Gamer – Page 3 – Gamer Peak

Blood-Starved Beast: An Unskilled Guide

With Father Gascoigne dispatched, you’ve got a few directions you can head in. You can save up and pay your way into the Cathedral Ward, to take on Vicar Amelia, or go further out to the Witch of Hemwick, but Old Yharnam is definitely my first optional area every playthrough. Good for blood stones and helpful unlocks after beating the boss.

The Blood-Starved Beast at the bottom of Old Yharnam is quite the contrast to the big and bulky Cleric Beast and to the focused fighting force of Father Gascoigne. He’s must more erratic, harder to read at first, comes with very different dangers, and above all else is much, much more gooey.

But like CB and FG, BSB can be beaten, without any major skill. I found this to be a messy fight no matter what I tried, but I could control the fight even with my ineptitude. And without realising the trick that makes the first half very easy.

Hopper – Greatest Disney BBEG?

Not every story makes for a great basis of Role-Playing Game. Some stories are surprisingly good. A Bug’s Life might not have as much combat as your average D&D campaign, but not closer: A plucky hero journeys through unknown lands to gain the aid of a bunch of performers to help save a group of farmers from the Big Bad Evil Guy and his army.

As soon as you imagine the circus troop as a bunch of bards – persuading and performing and sleight-of-handing their way around the villains, it suddenly makes a lot of sense. Hopper, the main villain in question, is superbly suited for the BBEG role.

Father Gascoigne – An Unskilled Guide

Hopefully, this is boss number 2 for your first playthrough of Bloodborne. If not, I highly recommend seeking out the Cleric Beast first. It’s not just because he’s easier (whether a Souls boss is easy often depends on the player, but CB definitely feels more like a training boss). It’s also because a win before Father Gascoigne will give you a well-needed confidence boost.

Gascoigne is a tough boss this early into proceedings, and has turned a lot of players away from continuing the game. But with a bit of confidence, and advice from this clumsy, bumbling gamer, and you can win even if it doesn’t seem likely.

If I can do it, so can you.

Mor’du– Greatest Disney BBEG?

“Rocks fall, everybody dies” is a common trope in table top games, which the Games Master can use to express joking (or in some cases, very serious) disdain or disapproval of their player’s behaviour. When the game has gone off the rails, the party is threatened with death by sudden squishing.

[Spoilers] In Brave, however, ‘rock fall, villain dies’ is more apt.

In most TTRPGs, ending a story arc with a boss that’s just a big bear might not result in the most thrilling conclusion. But Mor’du is a very big bear. A big, scary, rage-filled, super strong bear. So there’s something we can work with.

Cleric Beast – An Unskilled Guide

If you’ve found this monster, it is either your very first Bloodborne boss, or you’ve found after meeting and/or beating Father Gascoigne. If it’s the latter, hopefully this encounter will be less stressful for you.

Gascoigne is the real test of whether you want to play this game. The Cleric Beast is (a little bit) easier to train your skills on.

As with most things in Bloodborne, this will not be easy, but the Cleric Beast is very manageable, and with a little bit of preparation and planning he can be beaten.

If I can do it, so can you.

The Horned King – Greatest Disney BBEG?

I’m one of those people who is very fond of Black Cauldron. Where most people find it too dark for Disney, to bleak and weird, I was very much on board.

Re-watching Black Cauldron for this blogpost, I found that I enjoyed the movie just as much as when I was young, but my thoughts on the main villain were altered greatly. I’d remember him as this all powerful tyrant that would be in contention for the topic TTRPG Disney villain, but he’s a little… wimpier than I remember.

That might not necessarily be a bad thing for your campaign though.

Festivals & Fisticuffs

The adventure is over. The dragon is defeated. The dungeon is delved. All the storylines are satisfying concluded. The character growth has… grown as much as it needs to.

But then what? Are the players ready to truly finish? Or do they want more? Has the DM got another villain or tougher adventure ready in the wings? If either is true, do the heroes not catch a break before chaos rains anew?

What happens between the epic adventures? I have an answer to that. If you’re one of the first few people reading this post, you can scoop the answer up for free:

Big Hero 6 – Greatest Disney BBEG?

Another Disney movie with a mystery villain. If you’ve seen Big Hero 6, you know who we’re talking about and we can discuss their potential as your Table Top Games big baddy. If you’re not up to speed, go give this cracking movie a watch and come back to us.

Dungeon23 – Week 12

Laboratories are a great place for horror. So are hospitals, anywhere that’s clean and white and sterile makes for a great contrast with whatever gore you want to paint on the walls.

That is the basis of Layer 3 in the megadungeon. A pristine living area, whose residents constantly fight back against the growths that fill the neighbouring laboratories.

So last week I finally got to invent and draw the icky part of this two-tone dungeon layer.

Atlantis: TLE– Greatest Disney BBEG?

I realise that my current naming convention could lead to spoilers. Most Disney villains are obvious from the outset, but occasionally we get a plot twist. I don’t care how old a movie is, I don’t like giving spoilers if I can avoid it.

So if you haven’t seen Atlantis: The Lost Empire, go and watch it. Now. Seriously. You should go and watch it immediately, it’s great. Then come back here, and we’ll talk about how that villain would make a great Big Bad for your Table Top game.