D&D 5e: A Guide to Playing Level 0 Characters

Did you know D&D 5e actually has an official method for generating 0th-level characters? The Adventurer’s League module “What’s Past is Prologue” stars classless characters, and you can view the rules for generating your own in the free preview. I was pretty excited to learn this, as the ‘level 0 session’ is a popular unofficial method for playing underpowered ‘commoner runs.’ Today I wanted to talk about this niche ruleset, its pros and cons, and whether you should use it. Should you use Level 0 characters? My first caveat is that you should not run level 0 characters for beginning… [Continue Reading]

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The Original Doom: Does it Hold Up?

Since Team Fortress Classic was my first-ever multiplayer game, I’d actually never played the original Doom. Doom took the entire gaming industry by storm and forever changed the future of shooters. But thanks to the never-ending quarantine, plus getting addicted to speedrunning videos like the ones on Karl Jobst’s YouTube channel, I finally purchased and played through Doom and Doom II. While I know I’m not breaking any new ground with this incredibly-hot take, I think they may be two of the greatest games I’ve ever played. Still Badass It was truly eye-opening to go back and see these two seminal… [Continue Reading]

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The current state of Destiny 2 – Content Removal Edition

As you might have heard through multiple news sources, Destiny 2 is getting a massive rework on November. One concerning fact is that 4 locations are becoming inaccessible after Beyond Light. Before we get into why is this happening we got to take a look at the bigger picture regarding how many barriers are set up for new players and how much relevant content you can play currently. A quick recap on the story: To address the elephant in the room, those monolithic Pyramids were part of the main plot on the Shadowkeep expansion. One derelict was found buried under… [Continue Reading]

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Differentiating Maps Through Gameplay, part 2

Previously I used Left 4 Dead 2 to showcase “thematic gameplay“, a development philosophy whereby each map in the game gets a subtle tweak to the core gameplay loop to make it feel different from the rest the game has to offer. Payday the Heist is actually another masterclass in this philosophy, so to reinforce my point I thought I’d discuss how a second title used thematic gameplay to create very memorable and distinguishable heists. 1. First World Bank First World Bank doesn’t really have any gimmicks, as it’s setting the baseline for the rest of the game. One after… [Continue Reading]

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Payday 2: On Perk Decks

I wanted to write a quick article about perk decks in Payday 2, because I find them pretty fascinating as a concept. Not the fact that they exist (they’re identical in function to the level-up trees from Payday the Heist) but that they exist in conjunction to the standard character classes, each of which has a ton of random abilities and playstyles with different weapons, equippables, armors, and concealment levels. As someone who loves game design, I’ve spent way more time than I should trying to figure out what criteria Overkill put into deciding when an ability is worthy of a… [Continue Reading]

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An Odd Interaction Between TF2 Weapon Sheens and Decorations

I noticed something unusual (pardon the pun) after I added a violet killstreak sheen to my Totally Boned Scotsman’s Skullcutter. And before we continue, I shamelessly admit this is one of the most minor observations I’ve probably ever made in TF2. It’s not quite on the level of 500 characters on the wind you can only notice during a single taunt, but it would fit comfortably into that list of nitpick articles in the final paragraph. Anyway, after a couple different times visiting my Demoman loadout page, I realized the Skullcutter’s inventory icon was occasionally showcasing the purple sheen. It’d… [Continue Reading]

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Trying EverQuest in 2020

Despite not considering myself an MMO kind of guy, I’ve somehow put in hundreds of hours in both World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy 14, mostly because they’re great games to play while plowing through my TV backlog on the second monitor. Both of them were highly influential games for their generation of MMOs, cornering the market by setting the standards many of their competitors would try and (for the most part, fail to) surpass. But they’re only two parts of the triumvirate. There’s a third game, one that first put 3D MMOs on the map. Most of the earlier… [Continue Reading]

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On the new Destiny 2 expansion – There is actually stuff to do!

So it’s been a while since I talked about the Destiny franchise. Almost a half year ago I bashed the new installment pretty hard on the downsides that featured, because there were… many. Truth be told, ever since a shiny refurbished exotic weapon quest was re-introduced on Destiny 2 back in July, the gameplay aspects gradually got better by the time the Forsaken expansion dropped. For this article I’ll be little more biased towards the positive side. Even though the game still has flaws here and there, I’ll save my long angry rant on the topic of duplicate exotics giving… [Continue Reading]

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5 Versatile Perk Decks in Payday 2

João Carriço and MisterCaaaarl have both asked for a video covering the Top 5 perk decks, and while it’s hard to call any the “best” since they all bring their own playstyles to the table, there are certainly several perk decks that are extremely versatile and considered solid choices no matter the difficulty or type of heists you play. When choosing your first perk decks, it’s hard to go wrong with these! Here are 5 Versatile Perk Decks Every Player Should Try: Starting with #1, Yakuza and Burglar share this spot because they’re the only two perk decks that give… [Continue Reading]

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The 5 Best Joker Cops in Payday 2

Joker is my second-favorite skill in the game, behind Inspire. There are a lot of cops to choose from, but you only get to convert one or two, so it’s important you pick the best convertible cop available. So today, we’re covering The 5 Best Joker Cops in Payday 2! Starting with #1, the basic rule of thumb is to prioritize any cop carrying a shotgun. Shotguns are incredibly powerful in this game, there’s a reason Bulldozers carry them. The exception is #2) If you’re playing a heist with a lot of open area, like Heat Street or Armored Transport… [Continue Reading]

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