The Way Home

Hey all! My name is Behold the Void. I used to post here a lot. About a decade ago? It's been awhile. I've grown up a bit, gotten married, created a baby ("baby" meaning "a small self-funded company that consumes much of my free time and headspace), and played a massive amount of Final Fantasy XIV. Since my enjoyment of the game is inversely proportional to the amount of time spent on its Reddit, I figured why not look up the old community and see how things are in honor of BoB passing the baton. Gonna try to stick around. Or something.

Welcome back, man! I do vaguely remember you, though in all fairness it took me a while to get to talking to others ;)

Hope you stick around! Hop into the Discord server too if you ever feel like it

You were well known for your writings, my good sir. I remember you! :bigsmile:

I am glad of your return and to hear that you've been doing well! The fall of the RP forum was the first domino that knocked EoFF down.

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Originally Posted by Christmas

You were well known for your writings, my good sir. I remember you! :bigsmile:

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Thank you! It's really nice to hear that people remember me, especially for my writing.

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

I am glad of your return and to hear that you've been doing well! The fall of the RP forum was the first domino that knocked EoFF down.

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Clearly I can't leave y'all alone for five minutes.

It's weird seeing all the names I remember without being able to put a finger on exactly why, sup BtV :monster:

Welcome back BtV. You were one of my favorite Cid's Knights. :)

I very fondly remember the RP forum. Thank you for making the space for those memories.

I fondly remember being intimidated by the RP forum

Welcome back! Reddit is my go to place to troutpost on the interwebs now as well!

I'm glad the RP forums had such an impact/legacy! I can't really use the format myself anymore, it's too slow and I'm playing and designing specifically for live tabletop these days so for online play I pretty much use Discord and Roll20 exclusively.

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Originally Posted by escobert

Welcome back! Reddit is my go to place to troutpost on the interwebs now as well!

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Whenever I try to engage with something I enjoy on Reddit it tends to raise my blood pressure and make me start to dislike the thing, I've generally sworn it off which definitely in part precipitated my looking around the old forum when the opportunity arose.

Reddit is best kept at a distance. I try to only use it for memes and to find cool fanart.

I only go to very specific subs, NFL/Chicago Bears/CSGO/PC related things. I stay away from politics and such on there. I primarily just troutpost on r/NFL becasue yeah, people can get hot and crazy quick.

Hello

Yeah I think my major objection to XIV in the Reddit space is it seems like more often than not Raiders and meta-chasers suck up all the oxygen and since I have zero interest in raiding I just don't wanna deal with it. I mean the fanart and all that is nice but it's like you can't go a day without seeing someone complaining about it either, too much negativity.

One thing I've always loved about this community is it is, in general, pretty positive and open to diverse engagements/playstyles. Being designed as a celebration of the franchise probably helps.

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

I'm glad the RP forums had such an impact/legacy! I can't really use the format myself anymore, it's too slow and I'm playing and designing specifically for live tabletop these days so for online play I pretty much use Discord and Roll20 exclusively.

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A couple of months ago I ran a Roll20 EoFF D&D game. There was a ghost who was crying over an empty crib about a missing baby. Anyway, they had the great idea of putting the tiny Gnome Wizard (Shauna) in the crib to pretend she is the baby.

And then, for reasons best known only to herself, the Dwarf Barbarian (Jinx) decided she wanted to slap the baby to see what the ghost would do. So I made her roll for it. And she got a crit.

It was the best/worst thing I have ever seen in a D&D game.

Hey man, good to see you!

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

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Originally Posted by escobert

Welcome back! Reddit is my go to place to troutpost on the interwebs now as well!

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Whenever I try to engage with something I enjoy on Reddit it tends to raise my blood pressure and make me start to dislike the thing, I've generally sworn it off which definitely in part precipitated my looking around the old forum when the opportunity arose.

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Yeah... I've had this weird sense of coming full-circle. The broader internet used to be so appealing compared to EoFF, but now that it's such a mess everywhere there's definitely an appeal to having a small, close community. Even if that means being behind on the dank memes of the Twittersphere or whatever.

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

I'm glad the RP forums had such an impact/legacy! I can't really use the format myself anymore, it's too slow and I'm playing and designing specifically for live tabletop these days so for online play I pretty much use Discord and Roll20 exclusively.

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A couple of months ago I ran a Roll20 EoFF D&D game. There was a ghost who was crying over an empty crib about a missing baby. Anyway, they had the great idea of putting the tiny Gnome Wizard (Shauna) in the crib to pretend she is the baby.

And then, for reasons best known only to herself, the Dwarf Barbarian (Jinx) decided she wanted to slap the baby to see what the ghost would do. So I made her roll for it. And she got a crit.

It was the best/worst thing I have ever seen in a D&D game.

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You have exceeded my expectations I'm so proud of all of you.

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Originally Posted by Shoeberto

Hey man, good to see you!

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

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Originally Posted by escobert

Welcome back! Reddit is my go to place to troutpost on the interwebs now as well!

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Whenever I try to engage with something I enjoy on Reddit it tends to raise my blood pressure and make me start to dislike the thing, I've generally sworn it off which definitely in part precipitated my looking around the old forum when the opportunity arose.

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Yeah... I've had this weird sense of coming full-circle. The broader internet used to be so appealing compared to EoFF, but now that it's such a mess everywhere there's definitely an appeal to having a small, close community. Even if that means being behind on the dank memes of the Twittersphere or whatever.

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Yeah I remember back in the day there was this huge drive for every site to have more members and more content which signified its worthiness or whatever but nowadays I'm old I just wanna hang out with cool people who I choose to hang out with.

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

I'm glad the RP forums had such an impact/legacy! I can't really use the format myself anymore, it's too slow and I'm playing and designing specifically for live tabletop these days so for online play I pretty much use Discord and Roll20 exclusively.

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A couple of months ago I ran a Roll20 EoFF D&D game. There was a ghost who was crying over an empty crib about a missing baby. Anyway, they had the great idea of putting the tiny Gnome Wizard (Shauna) in the crib to pretend she is the baby.

And then, for reasons best known only to herself, the Dwarf Barbarian (Jinx) decided she wanted to slap the baby to see what the ghost would do. So I made her roll for it. And she got a crit.

It was the best/worst thing I have ever seen in a D&D game.

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Please tell me you’ll host more of these. I need to get in on this!

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Originally Posted by Fynn

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

I'm glad the RP forums had such an impact/legacy! I can't really use the format myself anymore, it's too slow and I'm playing and designing specifically for live tabletop these days so for online play I pretty much use Discord and Roll20 exclusively.

---

A couple of months ago I ran a Roll20 EoFF D&D game. There was a ghost who was crying over an empty crib about a missing baby. Anyway, they had the great idea of putting the tiny Gnome Wizard (Shauna) in the crib to pretend she is the baby.

And then, for reasons best known only to herself, the Dwarf Barbarian (Jinx) decided she wanted to slap the baby to see what the ghost would do. So I made her roll for it. And she got a crit.

It was the best/worst thing I have ever seen in a D&D game.

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Please tell me you’ll host more of these. I need to get in on this!

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Same here. :bigsmile:

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

I'm glad the RP forums had such an impact/legacy! I can't really use the format myself anymore, it's too slow and I'm playing and designing specifically for live tabletop these days so for online play I pretty much use Discord and Roll20 exclusively.

---

A couple of months ago I ran a Roll20 EoFF D&D game. There was a ghost who was crying over an empty crib about a missing baby. Anyway, they had the great idea of putting the tiny Gnome Wizard (Shauna) in the crib to pretend she is the baby.

And then, for reasons best known only to herself, the Dwarf Barbarian (Jinx) decided she wanted to slap the baby to see what the ghost would do. So I made her roll for it. And she got a crit.

It was the best/worst thing I have ever seen in a D&D game.

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The worst part about all of this is that this slap actually almost killed poor little Schmaltzy :(

You hail from a time when my heart medication was messing with my memory. But I do recognize the name. Welcome back. I was a shy lurker back in the day. Still a shy lurker I suppose. I probably would have enjoyed the RP forum, as a writing hobbyist I've dabbled here and there on this site, but nothing interactive. Mostly just random showcases and contests. But it's always fun to flex the mind and creative juices a bit

I remember you, you were one of the Cid's Knights when I joined. I stalked your profile pretty recently on my nostalgia trip.

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Originally Posted by CimminyCricket

I remember you, you were one of the Cid's Knights when I joined. I stalked your profile pretty recently on my nostalgia trip.

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I honestly had a lot of fun being a CK back in the day, I think I won a Ciddie for Best Cid's Knight at one point which was really touching. I have a lot of fond memories of the time, I still have occasional contact with one of the old Cid's Knights from way back in the day who I really looked up to via Facebook. The team was full of great people, I'm sure it's still the same case today.

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

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Originally Posted by CimminyCricket

I remember you, you were one of the Cid's Knights when I joined. I stalked your profile pretty recently on my nostalgia trip.

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I honestly had a lot of fun being a CK back in the day, I think I won a Ciddie for Best Cid's Knight at one point which was really touching. I have a lot of fond memories of the time, I still have occasional contact with one of the old Cid's Knights from way back in the day who I really looked up to via Facebook. The team was full of great people, I'm sure it's still the same case today.

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I don't know that I've not like any of the Cid's Knights that have been active since 2006. I don't know of any who quit before then off the top of my head. They're all good people

So good to see you on here again Austin. I think you were one of the first people who gave me actual exposure to the idea of pen-and-paper RPGs in the traditional sense. I've since given them a go, but concluded that they're not really my cup of tea, but I still appreciate the artform and attend a lot of live D&D shows.

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Originally Posted by Big D

So good to see you on here again Austin. I think you were one of the first people who gave me actual exposure to the idea of pen-and-paper RPGs in the traditional sense. I've since given them a go, but concluded that they're not really my cup of tea, but I still appreciate the artform and attend a lot of live D&D shows.

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Hey man, great to see you again! Glad you had a chance to give it a try, it's certainly not for everyone but good to find that out for yourself. Honestly I think you'd probably have more success with the LARP (Live-Action Roleplay) space since if memory serves you did some historical swordfighting.

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

Hey man, great to see you again! Glad you had a chance to give it a try, it's certainly not for everyone but good to find that out for yourself. Honestly I think you'd probably have more success with the LARP (Live-Action Roleplay) space since if memory serves you did some historical swordfighting.

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Nicely remembered! I still dabble in historical re-enactment generally, but I'm mainly a dancer these days, and haven't trained in any martial arts for years - unless you count archery, I guess.

I don't think LARPs would suit me, though, since my biggest issue with D&D (and New World of Darkness) was the dense, restrictive rules and mechanics.

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Originally Posted by Big D

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

Hey man, great to see you again! Glad you had a chance to give it a try, it's certainly not for everyone but good to find that out for yourself. Honestly I think you'd probably have more success with the LARP (Live-Action Roleplay) space since if memory serves you did some historical swordfighting.

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Nicely remembered! I still dabble in historical re-enactment generally, but I'm mainly a dancer these days, and haven't trained in any martial arts for years - unless you count archery, I guess.

I don't think LARPs would suit me, though, since my biggest issue with D&D (and New World of Darkness) was the dense, restrictive rules and mechanics.

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D&D and WoD are definitely both scions of the old school of design with dense, complex rules that can be inaccessible and unapproachable. I could see you potentially liking Amtgard in the LARP sphere, and for more free-form roleplaying experiences that provide basic structure but center the interaction I'm more inclined to recommend Fate Core or Powered By the Apocalypse. I've never personally been super into World of Darkness although my wife started there and has a decent amount of affection for it, I find it a bit... much in terms of how hard it goes on its aesthetic and its ruleset has always been a mess. D&D is usually the most complex game on the market that people actually play (GURPS is way more complicated but nobody actually gets around to playing it because you need 50 books to do anything), I don't honestly feel like it's a fantastic beginner game and it's definitely not a great roleplay-centric system but because it owns like 90% of the market that's just what most people play, alas. I tried to balance my own game in the rough midpoint between Fate and D&D since I like the tactical combat but dislike the rigid system and lack of creative options.

It's unfortunately a shame since WoD and D&D are the big two that a lot of folks get that and only that for their TTRPG experience, but even then it definitely takes a certain approach and mindset to really play and enjoy, any number of factors can get in the way such as system or bad GM or what have you so I totally get not being enamored with it. We're a strange breed, TTRPGers.

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Originally Posted by Shauna

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Originally Posted by Psychotic

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

I'm glad the RP forums had such an impact/legacy! I can't really use the format myself anymore, it's too slow and I'm playing and designing specifically for live tabletop these days so for online play I pretty much use Discord and Roll20 exclusively.

---

A couple of months ago I ran a Roll20 EoFF D&D game. There was a ghost who was crying over an empty crib about a missing baby. Anyway, they had the great idea of putting the tiny Gnome Wizard (Shauna) in the crib to pretend she is the baby.

And then, for reasons best known only to herself, the Dwarf Barbarian (Jinx) decided she wanted to slap the baby to see what the ghost would do. So I made her roll for it. And she got a crit.

It was the best/worst thing I have ever seen in a D&D game.

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The worst part about all of this is that this slap actually almost killed poor little Schmaltzy :(

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The best part of all this was it was my first ever (and so far only) D&D experience. And it was THE single most random fun time I'd had in ages.

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

D&D and WoD are definitely both scions of the old school of design with dense, complex rules that can be inaccessible and unapproachable. I could see you potentially liking Amtgard in the LARP sphere, and for more free-form roleplaying experiences that provide basic structure but center the interaction I'm more inclined to recommend Fate Core or Powered By the Apocalypse. I've never personally been super into World of Darkness although my wife started there and has a decent amount of affection for it, I find it a bit... much in terms of how hard it goes on its aesthetic and its ruleset has always been a mess. D&D is usually the most complex game on the market that people actually play (GURPS is way more complicated but nobody actually gets around to playing it because you need 50 books to do anything), I don't honestly feel like it's a fantastic beginner game and it's definitely not a great roleplay-centric system but because it owns like 90% of the market that's just what most people play, alas. I tried to balance my own game in the rough midpoint between Fate and D&D since I like the tactical combat but dislike the rigid system and lack of creative options.

It's unfortunately a shame since WoD and D&D are the big two that a lot of folks get that and only that for their TTRPG experience, but even then it definitely takes a certain approach and mindset to really play and enjoy, any number of factors can get in the way such as system or bad GM or what have you so I totally get not being enamored with it. We're a strange breed, TTRPGers.

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Heck, I'd probably give Quest a go if someone local was running a game. I've heard a lot about it, and watched a game played online. I'm impressed by its drive to be a genuinely accessible, accommodating experience without being patronizingly limited in terms of what players can do.

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Originally Posted by Big D

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Originally Posted by Behold the Void

D&D and WoD are definitely both scions of the old school of design with dense, complex rules that can be inaccessible and unapproachable. I could see you potentially liking Amtgard in the LARP sphere, and for more free-form roleplaying experiences that provide basic structure but center the interaction I'm more inclined to recommend Fate Core or Powered By the Apocalypse. I've never personally been super into World of Darkness although my wife started there and has a decent amount of affection for it, I find it a bit... much in terms of how hard it goes on its aesthetic and its ruleset has always been a mess. D&D is usually the most complex game on the market that people actually play (GURPS is way more complicated but nobody actually gets around to playing it because you need 50 books to do anything), I don't honestly feel like it's a fantastic beginner game and it's definitely not a great roleplay-centric system but because it owns like 90% of the market that's just what most people play, alas. I tried to balance my own game in the rough midpoint between Fate and D&D since I like the tactical combat but dislike the rigid system and lack of creative options.

It's unfortunately a shame since WoD and D&D are the big two that a lot of folks get that and only that for their TTRPG experience, but even then it definitely takes a certain approach and mindset to really play and enjoy, any number of factors can get in the way such as system or bad GM or what have you so I totally get not being enamored with it. We're a strange breed, TTRPGers.

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Heck, I'd probably give Quest a go if someone local was running a game. I've heard a lot about it, and watched a game played online. I'm impressed by its drive to be a genuinely accessible, accommodating experience without being patronizingly limited in terms of what players can do.

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Yeah Quest has really been getting a lot of positive press, especially in the wake of WotC's rather atrocious treatment of people of color coming to light. People seem pretty excited about it, it's definitely one I want to get my hands on to see how it plays. It definitely does seem like it leans in a more narrative direction which is good.

Name rings a bell from somewhere in the dusty past.

Welcome back.