BallsyBard

chef, writer, ttrpg designer

[eyanin]

[haykebyr]

some memery

[fluffygif]

First snowfall of the seasons  🍂❄️

[jdragsky]

ive been thinking a lot lately about how 20th century pixel art was made for CRT screens, which display light very differently and thus has a very different set of design priorities than modern pixel art, where 20th century pixel art seeks to hide its pixels while modern pixel art emphasizes them (thats not the point of this post dont get hung up on this stay with me)

and also how upset art historians got in the 1960s when michelangelo's paintings in the sistine chapel were cleaned for the first time in five hundred years and historians were forced to acknowledge that all the depth and murky secretive qualities they loved so much were actually the accumulated result of hundreds of years of candle soot (thats not the point EITHER stay with me stay with me)

and then i think about how art is a constant renegotiated game of generational shifting, how we begin at a point of mutual understanding between the artist and audience, but over hundreds and thousands of years, more and more context is lost until we don't even know context has been lost, and new context is given which changes the work, and how every time we come back to shakespeare or michelangelo or miyamoto the world has elided us, slipped out of our hands and become something new, and everything we make will do that too (we're almost at the point, hold tight for a little longer loves)

and what i love about games is that they make this renegotiation process really clear and open because what is minecraft if not the sistine chapel of children and their playgrounds, an object which begs the player to take it and reinterpret it! what will minecraft be in a hundred years? five hundred? a thousand? will children still be fighting the end dragon long after the cultural conceits of "boss battles" and "raids" have escaped the cultural lexicon of game-story beats? (this is my point thank you for getting here)

the game is transforming in your hands when you play. it needs your eyes to make it real, it asks you to see and through seeing to miss what the designers saw, because that's what makes it good

[haykebyr]

crow!!!!

[haykebyr]

every day is eris appreciation day

[haykebyr]

[elenvalta]

The Unveiling Fan Illustrated by Elenvalta

Illustrations for a fan creation of the Unveiling Destiny 2 lore book, made February of 2022. Tried to stick with a more abstract/conceptual depiction of the entries, and stay away from giving the Gardener, Winnower, and entire Flower Game physical shapes to retain their mathematical implications. Enjoy!

[thepossumpunks]

Gonna pop open the hood a lil bit on one of my fave encounters. The PDF is written/rough Layout by Lamord, battlemap by LadyCaster Project Pink Moon Page on Itch.io

[thepossumpunks]

[talesyettold]

We had a session of Whispers In The Sea last night…and the players invented canons that scream and bleed.

The scream canons were not the most horrifying thing they made that session. I love them so much.

[mistysteppinrazor]

Boobs

[haykebyr]

[cha0tic-stupid]

hey hi hello!

ah yes, the ol’ tumblr - welcome to my silly little page over here, I’m not sure how active I’ll be but for now I’ll at least drop an intro post! if you don’t know me from the cursed bird app, I’m Bran (the Badass) and I’m a ttrpg player, gm, and designer! You can find my solo journaling game, A Day in the Death over on my itch page (linked below) if you’re into that sort of thing! otherwise, idk see ya around? 💜

Bran Lavigne - itch.io

[ancientsstudies]

The prime color of the world.

[rhubarbes]

Ismail Inceoglu 

[makapatag]

Hey all! If you were ever into D&D 4e, Lancer, or just want a really out there fantasy setting that exalts Southeast Asian culture and Martial Arts, give Gubat Banwa a try!

GUBAT BANWA is a Postclassic Fantasy Martial Arts TTRPG intensely inspired by the refulgent and diluvial cultures and stories of Southeast Asia. It is intended to be played by 1-6 Players. You play as Kadungganan (Honorable Ones, socially the best of the best of the warrior castes) during the end of the world, and the fate of Gubat Banwa (lit. Warring Realms/Nations/Places) rests at the tip of your blade.

The game is on the final stages of development, with playtests for 1st Edition out now for everyone to play through!

It's got:

🌺 A war drama system focused on testing your Kadungganan's CONVICTIONS, the central part of the game. To change the world, you must have Convictions.

✊ An intense martial arts grid-tactics system inspired by the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, D&D4e, Endless Fantasy Tactics, Gloomhaven, Panic At The Dojo!, and even a little bit of Exalted and Sekiro!

👹 The tactical martial arts "classes" are known as "Disciplines", which are explicitly martial arts Disciplines that you choose to follow down upon. You grow your character similar to FFT jobs: you learn "Masteries" in a Discipline (special techniques and such) then switch Disciplines, but keep the Masteries you've already learned! Enjoy a wild variety of Disciplines such as the Vishnu-Avatar Blacksmiths that create naga statues in the battlefield, Gun Witches that channel indigenous-gods-turned-demons to shot God in the Head, Sepak Takraw taught by the God of Comets to kill people by kicking shit at them really hard, and combat diplomats that have learned mantras from Shiva.

🪷 A Trichiliocosm inspired by the diverse cultures of Southeast Asia. Explore five major factions that delve into the five major cultural parts of SEA: the Indigenous, the Hindu-Buddhist, the Muslim, and even a bit of the Colonized and how that violence interacts with the rest of the setting!

🦚 Rules for not just traditional GM + Player gameplay, but also GM-less play and even Solo Play! Learn the rules of the game on your own, or embark on adventures with fellow Kadungganan as you fight against enemies controlled by the Gambit System, an AI system!

In Playtest 3 we got:

♋️ New Astrology-esque Alignments for Narrative Character Creation!

⚔️ Revamped Combat system with Drum-based "initiative" and rolls inspired by Skirmish Wargames!

𑁍 Rules for Solo and GM-less play! Go through the Sword Isles on your own!

Get it on itch: https://makapatag.itch.io/gubat-banwa

Read the devlog!: https://makapatag.itch.io/gubat.../devlog/443142/playtest-3…

GET IT ON DRIVETHRU: https://drivethrurpg.com/.../Gubat-Banwa-1e-Playtest…

Not everything is done yet obviously: some more art is needed, some more content, and some more borders. But most of it is nearing its full completion!

Thanks all. Glory through conviction, healing though violence, revel in love and lightning.

[aaronarted]

An older portrait of Sam Riegel that I drew during a flight layover in ATL.