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submitted by I_Should_Not_Comment
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submitted by Yiffing_Time
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Tabletop role-playing drama and action in a galaxy poised on the brink of war…

Vanguard – Varmisk Fallen

Kickstarter ending 4/9/15

Fair warning: This product isn’t for everyone. Indie tabletop RPGs (TRPGs henceforth) are a segment of a section of a percentage of the population, and a TRPG that steps outside the mainstream is going to be, by its nature, even moreso. The hobbistry (hobby+industry) solar system can support one or two giant planets, a few smaller ones that still seem capable of generating creativity, and a lot of little things that drift silently in space, the light of popularity a cold, distant, shining point.

That being said, good storytelling is good storytelling, and the ultimate destiny of most indie TRPGs is to get piled up in the bathroom, inspirational reading where most game masters do their best plotting. The idea that any of these things get played is so 1992.

Vanguard: Varmisk Fallen is set around the plane/system of Varmisk (Get it? Varmisk? Varmints?) A colonial world governed by the Confederation. Now, in the wake of a devastating alien attack, the Confederation is in ruins, and its various planets and colonies are plagued by bureaucratic corruption, outside attack, opportunistic criminals–it’s a civilization on the eve of war (Cue the music!)

For storytelling focused on intrigue and personal conflict, this is a great setting. And reviews of some of author Tim Westhaven‘s other products, it sounds like he’s a very strong world-builder and storyteller.

I wish I had more information about Vanguard’s game system. While it’s fundamentally a dice-light or diceless game (there’s some cards for randomizing, but there’s a lot of the old “Amber Diceless Game” mechanic of “you tell me if you should succeed, I’ll tell you if you’re right”), it’s not at all simple, and there’s some strange, fluffy language with mystical overtones that make me back away slowly and put down my cards. While the kickstarter says the game plays for ages 7+ and mature players as well, some of the materials available for review look a little complex. And there’s rules for vehicles and droids, and some strong tactical game play.

None of this is saying that the rules engine behind Vangard–the “Fatestorm System”–is a bad system, I haven’t picked up the book, and all evidence suggests that Fatestorm does some innovative stuff.. But according to at least one reviewer it’s a rich system that’s going to be difficult for new players, which fits pretty well with what little I can see of the product so far.

I will ding Mr. Westhaven for gratuitous* use of the word “pawesome.”

* Any use of the word “pawesome” is gratuitous.

In describing his inspiration, Westhaven says “…think of it as Wind in the Willows meets Mass Effect.” That…that doesn’t seem right. I think it’s a lot more Redwallian–herbivores (and badgers, because they’re awesome) vs. carnivores, the inevitable trope that bunnies are good and anything that eats meat is bad (except badgers).

All in all, the artwork looks good for a TRPG, and it is important to note that art is one of the main things that’s being upgraded. According to the project page, the two rulebooks–basic and advanced play–are both written and playtested, and funding is going toward art and professional editing–both very important things!

If you’d like to learn a little more about the game, the Fatestorm Blog is primarily looking at the Vanguard universe, with some decent excerpts–like the Badgerians here. Westhaven (and most of the TRPG industry) is pretty active on Google+ too, and has a lot of notes on game development and mechanics.

Lots of fun stuff for the kickstarter backer, including the ability to pick and develop new species for PC races, and developing an alien race or NPC for the advanced rulebook. There’s some stretch goal miniatures–and good anthro miniatures are hard to find!

One stretch goal that I really love–as a game master and general crowdfunding fan–is the CIN Database. Basically, every citizen of the Confederation has a unique ID linked to their DNA–and backers of the kickstarter can add their personal “name, species, and vocation” to this database, creating a ready-made collection of DM and player inspirations for creating background characters in a hurry. Neat! It’s a legitimate game resource, and a way to recognize backers.

All in all, Vanguard is a mixed bag. It looks like a good anthro sci-fi game, and it’s been a while since we had one of those (Albedo was before my time, and I was gaming in the 80s!) I can’t tell if it’s rules-lite or just rules-different, but there’s a lot of time spent on granular stuff like ships and equipment, which is one of the telltale marks of an old-school crunchy game–though even as I write that, I don’t think it’s a fair assessment, sci-fi/military tends to be equipment-heavy. The writing on the project page and the art varies widely–both are sometimes playful, sometimes childish, sometimes sophisticated. And it’s hard to know how to dance when that tune is playing.

As always, we have to embrace the risk. The digital release is a very reasonable $20, so if you find the story appealing, it’s not going to break your wallet, and reports from the reviews of some of Westhaven’s other projects say he’s a good read with some solid campaign inspiration.

Follow @furstarter on twitter for the latest fur-friendly crowdfunding projects!

submitted by FizzyFoxy
[link] [4 comments]

submitted by asunyra1
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submitted by yamicat
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I've never been confident in my own skin. When my cousin and myself were young, we'd pretend to be animals and do things that "normal" people do. I loved it. As I've gotten older, I've been noticing that my feelings about my physical appearance have always been askew. It wasn't until recently that I felt comfortable enough to post about something like this...

Am I a nut case for desiring to be my fursona? I know that if I had the choice in this life (and that somehow this was possible), I would be Oathkeeper. I find her to be a gorgeous representation of my inner self. I'm even at the point where I don't feel comfortable not wearing my fur gear.

Does anyone else feel this way...? Or... is it time for me to get my head checked further? :/

submitted by Oathkeeperx
[link] [39 comments]

submitted by evilsibe
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submitted by Foxes281
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submitted by evilsibe
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We are proud to announce Fur Affinity has joined the IMVU (link) family. Fur Affinity (formerly a part of Ferrox Art LLC) was acquired by IMVU earlier this year in January 2015. We are looking forward to the partnership allowing both FA and IMVU to grow and foster the furry community and to celebrate its unique talents, creativity and self-expression.As you know, IMVU has previously advertised their services to our community, which led to further discussions about the obvious overlap among our members. Both IMVU and FA community members love to socialize and connect anonymously with people from around the world with diverse backgrounds, talents, and creative histories. They both express their artistic and creative skills in a variety of ways - via artwork, storytelling, fursuiting, crafts and more! Our partnership was the natural and reasonable conclusion to bring these similar and often already connected communities together officially.Going forward, FA will continue to operate independently but with IMVU’s support and resources to upgrade our services. We can now work on improving our infrastructure, adding more storage, making performance improvements and improved coding support to reach our full potential. As a community member, the only difference you will notice is a better, smoother experience and increased functionality of the site as time goes on.

This is a surprisingly left field development. After a decade being independently ran, FurAffinity is now under the ownership of a bigger company.

Whilst the choice of owner caught me off guard, I would not be surprised if finances were a factor behind the sale. The stress of operating solely on advertisement and donations wears your soul out eventually.

Varsha, Director, Community Experience & User Safety:

Online furry and anthropormophic art gallery meets 3d artistic furry avatars...if they have not met already!We are proud to announce to YOU - especially our furry and furry-loving friends - that earlier this year we made FurAffinity.net community a part of our family. This started with IMVU advertising its services to the FA community, which led to further discussions about the obvious overlap among our members. Both IMVU and FA community members love to socialize and connect anonymously with people from around the world with diverse backgrounds. Both communities express their artistic and creative skills in a variety of ways - via their anthromorphic and furry art, photographs, outfits, and scenes and more. So our partnership was the natural and reasonable conclusion to bring these similar and often already connected communities together officially. For those of you who don’t know, FA is a community centered around sketching and animations, in which artists are afforded the opportunity to anonymously share their own individual creative talents. Sound vaguely familiar? Yes, it is indeed exactly what you - IMVU’s customers - do as well. What does it mean for the IMVU community? The FA site will continue to operate indepently and work toward enhancing the fun and experience of their members with our full support. You will continue to enjoy your IMVU experience - whether you belong to our furry community or not as always. We know many of you participate in both communities, so this just means you are always part of the IMVU family!

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I finally decided to join this subreddit and while I have already thought of a fursona I still need a lot of practice with drawing so I instead thought of writing a story with my fursona being the main character. Before I even started I wanted to know if anyone would want to actually read it. I wanted to set the story in a world where magic exists and I wanted to set my character as force of balance but as I said before I wanted to know if there was any interest in stories before I even started. I hope that serves as a very basic summary of what I want to write.

submitted by buildingartsin
[link] [4 comments]

submitted by Greevixor
[link] [5 comments]

Fur Affinity (formerly a part of Ferrox Art LLC) was acquired by IMVU earlier this year in January 2015. We are looking forward to the partnership allowing both FA and IMVU to grow and foster the furry community and to celebrate its unique talents, creativity and self-expression.

Author: Mister Twister It has been about three weeks since the biggest FurAffinity controversy of recent years happened. For those unaware, every single piece of art that was ever uploaded there has been archived, and preserved. Now you can see all the galleries that has been wiped from FurAffinity, presumably forever, in just a few … … Continue reading →

submitted by aLovelyTwitch
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submitted by RGBrazberry
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submitted by Yiffing_Time
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submitted by SparkyBluBlu
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submitted by TinyPotatoAttack
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