imwithbird-deactivated20190227     universejunction
The Angry GM teaches you how to run RPGs

universejunction:

Scott “The Angry GM” Rehm espouses wisdom weekly on how to run tabletop roleplaying games. D&D in particular, but most of his advice applies generally. I want to start running D&D games again, and I be very good at what I do. So, for my own assistance, and here for anyone else who might like it, is an index / introduction to The Angry GM’s articles, organized in a way useful to me. Maybe it’ll be useful to you too.


Running Games

The very basics

Important skills

Campaigns

Adventures

Scenes

Encounters

Combat

Building the Megadungeon

Other interesting thoughts


If you like this, consider supporting his Patreon (I do, but only a little). I’m not affiliated with The Angry GM, just a fan.

Scott, if you happen to read this, thanks for all you do!

  6447  Jan 11, 2017
 references     refs   
pastellestory    
  2583  Oct 10, 2016
anfuu     lauraharrisbooks

evelynatthecircus:

lauraharrisbooks:

Beyond this, consider how these professions might vary depending on who the customers are - nobles, or lower class. Are they good at their job or just scraping by? Do they work with lots of other people or on their own? City or village?

For younger characters:

  • Apprentice to any of the above
  • Messenger/runner
  • Page/squire
  • Pickpocket
  • Shop assistant
  • Student
  • Looks after younger siblings

(Images all from Wikimedia Commons)

Also consider:

Candlemaker
Ferryman
Factor (looks after business for an employer in another city)
Tiler
Cutler
Beekeeper
Apothecary
Interpreter
Furrier
Moneylender/Banker
Winemaker
Tinker (small trader who repairs stuff)
Nightsoil collector
Customs officer

Also a bonus for animal related professions:
Fowler (supplies game birds for eating)
Warrener (catches rabbits on your land for you to eat)
Ostler (looks after your horses)
Falconer (looks after your falcons)
Cocker (looks after your fighting cocks)

  196660  Sep 24, 2016
 refs   
g-r-i-m-a    
Heads up PayPal is changing ToS again

awkwardtimezone:

dornisaurio:

And they are getting even more strict when it comes to not using invoices for charging for Digital Goods.

Whatever Invoices make you uncomfortable or not, you gotta start using them if you want to keep your PayPal and your money. Changes starting this October 19th.

Honestly I don’t get why so many artists are so overwhelmed by invoices, takes just a few clicks to set up. 

And is not only “oh you have to use invoices because PayPal says so” if you don’t use invoices you’re putting yourself at risk of being scammed by an user abusing the buyer’s protection. 

Since PayPal ain’t got no idea of what those $50 you received were for, but the buyer is saying they didn’t got anything for the money, PayPal will just side with the buyer.

I’m seriously begging ppl, start using invoices. I’m tired of seeing ppl complain their paypal was banned, or is under investigation, or worse, the $100 they got for a very complicated commission, 3 months later get a refund issue. 

just

start

using

invoices

for your own sake. 

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Here is how you use invoices because I can’t keep playing devil’d advocate, yes I would love to help you get your PayPal restored but just this last month I had to help three persons, and they were MORE than aware of this issues. 

Just protect yourself. 

Step 1. You login and click here

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Step 2. You click create new Invoice. YOU NEVER CLICK REQUEST MONEY, unless you want to risk yourself to get scamer by buyer’s protection exploit and not only lose your money but your paypal account, and any future paypal linked to your irl name. 

image

Step 3 You follow this steps

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1. Invoice for amount only

2. Ask your client for their PayPal email and put in that field

3. Add a vague description of what you’re doing, something like “Character Coloured with Background” is good enough, and if you need more than 1 character you can type in “2″ where it says amount, or just say “2 characters”.

Warning: don’t type in “Naruto rawing Sasuke”. That will get you banned. 

4. Click send. 


Optional steps. Create a template, doesn’t take more than 10 minutes and it will save you a lot of time for future invoices, you can even click on “items” right next to “create invoice” and add a list of services you offer such as “character sketch” “character flats” along with a price, so next time you invoice you just add to the invoice from your list of items and you saved yourself some more time. 

More importantly, you protect yourself from buyer’s protection exploit because if PayPal knows you’re doing digital goods, then you will be allowed that you did in fact created a digital good. 

Keep PayPal happy, as for right now there are no alternatives to this service, and this is the only source of income for many freelancers. 

Stay safe. 

Heads up, all commissioning artists

  132305  Sep 18, 2016
 refs   
ryunan575-deactivated20170817     thegmsighs
know the difference

official-albert-wesker:

land-of-shitposts-and-sads:

thegmsighs:

It has come to my attention that many people mistake wyverns for dragons, so here’s a post to help you remember

Dragon: 4 legs, 2 wings

image

Wyvern: 2 legs, 2 wings

image

Drake: 4 legs, flightless

image

Wyrms: long snake like body with no appendages, can also appear as a traditional Chinese dragon with 4. Legs and no wings yet can fly

image

Amphithere: 0 legs 2 wings, can be feathered

image

Lindwurms: 2 legs, 0 wings, long body

image

Luck dragon: 4 legs, no wings, can fly, long body, furry with dog like face

image

Komodo dragon: 4 legs, no wings, real

image

Bearded dragon: 4 legs, 0 wings, often kept as pets

image

as a person passionate as fuck about dragons, i stand by this post

please understand

This is why the “dragons” in Skyrim bother me so much.

  320783  Aug 26, 2016
 dragons     refs   
gymleadergreen     tanuki-kimono

tanuki-kimono:

Kimono drawing guide ½, by Kaoruko Maya (tumblr, pixiv, site). Booklet is available in pdf for ¥ 900 here.

Here you can see:

  • female kimono and yukata (note how the juban underwear peeks when in kimono + how belts differ)
  • male yukata and kimono (note how the juban underwear peeks when in kimono)
  • dressing up: male (kimono is not closed yet) and female (kimono closed with datejime belt and ready to put on obi)
  • differences between female and male kimono once dressed (note how the collars and belts set)
  • common drawing mistakes (compare with previous picture: shoulders lines are too defined, there is a double hem, collars are narrow, belt is not at the right place etc)
  • women back collar (the lower the sexier) and men back collar (close to the nape)
  • back and sleeves differences between men and women
  • collars and sleeves and view of how kimono drapes around body
  • Furisode back (long sleeves kimono) and formal furisode obi knot example
  66706  Jul 24, 2016
 refs     art refs   
fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment     fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment

queenofbraces asked: I am having trouble getting characters to sound distinctive. Even when I know their personalities, even when I'm writing fan fiction, they all sound the same. Thanks for reading

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment:

The thing is, to you, they will all read the same because it’s natural as a writer to think the worst of what you have written. However, there are ways to soothe this worry. Try this checklist:

Word Choice

In everyday conversation, you should notice that not everybody has the same vocabulary. You may know people who speak entirely colloquially, using all of the abbreviations and slang terms their dialect has to offer, or people who never use contractions and speak very ‘properly’, or even people who don’t use many words at all…! This is the same for fictional characters - consider what type of words they are more likely to use.

The best way to catch yourself with this is, as you’re writing a piece of dialogue, stop yourself to make sure you’re not just putting your words into the character’s mouths. If you have a character that would not usually say more than a few words in a sentence, be sure to make him say what you want him to say, in the way he would say it.

For example, ‘Well, I wouldn’t say that he did do that; I was there and could see everything, so -’ versus, ‘He didn’t do it. I was there.’

Mannerisms & Tone

It’s not always about the words. Sometimes, character comes forth in the way people say things as opposed to what they’re saying. Does your character talk with their hands? Do they mumble, or always sound stern? Short descriptors like these can help the reader gain a sense of who is who, even if the dialogue in certain scenes isn’t very distinctive.

Bring Their Personality Out!

Since you know their personality, then let it show in what they choose to say! To give a very basic example, a pessimist versus an optimist.

Someone might say, ‘What do you think of this situation?’

The optimist: Well, it could be worse! I’m sure we’ll make it out of here soon.
The pessimist: This is terrible. We’re stuck. We’re going to be stuck here forever.

What is your character’s personality like, and how does it affect what they say? Maybe they’re very dry and sarcastic, or bubbly and easily excited; the person they are will show in how they communicate, because that is how we gain a sense of character in real life. Over time, the conversations we have form an image of our friends and family in our minds, alongside the general ‘flavour’ of the interactions, and their overall behaviour.

Don’t worry too much as you’re drafting because you can edit dialogue later if necessary. If you’re really unsure, just write what you want to write initially, then go back and put some thought into how you can personalise it a bit more.

Resources

I hope this helps!

- enlee

  1270  Jul 6, 2016
 refs   
quilahva     jackthevulture
Why Krita is Awesome: A Collection of Reasons Why This Program is Worth Taking a Look At

deebott:

hues-of-green-life:

jackthevulture:

Krita is a painting program that has been around for a while, and in the last few years, underwent major changes and improvements.  Because of these improvements, many artists are using it not just because it is free, but because it offers amazing features.  These are by no means all of the great things Krita has to offer, but simply some of my favorite features of the program.

image

1. The Brush Engines.

Yes, engines.  As in plural.  There are many.  And they all do different things.  There is no way you could possibly capture all of its possibilities with one screen shot, but here are just some of the possibilities. Along side standard round, square, and shape, and textured brushes, there are brushes that smear, blend, and create interesting abstract strokes.  There are brushes for filters, and one of my favorites, the Experiment Brush, which is basically a pre-filled lasso tool. 

Brushes also support weighted smoothing, or brush stabilizers.

image

This is incredibly useful for line art.  And while I do not usually use this feature, it is something that I feel many programs are lacking, such as Photoshop.

But its brushes aren’t the only thing about Krita with variety.

image

2. Color Selector Customization. 

Whether you prefer something basic, or something more complicated, Krita will likely have what youre looking for.  You are not likely to find yourself missing your other program’s color wheels.  There are even more options than this, and other color selectors.

image

Gotta love that customization.

Krita also has some great naviation tools.

image

3. On the fly rotation, zoom, and brush sizing.

With krita, zooming, rotating, and brush size scaling are all smooth, and dynamic with the use of hot keys.  These are features I miss when in other programs.  To zoom, Ctrl+Middle mouse button, hover over the screen to zoom in and out.  The same with shift rotates (press the ‘5’ key to reset rotation).  Holding down shift and draging your brush on the canvas dynamically changes its size, allowing you to see the change, and get the exact size you want without brackets. Brackets also work, if that’s what you are used to.  Krita also has highly customizable hot keys.

image

4. The Pop Up Pallet

The pop up pallet is a set of your 10 favorite brushes (which you can edit), and a built in color wheel that appears when you right click on the canvas.  It is incredibly useful for switching between those few brushes that you use in almost every picture.

image

5.  Real time, seamless tiles creation.

Pressing the W key in Krita will infinitely tile your canvas, and allow you to work real time on simple to complex tiled images.  You can zoom in and out to see how your tiles work form a distance, and paint freely to create seamless artwork easily, without having to check using filters and manually tiling. Very usefull for patterns, backgrounds, and games.

image

6. The Symmetry Tool

This one goes without saying, Krita supports both horizontal and vertical symmetry, along with a brush that is capable of radial symmtry with as many directions as you like.

image

Go nuts, kid.

There are many more reasons why this program is awesome.  And it is only going to get more awesome.  And the coolest thing about it, is that it is 100% free.  So go check it out!  There’s nothing to lose. Krita isn’t for everyone, it can be hard to get the hang of, and it is not meant for photo editing, it is a program completely focused on digital painting from start to finish. 

Give it a go and see if Krita is the program for you.

@deebott @pantheon-for-a-muse you draw and all so I thought of you guys 😘

I’m getting it today

  99708  Jan 13, 2016
lorddarios     taehyunglesbian

realmfighter:

venndigo:

k8thescout:

can someone explain the alignment chart for me but in like, the simplest wording possible lmao

lawful good: i want to do the right thing, and following society’s rules is the best way to do that

neutral good: i want to do what’s right, and i’m willing to bend or break the rules as long as no one gets hurt

chaotic good: i’m willing to do whatever it takes as long as it’s to do the right thing

lawful neutral: following the rules of society is the most important thing, and that matters more to me than doing what’s right

true neutral: i just want myself and the people i care about to be happy

chaotic neutral: i want my freedom, and i don’t care what i have to do to keep it

lawful evil: to impede the protagonists (in whatever evil way) is my primary goal, but i follow my own code of morals even when it’s inconvenient

neutral evil: to impede the protagonists (in whatever evil way) is the my primary goal, and while i’ll do what it takes to achieve it, i also won’t go out of my way to do unnecessary damage

chaotic evil: i relish in destruction and want to do as much damage as possible while i try to achieve my primary goal

image
  604113  Nov 24, 2015
 refs   
kyahgamis     nargyle

nargyle:

so I’ve been sorta kinda obsessed with hands for the past few days 

  27013  Oct 26, 2015
 refs   
lauraholliis