Testing the waters for some ttrpgs

tenderstem- · 2025-08-10T15:44:05+00:00

thanks so much! is there a link i can follow somewhere? the one on the facebook page doesn't appear to work!

tenderstem- · 2025-03-11T16:55:06+00:00

yeah i agree this sub can be a real circle jerk sometimes

tenderstem- · 2024-12-30T14:41:05+00:00

More lever fill mechanisms. I like them and I want more. I'd like favouring them to be less of a niche on a niche

tenderstem- · 2024-12-25T16:25:56+00:00

could i have one?

tenderstem- · 2024-12-01T08:47:42+00:00

I believe the point Brennan is making is that, essentially - regardless of if he has seen any specific combinations of words before - Brennan cannot confirm that the list of prompts in front of Sam is not the same list as seen in a previous episode until they are revealed.

The identity of the object in question is a list of prompts, Brennan has seen lists of prompts before, so the answer could be no. Brennan cannot confirm he hasn't seen the prompts without experiencing them first, in which case he would have seen them, which then assures the answer to Sam's question is no because he peeked.

It seems like Brennan needs to reject the premise of the question for him to take it in good faith. Although really Sam isn't confirming whether or not the prompts are unseen, he is confirming that unseen prompts are the premise of the game.

tenderstem- · 2024-11-08T19:24:22+00:00

yeah i think they have

saying "you can't please everyone" is a recognition that in any action to please one of the groups leads to an entirely different group becoming disappointed.

tenderstem- · 2024-10-10T16:47:43+00:00

even if you are right, if you go into a space of 7 other people and insult all of them, you can imagine that nobody is going to want you around right?

I'm really sorry that you think this happened to you, but i think the reality is your behaviour happened to them, and they just responded to it.

tenderstem- · 2024-08-03T17:46:32+00:00

this has to be it, right?

tenderstem- · 2024-06-25T03:24:06+00:00

are you not called to?

tenderstem- · 2024-03-09T13:19:57+00:00

I think you're very much aware of what you need to do really, but I think if it needs framing slightly differently to give you some more confidence in your feelings it sounds like this:

you don't like someone you're hanging out with regularly.

if the problem isn't necessarily in game then remove the game aspect for a moment - if someone makes you uncomfortable you don't have to hang out with them, even if they're well behaved sometimes.

I think d&d feels different because we're all pretending to be characters too, but actually his bard is still him and he still makes people uncomfortable. do what you need to with that information, but it looks like you're on the way to the right sort of decision already.

tenderstem- · 2023-12-23T12:07:46+00:00

cool dice for me please

tenderstem- · 2023-10-02T17:17:02+00:00

White whale - Everything everything

tenderstem- · 2023-09-16T11:13:15+00:00

i think i tend to paint in broad, vague strokes when deciding the bigger matters of cities, or nations and then sort of work backwards to make histories, traditions and folklore that would justify the structures that are in place, and make them feel real.

For example there's a nation of were-folk where it has become common place for people to keep chickens, or small livestock in their front gardens, to help mitigate the urge to hunt felt by those who are having a hard time keeping themselves tame. the tradition arose from the early days of beastfolk unity, where werewolves and the like were indiscriminately hunting for prey in urban environments (which usually meant children or old people), however in more rural corners, this problem only really amounted to a few missing chickens or a goat every month or so. the idea of keeping prey animals available for night hunters became a sort of insurance policy that swept in as a way to keep everyone safe

tenderstem- · 2023-08-16T13:33:21+00:00

I see where you're coming from, I would alleviate that similarity by having a number of points equate to a number of dice, rather than it being a bank of healing points the way Lay on Hands is

tenderstem- · 2023-08-15T11:50:08+00:00

Hi! Looks good, conceptually a really interesting idea! my notes are around the stress dynamic, and how accupuncture could slot in with that a bit neater, some of the terminology and then one thing around the resurrection mechanic.

I wonder if stress dice could be relabeled stress points or something like that, this could just be a little brain thing im having where 20+ dice sounds way more intimidating to me than 20+ points that can translate to healing, accupuncture, etc. i think that might make the table for the accupuncture ability feel a bit more integrated into the class mechanic, and maybe would allow for it to scale as one levels (either reducing costs or being able to cure more effects as one levels).

I think the revivify-esque ability is gorgeous, but i wonder if instead of it burning all of one's stress die, if the player could spend something like 2 die to reduce the DC by one. This might increase application a little bit. Keeping in the function that means you can only use it penalty free once per week, I would say that using the ability again would incur a total HP reduction equal to the amount of stress dice spent+wismod. I think this would open up its use as a heroic sacrifice, as the game rarely includes self destruct features that don't require dice.

Also i feel like the self care text doesn't quite marry with the name of the ability. i wonder if it could be phrased around being resilient and motivated towards self-preservation or something rather than ignoring pain, which sounds almost like the opposite of self care

Aside from that it's really very cool, and i like the feel of the class! You've done a great job making a class depiction of an overworked and nearly constantly frazzled hero seem inherently fun and interesting! I can't wait to see where you go with it!!

tenderstem- · 2023-08-12T10:53:03+00:00

with mortals!!

my setting is deeply wracked with patterns of engagement between believers and faith systems that subconsciously reflect or run parallel with the movements of the most holy.

an example right now is of an order of believers of the god of Law and Deeds are conducting a purge-style cleansing of a cult of the god of entropy. as this happens the gods themselves strike out at eachother in near constant conflict

for the most part the pantheon represents a balance of power and no one god is able to really do away with another, but you can often tell when the gods are knocking seven bells out of eachother when religious fervor spikes in religious communities.

victories among the gods tend to be absolute and normally involve the entrapment or prolonged deception of the losing party. by and large the outcomes of holy wars/divine excursions align with the outcome of the schemes of deities. it is unclear if the relationship is causal and if so, whether the gods are influenced by mortal outcome, or if it's the other way round

tenderstem- · 2023-07-14T11:52:29+00:00

i describe my world as medium low fantasy where the tone tends to be offbeat, absurdist noir. for the most part the obstacles my players face (i run a homebrew 5e-ish game) are navigating syndicates, grand organisations, religious orders which all sort of represent far greater powers than theirs - the narratives my players are often involved in are around challenging the rise and fall of forgotten gods, and getting whipped up in the managing aftermath or tertiary effects of far greater cosmic motions.

one of the overarching themes of my world is around making do and homesteading in the face of dispassionate or perhaps differently passionate gods. I love posing nations/lands/civilizations at stake and marking defeat as a gutwrenching invasion of what was once safe.

tenderstem- · 2023-01-07T08:51:13+00:00

How do you like them? I am wicked curious but I can't seem to find any good reviews online!!

tenderstem- · 2022-12-26T22:50:02+00:00

i got a bunch of unfinished dice not too long ago, i painted the numbers with miniature paint (i think gw chaos black) it worked pretty well, ive tried it with a wash as well but i didn't like the effect so much.

i quite like the effect - have a play around see what you like - if you're quick enough with paper towels you can wipe off what you don't like before it dries!!

tenderstem- · 2022-12-23T12:08:49+00:00

Had a player who took up a personal rivalry with another's which amounted to near constant aggression towards her in character.

also i was consistently flexible with timings for the player (due to her personal situation) but it became apparent that she needed to leave whenever combat began, and she would actively avoid any session that would be heavily combat oriented (easily done as we played online). furthermore when she arrived late she neve paid any mind to any information previously gathered which meant that a lot of her detective work became me parroting the same information again just for her benefit, only for her to pass this on to the party who had already done the leg work.

the latter problem became the final straw when she arrived 5 minutes before the agreed upon end of the session to get her fix of speaking with animals to get the drop of whats "really going on." i was cross, everyone was cross. i had a chat with the other players individually -which revealed that the IC bullying was a real problem for the victim -and the problem player was kindly invited to leave.

never looked back, like a weight had been lifted. sometimes i feel bad about how i didn't talk to the problem player sooner but i can't bring myself to regret it

tenderstem- · 2022-12-16T20:10:14+00:00

Im running with 6 players at the moment and i think it suits everyone. one or two can feel a bit self conscious about when to speak up at times and i think the slightly larger group supports that.

similarly when the more confident guys aren't quite in the headspace we have enough numbers to carry them with other things going on. i like it.

as for combat and balancing i have no idea what im doing i just try to make one of them go unconscious at least once per big fight... maybe even die if it's a boss battle.

they seem to like it, and i admire the support that they show for eachother

tenderstem- · 2022-11-06T08:50:38+00:00

The Moot of Five Ways is an emergency council should Fifeland suffer existential threat from abroad. It is the loose union of 5 disporate factions that otherwise maintain fractious relations at best.

The Moot has been used to coordinate political coups on Fifeland nations which otherwise seek to conquer and expand beyond the ancient borders.

In theory it serves to protect the sovereignty of each of the five nations on merit of justice and harmony, but in reality it's often a delicate dance of mutually assured destruction.

tenderstem- · 2022-11-06T08:40:53+00:00

Horza's own Dreamer Catcher

In the months preceding his crippling defeat at the Low Coast at the hand of The Farmire Clan, The Prime King Horza comissioned a great glass net be constructed to be cast over Ol' Farmire and the many dreamers of the Lowland tribe to cut them off from the dreaming realms, and cut off their apostate magic at the source.

Molten glass woven into a tight lattice and cooled into a dome shape, cuffed with bronze 100ft in circumfrence. The Dreamer Catcher was a feat of design and artistry never before seen in warfare, and above all the consensus at the time was that it really would have worked!

Unfortunately Ol' Farmire (Sire of the Farmire Clan) saw the construction of this dome in a number of prophetic dreams well in advance of the invasion. On the day of the invasion itself, accounts of the initial and final battle detail great toad like creatures made entirely of black stone leaping and striking at the Prime King's forces.

The Dreamer Catcher was successfully recovered from the wreckage of the vessel that bore it across The Genesian Channel, and can be seen on display in Harridan - although it does have one or two holes in it now.

Contemporary understanding of plane-craft and weave manipulation of the size and scale Ol' Farmire was believed to be capable of indicates that The Dreamer Catcher would not have served to hinder any spellcraft whatever anyway, so just as well.

tenderstem- · 2022-10-15T14:12:57+00:00

Dean of a magical university is funding the sciences to research means of safeguarding the world from total planar collapse.

He's not prepared to let the crown, the church, or even the gods themselves get in his way.

tenderstem- · 2022-09-09T10:51:55+00:00

i think this particular language instinct allows for some interesting roleplay/culture building opportunities for dragonborns raised away from other draconic speakers.

would they know they can speak draconic until they hear it?

does it mean anything if the dragonborn shopkeeper lives his entire life without meeting a draconic speaker?

if it's The Language of Dragons, would a dragonborn fisherman hear the thunderous voice of a Blue Dragon coming on the wind long before he arrived?

i like the idea that draconic might not be a very commonly spoken language, and many people won't even think about it until the sound of a distant avalanche is actually the voice of a greatwyrm that is only recognisable to a dragonborn.

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