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River Ray

@nullconstant.bsky.social

350 followers 1.8K following 130 posts

River • 28 • 🇵🇱 • She/he • White • Genderfluid • Queer • Bisexual • Autistic • ADHD • Plural • TTRPG nerd • ***** ***

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Reposted by River Ray

Felix "Wildsea" Isaacs (is finishing Tigers on the Wire) @felixisaacs.bsky.social · 1d

New character art for Tigers on the Wire? From our very own Omercan Cirit, perhaps the primary brain behind the looks of the #Wildsea? Well, I'm glad you asked!

#TRPG #Art #Showcase

The broadcaster, a new post option (pictured: Mothryn Broadcaster with amberglass helmet and punchcard companion)

A Piratical sort (Pictured: An ektus pirate from the Never-Sheathed Claw, bristling with weapons)

The Queen of Claws (Pictured: An ardent pirate queen, wearing a helmet styled to represent the face of a tiger, one of the wildsea's lost creatures)

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 7h

If I wanted fighting for the sake of fighting I'd skip the TTRPG middleman and play a wargame.

Even Tactiquest, which is so focused on combat that RAW it's the only source of XP in the game, cares more about what happens before/after fights, with noncombat support classes like the merchant.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 8h

And like, sure, running out of consumables and spell slots and 1/day abilities is still a challenge, but it's way more gradual and not nearly as engaging personally, and it mostly just makes the combats even more dull and prolonged than leading to meaningful "okay we gotta pull out here" beats, IME.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 8h

Iunno man, I'm not like *the* biggest "you will count every torch and ration and you will like it" sicko, but looking into both other tactical games and also OSR ones (& hybrids!), I'm becoming a fan the value of that tension & decision-making which extends beyond "will this fight kill us or not".

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 8h

Meanwhile it seems like people want even *less* attrition in PF2 - the kineticist class is very prized for being able to adventure at full power all-day long, and the 3pp Magic+ book has slotless casting as a key selling point. (With popular requests for a similar official option in PF3 or sooner.)

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 8h

PF2 meanwhile has no rules for fleeing from an encounter, and adventures are also generally designed with an assumption of "please win here otherwise things will be almost irreconcilably bad for the setting" (no spoilers but if you've read some APs you know what I'm talking about).

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 8h

A lot of those other games might also be structured such that fleeing from encounters is a viable choice if it saves your skin, or where performing really well also conserves your adv. day-scope resources. ("We took so little damage we don't need to stop and heal and spend anything, sick!")

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 8h

As a player, I found that dull, and as a GM, I don't know what to plan and pace around.

I get it's the game's own choice to not be about resource attrition, but I do think it made for a compelling gameplay loop that is just gutted in PF2 on that front.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 8h

Less-lethal encounters might, at best, use up some consumables or spell slots, because regaining Health in PF2 is trivial and nearly unlimited the way it is in those other games, and there is nothing like random encounters or ticking clocks that might punish over-extending your adventuring day.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 8h

D&D 4e had healing surges (+ survival days in Dark Sun). Starfinder 1e had Resolve Points. Draw Steel has Recoveries. Trespasser has Endurance (+rations & light sources). Tactiquest has Strain (+ Supplies).
Outside of like, spell slots & 1/day abilities, PF2 has no real adventure pacing mechanism.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 8h

As I've become kinda jaded about Pathfinder 2e and been looking at other tactical combat-oriented TTRPGs to see if there's one that could click with me more, I've realized there is one thing that they all have which PF2 doesn't, even if I don't love them all either - resource management & attrition.

Reposted by River Ray

dannyodwyer @dannyodwyer.bsky.social · 4d

Game Previews used to BIG EVENTS.
So we're trying to make them that again.

A 35 minute deep dive into MEWGENICS featuring interviews, new gameplay and loads more dropping on noclip_2 tomorrow morning. Super proud of it.

/noclip @noclipvideo.bsky.social · 4d

Tomorrow on noclip_2 we launch our first BIG PREVIEW.

Featuring deep access to the game and exclusive interviews with Edmund McMillen & @tylerglaiel.com - we explore the design philosophy, gameplay, thematic origins and long history of....MEWGENICS!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyxb...

Mewgenics - The BIG PREVIEW (Design, History, Interviews & Gameplay)

YouTube video by noclip_2

www.youtube.com

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 4d

This is honestly what I miss in both a lot of OSR games (which I suppose sometimes let you build up a town or a keep, or manage an army, even if it's not like an assumed Thing by the game), and in crunchy tactical games (which makes Draw Steel and Lancer a dud to me, but is great in Trespasser).

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 4d

I guess there are stories and systems that get by without that sort of thing, but in my mind it's such an effective connective tissue both for player characters and for structuring a campaign around, without feeling like your barely-cohesive D&D party is being flung from one adventure to the next.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 4d

The crew in Blades in the Dark, the squad in Beam Saber, the haven in Trespasser, the ship in the Wildsea...

But hell, it's not just indies! People go crazy for kingdom-building in Pathfinder's Kingmaker AP, and even 5e has those really good Group Patrons thing (and Bastions, now).

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 4d

I have a really hard time imagining a TTRPG campaign or system that *isn't* improved by the PCs having some kind of (in Told by Wild Words lingo) shared asset.

This might be a vehicle like a ship (sea- or space-faring), a home base or town, or a faction they belong to or command.

Reposted by River Ray

Felix "Wildsea" Isaacs (is finishing Tigers on the Wire) @felixisaacs.bsky.social · 7d

THE #PICO #TTRPG DIGITAL RELEASE IS DONE!

And its up on my #itchio store page now. I'm happy, I'm relieved, and I'm looking forward to hearing about even more bug-based shenanigans in the near future.

... I still can't believe Silksong JUST beat me to it.

felixisaacs.itch.io/pico-core-bo...

PICO Core Book (digital) by Felix Isaacs

A tabletop RPG about tiny bugs, huge adventures, and riding cats

felixisaacs.itch.io

Reposted by River Ray

Hendrik ten Napel checked into the Genziana Hotel @napel.itch.io · 8d

O hey, the Kickstarter for the Monsterhearts video game just went live. Wouldn't it be interesting to see how that turns out?

Monsterhearts: Welcome to Drowned Lake

A Card-Based RPG About the Messy Lives of Teenage Monsters

www.kickstarter.com

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 9d

This thought is mainly brought on by watching upcoming Mewgenics gameplay and being absolutely rabid over the interplay between its roguelike and tactical combat parts, the former of which significantly boosting my otherwise-near-nonexistent interest in the latter.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 9d

In general I'm just not smart enough to go through dozens of options and craft a capital-b Build, but I do love to try and improvise out of disparate tidbits thrust upon me, and again the folk who play draft and such in Magic over constructed decks seems like another data point towards that.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 9d

FIST is another fun example - you can choose from the 216 Traits and 36 Roles manually, but the standard method is to roll for them at random (d666 and d66 respectively), but you could totally split the difference with the choose-three approach, both at creation and in levelup.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 9d

My latest obsession in this space is actually partially of ahead of me in this regard - Trespasser has you roll for your character's starting stats and such, but also lets you roll for your calling (class that you get at level 2) advancements, as well as for the combat powers you get from crafts.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 9d

The way to make the tactical crunchy tabletop RPGs fun To Me is to make them a little more roguelite-esque by having you roll (say, thrice) for your level-up feats/skills/etc and choosing one of those options.

Make this stuff like a limited format in a card game, as opposed to constructed.

Reposted by River Ray

JQuarze 🐦 @jquarze.bsky.social · 10d

My bird girly, how I miss youuu

[ #oc #ocsky #art ]

Astrel, OP's harpy OC, wearing a traditional outfit concept. The outfit has intricate gold patterns on black. The dark sash across her torso have mix of reds, whites and black beads. The background are mostly white, the dark middle showing patterned beads.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 12d

Is this anything?

The "hey guys / POLYAMOROUS / NOT WHAT I'M CALLED" meme format, only that it features the TTRPG Coriolis: The Third Horizon by Free League, and the exchange going "hey guys / SCOLIOSIS / NOT WHAT I'M CALLED" instead.