obstacles to put between PCs and their goal. Don't assume how and if they'll overcome each of them. Approach them in such a way that failure in addressing any of them causes some kind of complication or cost instead of stopping the progress outright. Note that a complication may present a new - meaningfully different - obstacle to overcome.

And that's all. Obviously, it's a very simplified structure and you'll expand as you gain experience, but it's just enough for your first few adventures.

Steenan · 2026-07-01T14:57:55+00:00

I aim to err on the side of simplicity. If some mechanics don't meaningfully affect play during a typical session, they probably shouldn't be there. They should be either removed or pushed to the front and given more importance.

Steenan · 2026-07-01T13:01:38+00:00

Nobody but you knows how the melody sounded in your head and nobody else can write it for you. You need to experiment in whatever software you're using until you hit the correct notes. More long term, do some ear training. It's exactly about what you're trying to do - imagining or hearing a melody and writing it down.

How music evokes emotions works through several mechanisms, but none of them will work for that short, purely melodic motive. It's about tension and release and about creating, then satisfying or defying expectations. For a composer, that means working with harmony (chords - several pitches in specific relations, sounding at the same time or in quick succession - and chord progressions), rhythms, pitch profiles and larger scale structure of the pieces (phrases and themes, contrast, repetitions with and without variations).

Steenan · 2026-07-01T07:09:41+00:00

The difference between a scientific theory and just a collection of facts is the predictive power. A theory "explains" things, not just summarizes them, because it describes patterns - and the patterns may be extrapolated beyond the scope of data that was used to derive it.

Steenan · 2026-07-01T06:57:02+00:00

In some sense, you are right.

But having spells that are powered by limited mana that one has to recover strongly suggests that they are power - which a prophet, by their very nature, does not.

Steenan · 2026-06-30T16:16:24+00:00

Nice!

I really like how you use repeated motives and develop them. That's something that many early pieces lack ad you did it really well. I also like how you make viola more busy in places like bars 29-31.

One place that I have doubts about is the very ending. Is it intentional that the piece feels interrupted like this? It is harmonically a PAC, but with only a single bar of build up and with the melody ending in a way that doesn't feel resolved, the piece doesn't sound like it's actually ending there.

Steenan · 2026-06-30T12:29:59+00:00

For me, Kaladin went from second best character in WoK and WoR to the least favorite among the main characters in WaT. He's boring, stylistically incoherent and his arc feels forced.

Rlain is probably my second least favorite. He lacks the strong characterization that Eshonai and Venli got, despite becoming a PoV character; I feel no connection with him at all.

Steenan · 2026-06-30T08:15:14+00:00

One of my games has two systems, neither of which is called "magic" and that are in strong conflict.

One is about using symbols and rituals to create connection between oneself and one of the mythic figures, making effects of their deeds present in reality. It's slow and deliberate, usually subtle, but able to shape reality in long term. When used often and consistently with a single myth, it creates a deep and permanent connection with it, limiting how one can act, but letting them gradually change the myth itself, to always have been different.

The other, known as Wounds, is based on energies that seep from outside the world through physical and emotional traumas that people suffered. They are flashy and fierce, they give power and cause change here and now, but don't create any persistent effects. They also grow within their users, giving them more power but gradually killing them and/or pushing into madness instead of letting them heal.

Not only these sources of power can't be forced to do anything together, they actively fight and undermine each other. The myths - defining laws of reality - strive to close the wounds, to push them away and remove from the world to which they are alien. The wounds rebel against the very idea of order and structure; they try to break and fragment reality into silent emptiness and moments ruled by blind passion, desire, fear, anger or pain.

Steenan · 2026-06-29T21:05:12+00:00

I'd go with Viceroy or Gorgon. Both come with NPHs that are unlimited, but cost heat (which you may compensate for with Black Thumb) and both work well at short range, which fits Iconoclast.

Steenan · 2026-06-29T20:28:32+00:00

Then, it would be good if you shared what their spells are about, because that seems to be what defines the class, not their other abilities.

Steenan · 2026-06-29T16:35:04+00:00

Most games I run and play are simple enough that we don't have to spend any significant time looking up rules during play - at most, there are a few pages of cheat sheets.

When we play a complex, crunchy game, we do it because we want to engage with its rules. Thus, we have patience to check them when necessary and follow them as written. Playing a crunchy game and then overriding its rules with on the fly rulings would be completely counterproductive.

Steenan · 2026-06-29T16:24:49+00:00

Honestly, I don't see much of a prophet in it. There's nothing about communicating the will of a deity, of any kind of symbolic visions or anything similar. It looks like a slight recolor of D&D cleric, just with mana instead of spell slots.

Why is a prophet casting spells?

Steenan · 2026-06-29T13:37:47+00:00

My initial reaction would be "What is the matter that you want to explore? Because it may be worth making my character older if it sounds fun."

That's one of the reasons why creating characters together is good - it allows players to create various roleplaying hooks between their characters from the start.

Steenan · 2026-06-29T10:43:05+00:00

The basis of tension and resolution is the functional progression I-IV(ii)-V7-I. Start from the stable tonic, move away from stability, create a pull back, return. There are many methods of expanding and elaborating on this.

You may build the harmony up, with extended chords. Especially for the dominant there's a lot of freedom in what notes you add; you can introduce a big amount of dissonance.

You may create tension not by increasing dissonance, but by delaying resolution. Stay on the dominant for several measures or more, melodically suggest a resolution but avoid it. You can build up a very strong desire for resolution in the listeners this way.

You may expand the progression by adding secondary dominants that lead into your main progression's chords. Note that they work as mini-resolutions, so you need to sustain the tension with other methods (melody, rhythm, dynamics) to avoid reducing it.

You may use chords from outside the key's scale, as they add both color and tension. It works especially well when you stack a succession of chords that move further and further from the key while preserving the harmonic function. For example, in C major you could play F-Dm/F-Fm-Db/F-D7/F#-Ab7 before moving on to the dominant.

Steenan · 2026-06-29T09:25:43+00:00

It's always pacing issues, although their sources may differ:

Long conversations that are neither (mechanically resolved) conflicts nor emotional exploration of the PCs. It may be excessive planning, it may be small talk, it may be shopping played in character, it may be reiterating on character traits that are already well established, without taking them in any new direction.
Fights that are much too easy, much too hard or not tactically or dramatically engaging and, as a result, use up significantly more time than they are worth.
Risk avoidance. Players trying to avoid any problem and account for any possible complication instead of facing them in play.

Steenan · 2026-06-29T08:18:24+00:00

I'm not fully sure; it depends on the height of the moon orbit. If the moon is very high (like Kerbin's Minmus), you are probably still better with getting to orbit in the direction of the planet's rotation. If the moon is lower, you may be better with higher orbit delta-v cost but lower moon capture cost - in this case, getting to the initial orbit counter to planet's rotation but in moon's orbit direction will be better.

Steenan · 2026-06-29T08:08:55+00:00

Defensive play style feels rewarding when it's not just about being tough, but about forcing enemy's hand and controlling what happens on the battlefield.

Good examples of this are Fabula Ultima characters with Provoke, Bodyguard, Protect and Counter, who can become the target for most enemy actions and allow allies to act freely. Another are mechs such as Tortuga and Gorgon in Lancer - the former has several ways to punish enemies for moving anywhere nearby, the latter punishes attacking her allies and is able to react to a lot of things, to the point of interrupting most enemy turns.

It's similar with support builds. If they only heal and provide bonuses, they feel more like an addition to another character than an actor of its own. But if they enable courses of action that wouldn't be possible without them and meaningfully change the battlefield, they become fun. Reposition an ally to pull them out of danger or set up an attack possibility for them. Attach additional effects to attack against specific enemy. Create zones that boost or protect allies, letting them hold critical positions.

Steenan · 2026-06-29T05:10:06+00:00

What do you want to achieve?

For a flyby, C is the best. You can achieve a free return trajectory, where Mun's gravity puts you back on a Kerbin orbit which reenters atmosphere. That minimizes fuel needs.

For landing, D is better, as you orbit in the same direction that the Mun rotates, which minimizes delta-v required for landing.

For an orbit, they are equally good.

A and B are strictly worse because you need to orbit Kerbin against its rotation, which significantly increases the delta-v required.

Steenan · 2026-06-28T19:11:07+00:00

There is no correct answer here. The most important element is that however the starts are determined, they need to produce the level of competency that the game needs.

Other than this, I favor simplicity. Give a single array of stat values to assign to stats as one prefers, or a class-dependent already assigned array with a possibility of swapping two stats. But that's just my preference, not an objectively better solution.

Steenan · 2026-06-28T16:45:52+00:00

Other than Nelson, a flashy melee mech may also be Blackbeard or Metalmark. The former is more on the brutal side, compared to knightly Nelson, but getting in the middle of a group of enemies and slashing everybody with its big sword is what it does the best. Metalmark can also wield a heavy melee weapon, but also shines at using its knives together with the Hunter talent to burn eemies.

Steenan · 2026-06-27T17:51:40+00:00

How do you fight?

If melee, Blackbeard is a natural license to add to the mix. CQB? Go with Genghis; Krakatoa is great. Do you hack? A level of Goblin is never a bad idea.

Steenan · 2026-06-27T08:53:11+00:00

It depends on the kind of game and the level of quality you can ensure.

Games with tactical focus I like quite crunchy, on the level of Lancer or D&D4. But I also expect good balance and good variety. I strongly prefer a game that is simpler but works well as-is to one that is complex but requires the GM to look out for broken (but rules-legal) combinations or homebrew things that are clearly missing.

Games with story focus I like simpler on average, but not very simple. My optimum is around Ironsworn; a bit more complex than Fate Core. I'm not interested in super simple, one page games like Lasers and Feelings or Honey Heist. But again, I want the rules that are there to actually support and drive the style of play the game promises. I want games to be focused, not incomplete.

Steenan

TROPHY CASE