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CatDad

@CatDad@mas.to

Disoriented modern ape. Leftist Luddite working in GovTech and CivicTech. TTRPG enjoyer since Basic D&D. I have many cats. Be patient with me, I’m from the 1900’s.

ᓚᘏᗢ

#nobot

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

Oh, nice, here's a link to a that's looking for players and looks really interesting.

It's a startplaying link.

They're charging $20 per session.

GFY. Seriously.

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

Whelp, opened up a can of generative AI art drama on a Discord, we'll see if it gets me booted. Honestly if you're a small shop and you can't afford artists, no art is perfectly acceptable. I don't buy games for their art. It's nice if there is evocative art to go along with it, but it doesn't make or break the game.

Promoting gen AI bullshit is a dealbreaker though, and I don't believe that's an extreme position to take in late-stage .

raphaelkaitz ,
@raphaelkaitz@dice.camp avatar

@CatDad I've been working on the art for a game, and there is so much nice public domain art that even someone like me, who can't draw anything beautiful, has a huge amount of stuff to choose from and adapt.

I think D&D fantasy art or sci-fi art might be a bit harder, because so much of the public domain stuff has already appeared in other works, but anything renaissance period till the present still has so much to work with.

thoughtpunks ,
@thoughtpunks@dice.camp avatar

@raphaelkaitz @CatDad I have a bizarro post-apocalyptic game and just updated to a new edition. I used PD & free license stock art, using filters and such available for free software. Our flagship platinum bestseller is a super niche artless title [a low prep/solo oracle].

It's not as great as proper commissioned art and art direction, but with some effort searching and processing images I was able to find good pieces to help complement the text.

screenshot of pages from NEVER Stop Smiling, showing the use of free stock art and free image software filters for TTRPG book art
screenshot of pages from NEVER Stop Smiling, showing the use of free stock art and free image software filters for TTRPG book art
screenshot of pages from NEVER Stop Smiling, showing the use of free stock art and free image software filters for TTRPG book art

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

I could never make it as a author or designer because I have too many ideas that pop in and out of my head demanding my attention. My brain chases each of them like a cat and a laser pointer, then something new appears and I start all over again.

enerhpozyks ,
@enerhpozyks@eldritch.cafe avatar

@ericmpaq @CatDad Sounds more like ADHD to me

ericmpaq ,
@ericmpaq@dice.camp avatar

@enerhpozyks There’s alot of crossover on those two venn diagrams.

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

Ever read a new with rather flexible rules and want to hack it to every setting you've ever loved?

Does this happen to you at least once a month?

If so, how many half-finished ports are littering your notes?

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

What's your favorite ridiculously complex and crunchy ?

I'm mostly done with that sort of game but I have the best memories of Champions, Rolemaster, and GURPS.

CatDad , to random
@CatDad@mas.to avatar

Best anti-backstory advice I've seen in a (from ):

From ICRPG: "WRITE A ONE-LINE STORY. Before you start figuring out how the STATS add up, take a moment to explain one key fact about your character. This isn’t a backstory, or a past. This is what is happening right now to this character. What has changed in your life that has pushed you from the humdrum to a life of adventure? How does it involve the other players’ characters? If you’re drawing a blank, look deeper into the WORLD you’re playing in, and chat with your GM."
ALT
  • Reply
    • + Tim_Eagon
    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    Seems like this will be the year of adding a bunch "D&D killer" attempts to my filter list here.

    CatDad OP ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    I embrace my inner gaming curmudgeon.

    CatDad OP ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @SJohnRoss Specific games rarely hit my limit, like I don't mesh with D&D 5e but I don't particularly care if folks are hashtagging it in otherwise general TTRPG posts. I don't like FATE but some of the ideas I do like, just not the execution. Etc.

    But since one of these games is also attached to a very annoying performative fandom, it definitely gets singled out.

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    I love this rework of kobolds to barklings in Basic Fantasy RPG.

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    Fellow AD&D 1e players, past or present: Gygax is pretty strident about playing by the rules as written, but pretty much no one really does that.

    What rules are/were the first to go or get modified in your game?

    (and anyone saying something like "the entire game" gets a block, I don't care about your non-constructive and frankly boring opinion)

    Tim_Eagon ,
    @Tim_Eagon@dice.camp avatar

    @CatDad I remember not using the initiative rules as written. I believe we used the Basic D&D rules instead.

    CatDad OP ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @Tim_Eagon Initiative rules in many of the early D&D games have been kinda fiddly. Going back to older games I have come to prefer group initiative now, instead of individual initiative, and rolling every round adds a bit of chaos and uncertainty to combat that I like.

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    Apparently offering solutions to problems people post on social media has been considered "hostile" for a while now, so I guess I'll just stop helping people.

    I'm really starting to hate humanity. My misanthropic arc is nearing completion.

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    I don't get the fascination with setting up Discords for . It's a terrible interface. Get any number of people above, say, 20 and it becomes impossible to follow the random firehoses of discussion.

    I'm on one OSR and way too many times I'm away for a half day or so and there are hundreds of new messages in just one channel. I have to just sigh and mark as read, because that is just not going to get read, sorry.

    Bring back forums with proper topics and threading please. FFS.

    CatDad OP ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @SJohnRoss I think that's the way it should be used. I have one for my close gamer friends, used mostly for organizing games and random bullshit to keep in touch. The giant Discords make me sad, and I almost always quit them after a few weeks of getting a few bits of info I'm looking for.

    CatDad , to random
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    If you are going to provide player facing maps for VTT with your expensive megadungeon, DON'T FUCKING HAVE HIDDEN ENTRANCES MARKED ON THEM.

    For fuck's sake, I shouldn't have to fire up an image editor to fix the maps before use.

    CatDad OP ,
    @CatDad@mas.to avatar

    @SJohnRoss Yeah, it was easy to spot on the one map I was prepping, now I’m going to have to scrutinize every bit of every other map because the trust is broken.

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