PC
Reddit Account: FromTheInkpot
Discord Tag: jayonline
Name and House: Tessario of Lys
Age: 28
Cultural Group: Valyrian
Appearance: Taller than the average man, with slender and effeminate features. His skin is pale, his hair consists of curled white locks and his eyes are a vivid lilac. He favours black leathers with silver accents, and often adds coloured silks as sashes, belts, or capes. On the middle finger of his left hand he wears a signet ring of black steel and gold, used to seal letters from the Pearl Bank.
Trait: Marketer
Skill(s): Avaricious (e), Merchantman (e), Broker
Talent(s): Linguistics, Arithmetic, Reading People
Negative Trait(s): Sociopath (non-mechanical)
Starting Title(s): Keyholder of the Pearl Bank, Heir to the blood of Altaerys (secret)
Starting Location: Opening Event
Alternate Characters: N/A
Bio:
Born in the year 4BC, Tessario was the son of a Lyseni courtesan and a nobleman of the Old Blood who had left for the Black Walls of Volantis before he even knew of the child.
Growing up in Lys, Tessario was raised by his mother in a small manse where she would teach him lessons learnt from the courts of the free city.
Since his mother first spoke to him tales of Valyria and dragon riders, Tessario was enthralled.
His bloodline was of the forty families, from one of the few dragonlords on Lys during the 'Night of Tears', when the dragonlords had been poisoned and their dragons slain by their very hosts - the magisters. That the dragon rider had been his ancestor was his family's deepest secret and one that could have seen them killed in generations past.
The knowledge that the dragon riders of old were his very ancestors was almost too much for the young boy to keep secret. Especially now, when dragons had waged conquest on Westeros' shores so recently. But while the Targaryen's were said to wed brother to sister to keep their bond with the dragons strong, his family had not had a dragon rider in five generations. Since then his family's bloodline - the house of Altaerys, thought lost in the Doom of Valyria and the Century of Blood since, had become clouded with the Old Blood of Volantis during their occupation of Lys. And before that, diluted among the courts of Lys the Lovely, where none truly knew or at least none spoke of how much dragon blood they had. It was clear most of Lys had some. The features of silver-blond or white hair and the eyes of pale blue or shades of purple were all too common. The city was truly Valyrian. Who knew how many dragonlords' legacies his blood carried now?
Tessario, with his pure Valyrian blood and features to match, had the fiery will of his ancestors but an uncommonly pragmatic mind. As he grew, so did his keen mind, picking up his numbers and letters faster than other boys his age.
Raised in the turbulence of a city still reeling from the uprising against Volantis, Tessario learnt how violent people could be at a young age. Surrounded by the cruelties of slavery, he grew up numbed to the hardships of others.
By nine name-days he would begin visiting the Temple of Trade where he and other boys would talk with the magisters and tradesmen who congregated there. From among these wealthy and noble men of the city, he and a lucky few others, would gain apprenticeships; a position that was highly coveted in the city of Lys, where trade was considered a profession more honorable than arms.
Tessario shadowed his sponsor for three years, learning the inner workings of trade negotiations, currency exchange, and contract creation. He met several other apprentices who like him hungered for more, as well as making friends among the less prominent families of Lys all too keen to climb the social ladder. So, when his apprenticeship was over they formed a merchantile group of ambitious youths. Tessario and the others began with insurance cons and profitable arbitrage that filled their pockets and funded bigger schemes.
The war in the Stepstones came as a wondrous opportunity for the newly founded group. The members invested heavily, with some overseeing the battles themselves. Luckily the Lysene forces met up with not only those of Tyrosh, but also ships from Dorne and the Stormlands. Tessario wore armour for the first time as he sailed sellswords to the fighting, though did no more than watch in actuality. War made them rich and for the first time in his life Tessario knew what it was to wield true power. The power to make others die for your ends.
The pirate threat crumbled easily, but the true prizes were had after the fighting. Contracts for trade opened up and new ports to invest in saw the merchantile group grow faster than ever before. They hired lingering hedge knights and sellswords to protect their assets and even convinced some of the former pirate vessels to become corsairs under them.
As the Stepstones begin to flourish, the group started to look further afield for other trade routes. In 18AC, just as Dorne began to invest heavily in Sunstone, Tessario sailed to Driftmark as one of three emissaries of their group tasked with finding new avenues for profit. It was while on this mission that Tessario first met Valarr Velaryon, Lord of the Tides. Seeking a base of operations outside of Lys, Tessario negotiated plans for a bank to be built in Spicetown, profiting from the flow of trade.
Tessario broached the concept to the group telling them of the pearls found by fishermen in the pools of the island's coves and a contract for the Pearl Bank was drawn up. Tessario, as one of the two-and-twenty key holders, was now responsible for much.
Construction began in late 19AC with a main building that was reinforced with strong stone and deep vaults. Pearl farms under the control of the bank were also created, with construction of the entire project finishing before the end of 24AC. During this time the bank engaged in numerous amounts of trade, amassing a full vault, as well as funding loans to the many growing businesses of Spicetown, merchants of the free cities, and other Houses of Westeros. This includes House Massey of Stonedance, House Celtigar of Claw Isle, and many other minor houses.
Timeline:

• 4BC - Tessario is born in a Lysene manse.
• 6AC - Begins a trade apprenticeship for three years.
• 9AC - Forms a merchantile group in Lys.
• 12AC - Funds the war in the Stepstones.
• 13AC - War in the Stepstones ends.
• 18AC - Visits Driftmark as an emissary, meeting Valarr Velaryon.
• 19AC - The Pearl Bank begins construction.
• 24AC - Construction is completed.
• 25AC - Current day.

Family tree:
https://familyecho.com/?p=START&c=izpgpsokcmwmhxa6&f=478495015333730745
AC
Name and House: Somovo Saan
Age: 21
Cultural Group: Valyrian
Appearance: Piercing blue eyes shine out from dark features. Somovo has a lean build and freckled face from years of sailing the Narrow and Summer Seas. Her skin is dark and her hair falls in long brown curls down past her shoulders, the occasional braid holding beads of copper. She often wears loose shirts and wide breeches that allow her skin to breathe the salty air of the sea, while sticking to practical leather boots for moving about the deck.
She has a slender black cat named Sȳndor 'shadow' that lives on deck and prowls the bank offices while on shore.
Trait: Reaver
Skill(s): Raider, Fence, Tactician
Talent(s): Winning at Tiles, Tying knots, Swimming
Negative Trait(s): N/A
Starting Title(s): Captain of the Spice Runner
Starting Location: Opening Event
Alternate Characters: N/A
Timeline:

• 4AC - Somovo Saan is born in Lys.
• 9AC - Somovo's father, Sarthos Saan, takes her on her first voyage to Tyrosh.
• 12AC - Her father leaves to fight for the pirates in the Stepstones war.
• 13AC - After the pirates defeat in the Steptones, her father is hired by a group of merchants from Lys. Somovo meets Tessario, one of the groups founders.
• 18AC - Meets the sellsail Captain Laurei of Myr who becomes an inspiration for her to become a Captain of her own ship.
• 19AC - When the Pearl Bank begins construction on Driftmark, Somovo is on deck with her father and they patrol the Narrow Sea together, guarding trading vessels and seeking opportunities for their new employer.
• 21AC - Somovo is given command of her own ship and crew, becoming Captain of The Spice Runner, named after Spicetown.
• 22AC - Her father's ship is lost at sea during a storm near Volantis. The corsairs previously under Sarthos turn to her for leadership by virtue of her blood.
• 24AC - Construction of The Pearl Bank is completed on Driftmark.
• 25AC - Current day.

NPCs
Morio (30) - Cutthroat
Every man of ambition needs a ruthless and silent right hand.
Ser Thomas Storm (27) - Warrior
Knighted by Ser Edwell Celtigar in the Stepstones and knowing he would gain no further gold or glory, he joined the merchantile group from Lys to train their retainers and act as Captain of the Guard to Tessario.
Since then he notably won the joust at the Tourney at Aegon's Rest in 21AC.

My 1st Pg
I would like to create my first tav... able in melee but based on magic class ... I don't really like the warlock for the lore but I thought to create character around 2 lv of warrior the rest wizard ( necro i tink… ) suggestions? Ideas? Thanks guys ( picture is an inspiration ) 🙏🏻

Me and my historical group of players (veterans of many rpgs) have been playing the beta since 1.2 every week, with the first week playing the quickstart adventure with the pregens and then an homebrew little campaign with created characters. Almost all sessions were in person, with no help from online roller and other apps, with the exception of the last one in which we used Demiplane (this will be important later).
We mainly played combat-focused session, testing the meat of the system by having at least two combats per session. As today we have played at least once every tier of play and recently we focused in tier 3 so that we could stress test the most high level broken builds we could think of.
And that's when we start noticing something. At tier 0, tier 1 and half tier 2 combat felt fresh, dynamic, fast and was a ton of fun. But on late tier 2/tier 3, the feeling at the table shifted quite drasticaly. Each turn lasted a lot, the outcome of each attack become much more predictable for both players and GM, making attacks feel unexciting and boring most of the time, and for the GM (me) burning resources become almost impossible to achieve, with the players never feeling truly challenged and making the use of abilities feeling almost redudant and not necessary to achieve victory. Also there was a lot of high level cards that makes you roll tons of additional dice to achieve an effect (Unyielding Armor for example) on top of rolling 6 dice for each damage roll, making math feeling very cumbersome on the long run.
All this things added together essentially make each turn felt like a slog and combat became something you wish will end as soon as possibile instead of being one of the most excting part of the session. In a word, combat felt "a waste of the time" with the outcome not really in discussion. Last session we tried Demiplane to see if it would make these negative feelings go away but sadly it was mostly the same for us.
So after a deep discussion among us, we think we pinpointed what in our opinion were the major culprits of these negative feelings at the table:

• The gap between thresholds, especially Major and Severe, become too high, making damage feeling inconsequential most of the time with result of 1 or 2 HP inflicted as the unique possible results (most of the characters have a difference of 20 or more between Major and Severe).
• High level Domain Cards that makes you roll or reroll too many dice drastically increasing the turn.
• Rolling 6 dice with each attack and the whole mathematical process with high numbers to solve the result being very tiresome very quickly.
• Monsters difficulties being very High (easy to miss) while their HP and damage being too low.

And while we are not designers but any stretch of imagination, for the sake of creativity we also thought of some possible fix to these problems, even if some are not the simpliest to implement ngl, especially the first two:

• Introducing an additional threshold (such as the optional rule of Massive damage) but with the gap between the 4 thresholds being more reasonable, increasing variability in the attack resolution for all tiers of play.
• Focusing more on horizontal progression instead of vertical progression, and shrinking overall math progression numbers for both monsters and charcaters.
• Soft cap "spammable" attacks to deal maximum 4 dice + static modifier, with high damage dice rolls reserved for combos or limited use abilities which makes you feel powerful and create epic special moments.

I have faith that with the amount of solid feedback the game is receiving and the designer's inclination to listen to them, the game will absolutely improve by a lot by the time of its release in 2025 but as now, I would not recommend playing high level play and will probably stop campaigns by 6-7 level.
And that's about it, sorry for the long discussion but I just wanted to share our gaming experience with the community, hoping it would be useful and interesting. I'm also very curious about others experiences about high level play, if you have please feel free to comment your thoughts.

I'm looking for games where you get to create name and create a character, customizeappearance, etc.
I have Animal Crossing Wild World and Dragon Quest IX already. I don't really have a genre preference, as long as you get to pick your name, gender, and customize appearance a bit.

Hello There! I’m writing my Homebrew class in the Companion app. It has Subclasses (Archetypes) and Fighting Styles (Subtypes) But when I want to create a character I can’t select the fighting style. Also I want the fighting style to be selected at 2nd level and the subclass at 3rd (like in Ranger) but when I try to change the „select at level“ part it always switches so they’re at the same level after saving.
Can anyone help me please?

I would really love if someone could help me create a human version of my character:
Link1
Link2
I imagine him to be a big muscular guy and super tall like 6ft tall or even a bit taller than that, some type of black shirt and/or clothing, he does usually cover his eyes with his hair, some sharp looking teeth, and if you possibly draw him showing his eyes he has a bright red eye color and a bit of a tired look under his eyes
I kind of imagined to look like something similar to something like these:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

(continuation of part 5)
Post-OG Cloud ruminates on what he could have done to save Aerith. Had he not been so lost in his own mind —distracted by Sephiroth and Jenova, consumed by his need to fulfill the emptiness at the core of his identity—, would he have paid more attention to Aerith’s sadness and anticipated her plan to go to the Forgotten Capital alone? Could she have survived if not for his obsession with what tormented him at the time? Could he have figured it out and kept her by his side? He’s angry with himself in retrospect, drowning in guilt, just like in Advent Children.
Here are the choruses, which usually contain the thesis main message of a song:

“Shine bright once more
Guide me to you
Smile bright once more
This time I will never let you go”

&

“Hear me once more
Show me your smile
This time for sure
I'll see the truth hidden inside your tears
But I, I know
That you're long gone
But I, I will
Go on, howling and hollow”

In these choruses, Cloud asserts that he will get it right this time (“this time” referring to the second chance that is the Remake trilogy). He will make sure he saves Aerith and never lets her go. He knows she’s gone, but he will fight against time to get her back. He longs for her smile and her light again, and he cannot bear the guilt: so he doesn’t. Post-OG Cloud embarks on a new adventure: ”I want to go to a place where everything is new,” said Cloud to Wol and Echo in Eclipse Contact before facing his past and being launched into Remake. “Hollow” makes far more sense now, doesn’t it? It’s a song not only about Cloud’s loss, but also about his determination to save Aerith this time. Given that it’s the theme song of Remake, the fact that “Hollow” fits with our theory perfectly is a very good sign: a theme song is meant to reflect the main plot of a story, indicating as our theory states that Remake is principally, albeit secretly, about Cloud saving Aerith. Because of this hope being set up, I’m confident that they will be together in the end, reunited for good. My dear Clerith friends, this is the hidden purpose of the Remake trilogy. Cloud and Aerith will be reunited.
VI. e) ii. “No Promises to Keep” Lyrics
This is quite obvious. Aerith is resigned to her fate, but still harbors hope that she will meet Cloud again in a permanent reunion:

“Till the day that we meet again
Where or when?
I wish I could say
But believe, know that you'll find me

[…]

Till the day that we meet again
On our street, I want to believe

[…]

Till the day that we meet again
At our place, just let me believe
In the chance that you'll come
Take my hand and never let me go
Take my hand
And believe
We can be
Together evermore

[…]

Still I hope someday you'll come and find me
Still I know someday you'll come and find me”.

VI. f) The Theme of Reunion Explained?
The last point I want to hit on is the concept of reunion. In OG, this theme was pretty much dominated by the Jenova Reunion. To an OG fan back in 1997, “reunion” meant “Sephiroth and Jenova’s evil plan”. However, in the Remake trilogy, the theme is expanded into something more. The first time Cloud meets Aerith in Remake, she gives him a flower and tells him something she didn’t in OG:

“Lovers used to give these when they were reunited...”

In addition, we’ve already talked about how part 5 of “Aerith’s Theme - The Cetra” from the Remake OST tells the story of Cloud and Aerith’s reunion (see section “V. b) ii. 2)”).
Many moments exclusive to the Remake trilogy serve the same purpose: linking the theme of reunion to Aerith. This expansion of the theme is highly significant. Our theory is that the Remake trilogy exists to reunite Cloud and Aerith, so the fact that the trilogy would implement so many Clerith-centric references to reunion is great support for our theory.
VI. g) i. The Leslie-Cloud Parallel
Let’s consider another instance involving the reunion flower in Remake, more precisely, the chapter 14 subplot surrounding Leslie’s lost lover. In case you need a refresher, Leslie is one of Corneo’s lackeys, although he secretly plans to betray him. He once had a fiancée and things were looking up until she was selected as one of Corneo’s brides. The day before she disappeared (presumably taken by Corneo), his fiancée broke up with him with no explanation. It was confusing and left Leslie perplex. As she broke up with him, she returned a necklace to him, one with a flower pendant. Of course, that flower is the very same reunion flower Aerith gives Cloud in chapter 2.
Evidently, Leslie and Cloud are going through parallel situations. At this point in time, Aerith was just kidnapped by Shinra, and Cloud is on his way to get her back. Both their loved ones have been taken by tyrant rulers, one being slumlord Corneo and the other being the Shinra government. In fact, even Leslie and Cloud’s attitudes share similar disillusioned, cold and stoic qualities. Leslie’s fiancée would evidently be paralleled by Aerith.
The most obvious proof of the Leslie-Cloud parallel is written plainly on the list of Remake’s chapter 14 main scenario objectives. Objective 7, called “For the Reunion”, consists of receiving the grappling guns needed to reach topside and save Aerith. The description of the objective reads as follows:

“Leslie gives them grappling guns, and they wish each other luck in reuniting with their respective loved ones. Leslie walks off, and the three prepare to climb the wall.”

The grappling guns are “For the Reunion”, because evidently, the loved one Cloud wants to reunite with is Aerith.
All this is simple and apparent enough. Just the fact that the theme of reunion is linked to Clerith in this way is proof enough, but there’s another layer to the Leslie-Cloud parallel. Not only does Leslie’s situation reinforce the concept of a Clerith reunion, it also mirrors the specifics of our theory: namely that Cloud will save Aerith from specifically Sephiroth (represented in Leslie’s scenario by Corneo) and that Cloud will take the initiative to accomplish this reunion. These two specific aspects of our theory are reflected by Leslie’s circumstances, meaning the Leslie-Cloud parallel not only pushes the theme of reunion, but also supports our specific theory.
VI. g) i. 1) The Separators: Corneo and Sephiroth
I’ll first prove that Leslie’s scenario is not meant to echo Cloud’s separation from Aerith at the hands of Shinra —or at least not exclusively—, but rather Cloud’s separation from Aerith at the hands of Sephiroth. Corneo would therefore be paralleled by Sephiroth rather than the tyrannical Shinra government.
The first piece of proof for the Corneo-Seohiroth parallel lies within the way in which Leslie’s fiancée broke things off: by lying. Aerith also lies to Cloud to create distance between them, but not pertaining to her kidnapping— rather, pertaining to her fated death. Since Sephiroth is Aerith’s killer and not Shinra, Corneo’s role in the Leslie-Cloud parallel is analogous to Sephiroth’s rather than Shinra’s.
There are two pieces of evidence that the Corneo-Sephiroth comparison makes more sense than the Corneo-Shinra one. The first lies in the fact that Leslie’s breakup resembles Cloud’s resolution scene: the topic of Cloud’s resolution scene is Aerith’s fate at the hands of Sephiroth rather than her kidnapping by Shinra, meaning Corneo and Sephiroth are the antagonists of both heartbreaks.
Let’s examine Leslie’s breakup. Here is how his fiancée broke things off, taken from the English script of Remake’s chapter 14, with tone indicators added by me in bold:

“Fiancée: It was all just a dream, wasn't it[?]
Fiancée: (Hopefully) But one day…
(She trails off, then shakes her head and stops herself.)
Fiancée: (Sadly, hopelessly) — no. Time to wake up. And forget.
(She walks away.)”

Now, here is a more literal translation of this quote from the original Japanese (verified by me via DeepL), with tone indicators added by me in bold:

“Fiancée: It was only just a dream we had / We were only dreaming...
Fiancée: (Hopefully, as though as a hail Mary) In the language of the flowers...
(She trails off, then shakes her head and stops herself.)
Fiancée: (Sadly, hopelessly) — no. You should forget about me.
(She walks away.)”

Leslie’s fiancée is clearly breaking up with him to spare him the pain of blaming himself for not being able to protect her from Corneo, as she knows it’s too late for her to escape from the slumlord’s clutches. We know this because we understand that the pendant she gave back to him symbolizes a reunion (especially between lovers, as Aerith told Cloud in chapter 2). In fact, the Japanese version of the script reveals that the fiancée was about to reveal the meaning of the flower, perhaps in the hopes that they would find each other once more, but she lost her nerve at the last second. Notice that she tells Leslie two specific things. One: their love or their future together was only a dream, meaning that it wasn’t real. Two: he should forget about her, because the dream is over now and it’s time to wake up from it.
If you’re finding this familiar, then you might be ahead of me. Let’s take a look at what Aerith says to Cloud in his resolution scene, also in the English script of Remake’s chapter 14, with tone indicators added by me in bold:

“Aerith: […] you can’t fall in love with me. [It]’s not real […]. (With a sigh, as though from sadness or difficulty, but resolutely) It’s almost morning. Time to go.”

Now, here is a more literal translation of this quote from the original Japanese (verified by me via DeepL), with tone indicators added by me in bold:

“Aerith: You can’t let yourself fall in love with me. [It]’s only your imagination […]. (With a sigh, as though from sadness or difficulty, but resolutely) Looks like it’s already morning. Time for me to go.”

Just like Leslie’s fiancée, Aerith is rejecting or denying Cloud’s love for her in order to spare him from the pain of not having been able to be with her before her death, as she believes it is inevitable. Just like the fiancée, Aerith also tells Cloud two things. One: their love is imaginary or isn’t real. Two: it’s morning, and she has to go (she says this right before Cloud wakes from the pseudo-dream).
In both cases, the women know something about their fate that the men don’t and are hiding this impending tragedy from them. Just like Leslie’s fiancée, Aerith uses well-intentioned deception to protect her loved one from the pain that will come from her fate— the lie, of course, is that their love isn’t real. Both women are hopeless, and both men are initially clueless. Aerith’s resolution can’t be about her kidnapping, because Aerith thinks her rescue is anything but hopeless— she’s sure Cloud will come save her from Shinra. She says so herself in OG’s disk 1, chapter 8:

“Cloud: Aeris!? You safe?
Aeris: Yeah, I'm all right. I knew that [you] would come for me.”

What Aerith is so resigned about in Cloud’s resolution scene isn’t her kidnapping, but instead her fated death at the hands of Sephiroth. Nojima hints at this in FFVII Remake Ultimania:

“If you know Aerith’s fate, then this line would really pull at your heart strings […]” (section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 744).

Here is what codirector Toriyama had to say on Aerith’s words:

“[While] these words are intended for Cloud, I think Aerith is partly speaking them to herself. The contents of her request may be at odds with how she truly feels inside” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA Script Notes, “A Dream Shown by Aerith”, “Scenario Staff Q&A - Answered by Motomu Toriyama”).

These two quotes by the devs show that Aerith is trying to protect Cloud from her death. Therefore, the Corneo-Sephiroth parallel is far more apt than the Corneo-Shinra parallel.
The second piece of evidence supporting my belief that Corneo mirrors Sephiroth and not Shinra in the Leslie-Cloud parallel is the inclusion of the theme of revenge that crops up in the following piece of dialogue:

“Tifa: Why did you wanna come down here?
Leslie: Revenge. I know I need to let go, but I can't. I need closure, 'cause without it... I'll never be able to move on” (Remake, chapter 14).

Leslie’s sentiment toward Corneo resembles Cloud’s feelings toward Sephiroth after Aerith’s death. Revenge links Cloud to Sephiroth, not to Shinra. Corneo and Sephiroth reflect each other in that, as a consequence of their actions toward a woman, the man who loves her desires revenge.
Additionally, it looks like Leslie’s obsession with revenge as a means to closure is the reason he didn’t bother trying to understand the message his fiancée left him with: he’s focused on his hate rather than his love, and it’s hindering him. He doesn’t succeed in killing Corneo either: his focus and energy are misplaced. Cloud’s desire for vengeance against Sephiroth is also depicted as an obstacle to accomplishing his goals (see how in section “III. c)” of my previous literary analysis). Once more, the Corneo-Sephiroth parallel fits far better than a Corneo-Shinra perspective.
VI. g) i. 2) The Reunion Seekers: Leslie and Cloud
The other aspect of the Leslie-Cloud parallel that supports our theory is that in both scenarios, they both take charge of the situation and decide to actively seek reunion with their respective lovers. The following dialogue excerpt, supplemented by the VA script notes, shows Leslie’s initiative:

“Tifa: [Your fiancée] could still be out there.
Barret: Can never be sure how much someone means to ya till they're gone. Don't give up on her yet.
Leslie: (Looks at the flower pendant, [recalling his lover’s words) A message in the language of flowers… I wonder what she meant by it.
[…]
Tifa: Reunion.
Leslie: Huh?
Tifa: In the language of flowers, it means ‘reunion.’
(Leslie shifts his gaze from Tifa to the pendant and stares at it for some time. At last he understands the words his lover left him. With that, as if his mind has been made up, he clutches the pendant and hangs it around his neck.)
Leslie: Then I guess I’ll just have to find her first” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA Script Notes, “Other Notable Stage Directions - Chapters 14-16”).

Take note of Leslie’s final response and the determination with which he speaks: “Then I guess I’ll just have to find her first”. Remember that we’re searching for evidence that Cloud is going to be the one reaching out to Aerith in the Remake trilogy, and that it’s his turn to take his future into his hands. He must be more attentive, more active this time. And Leslie’s words of determination reflect this perfectly. Leslie must find his fiancée first, just like Cloud has to be the one to offer his hand to Aerith in the Remake trilogy and fight for her. This is exactly what our theory is all about.
VI. g) i. 3) Delayed Realizations
Interestingly, not only does Leslie’s determination mirror Cloud’s, but both men are depicted as realizing the truth too late. Just like Leslie only began searching for his fiancée six months after her disappearance, Cloud only realizes he loves Aerith in OG once she’s died. It took him this long to actually get somewhere in his mission to reunite with her— “somewhere” being the Remake trilogy.
Even Barret’s words highlight the lovers’ delay: “Can never be sure how much someone means to ya till they're gone”. Barret would know: he lost his wife Myrna, whom he loved dearly. The devs have Barret comment on the situation as a man whose lover died, mirroring Cloud’s situation in OG. Just as Barret says, Cloud only truly realized the strength of how he felt for Aerith in OG once she was gone. The gunman’s words apply to both Leslie and Cloud’s tardy initiatives. Regardless of this delay, both men are now determined to see their respective reunions through.
The degree to which the Leslie-Cloud parallel fits our theory is a great sign of its validity: even the details are lining up!
VI. g) ii. Reunion in the Theme Songs
Too easy: in our analysis of the lyrics of the theme songs, we covered how both texts include the theme of reunion. “No Promises to Keep” is especially relevant (see section “VI. e) ii.”), as the entire song is Aerith hoping against fate for a reunion with Cloud (even if you believe the song is about all her companions, that still includes Cloud).
On top of these reunion-themed lyrics, during Aerith’s in-game performance of “No Promises to Keep” at the Gold Saucer production of Loveless, her yellow blossoms signifying reunion bloom all around her as Cloud watches her, captivated.
Another great sign for our theory: the highly significant theme songs are on our side!
VI. g) iii. Waking Up Reunited
The thing I want to juxtapose to our theory is a small yet special moment in chapter 2 of Rebirth that stuck out to me like a sore thumb and got me really excited about sharing it with you. This moment occurs after the battle against the Midgardsormr. We’ll be comparing it to two other clips, describing all three in chronological order, and making deductions based on their similarities.
The first clip I want to address occurs in chapter 8 of Remake (1:32-2:12). There are a couple of things I want to point out in this scene. First, Aerith wakes Cloud from unconsciousness with a cute call of “Hello~?”. Second, despite pretending that he doesn’t, he immediately recognizes her. The VA script notes prove it:

“Aerith: Nice to meet you again.
Cloud actually remembers Aerith, but he pretends not to, perhaps wishing to make himself look cool.
Cloud: Again, huh?
Aerith: What? You don’t remember? How about…the flowers?
Cloud looks at the flowers at his feet and pretends as if he’s only just remembered.
Cloud: Oh, the flower seller” (FFVII Remake Material Ultimania Plus, VA script notes, “Reuniting with Aerith”).

So: she wakes him with a cute call, and he recognizes her. Also note that these two elements also apply to the OG church reunion scene.
Now onto the Rebirth chapter 2 scene that stuck out to me. After Cloud is saved from the Midgardsormr by Sephiroth, Cloud wakes from an unconsciousness spell with Aerith calling for him (7:20-7:34).
Once more, Aerith wakes him with a cute call (this time, it’s “Wakey, wakey!”), and Cloud recognizes her. In this Midgardsormr clip, unlike their reunion in the church, Cloud verbalizes that he remembers her. This time, there’s more: next, Aerith tells Cloud “おかえり, クラウド”, or “okaeri, Cloud”, which translates to “welcome back, Cloud”. “Okaeri” is what you say in Japanese when someone has returned home. In the third clip we will analyze, Aerith says “okaeri” to Cloud once more. But first, let’s break down this second clip.
I don’t know about you, but this cutscene felt extremely weird to me when I first encountered it. That is, it would have been, if not for the theory I’d begun formulating at that time.
You see, the devs could have chosen for Aerith to ask Cloud if he remembers his own name or where they are, if he’s okay, or check if he responds to his own name. In fact, asking someone who’s been hit on the head to say their own name is a much more common reaction to them finally waking up than asking them if they remember you. Even stranger is Cloud’s reaction: he could have answered “Yeah, you’re Aerith,” or “I remember everything, I’m fine”. Instead, he says her name with this airy and wonderstruck tone. He sounds like he’s opening his eyes to something mystic rather than his comrade leaning over him, like he’s seeing someone unexpectedly for the first time in a while… or rather like he’s waking from a trance of some kind— a trance in which he did not remember Aerith, and now he does. You may see where I’m going with this.
Let’s examine the third clip, wherein Aerith tells Cloud “okaeri” again. More specifically, in chapter 14, Aerith welcomes Cloud back when he snaps out of his zombified, Sephiroth-controlled state and runs toward her. Of course, it’s the sight of her and his memories of meeting her in chapter 2 of Remake that shake him awake (2:17:43-2:18:02).
For a third time, Aerith wakes Cloud. This time, she’s pulling him out of a trance and back to himself. And for a third time, Cloud remembers her. In fact, it’s remembering her that wakes him up. Cloud calls her name and Aerith says “okaeri” in both the post-Midgardsormr cutscene and this third clip. And in both scenes, not only does Cloud return to himself the way someone returns home (recall that “okaeri” is used to welcome someone back home), but he’s also returning to her, recognizing her as his home.
Now we’ve got three scenes lined up: the church reunion scene (both in OG and Remake), the Midgardsormr scene and the hand-reach scene. All three of these recognition scenes feature Cloud being woken up by Aerith and remembering who she is. The main difference is that, in the scenes among these three that are exclusive to Rebirth, Cloud’s return to Aerith is far more meaningful, as he already knows her name, and knows more about who she is to him. Evidently, in the OG church reunion scene, Cloud only remembers being sold a flower by this girl. In the Remake version, he remembers the same thing, plus the attack of the whispers. So there’s something much more weighty about the Rebirth recognition scenes: he remembers more, and he remembers deeper. These aren’t just recognition scenes, they’re also mini-reunions. Of course, as we’ve already analyzed pertaining to the hand-reaching scene, Cloud remembering Aerith is followed by him being the one to take action and run toward her, eager to save her, because she means the world to him. When you place the Midgardsormr scene between the church reunion scene and the hand-reach scene, an evolution of Cloud waking up and remembering Aerith is formed. Each mini-reunion scene adds a piece to the story: the church scene informs us that Cloud and Aerith are meeting again, the Midgardsormr scene tips us off that something mystic is going on from Cloud’s tone when he says Aerith’s name, and the hand reach scene tells us that as a consequence of remembering who Aerith is, Cloud saves her from falling to her death and saving her. “Meeting again”, “mystic”, and “saving Aerith”: these are the keywords of the mini-reunion scenes. They are also the keywords of our theory on Cloud’s mission to save Aerith. This time around Cloud knows more and is more conscious about how he feels for Aerith, just like he feels more when in the hand-reach scene in Rebirth compared to the church reunion scene in Remake. From the latter scene to the former, Cloud gradually wakes up and remembers his love for and loss of Aerith in the OG more and more. Each mini-reunion brings him closer to saving her when he blocks the masamune. This is why I am certain that in part 3, whether Cloud comes to his full senses or not, whether he remembers the events of OG or not, he will save Aerith this time. The Remake trilogy is centered around Aerith, after all. In fact, don’t take it from me, take it from Nojima:

“Aerith's the most important character in the remake so we paid special attention to her lines” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 744).

I have full confidence in this fact: one way or another, these two will have a happy ending. This is Cloud’s second chance, and as he swore in “Hollow”, he is not losing her again. That is why I don’t think you should fret, and that our Clerith hearts will be very happy to see these two together again for good in part 3.
VI. h) Zooming In
In fact, this zooming-in method of directing players’ attention to important narrative beats is far from new.
VI. h) i. Changing Fate
Let’s divert our attention to Nanaki’s Skywheel date (2:28-3:30). The dialogue goes like this: Nanaki brings us the Whispers and suggests the party might eventually forget about their existence, and Cloud says that frankly, if it’s impossible for them to change fate either way, then it would be better for them to forget to Whispers altogether.
This is a very clear message from the devs: “There would be no point in including the Whispers in the Remaketrilogy if we did not make use of their defeat”. They’re telling us through Cloud’s dialogue that they know it would be foul play and bad writing to introduce the theme of defying fate if it didn’t eventually pay off.
As if it weren’t clear enough what the devs are referring to, Nanaki brings up Aerith’s death directly after Cloud delivers the devs’ message to us. He actually makes Cloud promise to save her. This is pretty on the nose. By promising Nanaki he will protect Aerith, the devs are promising us the same. I’m certain that part 3 will deliver on this promise.
If you still aren’t sold, I’d like to direct your attention to the framing of the shot where Cloud says “If we can’t change [fate]” (2:49-2:51). There’s a zoom-in on his mouth, which is a visual cue that translates to “what this character is saying right now is important to the plot”. It’s very indiscreet in theory: the camera literally hones in on the invisible words as though the script has them highlighted, italicized triple-underlined and in bold.
VI. h) ii. Aerith’s Knowledge
We’ve seen the Remake trilogy use this camera framing at least twice so far. The first time occurs in Remake’s chapter 8, before it becomes clear that Aerith knows things from the OG game that she wouldn’t normally know if this were just a remastered version of the same 1997 plot. I’ll let Remake Ultimania‘s description of this moment speak for itself:

“When Cloud and Aerith return the rescued children to Oates, the man in the tattered black cloak shows up again at the hideout. The moment the man grasps Cloud’s arm, he’s overcome by another violent headache and sees a vision of Sephiroth. Cloud wonders if this man who supposedly died five years ago could possibly still be alive. When he says as much to Aerith, she gives him a vague reply” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 04: “Scenario”, “Chapter 8 Main Story Digest”, page 256).

Aerith’s “vague reply” is accentuated by a very deliberate zoom-in on her mouth (1:18:05-1:18:09), and therefore her words.
The framing of this shot indicates to us that what Aerith says provides an important hint as to the plot’s direction. Sure enough, with hindsight, it’s easy to see that’s true.
VI. h) iii. Tifa’s Question
Another time this framing is used is in chapter 1 of Rebirth, after Cloud recounts the Nibelheim incident. Tifa asks the group why Sephiroth is choosing to come back now, after five years (37:55-37:58).
Once more, we are being signaled that the reason Sephiroth chose to return at the moment he did is significant to the plot, but cannot be revealed explicitly yet. The reason why Sephiroth took five years to return is because that’s how long it took for Cloud to get back on his feet after the Nibelheim incident: Sephiroth wants and/or needs to manipulate Cloud in particular rather than all the other people with Jenova cells in them. It took five years for Cloud to not only go through Hojo’s experiments but also escape Shinra and make his way to Seventh Heaven, where Tifa nursed him back to health— therefore, it took five years until Sephiroth’s favorite pawn was available to be used. There are a few reasons why Cloud is the one Sephiroth wants to use, and all of them would be spoilers at this point in Rebirth to players who don’t know the OG plot. The devs can’t reveal any of them yet, but they do indicate via a close-up shot of Tifa’s mouth that her question is important.
VI. h) iv. The Takeaway
As you can see, this framing of characters’ mouths when they speak signals a plot-significant piece of dialogue. This means Cloud’s words on his gondola date with Nanaki can’t be brushed off as a red herring or an unimportant or throwaway line: it has narrative weight.

VII. The Devs

I think it’s important to remember the devs and their commitment to the world of FFVII. They know best for this story, and they’ve proven it to be true many times over. There are many things about the devs’ intentions that the fandom don’t seem to know that I think would give you confidence to find out.
VII. a) Shifting Themes
Good storytellers don’t introduce themes as a way to pull the rug from under audiences’ feet by later rendering them completely irrelevant to the plot.
In other words, the devs would not have introduced the notion of fate as an antagonistic force in Remake, nor allowed the players to defeat it in chapter 18, had they planned for these themes not to pay off at all. Think of how good FFVII OG and FF stories in general are, how strong the writing is from a narrative point of view. Nothing is included for no reason or for a cheap reaction— especially not a central theme of a story. Fate and defeating it is a huge point of Remake, and not for no reason.
I mean, think about a storyline all about defying fate ending with a shrug and a “Oh well, we tried.” It would be ridiculous! The devs are better than that.
VII. b) What the Devs Want
The devs are well aware that fans of FFVII have been begging for Aerith’s resurrection since 1997. All those petitions, all those myths of a revival hack… SE knows about them all too well. They were even referenced by FF’s 30th anniversary expo, which partly promoted Remake:

“No one expected [Aerith’s death] in the middle of the story. Rumors of a secret way to revive Aerith spread, and it was clear players were having a hard time saying goodbye to her too. Even now, twenty years later, it still feels like a shocking turn of events” (Final Fantasy 30th Anniversary Exposition Pamphlet, page 36).

Hamaguchi, codirector of the Remake project, commented on these rumors:

“Interviewer: Do you have a favorite fake rumor about the original FFVII?

Hamaguchi: I hear a lot about Aerith coming back to life and that's something that's very interesting to hear” (Hamaguchi interview: “129 Rapid-Fire Questions Answered About Final Fantasy VII Rebirth”, by Game Informer).

The devs are also aware of how beloved Clerith is to the FFVII fandom, especially in Japan— in fact, the only FFVII ship name that is an official iOS search term on the Japanese Apple Store is Clerith’s (“クラエア” or “kuraea” in Japanese). Aerith herself is a widely beloved character, particularly, once more, in Japan. For instance, Famitsu and NHK’s recent polls on the best FF heroine and on the best FF character in general both resulted in Aerith ranking number 3, beaten only in the latter poll by Cloud at number 1 and FFX’s Yuna at number 2.
The devs know how well-loved both Clerith and Aerith are. And in fact, they love Aerith at least as much as we do:

“Cloud's feelings [of guilt] cannot be resolved by anyone other than Aerith. I tried to convey [that Aerith is saying to Cloud] ‘I'm still here for you’” (FFVII Reunion Files, Nojima’s note on Aerith’s character file, page 58).

&

“When I saw the finished product of [Aerith’s face in] CG, I thought, "Oh, isn’t she so cute?” (FFVII Reunion Files, Nomura’s note on Aerith’s character file, page 58).

&

"The idea of having Aeris die during the story had a great impact on all the dev staff," Toriyama explained, "and personally I decided to dedicate my efforts to depicting Aeris in as appealing a way as possible, so that she would become an irreplaceable character to the player in preparation for that moment" (Toriyama interview “Final Fantasy anniversary interview: Toriyama speaks” by VG247).

The devs care about Aerith, and they’re fully aware we do too.
I think a lot of people have it in their heads that the devs don’t want anything to change from the OG story, but there’s a lot of evidence that says otherwise. Codirector Toriyama spoke on this, stating the following about the production process of Remake:

“[…] there were times the original version became a hindrance. Specifically, staff members with a strong attachment to Final Fantasy VII would often hold themselves back for fear of deviating too much from the original. When we created the original game, we obviously didn’t feel bound in that way. We were passionate about creating a brand new Final Fantasy title, and so we dove in and embraced whatever seemed most interesting to us. We wanted to take that approach this time as well, so we made a special effort to liberate ourselves whenever we held back, remembering that it was okay to do the things we wanted to do” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 1: Motomu Toriyama, Naoki Hamaguchi, Teruki Endo”, page 737).

Codirector Nomura said the following:

“When I asked Nojima if he’d write the scenario, I was clear about my demands up front. I said, ‘If we're going to remake Final Fantasy VII, I want it to be done like this.’ At that point, I was intent on making something more than just a remake. [Similarly to how] the battle system this time incorporates elements of the original game’s ATB mechanics [while] also been reborn using a real-time approach […], I wanted to make a story that players would feel is fundamentally Final Fantasy VII but also something new” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 745).

Clearly, the devs don’t want to be bogged down by the OG, and are making efforts to do things the way they want to rather than the way they were previously done. The newer generation of developers such as codirector Hamaguchi is also involved in these story changes:

“Interviewer: There are also drastically more scenes with Sephiroth than there were in the original game.
Nojima: We weren't planning on having him appear so much at first— the idea was only to hint at his presence. But we changed our approach partway through and became more proactive with having him appear, after which the number of scenes he features in rapidly increased.
Nomura: Hamaguchi [codirector Naoki Hamaguchi] came up to me one day and said in a mysterious tone, ‘I'd like to talk to you about something.’ He asked me about having there be a battle with Sephiroth in Midgar. In the original game, Sephiroth’s true body is located elsewhere, so he didn’t think I'd give in to the idea so easily. I think he even prepared materials to persuade me. But in the end I agreed readily [laughs]” (FFVII Remake Ultimania, section 08 “Secrets”, “Development Staff Interviews, Part 2: Tetsuya Nomura, Yoshinori Kitase, Kazushige Nojima”, page 746).

Kitase, the producer of the Remake trilogy, even says that after working on this project for so long, and after spending almost 30 years on the FFVII project and getting to know the characters, he has realized that:

“The more [he works] on it, the more [he wants] to make all these characters happy. [He wants] to give them a happy ending. The rest of the team’s opinions [obviously] also have to be taken into consideration, so it won't be all happiness and rainbows. But [he] just [wants] to make [the characters of FFVII] happy” (Kitase and Hamaguchi’s interview “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s Producer Just Wants 'the Characters to End Up Happy'”, by Vandal, translated by me).

Kitase is indeed only one developer, but he’s the producer of this project: that’s the very top position. He oversees everything and nothing goes without his approval. That counts for something. Of course, Kitase is fair and values the input of all the devs, so of course it won’t be “all happiness and rainbows”— but I sincerely believe there’s a big chance that Cloud and Aerith are heading toward their happy ending. Even if this theory is completely bogus, I want to have faith that the devs would not sacrifice good storytelling for nostalgia and a conservative attitude toward preserving the OG story, as that would be cheap of them, and we have not known them to be cheap. This game truly matters to them, so I think they deserve our faith.
(conclusion in

So I'm 20F, rooming with my 2 western female friends from highschool. I view them as people who are close to me. This year I went to my home country and bought souvenirs for them. 2 cute Japanese pens, 2 lucky charms, a set of Japanese notebooks and erasers, asian snacks and etc. I bought them gifts bcs I love my friends and they deserved it. Also for their birthday I gave one of them a figurine of a character she likes and the other one hairpins and a DIY diorama. Overall I spent $100+ on gifts.
Months later they both went on holiday together. I was super excited for my gift because they were hyping it up. But I was so disappointed when they handed me a little rolling pin that they split their money for. I don't want to be ungrateful but we already have 2 rolling pins in the house. And for my bday, they gifted me nothing. I know I shouldn't expect any gifts in return for gifting others, but I can't help feeling really sad about it. I feel selfish for wishing smth more thoughtful. It's not about the cost of the physical object I'm upset about, but how they view me as a friend, shown through their souvenir. AITAH for being disappointed?
Tl;dr: Our roomate situation isn't great either bcs I'm the one doing most of the cleaning while they create more mess in the house. Got into a huge argument bcs I told one of them to wash the moldy plates that's been in the sink for 3 weeks. She keeps telling me she's busy even though she's on fortnight.

i can't access the Valkyrie rewards anymore. I understand that you have to create a new season character for that, and there's an option where i can have access to my old gears. can i create my new Character with the same levels, i can get the Valkyrie rewards instantly as a new character with instant level 60?

Tell me, how long will the seasonal server last? and do I need to create a new character? And are there any other nuances worth knowing about?
It would also be interesting to know if the average player will receive any reward at all ^^.

Platform(s): Windows PC, Web (not completely sure about this, probably saw in a stream)
Genre: Point & click, drag and drop, Horizontal 2D
Estimated year of release: Between 2010 - 2019
**Graphics/art style:**Was it a gloomy grimdark factory. The "humans" are not too cartooned, placed i.e in something like candy vending machine. Mostly colors are blue & grey as I remember. I'm sure that humans are naked or dressed with rags
Notable characters: Your control a kinda of god, that you need to raise humans, and procreate them to create more human variants(?)
Notable gameplay mechanics: You can drag & drop humans from a bottom toolbar to reproduce them or sent to work in some labors to get resources
Other details: The game isn't Fallout shelter, Human Farm , Sims or Black & White

My Battle Brothers — I wanted to share this list that I’ve had a ton of success with just in case anyone is struggling to find some solid synergy in the army.
Game Plan: - Infiltrators take the home objective and deny 12” deep strike - Eliminators forward deploy/screen but stay hidden turn 1 - Techmarine supports the Gladiator Lancer somewhere in the backfield and helps screen - Terminator Chaplain (with T-Bones) runs his unit directly up the middle to a center objective - Grimaldus and lieutenant take the PCS to one of the most important side objectives - Helbrecht and his Sword Brethren ride in the Land Raider and can go for another side objective or support the middle if needed - Eradicators I usually hold in reserves to come in and light up an enemy vehicle/monster
I realize there aren’t many units for action secondaries, but who needs those if you can outlive your opponent with multiple 5+++ and max primaries every turn.
Let me know if you have any feedback or things I should consider or if you try a similar list and have success with it!
++ Army Roster (Imperium - Adeptus Astartes - Black Templars) [1,995pts] ++

• Configuration +

Battle Size: 2. Strike Force (2000 Point limit)
Detachment: Righteous Crusaders
Show/Hide Options: Agents of the Imperium are visible, Imperial Knights are visible, Legends are visible, Titans are visible, Unaligned Forces are visible, Unaligned Fortifications are visible

• Epic Hero [240pts] +

Chaplain Grimaldus [120pts]: Warlord . 3x Cenobyte Servitor: 3x Close Combat Weapon . Chaplain Grimaldus: Artificer Crozius, Plasma Pistol
High Marshal Helbrecht [120pts]: Ferocity, Sword of the High Marshals

• Character [245pts] +

Chaplain in Terminator Armour [110pts]: Crozius Arcanum, Relic Shield, Tannhauser's Bones [35pts]
Lieutenant [80pts]: Perdition's Edge [15pts] . Neo-volkite pistol, Master-crafted Power Sword & Storm Shield: Master-crafted Power Weapon, Neo-volkite Pistol, Storm Shield
Techmarine [55pts]: Forge Bolter, Grav-pistol, Omnissian Power Axe, Servo-arm

• Battleline [280pts] +

Primaris Crusader Squad [280pts] . 7x Primaris Initiate w/Chainsword & Heavy Bolt Pistol: 7x Astartes Chainsword, 7x Heavy Bolt Pistol . 4x Primaris Initiate w/Power Fist & Heavy Bolt Pistol: 4x Heavy Bolt Pistol, 4x Power Fist . 8x Primaris Neophyte w/Astartes Chainsword: 8x Astartes Chainsword, 8x Bolt Pistol . Primaris Sword Brother: Power Weapon, Pyre Pistol

• Infantry [800pts] +

Eliminator Squad [85pts] . 2x Eliminator: 2x Bolt Pistol, 2x Close Combat Weapon, 2x Las Fusil . Eliminator Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Las Fusil
Eradicator Squad [95pts] . Eradicator: Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Melta Rifle . Eradicator Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Melta Rifle . Eradicator with Multi-melta: Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Multi-melta
Infiltrator Squad [100pts]: Helix Gauntlet, Infiltrator Comms Array . Infiltrator Sergeant: Bolt Pistol, Close Combat Weapon, Marksman Bolt Carbine . 4x Infiltrators: 4x Bolt Pistol, 4x Close Combat Weapon, 4x Marksman Bolt Carbine
Primaris Sword Brethren [150pts] . Primaris Sword Brother: Pyre Pistol, Thunder Hammer . Primaris Sword Brother: Power Weapon, Pyre Pistol . Primaris Sword Brother: Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon . Primaris Sword Brother w/Twin Lightning Claws: Twin Lightning Claws . Sword Brother Castellan: Combi-weapon, Master-crafted Power Weapon
Terminator Assault Squad [370pts] . Assault Terminator Sergeant . . Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield: Storm Shield, Thunder Hammer . 9x Assault Terminators w/ Thunder Hammer & Storm Shield: 9x Storm Shield, 9x Thunder Hammer

• Vehicle [430pts] +

Black Templars Gladiator Lancer [170pts]: 2 Storm Bolters, Armoured Hull, Icarus Rocket Pod, Lancer Laser Destroyer, Multi-melta
Land Raider Redeemer [260pts]: Armoured Tracks, 2x Flamestorm Cannon, Hunter Killer Missile, Multi-melta, Storm Bolter, Twin Assault Cannon
++ Total: [1,995pts] ++
Created with BattleScribe (https://battlescribe.net)

I know I know... yet another Warcraft movie shill post, but hear me out:
Warcraft movies have long been a fan's daydream. As a long time fan and active player I'm no different. In fact I might have gone a bit overboard with fantasies about it, but I did some thinking and research and here's an outline of what I think can make the franchise a success and launch a potential WoW cinematic universe. I know most of this has already probably been said before, but I want to put it all in a single place where we can see if theres any way to push this to Blizzard/Microsoft and make it finally happen.
A three-part telling of the story of Arthas in streamable series format.
Part 1: The Fall of Lordaeron - We follow Arthas from his young Paladin days through the events of discovering the scourge and ending with the Purging of Stratholm. The ending with "This whole city must be purged" is an amazing finale foreshadowing the downfall of the main protagonist.
Part 2: Frostmourn Hungers - Arthas, now on a downwards spiral goes to Northrend and finds Frostmourn. This part would cover his Northrend campaign, slowly corrupting him into the Lich King's will. Includes the return to kill his father, the destruction of Quel'Thalas, resurrection of Kel'Thuzad and ultimately ends with Arthas putting on the Lich King armor and helm.
Part 3: The Lich King - Starting with the WotLK cinematic, it would follow the story of the WotLK expansion and shift focus slightly on the world banding together to defeat Arthas. The ending should be kept exactly the same - the champions of the Horde and Alliance together with Tirion defeat the Lich King exactly as it was told in the game.
Cast ideas:
It is important that the main cast and director crew are fans of WoW and its story, so they represent it well. I've picked a list of several casting choices that have either played WoW or would just fit too well with the character they portray in my opinion. The following list is more of a wish-list, but as with any production - known names bring audience.
Director - Sam Raimi. He is a WoW player and was allegedly "desperate" to direct the first Warcraft movie. Having a good director who is a fan of the lore and game is critical for the success of this (see Last of Us for example)
Arthas - Henry Cavill is the obvious, well-known, best choice. Apart from being so close to how Arthas looks, he would inevitably bring an enormous audience of non-WoW fans and almost guarantee success.
Jaina - Mila Kunis or Cameron Diaz. Both have played WoW and both can portray Jaina in a slightly different way but close to the depiction in the game. Even Ella Purnel (the Fallout role of Lucy) could do a great job here.
Tirion - Gary Oldman. He not only fits the visual representation of Tirion, but even his voice is similar. His previous roles have resemblance to the character arch of Tirion (e.g. Gordon in The Dark Knight)
Uther - Jeff Bridges. Requires no further explanation. He just is Uther.
Bolvar - Travis Fimmel. He did great as Lothar, but he would do even better as Bolvar in my opinion.
Kel'Thuzad - Ralph Fiennes. We dont have much to go off of for his visual depiction in his Human form, but Fiennes portrayal of Voldemort and Hades fits very well with this character.
Darion Mograine - Christian Bale. This is a an important character and Bale's representation of complex conflicting characters could be amazing for this.
Antonidas - Ian McKellen. Simple - nobody can portray an old wise archmage as good as him so far.
The list goes on and on and I wont try to be exhaustive here as the goal is to just give an idea of what it could look like with a star studded cast. Theres an infinite number of good choices, so theres no point in getting stuck on casting. Frankly the only choice that is non-negotiable is Cavill as Arthas in my opinion.
Main reasons why now is the time for it:
Creating a series, rather then movies, is quite crucial. If Last of Us showed us anything, it is that series allows you to tell peripheral stories really well in isolation, without distracting from the main narrative. I dont see a realistic way of telling all the different plots going into the Arthas story without butchering it. Things like The Wrathgate, The Ashbringer, Tirion's backstory, Illidan and his quest against Arthas, etc. would feel out of place in a movie, but quite natural in a series. There is no other way to tell WoW lore along the main story and open up the doors for cinematic universe of movies and series stemming from this main branch.
Streaming services have allowed series to evolve and tell stories in a way that movies never could. They have started a great trend of bringing games to the big screen. This trend seems to be getting stronger and stronger. Classic WoW showed that Warcraft fans are here and hungry for the epicness of the original games. The hype is there. WotLK just ended, so the nostalgia will start crippling in. We just defeated the Lich King, now its time to see the story told in its full potential.
Blizzard appears to be on a downward trend with WoW subs and are seemingly desperate for cash and ideas of bringing the playerbase back into the game in full swing. What better way then telling this story and potentially turning the whole world to fans who would at least want to try the game after watching a great series? Just think of Cavill as Arthas and the amount of wives/gfs who would suddenly find out that WoW might be cool :D
Microsoft taking ownership of Blizzard is another positive - Fallout is part of Microsoft and it is doing great as a series. This might suggest that Microsoft understands the potential of those franchises coming to the screen and being very successful on their own, while bringing lots of new players to the game, thus increasing profits in two separate streams.
If Last of Us, Witcher and Fallout are doing so well - think of the game that everyone and their mother knows. If there was ever a game that virtually everyone knows, has a story that is perfect to film and has great names in the industry passionate about - it is World of Warcraft. Jumping on this band wagon, WoW has a history of coming to the scene and becoming the king. It would be no different as series - the one that makes them all pale in comparison.
It is what WoW has been leading up to. It is what it was destined to become.
This wont be just a success. This would be a grand slam.
P.S. If you agree with me, help me get a petition or buzz going. I'm a noob at this, but classic wow happened with community effort. This can happen too if we will it into existance. If anyone knows how to do this - let me know.

Good morning my witches and wizards.
I'd like to inject some very niche nuance into the discussion surrounding Supergiant's presentation of the Greek Gods in Hades 1 and 2. This will post will be a little long, but I believe context will be helpful when explaining my argument. If you need to get back to kicking [REDACTED]'s ass ASAP, there's a TLDR at the bottom.
I will preface this by saying Hades 2 may be my favorite game of all time, beating out the first by a wide margin (despite me logging over a hundred hours in the original). I've followed Supergiant since the original release of Bastion, played each of their games extensively, and I think I have a passable understanding of the studio's vision. As a result, I view their design choices in good faith.
That being said, I have a few very minor concerns. While they are nowhere near enough to sour the experience for me, I would like to express the thoughts that have been banging around in my head. Spoilers below.
Table of Contents

1. Why do you care?
2. What's your problem?
3. What does your smelly uncle have to do with this?
4. Giving props for the small details.

1 - Why do you care?

For context, I am a Greek man who was the first generation born and raised in the United States. Greek was my first language, I was raised by a Greek community, and I've been heavily involved in our customs since birth. While many people think ancient culture is completely disconnected from modern Greek beliefs, this is inaccurate. No, I don't pray to a shrine of Poseidon when I go fishing. However, many of the stories, beliefs, and morals that were described by the ancient Greek pantheon remained key parts of our culture throughout the transition into modernity.
For example, a common theme in ancient Greek mythology is that of a god secretly traveling on earth, being offered hospitality by unsuspecting mortals, and then rewarding them for their generosity. This is represented in modern culture by the term "philoxenia" which represents our value of being friendly towards strangers. Relationships like these represent the fact that we still value our ancient culture, albeit through modern representation of its ideas. I see many moral, theological, and literary threads that connect the time of the pantheon with the time of modern christianity. As a result, I am passionate about how our ancient culture is represented. In many small ways, it is still a part of me.

2 - Whats your problem?

I started thinking deeply after a recent post on the subreddit (rightfully) condemning racist remarks towards the characterization of Hermes. I think the general consensus of correct - the design of the gods are amazing, and they do a great job representing how many different cultures were involved in worshiping the Pantheon in ancient times. Ancient Greeks traded with others, spread their beliefs far and wide, and often praised the virtues of other cultures (such as Ethiopia) through art and literature. This is represented well by diverse design in-game.
However, despite the fact that the characters in Hades visually represent the variety of people who engaged with the pantheon, I sometimes feel that their traits and voices don't represent Greekness. To put it in other words, the gods are fantastic at giving off the aura of Greek mythology, but less so at giving off the aura of Greek culture.

3 - What does you smelly uncle have to do with this?

My primary complaint is Supergiant's approach when choosing character voices. To preface - THE VOICE ACTING IS AMAZING! There's not a single character whose voice doesn't fit their design and personality. I'm still amazed that Darren Korb managed to nail both Skelly and Zag. However, what interferes with my immersion the most is the choice not to use Greek accents at all.
Hephaestus in the sequel looks exactly like my immigrant uncle in real life. However, every time he speaks, I'm left wondering why he sounds Scottish. Judy Alice Lee did an amazing job voicing Melinoe, but when she speaks Greek (ie. Kataskion Aski) during her incantations, it sounds more like a British classics student practicing her Greek lines. Greek-speakers are a vast minority of the player base, and I get that this is something only someone in my position can notice and complain about. However, it feels like voices were chosen based on what Americans think sounds "regal and godly" as opposed to what characters would sound like in the context of the culture.
I don't think this was done intentionally, and there are definitely limitations when casting voices that don't come in common accents. However, I do think it is a missed opportunity to create a work of art that represents our culture far more deeply than other media has in the past.
Another small example is the use of Roman numerals when marking the doors in Tartatus and Chronos' clock attacks. In the context of the story, these symbols are being used a few centuries too early. Why not use Greek letters as the numerical system, counting down doors through ε, δ, γ, β ,α until the end? It may be confusing on the first run, but people learn quickly - they may even walk away understanding more about the Greek alphabet. I'm sure the creative minds at Supergiant could come up with other ways to represent "time" in a way that fits the cultural context.

4 - Props for the small details

I'd like to give props to some of the amazing tiny details that did make me feel represented in-game.

• Frinos and Toula are incredible names for familiars - if I don't get a dog named Osto next, I'll riot.
• The music, as usual, is magically done. Darren's use of culturally relevant instruments alongside his own flair proves that he is among the most thoughtful and skilled in the entire industry.
• Polyphemus' design is so Greek. The chest hair, the evil eye, his desire to eat and sleep, all of it.
• While pronunciation and accents can be bizzare, including Greek phrases when Melinoe is doing her incantations is an incredible touch. I would love to see more spoken Greek included in future updates.

Thank you for reading my rant. I understand that much of what I would have preferred is out of the scope of the team's vision, but I wanted to get my thoughts out so I can finally put them to rest. I hope my argument about cultural representation can be separated from the more negative and insensitive discourse about racial traits in character design.
Ν'αστε καλά. Θάνατοσ στο Χρόνοσ.
TLDR: The discourse around Supergiant's presentation of Hades characters has been bipolar - either "It's Perfect" or "It's Horrible". I think it is much closer to perfect than not, but as a Greek myself, I find myself begrudgingly accepting some very minor details (such as dubbing and pronunciation) that could have been executed a tad more thoughtfully. That being said, I think Supergiant did their best considering the resources available to them.

I feel sad.
No more Hope.
Messiah Complex was one of my first X-Men stories. I've previously read Whedon's Astonishing and some of the Ultimate line, but Messiah Complex is my real start of reading X-Men as on going comics. (This was at the same time as I picked up DnA's cosmic line (also RIP), JMS Thor, Batman RIP, Burbaker Cap)
Hope has been with me from the real beginning of my comic book journey (along with Rich Rider Nova, Dick Grayson Batman, Bucky Cap and lots of other things from that late 00's era). Of course lots of writers didn't know what to do with her. Her powers being what they are. Let's not talk about AvX here. But still Hope was always there in the background and I was always happy when she appeared, and her coming front and centre of Immortal X-Men #1 penned by Gillen made me briefly hopeful after Hickman's inevitable departure.
And two things happened in these last few issues.
Firstly, I felt quite annoyed about the treatment of Kafka and all the wide cast of mutants being left behind in the White Hot Room for editorial convenience reasons of having fewer mutants. I don't have an issue with the Decimation era. I know a lot of long term fans who were reading comics prior to House of M and even beyond don't like it, I totally get why. But I liked it at the time, and I liked how we have been climbing out of it with Hope's return to the present in Second Coming, new mutants appearing post AvX, and finally the work done in HoX/PoX. There was a journey to bring back old mutants and create new ones. And we just sort of kinda undid a lot of that. Not completely, but some.
And then he killed Hope. The writing was on the wall on retrospect, but still, that was the biggest hit to me out of the whole debacle of FoX and the end of Krakoan Age.
And poor Kieron Gillen who brought me some of my favourite Marvel and non-Marvel comics, having to write this. I felt rather apathetic about FoHoX and other Duggan penned tie ins, because expectations were low. RoPoX was better comics, not near Gillen's highs, but still good imho and I liked the continuation of the Sinister storyline, but the final act took Hope, killed (seemingly, I know) a character who I effectively grew up with. With barely an appearance from Cable. That more than anything else was the nail in the coffin of Krakoa to me. No more Hope in so many ways.
So yeah, this made me sad and annoyed, and inherently prejudicious against Simone and Ewing and Mackay and the rest, who I know to be very good comic writers, being lumbered with the fallout of the editorial direction I just don't like.
Once #700 hits the shelves I will go back and binge read Messiah Complex, Cable, Second Coming, the remainder of Uncanny through to AvX, AvX itself, Cable & X-Force, Jean Grey by Hopeless, maybe bits of Rosenberg's Uncanny where Hope showed up (with some beers), and then a selective reread of the Krakoan era with mainly focussing on mostly Hickman, Ayala, Ewing and Gillen's work with a few worthy tie-ins where appropriate.
P.s. appreciate RoPoX #5 is still due to come out.
Edit: and X-Force by Spurrier which I didn't actually read originally.

Hello! I am making this post because I need help creating a Bard character that is the best at buffing my team mates as I can get, and tbh I have no idea where to start. I want to be a Bard, and maybe Multiclass, but idk what class to pick, and when to level up each respective class. I heard Sorcerers can caste haste twice? And I believe it was Clerics that have great healing and buffs as well, but doesnt use Charisma to cast spells. If anyone could help me with where to get started I would appreciate it!
Edit: Also, this campaign will be going from level one to level twenty. And I am not sure if variant races/custom lineages will be allowed, as the DM thinks being able to get an extra feat is too OP, but that is still to be decided.

Hello there!
I'm MacKay and I am looking to run a play by post one on one 5e game over Discord with a partner who would do the same for me! A trade off of GM and player with each of us running and playing in a game. The game setting is something we'd develop together and create a collaborative storytelling experience!
I've been running DnD games for a looooong time now, since the days of 3rd edition. I am experienced with running pbp games on Discord as well and use Avrae and DnDBeyond for the crunchy bits. If you can use those tools, then perfect!
Some elements I love: collaborative storytelling, joint world building, dungeon crawling, exploration of character past and motives and the like. I'm not opposed to more adult elements if we want to include them but would rather they weren't the whole focus but rather a facet of the story.
Please drop me a message and let me know what you'd like to play, a basic concept, your idea for the campaign you'd run etc. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Cheers!

I’ve been thinking a lot about the future of gaming, especially for sandbox and simulation games like Minecraft, Unturned, Skyrim, Terraria, Baldur's Gate 3, Ark Survival Evolved, and The Sims 4, Fall Out 4 ECT. I think in the near future, we could see these games evolve in a way that makes them more immersive and dynamic.
using something like ChatGPT-4, and having it acting as a "Dungeon Master" or "God" within our favorite game worlds. kind of like how Helldivers II has been confirmed to has a Game Master This AI wouldn’t just be a passive element though; it would actively control and enhance the game environment, creating a living, breathing world around us.
he pint is to have an AI integrated into the game, dynamically controlling various aspects to simulate a more realistic and interactive environment.

1. Core Functions:

• NPC Control and Interaction:
  • The AI will log character interactions and conversations with NPCs to give them the appearance of having dynamic behaviors and evolving storylines.
  • this also allows for spontaneous quest generation and the ability to recruit NPC's
• World Management:
  • The AI can also regulates day-night cycles, weather patterns, and even natural disasters.
  • It can control resource acquisition, population growth, and simulate jobs

1. Enhanced Gameplay:

• Realistic Simulation:
  • In Minecraft, for example, the AI could simulate realistic town or city dynamics, managing villagers’ tasks like gathering resources, building structures, and fulfilling communal needs.
  • It could also come up for reasons enemy's are spawning like and "evil wizard or something"
  • Things like the pillagers could become and issue if not dealt with Ect.
• Adaptive Challenges:
  • The AI could adjust the number and behavior of enemies based on player progress and world conditions.
  • It can introduces dynamic events that challenge players in novel ways. in Minecraft for example it could spawn a a bunch of volcanos, or have a pillager uprising Kind of like how events can happen in the game for the king 1 & 2 and you have to complete tasks to prevent it form getting worse

I believe particularly in a game like Minecraft it is if you limit the world size and run this of a kind of beefy server you could almost simulate the whole world via keeping chunks loaded and stuff adding mods on top of that would be awesome too