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River Ray

@nullconstant.bsky.social

350 followers 1.8K following 120 posts

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

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Reposted by River Ray

dannyodwyer @dannyodwyer.bsky.social · 3d

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 · 3d

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 · 3d

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 · 3d

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 · 3d

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 · 3d

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 · 6d

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 · 8d

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 · 8d

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 · 8d

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 · 8d

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 · 8d

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 · 9d

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.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 12d

They should make a fighting game where the roster consists exclusively of historic highwaymen, outlaws, and legendary folk heroes.

Robin Hood, Juraj Jánošík, Lampião, Maria Bonita, Oleksa Dovbush, some of the 108 Heroes from Water Margin (Song Jiang?)...

Reposted by River Ray

Possum Punkins Comics Bodega🎃 @possumpunks.com · 13d

Inkarnate is allowing AI assets in their new marketplace. This program was my first gateway into the #ttrpg scene, and i met a lot of cool people there.

I witnessed some shady stuff from them before but this is the last straw. Canceling my subscription and taking down my maps from the explore page

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 14d

youtu.be/2ZQ0BsNi24A

THERION - To Mega Therion (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

YouTube video by Therion

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 14d

They should make a boomer shooter with an old-school Therion soundtrack.

Reposted by River Ray

The Onion @theonion.com · 15d

Nation’s 56,000 Acres Of Spinach Crops Cooked Down To Single Half-Cup Serving

Nation’s 56,000 Acres Of Spinach Crops Cooked Down To Single Half-Cup Serving

Reposted by River Ray

Vinícius Medeiros @vinimedeiros.bsky.social · Dec 12

Unreal Engine 3 is usually associated with the "piss filter" look, but it's not like it couldn't produce stunning games with their unique look.

Batman Arkham City

Alice Madness Returns

Mirror's Edge

Dishonored

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 17d

www.kickstarter.com/projects/str...

War-Torn Ice Moon - which began the Europa Ice War craze this year - just launched, and it's the hottest (or, well, coolest) expansion for a TTRPG yet IMHO.

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 22d

I've been shouting about the Wildsea for 5 years straight.
And War-Torn Ice Moon, which isn't a standalone game so much as a supplement for FIST (which is also really cool!), and it's not even out yet beyond a short free preview.

Reposted by River Ray

Vapor Weyve @nymphomachy.meangirls.online · 25d

If that's coming off as insufficiently descriptive to you, then you're on the verge of coming to the breakthrough that video games have two *types* of genre: narrative/tonal genre, AND ludic genre

Reposted by River Ray

Vapor Weyve @nymphomachy.meangirls.online · 25d

Video games DO follow genre naming conventions

"Horror", "Romance", "Suspense", "Action", "Comedy", "Mystery" and "Adult" are all perfectly valid genres for video games that get used frequently in marketing materials

As, you know, *tonal/narrative* genres, which are what other art also uses

River Ray @nullconstant.bsky.social · 25d

There are at least three (3) sci-fi universes in which the Mars moon of Deimos is the epicenter of some Insane Cosmic Events.

It disappears in both Doom and in Lancer, and in Warframe... It's still standing but so much happens there.

Are there any other properties where it's Like That?