looks at the top seven pages for the best memes

And I get a little bit Genghis Kahnghis I don’t want you to get it onghis Nobody else but me (ooooh) With nobody else but MeeeeMe

I get a little bit Danghis Dahn Don’t want you to Genghis on with Nobody else but Mingus Nobody else but Mingus Kingus

i've always looked at D&D 4e as particularly amenable to the wuxia genre. in fact, it works as a spirit cultivation game. a problem with a lot of 4e (for me at least) is its disconnect of mechanics from the fiction. it is a game-first, player-first game, and that's a great genre in itself. but this post is looking at 4e through potential diegetic lens, with each game mechanic justified through spirit cultivation xianxia genre

as follows:

XP as Cultivation: exp serves great as cultivation. leveling up serves as cultivation progress. the three tiers work as "Man -> Earth -> Heaven" kinds of Cultivation Realm.

Powers as Techniques: each power works as a martial art technique that can be learned and mastered. this works better using the Alternative Rewards system found in the DMG, and getting powers from the world instead of getting it immediately on level up.

emphasize alternative rewards: instead of purely making level-ups the main way to get powers, have the powers be found in the world as alternative rewards. have them be of differing levels. if they find a level 14 fighter power from learning it from a bull God, they need to be a Level 14 PC with a Fighter Feat to be able to "equip" it.

Classes as Martial Arts schools: Fighters as the Fighter Sect, Wizards as the Eight School Magics Sect, etc. Subclasses or the Build Options work as School Specializations. this is the one that is least wuxia-esque to me, because wuxia is an inherently classless idea. you should be able to learn a strand of martial arts from one master and then learn a completely new and different one from another master that chooses to pick you up on.

every pc from a different school: to bridge this genre gap, when you make a PC, write the class they choose as a martial school. even if two PCs are two Sorcerers, they must come from different but perhaps similar schools. maybe one is from the Tantric Deity Sect and the other is from the Nine-Elements Yang Sect

Healing Surges as Qi: Qi is the breath or the life force. Similar ideas in other cultures are prana, ginhawa, ki, and kebatinan. You can only heal yourself as much as your inner reserves can heal you. If your Qi is tapped out, even healing potions will have a muted effect

Hit Points as Hit Protection: this one is stealing from NSR ideas. replace hit points with the idea of Hit Protection. Fighting in Wuxia/Xianxia etc. is a flurrious exchange of blows. when attacking a character, as long as they're not bloodied, they're actively fighting back, defending according to the targeted defense (blocking, parrying, ducking, weaving with AC, dodging and leaping with Reflex, resisting with Will, etc.) Hit Protection still includes personal vigor, which justifies attacks that poison or set them on fire as those attacks probably hit home to transmit those effects

xianxia lethality: xianxia and wuxia are surprisingly more brutal than one would think. it's bloody and arms are broken, legs are cut off. we move into homebrew-y territory here.

half HP, double damage: lean into this. power comes not from numbers but from techniques and traits for PCs. half HP and double damage not just for monsters, but for PCs as well. this will make fights less meat sack slogs and into tense, explosive engages.

move attack hit rate from 60% to 90%: this is something fft did well. most attacks have a 100% starting hit rate. enemy evasion values shifts that around. my idea is to raise attack hit rate to much higher. this makes defense-raising options much stronger as well and every attack becomes an important additional strike

make bloodied more potent: bloodied inflicts an injury. make this fiction oriented: a good enough attack might scar your face, or might render your arm useless and make you suffer disadvantage. this might not feel fun, but it will force creativity and the players must respect the world

improvisation: in wuxia and xianxia you actually will see more instances of the heroes using their environment to affect the outcome of the battle. throwing tables to distract, using roofs to provide cover, etc. here we move again into homebrew territory:

improvisation as default. this one is a large shift in the game. get rid of action economy. get rid of action types. you can move and do one thing. this is anything. most commonly it will be an attack. this includes even minor actions. there are no set actions you can do, no list to choose from. use your imagination. lean into the p 42 of the DMG. turn THAT into the core mechanic of the game

use essentials rules: this one is the least controversial but 4e essentials rules are the best consolidation of the rules. especially the item rarity stuff.

FRESH OATS FRESH OATS FRESH OATS

FRESH OATS FRESH OATS FRESH OATS

FRESH OATS  FRESH OATS  FRESH OATS

FRESH OATS

FRESH OATS FrEsH OaTs

F R E S H     O  A  T  S

F E H A   R S O T

Also after googling her, I found out that she’s also designed Sylveon–another favorite PKMN of mine. She’s also illustrated some very pretty Pokemon cards!!

source: x

They gave me a number to shoot for.  It was about twice than what I had been making at the time.

So I went online, did some research, found some figures backing up my claim, put it all together and went to my boss.

I got what I asked for.

If it hadn’t been for that person in accounting telling me I was way underpaid, I’d have never known.  I went from barely scraping by to being able to have a savings account and getting all my debts paid thanks to them.

LAY YOUR WEARY HEAD TO REST

(I'll update this everytime I post a new one)

• Shrike but you're sitting by your open window during a thunderstorm

• In The Woods Somewhere but you're actually somewhere in the woods during a summer night, sitting by a campfire

• No Plan but you're sitting on an empty beach looking out on the sea

• Almost (Sweet Music) but you're sitting on a porch during a thunderstorm

• Angel Of Small Death & The Codeine Scene but you're driving through a snow blizzard at night

• Wasteland, Baby! but you're driving at night through rain

• As It Was but you're sitting on your windowsill, watching the thunderstorm that's going on outside

• Sedated but you're underwater

• Wasteland, Baby! but you’re right at the edge of a dark forest, sitting by a bonfire

• Run but you’re sitting by a lake. The sun just went down and you lit a bonfire to keep yourself warm

• From Eden but you're sitting in a field by a small river. It's a nice sunny day & the birds are chirping

• Arsonist's Lullabye but you're all cozied up in front of an open fireplace

• NFWMB (Acoustic) but you’re in the middle of a forest at night, sitting in the entrance of your tent in front of a bonfire

• In A Week by Hozier but it’s coming from an unknown source in the distance; you’re laying in the middle of a field, insects are buzzing around you

• It Will Come Back but you’re sitting at the edge of a cliff looking out onto the ocean and the thunderstorm that’s raging in the distance

• Foreigner’s God but you’re walking through howling wind

• Work Song but you’re on an empty beach, looking out onto the ocean while the daylight fades

• Dinner & Diatribes but it’s playing at a fancy cocktail/dinner party

• Would That I but you’re sitting outside on a windy day enjoying the way the trees move and the leaves rustle all around you

• Movement but you’re lying on your couch next to an open window, enjoying the thunderstorm that’s going on outside

• Like Real People Do but you’re in the forest, actually digging up something (or someone?)

• Work Song but sung by a woman/female!Hozier

• Run but sung by a woman/female!Hozier

• Take me to Church but sung by a woman/female!Hozier

• NFWMB but it’s playing from an old truck radio. You’re at the edge of a forest at night, cuddled up to your lover in the makeshift bed in the back of the truck, listening to the sounds of their breathing and heartbeat

• Better Love but you’re in the treetops of the jungle, listening to the sounds of the animals in the forest below

• Talk but you’re on a walk in a forest

• Cherry Wine but you’re in your hammock on your veranda with a glass of wine, listening to the rain and the insects in your garden

• Would That I by but you’re cozied up in front of your fireplace after a long day