TF2 Mercenary Generator

In this episode of "I thought I wrote this blogpost like 5 times over the past decade this blog has been around", I could have sworn I made this before. But time and time again I realize I never actually did. Time to amend that.

Team Fortress Mercenary Generator -
 (Roll Once per category unless otherwise stated)

Combat Role (Roll 1d10)
[1] Reconnaissance
[2] Mobile Infantry
[3] Shock-Troop / Terror Weapon
[4] Demolition
[5] Heavy Weapons
[6] Combat-Engineering
[7] Medic
[8] Long Range Specialist
[9] Espionage
[10] New Role. Roll again for general category (1-3 Offensive, 4-6 Defensive, 7-9 Support, 10 for an irregular) If you can't think of anything, make a Generalist.

Primary Weapon (Roll 1d8)
[1] Explosive
[2] Projectile (Non-Explosive)
[3] Shotgun
[4] Rifle
[5] Machine Gun
[6] Liquid / Gas "Thrower" Weapon
[7] Actually, their Melee is their main weapon. No primary weapon, secondary for ranged.
[8] Crucial gadget, tool, or piece of apparel that defines their Role. Roll 1d6 on the Secondary table for their main weapon they actually use to fight with.

Secondary Weapon (Roll 1d8)
[1] Sidearm (Pistol)
[2] Shotgun
[3] SMG
[4] Throwable
[5] Explosive
[6] Mobility or Escape Tool that accents their Role.
[7] Deployable Trap / Gadget that accents their Role.
[8] Roll again on Primary table and they just straight up get another one; because their "role" is to be overpowered and they just get two strong weapons, like Demoman.

Melee Weapon (Roll 1d6)
[1] Non-combat tool related to their Role
[2] Non-combat tool related to their Nationality
[3] Weapon related or often paired to their Role
[4] Traditional/Historical/Iconic weapon related to their Nationality
[5] Scavenged or Improvised
[6] Impracticable or Gag Weapon (or bare hands)

Class Gameplay Gimmick (Roll 1d8)
[1] Have innate immunity to something related to their role; like fall damage, drowning, fire, etc.
[2] Have an innate ability related to movement. (Double jump, slide, going prone, etc.)
[3] Tanky class or has an innate mechanic improving survivability.
[4] Have a powerful ability related to their role that has to charge up. Ubercharge.
[5] MAIN weapon has a very useful and/or interesting alt-fire.
[6] Class has to gather a resource for optimal play. (Metal, organs, heads, etc.)
[7] One or more of their items have a strong sci-fi twist. "Spytech".
[8] Has a subclass-defining unlockable for one of their weapon slots that totally changes how the class plays. If you can't think of anything, then they have a really funny taunt kill instead.

Art @Valve obviously. Check out the released concept art if you haven't!

Nationality / Stereotype Table (Roll 1d50)
[1] Russian.
[2] Unknown, but seem rich & old money. Transatlantic accent, like an old movie.
[3] American. Southern. (Cowboy)
[4] American. Southern. (Cajun or Redneck)
[5] American. Boston.
[6] American. Chicago.
[7] American. Northern; Minnesota accent.
[8] American. New Yorker.
[9] American. California. Hippy.
[10] Native American. Yes with the "How" and the feather. Stereotypical but it's TF2.
[11] Canadian.
[12] Quebecois. Their only joke is getting offended by being called Canadian.
[13] Mexican. Desperado type. Poncho and sombrero, all that.
[14] Mexican. The exotic, passionate revolutionary type.
[15] Hawaiian.
[16] British. Posh.
[17] British. Cockney or "chav".
[18] Welsh. Their only joke is nobody understands what they're saying.
[19] Scottish.
[20] Irish, but mystical and Celtic and might be a Tuatha fairy person.
[21] Irish, but normal.
[22] French.
[23] Spanish.
[24] German.
[25] Italian; roll 1d2 for spicy meatball type or cool mafioso type.
[26] Swiss. Only joke is "not so neutral now, huh?"
[27] Brazilian.
[28] Polish.
[29] Finnish or other European micronation. Only joke; "nobody knows my country exists"
[30] Turkish.
[31] Egyptian. Has the kohl eyepaint and everything.
[32] Romani or "Gypsy" stereotype
[33] Arabic.
[34] Israeli.
[35] Greek.
[36] Sicilian.
[37] North African. 
[38] South African.
[39] Indian.
[40] Chinese. If you roll this a second time make the 2nd Merc from Taiwan for the banter.
[41] Australian.
[42] Mongolian. Has to have at least one taunt with throat singing.
[43] Korean. Might be North Korean spy.
[44] Japanese.
[45] Japanese. "Honorable Samurai" type and still pissed at WW2 given TF2's time period.
[46] Malaysia, Papua New Guinea or Sentinelese Islander. Only joke is cannibal.
[47] Swedish.
[48] Norwegian.
[49] Danish.
[50] Roll on Special Background Table.

Special Background Table (Roll 1d8)
[1] From the lost underwater nation of New Zealand.
[2] Wears a total body-concealing suit related to their role. True origin is a mystery.
[3] Unfrozen caveman. Go unga bunga. (or maybe the last yeti Saxon missed?)
[4] Very obvious vampire.
[5] Not so obvious time traveler. Gets confused about the TF2 time period, reveals future events in voicelines, but in a subtle and cool way. Spytech is just "normaltech" to them.
[6] Roll again on the Nationality table, but with a widely unexpected race, age, or phenotype.
[7] Roll again on the Nationality table, but this time... they're a woman!!! If you were planning on doing female Mercs anyway, then add some kind of disability like being blind, prosthetic, etc. instead.
[8] Roll again on the Nationality table, but they are even more stereotypical and have an even more outrageous accent. Are actually a spy for another Mercenary company undercover; poorly.

Character Personality Gimmick (Roll 1d10)
[1] Has a stable family, romantic interest, and mentally healthy. Extremely weird for TF2 Mercs.
[2] Has a little pet related to their Nationality or Role, carried in a special cage or pocket.
[3] Has a budding bromance with another class.
[4] Has an unhealthy obsession & rivalry with another class.
[5] Has a verbal tic or stutter or talk with a robot voice or whatever.
[6] Complains about an old war wound or is heavily scarred/burned.
[7] Has an artistic hobby unrelated to their work. Flipflops between terrible and really good.
[8] Extra substance abuse OR irrational phobia of something dumb like clowns or axe-wielding headless horsemen with flaming pumpkins for a head.
[9] Class gameplay gimmick is integral to the character's background, lore, or motivation. For example, their abilities are from a cursed bloodline, or they invented their Spytech gadget, etc.
[10] Obsessed with a food item related to their Nationality or cultural background. One of their unlocks is that food item, which provides appropriate buffs or benefits.

Example Generations- 

Russian Medic with Shotgun primary, explosive secondary,  Cossack shashka melee sword. Spytech gimmick. Phobia of spiders(?)
Throws healing bombs that blow up to burst heal. Radiation shotgun unlockable called "Kovarex Process" which shoots healing radiation bullets in a vertical spread sci-fi gun. Pinecone jelly unlockable which grants overheal and regular heal at the same time but much less. Stock shotgun. Klevet warhammer deals crit damage to those launched by healing bombs into the air like a reverse Market Gardener?

Chicagoan Long-Range Specialist with explosive primary, throwable secondary, gag weapon (pizza spatula), with an innate movement ability. Obsessed with foot (pizza) pizza unlockable regens.
Mortar bomber with metal implants in spine, can go into ragdoll when in the air to become immune to fall damage and fly faster ie; mortar jumping. Secondary undecided, probably an M79.

Cannibal Mobile-Infantry with Melee primary, mobility secondary, and impracticable/gag-weapon/barehands melee, spytech gimmick. Food obsession gimmick is people of course lmao.
Flies around with techno claws that rend opponents and give dash attacks like Psylocke from Marvel Rivals. Focus as "infantry" means frontline so probably needs some lifesteal or something but the dash and some free overheal can help.

Unknown Armies- Algomancer

In the mystic underground; Magick changes with the times. Because of the nature of post-modern magick being hand in hand with popular culture and the human experience, the changes that come upon society are reflected back into the world of the weird. For Adept schools, people who are obsessed with a singular magickal idea or paradox and can gain power from it, this can hit especially hard. With today's social media and total divorcement from legacy broadcast; the Videomancers have completed lost the power of their paradox and have all but died out. Instead of watching television bringing millions of people together; content has become custom coded, algorithmically sorted, served fresh on demand all of the time. This has regressed Videomancy into a minor school, if not spelled its total extinction. But surely this new massive social change has brought magickal potential? 

Not sure of image source; but it may very appropriately
be @GetClearSpace

Algomancers interface with social media and content-distribution platforms not merely for entertainment, or as an addiction, but as a spiritual pursuit. To define themselves based on the characters, media, and advice found on bite sized, vacant content. Algomancers usually use phones; but they don't have to. You could use a laptop, a pair of google glasses; but whatever it is it must have a screen and must have an internet connection. The ultimate paradox of the Algomancer is that everything you consume is custom tailored for you; based on what you watch. You're trying to find enlightenment by looking in a mirror. If you don't have it already; then you can't get out more then what you put in.

Minor Charge- Spend a day or significant portion of a day scrolling and consuming content. Breaks can be taken, but no more then 10 or 15 minutes between sessions of screen time. Mechanically, you can't do anything useful for that day such as working a 9-5 job or training a useful skill.
Significant Charge- Make a serious personal decision based on the recommendations or attitudes found in the Algorithm. Such as removing your child from public school after watching a clip about how public schools are actually made to make people stupid, or taking an expensive trip to northern Iran to investigate claims of giants in the mountains. These decisions can ultimately be good in the long term, but all are ultimately risks based on nothing.
Major Charge- Become immortalized in a viral internet clip. You do not necessarily have to the one to record it, but you do have to see it after it is posted, watching very cuts and edits of your 15 minutes of fame. The ultimate form of self recursion; wasting time viewing yourself through an algorithm designed to engage you.

Taboo
The Algomancer cannot ever take advice or face-value social cues from others in person. This doesn't work for obvious things; you can't say "Hey you should keep breathing" and by continuing to breathe they don't taboo, but it does mean that they can't change their plans or learn valuable skills from others. They cannot seek psychological therapy; as they are supposed to be self sufficient from the "nourishment" of their recursive algorithm. You can still make use of any service bought and paid for (like medical care or buying the services of mercenaries, etc.), but accepting medical advice from your friend who is a trained combat medic will cause you to taboo. You'd much rather scroll on your phone to search how to apply a tourniquet while bleeding from a gunshot wound, just to make sure you're "doing it the right way".

Blast
This school's blast works a little different. Instead of performing direct damage, this school curses the target to be beset by fear or anxiety inducing content on social media, tailored for them. This causes minor stress to their gauges; such as short videos which expose their political beliefs at being defeated or inferior, or if they had a rough time in high school their highschool bullies and social-superiors suddenly reach out with their beautiful wife and house, etc. You can avoid this blast by shunning all "devices" for a day for a Minor Blast or a Week for a Significant one.

Algomancer Adept Spells
Wake the Sleep (1 Minor Charge)
This spell can only be cast when you first wake up; either from sleep or the state of being unconscious. If you stare at your phone for at least an hour, you regain +1 hit point or increase your daily healing by a small amount. If you ever perform this spell; the next time you wake up without using it, you cease natural healing for the rest of that entire week.

Search Function (1 Minor Charge)
When presented with any large number of items you can spend a charge to "search" them incredibly fast and find exactly which one you were looking for. This is only Magickally enhanced luck; it does not provide new knowledge or discernment beyond what you already would have had, this simply allows you to compress a longer search time into a shorter one, finding whatever you were looking for in just two or three attempts. For example, instead of spending an hour searching the library for a rare manuscript you know the name of, it only takes you 10 minutes. If you wouldn't be able to find the item within a reasonable human amount of time (massive archive that would take days to search, it's hidden too well, details are too fine for you to discern, etc.) then this spell does nothing and the charge is not returned.

Armor of Ignorance (2 Minor charges)
If you are suddenly thrust into a dangerous situation, such as a mass shooting incident, a natural disaster, or a riot, you can walk while scrolling on your phone. You are given an aura of protection. No crossfiring bullets, random falling objects, or floods of water while strike you; instead miraculously avoiding your path. This effect doesn't work against people trying to target you specifically, but random criminals or muggers will just skip their eyes right over you. This effect ends the moment you stop scrolling to take in your surroundings.

Tunnel Vision (3 Minor Charges)
You can curse anyone whose social media profile you have open to suddenly be afflicted with a sense of visual vertigo. They can only see and react to things directly in front of them, causing panic and stress, and cutting out all of their peripheral vision. This could be extremely useful in a fight or to sneak past someone, but you have to find an online account of theirs in some fashion to use it.

Time to Forget (X Minor or Significant Charge cost)
By standing behind someone and motioning on the back of their skull, you can make them forget events that transpired recently, going back in a linear fashion. Each "event" is a single instance but covers roughly 10 minutes of time or an hour for unimportant or if the person was on "autopilot", such as working at a job or scrolling a phone themselves. You can also remove any stress gathered during this time as they forget these. Every Algomancer has a different motion; from swipping right with their thumb, to scrolling up with an index finger for vertical video feeds, to flicking their middle finger back and forth on the back of your skull like a mouse wheel, scrolling your memories away.

If the target is willingly trying to forget something, this costs Minor charges. If you are using this against someone's will, it costs Significant charges instead. You cannot use this ability on yourself.

Thumb of Power (2 Significant Charges)
You can swipe your thumb across any device to activate, hack, or bypass it; like an electronic security door or time-lock safe, or hotwiring a car. This device must have at least one electronic component; meaning old school padlocks or complex wooden puzzle boxes are totally unfathomable to your abilities.

Filter the Information (3 Significant Charges)
You gain the ability to read and possess a massive amount of information in a short amount of time. For example, flipping through the pages of a book as fast as you can, or rapidly scanning your eyes over a police databank and absorbing all of that knowledge immediately. You have perfect photographic memory and recall and can perfectly replicate the knowledge found within no matter how complex. You can perfectly write down or sketch what you've seen with an uncanny, savant-like level of accuracy. You forget all of this information in exactly eight minutes.

Turning of the Wheel (4 + X Significant Charges)
An obscure Algomancer spell; seemingly invented by an Adept with a high degree of intelligence and craftiness that continued to absorb media while engrossed in crafts or tinkering. This spell requires a specially prepared music box and wind up key, and magickally alters the properties of the box to make it capable of holding its "charge" and playing music for up to a maximum wind up of two hours.

When this spell is cast, any amount of magical charges can be "stored" within the music box, and then it is wound up for the first time. As long as the music box remains wound and continues to play, the charges remain safely within. This means it must be round up occasionally (at least once every 2 hours) by being hand cranked; no machine or automated system can accomplish this, the key must be removed and replaced by human hands each time. Even if the owner of a magic charge breaks taboo, has their magick stolen, or even if some other catastrophe happens; the charges remain safely inside the box. If the box ever fully expends its charge and stops playing, all charges within are lost permanently. Otherwise, you can open the box and willfully regain the charges within as long as you can charge it.

This spell lasts for as long as you keep the box going. Any magic user can store their charges within, regardless of school or type, and regain them even if they break taboo afterwards. The charges stored within could be Minor, Significant, or even Major; which remain safe as long as you keep the box playing.

MAJOR CHARGE EFFECTS
Insert a new idea, piece of disinformation, or useful tip into the public unconscious. People are free to ignore or build upon this idea, but it will worm its way into the public sphere forever and be impossible to fully get rid of. This can also be used to improve an existing idea, causing it to reach more people.

Force every single screen in the entire world to play a single video clip for exactly 60 seconds.

Some Algomancers also speak of the power for one to fully embrace their madness; retreating into themselves and disappearing into a world entirely made only for them. This self recursive mirror world would be an Otherspace with an almost Godlike entity ruling it; but only able to recognize and act upon its own vision and ideas endlessly repeated until the end of the world.

First Aid & Healing System but with Resident Evil Herbs instead

So while recently running a campaign for newer players; I came onto a problem my own First Aid Rules caused. Truthfully, it's been something I've thought about for a while. I really like the healing system; allowing players to do plenty of out-of-combat healing allows you to keep individual combats dangerous (since you can balance them around being vs a full strength party instead of an HP tax), gives scholarly/smart characters something beneficial to do during downtime besides magic stuff, adds risk-reward to the time management minigame (you can heal during an exploration turn, but you will get a wandering monster roll- if you get a random encounter, you may lose more health/resources then you'd gain from the break, so it's always a balancing act), and finally improve the resource-management depth of the game. 

I've used the healing system in multiple dungeon crawls and it hasn't really upset the balance as much as I once thought; PCs can still die, and making a tactical retreat out of the dungeon once you get enough treasure is still a priority given the strict time pressure I like to add to the game. But the different types of healing items I was never quite satisfied with. I never found the players actually debating what kinds of items to bring with, no make the strategic decision to prioritize certain items over others. The idea of bandages being the best and most useful (as well as most "realistic") stuck out constantly. To simplify this system somewhat for a group of newer players, and as an experiment, I changed it so simple bandages were the primary healing item. This felt like it fit the fiction and was simple and easy to understand. Almost immediately, the players began trying to abuse it a bit. While I like the idea of player skill being used to stock up on supplies or improvise useful items in a dungeon was appealing and something I approved it, it completely killed the careful planning aspect and the limited starting gold the players were given to buy equipment, torches, healing items, and so forth.

Side note; I had more thoughts on this basic system, which I decided to outline in this small post.

After just one session of them tearing up every single piece of clothing to make an endless supply of improvised bandages, I already had enough. Then it hit me, just make it healing herbs instead.

Healing Herbs (from Resident Evil)
Healing herbs fulfill the function of bandages (as being a "general purpose" healing item), but with the exclusivity of being something you can't easily scavenge from anywhere. You could still have them found out on an adventure, such as in a dungeon or in the wilderness, but these would be more rare and selective. Maybe even something your Druid or Ranger types can get a bonus to search for. That's a fun mechanic to come out of the concept. It also doesn't deny you to use a more case-sensitive uses for things like improvised healing items or "puzzles" for the players to solve; using bandages for any context specific deep wounds that drain your Hit-Points over time. Plus it also solves a very small issue I had in both games where it came up; explaining to players that you treating the wound may not in fiction actually magically "heal" it, but for the purposes of the game, the wound is cleaned and bandaged and "healed" for purposes of hit points. It's a small issue, but enough that I feel healing herbs would solve, since magical herbs that make wounds less severe is very simple to understand, and could be easily explained as actual accelerated natural healing, making these small breaks in verisimilitude less important.

And on top of all that, it also solves the minor issue of healing items (potions specifically, but bandages fall under this too) of being something that doesn't expire or can be stockpiled. Something complained about before, with other solutions too; but in this case, herbs eventually dry up and go bad! Everyone knows this inherently, especially once you pluck them from the ground and carry them around, so it puts a time pressure on their use. You wanna be the guy carrying around a bunch of potted plant healing herbs with you so they stay healthy until you need them? Bam, instant character concept. Another added benefit? They aren't too mystical or magical like a limited use healing wand or whatever for players to wonder why they can buy them in preparation for an adventure. In the same way you head to the general store to buy rope, the bowyer to buy arrows, and the herbalist for healing herbs.

Another reason why I like the idea? You can make different herbs do different thing; you can just straight up steal it from Resident Evil.

Healing Herbs Rules
Require an exploration turn (10 minutes) to prepare and apply an herb. Herbs are applied to wounds, or eaten. You can combine multiple herbs in a single application to a maximum of 3.

Green Herbs heal 1d6 hit points per Green Herb.
Yellow Herbs restores 1 point of any damaged attribute. (Or +1 Max HP if your attributes are all ok)
Blue Herbs remove poisons you are suffering from, or grants you an one extra save against the effect. If it's not the type of poison cured by "mortal" means, it delays its onset by one hour. (Or alternatively; ignores the healing negative from Aggravated Wounds?)
Red Herbs double the numerical value of any other herb used with it, but does nothing on its own. Burning Red Herb might scare away ghosts. Trying to use two Red Herbs at once will probably make you have a seizure (or grant +1 AC temporarily or something, up to you)

Note: Normally red herbs make a green herb into a full heal, but making it so you can pick and choose what effects you want to boost, from making poison take longer to harm you or restoring attributes, might be more interesting. If you want to make Red Herbs an actual full heal, then be my guest, appropriately priced it isn't that much different then just stacking a bunch of Green Herbs anyway. At least this way you can maximize the value of different curative effects.

I like to imagine different healers (and adventurers) have their own methods of using healing herbs. Primitives throw them into a campfire and just rawdog the smoke into their lungs. If you're healing yourself, chew it up and spit it on the wound. Wizards smoke them in a big hookah. Motherly types add them into a pot with her stew. Horsemen put them in a feed bag and chew on them while watching down a hallway for the telltale yellow eyes of a goblin sneaking up on the party while they take a short rest. If you play a goblin, he probably smokes it in a little crack pipe; fun stuff like that? That's free roleplaying.

Dirt Simple First Aid

Whenever you are in a dungeon, out in the wilderness, or in an adventure location, you can take a short rest (exploration turn) to perform various actions. One of these is healing.

In order to heal another party member, you must expend bandages (or healing herbs) to heal them. You heal them 1d6 + your Intelligence modifier and the healing item is consumed. Your character can also be trained in the arts of healing, either as a class feature or as training that can be purchased in downtime (similar to weapon training, or studying for new spells). Every time you train your healing, you can increase the amount you heal by +1.

Certain hazards, rusted blade-traps, the undead, and complex injuries become aggravated. This means that the injury deals its normal Hit-Points effect of damage, but any healing roll made to heal that character is now made at a minus, and subtracts the amount you heal with your healing action by that amount. For example, a triangular bayonet is very difficult to stitch up, and has a aggravated wound value of -3, the touch of a Wight would be -7. This means that attempting to heal it while unskilled can actually make it worse. (This acts as an incentive to have dedicated healing-focused characters to be able to safely restore health, and reduce healing effectiveness overall).

Additionally, certain items like healing potions and food heal when consumed, which do not trigger aggravated wounds. Regular rations consumed on a short rest restore +1 Hit-Points. This means that even if you're cursed and burned with acids and all other sorts of shit, you can still recover a little bit of HP in a safe if time-inefficient way.

This system is the trimmed down version of this.

Blaster Colors by Noble Gases

Art @Nick Gindraux

I've always been real curious about how blasters from Star Wars are supposed to work. I think they're probably one of the most staple and iconic sci-fi weapons (besides maybe the lightsaber); works as a perfect general energy weapon gun replacer.

But I always felt the element of what color or the exact explanation of how the bolts work was somewhat lacking.  Red for the common or normal bolts, green for good ones, blue for ionized for use against bots, etc. I don't care, I don't know shit about Star Wars, sorry.

Obviously it doesn't matter, given its a movie or whatever, but I like to think of their implementation in setting if you wanted to copy them for something else. This suddenly gave me an idea.

Blaster Colors by Noble Gas
The color of a blaster bolt is based on whatever noble gas is used to fill it; after all, they are energized plasma bolts of gas, so the same principles of neon lights apply here. Pure gases are usually used by matter of convenience and because it looks cooler, even though you could realistically get almost any color by combining them.

Why use noble gases instead of a more common gas? Simple; they don't react to things. This makes them ideal for blaster ammunition, as they won't suddenly oxidize the inside of the gun barrel or try to molecular-bond with each other while being charged.

Now you may think that this means each gas-color is really unique and has some really specific function, but no, I actually think it's cooler if they don't. Instead, their molecular mass is the most important aspect, and greatly influences their properties like flight speed, accuracy, how much heat it produces, and how much energy from the firing mechanism they can store. The more energy is applied to the bolt, the stronger its heat and explosive effects will be.

Helium bolts (yellow) are super lightweight, and as such fly the fastest and are extremely accurate, but do almost no damage. At low power settings they're ideal for training and target shooting; getting hit by one is like a spitball. At high power, they scatter the molecules too fast to be of much explosive use, but rapidly pushing out air can still knock lightweight objects out of the air, meaning they're used for sport shooting and shooting down fast moving targets like drones or small animals for game hunting without destroying the meat or pelt. Continuous beam style blasters also use this because it generates the least waste heat; you can use these for your mining lasers.

Xenon bolts are the opposite, ultra-heavy atomically and slow, most effected by gravity and wind resistance giving them a slight spread, but are very powerful. The blue bolts are synonymous with stun bolts used at low power settings, which is like getting slapped with a ton of wet blankets, but are so slow a skilled human might actually be able to dodge these with a head start and a diving leap. At high power settings? Become explosive and blow the fuck out of fortifications and used against heavily armored vehicles and orbital bombardment; being more synonymous with artillery. Use these for your blaster grenade launchers.

The colors in-between are on this spectrum; Neon (red) are fast and accurate enough to be used for sniping and low power enough to be used for handheld weapons without melting the gun in your hands or blowing a hole through the inside hull of a ship. White-Blue Krypton bolts are used for heavily armored targets and vehicles who might be too fast for a Xenon bolt to hit easily, like aircraft or spaceships. Argon bolts are right in the middle, being a perfect purple middle ground that's most used by scouts, raiders, and player-characters since they have no idea if they're going to be shooting at regular people or a rancor and need options.

In D&D terms? Blasters probably do like 4d6 damage or something. But maybe;

Gas	To-Hit Bonus	Damage Bonus	Color
Helium	+2	-4	Yellow-Orange
Neon	+1	-2	Red
Argon	0	0	Purple
Krypton	-1	+2	White-Blue
Xenon	-2	+4	Blue

Also the colors go top to bottom in order for resolving who hits first. So if two people shoot each other at the same time, the person with the lighter gas hits the other first and throws off their aim and wins the duel.

More Gemcraft Whining + The Problems with "Optimal" Choices in Games

So I wrote a bunch about my favorite tower defense game(s) ever in this previous blogpost, and in a very rare move for this blog I actually went back and edited it to add more of my thoughts to it, but I decided that STILL was not enough so here I am writing even more. This concept sort out branched out from me thinking of what I wanted out of my "dream" new Gemcraft game. Since the developer isn't working on the next one right now (which is fine by the way, after making and improving the same game for like 15 years you get a break, go off King), but after a lot of thought about it, I started to realize a few things, specifically about the colors of Gemcraft gems and limitations of a game.

Quick reminder; every color of Gem grants a special effect on a hit, like poison for green gems or slowing for blue gems. Gems in traps have great special but shit damage and range, where as towers have great range and damage but weaker specials. Mixing gem colors reduces their specials by a lot, but will slightly increase their base gems in dual and triple color gems.

This leads to a an interesting and (hopefully) strategically deep choice in the game. Do you want to run towers with weaker damage but better specials? Which specials? Or is the special so important you put in a trap? This already has a slight problem as there is almost no reason to put a dual or more color gem in a trap unless you can actually make it stronger with a buffing gem (Poolbound, Bloodhound) or make it hit multiple enemies (chain), but the core choice of what gems to use is part of the game and your strategy. I like this on the surface. But with more thought, a problem arises. Even if all gems are otherwise equal; There are just certain gems you're never going to put in towers and some you're never going to put in traps. Because they have different roles in the game, what types of gems are best for each are exclusive to each type. For example, putting an armor-shredding gem in a tower lets it remove a small amount of armor whenever it hits an enemy. Even if armor shredding was so important that it became a vital part of your strategy, why would you ever put it in a tower when you could put it in a trap and get the main value instead? Tower gems are things that support their function of damage with maybe a secondary effect. So crit gems, chain gems, maybe slow or poison and that's being generous along with the no-brainer gem colors that just make your gems "better" at everything. Meanwhile, gem effects that weaken monsters on a hit are just better to put in a trap, because they hit so much faster. Tower gems at least encourage you to mix and match colors for the dual or triple gem power bonus; so with no other important choices to make; I usually just defaulted to putting a Mana Gem as a tower gem component, since it will still generate a little bit of mana even when diluted since they attack so much. And this led to the real problem.

Engine Generation
In any tycoon, strategy, or game focused around resources or management; anything that generates more resources is always going to be the best strategy. This is totally fine in games designed around it, typically the idea is finding the best return on your investments or how to capitalize on them, but the problem is when they're provided as an alternate or "equal" choice to others.

Just think about it for a second. If you're playing an RPG and get the choice to take a reward from a quest and you can choose between a sword much better then your current one, a powerful and rare healing consumable, or an accessory that increases your experience gain by +5%, which one are you going to pick? Almost everyone is going to pick the experience booster. Not only because it's implied to last longer then the others, a temporary benefit as opposed to a permanent increase, but also because experience is going to be the engine driving the game and your progression forward. We can see this in almost every game. In 4x games, science tends to be King, and so the faction with the best science is almost always top of the tier list. In a fighting game, the character with the fastest attacks and best frame-data-advantage is going to be the best character, because they get the most "resources" in that style of game. Gemcraft exemplifies this problem even more because of how central mana is a resource; not just your method of crafting your defense but ALSO your health and ALSO your ability to invest in bombing enemy waves to get more XP and ALSO used as a panic button if things get too scary. It's the central resource of the game. The problem here is that a single gem color is by far and away SO much better then the other gems, so integral to the game's mechanics, that every single possible build and combination of strategies will feature them prominently. From beating a map normally to challenge modes to endless endurance waves to see how long you can last; all of them feature mana farming with orange gems as a core strategy. Using chain+mana+bloodhound for bonus to specials from hit can create an insanely powerful synergy that you place in traps near the start of each course, so every monster naturally gets hit by them, and you can build as many as you want. This not only trivializes campaign levels, but also lets you get to the highest scores of endurance and beat the hardest challenges as long as they're allowed within.

Do you see the issue with this?

I dislike games with false choices. Something obviously and miles above better then everything else doesn't lead to interesting and meaningful decisions in a game. TTRPG example? Oldschool Haste or Speed spells letting you get additional actions. So much stronger then any other choice, given the turn based nature of these types of games, that it becomes dumb NOT to use them. But I think the real issue with this is it creates a false dichotomy within the game itself, the player when playing, and the community around the game. The common argument of "if it's too strong just don't use it" doesn't really work, even for a single player game, because the game subconsciously or otherwise is DESIGNED with these strategies in mind. For Gemcraft in particular, the endgame super endurance waves are literally not feasible to beat without mana-farming, as monsters gain exponentially more hit points and armor to comparatively less and less mana farther on as the game goes. It is no longer just another tool in your toolbelt to decide how to built your defense, it is a mandatory part of every strategy that the other choices then take actual conscious thought. As such, it pains me to say that they won't be included in my much coveted Dream Gemcraft game, never to be described or quantified.

However, this isn't meant to be a total condemnation of the concept. Obviously, implementation matters more then inspiration; if the mana Gems had a cap (which older Gemcraft games had) or an extremely small return on investment, like it's only possible to get 10% return on a gem even after using it a hundred waves, then yes it would be much more "balanced", but would lean towards uselessness. Technically speaking there has to be some level where the effort and cost-basis is too much and a different effect would be better, it's just more of a mathematical effort then most people are willing to make. Finally; it should also be noted that no matter how well intentioned, balanced, or well-designed you make a game there will always be a "meta" or optimal strategy. That's just the result of human nature. I just find "economy engine building" type best strategies the most boring of all.

AI stuff from 5 years ago (Random Table)

Weird, isn't it?

About 5 years ago, I was much more active in producing content for this blog, and part of that was trying to find things to write about. One such concept was with AI. The oldest AI generation tools out there were really new, and for me? An interesting way to produce some content for the blog. The idea being to put in some keywords and try to get something useful to interpret out of the AI generated images; the blurry and chaotic messes which, at the time, couldn't produce anything useful. It was meant to be one of those weird gimmick posts; content for a human driven creation. 

I generated a bunch of random images using ganbreeder, later called Artbreeder, clicking on similar images to try and refine the images, and then giving them a name and interpret the messes into something tabletop related, like a monster or magic item. This is almost opposite on how AI is used now. We create a prompt, and the AI interprets it, instead of us interpreting the early creations.

But then, for some reason, I never actually wrote up the blogpost, and the images just sat on my harddrive doing nothing. From a simple gimmick into something that has really come to define and threaten many creative fields and creators, and has become the politicized issue. I like to think of this as a bit as a time capsule.

Random Stuff you may Encounter (Roll 1d6)

[1] Great Luminous Seahorse
Looks like a giant seahorse-shaped lump of algae, seaweed, and flotsam quietly drifting on the seabed, with barely contained light spilling out from the cracks. It's a giant glowing seahorse which uses its long tongue and tail to cover as much of its body as it can with camouflage to prevent it from being targeted by predators or human hunters.

Great Luminous Seahorse (6 HD, +2 AC Camouflage, 1d6+1 Kick, 2d6 Healing Power, Shocking Light) 
Morale- 7
Number- Just one, 1% chance of a breeding pair with little babies (1 HD)

Because it glows when not covered, it is very easy to spot. However, it can shed off its "skin" to scare away predators as a last resort, blinding them with light (morale check or be stunned). Finally, the Seahorse has the innate power to heal other beings by channeling some of its inner light, resulting in a 2d6 healing effect on anything it wants once per day. It seems smart enough to know who is a threat to it, and will do things like heal sharks or random monsters who are attacking the party if it feels like they'd be more likely to attack it. 

If caught and dragged onto the beach and drained of its glowing fluid, can be used to create a magic lantern oil that turns the undead while it burns and can also be drank to restore your health. Each Seahorse has an amount of oil (1 turn / 1 Hit-Point worth of drink) equal to its total Hit-Points remaining. This means it is much better to catch it while dealing minimal damage. These creatures are very likely to go extinct soon.

[2] Almost People
They almost look like people. People shaped, with folds that make the appearances of faces, clothes, shoes, mismatched fabric-like textures. Not actually people, neither physically or spiritually. Often found crowding around the town squares of deserted and ruined towns, or sometimes traveling in a great group on a "pilgrimage" together, with one or two terrified and emaciated young humans among their midst.

The Almost People feed off validation and attention. If you treat them like people in any way, such as a greeting, offering them food, threatening them, offering to trade, etc. they drain one point of your Charisma and become much more interested in you, staying around to get more of that "humanity" they in all way lack. It is very difficult to get rid of them; as even threatening or insulting them counts as giving them attention; which also heals them by 1d4 Hit-Points each time they drain a point of charisma. The two main methods are to kill them, which must be done without treating them as an opponent (unsheathe your sword to "inspect" it, slashing one in the process) or to ignore them, which is easier said then done. They can't really fight back traditionally (1 HD, 1d2 misshapen fists, -2 AC, etc.) so instead pantomime fighting and take up a stance, perhaps with a crooked sword, trying to get their opponent to pretend they are a real combatant by treating them as a real threat.

Some believe the Almost People are a precursor to the Plague of Men, or some of the "men" who are still in their larval state. Arguably less dangerous in this form, and less psychologically draining to destroy.

[3] Flying Salvation
Sounds like fabrics rustling in the wind, offputtingly large. Only ever arrives from over the horizon in response to a true prayer of need. Animals go quiet in its presence. It looks like an ever-unfurling mass of fabrics and sheets, blooming like a flower. It simultaneously feels as gentle as a butterflies wing and like you're in the eye of the storm.

Flying Salvation (7+7 HD, +7 AC, +7 To-Hit, Angelic, Sweep Away)
Morale- It does not flee from anything you can muster.
Number- Only one.

The Salvation represents something wholly good and uninterested in the affairs of the mundane world; it never touches anything physical, only sweeping besides and generating great gusts of wind. Maybe it's a "Spirit of the Upper Air". As an Angelic being, it is immune to holy magic and banishes all illusions. Instead of attacking, it simply sweeps things away on a successful attack; a wind vortex that touches one person and sweep them into the horizon fast enough to smear them across the sky but leaves the dandelions besides them in the grass unscathed. It can do this to any weight of being, or blast buildings apart; though it can only sweep away one thing per round. When the wicked hide inside a building, it first must sweep the roof away before the next majestic motion of fabric reaches inside and erases the sinners.

[4] Fairy Nautilus
An aquatic fairy. The Fae version of a shellfish. Looks like an elegant shell with two membranous wings that let it float majestically through the water; can only muster a pathetic hopping on ground, unable to sustain its own weight in flight.

While technically a creature, too weak and passive to be a threat to anyone. Hides in places where fairies usually do, but underwater, like underneath a rock shelf with stacked cairn stones or inside a dollhouse inside a sunken ship. Much like a fairy, you can catch it in a bottle and carry it around as an extra "life". (heals you 1d6 Hit Points when you take a lethal hit, but the fairy escapes the bottle). However, this one only works under water. Sometimes when you perform a mortal strike against a giant evil shark or kraken and it burps up some blood but doesn't die? It actually spit one of these out; stored in its stomach instead.

[5] Blue Shell Face
Found only in shallow, cursed pools within the Sapphire Mountains; these parasitic shells latch onto the faces of beings who try to wash their faces in the pools. Unfortunately, they only seem to spare ugly people, only attaching to beautiful hosts (Charisma 13+)

Anyone with a Blue Shell Face attached to them gains +1 AC and immediately halves their Charisma. The shell has control over its hardness, and will choose to become harder and less flexible to prevent its host from speaking (no spell casting) until the shell is fed. It eats whatever the host eats, slupring up some food before hinging open the shell-portion covering the hosts mouth to let them eat too. Can be removed with a remove curse spell, with a prybar (dealing 1d6 damage and -1d4 Charisma permanently to the host), or with a steady diet of muscle relaxants which make the shell fall of naturally (and will make the host extremely floppy, high, and useless for the next 1d6 days).

[6] Purple Stickthing
Found most commonly in forgotten and wayward pocket dimensions and otherspaces created by Sorcerers; these creatures seem to grow from stagnant magical energy and unrealized arcane potential. Have no visible eyes, mouth, or nose, yet always point the tip of their triangular "head" towards nearby magic users and beings. If you have no magic spells, items, or powers you are invisible to these creatures.

Purple Stickthings (2 HD, +2 AC, 1d4+1 leg bash, Haywire Spells)
Morale- 12
Numbers- 2d4

Congregate in open places standing silently, but usually under some kind of cover, like a temple roof or forest canopy. Whenever they detect magic, they will "chirr" which slowly wakes up the group. This takes a round, meaning you won't lose initiative and you can back away if you're stealthy enough.

While the Stickthings can't cast spells themselves, they seem to be able to control magic. Spells and spell-like effects go their way; they automatically make saves against spells and can splash some of it back towards their opponents. They can activate your magic items in inconvenient ways when used (levitation becomes uncontrolled and flings you into a rock, summons stand still or turn on their summoner without a control check, etc.)

Curiously, these creatures do not show up in dimensions used or frequented, only in the old and decaying ones, or ones whose connections to the material world are almost up. They are not like any living creature on earth, but their skin and coverings is most similar to insects; which has lead to the belief that the stickthings are like moths; consuming the enchantments that make up places that should no longer be.