IsabellaRose

I've been loving Mythic GM Emulator for solo play. It's provides a really nice pacing mechanism for random events or interrupt scenes where something changes the characters plans. It seems more like a book or movie than a typical dungeon crawl. When things are going well for the PC, they are more likely to continue to go well for a bit, sort of emulating a downtime period, or the setup, planning, or regrouping phases of a story. But then once things go sideways, they're increasingly more likely to continue going sideways, which gets into some great high pressure, fast-paced scenes driven by action and the oppositions' plans or interference. Plus the oracles have been pretty helpful, and when I'm at a loss for how to interpret one, I've been feeding the last thing that happened into AI and then telling it to provide possible next scenes using the oracle results as inspiration and I've been pleasantly surprised.

In the Cortex Dramatic version I'll be using, the drama focuses on a tight-knit group of characters and NPCs. You can use it for any genre, but think of groups of characters whose interpersonal drama is the focus of a tv show, like Smallville (the original Cortex Dramatic system was written for the Smallville RPG), Deadwood, The Expanse, Andor, Burn Notice, Alias, etc. You can use it for any genre, and characters of any power level are equal because their powers aren't the focus of the game or the dice rolls, their relationships and values are. It changes the focus from "complete the mission/quest" to focus on the people you're with and your relationships with them, good or bad. It tightens the focus on drama and is great for lewd games if you love a randomized element to whether or not two characters have sex and then focus on the emotional fallout of those sex scenes (or lack of sex scenes, if it didn't work out.)

I was contemplating running a super dramatic and very lewd game in either: an 1880s steampunk / mad science / wild west / supernatural world OR... a 1960's cold war espionage spytech type setting I'd be using Cortex to run it, so the setup would take a bit to get through the Pathways system. It's a very collaborative character and world building system where the players get to create their characters as well as NPCs, locations, powerful organizations both good and bad, etc. I'm curious if there's any interest in either of these settings.

fuck, because he fucked my wife and... that'll show him...?

fuck... to give her as many round as she needs

fuck to try to take her mind off having to kill someone

I'm all about the story, so if I have to sometimes bend the rules to make it a better story, I almost always do. The beginning felt stilted at first, until I decided to draw the third card for Act 1 and alter what I'd written for the 2nd card to make it a little more cohesive. The epilogue felt right, even if it really wasn't part of the game. Part of me wants to write about that modern day theologist, who she is, and how her life has been shaped by the words of Prudence. Part of me wants her to go back in time to meet Prudence and realize that, no, the devil was not a metaphor, there was an actual Devil chaining her, whose minions she had to battle. I think that would be fun.

I pulled all three first, and to be fair, I might have reordered the one where she destroyed something of hers just because it didn't feel right being the first thing. But yes, I pulled all 3 minor then their related major and thought on each answer, then tried to give a cohesive thread through the three. It felt right to do it that way.

Fuck, because it's a great way to introduce yourself!

over his dead body... literally. eww. Kill. I abhor violence, but an eye for an eye and whatnot. Besides now I can explore that necro threesome kink I never had.

Mandy lingered in the doorway, sandals thumping once against the tile before she froze. Her breath caught the second her eyes fell on the woman across the room—the hostess in red, the kind of red that made Mandy’s pulse skip. For a terrifying moment she thought about turning right around, pretending she hadn’t walked in, maybe mumbling something about wrong room wrong night sorry. But then Madison looked up. God, she’s gorgeous. And that smile—tentative, a little wounded maybe, but beautiful all the same. Mandy felt the words “Sex Addicts Anonymous” shrivel in her throat. She’d come here looking for help, or at least a first step toward it, but now… now she saw the table lined with wine bottles and cheese and the kind of careful presentation someone makes when they really want to be seen. She thought, half-wild, I can push this back one night. Tomorrow can be about fixing myself. Tonight… tonight can be about living a little. Her fingers twisted the strap of her purse as she took one careful step in. Play it cool. Just be someone who belongs here. “Um… hi,” she said, voice feather-soft. Her eyes darted to the bottles, the sandwich board with its curly letters, and then back to Madison. “This is… the wine tasting, right?” Mandy’s heart was doing somersaults. She had no idea if she’d said it like a confident participant or like someone who’d just blurted out a cover story. Inside, she was already rehearsing excuses: I was in the neighborhood. I saw the sign. I thought, why not? She gave the room a quick once-over. Empty. Just her and the hostess. That made it easier, and scarier. “Looks like I’m… um… early?” she tried, lips curling into the smallest, shyest smile. Idiot, it’s almost half an hour in, that’s not early. But maybe she’ll let me slide. Maybe she’s glad someone showed up at all. Her gaze lingered on Madison’s auburn hair, the elegant dress, the way she seemed equal parts put-together and fraying at the edges. Mandy knew the feeling. Maybe that was why she didn’t bolt. Maybe that’s why she stepped further in, shoulders back, pretending she wasn’t about to trip over her own nerves. Inside her head, a war was raging. One voice said, This is stupid, you came for help. You’re doing it again, chasing distraction, chasing someone pretty instead of your own healing, while another countered with, But look at her. Just look. If tonight is a mistake, at least it will be a beautiful one. She touched her hair self-consciously, curling a strand around her finger. “So… do I, um… grab a glass? Or wait for everyone else?” Her eyes were wide, curious, half-innocent, half-testing the waters—like maybe if Madison handed her a drink, Mandy could stop feeling like a lost girl and start feeling like she was exactly where she was supposed to be.

I may not be your target audience, as I generally dislike the limitations of class-based systems and the swinginess of d20 systems. BUT... If I were to play a setting like the one I described, I'd use (people who know me will not be surprised to hear me say) Cortex. I'd leave it loose, using Distinctions with SFX to carry the weight of whatever weirdness I decided to incorporate. Want post-apocalyptic mutated animals - that's a d8 Mutant Badger distinction, which would cover all aspects of "badgeriness" from attitude, to having long ass claws, to digging. Want retro sci-fi? Have a d8 Little Green Man Wearing a Human Suit distinction. I personally find the freedom of using custom Distinctions in Cortex, much like Aspects in Fate, to be very liberating and allow all kinds of weird, wacky variations within the same game, or hyper-focused separation of abilities, if that's what you're going for. So for me, I'd leave it open to anything, because I'd use a system that allows open-ended character creation. I'd just design a few sample set pieces and pre-generated characters, some lists of possible Distinctions, skills, assets (think gear and weapons), etc. for each type of setting to show how it's done. But again, I'm probably not your target audience, so... my opinion may be utterly useless to you.

fuck because fucking doesn't care about net worth ;)

I have to agree there. The base Ironsword game is a solid setting, but being able to adapt it to other setting has made it infinitely replayable, imho. Although, I'd love to see a 50's themed "Route 66" type travel game, with everything that 50's media entailed - wholesome family road trips, the continuing prevelence of radio as a form of entertainment, inspiration from the retro-futurism of 50's sci-fi, drive-ins, weird horror like Tales from the Crypt, etc.

Not a lot of discussion going on right now. I think a few games were started. I've been posting some solo stuff. but life has decided that any more TTRPGs are too many more TTRPGs for my available free time right now.

Character Sheet Threads List NPC List

physical threats

Introduction I am playing through the story of a young woman who wakes with amnesia in a small medical center in eastern Kentucky. After a severe flood, she was found unconscious with head trauma near the edge of the woods and brought here by a local who happened to be passing by. The circumstances (after a flood) were randomly generated, the location was randomly chosen from a list based on data suggesting areas with high likelihood of flooding. I want her to be "someone special", perhaps a magical girl, a secret agent, an alien, a government experiment... I want her to have been escaping from something or on a mission or... well, something interesting. I want a past that will come back with a vengeance. BUT... I also want to be surprised by her past. My mind is likely to start filling in blanks on its own right out of the gate, and what I don't want is to decide, I want to use the tables in Mythic GM Emulator to lead me to her background randomly until there are enough details to make sense and get it firmed up and finalized in my head. Rules Used Cortex Prime: I'm using a very stripped down version of Cortex. I'm using the following Trait Sets: *Distinctions (with SFX), *Relationships (with statements), Attributes (Physical, Mental, Social), and Skills (with specializations). I'll be tracking injury using Stress (Exhausted, Injured, Emotional, and Aroused (because I'm still keeping it lewd)). In the beginning, I'll be leaning into the Attributes and Skills, but once she has relationships and her past reveals her Distinctions, I intend to switch over to those. I'd love to incorporate Values, but it feels weird to set her Values when I don't even know who she is yet. I may add more or switch it up if it feels appropriate to do so. I'm also loosely tracking possessions. Mythic GM Emulator, v2: I'm using the base system to setup the game using the "Next Expected Scene" based on what would make sense given the story so far. Then I roll against the Chaos Factor to determine if the next expected scene occurs as expected, if it's altered, or if it's an interrupt scene (i.e. random event). I'll be letting her past come through only via interrupt scenes at first until I can establish something cohesive for her backstory. I'm using the oracle tables to guide the story, action, NPC creation and attitudes... pretty much everything. ...and that's it, I think.

So... I leaned hard into the "religious" angle from the initial mythic rolls. I decided that her crusade became well-known, her mission obvious outside of her small community, and that she went down in history as something of an important figure. I wondered what people in the future might think of her, and decided that the only thing that fit was for her quotes at the end there to lead people to follow her, and eventually find her personal journals and use them as the basis for their own religion. It feels fittingly twisted enough given the beginning. I do want to write her misadventures, now. She's an interesting character, all in black, serving up vengeance against the misogynistic, judgmental faith for which she once carried out death sentences. I like how it ended, even if the ending was a bit beyond what the game intended. Thanks, @WritesNaughtyStories for the challenge!

idle hands

The Collected Texts of the Unbound by Winona Coyle, Scholar of the Unbound, Keeper of the Ashes It is one thing to attend service, to hear the liturgy, to feel the fellowship of the sisterhood. It is another to hold in one’s hands the fragile leather journal of Prudence Lawton herself. Her original entries were not meant for an audience. They are raw, unpolished, soaked with love and regret. Yet they became the seed of a faith that now stretches farther than the halls that condemned her, farther than the graves that sought to silence her. In this volume, I have arranged the texts in order of their becoming: first, the journal entries; then, the psalmic scripture; and finally, the creeds and prayers. I offer here my commentary to show how each grew from the same root, and how one woman’s confession became our creed. The Original Journal: "I have chosen her, though I know the choice is ruin. She burns like the sun and I am helpless before her. Every touch is a judgment against me, every kiss a sin I welcome. The scales will not forgive, nor will the people. Perhaps not even God. Yet I go to her all the same. To love her is to bind myself in chains, but I do not care. If the Devil waits at the end of this road, let him. I will not turn back." Later Psalmic Form: "From this ruin I declare a new truth: No love is forbidden. No body is unworthy. No woman shall kneel before zealotry again." Commentary: Where Prudence confesses weakness, “helpless before her”, the scripture transforms it into defiance: “No woman shall kneel.” The tone shifts from private shame to public proclamation, but the heart is unchanged. Love, once whispered as sin, is made holy by her fire. The Original Journal: "To love her is to bind myself in chains, but I do not care." Later Psalmic Form: "I am the woman who will burn your pulpits, break your chains, tear down your gallows." Creed of the Broken Scales: "The halls have fallen. The chains are broken. The fire still burns. Love endures. We are Unbound." Commentary: Here is the clearest example of transformation. What Prudence once admitted as surrender, “to bind myself in chains”, has become the banner of our liberation. Chains, once marks of devotion and ruin, are now the very things she vowed to destroy. The private admission became the rallying cry: We are Unbound. The Original Journal: "If the Devil waits at the end of this road, let him. I will not turn back." Later Psalmic Form: "Your laws cannot hold me. Your prayers cannot bind me. Your fire cannot consume me. I have already burned." Scarlet Creed: "We rise from ashes. We burn the gallows. We tear down the pulpits. No woman shall kneel again. Love is holy. We are Unbound." Commentary: Her defiance of damnation, “let him”, became our rejection of fear itself. The Devil she named was the zealotry of her time, the fire that consumed her lover. By declaring she would not turn back, Prudence gave us a path forward: we too will not turn back. Even fire cannot consume us, for she has already endured the burning. I write this not as a detached chronicler, but as one whose life is only possible because of her ruin. I love a woman openly, without chains, without shame. That freedom exists because Prudence burned. Because she broke. Because she rose. Some scholars insist on calling her The Unbound. Others prefer Mother Ashes, or the Scarlet Bride. But to me, she is the woman who left behind a journal with ink still damp from tears, a woman who chose love above law, and in so doing, birthed a world where I may hold my beloved’s hand in daylight. So I study her words, not to pin them in glass like a specimen, but to keep them alive. To show how one woman’s confession became our scripture, our creed, our freedom. We built a faith upon her ruin. We live because she chose not to turn back. And for that, she is not only The Unbound, she is our Savior.

The Liturgy of the Unbound (As practiced by the Daughters of the Unbound) Opening Invocation Leader: We gather not in halls of stone, Nor beneath the gaze of zealots’ scales. We gather in the firelight, In the shadow of the woman who burned, In the arms of each other. People (together): We are Unbound. The Reading of Ruin (From Prudence Lawton’s original journal entry, read aloud in its plain form.) Reader: “I have chosen her, though I know the choice is ruin. She burns like the sun and I am helpless before her. Every touch is a judgment against me, Every kiss a sin I welcome. The scales will not forgive, nor will the people. Perhaps not even God. Yet I go to her all the same. To love her is to bind myself in chains, but I do not care. If the Devil waits at the end of this road, let him. I will not turn back.” Moment of silence. The Transformation into Scripture Leader: From her confession, we rise. From her ruin, we are reborn. People (chanting): No love is forbidden. No body is unworthy. No woman shall kneel before zealotry again. The Creed of Ashes Leader: What did Prudence become? People: She is Ashborn, rising from the ashes. She is the Counterweight, the Broken Scales. She is the First Flame, but not the last. She is the Voice of Love. She is the Protector of the Forbidden. She is Mother of Ashes. She is the Scarlet Bride. She is the Widow of Fire. Leader: She is ruin and rebirth. What are we? People: We are Unbound. The Prayer of Defiance Leader: What do we reject? People: Your laws cannot hold us. Your prayers cannot bind us. Your fire cannot consume us. We have already burned. The Vow of Love Leader: What truth do we proclaim? People (in unison): Love is not a sin. Desire is not a crime. To be yourself is holy. Closing Benediction Leader: Let those who have suffered find us. Let those who fear find us. Let those who burn for another woman, Or who have been judged unworthy, Walk in our shadow and find safety. People: We are the Unbound. And the scales will balance.

...and because I can never just let a thing be a thing without keeping it going until I ruin it, I imagine the words of Prudence Lawton finding an audience in some distant future. Her rejection of the religion of her time becomes the founding of a new religion. Would she approve? I wonder if the idea of others following her words as dogma would be something of which she would disapprove. Either way, I might have gone a bit too deep and/or too far with this, but coming up are some more bits I've jotted down since thinking those thoughts...

loose morals

broken wings