This Is Incredibly Helpful. This Definitely Something I Wish Had When First Diagnosed With Autism. It

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plIZmTR-gtg)

Just wanted to let people know about this awesome Youtuber. If you haven’t seen his previous tabletop campaign, then I highly recommend watching them. They are amazing and can be found on his channel. Also I recommend watching this video and voting on the poll (which doesn’t require watching his previous campaigns). There’s probably a few options that I know so people might be interested in. The options ranged from Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Pokemon, Fallout, and to the Walking Dead. All of which have their merits as campaign setting ideas. Well... Hope everyone has a great day!

Awesome 👏 reblogging to remember this.

Creating Conflict

Or, as I call it, causing ~drama~

The key that keeps readers interested in your story is conflict. If nothing is at stake, then there is not much to see. So, here are a few general tips to cause some ripples in the ponds of your characters’ lives.

“Prioritizing”: Your character has two main motives that they have been working towards, but they end up in a situation where they have to sacrifice one to save the other. Depending on how easy or hard the choice is, this range from “disappointing” to “devastating” in the sacrifice. 

Character Flaws: As I talked about in my cornerstones post, every character should have a flaw. Flaws are flaws and not strengths for a reason- they get in the way. Have your character have a moment of weakness, where they lose their values and give in to temptation or get carried away.

 In addition: Even without their key flaws, characters can sometimes just… be wrong. Maybe they miscalculated. Maybe they misunderstood. Maybe they made the wrong guess. They did what everyone does: They Done Messed Up, and now they have to deal with the result.

Liar, Liar: Someone is lying, or even keeping secrets, and now, it’s causing problems. They can’t go forward without the truth, or worse, they are making mistakes due to a warped perception of the situation.

Draw backs: Let the good things come at a cost. One key rule for worlds with magic or superpowers is that all power should come at cost- equal to or greater than the power itself. 

“Because I Said So”: Don’t forget, there are other characters in your story, and even if they are on the protagonist’s own side, they are not always going to just merrily go along with whatever the protagonist said. Maybe they disagree. Maybe they are powerful enough to get in the protagonist’s way, and maybe it’s that important to them that they try. If fighting an enemy is hard, fighting a friend is harder.

Take It Back: Your character makes a decision that seems right at the time. Maybe it was the obvious choice, or maybe it was taking a risk. But uh-oh…now there are unforeseen consequences. 

Or, the opposite…

Decisions, Decisions: Maybe your character has to make a decision where there is not an immediately obvious choice. Make sure that both/all the options have both positive and negative possible or certain outcomes. There is no obvious right or wrong choice. Bonus, it’s funny to watch the fandom debate it later. 

Strip Them Down: Remove your character’s greatest strength. For whatever reason, your character’s most valuable asset is not available, and now, they have to live without it. Bonus mode- it would be really, really helpful if they had it right now!

Or, do the opposite…

Boss Fight: Maybe, instead of your protagonist getting weaker, it’s your antagonist that gets stronger. Strengthen the opposition and see if your characters can adapt to survive, or if they lack what it takes. 

Change of Plan: The rules of the game have changed. This can mean different things depending on your story. They could be literal rules, or more general. Think Hunger Games- did I say two tributes? I meant one, after all. Fight to the death now, please.

Amplify the Emotions: … And the results that come with. People do crazy things in the heat of the moment. You can’t think straight when all you can do is feel. Blinded by anger, sadness, or even joy, your character makes a bad choice. 

*Pile It On: You know what a full plate needs? Even more stuff. Your character is already juggling, trying to balance a variety of responsibilities. So add one more ball. Do they crash and burn immediately? Does it take a while? Do they succeed?  Any which way, the stress is high.

*Note: this one can be difficult on the author, too. Make sure that with all these plot lines, you’re not losing track, yourself.

“Murphy’s Law”: Simply stated, this is a plot tool that says, “whatever can go wrong, will.” I’m just going to say right away… be careful with this one. It’s really frustrating for your audience to watch the characters fail or lose or face misfortune over and over and over again. It makes it feel like nothing will ever come out of rooting for them, so you may as well give up now. Murphy’s Law can be great in the proper proportions, please, let your characters have some victories, or there’s no point to it.

And hey, don’t forget about your inner conflicts. You never know when those are going to have the opportunity to cause trouble. 

Give ‘em hell, kids!*

***disclaimer: you do not have to be a kid to give them hell.

~Penemue

This is cool, and interesting there’s three big meeting of superheroes and the only ones who don’t descend in fighting each other over differences in opinion are Supergirl and the Flash. I don’t mind the conflict that other pairings have, but it’s refreshing to have superheros interact and it be fun. I’m really looking forward to see all of these though.

  ♫ One of these things is not like the others…  ♫

Which Member of The Mighty Nein are You?

My Result: Jester(91%)

You are Jester! The secret daughter of The Ruby of the Sea, you spent most of your childhood alone in your room. Sometimes your friend, The Traveler, played with you, and taught you many tricks. After a prank gone wrong, you were forced to leave home and venture into the world for the first time. By The Traveler's guidance, you spread joy and chaos, but the world is much more complicated than storybooks would say...

Additional Results:

Jester (91%)

Caleb (81%)

Fjord (81%)

Beau (69%)

Nott (60%)

Caduceus (40%)

Molly (38%)

Yasha (38%)

Visit: Which Member of The Mighty Nein are You?

Cool, this was a fun quiz!

Your posts are funny and amusing.

Why are you following me?

Put one reason in my ask.

So cool! This is such an interesting take.

Rethinking Drow and Lolth

So I’ll preface this by acknowledging that while highly problematic, the Drow in their current state, canonically, can be an effective and interesting race when handled properly. Instead of plot-derailing gremlins, Drow PCs can be cunning and powerful additions to an adventuring party. Similarly, a shrewd DM can bring an even greater level of suspense to an adventure if they’re willing to portray their Drow NPCs with a level of dark prudence, making them cunning, savage warriors and Machiavellian criminal masterminds instead of asshole chronic backstabbers. 

However, I’ve also seen some really great discussions on rethinking how most dwarves, orcs, and ’monster’ races in general are portrayed in gaming and storytelling, and I’d like to posit that the same can be done with dark elf races. Here are a few of my ideas, and I’d love to hear others from fellow gamers and world-builders. (Screen cap taken from Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir.)

Keep reading

That definitely looks like a portal to the feywild.

Natasha Marie Photography // Decorative Rustic Wooden Arch via The Prop Factory

Ooh, I like this interpretation :)

We might have misunderstood Hogwarts Houses for years

I have a theory that the valued quality of each of the four Houses isn’t really about the personality of its students.

The valued quality of each of the four Houses has to do with how they perceive magic.

Stick with me a second: Hogwarts is a school to study magic. Magic as Hogwarts teaches it can be seen as many things: a natural talent, a gift, a weapon, etc.

So how you believe magic should be used will both reflect your personality and change how you handle that power.

“Their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart,” Gryffindors perceive magic as a weapon. Gryffindors tend to excel in aggressive forms of magic, like offensive and defensive spells, and they are good at dueling. But a true Gryffindor knows that the power is a responsibility, and so they must always use their powers to stand up for what’s right. They are the sword of the righteous, which makes them as good at Defense Against the Dark Arts as they are at combat magic.

Hufflepuffs believe that magic is a gift and that the best gifts are to be given away. Hufflepuffs, “loyal and just,” would naturally abhor the idea of jealously guarding magic or using it to hurt someone else. So Hufflepuffs share their magic to benefit of Muggles, like the Fat Friar, to protect the overlooked, like Newt Scamander with his creatures, or to oppose those who would use magic to torment and bully, like the Hufflepuffs who stood with the DA and the battle of Hogwarts.

Slytherins are the opposite: they believe their magic is a treasure that they have been entrusted to protect. The Slytherin fascination with purity, with advantage, with cunning and secrecy–all of which were perverted by the Death Eaters–comes from the idea that people with magic in their veins have been given something special that it is their duty to protect at all costs. And perhaps they aren’t entirely wrong: power in the wrong hands can be dangerous. And power interfering at will with Muggle affairs is a gross presumption that could turn the course of history. Though the series shows some of the worst that Slytherin can be, “evil,” is not a natural Slytherin tendency. “Cautious,” is.

Ravenclaws believe that magic is an art form, one that is beautiful and should be appreciated and studied for its own sake. If “wit beyond measure is man’s greatest treasure,” then asking what magic is for is useless. It’s more important to immerse oneself in magic for its own sake. Ravenclaws push the boundaries of magic to see if they can, hence Hermione’s spell experiment on the DA coins being dubbed a Ravenclaw quality, but like Luna Lovegood in the pursuit of extraordinary creatures: they can also be content to plumb the depths of what already exists.

So while you can see where personalities will overlap over Houses, perhaps in Sorting we should be asking ourselves less what we think we are and more what we think we believe. 

I got...

Resurrection - that’s always useful

Self-Spawn - well that’s unnerving...

Click twice. I got wings and weather manipulation. Flap flap, zap zap!

My favourite game series and my favourite book series collide. Life can't get much better. : )

Okay, a very experimental thing. Inspired by the video games Persona 4… Shadowhunter-Persona Video game!! 

Just a little gif, but I’m trying to figure out how this should look. 

Cassie Clare wrote the dialogue and options for you (playing as Clary) to choose! Also the fourth and sweetest option which did not fit 

"I love you no matter what you wear."

Right now he’s just blinking, but I’ll get around to mouth moving and expression changing eventually.. maybe…