u/Awkward_GM

For me, I'd love to see some Family specific edges that emphasize the feel of each of them. Like how Chimarae have their true form slipping through constantly.

I'd love to see a modern day spy thriller.

I think a lot of my issues with the story stem from "the prophecy". I never got to Legacy of the Void, but I feel like they pulled it back a bit as a fake prophecy made by the Xelnaga that stole Tassadar's ID.

But without the prophecy the characters have to come up with plans to push the plot. The Terrans come up with a reason to save Kerrigan. They need to uncover the Xelnaga/Amon plot.

It could turn having Kerrigan human as a plot to use the Zerg against Mengsk.

SC1 didn't have prophecies and psychic powers didn't grant foresight as far as in game showed.

What happened?

I am a Warhammer 40k fan and Starcraft fan. Miniature wargames tend to be more popular in Europe and the US. But with Starcraft getting a miniatures game, I was curious if any Koreans were getting interested in miniature wargaming?

Or is Starcraft not as popular currently? Or is miniature wargaming not an enticing hobby in Korea?

I'm a wargamer who has played 40k, Malifaux, and a few others. One of the biggest worries I have comes from 40k where playing as an Ork player since 5th edition with the feeling that I was playing an uphill battle when it came to winning games.

And I'm not talking about "competitiveness" I just want to make sure if I decide to go Protoss or something I'm not going to never win a game because the faction isn't viable. I've heard they have sub-factions within each of the armies to add variety, so maybe I should be asking about sub-factions instead of factions.

Also, since the game is very early in its life, I assume most of the models are viable and there isn't anything that is a trap? Is that correct?

I don't have an infinite amount of time to go through all of Manuscript 5, but here are my thoughts on the Edges that any player can take pretty much regardless of Path. Some do have prerequisites, but I've added parenthesis when that happens.

My Favorite:

• Minions (Presence or Leadership 2) - Similar to dramatic editing in Trinity Continuum, but with your minions doing the work. Too good not to take!

Top Picks

• Weakness - Reduces the cost of Critical Hits. Always good to have.
• Striking (Presence 4) - Social Advantage is really great. Adds a drawback to being noticed, but I know a lot of players who will always take this just to play “hot” characters.
• Seducer - A small Enhancement to Social encounters centered around seduction is an easy way to boost Social interactions even if limited to specific types of social interactions.
• Return (Stamina 4) - Lets a character stay active after being Taken Out. Keeps your character from being useless when knocked out.
• Repeater - Can attack twice with a simple Ranged weapon action. Increasing the action economy is a no brainer.
• Rapid (Dexterity 4) - Can attack twice with a simple Melee weapon action. Stacks with Dual edge. Increasing the action economy is a no brainer.
• Idol - Great way to locate Jade that isn’t part of the party’s resources, if GM doesn’t want to answer then party gains momentum which isn’t a bad alternative. I'd always take this as a "find the plot" ability.
• Misleading (Manipulation 3) - Social advantage on lying is always useful.

Useful:

• Defensive - Makes your weapons provide Light Cover (via Shield tag) and you can disarm those who attack you.
• Deduce - Reduces the cost of the Unexpected Lead investigation trick.
• Beguiler - Adds a complication to cause Confusion when others try to detect your lies.
• Ambush - Gain minor enhancement to avoid detection or to ambush someone. Since this works on both ambushes and staying hidden it's very useful.
• Diagnosis (Medicine or Survival 3) - Minor Advantage on Medicine actions, which is very useful. 
• Charitable - Give Advantage to injured allies.
• Impervious - Ignore the first Combat status effect of combat. Highly useful.

Roleplay Specific:

• Wildblood - Grants a minor enhancement that is only useful in ruins found in the Wilds, plus it can cause complications in situations where being a Wildblood is seen as a drawback.
• Rouser - Great way to hand out Inspiring to other characters or remove Crestfallen.
• Parley - Advantage on coming to a peaceful solution, nice way to enable parties that want to avoid conflict with others.
• Maleette - Allows you to channel your Malefic cinder to gain +2 Advantage once per session in accordance with their will. Not likely to come up often, but represents letting your darker side take over.
• Linguist (Intellect 3) - As opposed to giving you access to a new language this gives you a minor Enhancement with a language you know to native speakers who hear you. 
• Hulking (Might 4) - Replace Presence or Manipulation with Might. If you are playing a Physical based character might be useful. Most social or mental based characters likely won’t need this.
• Blooded - Between situational/roleplay specific, as a boost to Influence actions is good, but is limited by them having to be the same Bloodline as you.
• Believable (Presence 4) - Decrease the cost of Imprint trick, plus you can give out the Disgrace status effect.

Situational:

• Willpower (Resolve or Composure 4) - Advantage to specific fear inducing actions against your character.
• Polemicist (Manipulation 3) - Gives a minor Enhancement to help an ally avoid negative attention.
• Negotiator (Cunning 3) - Minor Enhancement with diplomacy is fine, but I don’t tend to have my players roll Integrity against NPC/SGC social actions.
• Listener - Useful for spies or gossips. Grants a minor Enhancement on eavesdropping, but a minor complication if there is too much background noise.
• Intimidating - When your character is bloodied you gain a minor Social Advantage on ending the fight.
• Forbidden (Esoterica 4) - Essentially a once per session “I know what we need to do to resolve this situation” ability. Not sure I’ll take it, but nice to have.
• Dual (Close Combat 2) - Lets you make an extra Melee attack that only damages Armor. Very situational imo as not all enemies have armor.

What the f-?

• Taster - You gain minor bonuses after you ingest poison. Lets get wasted!

I have thoughts…

• Folklore - Grants a minor Enhancement on influence actions related to your realm, but I feel like it should be on Investigation or mental actions related to your culture’s lore.
• Motivation (Presence 3) - This Edge has too much going on. Being able to resolve Stunned for an ally is great, but the negatives seem like too much book keeping.

Forever GMs, do you sometimes feel like you can never go back to being a player?

I've tried being a player in a handful of games over the years and I feel as though I can't do much more than one-shots as a player.

During long-term campaigns, I tend to notice when pacing is off. Like when players spend too much time preparing before opening a door or getting hung up on a minor detail.

I've been watching a few video game retrospectives lately. And a phrase that shows up a lot is "that's a good problem to have". Usually along the lines of "it makes me want more".

A few examples I can think of:

* The bonkers nature of Paranoia XP being chaotic, but a vacation from more serious games.

* Call of Cthulhu's lethality promotes players to be more cautious when playing.

* Warhammer 40k's Critical Damage tables leading to gruesome injuries that make for amazing stories.

Stuff like that. Something that sounds bad, but makes a game feel unique and memorable.

Out now (affiliate links):

• Storypath Ultra Tasty Bit 01: Massive Monsters
• Storypath Ultra Tasty Bit 02: Troublesome Traps
• Storypath Ultra Tasty Bit 03: Shadows and Mirrors
• Storypath Ultra Tasty Bit 04: Lucha Libre
• Storypath Ultra Tasty Bit 05: Dangerous Environs
• Storypath Ultra Tasty Bit 06 Galaxy Vortex Prime: Alien Civilizations Codex
• Storypath Ultra Tasty Bit 07: Dead Crops
• Storypath Tasty Bit 08 Cybernetics

To be released:

• SPU Tasty Bit – Magic (September 2026)
• SPU Tasty Bit – Martial Arts (October 2026)
• SPU Tasty Bit – Support Cast (November 2026)
• SPU Tasty Bit – Crafting (December 2026)

Sorry for Monster Kingdoms description. I feel like "For people who like playing Sabbat in VtM" is an apt pitch for it. 😅

View Poll

For me it's:

• Orcs (Because of Warcraft 2 and Warhammer 40k's Freebootaz)
• Parrot/Bird Race (Feels like a solid one)
• Merfolk

What about you all?

I feel like most people tend to follow specific IP, not necessarily specific authors. For me, I tend to follow Matthew Dawkins's work since VtM, even though some aren't my cup of tea I tend to like his design style and writing.

I'm not a musician, but I really like parody songs. 😂 I kind of what to make my own versions of the "I have a little list" and "The Major General's Song" by Gilbert and Sullivan, but I'm not sure where to start.

Any tutorials or advice is appreciated.

I've scheduled an interview with Emma Summers, writer on Jadestorm.

What questions would you like me to ask?

Note: Some questions I might not be able to ask due to her not working on that (such as artwork since she is a writer) or she's not at liberty to talk about.