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I've had a lot of fun with applying the same methodology to combats, too, eliminating to-hit rolls when characters are facing an enemy type they're already familiar with. Whiffs aren't nearly as frustrating when you do this, at least in my experience.

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Disarming your first trap without the proper tools will clearly be a memorable learning experience, triggering a check. By the time you've dealt with all sorts of mechanisms and are always carrying around a variety of tools, I'd only require a roll for particularly novel or dangerous traps.

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And when they *do* end up rolling, the tension is a delight! Now, for games where characters don't necessarily come with predefined backgrounds, I usually let their past exploits in the fiction dictate how frequently they'll stumble upon something that's challenging enough for a roll.

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When a character *is* skilled enough to pull this sort of stuff off, and there are no external factors that might get in their way, I'll just let them succeed, no roll required. That level of granularity is admittedly hard to nail, but it makes for players who aren't constantly afraid of messing up.

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What I mean by this is that if a player is playing a surgeon, treating superficial wounds shouldn't even require a roll. Like, just do it already. You're overqualified. Open-heart surgery in the middle of a warzone, though? Unless you're a world-class talent, Imma need you to roll some math rocks.

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I usually let my players outright succeed at things their characters are *meant* to be good at, because I thoroughly abhor the illusion of competency that's ingrained in many games. But being good at something isn't a free pass. It can get you through the door, but that's it.

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I miss Bsky. I miss having time to mess around in this space and barf forth my aberrant thoughts on a daily basis. Work's getting easier, though! My body is adapting, and I'm learning some great efficiency hacks. I feel like an adventurer who's becoming familiarised with a dungeon's layout, lmao.

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The last 4 TTRPGs I played were: Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition (yes, I'm that predictable) Vaults of Vaarn Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells The Black Hack 2e I'm assuming my own playtests don't count, of course. Oh, and I haven't played any published adventure in a loooong time.

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The workload has been so intense that I haven't opened Bsky in a week, lmao. That said, I can check if they have any vacancies! As for mutants, I haven't found any yet. Plenty of rude costumers, sure, but they're not nearly as fun as mutants.

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Wolfkillers, a project of mine that is still in its infancy, was built *around* a win condition! And a failure condition, too, but winning is more fun.

V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Day 2 of my first retail job was pretty much a dungeon crawl mixed with STALKER artifact hunting, lmao.

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

That's definitely a good call! I miss the Krakoan Age so much. It's probably my all-time favourite X-Men era, with mid-2000s as a close second. New X-Men (both Morrison's and the delightful Kyle/Yost run) lives rent-free in my head.

V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

First day at my first retail job. Slightly terrified, and a bit baffled that I managed to avoid the so-called Retail Hell for so long, lmao.

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I've been reluctant to check this one out because Buehlman wrote two of my favourite books (The Necromancer's House and The Lesser Dead), and I've heard this isn't as strong as his older work. Definitely appreciated this in-depth review!

SprintingOwlDesigns @sprintingowl.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Reposted by V.V. 🏳️‍🌈

Noxian Reclaimers is out! I wrote a buncha stuff for this theomechanical wasteland crawl rpg. If you like solo tabletop, swords and lasers, monolithic machine states, and more, give it a look! Also check out @iamthehornedone.bsky.social 's other games! www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/5...

drivethrurpg.com

DriveThruRPG - The Largest RPG Download Store!

Your one-stop online shop for new and vintage RPG products from the top publishers, delivered fresh to your desktop in electronic format.

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Reposted by V.V. 🏳️‍🌈

🍁 Levi Kornelsen @levikornelsen.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

If it's a lease or rental, call it that. If you call it buying and purchasing, it reasonably implies ownership, and you're engaging in deceptive marketing.

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I usually get at least 8 hours on a full charge, even after all this time. I wonder if I just got extra lucky with my DS4, because I've definitely heard other complaints regarding its battery. Conversely, my PS4 died within three years of its purchase, lmao. Ya win some, ya lose some.

V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I mean, from a technical standpoint, I think the Dualsense really is the superior controller. Comfort is subjective (personally, I agree that the DS4 is more comfortable), but it's hard to beat a better battery, haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. That price tag is rough, though, ngl.

My DS4's battery is surprisingly good for a controller that has been used for a bit over a decade. Really can't complain about it. The micro USB port, though, yeah, not a huge fan.

I mean, that's the whole fucking problem, ain't it? Hell, Sony (and every other console manufacturer) could literally brick your console on a whim with an update, and there'd be nothing you could do about it. We should never have accepted the move to network-dependent software. Huge net negative.

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Kris H. @1matrixghost.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

MtG is cool and all (well, at least it used to be, back when I still played), but the time sink is legitimately as bad as the money sink, at least for me. Building a deck takes time, organising your cards takes time, setting up a game takes time... at this point, I'd rather just go with a boardgame.

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Reposted by V.V. 🏳️‍🌈

If you're a fan of old school Shadowrun, Vampire the Masquerade, and Call of Cthulhu, we should really talk. If you also happen to be obsessed with William Gibson, Mark Fisher, and X-Files, you should sit down first.

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I know the Dualsense is objectively a better controller than the DS4, but I'll only stop using my DS4 on PC when it breaks. I love this controller so much. It's one of two reasons why I don't fully regret buying a PS4 instead of an Xbox One way back when; the other reason is, of course, Bloodborne.

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Whoa, that game had somehow evaded my radar, but I love everything I just learned about it. Haven't wishlisted a game so fast in a long time.

V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Reposted by V.V. 🏳️‍🌈

Here's a blog post analysing the development process of some of my games, the setbacks and the current state they are in: onezerogames.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-... I'm already working on a part two, so if a game you're curious about wasn't featured yet, that's why. Stay tuned!

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I know the BadWrongFun crowd loves to dunk on players whose preferred Vampire: The Masquerade playstyle is slice-of-unlife, but the Anarch V5 book has a great take on this, written in-character by one of the founders of the Anarch Free States. Personally, this playstyle ain't for me, but it's valid.

An excerpt from the Anarch V5 book (p. 38) that reads:

"The Simple Life

Many assume that I look down on Anarchs who don't fight the fight, but that would be furthest from the truth. In many ways, they are already living in the world we're trying to build. They are doing their thing, free from Camarilla interference. So many of the Anarch gangs you find all over the world are based on this simple lifestyle. You want to hang out with your friends. You help them and they help you. You hunt, perhaps operate a bar or a nightclub. You party, have fun, enjoy the perks of undeath. Nothing wrong with this! When problems arise, it's not these licks who make them."

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And seriously, thank you for the enthusiasm. I really appreciate it!

I'll definitely finish *something* eventually! In fact, one of the games featured in part 2 of this mini-series is "finished" in PT-BR, has seen a fair bit of playtest and is quite cool. I just need to translate it to English and finish the layout (30% done with that).

V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

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V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

I only played a little of it on Game Pass back when it was released, but I've been waiting for a nice sale to pick it up on PS5. Love the mood, love the art direction, love the lore, and as far as I played, the exploration felt fantastic, too. Can't wait to dive in again.

V.V. 🏳️‍🌈 @machineheart.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

You've convinced me to give it a try, at the very least. I mean, I already love Avowed, it was probably my GOTY for 2025 (but keep in mind that I couldn't afford Death Stranding 2, Ghost of Yōtei or KCD 2), so Pillars 2 definitely deserves a shot.

Sam Long @toucantsam.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Reposted by V.V. 🏳️‍🌈

A Small Town Fishing Tourney solo+ analog fishing minigame $FREE/PWYW and CC-BY-4.0 #DiceGame #CardGame #TTRPG

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I initially mixed that up with Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer and got *really* confused, lmao.

As is, this weaksauce excuse of "dating themselves" reads like cowardice. If they're afraid of alienating the MAGA crowd with the series' signature humour, that's their choice. A bad one, but theirs nonetheless. I really doubt they'll extend the same courtesy to the "woke left", but we'll see.

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GTA V actively mocked Facebook and the Zuck, so I guess it's a dated game no one will want to play anymore, right? And GTA VI's Sahara totally isn't a reference to Amazon. No, siree. Rockstar should be honest and admit they just don't want to hurt their bottomline. It'd be less of an embarrassment.

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I'm generally fine with RTWP, but I just didn't vibe with the core mechanics of the first Pillars of Eternity (never played 2). I genuinely think I'm the problem, because I haven't seen a lot of other players bouncing off of it as hard as I did. Slow mode was too boring, fast mode felt unmanageable.

I'll eventually try to re-learn the game and adapt to the turn based mechanics on a new save, but it's safe to say that I won't be pivoting my RTWP save to it anymore. It's just too jarring, to the point where it feels like a fundamentally different game. So, yeah, pain points *can* break a cRPG.

I wanted to love Pillars so bad, because the companions are great, the writing is very good, and the setting is phenomenal... but the RTWP gameplay killed it for me. So I waited a looong time for the turn based mode, yeah? And when it dropped, it felt SO slow and finicky. Ruined my builds, too.

I'm totally fine with checklists and busywork, but the illusion of choice (or depth) is where I draw the line. That said, if the game is honest about just being one of those open worlds where you can turn off your brain and relax while exploring, that's fine by me.

Give me a story that respects my time. Give me a game that respects my agency. If I wanted a game that's all breadth, no depth, I'd stick with Ubisoft's offerings; at least they have beautifully realised worlds, great OSTs and better than average gameplay.

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